Sunday September 8th will be the first guided tour of the Shirley Shaker Village site for the fall. It begins inside a Shaker building on the grounds of the state prison at 12:30 pm. Reservations must be made and paid for in advance. Contact Meredith at
mail@shirleyhistory.org for more details.
In the meantime, here is an essay about the work of the Shakers.
Industries of the Shirley Shakers by Paul PrzybylaThe name “Pleasant Garden” given to the Shaker community at Shirley, Massachusetts, perfectly described their 75 acres of cultivated land and 2,500 acres of orchards and woodland both in Shirley and neighboring towns. The intervale land of the nearby Nashua River provided fertile soil for field crops, broom corn and hay while the east-facing hillsides offered a temperate climate for apple orchards. The bounty from the land contributed to the self-sufficiency of the community. Their agricultural products were also sold to the outside world as a source of income to help support the community. For example, an 1855 Shirley Shaker receipt for the Whitin Machine Works company store at Whitinsville, MA showed a purchase of brooms and pickles from the Shirley Shakers. Its masthead listed additional products of herbs, condiments, apple sauce and garden seeds.
In the last decades of the Shirley community, apple sauce was a leading product for sale. The Ayer “Public Spirit” weekly newspaper in 1887 wrote about the apples and apple sauce: “Four leading varieties are grown – the Baldwin, Russet, Gravenstein, and Hubbardston. Their extensive orchards are well cared for and their fruit is uniformly fine as well as abundant. This crop is used almost wholly in the manufacture of their celebrated apple sauce, which goes almost exclusively to the Boston market, where it finds ready sale.” Change in products could be seen in the masthead of an 1894 letter of Elder John Whiteley which now included dish and floor mops for sale.
Several years ago, the Shirley Historical Society was fortunate enough to purchase the final accounting journal of Elder John Whiteley. This has provided a fascinating window into the economy of the Shirley community during its last two decades. What follows is a look at the accounting records for the years 1888 to 1902.
Brooms are shown to be one of the most significant products with sales over the fifteen years totaling 13,774 in quantity, for a 2024 value of $131,000. It was a surprise to see the variety of brooms available with seven numbered models plus locomotive, parlor and barn brooms. The Fitchburg Railroad and several area textile mills were frequent customers, as were Boston hardware stores and prominent schools such as The Groton School and Harvard University.
A new sideline of mops was established at this time. Among the varieties for sale were dish, floor, plain, netted dish, and milk can mops with various lengths of handles. Primary customers were Boston hardware stores and the R. H. White department store. A total of 18,919 mops were sold during this period, for a 2024 value of $122,000.
Agricultural products were in decline due to a growing reliance on hired laborers. In 1888 over 1,800 gallons of apple cider were pressed, and subsequent years showed smaller quantities being made of cider vinegar and boiled cider, a key ingredient in the making of the famous Shirley Shaker apple sauce. Also shown are sales of sweet and dried corn, asparagus, Shirley’s own Wachusett blackberries, butter, and limited quantities of veal, hogs, and beef.
The fertile meadows in Shirley grew large quantities of hay which supplied area companies and livery stables with food for their teams of horses. The journal accounted for several types of hay: meadow hay (native grown), swale hay (grown in marshy land), and English hay (cultivated varieties). The year 1893 listed over 16 tons of hay sold, with subsequent years averaging 10 tons.
The majority of Shirley Shaker’s 2,500 acres comprised of woodlots. Elder John Whiteley remarked to a newspaper reporter in 1896 that “We use no coal, for our wood is growing faster than we can cut it”. What was not used by the community was sold as cut boards and planks, posts, utility poles, and railroad and electric trolley ties. Cord wood used as fuel was in demand by the Damon Brick Company in neighboring Lancaster, MA. Over this period of 15 years the 2024 value in sales of wood products was $430,000.
There are a few miscellaneous journal entries that are worth noting. Elder John Whiteley was born and spent his early life in England and there is a recurring expense for his subscription to the Illustrated London News. In the winter of 1901, the farm’s horses were used by the hired hands to help the town of Shirley ‘break roads’ of snow drifts.
The Shirley Shaker lands were sold in 1907 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the establishment of an Industrial School for Boys. It became a fitting continuation of the Shaker legacy of agriculture by providing the boys with vocational training in farming.
