What Is This Place?/ Who Were The Shakers

What Is This Place?/ Who Were The Shakers. . , You are standing on the site of the first Shaker settlement in the United States, founded in 1776. On these lands, the Shakers eventually established four "Families" starting with the Church Family, followed by the South Family, West Family and North Family During the early years, this community grew rapidly., By the 1820s the Niskayuna Watervliet Shakers owned or leased several thousand acres. The land extended eastward to include an island in the Mohawk River At one time this Church family site alone boasted more than twenty buildings. Today, nine structures remain in addition to the apple orchard, mill pond and cemetery, Together these buildings and grounds form the heart of the Watervliet (Albany) Shaker National Historic District which extends to the South, West, and North Family sites., [Side 2:] , Who Were the Shakers? , The first Shakers in America were immigrants seeking religious freedom. In 1774, a small group of Shakers followed their charismatic leader "Mother" Ann Lee from Manchester, England to New York City. They arrived just before the beginning of the American Revolution on August 6, 1774, and made their way north in 1776 to settle on land that is now the Albany International Airport. Before their journey, Mother Ann received a "revelation" that the Christ spirit contained both male and female qualities, and this spirit would one day return to walk among humanity. She and her followers called themselves "The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing," or "Believers." In worship, they sang, stamped, twirled and spoke in tongues, seeking to drive out evil spirits and communicate directly with their God's love. Observers called them "Shaking Quakers". Today most people know them simply as "Shakers.", Inspired by their radical religious beliefs, Shakers lived by the principles of gender and racial equality, confession of sins, pacifism, celibacy, and communal living., All but two of these Shakers who posed here for James Irving in 1870 remained Shakers for the rest of their lives. Among these Brethren and Sisters were: Elders, Eldresses, Trustees, and other community leaders; workers involved in the seed and broom industries and the short-lived silk industry: makers of baskets, bonnets, and furniture; a Brother who built a printing press and improved the design for a pea sheller and a Sister who was an expert in medicinal herbs., 1925. Clockwise from top left: Elizabeth DeLong; Josephine Hewitt Julia McNallen, who had lived at Waterviet for at least 55 years; and Harriet Jones who came to Watervliet in 1896 from the African-American Shaker community in Philadelphia, When the Church Family closed, all four sisters returned to The World, McNally and Hewitt are buried in the Shaker, Sisters and Brethren of the Church Family posed in an informal setting for James Irving c. 1870.