The family in Utopia: Celibacy, communal child rearing, and continuity in a religious commune

Journal of Family History

Volumn 25, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 491-503

  Coşgel, Metin M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADOPTION; ARTICLE; CHILD; CHILD REARING; DEMOGRAPHY; ETHICS; ETHNOLOGY; FAMILY SIZE; HISTORY; HUMAN; PHILOSOPHY; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; RELIGION; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; UNITED STATES;

ADOLESCENT; ADOPTION; CHILD; CHILD REARING; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; DEMOGRAPHY; FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HUMANS; PROTESTANTISM; RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHIES; SEXUAL ABSTINENCE; UNITED STATES; UTOPIAS;

EID: 0034287883     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/036319900002500403     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. See, for example, Sally Kitch, Chaste Liberation: Celibacy and Female Cultural Status (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989); Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981); and Lawrence Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991).
2. See, for example, Sally Kitch, Chaste Liberation: Celibacy and Female Cultural Status (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989); Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981); and Lawrence Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991).
3. See, for example, Sally Kitch, Chaste Liberation: Celibacy and Female Cultural Status (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989); Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981); and Lawrence Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1991).
4. Studying persistence with a sample of children should be more accurate than the usual persistence studies because the probability of nonpersistence due to death is much smaller for children than for adults. For an example of a persistence study, see David W. Galenson, "Economic Opportunity on the Urban Frontier: Nativity, Work, and Wealth in Early Chicago, "Journal of Economic History 51, no. 3 (1991): 581-603.
5. Stephen J. Stein, The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 422-32.
6. Priscilla J. Brewer, Shaker Communities, Shaker Lives (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1986).
7. The 1900 figure is from William S. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics 1840-1900: An Example of the Use of U.S. Census Enumeration Schedules, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 21, no. 4 (1982): 355.
8. Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia. For a recent analysis of the role of family structure on member commitment and involvement, see E. Burke Rochford Jr., "Family Structure, Commitment, and Involvement in the Hare Krishna Movement, "Sociology of Religion 56, no. 2 (1995): 153-75. For a general discussion of the relationship between family and religion, see Teresa D. Marciano, "Families and Religions, "in Handbook of Marriage and the Family, ed. Marvin B. Sussman and Suzanne K. Steinmetz (New York: Plenum, 1987), 285-315.
9. Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia. For a recent analysis of the role of family structure on member commitment and involvement, see E. Burke Rochford Jr., "Family Structure, Commitment, and Involvement in the Hare Krishna Movement, "Sociology of Religion 56, no. 2 (1995): 153-75. For a general discussion of the relationship between family and religion, see Teresa D. Marciano, "Families and Religions, "in Handbook of Marriage and the Family, ed. Marvin B. Sussman and Suzanne K. Steinmetz (New York: Plenum, 1987), 285-315.
10. Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia. For a recent analysis of the role of family structure on member commitment and involvement, see E. Burke Rochford Jr., "Family Structure, Commitment, and Involvement in the Hare Krishna Movement, "Sociology of Religion 56, no. 2 (1995): 153-75. For a general discussion of the relationship between family and religion, see Teresa D. Marciano, "Families and Religions, "in Handbook of Marriage and the Family, ed. Marvin B. Sussman and Suzanne K. Steinmetz (New York: Plenum, 1987), 285-315.
11. Stein, Shaker Experience, 161.
12. Edward D. Andrews, The People Called Shakers (New York: Dover, 1963), 8.
13. For example, the Millennial Laws of 1821 stated that "the gospel of Christ's Second Appearing, strictly forbids all private union between the two sexes, in any case, place, or under any circumstances, in doors or out." In addition, Section V of the laws stated twenty-nine specific "Orders concerning Intercourses between the sexes." Andrews, People Called Shakers 266.
14. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
15. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
16. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
17. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
18. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
19. For the care and education of children in Shaker communities, see Andrews, People Called Shakers; John E. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship as a Mutually Improving Exchange, "paper presented at the Twentieth Annual Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, 1993; John E. Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital: Literacy in American Families, 1830-1875, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 27, no. 3 (1997): 413-35; and Frank G. Taylor, "An Analysis of Shaker Education: The Life and Death of an Alternative Educational System" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1976). For the effect of Shaker childhood on the likelihood to apostatize, see John E. Murray, "Determinants of Membership Levels and Duration in a Shaker Commune, 1780-1880, "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34, no. 1 (1995): 35-48.
20. John H. Noyes, History of American Socialisms (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1870), 142. Another contemporary observer of nineteenth-century American communes, Charles Nordhoff, disagrees with Noyes. See Charles Nordhoff, The Communistic Societies of the United States (1875; reprint, New York: Dover, 1966), 388-89.
21. John H. Noyes, History of American Socialisms (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1870), 142. Another contemporary observer of nineteenth-century American communes, Charles Nordhoff, disagrees with Noyes. See Charles Nordhoff, The Communistic Societies of the United States (1875; reprint, New York: Dover, 1966), 388-89.
22. Rosabeth M. Kanter, Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972), 77.
23. Andrews, People Called Shakers, 97; Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia; Kanter, Commitment and Community, 45; Kitch, Chaste Liberation.
24. Andrews, People Called Shakers, 97; Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia; Kanter, Commitment and Community, 45; Kitch, Chaste Liberation.
25. Andrews, People Called Shakers, 97; Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia; Kanter, Commitment and Community, 45; Kitch, Chaste Liberation.
26. Andrews, People Called Shakers, 97; Foster, Religion and Sexuality and Women, Family, and Utopia; Kanter, Commitment and Community, 45; Kitch, Chaste Liberation.
27. Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia, 31. Gender equality among the Shakers has been a controversial topic. For example, in her "'Tho' of the Weaker Sex': A Reassessment of Gender Equality among the Shakers, "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 17, no. 3 (1992): 635, Priscilla J. Brewer argues that "the Shakers were never committed to the complete equality of the sexes." See Kitch, Chaste Liberation, for a symbolic analysis of Shaker celibacy in a comparative framework and its relation to contemporary feminism. For the role of Shaker sisters in financial matters, see Karen K. Nickless and Pamela J. Nickless, "Trustees, Deacons, and Deaconesses: The Temporal Role of the Shaker Sisters 1820-1890, "Communal Societies 1 (1987): 16-24. For a general discussion of women's roles in utopian movements, see Rosemary R. Ruether, "Women in Utopian Movements, "in Women and Religion in America, vol. 1, ed. Rosemary R. Ruether and Rosemary S. Keller, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 46-100.
28. Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia, 31. Gender equality among the Shakers has been a controversial topic. For example, in her "'Tho' of the Weaker Sex': A Reassessment of Gender Equality among the Shakers, "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 17, no. 3 (1992): 635, Priscilla J. Brewer argues that "the Shakers were never committed to the complete equality of the sexes." See Kitch, Chaste Liberation, for a symbolic analysis of Shaker celibacy in a comparative framework and its relation to contemporary feminism. For the role of Shaker sisters in financial matters, see Karen K. Nickless and Pamela J. Nickless, "Trustees, Deacons, and Deaconesses: The Temporal Role of the Shaker Sisters 1820-1890, "Communal Societies 1 (1987): 16-24. For a general discussion of women's roles in utopian movements, see Rosemary R. Ruether, "Women in Utopian Movements, "in Women and Religion in America, vol. 1, ed. Rosemary R. Ruether and Rosemary S. Keller, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 46-100.
29. Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia, 31. Gender equality among the Shakers has been a controversial topic. For example, in her "'Tho' of the Weaker Sex': A Reassessment of Gender Equality among the Shakers, "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 17, no. 3 (1992): 635, Priscilla J. Brewer argues that "the Shakers were never committed to the complete equality of the sexes." See Kitch, Chaste Liberation, for a symbolic analysis of Shaker celibacy in a comparative framework and its relation to contemporary feminism. For the role of Shaker sisters in financial matters, see Karen K. Nickless and Pamela J. Nickless, "Trustees, Deacons, and Deaconesses: The Temporal Role of the Shaker Sisters 1820-1890, "Communal Societies 7 (1987): 16-24. For a general discussion of women's roles in utopian movements, see Rosemary R. Ruether, "Women in Utopian Movements, "in Women and Religion in America, vol. 1, ed. Rosemary R. Ruether and Rosemary S. Keller, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 46-100.
30. Foster, Women, Family, and Utopia, 31. Gender equality among the Shakers has been a controversial topic. For example, in her "'Tho' of the Weaker Sex': A Reassessment of Gender Equality among the Shakers, "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 17, no. 3 (1992): 635, Priscilla J. Brewer argues that "the Shakers were never committed to the complete equality of the sexes." See Kitch, Chaste Liberation, for a symbolic analysis of Shaker celibacy in a comparative framework and its relation to contemporary feminism. For the role of Shaker sisters in financial matters, see Karen K. Nickless and Pamela J. Nickless, "Trustees, Deacons, and Deaconesses: The Temporal Role of the Shaker Sisters 1820-1890, "Communal Societies 1 (1987): 16-24. For a general discussion of women's roles in utopian movements, see Rosemary R. Ruether, "Women in Utopian Movements, "in Women and Religion in America, vol. 1, ed. Rosemary R. Ruether and Rosemary S. Keller, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 46-100.
31. Andrews, People Called Shakers, 191.
32. Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship, "23.
33. It is difficult to determine the reaction of remaining Shakers to unexpected apostasies. Some may have felt a greater bond of solidarity. See Murray, "Determinants" 41; Stephen J. Stein, "'A Candid Statement of Our Principles': Early Shaker Theology in the West, "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 133, no. 4 (1989): 503-19.
34. It is difficult to determine the reaction of remaining Shakers to unexpected apostasies. Some may have felt a greater bond of solidarity. See Murray, "Determinants" 41; Stephen J. Stein, "'A Candid Statement of Our Principles': Early Shaker Theology in the West, "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 133, no. 4 (1989): 503-19.
35. It is difficult to determine the reaction of remaining Shakers to unexpected apostasies. Some may have felt a greater bond of solidarity. See Murray, "Determinants" 41; Stephen J. Stein, "'A Candid Statement of Our Principles': Early Shaker Theology in the West, "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 133, no. 4 (1989): 503-19.
36. For examples of internal and external difficulties caused by celibacy and communal child rearing, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 10; Brewer, Shaker Communities, 93-96, 139-40, 148-50; and Stein, Shaker Experience, 85-86, 327-28. For examples of legal cases involving American communal societies, see Carol Weisbrod, The Boundaries of Utopia (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 46-47, 126-27.
37. For examples of internal and external difficulties caused by celibacy and communal child rearing, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 10; Brewer, Shaker Communities, 93-96, 139-40, 148-50; and Stein, Shaker Experience, 85-86, 327-28. For examples of legal cases involving American communal societies, see Carol Weisbrod, The Boundaries of Utopia (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 46-47, 126-27.
38. For examples of internal and external difficulties caused by celibacy and communal child rearing, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 10; Brewer, Shaker Communities, 93-96, 139-40, 148-50; and Stein, Shaker Experience, 85-86, 327-28. For examples of legal cases involving American communal societies, see Carol Weisbrod, The Boundaries of Utopia (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 46-47, 126-27.
39. William A. Hinds, American Communities (New York: Corinth, 1961), 105.
40. Hinds, American Communities, 106; Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 244.
41. Hinds, American Communities, 106; Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 244.
42. In "Determinants, "Murray shows that the Shakers did indeed suffer from a second-generation problem. Studying the membership records of the New Lebanon Church family, he finds that years spent as a child among the Shakers had a negative effect on the likelihood to apostatize in adulthood, possibly "due to differing levels of commitment in members who chose to join and those who were brought into the community." Ibid., 43.
43. John M. Whitworth, God's Blueprints: A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1975), 85. Admitting that "detailed statistical evidence is unavailable, "he nevertheless goes on to make inferences about the average age of the Shakers and argues that young persons increasingly left after the Civil War. Ibid., 76.
44. John M. Whitworth, God's Blueprints: A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1975), 85. Admitting that "detailed statistical evidence is unavailable, "he nevertheless goes on to make inferences about the average age of the Shakers and argues that young persons increasingly left after the Civil War. Ibid., 76.
45. John M. Whitworth, God's Blueprints: A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Boston: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1975), 85. Admitting that "detailed statistical evidence is unavailable, "he nevertheless goes on to make inferences about the average age of the Shakers and argues that young persons increasingly left after the Civil War. Ibid., 76.
46. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
47. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
48. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
49. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
50. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
51. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
52. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
53. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
54. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics"; William S. Bainbridge, "The Decline of the Shakers: Evidence from the United States Census, "Communal Societies 4 (1984): 19-34; and Brewer, Shaker Communities; Priscilla J. Brewer, "The Demographic Features of the Shaker Decline, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History 15, no. 1. (1984): 31-52. Shaker membership has been the subject of a variety of pioneering quantitative studies. For studies of membership levels and duration in a single community, see Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 54-58; Brewer, "Demographic Features"; Murray, "Determinants." For studies of retention and demographic structure in groups of communities, see Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; Brewer, Shaker Communities. For studies of all Shaker communities, see Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
55. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics, "358. For the age distribution in eastern communities between 1800 and 1900, see Brewer, Shaker Communities, appendix, Table 5. Brewer's figures show that, although the children constituted a small proportion of Shaker membership in 1800, the proportion started to rise in 1810 and remained high during the rest of the century.
56. Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics, "358. For the age distribution in eastern communities between 1800 and 1900, see Brewer, Shaker Communities, appendix, Table 5. Brewer's figures show that, although the children constituted a small proportion of Shaker membership in 1800, the proportion started to rise in 1810 and remained high during the rest of the century.
57. In addition to their quantitative importance, the children played an important role in shaping Shaker history in other ways. For example, a group of young girls initiated the period in Shaker history called "Mother Ann's Work." See Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 8.
58. Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 55; Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
59. Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 55; Bainbridge, "Shaker Demographics" and "Decline of the Shakers."
60. In his "Decline of the Shakers, "32, Bainbridge estimates the distribution of children by natural family ties and similarly finds that about one-third of the children in 1850 had entered alone, but he does not examine how the proportion changed over time. For the family structure of apprenticed children at their entry into Shaker communities, see Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship, "422.
61. In his "Decline of the Shakers, "32, Bainbridge estimates the distribution of children by natural family ties and similarly finds that about one-third of the children in 1850 had entered alone, but he does not examine how the proportion changed over time. For the family structure of apprenticed children at their entry into Shaker communities, see Murray, "Shaker Apprenticeship, "422.
62. Calvin Green and Seth Y. Wells, A Summary View of the Millennial Church, or United Society of Believers, (Commonly Called Shakers) (Albany: Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1823), 67.
63. Brewer, Shaker Communities, 147.
64. Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers, "26. In "Demographic Features, "Brewer's study of membership in the New Lebanon Church family also indicates the same roles of age and sex. Bainbridge and Brewer, however, used simple comparisons of aggregates, rather than more sophisticated and reliable statistical techniques, to reach their conclusions about the influences of age and sex.
65. Brewer, "Demographic Features, "44. In "Shaker Apprenticeship, "Murray also finds that age, urban residence, nativity, specific trade on indenture, and the presence of mother or father had insignificant effects (at conventional levels) on fulfilling the indenture contract.
66. To what extent were the Shaker children able to decide whether to stay or leave? As mentioned above, the indenture agreement bound children to the society: girls until eighteen and boys until twenty-one. Although children under these ages were thus legally bound to stay, the evidence indicates that indenture agreements were becoming increasingly difficult to enforce by the 1850s. See Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital, "417-21. Some children were taken away by parents or guardians, some left the society along with parents or siblings, and others ran away on their own. For examples, see Brewer, Shaker Communities, 148-50, and Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 57.
67. To what extent were the Shaker children able to decide whether to stay or leave? As mentioned above, the indenture agreement bound children to the society: girls until eighteen and boys until twenty-one. Although children under these ages were thus legally bound to stay, the evidence indicates that indenture agreements were becoming increasingly difficult to enforce by the 1850s. See Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital, "417-21. Some children were taken away by parents or guardians, some left the society along with parents or siblings, and others ran away on their own. For examples, see Brewer, Shaker Communities, 148-50, and Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 57.
68. To what extent were the Shaker children able to decide whether to stay or leave? As mentioned above, the indenture agreement bound children to the society: girls until eighteen and boys until twenty-one. Although children under these ages were thus legally bound to stay, the evidence indicates that indenture agreements were becoming increasingly difficult to enforce by the 1850s. See Murray, "Generation(s) of Human Capital, "417-21. Some children were taken away by parents or guardians, some left the society along with parents or siblings, and others ran away on their own. For examples, see Brewer, Shaker Communities, 148-50, and Foster, Religion and Sexuality, 57.
69. I divided the Shaker communities into two groups in terms of their urban or rural location. In the urban category are the following communities (which were near large cities): Harvard and Shirley (Boston), Enfield (Hartford), Watervliet (Albany), North Union (Cleveland), Watervliet (Dayton, Ohio), and Whitewater (Cincinnati).
70. Brewer, "Demographic Features." In a quantitative analysis of the membership in the New Lebanon Church family, she uses the proportion of those between the ages of twenty-five and forty-nine as a measure of leadership resources and adult role models.
71. As seen in Table 2, although urban location had a negative effect on children's stay in both periods, the effect became insignificant between 1860 and 1870. Determining the reasons for the changing significance of the effect of urban location is beyond the scope of this article. As a probable cause, fast industrialization and improved transportation networks in the United States after the middle of the nineteenth century might have reduced the importance of proximity to an urban location. For the impact of urbanization on the numerical decline of the Shakers, see Metin M. Coşgel and Bradley Andrew, "Membership in a Religious Commune: The Shakers, 1850-70" (Economics Department working paper, University of Connecticut, 2000).
72. 2 + φ format, where I is the index used in the probit estimation procedure.
73. Some researchers in the sociology of religion have argued that personal ties are more important than ideology in the conversion and commitment to new religious movements. For a review these approaches and an argument about complementarities between them, see Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge, "Networks of Faith: Interpersonal Bonds and Recruitment to Cults and Sects, "American Journal of Sociology 85, no. 6 (1980): 1376-95.
74. Previous research has identified various other causes of the numerical decline of the Shakers. For other internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of the Shakers, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 11; Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; and Brewer, "Demographic Features." For quantitative analyses of the causes of decline, see Coşgel and Andrew, "Membership, "and Murray, "Determinants."
75. Previous research has identified various other causes of the numerical decline of the Shakers. For other internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of the Shakers, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 11; Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; and Brewer, "Demographic Features." For quantitative analyses of the causes of decline, see Coşgel and Andrew, "Membership, "and Murray, "Determinants."
76. Previous research has identified various other causes of the numerical decline of the Shakers. For other internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of the Shakers, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 11; Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; and Brewer, "Demographic Features." For quantitative analyses of the causes of decline, see Coşgel and Andrew, "Membership, "and Murray, "Determinants."
77. Previous research has identified various other causes of the numerical decline of the Shakers. For other internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of the Shakers, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 11; Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; and Brewer, "Demographic Features." For quantitative analyses of the causes of decline, see Coşgel and Andrew, "Membership, "and Murray, "Determinants."
78. Previous research has identified various other causes of the numerical decline of the Shakers. For other internal and external factors that contributed to the decline of the Shakers, see Andrews, People Called Shakers, chap. 11; Bainbridge, "Decline of the Shakers"; and Brewer, "Demographic Features." For quantitative analyses of the causes of decline, see Coşgel and Andrew, "Membership, "and Murray, "Determinants."