Excerpt from the Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (May 21, 1806)
“Bodily exercise profiteth little….”
Excerpt from the South Union Shakers’ “Graveyard Book” (ca. 1807)
“[Robert Pearce] Lived about 79 years; came to believers when about 40 years old, rec’d Faith through one Mikel Dodd; who told him that he was jerked about like a circus actor….”
Excerpt from the Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (May 25, 1808)
“In the southern parts of our bounds, the extraordinary revivals of religion have considerably declined; bodily agitations are gradually disappearing….”
Excerpt from the Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (May 24, 1809)
“[B]odily agitations, where they had appeared, have almost wholly subsided, and have given place to calm inquiry into the great and leading doctrines of the gospel….”
Newspaper Article from the Delaware State Reporter (November 1, 1857)
“Our informant was present at several of their meetings in Avoca, and describes the scene as very exciting. From fifty to a hundred were jerking at the same time….”
Newspaper Article from the New York Tribune (November 1, 1857)
“The scene in the church was often supremely ludicrous. Just imagine forty or fifty persons going through all the different postures, twistings, bendings, strikings, kickings, and other violent motions…, and you will have a faint idea of the scene exhibited here night after night….”
