By Stephanie Grinnell
Staff Writer
    Shakers are gradually disappearing from the world, but for those who want to take a trip back in time, the Alfred Shaker Museum holds the key.  
    According to the Web site maineshakers.com, Shakers are a religious group who believe in a communal lifestyle with God as their focus. The religion was founded in England in 1747. A Shaker woman named Ann Lee was imprisoned in 1770, for her religious views. In prison she had a series of visions. She became known as Mother Ann following her imprisonment and in 1774, made the decision to move to America.
    The first American Shaker community was established in New York in 1776.  
    Alfred Shaker Museum Director and Lyman resident Linda Aaskov said Shakers are pacifists and live in communities where the men and women are celibate. If a couple who is married chooses to join the Shakers, they are no longer a couple and live apart from each other. She said children brought to live in the Shaker community were not raised by their parents but instead were raised by the community as a whole.
    In the past, the Shakers took in orphans to maintain their numbers, said Aaskov. The last Shakers in the world live in Maine, at Sabbath Day Lake in New Gloucester, where a Shaker community was established in 1783. Just four people remain at the Sabbath Day Lake Shaker community, including Brother Arnold Hadd. He estimated there were approximately 200 Shakers in the Alfred community at its peak.  
    The Alfred Shaker Museum sells yarn made by the people who still live at Sabbath Day Lake as well as herbs grown there. Aaskov said the Shakers made most items for their own use but also made “fancier items” to sell, such as baskets and furniture. Examples of both types of items are on display at the museum.
    Hadd said there was a typical community of Shakers at Alfred, who manufactured wood wares such as spinning wheels, wagons, buckets and churns. In Alfred, it is likely seeds and “fancy goods” were sold as well, said Hadd.
    The museum boasts a number of items made in Alfred, as well as items collected by the nearly 30 members of the Friends of the Alfred Shaker Museum. Prominently displayed are two spinning wheels thought to have been made by members of the Alfred Shaker community, who settled in the area in 1774 and remained active until 1931. Aaskov said the Shaker settlement was one of the longest running communities in the country. When the land was sold to the Brothers of Christian Instruction in 1931, Hadd said 21 members of the Alfred Shaker community moved to Sabbath Day Lake.   
    The museum is housed in a former carriage house built in 1875. Hadd said the carriage house was used to keep carriages under cover, whether they belonged to visitors to the community, or to trustees, who were housed in a building in front of the carriage house. The building was moved to its present location in December 2005 from another location just up the road, said Aaskov. The museum is staffed with volunteers.
    Aaskov said there were people who were hesitant to donate items to the museum until a security system was installed, but added there is a new security system in the building, which has given the Friends access to more artifacts. When the museum was in it’s previous location, the artifacts were on display inside the carriage house, which was the shell of the building with no insulation.
    Aaskov said she developed an interest in Shakers as a child when she vacationed in Enfield, N.H., with her parents. There were Shaker buildings in the area, including a six-story stone dwelling house that first caught Aaskov’s attention. A dwelling house is where the Shakers live, with one room for the men and another room for the women. Once she found out the building was made by Shakers, she continued her research until becoming a member of the Friends of the Alfred Shaker Museum in 1995.
    Aaskov said some members of the Friends knew Shakers in the past or had relatives who were Shakers.  
    In Alfred, there are just nine buildings left of more than 60 original buildings, according to Aaskov. Most of the buildings no longer needed by the Shakers were sold to help pay taxes, such as the Shaker school, which was sold to the American Legion. As a religious organization, the Shakers are not required to pay taxes, but Aaskov said Shakers feel it is their duty to do so. Buildings that were not sold were torn down to lessen the tax burden.
    An Alfred Shaker, Joshua Bussell, became somewhat famous for penning the song “Tis a Gift to be Simple.” Aaskov said there are a number of inventions that should be credited to the Shakers, including the circular saw, clothespins and no-press fabric. Shakers also grow a special type of corn with which they made brooms Aaskov said are guaranteed to last for 20 years.
    To the rear of the museum is a back room, which will eventually be made into a function room. There is space in the attic that will be dedicated to storage and space in the basement for climate controlled archival storage.
    The museum building is a work in progress, with only the museum portion partially finished. The Friends are currently finishing work on the floor boards in the museum, having already completed the walls and ceiling with sheetrock. Aaskov said there are a few members who work each Tuesday on the restoration and improvement of the building. They are not alone in their quest to complete the project, each year volunteers from the United Way Day of Caring come to assist with repairs to the building. Aaskov said this year, the volunteers painted the museum interior.
    “It’s been a huge project, but we stuck with it,” said Aaskov.
    She estimated it would take more than $35,000 to finish the building completely. The group applies for grants and Aaskov said they have finished projects slated for this year. She said they are always accepting cash donations as well as raising money with events throughout the year.
    “The main focus for us is to get people used to coming to this building,” said Aaskov. “Most people don’t know this was a Shaker community.”
    The items on display are from private collections and auction findings. On display last week were handmade baskets, finger lap boxes, corn brooms, spinning wheels, chairs, herbal medication bottles, sewing kits, horsehair brushes, a kerchief, an apron, buckets and a replication of a Shaker style woodstove, which was recently donated to the museum. Aaskov said the woodstove, though small, heats the space very well.  
    The museum does not have set hours for tours, but holds events several times a year when they welcome the public to their building. For more information about the Alfred Shaker museum, contact Aaskov through email at aaskov@verizon.net. Donations may be sent to Alfred Shaker Museum, 118 Shaker Hill Road, Alfred, ME 04002.