Simple Gifts of Shaker Legacy Live on in Canterbury

Tiny Canterbury, New Hampshire, has typical New-England features: Country store, village green, acres of fields and forests, and miles of stone walls.

But from the moment visitors exit Interstate 93 just north of Concord, NH, and by whatever route they come, all roads in Canterbury eventually lead to one destination. As you crest a gentle hilltop to find it, there’s a sense you’re encountering a bit of heaven on earth. Although no residents remain, it feels as though someone’s waiting to bid you “kindly welcome.”

Perhaps it’s the enormous old trees that line the road and can be seen for miles. In days when 300 souls lived worshipful lives here, a tree was planted each time a new member joined the community. As these trees grew heavenward, so those individuals came to grow where they’d been planted.

Now a living museum, the Village’s collection of 25 original buildings surrounded by gardens, ponds, and meadows recalls a purposeful way of life guided by religious teachings of gender and racial equality, common ownership of goods, pacifism, and celibacy. In a time when women had no rights, Shakers lived and worked in this egalitarian community as Sisters and Brothers who saw each other only in passing at mealtimes, and in worship services.

One of 19 such communities in the eastern United States, Canterbury Shaker Village sees 60,000 visitors retrace its 200-year history every year – and experience its undeniable peace.

“The Shakers LIVED their belief of ‘Hands to Work and Hearts to God’ and this is exemplified everywhere one looks or wanders,” says staff member Jane McLaughlin. “When people would say they ‘felt something’ here, the Eldresses would smile and say what people were feeling was the Shakers who had left this earth physically but who would always come back to the place that they loved.”

A staff member since 1982, McLaughlin knew two of Canterbury’s last Shakers, octogenarians Eldress Bertha and Eldress Gertrude. In 1961, the few remaining Shakers opened the Village to the public and helped establish the non-profit organization that preserves it today. The last Canterbury Shaker died in 1992.

Most associate the name “Shaker” with a legacy of furniture, crafts, and song. Often misunderstood as austere or dour, the Shakers, or “Shaking Quakers,” whose religious roots originated in Europe, embraced joyful worship that expressed itself in music and
vigorous dancing. It’s said that during their services neighbors miles away could hear the Shakers’ feet stomping the reinforced floorboards of the Meeting House, the first building they constructed when they established the Village in 1792.

Because the celibate Shakers typically had no children, the schoolhouse provided up to 12 years of education to youngsters who were orphaned or impoverished. Each was also trained in a variety of trades and crafts.

Shaker men and women are credited with scores of inventions and improvements in household and farming items. Canterbury’s huge laundry facility featured spin cycles and tumble dryers long before the 20th century, and the power plant that now houses the bakery was constructed of pressed tin to make it as fireproof as possible.

Shakers’ love of beauty can be seen in vivid hues of sunflower yellow, deep red, apple green, and brilliant blue throughout the Village. Shaker craftsmanship’s spare, clean lines merged beauty and utility in everything from buildings to the simplest tools. Known for their canny conservation of resources, they produced and marketed dozens of items from the gifts nature provided, including furniture and wood crafts, soaps and candles, brooms and baskets, spun, woven, and knitted goods, dozens of agricultural products, and a wide array of herbal medicines.

Local artisans pursue their craft Inspired by the Shakers’ vision. David Emerson fashions Shaker-style furniture upstairs in the Carpenters’ Shop, while downstairs, Barbara Beeler crafts the oval boxes that have become a Shaker signature piece. Handmade reproduction goods are available at the Museum Store, and no visit to Canterbury should overlook a sampling of hearty Shaker fare -- a legend in itself -- at the Village’s Creamery Restaurant.

Another simple gift of Shaker heritage is the noble aims it continues to inspire.

McLaughlin recalls explaining to one tour group how the Shakers used their talents to the best of their ability because they felt God was always watching and giving new talents in reward. Later, a woodcarver on the tour stopped to tell her that he had rushed to get an order out the day before and knew he hadn’t done his best work.

“When he was reminded of the blessing of talents,” McLaughlin recalls, “he said he had decided to carve two more birds correctly and send them in replacement.”

Information about Canterbury Shaker Village can be found at www.shakers.org or by calling (603) 783-9511.

Story ID:	84
Written by:	Phyllis Edgerly Ring (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Local History
Location:	Canterbury New Hampshire US
Year:	1800
Person:	Shakers