Mysteries of the tyringham shakers unmasked: A new examination of people, facts, and figures

Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Winter 2003 by Paterwic, Stephen

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or Shakers, remain the longest-lived communal society in the United States. Ironically, however, as the number of actual Believers has continued to diminish, more and more people from "the world" have taken notice of them. Indeed, Shakerism is perhaps the only religion in existence where the number of adherents (seven in January, 2000) is vastly eclipsed by the thousands who have an interest in them.

Hundreds of books, articles and pamphlets have been produced which detail the material culture of Shakerism. This includes various aspects of the decorative arts, as well as furniture, herbs, seeds, cooking and music. In stark contrast, very little in depth work has been done on individual Shakers or Shaker communities. This latter omission is particularly serious because it has caused much of Shaker studies to occur out of context. Especially lacking is almost any attempt to put together the history of the smaller Shaker societies.

The tiniest and most unique of the lesser Shaker communities was Tyringham, Massachusetts.1 At its numerical peak in 1830, it barely and briefly had one hundred members, one third of whom were indentured children.2 Most other Shaker societies by comparison had over two hundred members and the largest communities had over five hundred members with single family units larger than Tyringham.3 Isolated as it was in the steep and shadowy hills of the southern Berkshires, Tyringham was also the least visited by outsiders. In contrast, at nearby Hancock, Massachusetts, and New Lebanon, New York, hundreds of people from "the world" called on the Believers. At these places on Sundays, visitors attended worship with the Shakers to see them "go forth in the dance." During the week, scores of customers traded with them. Seemingly forgotten Tyringham lived out its daily community life, mostly hidden from view and rarely visited even by Shakers. In addition, when hard times came to the community, little was done by Shaker leadership to bolster the society. As a result, Tyringham became the first Shaker community to dissolve due to lack of membership. At that time, April, 1875, no one could have foreseen that Tyringham's closure would be the precursor of a trend that would continue to the present. Today only the community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, remains of the once-flourishing nineteen Shaker societies.

Since Tyringham was small and isolated, and closed first, there has always been an aspect of mystery about it. Though Shakers lived at Tyringham, from the time of the first conversions in 1782 until the spring of 1875, the departure of twenty-three members in 1858 seems to be the most well-known event. Many "know all about it," while not being able to tell a single other fact about Tyringham Shaker history. Furthermore, as some Shaker scholars have pointed out, not one Shaker manuscript speaks of the departures. Deborah Burns, for example, in the Shaker Cities of Peace, Love, and, Union: A History of the Hancock Bishopric states that the Shakers at places like nearby New Lebanon record all kinds of insignificant details and comment on everything happening in the world, but fail to mention the departure of twenty-three members from a Shaker community.5 The Believers failure to mention this event at Tyringham has helped mythologize the event into some fantastic speculations that continue to this day. Common lore has it that Shaker records were destroyed or altered to delete references to the departures, and that the exodus involved young adults who left to get married or were involved in a sexual scandal of some sort. One local historian has even said that the Shakers were forbidden to discuss the matter with non-Shakers. Of course, none of these speculations is based upon a single Shaker source, yet these myths have become deep seated in the field of Shaker studies. The purpose of this article is to fully discuss the departures of 1858 and for the first time discover the true nature of the incident. In addition, by placing this event in the context of Shaker history, valuable additional insights can be gained about Tyringham Shaker history as well as Shakerism as a whole.

Upon analysis the myths that have grown up around the departures of 1858, are not consistent with what we know of how the Shakers had evolved from a closed and strict society in the 1790's to a more relaxed and open one by the 1850's. In the early years of Shakerism, the elders would have had the power to meddle with people writing diaries and journals. By 1858, this power had evaporated , and the ministry and elders were far too busy trying to shore up a rapidly deteriorating Shakerism than to bother with what members were privately writing at home. This can be seen clearly in the 1860 revision of the Millennial Laws governing Shaker conduct. The new rules show an almost complete reversal of the strict and constricting laws of 1845.(6) Furthermore, on a practical level, so many people kept records, how could the elders have made sure that what was written was only what was acceptable to them? Also, if all journals were collected and examined for offending passages, how come this itself has never been noted?