The Shaker religious society of Kentucky

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Comment by Barbara Whiteside on January 14, 2010 at 9:32pm

Hi Carolyn...hope you see the info for Joel.......don't you just love the names...over and over and over again. My own Montfort line....was however made easier when they married into the Banta family and started naming sons Henry after the patriarch of the Low Dutch Colony, Hendrick Banta 3rd......if a Montfort family or the daughters who were Montforts married and named a son Henry or a daughter Charity, it helped me get the line worked out....eventually.

You may have to remind me.....but need to put on some info on who else to contact for info....got to get the email first....computer problems and lost a lot of stuff .... still trying to get it all up and running again...in time to take it to the computer gurus to get VISTA taken off here...and something less annoying put in place.

Comment by Barbara Whiteside on January 14, 2010 at 9:27pm

You had some specific names in your message so will deal with them first....There are two Joels listed in GONE TO THE WORLD by Marc Rhorer...who researched the names from the original Shaker journals.....

Joel Jacobs was born 6/7/1843 Woodford County, KY arrived at Pleasant Hill on 11/5/1843

Joel Sr was born 10/10/1780 in Virginia, arrived at Pleasant Hill 2/18/18806 and died at Pleasant HIll on 7/23/1866

Molly was born 12/14/1782 in Pitt County, VA, arrived at Pleasant HIll 2/1806 and died there on 11/11/1823

Sarah was born 9/8/1775 in Pitt County, VA arrived at Pleasant Hill 2/1806 and 12/16/1819

William Jr was born 8/24/1788 in Virginia arrived at Pleasant Hill 6/1806 and died there on 6/3/1863

William Sr was born 2/22/1743 arrived at Pleasant Hill 2/1806 and died there 9/13/1831

Other Shields mentioned in the same book are Elihu, Isaac Wilson,Jinny, John, John William, Rhoda, Richard P.

I checked the Denny name as well and found one listing...Rhoda Lee Denny from New Albany, IN b. 6/10/1849...the ony info given for her.

Let me know if you want info on the others.......

Barb

Comment by Carolyn Lysandrou on January 14, 2010 at 9:22pm

It would be great to know what you have found Barbara and Joel! I have noticed that the Shields buried in the Shaker Cemetery are from Pittsylvania Va and also from PA. Are they two different families? There are just so many Shields in Mercer and KY in general that its so confusing, and they share the same names. Well, except for my Dyer Shields, the rest all seem to be James Shields!

Comment by Barbara Whiteside on January 14, 2010 at 9:15pm

I am familiar with the Shields names as Shakers.....will dig into my stuff to see what I can find for you...

Comment by Joel R Shields on January 14, 2010 at 9:02pm

Hello Barbara, I tripped over your site. I thank you for setting this up. Carolyn L. has shared some Shields info with me via E-mail last year. I would be thrilled to learn more. My William Shields & Jane Shields may have four children that joined the Shakers. Joel, Molly, Sarah, and William, James married Mary McAchran Denny. I found a reference to Joel and William in the Shaker book. I am excited to hear what you have. P.S. It is fun to learn you like cars - I am an old car lover myself. Joel

Comment by Barbara Whiteside on August 6, 2009 at 1:10pm

Hi Carolyn, so very glad to hear from you. Yes you are right...there were several Shields who joined the Shakers.. Elihu, Isaac Wilson, Jinny, Joel Jacobs, Joel Sr, John, John William, Molly, Rhoda,Richard P, Sarah, William Jr and William Sr...the earliest was 1806...if any of these mean anything to you, let me know and I'll send you more info.....or if you want the whole lots info..no problem....might be Sunday before I get to it. We just got back from vacation and have a car show Sat to get ready for...I'm between recovery and normal at the moment but wanted to let you know I had heard from you.

Barb

Comment by Carolyn Lysandrou on August 5, 2009 at 6:11pm

Wow! What a great site you have here. Lots of content already!
I love Pleasant Hill, so beautiful. I think my family may have joined. Not sure
my SHIELDS are really connected with the Shields who joined very early on. They probably are, but I just don't have the proof yet. That doesn't stop me from loving the place and being interested tho! My Shields were in Mercer in 1790 (James married Mary Ann Murry in 1793) ...... So much work to do! We were just in Harrodsburg 2 weeks ago in the Archive Annex and the Historical Society. What a wonderful place. Sad to hear that Alma Ray Ison passed (a volunteer researcher and cousin) Thanks! Carolyn Shields Lysandrou

Comment by Colleen Hart on July 29, 2009 at 1:20pm

Also, it is fantastic that you have all those records of your ancestor. That would certainly be something so exciting to have.

Comment by Colleen Hart on July 29, 2009 at 1:18pm

Thanks for the story. Somehow I can see that happening there. There is an odd feeling about the places there. We have stayed in several buildings there over the years. That would be quite alarming. I think I met the Folger man once, and later heard about thea ccident. That road going toward Lexington is curvy and scary. I hated to hear of that happening.
My interest in the Shakers has been casual as I have no ancestors there, but have studied it some due to being interested in Ky history , where I live. I have read up some on them over the years and found them very interesting and amazing with their advanced uses of various items, creations, etc. One book I read on them years ago, I thought was pretty good for a novel, by Janice HOlt Giles, a well known Ky author, called The Believers, written in 1957. I may try to read some of those books you mentioned as I do read a lot.

Comment by Barbara Whiteside on July 24, 2009 at 4:43pm

I knew several of the buildings were supposedly haunted....GHOST STORIES OF PLEASANT HILL by Thomas Freese, reports of many of the hauntings.....but Diana and I stayed in the East House in the fall of 2007, you know the building, I'm sure...three stories tall...we were the only ones staying in the building those two nights...we are right next to the western door of the two entrance doors, knew the sounds it made when it opened and closed, knew how the floorboards creaked....could see the side entry on the west side....as we sat talking and making plans for the day..three very distinct raps on our door. I had always jokingly said to the building in general..Grandpa Francis if you're in the house, come on in for a visit...knock on the door, walk through it, but come visit. Well, Diana has me sleep in the bed next to the door now. I even said out loud that we had questions, come in and sit a spell in the rocking chair...if the answer to a question was yes...rock vigorously, if no then just sit still. When we heard the taps...three definite knocks on our door...we looked at each other and at the same time asked the same question, "did you hear that too?" and opened the door...to nothing. I feel if it was someone pulling a trick we'd have seen or heard something or someone running around outside....but nothing. I've been assured the bed nearest the door when we stay there in late Sept again!!!

As to the music, the current singers are superb but I do miss Randy Folger whose enthusiasm for the Shaker hymns was so wonderful. He died in a head on collision out on hwy 68 one evening as he went home from Shakertown. I have several of his cds....

There are a couple of very good books on the Shakers..for a detailed history of the society, the book by Stephen Klein THE SHAKER EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA. I also recommend THE SIMPLE SPIRIT by the Thomas brothers....it may be out of print but not sure. Also RESTORING SHAKERTOWN by Parrish which tells how what you see came to be.

And for fun, I recommend the Shaker mysteries by Deborah Woodworth..there are six of them, five set in KY and one in Massachusetts. She weaves in a lot of history into her mysteries and they are pretty good reading.

The Filson Historical Society in Louisville, KY has thirty three of the original Shaker journals in their manuscript dept. They are in the process of transcribing them into book form which is helpful but to read the originals is such a joy. I've read all of them one time and about 30 of those that pertain to the time period my family was there, more than once. They kept such meticulous records of everything...the weather, how much rain or snow fell, the temperature morning, noon and night, who came, who went, where they went and why, who departed or absconded, how much of this or that they put up for winter [canning], how much weaving they did in the womens shops, who got what of supplies [shoes, pocket knives, etc], who was sick, who died. One journal may have been kept by my gtgtgt grandfather, Francis Montfort, but as a good Shaker he never took credit for anything he made. However the curator of the museum there said she felt he was the journalist and I have to concur with her thoughts on it.....he recorded everything made in the East House carpenter shop over a 19 year period...everything...whether made by him or someone else...but at the end of the year, he tallied what had not been recorded during the year...and his always listed F.M. or Francis M or F Montfort....made 3 chairs for one of the houses, or 1 table for another house and then 459 sundry items made or repaired for the society or the house. This is the only clue Mrs Curry and I have that Grandpa Francis was the journalist...if it were me..I'd have it down to such details for myself....he does make solitary entries for others in the year end paragraph, but his is the most detailed...I believe that to be why Mrs Curry says he is the journalist. There were probably and literally hundreds of journals kept by the Shakers at Pleasant Hill and these are the only ones found to date and preserved.

Harrodsburg Historical Society has maybe 12 journals and they are all on microfilm, Western KY University in their archives has several journals which are also on microfilm. I ended up purchasing a copy of that roll for my own use. I have found one roll of microfilm at U of KY with journals but I have no idea where the originals are..but interesting reading. The Library of Congress has some Shaker material in their collection as does Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland but neither has much on Pleasant HIll.

As you can see I have a lot of enthusiasm for the place and can't wait for our visit in Sept. Who knows Grandpa Francis might just come in and sit a spell...I have questions!!!!!

Enjoy hearing from you. A friend and her husband are on their way to Shakertown for a quiet weekend...he is a Quaker and the Shakers were an offshoot of the English Quakers...Kirk has such peace when he is down there...can reflect on things and just relax when they visit several times a year.

Barb

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