Ann Lee

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Headstone of Ann Lee

Ann Lee (born February 29, 1736 in Manchester , † September 8, 1784 in Watervliet , New York ) was the founder of the American Free Church of the Shaker , one of the most unusual, long-lived and at the same time best-known Christian communities in the history of religious utopianism in the USA . She is referred to as "Mother Ann" by the Shakers.

The first years in England

Ann Lee was born on February 29, 1736, the second of eight children to John Lees, a blacksmith in the modest parental home in Toad Lane (now Toad Street), Manchester. The mother's name has not been passed down; the family name was later shortened to Lee - in a time of inconsistent spelling. From an early age Ann showed a deeply religious seriousness and a particular disgust for sexual sins. She became a factory worker and could neither read nor write.

Urged by her relatives, she married the blacksmith Abraham Stanley, but later, after the breakdown of their marriage, took her maiden name again. In England, Ann Lee was best known for her sermons on sin and the second coming of Christ to take place in the hearts of believers. In 1770 she was thrown into prison for “Sabbath desecration”, where she had a vision of Jesus Christ . She and her followers were referred to as Shaking Quakers (Shakers), derived from their ecstatic dance at worship, which Shakers consider a form of worshiping God.

Emigrated to the United States

After repeated imprisonment in 1774, Ann Lee emigrated to America with eight of her believers (including her husband, her brother William and her niece Nancy). They reached New York on August 6, 1774 and stayed there for almost two years. In the meantime, fellow believer John Hocknell purchased land in the town of Niskayuna in Watervliet County. With a small number of believers, Ann Lee lived in seclusion for the next three years. Her husband, who had accompanied Ann Lee only in the hope of being able to save his marriage in America, left the community shortly after his arrival in the New World when it became clear that his expectations would not be fulfilled.

In 1779 the number of followers grew, especially in the neighboring community of New Lebanon, which from this point on was considered the spiritual home of the Shakers. In the spring of 1781, Ann Lee and some of her followers went on an extensive trip to Massachusetts and Connecticut . Despite successful missionaries, there were often violent violent attacks by the mob on the way . Ann Lee, weakened by the conflict, died on September 8, 1784 at the age of 48 in Watervliet.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Francis: Ann the Word. The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, The Woman Clothed With the Sun . New York: Arcade Publishing 2013, p. 3 ISBN 9781611457957

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Lee, Ann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder of the American religious community Shaker
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1736
PLACE OF BIRTH Manchester
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1784
Place of death Watervliet , New York