Shaker

Shaker

Member of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, a celibate millenarian sect. Derived from a branch of the radical English Quakers (see Society of Friends), the movement was brought to the U.S. in 1774 by Ann Lee, an illiterate textile worker whose followers accepted her as the second incarnation of Christ. The Shakers spread throughout New England from their base near Albany, N.Y., and later into Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, eventually establishing 19 communities. Communities held property in common, observed celibacy, and pursued a life of productive labour. Although sometimes persecuted for their pacifism and for bizarre beliefs falsely attributed to them, Shakers won admiration for their model farms and orderly, prosperous communities. Their talent for simple, functional design led to numerous inventions and innovations (see Shaker furniture). The movement reached its height in the 1840s and thereafter gradually declined. In the early 21st century only one working Shaker village remained: Sabbathday Lake, near New Gloucester, Maine.