Shakers
The Shakers (United Society of Believers)
See The Museum Displays Sections for some photograhs of the Shaker collection items.
The Shakers, known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, came to America in 1774, guided by their spiritual leader, Mother Ann Lee.
Shakers were among the most successful religious communal societies in the United States. Belief in the equality of men and women, separation of sexes, confession, communal ownership of property and celibacy helped to define their society.
The name, “Shaker” was derived from the shaking and dancing that were central to their worship. Union Village Shakers were successful entrepreneurs selling herbal medicines, garden seeds, brooms, and other implements. They also raised Poland China hogs, Durham cattle and Merino Sheep.
After founding communities in the east, the Shakers moved westward in 1805 to spread their beliefs.
Union Village (1805-1912) in Warren County, Ohio, the first and largest Shaker community west of the Allegheny Mountains, was established in 1805. Nearly 4,000 Shakers lived in Union Village (about three miles west of Lebanon), the last living here until about 1920. This community owned and farmed about 4,500 acres of land with more than 100 buildings. Union Village was parent to other communities in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Georgia. By the 1840s, Union Village had reached a population of 700 believers, making it the second largest Shaker settlement after Mt. Lebanon, New York.
The Shaker religion was at its peak prior to the Civil War but soon after, membership began to dwindle. Smaller communities closed and by 1912 Union Village disbanded, its land being sold to the United Brethren Church
The Robert & Virginia Jones Shaker Gallery offers a glimpse into the lives of Union Village Shakers. This exhibit, located on the third floor expanse, uses the Shaker principle of “borrowed light” in the form of skylights, around which the artifacts are displayed in realistic room settings. An understanding of daily life in Shaker communities unfolds as you view the exhibit.
The museum has combined artifacts on loan from Otterbein and gifts from Robert and Virginia Jones, along with its own acquisitions, to present an excellent storytelling exhibit. This Shaker collection is the finest and most complete of its kind in the Midwest and is displayed with truth and beauty. The Shaker saying, “There is great beauty in harmony,” is very much in evidence her
Many of the tools and implements they used they invented. The Shakers did not patent their inventions, believing making them free to their fellow man and women to be a better goal.
Some Shaker inventions that are on exhibit in the gallery include:
- Apple peeler and corer
- Candlestick with adjustable height
- Clothes pins
- “Dorothy” Cloak
- Dough mixer - tin
- Dough roller
- Fire doors
- Flat broom
- Fly catcher
- Rat trap
- Seed box with envelopes
- Static electric cure all
- Swift yarn winder
- Washing machine for small items
