Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village

The Shakers were originally located in England in 1747, in the home of Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784). They developed from the religious group called the Quakers which originated in the 17th century. Both groups believed that everybody could find God within him or herself, rather than through clergy or rituals, but the Shakers tended to be more emotional and demonstrative in their worship. Shakers also believed that their lives should be dedicated to pursuing perfection, continuously confessing their sins, and attempting a cessation of sinning. The Shakers migrated to Colonial America in 1774 in pursuit of religious freedom. They built 19 communal settlements that attracted some 20,000 converts over the next century. The first Shaker village was built in New Lebanon, New York, at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society. The other 18 communities were built in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and Florida. Strict believers in celibacy, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption of orphans. The group reached its maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840. ==History of Sabbathday Lake Shakers==

The Shaker settlement at Sabbathday Lake was established by a group of Shaker missionaries in 1782, and was then known as Thompson's Pond Plantation. The first members were from Gorham, Maine. The community grew to over two hundred members in less than a year. The Sabbathday Lake community grew to a size of with 26 large buildings by 1850. Buildings on the grounds included the meetinghouse and the Brethren's Shop, which still holds a working blacksmith shop and woodworking operation. A large new Central Dwelling House was built in 1883 or 1884. The Shakers strived to be as self-sufficient as possible, while being an active part of the community. They built a mill and farm that enabled them to sell produce and commercial goods to the outside world. ==Membership==

By 1800, more than 140 believers lived at Sabbathday Lake community. By 1850, only 70 Shakers lived in the Sabbathday Lake Church Family at New Gloucester. The 1880 census listed 43 living at Sabbathday Lake. Membership hovered around that level until the 1930s, when only about 30 members remained. Membership continued to decline with only two members living , though the Shakers accept new people who wish to join them, and Sister April Baxter joined in 2025, increasing the present number of Shakers in the community to three. ==Covenant==

In 1957, after "months of prayer", Eldresses Gertrude, Emma, and Ida, the leaders of the United Society of Believers and members of another Shaker settlement, Canterbury Shaker Village, voted to close their Shaker Covenant, the document which they claimed that new members need to sign to become members. In 1988, speaking about the three men and women in their 20s and 30s who had joined the Shakers and were living in the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, Eldress Bertha Lindsay said, "To become a Shaker you have to sign a legal document taking the necessary vows and that document, the official covenant, is locked up in our safe. Membership is closed forever." ==In the twenty-first century==

Membership to the community is still open, and occasionally "novices" explore joining the society. , leader of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village and author of The Aletheia: Spirit of Truth, a Series of Letters in Which the Principles of the United Society Known as Shakers are Set Forth and Illustrated, 1899, and The Mission and Testimony of the Shakers of the Twentieth Century to the World, 1904 The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum is the largest repository of Maine Shaker culture. Examples of furniture, oval boxes, woodenware, metal and tin wares, technology and tools, "fancy" sales goods, costume and textiles, visual arts, and herbal and medicinal products are among the 13,000 artifacts currently in the Sabbathday Lake collection. Although the collection represents every Shaker Community known to have existed, special emphasis has been placed upon preserving the heritage of the Maine Shaker Communities, including Sabbathday Lake, Poland Hill, Gorham, and Alfred. ==Present and future==

As Shakers are celibate, new members cannot be born into the group and must join from the outside. The Spring/Summer 2019 issue of The Clarion, the Shakers' newsletter, makes reference to an additional Shaker in the community, Brother Andrew. In 2025, Sister April Baxter was announced to have joined the community, bringing the official number of members to 3. ==Community life==

This community was one of the smaller Shaker groups during the sect's heyday. They farm and practice a variety of handicrafts; a Shaker Museum and Sunday services are open to visitors. Mother Ann Lee is celebrated on the first Sunday of August to commemorate the arrival of the English Shakers in America in 1774. The congregation sings and a Mother Ann cake is presented. The daily schedule of a Shaker in Sabbathday Lake Village is as follows: • The day begins at 7:30 am; the Great Bell on Dwelling House rings, calling everyone to breakfast. • At 8:00 am morning prayers start. Two Psalms are read, then passages are read from elsewhere in the Bible. Following this is communal prayer and silent prayer, concluded with the singing of a Shaker hymn. • Work for the Shakers begins at 8:30. • Work stops at 11:30 for midday prayers. • Lunch begins at 12:00. This is the main meal for the Shakers. • Work continues at 1:00 pm. • At 6:00 it is supper time, the last meal of the day. • On Wednesdays at 5:00 pm they hold a prayer meeting which is followed by a Shaker Studies class. The last two Shakers own all the property communally, and confess their sins to each other. The village regularly receives visitors, and Arnold and June teach them how to make soap and bind books. The money generated from these workshops keeps the village alive. ==Shaker Trust==

To preserve their legacy, as well as their idyllic lakeside property at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, the Shakers announced in October 2005 that they had entered into a trust with the state of Maine and several conservation groups. Under this agreement, the Shakers will sell conservation easements to the trust, allowing the village to stave off development and continue operations as long as there are Shakers to live there. The agreement does not specify whether the property will become a park, museum, or other public space should the Shakers die out. That decision would be made by a nonprofit corporation—the United Society of Shakers, Sabbathday Lake Inc.—whose board members are largely non-Shakers. The $3.7 million conservation plan relies on grants, donations, and public funds. ==See also==