The Westerly echo, & Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1854-1858, 1856-10-02

Mr.. EDITOR :-Thinking, perhaps, il
might not prove uninteresting to your
readers, with your permission, | vii
give them brief sketch of recent
visit to the " Shaker Village, )" in En-.
field, CT. OF the reasons for being il
the vicinity, and my business in the
town, it is not my province to speak
Suffice it to say, was " thar" My
reasons for visiting this singular people,
were, perhaps, two-fold First, a
curiosity to examine their premises -
their mode Of life-their gardens, sc.
Second, the carriage ride in company
with a very agreeable lady, who, exer,
cising the privilege usually conceded to
ladies every four years, kindly gave me
an invite, and also acted as guide, my
self being stranger. We will pass
over the ride, however, as of course,
should fail to do it justice-from the
very nature Of the casc--and introduce
you, dear reader, directly to the village
in question.
The Shakers are divided into five
families, as they call themselves, each
family or community, performing their
own work, having trustees of their own
appointment, yet all forming one society
and subject to one general government.
They possess immense wealth, their
property being owned in common, so
that, so far as money matters are con-
ccrned, one is just as rich as another
They have a general distrust for bank
ing institutions, although | believe of
of late some have been induced to pur-
chase a very little bank stock. But they
are very uneasy about their money, un-
less they have some written security
Accordingly all the surplus funds are
lent to individuals, and secured by mort
gage or otherwise, on real estate. The
consequence is, they are in possession #
large amounts of property in Springfield,
Worcester, Hartford, and other places,
beside the valuable tract, in the center
Of which stands their village.
From the position Of the several
families, they are called, respectively,
the North, East, South, West, and
Church families, the latter occupying
the center, the former at right angles,
distant about half a mile. The Church
family in The center is. the most -four.
ishing, their grounds and buildings being
kept in much better order, than those of
the other families. About midway be-
tween the Church and East families, is
the burial place of old Mother Ann"
the head and front" of all Shaker
dom. My worthy carriage companion
and guide, informed me that it was con-
sidered holy ground, that no one was
allowed to touch anything "thereunto
pertaining" lest the hallowed spot
should become polluted thereby. The
tomb is looked upon with holy reverence
as containing the last mortal remains of
their Prophecies OF their religious
belief | cannot speak with entire GER
tainty, but was informed that they con-
sidercd the second Advent of Christ as
having taken place that he appeared
in the person of woman, and that wo-
man Mother Ann :" that they arc
really enjoying the Millennium; aud that
they are the only favored people in the
sight of God. They have book con-
tanning a record of the miracles, sayings
and doings of their Founder.
We first stopped at the South family,
but the " head man" being absent, and
not much to attract our attention, we
proceeded leisurely along to the Church
family. Driving up to the Trustees
office, and alighiing from our carriage,
we were greeted by grave looking per-
to whom we made known our
wishes, which was nothing more or less
han to take a peep at their premises:
he told us to walk into the Office, and
&c would find one of the sisters. Accord
ngly we stepped into the apartment
allotted for the Office, and quietly sur