Letter from Hezekiah Balch to Charles Coffin (December 15, 1803)
“I am told… [they] have [another] intire, new, and abominable exercise, which consists, in a large number of them collecting, and breaking wind behind, with all their might….”
Reminiscences of Samuel Crawford (ca. 1803)
“Dr. Doak’s sermon was unusually powerful, but in the midst of his discourse he was seized with such a violent attack of the jerks that he fell and went rolling and jerking down the hill. He continued to roll for some time, but he finally grew quiet enough to rise and conclude his sermon though his knees continued to shake….”
Excerpt from the Autobiography of Frederick Augustus Ross (ca. 1803)
“[John Patton] told me that he had often seen five hundred men start off at a run through the woods—day as well as night—like so many red deer. Yet nobody ever got hurt. Then, men stood and jerked themselves most violently, holding to saplings trimmed up for this use….”
Excerpt from Jacob Young’s Autobiography of a Pioneer (August 1804)
“I made a pause, then exclaimed, at the top of my voice, ‘Do you leave off jerking, if you can.’ It was thought more than five hundred commenced jumping, shouting, and jerking. There was no more preaching that day….”
