Importance of accounting to the Shakers

              The Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 15, No. 2 Fall 1988
Archie Faircloth UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCOUNTING TO THE SHAKERS
Abstract: A desire to be self-sustaining and a dedication to com-munal property required the Shakers to place great importance on accounting. This importance was underscored by the fact that the spiritual covenants of the Shakers were revised to require ac-counting procedures and policies including an annual audit. The Shakers circulated manuscripts concerning bookkeeping, and re-corded transactions and events in three types of journals: financial, "family," and spiritual. The Shakers also prepared financial re-ports. Temporal transactions were a means of maintaining the "gospel order" which elevated accounting procedures to a means of creating and protecting consecrated property.
The United Society of Believers, better known as the Shak-ers, established various methods of accountability regarding their temporal affairs. Accounting procedures measured the transactions with the "world," provided a measure of a "fam-ily's" and a "Society's" efforts, and provided valuable informa-tion regarding the ability of the society to acquire land, con-struct buildings, or engage in other projects designed to increase the "gospel order." The spiritual importance they attached to these affairs elevated accounting procedures to a means of generating and maintaining consecrated property.
The Shakers grew from a religious order founded in Man-chester, England, in 1747 by James and Jane Wardley. In 1758 Ann Lee, the daughter of a blacksmith, joined the order and through her zeal and prophecies became its leader. Eventually her followers believed that she was the female counterpart of Christ. In order to avoid religious persecution, Ann and eight followers immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York in 1774 and settled near Albany. "Mother Ann" died in 1784, but her work was continued by the elders and from 1785 until 1794 nine more communes were founded throughout the northeast, primarily based on the religious fervor and revival that were occurring at that time [Green and Wells, 1848, p. 84]. Just before the close of the eighteenth century a religious revival took place in Kentucky and adjacent states which prompted the Believers to send missionaries to the "west." Eventually societies were established in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.