Darrow School - Shaker Post Yearbook (New Lebanon, NY)

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The Peg Board - 1936 And now in 1936 how does the old schoolhouse appear to our eyes? Its rooms no longer hum with drowsy tones of boys and girls studying their lessons aloud. The harsh snap of the teacher's ferrule does not resound through the rooms. Instead, the patter of the tiny feet of mice, the whistle of the wind through the broken windows, and the slow sounds of decay that foretell the ruin of all structures are the only sounds that disturb its sacred atmosphere. But let us hope that the fine work once done there will be perpetuated by our Lebanon School. Photograph by Winthrop B. Cqffin, '36 SPECIMENS OF SHAKER HANDICRAFT IN THE SCHOOL MUSEUM Various Industries of the Mount Lebanon Shakers By WILLIAM BRADFORD HALL, '36 Prize Article in lhe Senior Group ITH the organization of the Shaker community on the slopes of Mount Lebanon it became necessary to provide financial resources for the colony! As a result, the Shakers gradually entered into many varied industries. Prominent among these were the raising and sale of garden seeds, the gathering and sale of medicinal herbs, and the preparation and sale of medicinal ex- tracts. By 1800 the garden seed business at Mount Lebanon had already reached considerable pro- portions, and its importance increased rapidly. At one time the seeds were distributed through the United States and were even sent to Europe, and in 1858 the business was one of the most profitable sources of income for the Church Family at New Lebanon. At the time of the Civil 1. The gathering of the society at New Lebanon began in September 1787 and by 1792 the church was established. See A Summary View ofthe M illennial Church. Albany 1848, p. 59. 34

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1936 The Peg Board , ' ', . , , ,af . ' . JH.. Photograph by Winthrop B. Coffin. '36 The picture on the left shows the interior of the Shaker schoolhouse when it -was in use. From left to right are Brother James Culver, Sister Amelia Culver, Elder Calvin Reed, and Sister Emma J. Neale. The picture an the right shows the exterior of the Shaker schoolhouse as il is today. The interest the Shakers take in education is very commendable. I regret that more ofour Public Schools do not take a deeper interest in our schools and bring them up to the standard of the school at Mt. Lebanon. The teachers attend the Institutes and Association, and are ready to catch every new idea or new Methodg therefore their teachers are well posted in all the New Methods now in use. Isaac T. Haight, School Commissioner' Although the Shakers had many trials and tribulations, they also had their share of blessings. The Manifesto, one of their publications, tells of the bravery of one of the sisters, Ada Brown, in extinguishing a fire in the schoolhouse-a fire that might have spread into a conflagration: Among the special blessings we have to recount is the preservation of the village school house with its valuable furnishings of books and charts. On November 26 a little past the noon hour as the teacher, Sister Ada Brown, entered the school room Ca little earlier than usualj, she was startled to see smoke and flame coming up through the register. Through her presence of mind in immediately closing doors and windows and throwing on the water at hand, she was able to check the flames and summon assistance, barely in time to save the building. Cause of Ere was large unprotected wood casing too near the large new furnace. Repairs have been made with greater security for the future. ' An amusing incident that occurred in the schoolhouse was told us by Sister Emma. One day while she was a teacher there, she was trying to get the floor particularly clean. The water, which she used a little too freely, seeped down into the basement, where at that time the wool and felt hats were manufactured, slightly wetting some of the stores of felt. The hatters were con- siderably perturbed to Sister Pfmma's chagrin. 9. The Manifesto XII lSeptember 18821, 207. 10. See Vol. XXVII C1895-J. 33

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1936 The Peg Board War and for a number of years thereafter the industry sufferedumany unlooked-for reverses. 2 It continued, however, until the late 80's or early 9O,S.n3 In a letter from one young believer at home lEmil Bretznerl to another in England, and dated January 7, 1871, we find the follow- ing comment on the seed business: If you had only known how much trouble we take about those seeds you helped us gather in last fall, you would have considered more than once before going to England. When we get the seeds threshed and well cleaned, we take them to the shop and put them up in little paper bags to send to our customers. What a job that is! One cuts the bags, another folds them, a third one prints, a fourth one pastes thim, a fifth one puts in the seed, a sixth seals them up, a seventh puts them in the boxes a d off they go to our great rejoicing. One more has to go and collect the money for them, and that is the worst of all.4 Along with the garden seed industry came the business of drying sweet corn for the wholesale and retail markets. This was started at Mount Lebanon in 1828 and continued throughout the century. After the cobs had been boiled in great iron kettles, the kernels were cut off with hand knives and then dried in the sun. At a later period steam-operated machines were intro- duced for cutting the corn, and thus the amount of labor required was reduced considerably? In 1866 the price for a barrel of this corn was 520. During the early 80's outside competition made heavy inroads on the business, but it was not discontinued until about 1900. Exceedingly important also was the medicinal herb industry. The Shakers state that the cultivation of herbs and roots for sale began in 1820. Up to that time only wild herbs had been gatheredf' In 1826 the demand for Shaker herb preparations had become so heavy that it be- came necessary to use herbs imported from outside as well as those grown in the Mount Lebanon gardensf In 1850 large additions were made to the buildings and machinery. These fa- cilities made it possible for the Shakers to increase their output greatly. A gentleman who visited Mount Lebanon in 1857, or slightly before, has left us the following description of the building in which the Shakers prepared their herbs: The Herb House, where the various botanical preparations are put up for market, is a frame building in the center of the village, one hundred and twenty feet in length, forty feet in width, and two stories and an attic in height. There are some spacious out- houses connected with it. The lower part is used for the business oHice, store-rooms, and for pressing and packing the herbs and roots. The second story and attic are the drying rooms, where the green herbs are laid upon sheets of canvas, about fourteen inches apart, supported by cords. The basement is devoted to heavy storage and the horse-power by which the press in the second story is worked. That press is one of the most perfect of the kind. It has a power of three hundred tons, and turns out each day about two hundred and fifty pounds of herbs, or six hundred pounds of roots, pressed for use. This performance will be doubled when steam shall be applied to the press. The herbs and roots come out in solid cakes, an inch thick, and seven and a quarter inches square, weighing a pound each. These are then taken into another room, where they are kept in small presses, arranged in a row, so as to preserve their form until placed in papers and labeled. During the year 18 5 5 about seventy-five tons of roots and herbs were pressed in the establishment. About ten persons are continually employed in this business, and occasionally twice that number are there, engaged in picking over the green herbs and cleansing the roots brought from the 2. The Manifesto, XX CMarch 18901, 50. 3. Edward D. Andrews, The Community Industries of the Shakers, Albany, 1932, p. 81. 4. The Shaker, II flfebruary 18727, p. 16. 5. The Community Industries of the Shakers, 82. 6. The Manifesto, XX' September 18907, 195. 7. The Community Industries of the Shakers, p. 92. It is interesting to note that the Shaker uphysic gardens were scattered all over New Lebanon. 35