     mother ann lee (29 february 1736 â 8 september 1784) was the leader of the united society of believers in christâs second appearing, or shakers. in 1774 ann lee and a small group of her followers emigrated from england to new york. after several years, they gathered at niskayuna, renting land from the manor of rensselaerswyck, albany county, new york (the area now called colonie). they worshiped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which dubbed them as the shaking quakers, or shakers. ann lee preached to the public and led the shaker church at a time when few women did either.in addition to ann lee, only nine women preachers have been identified before 1800. catherine a. brekus, strangers and pilgrims: female preaching in america, 1740â1845 (chapel hill: university of north carolina press, 1998), 343â46. ==early history== ann lee was born in manchester, england, and baptised privately at manchester cathedral on 1 june 1742,ms 12/1, manchester cathedral archive aged 6. her parents were members of a distinct branch of the society of friends, and too poor to afford their children even the rudiments of education. ann lee's father, john lees, was a blacksmith during the day and a tailor at night. it is probable that ann lee's original surname was lees, but somewhere through time it changed to lee. little is known about her mother other than she was a very religious woman. when ann was young she worked in a cotton factory, then she worked as a cutter of hatter's fur, and later as a cook in a manchester infirmary. in 1758 she joined the wardley's, an english sect founded by jane and preacher james wardley; this was the precursor to the shaker sect. she believed in and taught her followers that it is possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations. like her predecessors, the wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the holy spirit, purifying the worshiper. beginning during her youth, ann
1736_births 1784_deaths 18th-century_American_people 18th-century_English_people American_Christian_religious_leaders Christian_mystics Doctrine_and_Covenants_people English_Christian_religious_leaders Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_emigrants_to_the_Thirteen_Colonies New_York_colonial_people People_from_Manchester People_from_New_Lebanon,_New_York People_from_Niskayuna,_New_York Shakers