Excerpt from a Published Letter by Ezra Keller (January 28, 1837)

Originally published in the Lutheran Observer, Ezra Keller’s letters describing religious life in the midwest include a brief assessment of the jerks. Although the “singular mental phenomenon” had been declining in the western settlements, Keller nonetheless encountered a few jerkers among the Cumberland Presbyterians during a missionary trip through Indiana and Illinois in 1837.

In this state I became acquainted with several ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. I was received by them with the greatest kindness. The friendly correspondents between the editor of our periodical and the editor of theirs has been of much utility. Frequently did I experience “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” It is to be regretted that all christian denominations do not forget their shiboleths and live in peace and friendship. In this state they have about 30 ordained ministers, 16 licentrates, 1 Synod and 5 Presbyteries. They are distinguished for their piety, humility and zeal. And these are the qualities which make them successful in doing good. It is indeed astonishing how fast their number multiplied.

Twenty six years ago (1810) the church was organized by three ordained ministers, and now as far as I can learn they have 1 Gen. Assembly—9 Synods—35 Presbyteries—300 ordained ministers—100 licentrates (catechists-and 50,000 communicants. They have also done something for Foreign Missions. May the Lord continue to prosper their efforts. The jerks which were formerly so prevalent in the West and so particularly among the Cumberlands are becoming less frequent. As this singular mental phenomenon is not known to most persons in the East, and as it is important for ministers to know it, I think it proper to give you a history of it. The person who has what in western parlance, is called the jerks, at once commences to swing his head with so much violence and frequency that spectators are astonished and alarmed. Sometimes females, who have the jerks, swing their head backwards and forwards with so much violence that their hairs crackle like a teamster’s whip. This disease comes upon persons of every character and at all times and places. Persons who would curse the jerks, would get them most violently, sometimes at worship and sometimes in the field at work. They made their first appearance in the year 1800 in Tennessee at the time and place where the great revival of 1800 commenced under the immortal McGready. What the real cause of this singular phenomenon is has been a matter of dispute. It seems to me to have been one of those demonical possessions which were so numerous in the days of the Savior and we are nowhere assured that they were entirely confined to that age but have reasons to believe that they still exist and not in small numbers.

Source

R. F. Rehmer, ed., “Sheep without Shepherds: Letters from Two Lutheran Traveling Missionaries, 1835–1837,” Indiana Magazine of History 71 (1975): 78–79.