In 1807 the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (Shakers)established a society near the Gasper River in Logan County, Kentucky. The society was soon named South Union, and it lasted until 1922, the longest-lasting Shaker community west of the Appalachians. Most of the first Shaker converts in Logan County had only a few years beforehand participated in a series of evangelical Presbyterian camp meetings known collectively as the Kentucky Revival, the Revival of 1800, or the Great Revival.Though Presbyterian revivalism and Shakerism shared certain characteristics (particularl millennialism and enthusiastic forms of worship), there were many differences between them as well; Shakerism was not necessarily a logical continuation of the Great Revival. So why did so many Scots-Irish Presbyterians in south-central Kentucky convert to Shakerism? How did conversion make sense to them? And how was Shaker conversion understood by those who did not convert? Through a close reading of primary sources, this thesis attempts to answer these questions. Shaker conversion is better understood as an interaction within a community rather than as a transaction between an individual and God. The decade or so preceding the establishment of South Union—the disestablishment of state churches, the mass migration to the trans-Appalachian west, the burgeoning market economy—was, for many Scots-Irish Presbyterians, a period of social disorder. This was especially true in south-central Kentucky, where the local Presbyterian establishment was riven by schism. The Great Revival was a brief but ultimately disappointing creation of an alternate community, a way of escape from the surrounding chaos. Shakerism offered the apotheosis of that alternate community. South Union was a camp meeting that never ended. However, the denizens of south-central Kentucky who did not convert to Shakerism were quite hostile to the new sect. They understood conversion as a form of betrayal, a renunciation of a community which they still identified with. This understanding became especially clear during a divorce case involving William and Sally Boler, in which William Boler’s rights as a man and a citizen became circumspect because of his conversion to Shakerism. Since the mid-nineteenth century, Shaker conversion has become less threatening to the outside world. Indeed, the popular imagination has co-opted South Union as quintessentially American. By reclaiming the Shakers from the margins of society, popular memory has effectively erased conversion from the Shaker story. After all, Shaker conversion was never as much about belief or even practice as it was about a distinct and separate community.

The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, commonly called Shakers, are a most unique communistic group in American history. Their society had an economic as well as a religious base. Because of this entwining relationship, the Shakers outlived all other communistic societies in the United States. From the beginning the Shakers placed great emphasis on the economic aspects of their communal society and this emphasis played a paramount role in many of their major decisions. In effect their theory was “Mine is thine and thine is mine.” Taking their beliefs from this statement, together with the preaching of Mother Ann Lee, founder of the society, the Shakers evolved as long as they had sufficient membership to do the needed work. Indeed, industry was one of the first lessons taught to the Shaker. One of the outstanding Shaker communities was located at South Union, in Logan County, Kentucky. This colony evolved from the Second Great Awakening which had its early beginnings in Kentucky. The notable economic progress made by the South Union Shakers prior to the Civil War will be the topic of this paper. The author will inquire into several questions that are necessary for an understanding of the development and maturation of the South Union Shaker colony. The agricultural crops and livestock development will be investigated, the manufacturing and selling will be examined, and the improvements made on the Shaker property will be considered. An understanding of the Shakers’ economic base is important. By this economic stability the Shakers were able to outlive the other communal groups in America. There are several hypotheses of this study. The Shakers produced many varieties of fruits and vegetables in an area in which there was little variation in agricultural products. Livestock played an important part in the economy of the South Union Shakers, and they made a sincere effort to improve the blood line of their stock. The Shakers produced many goods and services that were used by non-members, and the newest methods in marketing, advertising, and selling were employed. They made extensive improvements on their land and buildings. This paper will begin on a very broad basis with a general history of the development of the Shaker Society and its general spiritual beliefs. From this point the writer will devote a chapter to the effects on economics resulting from their spiritual and temporal beliefs. Having established a basic understanding of the place of economics in a Shaker community, the writer will investigate the case in point – South Union. There will follow a discussion of the South Union colony in three basic areas: crops and livestock, manufactured goods and selling, and internal improvements. The author will then make his conclusions. The study will be confined to the period between the founding of the South Union colony in 1807 and the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. For the sake of clarity, it will be necessary on occasion to bring to the reader information from before and after this span of years.