The Shakers and the Civil War in Kentucky

Joined
Nov 26, 2016
Location
central NC
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The Historic Centre House is one of 34 surviving buildings located at Pleasant Hill.
During a 105-year span, the Pleasant Hill Shakers constructed more than 260 structures on the property.
@Southern Unionist and I recently had the opportunity to spend a week exploring the Bluegrass State. Our adventure began in Harrodsburg, KY where we enjoyed the lovely accommodations and mouth-watering food at the Beaumont Inn. Much thanks to @donna, @John Winn and James N. for their information about this wonderful inn. I hope to share some pictures of it later. Douglas and I spent a day exploring the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and now I’m delighted to share it with you. Enjoy @Southern Unionist's photos!

The following is an excerpt from the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill website and was written by Tim Talbott. It provides a concise explanation of the Shakers and how they were affected by the American Civil War.

“The Society of Believers, more commonly known as the Shakers, immigrated to America from England in 1774 to avoid religious persecution. By the early nineteenth century, they had founded two thriving communities in Kentucky.

The settlement that was established at Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, flourished thanks to its productive community members and the site’s location in the fertile Bluegrass Region. The Shakers grew many crops and raised high quality livestock, both of which they used for their own consumption and sold along with surplus hand-crafted items.

The years immediately before the Civil War proved to be difficult for maintaining membership in the celibate Shaker community. It was challenging to recruit adult members, and young orphans brought into the community often left when they came of age. The Civil War only added to the difficulties. With the start of the war, their principal market of New Orleans was inaccessible. In addition, the Shakers were pacifists so they were sometimes viewed critically by their Unionist and secessionist neighbors. Furthermore, the Shakers did not believe in slavery, which was an established institution in Kentucky.

The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle, was fought on October 8, 1862, just seventeen miles from Pleasant Hill. Both Union and Confederate armies took advantage of the Shakers’ pacifist nature. Their belief in serving those who were in need wiped out the community’s resources when thousands of troops arrived on their doorstep. While no structures were damaged, the presence of the soldiers took a toll on the community’s supply of food, crops and livestock. Shaker sympathy for the injured showed in their efforts to care for the Perryville wounded left in Harrodsburg. Many of the sick were left behind in their community as the armies moved away, and one soldier from Georgia who died at Pleasant Hill was buried in the community cemetery. In the last two years of the war guerillas often raided Pleasant Hill and made life even more difficult for the Shaker members.

Combined with the losses incurred during the Civil War, the Shakers were reluctant to join the industrial movement that spread across the United States after the conflict. Their way of life - agriculture and useful crafts - were now produced large-scale and on a global market. By 1910, only a handful of Shakers still lived at Pleasant Hill. The last-surviving member died in 1923, thus ending the community.”


Men on the right, women on the left. The Centre House pictured above and below is symmetrical. This was not a sexist society, but one that practiced celibacy.
Shaker2.jpg

House of worship. They did not call it a church. Separate doors for men and women, like everywhere else on the property. Separate everything!
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Shaker4.jpg


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Inside the worship meeting house. A cappella music only. The acoustics were very impressive!
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The oldest structure in the village
Shaker7.jpg

The Trustee's Table. We enjoyed dinner there one evening.
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East Family Home (on the right).
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This timeless Shaker design has become a classic. We saw several authentic pieces of furniture.
Shaker10.jpg
 
View attachment 307711
The Historic Centre House is one of 34 surviving buildings located at Pleasant Hill.
During a 105-year span, the Pleasant Hill Shakers constructed more than 260 structures on the property.
@Southern Unionist and I recently had the opportunity to spend a week exploring the Bluegrass State. Our adventure began in Harrodsburg, KY where we enjoyed the lovely accommodations and mouth-watering food at the Beaumont Inn. Much thanks to @donna, @John Winn and James N. for their information about this wonderful inn. I hope to share some pictures of it later. Douglas and I spent a day exploring the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and now I’m delighted to share it with you. Enjoy @Southern Unionist's photos!

The following is an excerpt from the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill website and was written by Tim Talbott. It provides a concise explanation of the Shakers and how they were affected by the American Civil War.

“The Society of Believers, more commonly known as the Shakers, immigrated to America from England in 1774 to avoid religious persecution. By the early nineteenth century, they had founded two thriving communities in Kentucky.

The settlement that was established at Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, flourished thanks to its productive community members and the site’s location in the fertile Bluegrass Region. The Shakers grew many crops and raised high quality livestock, both of which they used for their own consumption and sold along with surplus hand-crafted items.

The years immediately before the Civil War proved to be difficult for maintaining membership in the celibate Shaker community. It was challenging to recruit adult members, and young orphans brought into the community often left when they came of age. The Civil War only added to the difficulties. With the start of the war, their principal market of New Orleans was inaccessible. In addition, the Shakers were pacifists so they were sometimes viewed critically by their Unionist and secessionist neighbors. Furthermore, the Shakers did not believe in slavery, which was an established institution in Kentucky.

The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle, was fought on October 8, 1862, just seventeen miles from Pleasant Hill. Both Union and Confederate armies took advantage of the Shakers’ pacifist nature. Their belief in serving those who were in need wiped out the community’s resources when thousands of troops arrived on their doorstep. While no structures were damaged, the presence of the soldiers took a toll on the community’s supply of food, crops and livestock. Shaker sympathy for the injured showed in their efforts to care for the Perryville wounded left in Harrodsburg. Many of the sick were left behind in their community as the armies moved away, and one soldier from Georgia who died at Pleasant Hill was buried in the community cemetery. In the last two years of the war guerillas often raided Pleasant Hill and made life even more difficult for the Shaker members.

Combined with the losses incurred during the Civil War, the Shakers were reluctant to join the industrial movement that spread across the United States after the conflict. Their way of life - agriculture and useful crafts - were now produced large-scale and on a global market. By 1910, only a handful of Shakers still lived at Pleasant Hill. The last-surviving member died in 1923, thus ending the community.”

Men on the right, women on the left. The Centre House pictured above and below is symmetrical. This was not a sexist society, but one that practiced celibacy.
House of worship. They did not call it a church. Separate doors for men and women, like everywhere else on the property. Separate everything!
Inside the worship meeting house. A cappella music only. The acoustics were very impressive!

The oldest structure in the village

The Trustee's Table. We enjoyed dinner there one evening.

East Family Home (on the right).

This timeless Shaker design has become a classic. We saw several authentic pieces of furniture.
The Centre House is gorgeous! The other buildings too. Like every thing the Shaker’s built or made, everything is simplistic but beautiful design.

We have a few Shaker firkins and a rocking chair. I just admire their work so much.

Love the pics!
 
The problem that the Shakers had was that they did not believe in procreation so they were doomed to extinction from the start.

Exactly! Aside from this and their separation-from-the-world rules, I admire most everything I learned about the Shakers. They were progressive thinkers who supported full equality for men, women and all races. They embraced technological advancements and were amazing architects and craftspeople. They also made a tart lemon pie! :hungry:

 
They sound a little like the Dunkers except for Dunkers having children? Pacifists, simple lives devoted to service to others, refusal to budge from principals.

Also there are significant parallels to the Moravians of central North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Pacifists, separatists, accepting of church control of personal life to a degree that was outside of mainstream thinking for their time, not allowing black slavery before the CW but not opposing it politically. Old Salem (in Winston-Salem NC) is very well preserved, and the Moravians have survived as a denomination by going mainstream, more like United Methodists these days than the old school Moravians who came here from Europe.

The problem that the Shakers had was that they did not believe in procreation so they were doomed to extinction from the start.

They believed that they were living in the Millennium as defined in the book of Revelations, and it was written several places in the Bible that Christians would neither be married nor have children during that period. They believed that the Second Coming of Christ had been symbolically fulfilled in the life of their founder Ann Lee, the first female founder or leader of a religious movement of any significant size in America. At their peak, they had members in quite a few states. New members brought their children with them, who were free to leave when they became adults, or officially join at age 21.
 
I had the unexpected pleasure one morning of touring another Shaker settlement, that one also no longer active, but preserved and open to visitors. Surprisingly, it's located adjacent to the Hartford (Conn.) - Springfield (Mass.) Airport, which is actually mid-way between the two towns at Windsor Locks, Connecticut. I had spent the night at a nearby motel and had time before my flight home to examine the buildings, most of which I remember resembling these (although as I also remember, they were wooden instead of brick), and which were plainly visible from the air.
 
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Exactly! Aside from this and their separation-from-the-world rules, I admire most everything I learned about the Shakers. They were progressive thinkers who supported full equality for men, women and all races. They embraced technological advancements and were amazing architects and craftspeople. They also made a tart lemon pie! :hungry:

Yes, I agree. Ecstatic dance will not take the place of procreation if you want members. That said, they did beautiful work and were pacifist. True craftsmanship in their work.
 
View attachment 307711
The Historic Centre House is one of 34 surviving buildings located at Pleasant Hill.
During a 105-year span, the Pleasant Hill Shakers constructed more than 260 structures on the property.
@Southern Unionist and I recently had the opportunity to spend a week exploring the Bluegrass State. Our adventure began in Harrodsburg, KY where we enjoyed the lovely accommodations and mouth-watering food at the Beaumont Inn. Much thanks to @donna, @John Winn and James N. for their information about this wonderful inn. I hope to share some pictures of it later. Douglas and I spent a day exploring the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and now I’m delighted to share it with you. Enjoy @Southern Unionist's photos!

The following is an excerpt from the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill website and was written by Tim Talbott. It provides a concise explanation of the Shakers and how they were affected by the American Civil War.

“The Society of Believers, more commonly known as the Shakers, immigrated to America from England in 1774 to avoid religious persecution. By the early nineteenth century, they had founded two thriving communities in Kentucky.

The settlement that was established at Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, flourished thanks to its productive community members and the site’s location in the fertile Bluegrass Region. The Shakers grew many crops and raised high quality livestock, both of which they used for their own consumption and sold along with surplus hand-crafted items.

The years immediately before the Civil War proved to be difficult for maintaining membership in the celibate Shaker community. It was challenging to recruit adult members, and young orphans brought into the community often left when they came of age. The Civil War only added to the difficulties. With the start of the war, their principal market of New Orleans was inaccessible. In addition, the Shakers were pacifists so they were sometimes viewed critically by their Unionist and secessionist neighbors. Furthermore, the Shakers did not believe in slavery, which was an established institution in Kentucky.

The Battle of Perryville, Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle, was fought on October 8, 1862, just seventeen miles from Pleasant Hill. Both Union and Confederate armies took advantage of the Shakers’ pacifist nature. Their belief in serving those who were in need wiped out the community’s resources when thousands of troops arrived on their doorstep. While no structures were damaged, the presence of the soldiers took a toll on the community’s supply of food, crops and livestock. Shaker sympathy for the injured showed in their efforts to care for the Perryville wounded left in Harrodsburg. Many of the sick were left behind in their community as the armies moved away, and one soldier from Georgia who died at Pleasant Hill was buried in the community cemetery. In the last two years of the war guerillas often raided Pleasant Hill and made life even more difficult for the Shaker members.

Combined with the losses incurred during the Civil War, the Shakers were reluctant to join the industrial movement that spread across the United States after the conflict. Their way of life - agriculture and useful crafts - were now produced large-scale and on a global market. By 1910, only a handful of Shakers still lived at Pleasant Hill. The last-surviving member died in 1923, thus ending the community.”


Men on the right, women on the left. The Centre House pictured above and below is symmetrical. This was not a sexist society, but one that practiced celibacy.
House of worship. They did not call it a church. Separate doors for men and women, like everywhere else on the property. Separate everything!
Inside the worship meeting house. A cappella music only. The acoustics were very impressive!

The oldest structure in the village

The Trustee's Table. We enjoyed dinner there one evening.

East Family Home (on the right).

This timeless Shaker design has become a classic. We saw several authentic pieces of furniture.
Did you take s boat ride on the Green River? I did that years ago when I visited Shaker Village.
 
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