Shakers had unique cemetery traditions
Editor's note: This is the last in a summer-long series in which Advocate writer Judith Fairweather visits old cemeteries to try to dig up interesting tidbits of local history. Read all of her columns online at blogtheberkshires.com.
By JUDITH FAIRWEATHER
NEW LEBANON, N.Y. - In Berkshire County, when the term Shakers is used, I would say it was a safe bet that most people would picture Hancock Shaker Village.
But Hancock was not the only local Shaker community. In fact, the Mount Lebanon home of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing was the largest and most successful communal utopian society for 160 years, from 1787 to 1947. As with other Shaker communities, the village was divided into several unique "family" groupings, variously named the Church Family, the North Family, the South Family and so on.
Currently, Darrow School is housed on the Church and Center family properties; the North Family acreage, however, was purchased by the Shaker Museum and Library in 2004 as the future home of the museum.
The museum is being relocated there from its current Old Chatham site bit by bit, according to Jerry Grant, the museum's director of research and library services. In order to give the public a glimpse into the life of the Mount Lebanon Shakers, this summer the museum held a series of "Talk and Walk" lecture tours. The last in the series will be held Saturday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m.