USA > Ohio > Shakers of Ohio; fugitive papers concerning the Shakers of Ohio, with unpublished manuscripts > Part 33
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For December 16th we have the following minute: "A vio- lent mob came to the Center House today, in the employ of James Bedle, who had previously left the Society and bound his children to Peter Pease. His present aim is to take the children. away by force. The house doors being closed and barred, they took a battering ram and broke a door in two; they then rushed in and committed considerable violence and abuse; but failed in getting the children. After a shameful day's riot, they dispersed for the night."
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For December 29th the subject is continued. . "Another mob appears to be collecting at Bedell's ; meanwhile they are trying to prove before referees that the children have been abused by the Society ; in this Bedle failed. The referees then recommended to Peter Pease to give up the Indentures, for the sake of peace, which was accordingly agreed upon; and the mob dispersed." The next day James Bedle came in the "morning and dragged off his 2 youngest children, much against their wills. They went off screaming and hollowing. The mother and the 2 oldest chil- dren have fled to some other quarter to avoid violence and enjoy their own faith."
MOB OF 1817.
The year 1817 was fruitful in disturbances at Union Village. The Church Record is very brief ,on this subject, although nam- ing some of the parties participating in the riots. The Hamp- ton MS. is more complete, and in the main, will here be followed.
The riotous proceedings commenced as early as January 12, when Patty Rude, an apostate woman, came to church, with a party of ruffians, to take her daughter Sarah (a young woman) away, by force.
On July 31, under pretence of law, a scene of mobbing and rioting was perpetrated. The object was to get a youth (Jona- than Davis, Jr.) away, who had left the society some time previ- ously. Being under age his father authorized some of the breth- ren to go and bring him home, which was done. John Davis, an outsider and cousin, by whom he was harbored, raised a company in Lebanon, who came out in great indignation and threatened to burn the village to ashes, if the youth was not given over to them. Thirty or forty men came with a constable and arrested the brethren who brought the boy home; and had them bound over to court. They were indicted before the grand jury, but nothing came of it.
On December 3rd, Richard McNemar and Calvin Morrell went to Columbus to present a remonstrance to the Legislature against Van Vleet and Cameron, editors of the Western Star, and others on account of persecutions. These persecutions grad- ually died away, and in a few years ceased altogether.
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As there was some little after-litigation on account of the John Davis affair, and as at the time of these troubles, the prose- cutors had their say in the Western Star, added to which there was placed in circulation a book derogatory to the Shakers,. it may be well here to note the facts as they occurred. The following is a narrative of William Davis, a near relative: of the said John and Jonathan Davis: "This is to certify that I,. William Davis, of the County of Warren, and State of Ohio, being one of the party included in the deposition of John Davis. for committing a riot etc., on the bodies of the said John Davis and Jonathan Davis, which deposition hath been published to the world: in consequence of all being indicted who were present. at the transaction, we have never had a suitable opportunity to open the matter as it really was. I now feel it my duty to give: the public a statement of the facts which were as follows:
Some time in the month of July 1817 my youngest brother" Jonathan Davis ran away from the school where my father Elijah had placed him and went to the town of Lebanon, to the said John Davis, his cousin. My Father and I went after the boy, but John Davis, Eli Truitt, and others forbade us to have anything to do with the boy; stating that they would protect him from. his father, to the shedding of the last drop of their blood. - I went several times, to see if by any means I could get them to give him up to his father; but to no effect. My Father and Mother went, but could effect nothing. Some time after, John Wallace was informed by a friend, where John Davis and the boy were at work, some distance from the town. My father, anxious to obtain the boy, and insisting on having him brought home, myself and four others went to the place where they were- at work ; I went forward and took my brother by the arm and told him he must go home with me; John Davis rose up with a large drawing-knife in his hand and told me if I did not let him go, he would cut off my arm; - at this time John Wallace came forward and said to John Davis, 'Be civil we want nothing to do with you ; - we only wish to take Jonathan to his father ;' - the. said Davis then left me and turned to Wallace with his knife drawn, in a position to strike. At this time, it is said, that Wallace showed a spear to Davis and bade him stand off. - I then took
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the boy some distance, when John Davis called to the boy and said, 'You have got my hat.' We then threw the hat back to Davis. When we had gotten about 50 yards with the boy, John Davis passed us with the knife in one hand and a club in the other, stating that he would soon have help, and take the boy from us. After passing us a little, he turned back and came to where we were, and drew the knife as if to strike; one of us then stopped the knife with a stick - he drew it again and it was stopped in like manner, which ended the attempts at striking. We frequently requested him to withdraw peaceably, for we wanted nothing to do with him; nevertheless he continued to follow us for sixty or seventy rods, threatening us with violence. - He then returned to the town of Lebanon, and made oath that violence was committed by us and obtained a warrant for us all; which was executed without resistance. - He also, on the same day, collected a mob. who came to take the boy; - they sur- rounded the house where the boy was, with clubs, loaded whips etc. - but the boy made his escape through the midst of the crowd, and went to the woods and secreted himself from them. - I do further testify, that we had no intentions of injuring the said John Davis, nor any other person or persons; - our only object was to bring the boy to his father and mother. This I am willing to testify to, when legally called upon.
WILLIAM DAVIS."
MOB OF 1819.
On the 7th of August, while the Shakers were quietly attend- ing to their respective duties, suddenly a mob of horsemen, from , about Middletown, between thirty and forty in number, entered the village from the North, passed the Meeting-House, and moved on swiftly, till they reached the South House; where they stopped, hitched their horses, and with great agility entered the yard, rushed to the door, but finding it barred, commenced strik- ing it with their feet, to burst it open. There being none but women in the house at their arrival, a number of the Brethren collected to see the cause of the uproar, and their business was demanded. The reply was that they had heard that one Phoebe Johnson, a member of the Society, wanted to leave, but was forc-
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ibly restrained. Miss Johnson, at that time, was in the orchard, and could have kept out of the way, but refrained from so doing. It was agreed that members of the mob should con- verse with her, conditioned however that she should not be ' abused in any manner whatsoever. The young woman then came to the opposite door and conversed with them through the window, and informed them that she had no desire to leave the Society, and if she had there was no one to hinder her from going whenever she chose; that she was of lawful age to choose and act for herself, and especially would scorn to go in such com- pany as those men assembled. They persisted however, as if they meant to force her away, surrounded the house to prevent her from escaping, and grew insolent and daringly wicked with railing and cursing. Attempts were made to enter the house, which were successfully frustrated, and the intruders were ordered off the premises, but without effect. They mocked at the mention of the law, and answered every suggestion of reason with curses. In this manner they went on until late in the afternoon, when they withdrew after being convinced that the lady had effected her escape from the house.
On the Monday (August 9th) following, early in the day, the mob again appeared with a formidable reinforcement of horse and foot, amounting in all to about two hundred. They passed through the village in the same manner as before, and towards the same place, but with greater fury and less appearance of order or government. Their abuse was perpetrated on all such as they could sieze on the road till they reached the South House, where they hitched their horses and then paraded towards the gate, where they were met by the Deacons, and by the author- ity of the laws of the State, were forbidden to enter the yard . but with savage shrieks they leaped the fence in swarms, bearing down all who stood in their way. Calvin Morrell was knocked down and beaten almost to death, though he had uttered no word nor made any interruption. They rushed on towards the house - the Shakers standing in crowds to obstruct the passage; but with fists, clubs and loaded whips, the mob forced its way to the door which they commenced beating. Captain Spencer, who had some authority over the mob, now commanded the rioters to
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desist ; but on every side the outrage continued, crying out in false terms, and seeking every occasion to vent their lawless fury with hard blows on both men and women, for no distinction was made. Thus, in one continued uproar of violence, they continued until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when Squire Welton appeared, and by the laws of the State commanded them to disperse; that, if there was any duty to be performed, it belonged to the civil officers; that only resistence to the constituted authority could the military be called out, etc. To this some mocked, and others stated the magistrate should be tarred and feathered. However, the civil authorities were strong enough to disperse the mob.
This mob had been incited by the "Western Star," published at Lebanon, under the pretence of liberating the children of David and Anna Johnson, who had been with the Shakers for thirteen years, and that with the consent of the parents. Their mother, who had there deceased, a member of the Society, left it as her last and special request, that her children might be brought up under the care of the Shakers. The father, who was not a mem- ber had given his consent that they should remain. Indeed he appeared in the midst of the mob and disapproved of their pro- ceedings, but they heeded him not. The Shakers did not prohibit the mob from taking the children, provided they could be found, because their lawful protection was in their father; and they would not be justified in giving them up, contrary to their own feelings, and the will of both parents. Some of the children fled and hid themselves. Ithamar, who was nearly of age, was over- powered and dragged off to Lebanon and there put under keepers, under a pretence of a precept for debt; but obtaining his dis- mission, he returned home the next morning. David, the father, collected his children and encouraged them to persevere, promis- ing to protect them to the utmost of his ability. The good offices of the Shakers supplemented the efforts of the father.
MOB OF 1824.
The last recorded acts of a mob I have been able to find in the Journal is that of September 7, 1824. It is mentioned as fol- lows: "This evening at 8 o'clock, a small mob of about 16 men,
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came to the East house with one Francis Drake, to take away his daughter, Harriet R. D., a young woman, who did not choose to go. After making some disturbance in the family; the chh. heard the alarm. The Brethren immediately repaired thither and took 10 of them prisoners without any harsh means, and brought them to the office - fed and lodged them comfortably till morn- ing .- Sept. 8. This morning we discharged our prisoners, on their giving us their 'Word and honor !! ' that they would do better hereafter."
SOME SHAKER METHODS.
From the statements already made it may be assumed that the Shakers did not rest quietly under persecutions. At times they were compelled to take a bold stand. The attitude of the "Western Star" was so flagrant and bitter towards the Shakers as to cause hatred towards the Society by the people of the vil- lage of Lebanon. Just why this hostility was displayed men- tion is not given. In order to resent the bitter course of the · denizens of Lebanon the Shakers employed drastic measures. Under date of June 15, 1818, the Journal state that, "Elder Peter (Pease?) and Nathan S. (Sharp) went to Lebanon and settled all accounts, intending to trade no more with them at present, in consequence of their inveterate prejudice and persecuting spirit." When trade was again resumed the Journal does not: state. In all probability this condition did not last long, for the people of Lebanon could not afford to suffer the stand thus taken, and concluded to mend their manners.
For Sunday, August 5, 1829, the following notice occurs : "The execrable John Wallace dared to come here today, and set his feet within our Meeting House door." Nothing more is added. This is too frequently the case throughout the entire Journal. The Shakers had every reason to feel resentment to- wards John Wallace. My Mother, then a girl of thirteen, was present on the occasion above referred to. I have often heard her tell the story. . On that day a large crowd attended the Sha- ker meeting. John Wallace entered and quietly took a seat and behaved with decorum. One of the Shakers arose and said : "The children of God cannot worship so long as the devil was in their midst," and then commanded Wallace to leave the Sanc-
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tuary. Wallace made no disposition to comply with the demand. For a few moments the silence was oppressive, whilst all eyes were turned on Wallace. The same elder again arose and in- formed the spectators that unless they ejected Wallace the re- ligious services would not be performed. Of course such a de- mand could not be complied with. It was no concern of the audience, but a matter that rested with the offended. Silence again reigned supreme for a few moments. All at once, with- out any preconcerted signal the Shakers suddenly arose, and like a person driving geese, began to "shoo" the people out. The visitors made a rush for the doors, most of whom were laughing, and in the struggle at the door my Mother was thrown violently from the steps to the ground and hurt. For this she never bore them any ill-will, and always told the incident in a good-natured way."
The Shakers have always been subjected to petty annoy- ances, even down to the present time. My Mother stated that she knew, in her younger days, of a party of young men and wo- men from Franklin, who went to Shakertown, evidently bent on a lark. They rudely entered the dwelling house, took possession of the bedrooms, emptied vessels in the middle of the beds, and from thence to the yard and garden, plucking such flowers as they fancied, besides committing other depredations. And all this by persons who considered themselves to be the elite of Franklin.
Elder Joseph R. Slingerland informed me that the public services were dispensed with owing to the conduct of the stu- dents from the Lebanon Normal School. Not long since he was forced to reprimand a stranger, then on their premises. For his pains he received the reply, "I have as much right here as you."
CONCLUSION.
The foregoing relation of persecution and mob law inflicted on the Shakers covers nearly the entire amount of serious attacks and troubles which they were called upon to suffer. This, how- ever, was as nothing compared to what their Eastern coadjutors were forced to endure. A gradual change was taking place all the time. People who attended their public services became bet-
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ter acquainted with their principles and manner of life. These public meetings long continued to arrest the attention of large crowds. As many as a hundred sleighs have been counted at one time hitched about the Meeting House. I remember while I was yet a boy large crowds were attracted to "Shaker meet- ing." On one occasion, the crowd was so great that I sat on the floor within two feet of the speaker, who had scarcely room to stand. But at that time all ill-feeling had long before died out. There never was a good motive for afflicting the Shakers. Misrepresentation, falsehood, malice and officious persons caused wrong and fear. The order never was strong enough, nor suffi- ciently aggressive to arouse religious rancor and hatred, although such was displayed. They should have been accorded the same right as their tormentors had demanded for themselves. Their persecutors were not savages or barbarians, but those professing to be civilized and believers in Christianity, yet refusing to prac- tice the Golden Rule.
Note .- It is a matter of justice to state that in the prepara- tion of the foregoing article I have consulted only Shaker docu- ments. I made efforts to secure the writings of Barton Stone but failed. Besides the documents referred to, I have used Mc- Nemar's "Account of Shakerism among the subjects of the late revival in Ohio and Kentucky." The Church Journal or Record, I have used is volume A, covering the period from March 27, 1805, to April 30, 1861. This Record was not in my possession when I wrote the history of the Shakers of Union Village. From the year 1805 to 1842 the Record is in the hand writing of Peter Pease, which is neat and plain. From the beginning to Dec. 19, 18II, it is made up of extracts from a journal kept by Peter Pease. Besides this series there is another called B which con- tains copy of covenant, declarations, deeds, etc .; C contains a list of members and minors, admissions, ages, nativity, etc .; D is devoted to necrology, and E of withdrawals. These I have not examined. The Shaker authorities have been very polite and pleasant to me in my researches, granting every request that has been made.
Franklin, O., January 6, 1902.
SPIRITUALISM AMONG THE SHAKERS OF UNION VILLAGE, OHIO.
INTRODUCTION.
What is known as modern spiritualism may be said to repre- sent an entirely different phase from that outbreak that occurred among the Shakers three-quarters of a century ago. The former dates its origin from the Rochester rappings of 1847-48, when the house of John D. Fox was disturbed by noises, which replied to the raps of his daughter Kate, then a child nine years old. Such noises had haunted houses before, but it remained for the Fox family to interpret the same by the construction of a mode of signals. If modern spiritualism arose from one of the common- est superstititions in the world-a belief in haunted houses-the same cannot be asserted of the manifestation among the Shakers, for the type partook purely of the Biblical form-that of visions and inspiration. There were no rappings, table-turnings and other phenomena so common among spiritualists. The agents through which the revelations were given were called "instru- ments," "seers" and "inspired ones." The name "medium" or "sensitive" nowhere occurs in such records as have been placed at my disposal. Neither are the two phases of the same common origin. That of the Shakers preceded the one at Rochester by a period of ten years, and reached its decline and practical extinc- tion before the latter had been inaugurated. It was even prophe- sied among the Shakers that the revelations should cease in 1847, after which the world should take up the phenomena. The first notice of the Rochester rappings by the Shakers of Union Vil- lage occurs in their "Church Records" for February 9, 1850, in the followoing note :
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. "A curious account appears in the N. York Tribune and other pub- lic prints, giving out that there are now and have been for some time, strange and mysterious Knockings and sounds, heard in the neighborhood
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Rochester, Auburn and many other places in the state of New York -And that no investigation hitherto made, could ascribe them to any other than a spiritual agency, as a cause- Many speculations, and contrary opinions are prevalent in relation to them, and much mockery and derision offer'd by those who admit nothing as true, only that which is made known to them thro' the medium of other external senses-The more rational and consistent part of the community, forming no positive opinion, are waiting to see what time will develop on the interesting subject."
ORIGIN OF SPIRITUALISM AMONG THE SHAKERS.
From the very inception of spiritualism the Shaker leaders appear to have been determined and anxious to accept it even in its most extravagant forms. It was received without question or investigation. It is not to be inferred that every member of the order throughout Shakerdom was carried away by the new belief, for the records indirectly indicate that a small minority held aloof. The belief then inculcated is the prevalent opinion down to the present time. As nearly all the members of the various communities accepted the revelations of the seers, it becomes a very interesting question in sociology whether this circumstance is due to the mode of life as practiced, or to the fact that the class drawn into this kind of organization is more susceptible to the supernatural. In all probability both are more or less respon- sible. It has been noticed by all visitors to Union Village that the women have peculiarly spiritual and resigned faces, with a sweetness of expression that cannot be described. It must be specially noticed that all the leaders and influential members of the various communities were ardent. believers in the revelations given during the period of excitement that swept over the various communities.
During the month of November, 1837, a religious revival broke out among the Shakers at Watervleit, Albany County, New York, and soon after a member of that society, a girl named Ann Mariah Goff, began to receive revelations, which were reported to the various communities, soon followed by the notice that all would within a short time be visited by heavenly messengers.
For a period of ten years the Shakers bestowed more time and thought on these visions than on any other question. Nor did they attempt to hide their light under a bushel. In 1843 they
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published "The Sacred Roll and Book," given by "the Lord God of Heaven to the inhabitants of the earth," 500 copies of which were distributed among the rulers of the earth. This book was affirmed to have been given through a holy man of God, who wrote and spoke as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. This work® contains 402 pages, divided into two parts, the first of which (222 pages) consists of the revelations, while the second (180 pages) is an appendix embracing the testimonies of ancient prophets, holy angels and living witnesses. The author was Philemon Stewart. The book is now rejected by the people of Union Vil- lage, and copies are becoming scarce. In 1849 appeared "The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom," in seven parts, by Paulina Bates, constituting a series of revelations commencing December 3, 1841, and ending December 5, 1843. The book con- tains 696 pages. The work did not receive the same welcome as the former, probably because the enthusiasm had spent its force.
The first published record of which I have any knowledge is the "Youth's Guide in Zion and Holy Mother's Promises," said to have been given by inspiration at Mount Lebanon, New York, on January 5, 1842, and printed at Canterbury, New Hampshire, the same year. It is a pamphlet of 36 pages, and purports to be a communication from "Holy Mother Wisdom" (the Holy Spirit) to the elders of the first order, to be given to the youth among believers. Following this there was published at the same place in 1843 "The Closing Roll" and "Sacred Covenant," the first revealed January 8, 1842, and the second December 31, 1841. The book containing these is a small quarto of 40 pages. I have never seen but two copies. In 1843 appeared "The Gospel Mon- itor," purporting to have been revealed by Ann Lee, and for the benefit of those placed in the care of children, and revealed at Mount Lebanon, New York, March 1, 1841. It embraces 48 pages. It is divided into four parts, the first containing an inter- view between the writer and Ann Lee; the second, Ann Lee's word to the children care-takers; the third, to the children, and the last to the elders. In all probability neither of these two small works were ever intended for public inspection. I never have been able to find either in any of the Shaker communities. I · secured some copies among the archives of North Union, which
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