Ann Lee Totally Explained

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This article is about Mother Ann Lee. For the singer, see Ann Lee (singer) Mother Ann Lee (February 29 1736 - September 8 1784) was a member of the Shakers; who, during the 1770s, emigrated from England to Watervliet, New York due to persecution. The method of worship she and others followed was one of ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which dubbed them as the Shaking Quakers. After reaching the New World, they were known as Shakers. She was born in Manchester, England and died in Watervliet.
Under her leadership, beginning in 1772, the rejection of marriage, and their work ethic for which they've ever since been known, began to typify the Shaker society.

Early history

Ann Lee was born on February 29 1736, the daughter of a blacksmith, in Manchester, England. Since her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. This repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself most poignantly in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage and remain single. Eventually, her father forced her to marry Abraham Standley; she became pregnant 8 times, experiencing 4 still births and 4 children who didn't survive past the age of 6. Needless to say, difficult pregnancies and the loss of 8 children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Ann Lee’s dislike of sexual relations. Lee developed radical religious convictions that advocated celibacy and the abandonment of marriage as well as the importance of pursuing perfection in every facet of life. In this way she differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported gender egalitarianism, allowed for marriage and sexual relations. In 1758, she joined the Wardleys, an English sect founded by Jane and preacher James Wardley, and precursor to the Shaker sect. She believed in and taught her followers that it's possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations. Like her predecessors the Wardleys, she taught that the demonstrations of shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the Holy Spirit, purifying the worshipper. Ann Lee eventually decided to leave England for America in order to escape the persecution (for example multiple arrests and stays in prison) she experienced in the hostile religious climate of the United Kingdom.
Distinctively, the followers of Mother Ann came to believe that she embodied all the perfections of God in female form. The fact that Ann Lee considered herself to be Christ’s female counterpart was unique. She preached that sinfulness could be avoided by not only treating men and women equally but also by keeping them separated so as to prevent any sort of temptation from leading to impure acts. Lee often was characterized as a “virago” (a woman with masculine, domineering attributes) because most English and Americans couldn't accept her ideals of gender equality. Ann Lee recognized how revolutionary her ideas were when she said, “We [theShakers] are the people who turned the world upside down.”

Rise to prominence

She rose to prominence in the movement through her dramatic urging of the Believers to preach more publicly concerning the imminent second coming, and to attack sin more boldly and unconventionally. She spoke of visions and messages from God, claiming that she'd received a vision from God the message that celibacy and confession of sin are the only true road to salvation, the only way in which the Kingdom of God could be established on the earth. She was frequently imprisoned for breaking the Sabbath by dancing and shouting, and for blasphemy. She had many "miraculous" escapes from death. Once, according to her story, being examined by four clergymen of the Established Church, she spoke to them for four hours in seventy-two tongues.
While in prison in Manchester for fourteen days, she said she'd a revelation that "a complete cross against the lusts of generation, added to a full and explicit confession, before witnesses, of all the sins committed under its influence, was the only possible remedy and means of salvation." After this, probably in 1770, she was chosen by the society as "Mother in spiritual things" and called herself "Ann, the Word" and also "Mother Ann." After being released from prison a second time, witnesses say Mother Ann performed a number of miracles, including healing the sick.

Move to America

In 1774 a revelation bade her take a select band to America. She was accompanied by her husband, who soon afterwards deserted her. Also following her to America was her brother, William Lee (1740-1784); Nancy Lee, her niece; James Whittaker (1751-1787), who had been brought up by Mother Ann and was probably related to her; John Hocknell (1723-1799), who provided the funds for the trip; his son, Richard; and James Shepherd and Mary Partington. Mother Ann arrived on August 6 1774 in New York City. Here they stayed for nearly two years. In 1776 Hocknell bought land at Niskayuna, in the township of Watervliet, near Albany, and the Shakers settled there, where a unique community life began to develop and thrive.
Beginning in the Spring of 1781, Mother Ann and some of her followers went on an extensive missionary journey to find converts in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Her mission was quite successful and led to many converts including many of the followers of Shadrack Ireland. The Shakers were sometimes met by violent mobs, such as in Shirley, Massachusetts. Because of these hardships, Mother Ann became quite frail, and on September 8 1784, she died at the age of 48 in Watervliet.
Shakers in New Lebanon, New York experienced a 10-year period of revelations in 1837 called the "Era of Manifestations". It was also referred to as "Mother Ann's Work".

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