The Advent of the Disappointed: Why the Millerites Joined the Shakers and Why They Quickly Left

After the Second Great Awakening and the Panic of 1837, many Christians searched for answers about the millennium, the one thousand years either commenced or ended by the Second Coming of Christ.Thousands of Christians in the Northeast and Midwest found these answers temporarily in the Millerite movement.Though short-lived, Millerism attracted nearly 50,000 followers and convinced many Christians-laypeople and trained preachers alike-that the Second Coming of Christ would occur in either 1843 or 1844.After the Great Disappointment of October 1844, these Adventists searched desperately for a new religious identity.While many found this in mainstream denominations and newly developed advent groups, a surprising number of Millerites joined Shaker communities, despite the markedly different beliefs and practices between the two groups.After a short period as Shakers, though, many of these new converts left the society.While firsthand accounts help explain why the disappointed Millerites decided to join a unique religious community like the Shakers, the reason for their quick departure presents a greater mystery.Though scholars have attempted to answer both questions, the paucity of primary accounts from Millerite converts creates a challenge.Lawrence Foster addresses the topic of Millerite converts to Shakerism in The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century, in a chapter titled "Had Prophecy Failed?" 1 Foster explained why many of these Adventists converted to Shakerism rather than returning to traditional Christianity, and he frequently cites the Ohio Caroline Clarke was awarded the CSA Starting Scholar Award in 2014.She studied\ American religious history at Hamilton College and wrote this paper as a culmination of her studies. COMMUNAL SOCIETIES 56newspaper Western Midnight Cry!!!, later the Day Star, which was edited by Enoch Jacobs, a Millerite who joined the Shakers at Union Village.Using this rich body of primary source materials, containing letters and articles from both supporters and critics of the Shakers, Foster effectively proves that Shaker millennialism appealed to the former Adventists.However, Foster's attempt to explain why the new Shakers left the community so rapidly is less convincing.Foster argues that many Millerites left because of the Shakers' practice of celibacy.Though Foster notes that this claim cannot be fully supported, he suggests that Jacobs left the society for this reason: "Jacobs himself left the Shakers declaring that he would 'rather go to hell with Electa his wife than live among the Shakers without her.'" 2 Ending with this quote, Foster essentially posits that since Jacobs abandoned Shakerism over celibacy, other Millerites also left for this reason.Though a small point in Foster's chapter, this suggestion influenced other scholars to accept celibacy as the cause for the widespread departure of Adventists.Many scholars studying the Shakers, the Millerites, and millennialism cite Foster, thus perpetuating his perhaps unfounded argument that celibacy prompted the departures. 3 A thorough analysis of Jacobs's Western Midnight Cry!!!, primary accounts of converts, and manuscripts of conversion lectures, letters, and journals reveals why many Millerites converted to Shakerism.Western Midnight Cry!!! particularly documented Jacobs's and his peers' gradual transformation from devout Adventists to eager Shaker converts.The focus of the newspaper shifted from Millerite accounts of shared frustration to observations that both praised and criticized Shakerism.As Foster notes, the paper pointed to the most important factors that encouraged conversion among Millerites.Though many different aspects drew the disappointed to Shakerism, Shaker millennial beliefs most significantly attracted the Adventists, who patiently awaited Christ's Second Appearing.The Shakers recognized this yearning, and after the Great Disappointment, Shaker missionaries actively recruited Millerite 1