SHAKER MEDICINES
by HARRY D. PIERCY, M.D.*
When I began the study of this aspect
of SHAKER industry, I was
soon impressed with the large volume of
material available. As I
read I became more and more interested,
because I found here the
reflection of the therapeutic means and
methods used to heal the
sick in the remote past. In the famous
Papyrus Ebers, dating about
1552 B.c., are found the names of many herbs and mineral products
that have been used by physicians from
that early day down to
our own time. It cannot be said that
any revolutionary change
occurred in the methods and materials
of therapeutics until the
advent of the twentieth century.
This paper deals with herbal MEDICINES
in general use in the
nineteenth century. The vast number of
vegetable products-root,
stem, bark, leaf, blossom, and
fruit-with relatively few exceptions
owed their virtues more to traditional
use than to proven therapeutic
effectiveness. The extraction and assay
of the active principles of
these herbs awaited the day of the
physiological laboratory and the
development of analytical and synthetic
chemistry, conspicuous con-
tributions to the healing art of the
twentieth century.
I have lived long enough to have had
touch with the nineteenth
century, and having been, so to speak,
raised in a drug store, I
became familiar with herbs, fluid
extracts, and the bladder filled
with crude opium, at a very early age.
This experience of my early
youth permits a somewhat nostalgic
approach to this subject, but
the miracle drugs and the improved
diagnostic methods of the
present day give no occasion to regret
the passing of empiric
medicine and the coming of the day when
the sick of each generation
are better treated than those of the
one just past.
The SHAKERs were a remarkable people.
No other social-religious
experiment has left so large a volume
of records of all sorts-day
by day diaries, letters, pamphlets, and
books. No other social-
* Harry D. Piercy is a physician of
Cleveland. His article was given as a paper at
the seventeenth annual meeting of the
Ohio Academy of Medical History at the Ohio
State Museum, May 1, 1954.
336
Shaker Medicines 337
economic experiment, of which there
were some sixty during the
first quarter of the nineteenth
century, was so successful in spreading
over so wide an area, or gaining more
in property, or producing
more in goods. No other exerted so
great an influence on agri-
culture, animal husbandry, and
household arts, or set more lofty
ideals of industry, thrift, honesty,
sobriety, and integrity before the
young nation in the troublesome years
after the Revolutionary War.
It is necessary to recall, briefly, the
origin and growth of the
Shaker movement. About 1766 a small
group of English Quakers
aspired to seek perfection in a new
mode of worship and a new
way of life. So intense were their
feelings of worship that they
shook and trembled and danced,
sometimes for hours, so that in
derision they were called the Shakers.
Ann Lee, considered by her followers as
the feminine component
of the Godhead, was the head and
spiritual leader of this group.
Accompanied by seven of her followers,
she sailed from Liverpool
on the ship Mariah on May 10,
1774. The ship docked in New York
harbor, August 6, 1774, a stormy
passage requiring three months.
Arriving in this new country just
before the start of the
Revolutionary War, their peculiar
habits of worship and strange
way of life caused them to be regarded
with suspicion, and during
the years of the war, charges of
espionage and treachery were
brought, but not proven, against them.
It was not until 1780 that
the society was brought into some form
and converts began to
pour in.
The first colony was established in
Watervliet, New York, in
1787. Time does not permit the
portrayal of the persecutions, trials,
and sufferings of Ann and her followers
up to this point, but it
must be stated that her zeal and
strength of spirit and that of
James Whittaker, who had been subject
to Ann's influence since
early youth, and who was an inspiring
and forceful speaker, made
a gathering force that attracted
hundreds of seekers after the saving
grace the Shakers offered.
What was the cross these followers were
asked to bear? It con-
sisted in denial of all lusts of the
flesh; confession of sins to the
elders and those in authority; loving
all mankind as they loved each
338
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
other; renunciation of all private
property; and personal dedication
of the best and truest labors of the
individual for the benefit and
good of the whole community. In the
words of Mother Ann, it
meant "Hands to Work and Hearts to
God."
Marriage was forbidden. Mother Ann said
to Jonathan Slosson,
who was in love with a certain young
woman, "The marriage of the
flesh is a covenant with death and an
agreement with hell."1
Certainly austere and to us forbidding
conditions for salvation!
We must remember this gathering of
converts was at a time of
great and bitter doctrinal disputes,
causing general spiritual unrest
and intense religious emotionalism
throughout the eastern states.
Certain of these troubled souls found
in the renunciation, humility,
and useful way of life of the Shakers
the means to peace of mind
and a sure sense of salvation. To these
the price seemed not too high.
Ann Lee died at Watervliet, September
8, 1784. News of the
passing of the "Mother of
Zion" was published in the Albany
Gazette and carried to the surrounding country by messengers.
A
great assembly of believers and
unbelievers attended her funeral,
and Father James Whittaker said to the
world, "This that we so
much esteem, and so much adore, is a
treasure worth laboring for:
it is the only means of salvation that
will ever be offered to sinners;
it is the last display of God's grace
to a lost world."2 James
Whittaker, worn out by his labors in
spreading the faith, survived
Mother Ann less than two years. He died
at the age of thirty-six.
His funeral was held July 21, 1786. He
was the last of those
faithful ministers who brought this
gospel to this land.
Now the remarkable thing is that this
little band started a social-
economic religious order that grew and
prospered in the years ahead.
It attracted to its fold substantial
and influential people of all walks
of life, individuals of great native
ability and great integrity. By
1794 there were eleven communities
scattered through New England,
and by 1826 there were nineteen
communities extending westward
into Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The
order comprised a total
1 Edward Deming Andrews, The People
Called Shakers (New York, 1953), 22.
2 Ibid., 50.
Shaker Medicines 339
membership over the years of more than
16,000 persons. Three
communities are still struggling on
with a total membership of less
than fifty. The fire and enthusiasm of
the early days are gone, and
we now view the dying embers of the
inspirational flame that for
more than a hundred years was fed by
the consecrated devotion of
hundreds of men and women.
These communities consisted of from one
hundred to six hundred
or eight hundred people, divided into
families containing not more
than one hundred, and known in the
community as the gathering
family, the mill family, the church
family, and so forth. Each
community owned from one thousand to
six thousand or more
acres of land, on which they grew their
crops and pastured their
herds of fine cattle and flocks of
sheep. Huge barns were built to
house the animals and provide storage
for grain and fodder. Mills
were built to grind the corn and wheat
and to saw up the huge
virgin growth of timber for buildings,
for cabinets, tables, and
chairs, and for the many needs which
wood served.
Spinning shops were established, and
here the wool and linen
threads were woven into the homespun
which clothed the brethren
and sisters. In the cobblers' shops
carefully lasted shoes were made
from their own tanned leather. Their
industry and skill of pro-
duction produced articles of
exceptional quality for the community,
and their surplus found ready takers
among the people of the
"world."
Among these industries was the
cultivation, gathering, and
packaging of numerous medicinal herbs.
This was a natural out-
growth of the Shakers' skill in
gardening and an example of their
ability to see the economic advantage
in supplying a country-wide
demand. It is to be remembered that in
that early day, in both the
Old and the New World, there was great
faith in the curative
features of herbs. When the demand was
for some herb not readily
grown at home, they imported such from
Europe and South
America. This industry was claimed by
the Shakers to have been
started at New Lebanon, New York, about
1800 and to have been
the first mass production of herbs in
this country. This statement is
340
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
substantiated by an interview between
Edward Fowler of the New
Lebanon society and a representative of
the American Journal of
Pharmacy in 1852. Fowler is quoted as saying:
It is about fifty years since our
Society first originated as a trade in this
country the business of cultivating and
preparing medicinal plants for the
supply and convenience of apothecaries
and druggists and for about twenty
years conducted it on a limited scale.
[About 1820] Drs. E. Harlow and
G. K. Lawrence, of our society, the
latter an excellent botanist, gave their
attention to the business, and induced
a more systematic arrangement, and
scientific manner of conducting it,
especially as to the seasons for collection,
varieties, and methods of preparation.
Fowler continues:
There are now occupied as physic
gardens in the different branches of
our Society nearly two hundred acres,
of which about fifty acres are at our
village. Hyoscyamus, belladonna,
taraxacum, aconite, poppies, lettuce, sage,
summer savory, marjoram, dock, burdock,
valerian and horehound occupy
a large portion of the ground and about
fifty minor varieties are cultivated
in addition. We collect about two
hundred varieties of indigenous plants
and purchase from the South, West and
Europe some thirty or forty others,
many of which are not recognized in the
pharmacopoeia or the dispensa-
tories, but which are called for in
domestic practice and abundantly used.
At this time the New Lebanon society
had three double presses
in constant operation and occasionally
used two others. Each of
these was capable of pressing one
hundred pounds daily. Mr. Fowler
informed the reporter that this plant
manufactured a total amount
of dried extracts of about six to eight
thousand pounds per annum.
The greatest demand was for extract of
taraxacum (dandelion),
thirty-seven hundred pounds having been
produced over the pre-
vious year. The reporter thought the
Shakers had a very well-
equipped and well-managed laboratory
and regretted his visit could
not have been more prolonged that he
might avail himself of the
hospitality proffered by the society.3
Time does not permit the detailed
naming of the many and varied
3American Journal of Pharmacy, XVIII (1852), 88.
Shaker Medicines 341
herbs, roots and barks, and berries
cleaned and carefully packaged
by the Shakers. Extensive herb gardens
were maintained at New
Lebanon, New York; Enfield, New
Hampshire; Union Village near
Lebanon, Ohio; Harvard, Massachusetts;
South Union in Kentucky;
and other Shaker settlements. In
addition to the herbs they had large
gardens of red roses, from which they
distilled rose water for
flavoring their apple pies and soothing
fevered brows. At New
Lebanon there were large poppy gardens,
and in the early morning
the white-capped sisters could be seen
carefully slitting the pods
from which the crimson petals had just
fallen. In the evening they
returned with little knives to scrape
off the dried juice. This crude
opium was sold at a high price and was
one of the most profitable
products of the gardens.4
Records are available which reveal the
rapid growth of the herb
business. The New Lebanon records show
shipments in 1831 of a
box of herbs valued at $30.68 to Paris;
and thirteen boxes of
medicinal herbs valued at $895.65 were
sent to Charles Whitlaw,
"Botanist of London,
England." During the year 1831 four thousand
pounds of roots and herbs were sent to
the market. By 1836 the
production was six thousand pounds and
rose to sixteen thousand,
five hundred in 1849.5
The Harvard community herb business
grew to such proportions
that in 1848 they were obliged to
construct a large building to
provide for the preparation and storage
of the herbs gathered from
their gardens and from the surrounding
fields and forests. In that
year they distilled 165 gallons of
peach water, made 134 pounds
of ointment and 49 gallons of buckthorn
syrup. From February
1849 to February 1850 they pressed
10,152 pounds of herbs, roots
and barks, and berries. The income
amounted to $4,021.31. In 1851
the sales amounted to $5,653.44; in
1852, $8,300.00. They shipped
packaged herbs, peach water, and other
products to Boston and
New York City and to Wilson, Fairbanks
and Company in Cali-
fornia. A diary note dated February 24,
1853, reads, "Press 250
4 Good Housekeeping, XLIII
(1906), 37.
5 Edward Deming Andrews, The
Community Industries of the Shakers (New York
State Museum Handbook 15, Albany, 1932), 91.
342
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
pounds and pack 79 different varieties
of two pounds each to go to
London, England."6
About 1830 they began the manufacture
of alcoholic extracts of
herbs and roots. A catalog of
"Shaker Fluid Extracts" prepared by
the Society of Shakers, Mt. Lebanon,
New York, is available. It
is not dated but probably was published
about 1875. It bears the
following statement:
In presenting you a new edition of our catalog
we would call especial
notice to our inspissated juices and
superior fluid extracts prepared in vacuo.
Our particular attention has been
directed to this branch of business for
some years past, and we have procured
very perfect and expensive apparatus
and the instructions and assistance of
some of the best chemists and phar-
maceutists. We have been able to
produce extracts which we confidently
believe are not inferior to any, and
for which we have received high
encomiums from many of the medical
faculty and some of our principal
colleges.
Our Society having been actively
engaged in the business of manufacturing
extracts for over forty years we claim
the advantage of experience and the
rapidly increasing demands for Shaker
herbs and extracts with their botanic
preparations is [sic] satisfactory
evidence of public approval and esteem.
We pledge ourselves to furnish articles
of superior excellence and are
determined not to be surpassed in the
quality and the neatness of our
preparations.
The catalog contained nearly two
hundred different extracts of
herbs, barks, roots, and berries. Also
advertised were pearls of
ether, chloroform, and turpentine.
These were gelatin capsules.7
The production of fluid extracts was a
great advance in thera-
peutics. They were much more convenient
and of more dependable
strength than the infusions and teas
made with the herbs. They also
gave impetus to the patent medicine
industry in the United States.
The Shakers devised a number of
preparations which were widely
accepted by laymen and by members of
the medical profession both
in this country and abroad.
6 Clara Endicott Sears, Gleanings
from Old Shaker Journals (Boston and New York,
1916), 249-255.
7 This catalog and other pamphlets and
papers referred to hereafter are in the
library of the Western Reserve
Historical Society, Cleveland.
Shaker Medicines 343
We find that David Parker, trustee of
the Shaker village at
Enfield, New Hampshire, was awarded
medals from the Massa-
chusetts Charitable Mechanic's
Association for two Shaker prepara-
tions: Corbett's Shaker Compound and
Concentrated Syrup of
Sarsaparilla, and Brown's Shaker Fluid
Extract of English Valerian.
These medals were given at an
exhibition held in Boston in 1850.
Their extract of veratrum viride was
widely used. This does not
lack interest when we are aware of the
recent renewed popularity
of this drug evidenced by numerous
clinical studies published in
medical journals from coast to coast
and the samples left in our
offices. In a paper advertising this
extract published by Dr. Wesley
C. Norwood in Albany, New York, and
dated 1858, the following
statement appears:
Having frequently visited the
laboratory and botanical gardens at New
Lebanon, Columbia County, New York, I
can unhesitatingly recommend
their preparations as the most pure and
reliable Medicines manufactured in
this country, as they spare no pains in
doing their work on the most
scientific and pharmaceutical
principles. Just such articles as the Practitioner
wants to insure his success in his
professional treatment; and as such I
recommend them to the Medical Faculty.
The statement is signed, "W. C.
Norwood, M.D., Cokesberry,
South Carolina." It is followed by
testimonials from many doctors
located in New York, Ohio, and
Kentucky.
Another leaflet is an advertising
pamphlet published by Dr.
Louis Turner of St. Louis, Missouri. It
sets forth the virtues of
Turner's Consumption Cure, or Shaker
Cough Remedy and Turner's
New Life for Women. Turner was a
manufacturer of Medicines,
and he secured his herbs, tinctures,
and fluid extracts from Union
Village near Lebanon, Ohio. This
community in 1833 established
a special botanical garden under the
supervision of Drs. Abiathar
Babbitt and Andrew Houston. These
doctors were Shakers, who
acted as physicians to the community
and accepted calls from the
world surrounding the settlement. Dr.
J. R. Slingerland remarks
about the fine and complete equipment
at Union Village and states
that the laboratory bottled and labeled
Dr. Turner's Wonder Herbs,
344
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
the Great Shaker Blood Cure. Other
preparations were the Shaker
Pain Cure, presumably a liniment, and
Dr. Slingerland's Shaker
Granules, the latter a cathartic.
The Western Journal of the Medical
and Physical Sciences, pub-
lished in Cincinnati, carried this
notice in 1835:
The Society of Shakers at Union
Village, Warren County, Ohio cultivate
and prepare a variety of medical
plants, native and exotic. This is a branch
of horticulture in which the profession
is interested and the industrious and
orderly community who have undertaken
it, deserve encouragement. Orders
to be directed to A. C. Houston.
The Shaker village at Enfield, New
Hampshire, had a less ex-
tensive herb garden and they secured
many of their herbs and
extracts from the Mt. Lebanon Shakers.
The important product of
the Enfield group seems to have been
Brown's Shaker Fluid Extract
of English Valerian. This plant was
brought over from England
and was successfully propagated. The
extract was of exceptional
strength, containing the essential oils
and medicinal properties of
the fresh root. It was warmly
recommended by Dr. Edward E.
Phelps, professor of therapeutics and
materia medica at Dartmouth
College; by Parker Cleaveland,
professor of chemistry, materia
medica, mineralogy, geology, and
natural philosophy of Brunswick
College, Maine; by Dr. Charles H.
Stedman, superintendent and
physician to the lunatic and other city
institutions of South Boston;
and by Dr. George Buddington of Green
County, New York, Dr.
John Ely and Dr. J. B. Henshaw of New
York City, Dr. Josiah
Crosby of Manchester, New Hampshire,
and Dr. H. B. Wilbur,
physician to the institution for
idiots, Barre, New York.
Another preparation of the Mt. Lebanon
Shakers was a mixture
of fluid extracts as tinctures known as
Seven Barks. It had a wide
and long sale. I can remember the
package on the shelves of my
father's drug store. It was about four
inches tall and one and a
half inches wide and deep, a
square-on-the-end package. It was
printed in colors, and down one side
were seven heads of different
breeds of dogs. I do not credit the
Shakers with designing this
attractive and humorous package. It
contained the following ex-
Shaker Medicines 345
tracts in tincture form: blue flag,
butternut, stone root, golden seal,
sassafras, blood root, and black
cohosh. The dose was five to twenty
drops. It was marketed by Dr. Lyman
Brown, 68 Murray Street,
New York City. It was sold widely in
the United States and ex-
ported to England, Germany, and France.
Of the many preparations of the
Shakers, none attained the im-
portance in wide acceptance and in
profitable return that was en-
joyed by their extract of sarsaparilla.
It was made from the root
imported from South America, and was
prepared as directed in the
United States Pharmacopoeia. I can well remember this preparation.
I have seen many prescriptions calling
for a bottle of sarsaparilla,
to which was to be added four to six
drams of potassium iodide.
This was widely used by the medical
profession for the secondary
and late symptoms of syphilis. The
acceptance of their extract of
sarsaparilla by the medical profession
is certified by the following
resolution adopted by the Lebanon
Medical Society of Lebanon,
Ohio, October 29, 1849: "Resolved:
That this society has entire
confidence in the purity of the
pharmaceutical preparations of the
Shakers of Union Village, Ohio, and we
heartily recommend their
preparations to the profession,
especially the extracts from the
narcotic plants and of
sarsaparilla."
The popularity of this preparation
cannot be exaggerated; its
reputed virtue carried it into the
medical folklore of the masses.
The extract was made by the Shakers and
was marketed by agents
in New York City and elsewhere. It was
the great "blood purifier"
from 1848 to well into the twentieth
century. A circular advertising
it reads as follows:
Scrofulous diseases; this poison lurks
in the body and attacks with im-
punity, producing diseases of the kidneys, liver, and
lungs-also the
digestive and uterine apparatus, often
producing such diseases as con-
sumption, ulceration of the stomach,
liver, and kidneys, biliousness, sores,
tumors, erysipelas, salt rheum,
blotches, pustules, boils, and pimples, as
well as causing pains in the bones,
side, head, and back, rheumatism,
dyspepsia, female weakness, leucorrhea
or whites, and pain and distress
in the womb, emaciation, dropsy, and
general debility. We recommend for
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Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
alleviation and cure a remedy that has
been sold for sixty years and pre-
scribed by our best physicians-The
Shaker Original Extract of Sarsaparilla.
I want to make clear that this copy was
not written by the
Shakers. I have come across a statement
made by them in which
they extolled the excellence of this
preparation for its tonic virtues
but cautioned that it was not a
"cure all." I have no doubt that they
were embarrassed and distressed at the
extravagant claims made by
the energetic worldly promoters of
their products.
It is of interest to conclude this
discussion of the "wonder drug"
with an extract from the manuscript
diary of Oliver C. Hampton,
a member of Union Village: "On
March 4, 1865, the Union
Society lost by fire the Old North
House and its contents which
contained the tin shop, broom shop,
carpenter shop, and sarsaparilla
laboratory."
A very popular German proprietary
preparation was Mother
Seigel's Curative Syrup. The formula
was brought to this country
in 1868 and was prepared and packaged
by the Shakers as Seigel's
Syrup or Shaker Extract of Roots. It
became very popular and was
widely sold both here and abroad. A. J.
White of 168 Duane Street
was the New York agent for Seigel's
Syrup, as well as for Shaker
Soothing Plasters and Shaker Family
Pills. The latter was a
cathartic and bore on the label the
following statement: "Unlike
many kinds of cathartic medicines,
these pills do not make you feel
worse before you feel better."
The Shaker Asthma Cure carried the
still valid statement, "No
disease is harder to cure." An
advertisement offering a number of
testimonials concluded: "We offer
the reasonable hope that the
preparation will effect a cure, and a
still greater possibility exists
that it procure at least so much relief
that you can breathe the free
air of heaven without distress and be
able to lie down and find
rest in sleep." The Shaker Hair
Restorative carried the legend,
"Gray hair may be honorable, but
the natural color is preferable."
Ointments, porous plasters, skin
lotions, cold creams, and lini-
ments also were made by the Shakers,
but they were less important
than the Shaker preparations already
mentioned.
A word should be said of one manner of
distribution of Shaker
Shaker Medicines 347
herbs and medicinal products. In the
early days the Shaker wagon
was a frequent visitor to the towns,
villages, and country homes
throughout the eastern states. These
wagons carried small pieces
of furniture, certain dry goods, and
other products of their shops,
along with packaged garden seeds,
packaged herbs, and, in time,
their bottled Medicines. The packaged
garden seeds made a flourish-
ing business. The seed business no
doubt gave wide and favorable
familiarity to the Shaker name and set
a standard for excellence
and reliability for their herbs and
medicinal preparations as well as
their other products.
A recent visit was paid the Tilden Drug
Company of New
Lebanon, New York. This company is the
oldest manufacturing
drug house in America. It was founded
in 1824 and carried on drug
manufacturing contemporary with that of
the New Lebanon Shakers
situated a few miles distant. Through
the kindness of William
Gordon Cox, the president of the Tilden
Company, the author
met several persons who had close
contact with the New Lebanon
Shakers during the final years of their
drug manufacturing.
Mrs. Lois W. Rider, secretary of the
company, recalls their
activity since 1903. By that time the
extensive extract business of
the nineteenth century was greatly
curtailed. They did however
make inspissated watery extracts to
which alcohol was added.
Eldress Emma J. Neale was in charge of
drug manufacturing. Their
principal products were Brown's Seven
Barks and Shaker Extract of
Veratrum Viride. According to her
memory all drug manufacturing
ceased about 1930. Robert Pick,
superintendent of the Tilden Com-
pany, confirmed these statements and
added the information that
the New Lebanon Shakers obtained from
his company certain ex-
tracts they had ceased to manufacture.
Bill Reed, also of New Lebanon, was
interviewed. His father had
worked for years in the Shaker
laboratory and Bill himself worked
about the community when a boy and
assisted in mixing and
packaging Mother Seigel's Syrup. In his
time the only alcoholic
extract produced was that of Veratrum
Viride. He added: "The
Shakers were lovely people to work for.
They were industrious and
peaceful. There was no quarreling."
348
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
A few miles from New Lebanon is located
the Old Chatham
Shaker Museum. This institution is
outstanding for its great variety
of Shaker remains, presenting as it
does every aspect of Shaker life
and industry. A large room is given
over to displaying considerable
equipment and products of the New
Lebanon Shaker drug industry.
Here are a great variety of dried roots
and herbs, herb presses, herb
choppers, parts of a copper still,
mixing tanks, and bottling equip-
ment. Original packages of Corbett's
Extract of Sarsaparilla, Nor-
wood's Tincture of Veratrum Viride,
Brown's Seven Barks, and
bottles containing the pearls of ether,
chloroform, and turpentine
are also to be seen.
In approaching the end of this paper it
is necessary to state that
this is not an exhaustive account of
Shaker medicines. The material
presented has been drawn from many but
not all sources. The
records are both voluminous and
widespread; much of it beyond easy
access. Enough has been presented to
demonstrate that Shaker herbs
and Galenicals were for more than half
a century widely accepted
by both the public and the medical
profession. They put into drug
manufacturing the honesty, integrity,
and sincerity of purpose that
characterized their labors in other
fields and made the name Shaker
a guarantee of genuineness equal to the
sterling mark on silver.
Of the Shakers it cannot be said that
their way of life or their
labors were in vain. During their
flourishing days, 1840 to 1880,
they spread an influence for good out
of all proportion to their
numbers, and in these days of their
diminishing membership their
kindness, honesty, integrity, and
wholesomeness are not forgotten.
Careful and serious study of the
Shakers has produced a shelf of
books and the end is not yet. The
ideals of Mother Ann, Whittaker,
Joseph Meacham, and many other leaders
are alive today, and the
future will not fail to remember this
romantic, social-religious and
economic experiment.