Place of Origin

United States

Date of Composition

1840s-1850s

Description

The Shakers were a religious communal society founded and originally led by Mother Ann Lee, who came to America from England in 1774. By 1826 communities were established throughout New England and the Midwest, as well as in Georgia and Florida. In 1911 Wallace H. Cathcart, Director of the Western Reserve Historical Society, began collecting Shaker materials relating to 20 Shaker communities located in 10 eastern States. The collection includes at least two bound manuscripts containing recipes for food and drink, one from Shirley, Massachusetts, dated ca. 1849, and one from Watervliet, New York, dated ca. 1852. The books are described in "Series XI: Recipes and Prescriptions, 1820-1881 undated" of the finding aid.