“I took the Jerks, & was the first person that had it in these parts. Sometimes I have had it in meditating on serious things when alone, sometimes by seeing the situation of the wicked, sometimes by reading, or hearing some striking expressions, sometimes in going about my common employment, & sometimes while in bed….”
“Soon after they began to sing several were taken with the Jerks, while sitting on their seats. Their heads, & shoulders were Jerked back & forth, with such increasing violence, that in a few seconds their hats, & bonnets, & even hankerchiefs which were tied close to their heads would fly off. Some would soon be Jerked flat on the floor, in a manner very mortifying to all delicate feelings….”
“[O]ne of the [Shaker] Sisters looked sternly and solemnly at him when all of a sudden he was taken with the jirks and was jirked around the house and thro’ the brush and bushes and would at times be thrown…completely heels over head, flat on his back, and the [hickory] staff which he held in his hand would be thrown 20 or 30 feet from him….”
“Had meeting at Robert Houstens. A Blessed assembly of people, white, Yellow, & black…. [I]n singing our Songs, the power of God came upon them, some fell with jurks, Some leaping, some dancing. The whole multitude were in motion….”
“For better than four months past, our meetings have been very powerful…mighty stompings & roarings against the flesh—violent jerking, rolling, & tumbling on the floor….”
