Digging uncovers Shaker history(Archaeologists explore site of famous religious group's house in NY)

Archaeologists explore site of famous religious group's old seed house in Colonie

COLONIE -- A team of archaeologists methodically sifted through clumps of dirt Sunday in an attempt to quickly document newly discovered artifacts on the old Shaker settlement just off Route 155.

The find could further reveal the industriousness of the 18th-century religious sect at their first known American settlement, but it also lies directly in the path of a new sewer line serving Albany International Airport.

A work crew digging a trench for the line on the county-owned land struck the foundation wall Friday of what experts say is probably a seed house, a building in which the Shakers dried and stored seeds they later packaged and sold.

The discovery, which was not entirely a surprise, nonetheless brought construction to a halt while researchers were called into to assess the extent and historical significance of the find, said Starlyn D'Angelo, executive director of the Shaker Heritage Society, the not-for-profit custodians of the 1848 Shaker Meeting House on the property of the Ann Lee Nursing home.

D'Angelo said historians knew the building existed based on drawings and photographs, but she said they were not sure exactly where it was and had believed it might have already been destroyed by earlier construction.

"We knew it was in the area," D'Angelo said. "We thought the trench was far enough over."

Before construction on the sewer line began about a month ago the airport paid for an archaeological study of the areas to be disturbed that were most likely to hold artifacts, D'Angelo said.

But because the seed house was located beneath what is now an asphalt parking lot, no testing was done there.

The masonry and wood-frame building was used to dry and store seeds and, for at least a few years, raise silk worms for silk cloth. Records show it was built sometime before 1826, replaced in 1852, and then torn down by the county in 1929.

Seven archaeologists worked Sunday with trowels, brushes, and sifters in the shoulder-deep trench, uncovering artifacts such as coal, pottery shards, animal bones, metal stands for some kind of press, and what appeared to be some sort of metal drive shaft.

Records show the building might have once contained a water-driven printing press to print seed bags.

"We're hoping to finish today," said Corey McQuinn, project manager for Hartgen Archaeological Associates, the firm hired by the airport to study the site.

McQuinn said his team will prepare a report for the state Historic Preservation Office, which will then advise the airport how to proceed. But in the meantime, the project is shut down.

Airport officials familiar with the find could not be reached for comment Sunday. But spokesman Doug Myers agreed "the project has been put on hold until they can determine exactly what it is and assess the archaeological value."

D'Angelo said the find underscores the efficiency and industry of Shaker settlers, who sold their seeds for plants throughout the state.

"What you want to do is try to preserve as much of the evidence as you can," she said. "It's the kind of evidence you can use to put together a picture of what the past was like."

Celibacy is part of Shaker doctrine, meaning that it could only spread through conversion; in this, it might be seen as a Christian sect with a death wish, or perhaps a precursor of the tree-hugging types who want radical reductions in the human population without resorting to war per se. I don't find it surprising that the old Shaker saying, "Live Simply, That Others May Simply Live" shares bumpers with other eco-goofball stickers.

The last of the male Shakers died circa 1960; at that time the dozen or two dozen female Shakers voted to "close the Covenant" --which means there would be no new Shakers. There can't be a sect without both male and female, and with no male Shaker to teach the new male Shakers, there can be no new female Shakers, either.

One of the other supposedly celibate cults was the House of David, which was founded, and largely resident, in Michigan, perhaps an hour's drive from here. It was founded by a married couple, and the original home of the cult was a pair of essentially identical houses, side by side, with an upper-storey bridge between them (still standing the only time I was there, about ten years ago). The men lived in one side, the women in the other.

One may wonder, "why the bridge?" The male founder of the sect was banging the young female converts, while the female founder lived in a blissful state of denial. She finally woke up, and led a schism in the House of David ("Israelite House of David, as Re-Organized by Mary Purnell") which I believe persists, consisting of surviving members living off the endowment. Mary Purnell herself was interred in an above-ground sarcophagus, sitting up, so that when the Trumpet sounds, she can stand up and exit. Not makin' this up. The house of the reorganized sect stands a little way up the road from the original double house. The HQ of the original sect stands across the street.

Israelite House of David:
http://www.israelitehouseofdavid.org/

Israelite House of David as Reorganized:
http://www.maryscityofdavid.org/

Whoops. The sect was founded in Ohio, but moved to Benton Harbor the following year.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.