The Shakers

By Vickie McDonough

My husband and I recently took a trip to Kentucky. It's a beautiful state, filled with rolling hills, trees, and horses. One of the most interesting places we visited was the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. We discovered a beautiful historic village nestled in the hills outside of Lexington.

Shaker Building--note the straight front, big windows, multiple chimneys

The Shaker Community in America started when nine stalwart souls, fleeing religious persecution, ventured across the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York. Their leader was a short, stocky woman they called Mother Ann, who grew up in industrial Manchester, England, where she was a child laborer in the textile mills. She later married a blacksmith and gave birth to four children, all of whom died young. She turned her away from her wretched life and joined a dissident sect who worshipped by giving themselves to being, quite literally, moved by the spirit of God. Because of their animated movements they gained the title the “Shaking Quakers,” and then later “Shakers,” a name they eventually adopted for themselves.

This huge building had four stories. Two massive stair cases--one for men & one for women.

In 1780, the first two American converts joined the small community Ann established in Niskeyuna, north of Albany, New York. Mother Ann and the Shakers came under suspicion of not aiding the American Revolution against the British. Ann was placed in jail until George Clinton, governor of New York, released her, provided she did not work against the patriot cause. While her English followers opposed the war between the Colonies and Great Britain, they did not aid the British. Citing the example of Jesus Christ, the Shakers remained pacifists in future wars as well. Ann returned to Niskeyuna in 1783.

Mother Ann died at age 48 in 1784. Her followers took over and, in 1787, established the New Lebanon Shaker Village, southeast of Albany. It became the mother colony and the residence of the governing mother or father, the final authority and the maker and dispenser of laws.

Hand-woven towels displayed on wooden racks

Shaker buildings have pegs on most walls on which they hang their tools,
 clothing, lighting, and even furniture they want to get off the floors. 

The Shakers in America lived a communal life based on common ownership of property and goods, celibate purity, and confession of sins. The Shakers did not believe in procreation so they had to adopt children or allow converts with children into their community. The adopted children were given a choice at age 21 whether to remain with the Shaker community or go their way into the world.

A beautiful free-standing staircase.

Shaker communities were agriculturally based, and consisted of several Shaker "families." The celibate Shaker "family" was not a family of blood relations; rather all referred to themselves as brothers and sisters of the Shaker community. The sexes lived, and mostly worked, apart, living in communal homes that could house up to 100 people. The community meeting-house became the center of Shaker worship services on Sunday where the sexes sat in separate rows. The spontaneous dancing that was part of Shaker worship until the early 1800s became replaced by choreographed dancing. Around the 1840s spontaneous dancing returned, but by the end of the 19th century dancing ceased, and worship services were taken up with the singing of hymns, testimonials, a short homily, and silence.

Note that this building has two sets of doors so that men and women have their own entrances.

A group of Shakers came to central Kentucky in 1805 and established a village which they named Pleasant Hill. In the 1820s, the population peaked near 500. with over 4,000 acres of farmland acquired. The community thrived well past the mid-nineteenth century, but after the Civil War, changing social attitudes and the Industrial Revolution signaled the beginning of the end for the Pleasant Hill community. Kentucky Shakers no longer exist and only one community is active in New England, but their legacy stands tall in the form of their magnificent buildings with their unique architecture and beautiful hand-crafted woodwork at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

There were pretty gardens all over the property

SABOTAGE AT ANGELFIRE RANCH

Jackson Durant would go to any lengths to protect his young daughter and his ranch. He knows the puzzling incidents on his homestead are no accidents. Someone is after him…but who? And why? Reporter Mariah Reyes is determined to find out. She never expected her pursuit of a story on the once high profile pro-football-quarterback-turned-reclusive-rancher would endanger her life—nor that she’d fall for the cowboy. But when Jackson’s daughter is kidnapped, she’ll do anything to help save the little girl—even if it means becoming a target herself.
Rancher Under Fire, released Sept. 2nd




Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams in her fictional stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West during the 1800s. Vickie is the award-winning author of over thirty published books and novellas. Her books include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, and End of the Trail, which was the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel winner. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013.

Vickie has been married thirty-eight years to Robert. They have four grown sons, one of whom is married, and a precocious eight-year-old granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, antiquing, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com
































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