Description

Always the first Saturday in December! A traditional holiday fair with gifts for all ages, held in nine rooms of the 1816 Trustees’ Office and the Merry Christmas Garage at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. Highlights include but not limited to Shaker home made baked goods, herbs, oval boxes and yarns, and the White Elephant Room full of bargains. “Come one, come all.”

Venue

Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
707 Shaker Rd. Route 26
New Gloucester, ME 04260

Date

December 3rd, 2011

Times

10am – 3 pm

Fees

Free and open to the public

Contact Information

www.shaker.lib.me.us/

Venue Name
York County Shelter Programs

Address
Shaker Hill Road Alfred, ME 04002

Times
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Fees
free admission free parking

Contact Information

Website
www.shakerhillapplefestival.org/

United Society of Shakers Newsletter

March 2011

Greetings!

Hello again! Summer may seem a long way away but we wanted to let you know about an important conference taking place at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in July. The title of the conference is “We Will Sustain the Structure: The Built and Natural Environments of the Shakers.” The July 15-17 event will cover a lot of topics related not only to the Shakers but to important issues of architecture, design, nature and the environment, even music. Presentations by the Shakers and people from a variety of backgrounds will form the core of the conference along with nature hikes, historic site visits and tours and media presentations. The conference is designed to complement our exhibit “Creating Chosen Land: Our Home 1783-2010.” You are the first of the public to receive word about the conference. We hope that this early notice will stir your interest to join us for the conference-space is limited! Please contact us if you have any questions. See you in July!

WE WILL SUSTAIN THE STRUCTURE:

The built and natural environments of the shakers

A  Conference Open to the Public To be held at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Route 26, New Gloucester, ME July 15-17, 2011, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Sponsored by the Shaker Society, the Shaker Museum and Shaker Library and Maine Preservation.

INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this conference is to present is to present a fresh understanding of the Shakers within the context of their environment, both natural and created.  The conference will show how this organic process has been in motion since the establishment of the Shaker Church in America and how this organic process led to the large Shaker influence on the “world”.  Original scholarship on the evolution of the shakers and their world into the present day will be offered over the courseof two days and several presentations.  The conference will not only be of interest to Shaker scholars, aficionados and kindred spirits but to many other interests: amateur and professional historians, preservationists, environmentalists and naturalists, communalists, teachers, planners, Maine enthusiasts, archeitects, students of religion and folks who just like to learn.

SPEAKERS:

Sister June Carpenter, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community
“Sister Ada Cummings: Nature in the Life of a Shaker Sister”
Sister Frances Carr, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community
“Sing Unto the Lord a New Song” Songs about nature from the Shaker heritage
Carol F. Gillis, AIA, LEED AP, Principal Partner, Design Group Collaborative
Shaker influences on modern architecture
Br. Arnold Hadd, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community
“Build Me a House Saith the Lord: The Demographics of Architecture”
Adam Krakowski, MS Historic Preservation, University of Vermont
“Stillness at Last: Preservation of the Built Environment at Sabbathday
Lake”
Marcus R. Letourneau, PhD., Heritage Planner, City of Kingston, Ontario, Canada
“A House Founded on a Rock: Building Mt. Lebanon”
Arthur McLendon, PhD.
“Early Shaker Architecture and the Iconography of Spiritual Immanence”
Stephen J. Paterwic, MA, Shaker studies author and scholar
Author of The Historical Dictionary of the Shakers and The A-Z of the Shakers

Conference panel moderator

Lauren A. Stiles, MA, Faculty Emeritus, SUNY Cortland

“Shaker Great Barns”

Carl Benton Straub, PhD., Professor Emeritus, Bates College, Lewiston, ME

Author of An Honorable Harvest, Shakers and the Natural World

“Shakers and the Landscape of Stewardship”

SPECIAL PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Friday, July 15 – SELECT ONE

Walk to Shaker Mill Sites and tour

Shaker Village Nature Hike

Shaker Village Wagon Tour

Saturday, July 16

Donald Perkins, Portland Press Herald columnist, author and barn researcher-

“Our Barns: A History of the Barns of Maine”

William Foley, University of Maine-Augusta

“Shaker Architecture as a Vernacular Base for Contemporary New England Design”

Shaker Village Barns Tour

FREE ADMISSION FOR CONFERENCE ATTENDEES

Exhibit: Creating Chosen Land: Our Home 1783-2010

Open Friday and Saturday,

10 AM to 4:30 PM

AREA ACCOMMODATIONS

Chandler House Bed & Breakfast

Lower Village, New Gloucester

1-207-926-5502

Poland Spring Resort 1-800-581-5171

(about three miles north of Shaker Village; offers a variety of accommodations)

Maine Tourism Association 1-888-624-6345

NOTE: We are an easy 35 minute drive north of Portland, so that accommodations there are relatively close.

There are no accommodations available at Shaker Village.

SPECIAL NOTES FOR ATTENDEES

1. Please remember to select one special activity/program per day for Friday.

2. If you select an outdoor activity please wear appropriate clothing for rough ground, the woods and the weather – except for extreme weather conditions all outdoor activities will be a “go.”

3. Please let us know of special dietary requirements and we will do our best to meet them.

4. All of the speakers will give their presentations in the 1794 Meeting House.

5. The Meetinghouse will have temporary ramps in place for easier access. The Shaker Store, the Shaker Museum Reception Center, the 1816 Spin House (home to “Creating Chosen Land”) and public rest rooms are handicapped accessible.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE $150.00

$125.00 for members of the Friends of the Shakers and Maine Preservation

Conference registration fee includes all speakers, special programs, special activities,

and five (5) meals- two lunches, two suppers and a Sunday brunch.

United Society of Shakers, 707 Shaker Rd., New Gloucester, ME 04260

usshakers@aol.com (207) 926-4597 www.shaker.lib.me.us

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION – DEADLINE JUNE 30

Checks made payable to United Society of Shakers

NAME: ____________________________ E-MAIL: _________________________________

MAILING ADDRESS: _________________________________________________________

STATE: ________ ZIP CODE: _______________ PHONE: _______________________

PLEASE CHOOSE ONE ONLY FOR FRIDAY:

_____ MILL SITES TOUR

_____ NATURE HIKE

_____ WAGON TOUR

Quick Links…

Our Website

Calendar of Events

Herb Catalog

Contact Info and Directions

Contact Information

United Society of Shakers | 707 Shaker Road | New Gloucester | ME | 04260

We were glad to avoid all that shoveling. However, we need more snow or we risk losing many plants to the cold air. Snow is a great insulator and is often called “the poor man’s fertilizer.” The Sabbathday Lake Shakers have a longstanding farming history that goes back to the 1700s.

The village is still a working farm today including livestock, apples and herbs. The Shakers are raising Scottish Highland cattle for the first time in their history-they are an interesting breed and visually are mistaken for buffalo by many of our visitors.

This e-mail will tell you a lot more about herbs-an ongoing farm industry here. You can become involved with herbs and herbology at a variety of levels. This e-mail can be a starter course for a new pursuit. During the 2010 season we will be offering herb workshops led by Betsy-Ann Golon, our herbalist, who will also offer a two-month herb garden internship-for details visit www.shaker.lib.me.us or request a free flyer with details about the workshops and the internship-you can also call (207)926-4597.

Please also visit us at the Shaker Booth at the 2010 Portland (ME)Flower Show from March 10-14.

Excerpt from The Shaker Quarterly  – Summer 1963

THE SHAKERS AS HERB GROWERS
by Sr. Frances A. Carr

Shakers were among the first in this country to market herbs on a large scale.  When their societies were formed, the Believers were limited as to accommodations for the care of the sick; consequently, it was the natural thing that they, whose early existence and livelihood had depended largely on the soil, should recognize and utilize the medicinal qualities in the wild roots, herbs and other plants that grew in abundance about them.  Although they were used by the Shaker Families from early times and some had been sold to enable them to obtain medicines, herbs were not prepared for sale until 1800.

The first record of herbs sold was recorded at the Mount Lebanon Society on January 21, 1821, under “articles sold” and read: “for herbs, $1.15.”  To this date, only wild herbs had been gathered, but a demand was soon created for more Shaker herbs and in order to meet this need, large tracts of land were cultivated for the purpose of raising them.

What plants or herbs were first grown is not known, but to meet the growing requirement for them, it became necessary to purchase certain varieties from all parts of America as well as from abroad.  By 1826, such items as red rose, sweet marjoram, cicuta extract, saffron and lobelia were being imported by the Shakers.

Once established at Mount Lebanon, the herb industry was supervised by Bros. Eliab Harlow and Garrett Lawrence, under whose oversight a more systematic and scientific method was put into effect, giving special attention to the seasons for collecting the varieties of herbs and methods of preparation.  Names of plant species were obtained from the various manuals of botany (1817-1840) by Amos Eaton of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.

The following selection of plants and herbs give some idea of those popular during the year 1827, the names and prices of which were found in an old ledger and which are indicative of the variety sold:

2 lbs. skunk cabbage root            $      .75

1 lb. lycopus virginicus                        .50

1/4 lb. cicuta extract & jar                   .37 1/2

10 lbs. herbs @ 30 cents                    3.00

40 lbs. herbs ‘for vapor bath’              12.00

1 barrel green texas                           4.00

1 box herbs as pr. invoice                  46.50

1 box herbs and extracts                   34.80

1 jar violet blossoms                            .50

2 doz. bottles syrup liverwort             18.00

herbs & pills                                   158.00

1 lb. sweet marjoram                            .75

15 lbs. marshmallow                            4.50

liatris roots                                         .37 1/2

2 oz. peppermint oil & phial                    .56

6 lbs. whiteroot @ 50 cents                 3.00

6 lbs. foxglove @ 30 cents                   1.80

6 lbs. barks                                       1.80

Other items entered that same year do not include prices; these were: saffron, stramonium leaves, bittersweet, elder flowers, coltsfoot, bugle, mugwort, fleabane, basil, elm bark, horehound, sage, skullcap, spearmint, thyme, boneset, wild lettuce extract, borage, maidenhair and hyssop.

The year 1832 saw an ever-increasing demand for Shaker herbs and it became necessary to erect a large building in which to carry on the industry.  The structure was well equipped with what in that day was considered the most modern of equipment.  Driers, distillers and grinders increased the speed and efficiency of the work while long counters extending down the center were used by the sisters for boxing, packaging, and labeling the herbs for market.  One old journal records that “air in the herb houses was filled with the scent of potpourri and sweet lavender.”

About this time more attention was given to the preparation of extracts.  From past records we learn that the more popular during the year 1834 appear to have been cicuta, henbane, stramonium, hop, belladonna, butternut, dandelion, boneset and garden lettuce.  Accounts kept at Mount Lebanon give an idea of the rapid increase of the industry.  In 1831 about 4,000 lbs. of roots and herbs were sent to market, in 1836 it had increased to 6,000 lbs. and in 1849 it had reached 16,500 lbs.  By 1850 it became apparent that enlargements both to the house and machinery of the herb industry must be undertaken.  A steam boiler and vacuum pan added to the efficiency and in 1852 a twelve-horsepower steam engine was purchased.

The amount of herbs pressed at Mount Lebanon in 1850 was not less than 21,000 lbs. plus 7,000 lbs. of extract.  By 1853 the amount of roots, barks and herbs pressed amounted to 42,000 lbs., while the extract amounted to 7,500 lbs.  During this period the herb industry grew and flourished and was considered the most important of the Shaker industries.

Though each Society grew and sold herbs of all kinds, there seems to have been one within each that was more widely known and sold.  From Mount Lebanon came Mother Siegal’s Syrup or “Shaker Extract of Roots” as it was often known.  The formula for this syrup originated in Germany and was brought to this country about 1868.

Another much wanted herb medicine from Mount Lebanon was “Seven Barks”; this compound of fluid extracts in tincture form contained the following ingredients: blue flag, butternut, stone root, goldenseal, sassafras, bloodroot and black cohosh.  The usual dose was five to twenty drops.

Of all Mount Lebanon preparations, none received the acclaim or was more extensively used than the “Shaker Veratrum Viride” (American Hellebore).  A perennial herb of the United States, its roots make a powerful cathartic.  Considered a cure for almost every known malady or illness, doctors from all over the country testified to its therapeutic powers.  Writing on “Therapeutic powers and properties of Veratrum Viride”, Dr. W. C. Norwood of Cokesbury, South Carolina, had this to say:  “the first power or property we notice is that it is acrid, producing a peculiar warm and biting sensation in the mouth.  It excites rapid and continuous sneezing when the least quantity of the powdered root is applied to the nostrils.  It is also rubefacient, producing burning and redness when the tincture is applied to the surface, thereby often relieving pain.  It is a certain and valuable emetic, inducing free and easy vomiting.”  Used in the treatment of typhoid fever, pneumonia, scarlet fever, croup and whooping cough, it was not a narcotic with habit-forming powers but rather, a nervine.  In recent years this drug has enjoyed nenewed popularity as is evidenced by numerous articles published in contemporary medical journals.

The Believers of Canterbury, New Hampshire, were fortunate in having Br. Thomas Corbett to supervise their herb industry.  At thirty-three, his interest and considerable knowledge of herbs and medicine prompted Father Job Bishop and Mother Hannah Goodrich to ask him to take up the study of medicine.  Soon he became a much respected physician, contributing valuable service to his home, compounding the famous “Corbetts’s Shaker Sarsaparilla” as well as the equally renowned “Witch Hazel Tooth Ache Pellets”.

“Brown’s Fluid Extract of English Valerian” compounded at Enfield, New Hampshire, by Br. Samuel Brown of that Society remained in demand as late as 1897, though he died in 1856.  From his youth and for many years, he worked closely with Br. Ezekiel Evans, who was charged with raising and preparing herbs for the market.  Their work contributed considerably to the advance of the herb industry at Enfield.

While the societies in Maine had raised medicinal herbs since the first decade of the nineteenth century, they had not gained the reputation of the Mount Lebanon or New Hampshire societies.  Records do show that by 1825 the cultivation and packaging of herbs was profitably engaged in at the New Gloucester Society.  By 1864, when the Society issued its first printed catalogue of herbs, roots, barks and powders, there were 155 medicinal preparations offered in bulk as well as four sweet herbs for kitchen use.  In 1881, doctors and druggists throughout Maine became acquainted with a new Shaker herb preparation; the  “Shaker Tamar Laxative” soon became the most widely known of all herb preparations compounded there, an industry that proved to be a huge financial success until the 1890′s.

Sage was another popular herb sold by the New Gloucester Society.  On March 31, 1874, five barrels of herbs were packed and sent to Portland.  Nineteen years later, Br. William Dumont, then supervising the herb industry, sent five barrels of sage to the Thompson and Leighton firm, also in Portland.

A substantial part of the Shaker pharmaceutical trade, both buying and selling, was with wholesalers, though some business was done with retailers and individual friends of the communities.  Orders and inquiries came from practically every part of the country and from England, Australia, and France.

Though most Shaker herbs were medicinal agents, there were other uses.  The “fragrant waters”, particularly rose water, were sold as perfumes.  Lovage root, wild flagroot and horehound were used in confections.  Yellow dock was sold to manufacturers of a well-known sarsaparilla.  Sumac, madder, logwood, goldenrod and various barks such as butternut, oak, swamp maple, hemlock, chestnut and witch hazel were sold and used at home in the preparation of vegetable dyes.

Like so many other Shaker industries, the herb business soon met strong competition from the industrial world.  Large drug manufacturers were able to produce and distribute medicines at a fraction of the cost encountered by Shakers.  Nevertheless, Shaker herbs found an important place in the history of American medicine and though they were surpassed by this competition, their influence is still felt in many of the leading pharmaceutical preparations of the present age.

Contact Information

for Sabbathday Lake Shaker Library and Museum and Herb Departments

Mailing address:

United Society of Shakers
707 Shaker Road
New Gloucester, ME 04260
(207) 926-4597

Library email only: brooks1@shaker.lib.me.us

Office email: usshakers@aol.com

Directions to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum and Library

The Shaker Village is located on Route 26, approximately 8 miles north of Exit 63 of the Maine Turnpike in Gray, Maine, and 8 miles west of Exit 75 (Auburn).

The Village is 25 miles north of Portland, and 12 miles west of Lewiston-Auburn.

From the south (Boston, Portland): Take Gray-Exit 63 off the Maine Turnpike. At the traffic light at the toll booth turn left to Route 26A. Go to the next set of traffic lights and bear right into Route 26A. Stay on Route 26A until it merges with ROUTE 26 NORTH. Follow ROUTE 26 NORTH for approximately eight miles to Shaker Village (watch for large black and white road signs).
From the North (Augusta, Bangor): Take Auburn Exit 75 off the Maine Turnpike. Turn right at the toll booth onto Routes 100, 4, 202. Follow that route for one mile and turn right onto Route 122. Follow Route 122 over hill and dale until you come to Route 26. Turn left onto Route 26 South. Follow Route 26 South for about 2 miles and you will be at the Shaker Village. The Village is about eight miles from Exit 12 (watch for road signs).
Meals are not available at the Village. A wide selection of restaurants are located within 10 minutes of the Village in the towns of Gray, New Gloucester, Poland, and Auburn.

For information about area accommodations, call the Maine Office of Tourism at 1-888-624-6345.

Other places to visit in the area:

• Maine State Building (998-4142)
• Maine Wildlife Park (657-4977)
• Olin Arts Center (786-6158)
• Outlet Beach on Sabbathday Lake (926-3388)
• Pineland Farms (688-4539)
• Poland Spring Bottling Plant (998-4315)
• Poland Spring Preservation Park (998-7143)
• Range Pond State Park (998-4104)

JANUARY

Ice Business: Elder William (Dumont), John Dorrington, and the hired men scraped the ice on Sabbathday Lake, which was 12″ thick. In three days the teams hauled 36 loads of more than 50 tons of ice in 20″ by 24″ cakes.  Brother Delmer (Wilson) took a photograph of activities at the Ice House.

Logging: The woodchoppers started logging despite unpredictable weather.  Elder William and Otis Campbell constructed a camp in the woods for the Mays to live while chopping.

Oval Carriers: Brother Delmer sawed out carrier boards at the mill.  He hand-planed most all of the wood and sawed out the bail handles.  Toward the end of the month, 171 carriers were completed – the first of many hundreds yet made this year.

Poland Spring Water Cases: Otis Campbell spent his spare time at the mill manufacturing wooden cases and covers and cases were taken in quantity to the bottling plant.

Apple Business: The Family had 146 barrels of apples for the English market.  True Merrill’s apple packers prepared them for export to Liverpool.  Although the quality of the fruit was poor, Merrill and Hackett agreed to sell them on commission.

Hauling Goods: The usual trips were made to the station to retrieve shipments of food and supplies.  Brother Delmer and the young Brethren sent cans of cream to the factory in Poland (Maine) throughout the month, when ready.  The Elders traveled as needed back and forth from Lewiston (Maine) and Portland (Maine) to conduct the Community’s financial affairs.  “These days we always travel to Lewiston by train.”

Poplarware: The Sisters wove 160 yards of poplar cloth for their sale work.  An improved method was introduced whereby the box sides were stiffened with pasteboard.  Eldress Lizzie (Noyes) purchased from the Canterbury Shakers a large paper cutter that cuts 30″ of pasteboard in a single pass.

Ailments and Infirmities: The dentist was kept busy.  Elder William suffered a toothache so severe that his face swelled and he was unable to finish the ice business.  Later in the month, Sisters Prudie (Stickney), Jennie (Mathers), and Kathleen had teeth extracted.  Sister Claire (Chase) was taken seriously sick and was pronounced by Doctor Sturgis to be unable to finish her term of teaching, so Sister Ada (Cummings) assumed charge of teaching at the Shaker School.

Visits and Visitors: Elder Arthur Bruce and our former Brother Chellis Wing arrived for a few days’ visit from Canterbury, New Hampshire.  Brother Washington (Jones) took Elder Arthur to Poland Springs.  Before the end of their visit Elder Arthur drilled the Quartette.  He gave their voices good reviews.  A few days later Eldress Lizzie and Sister Sirena Douglass spent three days at Canterbury.  Our sisters learned some improvements in the manufacture of the poplarware boxes.  Near the close of the month, Elder Henry Green from Alfred (Maine) arrived for a two-day visit.

Quick Links…

Our Website
Calendar of Events
Herb Catalog
Contact Info and Directions

Contact Information
phone: 207-926-4597