Author Thomas Freese in Shaker Costume, photo by Bete Benjamin
This article is an introduction to a nearly completed book by Thomas Freese: Shaker Ghost Stories from Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
For a number of the employees of Shakertown at Pleasant Hill and for some of the visitors to Shakertown it would appear that the Shakers have not left, or perhaps that they have returned to their beloved "Zion on earth". There are many tales of spirit phenomena or ghosts who activate the restored Shaker village near Harrodsburg, Kentucky. In 1998 Thomas Freese, a volunteer with the Pleasant Hill Singers, started recording on cassette and in writing the amazing stories that range from a simple but perplexing rearrangement of dining room silverware to the appearance of Shaker spirits before astounded employees or guests. The majority of these recorded tales are told first hand by the person who experienced the incident. Over 100 events of spirit phenomena are noted in the book!
Some of the guests of Shakertown and employed staff have sworn that they were not believers in ghosts or the "dubious" realm of psychic phenomena before they encountered a "Shaker experience". In addition, the spirit activity seems not to be limited to one or two locations in the village. Virtually all of the thirty-three restored Shaker structures are found in the reports by: day visitors, overnight guests, dining guests, maintenance workers, housekeeping employees, volunteer singers, gift shop employees, front desk personnel and administrative staff! To be fair, it should be noted that a (small) percentage of the interviewed, long-standing employees firmly maintained that they had never seen a ghost or experienced unusual activity of that nature at Pleasant Hill.
The former public relations director at Shakertown, Marcheeta Sparrow, was helpful and enthusiastic about the book project and allowed the author to freely speak with the employees about their experiences. Most of the tales by the visitors and employees were gathered last summer (1998).
This book details the contemporary accounts of people at Shakertown who have experienced the effect of what could reasonably be guessed to be the spirit presence of the beloved former and mortal inhabitants of Pleasant Hill. Almost every story shows the characteristic personality of the high-minded and spiritually disciplined Shaker. The tellers of these tales were not seeking ghosts and do not usually encounter ghosts in their daily tasks; the events seemed to have accidentally occurred in the process of mundane life.
Book exerpts:
"Shaking a window" told by interpreter Beverly Rogers
Old Ministry Shop
Beverly has worked at Shakertown for twelve years and has more than one or two stories of "Shaker experiences".
"When the administration office was located in the upstairs of the Meeting House, I would go upstairs to the bathroom. The whole building was air conditioned then and the windows were kept closed. The window that was in the stairway on the Sister's side would shake every once in a while. Not vibrate once or twice, but: 'Hmmmmm'. One night when I had to leave I went upstairs to change from my Shaker clothes into my 'worldly clothes'. When I came down those stairs I thought the window was going to fly out of its frame!!
I looked at the window and I said, 'I'll put the clothes back on tomorrow--I'm going out.' As soon as I had said that it instantly just stopped. I got to the point that when I came into the Meeting House on weekends and if I was alone I would say, going up the stairs, 'It's just me, don't worry about it, it's just me!' "
The Meeting House
"Promiscuous Dancing" also told by interpreter Beverly Rogers:
Beverly: "One day a lady came into the Meeting House and she was visibly shaken. She had stayed in the East Family Sister's Shop. She said, 'I have to talk to you because I think I'm going crazy! Last night at 10:48 (she had written down the time) I heard the most beautiful singing I have ever heard in my life. It was so soft and beautiful--the most lovely female voice I ever heard. But you know what happened? It got louder and louder and faster and faster. And finally I said, 'Why don't you shut up? You're going to wake up the whole building! And it stopped! I got up then and I should have written down what I had heard. But the other strange thing was--I didn't understand what they were singing. It sounded to me like they were singing in another language.'
Beverly: "And I told her: a lot of times with Shaker music the songs will start out very softly and then they'll get faster and louder. They'll work themselves into a frenzy. It's called 'promiscuous' dancing--like if you would go to a rock concert and you'd get all caught up in the feeling of the music. And the woman replied, 'Oh thank God, I really thought I'd lost it. Now that you've said that I feel much better. Because I'd thought, whoever it was, that I'd made them angry that I was there!' "
"Curious Shaker"
Connie Carlton has worked a number of years at Pleasant Hill. Visitors can find him in the Cooper's Shop where he makes sassafras and cedar buckets. Two weeks ago (April 1999) Connie helped a woman from Tennessee and her adult daughter start up their car with his jumper cables. After his assistance was done, the woman perhaps felt a bit more friendly and trusting to ask Connie the question, "Are there any strange happenings around here?" Connie asked her just what she meant by strange things and thewoman confided, "Well, like ghosts in the village." The woman then told of her stay the previous night in a room in the West Family Sister's Shop...
"My daughter was asleep on her bed and I was getting ready for bed. I know that I had bolted shut the door to the hallway. I was in my nightgown in the bathroom, with the bathroom door open just a little."
"While I was in the bathroom I heard our door open! I listened as footsteps walked across the room. Then I heard the things I had set down on the bedside table being lifted up and set down, one by one!" The guest told Connie that she and her daughter ended up sleeping in the same bed that night!!
Farm Deacon's Shop
"Room Service"
Another recent incident related by the employees of Shakertown is about the guest who stayed in the East Family Dwelling. This woman reported that she a woman dressed as a Shaker knocked on her door at five in the morning! The Shaker-dressed female asked the guest if she needed fresh hand towels! The woman declined the early morning offer of fresh towels and closed the door, perplexed that the housekeeping staff would call so early.
Later that morning the guest inquired about the unusual timing of the 'room service'. She was told that the housekeeping staff who change the linens usually start at an hour much more convenient for most mortals and that they wear a simple service uniform which definitely does not resemble 'period' Shaker clothing. It seems that the helpful Shaker spirits are as dedicated to helpful service in their new lives as they were when they helped each other and the 'world' as mortals!
"The Unknown Tongue"
Randy Folger is the director of music at Pleasant Hill and has been
at Shakertown for nine years. Randy brings a warmth and a 'preacher's'
talent to his presentations of Shaker music. (Randy's father was a
minister.)
Randy: "Often I hear of some unusual experiences from the folks who come into the Meeting House for our programs. Sometimes people will come up to ask me questions after I sing and talk to everyone. One time I had been singing one of the songs in which the words had been spirit-inspired and recorded in what is called the 'unknown tongue'. I was telling the group how the Shakers called that the 'angel's language' and that, chances are, you wouldn't understand a word of that. But this one time that I sang in the unknown tongue a woman in the front row had the most puzzled look on her face. After the program, she came up to me and said, 'You know, I've never been around the unknown tongue; I've never heard anything about it. I don't know anything about the Shakers. But when you said that was in the spirit language, I was floored--because I heard it in English!' "
"The woman told me the translation that she had heard. It was definitely Shaker sentiments and Shaker theology. This song is over 150 years old and this woman had somehow received a translation!"
Centre Family House, photo by Thomas Freese
"Singing 'solo'?"
Roberta Burnes is a professional singer and performs Shaker music programs at Shakertown and with the Kentucky Humanities Program. Roberta has researched Shaker women's music and is recording a compact disc of those songs. She sings with a powerful and clear voice and fills the Meeting House with a true feeling of Shaker ideals in her performances. Roberta shared with me that a few times she had been baffled by some invisible accompaniment to her singing.
Roberta: "A couple of years ago, I happened to be singing 'Amazing Grace' for a daytime public performance. As I sang I noticed musical tones contributed by the audience. It was like a choir of angels who were singing 'oooo'. I thought, this audience is good! After my performance, the folks from the audience came up to greet me and thank me for my singing. They said, 'You were really great with that song!'
And I said to them, 'So were you!'
But they said, 'We weren't singing. There was nobody else singing but you!!' "
There are many, many more tales from Shakertown testifying to the continual presence of the United Society's devoted members. Shaker ghosts are seen on the village pike or doing chores. They walk along side the interpreters or shadow walk on a ridge following a hiker outside the village proper. People have seen Shaker visions and smelled unexplained sweet fragrances. The men of the Civil War reenactment brigades have heard the Shaker spirits also. They still sing and dance in the Meeting House and they call employees by name. And they also can be a bit mischievous when challenged or tested by mortals digging at their sacred past!
The book provides a brief introduction to the Shakers and to Pleasant Hill. The Shaker ghost stories are then organized as follows: a trip around the village to document many of the incidences that happened in each location, a feature of three long-standing employees and their unique tales, a brief investigation into the spirit phenomena associated with the discovery of the secret Shaker worship site (Holy Sinai's Plain), a chapter on 'women in white' and finally an attempt to focus on the cause and meanings of the spirit appearances at Pleasant Hill.
Over sixty individuals were interviewed and the author also researched the three guest journals from the Tanyard building. Just a few persons declined to have their name used with the story which they had provided.
There can be little doubt as to the consistent theme of this anecdotal evidence detailing our encounters with Shaker ghosts. The Shakers are still present at Pleasant Hill and a sensitive visitor or a seasoned worker will readily note their own feelings of that presence. The author will be finalizing the book manuscript, completing the dozens of black and white photographs, and seeking a publisher this spring.
About the author of "Shaker Ghost Stories from Pleasant Hill, Kentucky": Thomas Freese is an artist and teacher of arts and crafts. He has written poems and songs and illustrated a book. This is his first book project as an author. Thomas teaches in elementary schools through the Kentucky Arts Council's artist-in-residence program. He teaches: rubber stamp carving, tessellations, Spanish and various other arts/crafts. He tells stories and looks forward telling more of the Shaker ghost stories. In addition, Thomas has worked as an intuitive, giving Tarot and palm readings in Lexington and at psychic fairs. Thomas has invited some of his fellow clairvoyants to visit Shakertown and to share their intuitive insights.