The origins of Whitewater trace back to a small group of settlers in southern Butler County, Ohio, who gathered together as Shakers in 1822, possibly earlier. In 1823, the members of three prominent Butler County families joined, and this community (which had no formal name) moved to a larger farm. Undoubtedly at the urging of an early convert, Miriam Agnew, the Union Village ministry increased its spiritual and material support for Whitewater, culminating in the first purchase of land for White Water by Union Village trustees in 1824. The newly gathered Believers were joined in 1824 by the Darby Plain Shakers, whose former New Light and Farnhamite preacher, Nathan Burlingame, was the first to arrive at White Water from that abandoned central Ohio community.
The first years were difficult because their few acres were forested and poor for farming. Noting the deprivations of the group, Calvin Morrell wrote later at Union Village, "It was Lent with them nearly all year round." In 1825, however, the Shakers were able to purchase 215 acres (0.87km2) of good land for a mill seat on the Dry Fork of the Whitewater River, and the new community moved again to the site of the White Water North Family. Union Village brethren arrived in 1826 to help establish the family. The brick Meeting House was completed in 1827, the same year that the Shakers' sawmill on the Dry Fork commenced operations. That year membership swelled when West Union was dissolved. In 1835 there were 42 females and 35 males, including children, in spite of defections during years just past. During this time the White Water Shakers created a cemetery between the South and Center Families. The upkeep and maintenance of the cemetery is now the responsibility of Crosby Township.
Another group that added to the ranks of the White Water Shakers were followers of William Miller. He predicted the exact moment in April 1844 for Christ's Second Coming. People wound up their earthly affairs, dressed in ascension robes, and waited. Miller set another date six months later, but that final judgment day passed, too. His disappointed followers, the Millerites or Second Adventists, were courted by the Shakers who convinced the Millerites that the Shakers had already experienced the Second Coming in a spiritual sense.
At its peak with the conversion of the Millerites in 1846, White Water village comprised 706 acres (2.86km2) in Hamilton County and 190 acres (0.77km2) in Butler County on which 200 believers in two families worked the large farm and engaged in a variety of industries. The Shakers would purchase additional land and establish a third family in the 1850s, and they remained a vibrant community into the 1880s when the long, slow decline began. The White Water Shakers operated a grist mill, sawmill, and possibly a brewery. They raised broom corn and manufactured brooms, sold packaged garden seeds (grossing $5,704 in 1857), and maintained large apple orchards for the sale of applesauce and cider. Other industries included sorghummolasses, honey, and preserved currents, grapes, and strawberries. The Shakers also raised silkworms for the manufacture of their own shawls, scarves, and handkerchiefs. In the final years of the community, the Believers were well known for raising fish in two Shaker-made ponds and for selling turkey eggs.
The Civil War affected the Whitewater community. In April 1863, Morgan's Raiders passed through the community. Because a mill worker warned the rest of the community of the approach of the Raiders and the Shakers quickly hid their horses, only two horses were stolen. However, pursuing Union cavalrymen troops arrived on the following day, and they too took horses.
After 30 years of decline and a change in leadership, in 1911 the Union Village ministry decided to lease the South, Center, and North Family farms. The remaining Shakers resided in the Office until 1916, when the farms were sold. Land owned by the community over its 94 years of existence included 1,128 acres (4.56km2) in Hamilton County, 664 acres (2.69km2) in Butler County, and 972 acres (3.93km2) in Clinton County – totaling 2,764 acres (11.19km2). December 4, 1916, marked the final land sale and the departure of Elder Andrew Barrett and Eldress Mary Gass. Elder Barrett went to Hancock, the Shaker community near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Eldress Mary Gass went to Mount Lebanon, New York, the leading Shaker community in the East. While the South and Center farms remained in agricultural use, the North Family land was subsequently divided and the brick Meeting House and Dwelling House passed to separate owners.
In 1991, the Great Parks of Hamilton County District purchased much of the remaining White Water buildings and land. The Park District owns 23 original Shaker-built or Shaker-used structures, including the 1827 two-story meetinghouse (the only extant brick Shaker meetinghouse), the 1832-33 North Family dwelling, a brick Trustee's Office with its 1855 date stone, a brick shop, a frame broom shop, and numerous barns and farm outbuildings. In all, this is the largest collection of Shaker building in Ohio and represents one of the most intact of all the Shaker villages. The North Family is now operated by the Friends of White Water Shaker Village Nonprofit, after taking control of the North Family's eight acres and ten historic buildings through a long term lease from the Great Parks of Hamilton County in 2007[3]. The Friends of White Water Shaker Village are currently conducting restoration and preservation efforts at White Water Shaker Village while occasionally offering tours of the North Family Meeting House and Dwelling to the public.
Innis, James R.; Sakmyster, Thomas. The Shakers of White Water, Ohio, 1823-1916.Clifton: Richard W. Couper Press, 2014. ISBN9781937370121.
Boice, Martha, Dale Covington and Richard Spence. Maps of the Shaker West - A Journey of Discovery. Dayton: Knot Garden, 1997, 85-89. ISBN0-9655018-1-7.
Nicoletta, Julie. The Architecture of the Shakers. Woodstock: Countryman, 1996.
Schiffer, Herbert F. Shaker Architecture. Atglen: Schiffer, 1979.
The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded c. 1747 in England and then organized in the United States in the 1780s. They were initially known as "Shaking Quakers" because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services.
Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 91,283. The county seat is Lyons. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American Revolutionary War hero and American statesman. The county is part of the Finger Lakes region of the state.
Fairfield is a city in southern Butler County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb located about 25 miles (40 km) north of Cincinnati and is situated on the east bank of the Great Miami River. The population was 44,907 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1955 from portions of Fairfield Township, it includes the former hamlets of Symmes Corner, Fair Play, Furmandale, and Stockton. The Fairfield City School District is one of the largest in Ohio and serves both the City of Fairfield and Fairfield Township.
Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county is named for the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton County is part of the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Butler County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 390,357. Its county seat and largest city is Hamilton. It is named for General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 during St. Clair's Defeat. Located along the Great Miami River, it is also home to Miami University, a public university founded in 1809. Butler County is part of the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The majority of the county is in District 52 of the State House.
Whitewater is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 661.
New Gloucester is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. New Gloucester is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. It is home to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, the last active Shaker village in the U.S. The town's population was 5,676 at the 2020 census.
Harrison is a city in western Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 12,563 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
Colerain Township is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population of the township was 59,037 at the 2020 census. It is the second-largest township in Ohio by area, surpassed by Madison Township, Lake County, Ohio.
Crosby Township is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 6,030 people in the township.
Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, USA, is the site of a Shaker religious community that was active from 1805 to 1910. Following a preservationist effort that began in 1961, the site, now a National Historic Landmark, has become a popular tourist destination.
Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic site and museum in Canterbury, New Hampshire, United States. It was one of a number of Shaker communities founded in the 19th century.
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village is a Shaker village near New Gloucester and Poland, Maine, in the United States. It is the last active Shaker community, with two members as of 2020. With a new member, it had expanded to three members by 2021. The community was established in either 1782, 1783, or 1793, at the height of the Shaker movement in the United States. The Sabbathday Lake meetinghouse was built in 1794. The entire property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
Shirley Shaker Village is a historic former Shaker community in Lancaster and Shirley, Massachusetts. Defined as an historic district, it includes about half of the original buildings and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
West Union (Busro) is an abandoned Shaker community in Busseron Township, northwestern Knox County, Indiana, about fifteen miles (24 km) north of Vincennes. The settlement was inhabited by the Shakers (United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing) from 1811 to 1827. Though short-lived, West Union was the westernmost Shaker settlement.
Alfred Shaker Historic District is a historic district in Alfred, Maine, with properties on both sides of Shaker Hill Road. The area had its first Shaker "believers" in 1783 following visiting with Mother Ann Lee and became an official community starting in 1793 when a meetinghouse was built. It was home to Maine's oldest and largest Shaker community. Two notable events were the songwriting of Joseph Brackett, including, according to most accounts, Simple Gifts, and the spiritual healing of the sick by the Shakers. When the Alfred Shakers products and goods were no longer competitive with mass-produced products and the membership had dwindled significantly, the village was closed in 1931 and members moved to Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, also in Maine.
The Shakers are a sect of Christianity which practices celibacy, communal living, confession of sin, egalitarianism, and pacifism. After starting in England, it is thought that these communities spread into the cotton towns of North West England, with the football team of Bury taking on the Shaker name to acknowledge the Shaker community of Bury. The Shakers left England for the English colonies in North America in 1774. As they gained converts, the Shakers established numerous communities in the late-18th century through the entire 19th century. The first villages organized in Upstate New York and the New England states, and, through Shaker missionary efforts, Shaker communities appeared in the Midwestern states. Communities of Shakers were governed by area bishoprics and within the communities individuals were grouped into "family" units and worked together to manage daily activities. By 1836 eighteen major, long-term societies were founded, comprising some sixty families, along with a failed commune in Indiana. Many smaller, short-lived communities were established over the course of the 19th century, including two failed ventures into the Southeastern United States and an urban community in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Shakers peaked in population by the 1840s and early 1850s, with a membership between 4,000 and 9,000. Growth in membership began to stagnate by the mid 1850s. In the turmoil of the American Civil War and subsequent Industrial Revolution, Shakerism went into severe decline. As the number of living Shakers diminished, Shaker communes were disbanded or otherwise ceased to exist. Some of their buildings and sites have become museums, and many are historic districts under the National Register of Historic Places. The only active community is Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine, which is composed of at least three active members.
The Union Village Shaker settlement was a village organized by Shakers in Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio.
Watervliet Shaker Village was a Shaker community located in Kettering, Ohio, from 1806 to 1900. Its spiritual name was Vale of Peace and it was within the Union Village bishopric, or governing body.
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