| Show THE SHAKERS i we had the pleasure a few days since says life illustrated of the oth of july lasto visiting 0 the cleveland branch of this interesting family of friends 12 and had prepared a sketch of our personal observations in regard to them but at the moment we had the matter in handa hinda copy of the cleveland er was laid on our table containing a the following lo 10 wing which we substitute with the single remar remark T that these friends are liberal patrona patrons of our publications quite familiar with all the reformatory ideas we advocate and are practitioners of the method af rea n disease and they use little or no drug i RE brines tiffi ulie S shak ila iia kERS ERS SOMETHING ING ABOUT THE CHILDREN D kte kue N or aik ark A ANN AIN IN LEE A VISIT TO NORTH UNION us arency dew dews shall till descend upon tender plants pint abid ami avae agae them to courish ani grow T and horr showers of or rain rin shall ahall descend dec end while peace like a river shall bill now How Stiller hymn six and a half miles southeast of the citrin the township of warrensville Warrens ville is located the north union shaker village cleveland has haa done business with these shakers for many years and the broad brim hats and peculiar coats of the outside men of the society are familiar and daily spectacles upon our streets but what the society do at home how they do it and what sort of people they really are re only a few townspeople know A late visit considerably enlightened us and we will try and tell something of what we saw we believe it is true that there is not a re ledus sect in the world about which the public at large is so profoundly ignorant as the united believers or shakers as they are popularly called this is not their fault tho meekness modesty and a love of seclusion are prominent among their characteristics their doors are still ever freely thrown open to all candid persons who seek to know of them than na THE FOUNDERS OF NORTH UNION deurs years ago when the spot where north union is located was a dense wilderness ralph elijah elisha return and rodney russell flye five windsor tre cal cai ed same bome some land and squatted here none of them had lad then embraced the shaker faith they struggled v 0 led with the privations of wilderness life in common with other pioneers A few year sifter ralph visited the union so clecy of shakers at lebanon warren county in id this state and while there or shortly after lits his return he lie embraced the faith his ilia brothers soon joined him and a society was established in 1838 it was and is still a branch of the union society and hence the VL oame oama of north union elgha elisha ellsha and rodney are still living with the north union society E elijah eiliah and return died in the faith and ralph some time since withdrew and now resides in solon we believe to THE rA FAMILIES MILIES milles i tim lim north union society is divided into three families in the churcher Chur chor center family mere were are persons in the mill or west family 40 and in the east or gathering fa family 35 making persons in the society rhe the buildings 0 of the church family are a story ory cry frame dwelling with twelve rooms meetinghouse meeting house office where the business of the society ia is transacted brick schoolhouse school house three story woolen factory 50 by 24 a machine shop in the basement with a dyehouse house hoube 26 by 46 feet attached a tannery etc elc and ani au two emall email dw dwellings ellins the mill family a large frame dwelling two and a half stories high with ten rooms besides the basement a stone flour mill four stories high with three run of sawmill and a pail factory and washhouse wash house the water facilities are excellent and the mills are models in their way east family or gathering g order la large e frame dwelling two and a half stories hi high 1 blacksmith shop shop for the manufacture of woodenware wooden ware etc sis tors torb shop wash washhouse house bouse ouse and two large barns ORDER everything about the dwellings 11 is scrupulously neat the floors seem to be almost too clean to walk on and the windows are transparently patently pa r en ly clear the curtains are spotless and gr gracefully a c cf ully looped everything r is is pure and in in it its PI place ace we wish we could tell those housewives vives who narrowly escape making lunatics of their husbands in cleaning house how all this is done but unfortunately we cant not an ornament upon the walls not a sofa or a lounge everything of the plainest character and yet how wonderfully neat and inviting no noise in the house though maybe may be there are area a hundred persons in it everybody glides so softly through the dwelling that one ofie would think it was uninhabited diche did he not see eee the brethren and sisters before him THE CHURCH at the center is 50 by feet and contains one large room with no pillar or post to obstruct the view and two small ante rooms where the brethren and sisters remove their hats heavy shoes and bonnets there are a ew seats arranged rear louse that used to to be occupied by strangers when the Socie tys meetings were public the rest of the room is the loor floor is smooth springy and spotless and the walls are snowy white pulpits are unknown amon among the shakers the ministry speak as the he spirit moves them while standing on the floor in the midst of their flock linzing sinzing and dancing are prominent features in shaker worship h ip the males arrange themselves on one side ide of the ro omand the females on the other all facing one way they dance to a lively tune forward and back keeping remarkably good time they then march quickly around the room in double file all stopping m at a certain turn in the music which is solely vocal to execute a very lively shuffle the shuffle is done with s spirit i rit and noboa nobody seems to be out of time pt it is a nove novel I 1 spec spectacle T c le to a stranger to see little boys and old gray gra iha iba I haired ba ired fred men young girls whose long iong ghostly host y white caps can not hide their pretty faces and old ladies the young the middle aged and the old gravely avely performing 0 a dance which in gro was never equalled equal led by any band of burnt cork minstrels shakers dance all over every part of the body is in motion every muscle dances with their heads slightly bent forward and marking time with their outspread hands they roll easily forward stop stopping ing in concert to execute the lil lik likely likely ely shuffle above abovementioned above mentioned but who that has been among them ehm shall say in the sight of heaven and and the holy angels that they are not as sincere and devout in their form of worship as any religious reli rell ious lous sect in the world not we family meetings s where the exercises are the same as those described above only on a smaller scale are held regularly 11 throughout the week each dwelling having a room set apart for the purpose SHAKER MUSIC it more resembles the music of the methodists than that of any denomination we ve know of though it Is pro bably original C with the shakers it is quick and inspirit inspiriting in 9 generally I 1 thou though h at times soft and sweet some of tui tul their r adems anthems claimed we believe to have been written through divine inspiration are in their lna ina majesty jesty and beauty the extract from one 0 ne of their hymns at the head of this sketch is is beautiful in its simplicity and the following invitation will ring ri pleasantly in ones ears ion lon long iong after he has heard it sting sung at north union come come to the fountain ye lovely relation the streams are all bowing with ilfe life and salvation the riter rivers are ar all full and the springs running oer come drick oh ob ye thirsty and famish DO no more inor and here is a shaker march be comforted my th children Ildren though crisis ali do surround te ye hall shall share sare my love and bies bles brunz slag slat if it y are faithful fo oun n 1 I ninn down low la in the valley my pretty gitts gifts do flow bowl in the yarley talley Is sweet comfort here nere heavenly ill lil idles lc grow SCHOOLS there are quite a number of children among the shakers the ile boys boya are taught by a brother in the winter and the girls and quite small boys by a sister in the summer season the common english branches are taught 0 but the languages 0 are ignored POLITICS the shakers a politic their creed does not permit them to participate in the Union saving and freedom extending business they stand entirely aloof from the political world and aaa in view of ot the present extremely mixed state of public affairs we think they are to be congratulated in this particular ti they never vote the last time general jackson ran for president there was a pretty animated attempt to defeat him on the part of the patriots of the opposition as old politicians will very likely remember some enterprising m cleveland whigs visited north union and tried to induce the shakers to vote they urged the matter with all their force and eloquence but the shakers positively declined but they said if they could consistently go to the polls however they should certainly certainty vote for old hickory WHAT THE SHAKERS RAISE AND MAKE they have 1400 acres of land in good condition they excel as gardeners and fruit growers as many in cleveland can testify they are arc now paying particular attention to stock as their land is especially adapted for grazing they have about head bead of cattle 18 horses and sheep their blooded cattle are mostly of the durham and devonshire breed and have uniformly taken premiums when exhibited a at t state or county fairs they have recently purchased an imported durham bull which is a remarkably fine an animal they make all their etc and also the raw material from which they are manufactured among the articles which they turn out in large quantities for sale are woodenware wooden ware brooms brushes bonnets straw goods mats leather etc with their factories mills shops farms and gardens they are very busy their industry and economy are two well known to be mentioned here drones brones do not live with the shakers there is no room for them every man and woman has his or her specialty and everything moves on with clockwork clock work regularity HEALTH ETC early hours of rising and retiring and strictly regular habits generally are observed by the shakers and there is not much sickness among them consequently their days are iong long in the land there are male and female physicians among them one of the former graduated at yale college and was auita quite a ful practitioner in the world 12 ile he embraced the shaker faith as did dai also his wife and two daughters and they are all at north union the guest of the shakers will have golden butter delicious bread cream for his coffee cheese that can not be surpassed and excellent fare generally gene rilly raily set before him and if he complains P lains of the luxurious bed he is assigned to he deserves to sleep out doors for the remainder of his unnatural life there was a remarkable religious revival in the province of dauphiny and Viva Viv arois rols in france in 1689 the subjects of this work were wrought upon in an extraordinary manner both in body and mind persons of both sexes bexes so the story goes were the subjects of divine inspiration in 1706 a few of them went over to england where they renewed their testimony and through the ministration of the same spirit to others many were united to them they became numerous in 1747 a small number who were endowed with the spirit of these witnesses united themselves in into a small society near ilear manchester under the mini ministry of james and jane wardley they affirmed that the work of the great day of goad go d was wag then commencing sometimes after sitting 1 awhile in silent meditation they were seized with a mih mi mighty h ty trembling tinder under which they would often express the indignation of god against I 1 all sin at other times they were exert exercised abed with sing 0 ing shouting shaking and leaping for joy at i the near prospect of revolution thus they received the appellation of shakers in 17 1770 obo oso O so the shakers say the present testimony of salvation and eternal life lire was waa fully revealed to ann lee a blacksmiths daughter of manchester and by her to the society in at the age of 23 years she united herself to the society and shakers throughout the world have ever since called her mother their spiritual mother in christ she came to america in 1774 in 1776 she f rounded founded a small society at watervliet Water vliet near albany N Y the first society ever organized in america we believe she died in july 1784 she was at times shamefully persecuted both in E england and alberica Ai Al and her life was fitful and eventful there are four societies ef shakers in this state one at watervliet Water vliet vIlet montgomery count county Y near dayton one at whitewater Il hamilton amilton county twenty two miles from cincinnati one at lebanon warren county and the one at warrensville Warrens ville in this thia county there are aro two societies in kentucky two in maine two in new hampshire four in massachusetts three in new york and one in connecticut the ile new lebanon society in new york was organized a zea zed in 1787 it is the head bead society in the ani united ted states and its directions are co considered soldered law by all other societies the leading society in the west is the union at lebanon in this state SrI sni spiritual RITUAL the shakers assume to live a hf life ilfe of purity a life undefiled with sinful indulgences unmixed with corrupt practices unadulterated with carnal gratifications and impure desires and pursuits they say they should fall it they did not practice self denial integrity of principle and real chastity of person they are spiritual to keep as far away as possible from the world and worldly things is their intention tell them that if the world were to really embrace their doctrine the human race would be extinguished from the face of the earth in little more than a hundred years and ther they will very quickly tell you that the principle principe of continence is not of the world and therefore the world hates it and that as it 13 agreeable to the example of Chri christana christ stand and is able to control the passions of nature it must bea heavens heavenly principle a principle which rises above t the ke sordid propensities of an earthly nature the bible is their guide though they have a few works which they value very highly works written through divine inspiration the sacred roll a book fully in dorsing and giving counsel to Shakers from the lord to the inhabitants of earth and revealed in the lebanon society in new york is a sacred book among amon a them THE MINISTRY the head of the church is vested in a ministry t 1 male and female the ministry are selected from rom the church and appointed by the last preceding head or leading character and their authority is confirmed and established established by the spontaneous union of the whole body the first in the ministry is the leading q elder of the society every family in a society has baa four elders two males and two females and to use the language of our good friend elder james S prescott of the east family at north union every family regulates ita its domestic institutions in its own way subject only to the ministry this is popular sovereignty THE SHAKERS AND MODERN spiritualism although the shakers claim to have been in communication with spirits for very many years see their divine revelations etc they do not as a people indorse modern spiritualism they say t the e manifestations may be from disembodied spirits its but think they must generally be of a low order PROPERTY all numbers members are equally holden according L to their several abilities to |
