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The earliest account of the Shakers at Union Village and
their religious exercises which we have seen is contained in a letter
written by James McBride, and dated at Hamilton, Ohio,
July 14, 1811. The religious exercises described by Mr. McBride
are somewhat different from those of the Shakers at this day - their dancing
exercised being to-day less violent and not protracted for so long a time,
and shouting being now rarely heard in their public meetings. The following
are extracts from the letter:
“I have known several instances of women leaving their husbands
and children and going to the Shakers; and of husbands leaving their wives
wretched widows, to shift for themselves in the wide world, and attaching
themselves to the Shakers. One woman whom I knew survived the separation
but a few months, I believe principally from the unnatural and unheard-of
conduct of her husband – wretched, unnatural man. I last Sunday
saw him in their church, engaged in their religious dances, as unconcernedly
as any of the other members around him. I looked upon him as the worst
of murderers. My blood ran cold from the extremities of my body, and threw
my whole system into an involuntary tremor. Great excitement has been
produced in the public mind by the conduct of the Shakers – so much
so that the Legislature of the State, at their last meeting, passed a
law of relief of unfortunate women, who might be abandoned by their husbands
who joined the Shakers; and, in the fall of last year, a large mob of
people assembled and marched to the Shaker village. They numbered about
two thousand men, generally armed with rifles and muskets, and threatened
to extirpate the Shakers from the face of the earth, which they undoubtedly
would have effected had not some of the most respected characters in the
country interposed their influence to prevent mischief.
“I, in company with another gentleman, who had seen them before,
left here on Saturday evening and rode to within two or three miles of
their village, where we lodged for the night, in order that we might get
early to their church on Sunday morning, before their ceremonies of worship
should commence, which we accomplished. When we came within their settlement,
my attention was attracted by the regularity and neatness of their farms
and gardens, which appeared to be cultivated with great care and considerable
taste. When we arrived at their church, I was surprised at the appearance
and neatness of the building, which was a frame (the dimensions I do not
know, but it was very large), with two doors of entrance on the west side.
Inside, it was handsomely plastered, ceiled overhead, but destitute of
seats, except four or five rows of
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wooden benches on the west side of the house, between the two doors.
The building is situated in the center of a lot of ground inclosed with
a neat paling fence, covered with a beautiful sward of grass. The entrance
is by two gates, on the west, opposite the doors in the church, with fine
graveled walks between them.
“The men were all dressed in gray homespun cloth, their coats
somewhat in the Quaker fashion, or of that cut and fashion which was probably
the mode some fifty or a hundred years ago. The females were still more
uniform in their dress. In the first place, from the little girl of six
or seven years of age, to her old grandmother of seventy, they all wore
long-eared caps, clean and white as snow, and which set close to their
heads all round, without a single ribbon or bow-knot about them, except
two short pieces of white tape at their ears to tie them under the chin.
They all wore petticoats fastened around their waists, and a garment made
something in the manner of a Dutch woman’s short gown, but so long
as to come within a finger-length of their knees. These were all white
muslin. Around their necks each wore a plain, clean, white, three-cornered
handkerchief, but no beads, no lace, no ribbon or superfluity whatever.
Their shoes were somewhat in the form of a Jefferson shoe, rather heavy
or clumsy; this completed their dress, except a bonnet of black or brown
muslin.
“They were all in the same dress, every mother’s daughter
of them; not a single exception was to be seen in the whole society. In
coming to the church they all walked in single file, like a flock of ducks
coming from the creek in the evening. It was then that I discovered the
use of the two gates, and the two doors of the church.
“On entering the church, the men took off their hats and hung
them on wooden pegs at the north end of the room. The women likewise took
off their bonnets, and disposed of them in like manner at the other end
of the room. They then took their seats flat on the floor – not
cross-legged, as the Turks do, nor with their feet extended at full length
before them, to incommode their neighbors, but sitting flat, with their
feet at a convenient distance before them, and their petticoats drawn
under their knees.
“After sitting some time silent, they all rose at once, as by
general consent, and commenced singing a tune, in which each one joined,
and sang so loud that it made by very ears tingle. In short, I think if
noise could crack the ceiling of the house, this would have long since
been fractured although it is the strongest frame building I have ever
seen perhaps the strongest of the kind ever erected. In their singing,
I could not discover that they sang any particular hymn or song, as I
could not distinguish any words, but merely a humming sound to make the
tune. In this exercise they continued about an hour, with only short intervals
to change the tune, after which they resumed their seats on the floor
as before. An elderly gentleman then stepped from amongst them, advanced
to the space between the members and the spectators who sat on the benches,
and delivered a discourse about as long as a common sermon. I paid particular
attention to what he said, and, had I time, I believe I could give you
his discourse in nearly the words in which he delivered it, in which he
gave us some of the outlines of their doctrine. Who he was I know not,
but he certainly was an ingenious man. He clothed his discourse in handsome
language, and prepared the minds of his audience, by his preliminary observations,
by drawing them on step by step, will calculated to prepare the mind of
the superficial thinker to adopt his conclusions, which were deduced from
premises which none could deny. At the conclusion of the discourse, the
speaker observe to the Shaker members that it was time to prepare for
divine worship. The men immediately went to their end of the building,
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their coats, put them away, and returned; in the meantime, about half
a dozen men singers and an equal number of women singers arranged themselves
along the side of the house opposite their respective sexes, and commenced
singing a lively air of a tune, on which the whole assembly joined in
a dance, but without running any regular figures, or the men and women
intermingling together, each dancing on the space which they occupied,
keeping exact time to the music, and, at each turn of the tune, turning
half round and facing their next rank. At this they continued ten or fifteen
minutes at a time, when a pause took place long enough for the singers
to change the tune, when at it they went again. At certain times during
their dance, some of them would jump up, clap their hands, whirl round
on their toes or heels, like a top, cutting all kinds of extraordinary
capers, and sometimes the whole assembly shouted so loud that I thought,
beyound all doubt, they would bring the house about our ears.
“The tunes which they sung were brisk, lively airs, such as I
have often heard played on the violin at a country dance. They kept dancing
in this manner for about two hours. The day was very warm, and before
they concluded, their clothes were as wet with sweat as if they had been
engaged in a harvest-field.” |