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Ann Lee
Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the Shakers, later changed to United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing following her death. She was born during a time of the Evangelical revival in England, and became a figure that greatly influenced religion at this time, especially in the Americas.
In 1774, after nearly two decades of participation in a religious movement that became the Shakers, Ann Lee and a small group of her followers emigrated from England to New York. After several years, they gathered at Niskayuna, renting land from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Albany County, New York (the area now called Colonie). They worshiped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which resulted in their being dubbed the Shakers. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women were religious leaders. She was often referred to, and considered, the female representation of God.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England, the second child of eight belonging to her parents. She was baptized privately at Manchester Collegiate Church (now Manchester Cathedral) on 1 June 1742, at the age of 6. Her parents were members of a distinct branch of the Society of Friends (a sect of Quakers) and too poor to afford their children even the rudiments of education. Ann Lee received no formal education, and remained illiterate throughout her life. Ann Lee's father, John Lees, was a blacksmith during the day and a tailor at night.
It is probable that Ann Lee's original surname was Lees, but somewhere through time it changed to Lee. Little is known about her mother other than that she was a very religious and pious woman. As often happened in those days, her mother's name was not even recorded. When Ann was young, she worked in a cotton factory, then as a cutter of hatter's fur. At the age of 20 she worked in a much less dangerous occupation as a cook in a Manchester infirmary which was also the local insane asylum.
In 1758, she joined an English sect founded by Jane Wardley and her husband, preacher James Wardley in 1747; this was the precursor to the Shaker sect. This sect was commonly known as the Shaking Quakers due to their similarities to the Quaker faith, but also the practice of cleansing from sin through chanting and dancing. Jane and James believed that the Second Coming was soon and that God would return in the form of a woman. Ann Lee was this woman, and later received her title of Mother due to this belief. Ann believed and taught her followers that it is possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations because she believed sexual relations to be the great sin of Adam and Eve. Like her predecessors, the Wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the Holy Spirit, purifying the worshiper.
Beginning during her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. Partly due to her exposure to the Quaker religion while she was young, and her experience living and working in the city, seeing the sin around her. This repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage. Eventually her father forced her to marry Abraham Stanley (or Abraham Standarin). They were married on 5 January 1761 at Manchester Collegiate Church. She became pregnant four times, but all of her children died during infancy. Her difficult pregnancies and the loss of four children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Ann Lee's dislike of sexual relations.
These losses also led her to truly question and solidify her beliefs. 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. She differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported gender equality, did not believe in forbidding sexuality within marriage. The shaking Quakers also believed in an inner light and personal revelation, which was in common with the Quakers.
In England, Ann Lee rose to prominence by urging other 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 had received in a vision from God the message that celibacy and confession of sin are the only true road to salvation and 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.
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Ann Lee
Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the Shakers, later changed to United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing following her death. She was born during a time of the Evangelical revival in England, and became a figure that greatly influenced religion at this time, especially in the Americas.
In 1774, after nearly two decades of participation in a religious movement that became the Shakers, Ann Lee and a small group of her followers emigrated from England to New York. After several years, they gathered at Niskayuna, renting land from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Albany County, New York (the area now called Colonie). They worshiped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which resulted in their being dubbed the Shakers. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women were religious leaders. She was often referred to, and considered, the female representation of God.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England, the second child of eight belonging to her parents. She was baptized privately at Manchester Collegiate Church (now Manchester Cathedral) on 1 June 1742, at the age of 6. Her parents were members of a distinct branch of the Society of Friends (a sect of Quakers) and too poor to afford their children even the rudiments of education. Ann Lee received no formal education, and remained illiterate throughout her life. Ann Lee's father, John Lees, was a blacksmith during the day and a tailor at night.
It is probable that Ann Lee's original surname was Lees, but somewhere through time it changed to Lee. Little is known about her mother other than that she was a very religious and pious woman. As often happened in those days, her mother's name was not even recorded. When Ann was young, she worked in a cotton factory, then as a cutter of hatter's fur. At the age of 20 she worked in a much less dangerous occupation as a cook in a Manchester infirmary which was also the local insane asylum.
In 1758, she joined an English sect founded by Jane Wardley and her husband, preacher James Wardley in 1747; this was the precursor to the Shaker sect. This sect was commonly known as the Shaking Quakers due to their similarities to the Quaker faith, but also the practice of cleansing from sin through chanting and dancing. Jane and James believed that the Second Coming was soon and that God would return in the form of a woman. Ann Lee was this woman, and later received her title of Mother due to this belief. Ann believed and taught her followers that it is possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations because she believed sexual relations to be the great sin of Adam and Eve. Like her predecessors, the Wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the Holy Spirit, purifying the worshiper.
Beginning during her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. Partly due to her exposure to the Quaker religion while she was young, and her experience living and working in the city, seeing the sin around her. This repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage. Eventually her father forced her to marry Abraham Stanley (or Abraham Standarin). They were married on 5 January 1761 at Manchester Collegiate Church. She became pregnant four times, but all of her children died during infancy. Her difficult pregnancies and the loss of four children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Ann Lee's dislike of sexual relations.
These losses also led her to truly question and solidify her beliefs. 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. She differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported gender equality, did not believe in forbidding sexuality within marriage. The shaking Quakers also believed in an inner light and personal revelation, which was in common with the Quakers.
In England, Ann Lee rose to prominence by urging other 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 had received in a vision from God the message that celibacy and confession of sin are the only true road to salvation and 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.