Letter from Peter L. Maxey to Oliver H. P. Maxey (November 26, 1845)
“He is a thorough Methodist believes in all of the religious exercises after the straightest of the sect…. I shall not fall out with him for advocating the genuine Jerks….”
Joseph Badger’s “Account of the Strange Exercise called the Jirks” (November 1826)
“I saw several young ladies…, who began to be uncommonly exercised…. It appeared to mortify and embarrass them very much, when they had ‘the power’ as it was called…. [T]heir shoulders would be seized with violent and sudden convulsions, the neck, also, would be affected with spasms, which threw back the head in a frightful manner….”
“History of the ‘Jirks’” in the New York Telescope (February 18, 1826)
“I have frequently thought that a history of the singular exercises, called the “Jirks,” and other strange operations which affected the subjects of the great Kentucky Revival, would be interesting to my readers….”
Newspaper Report from the New-London [Connecticut] Daily Chronicle (Fall 1860–Winter 1862)
“The “jerks” were introduced during a protracted meeting in the township of Chelsea, in that county, in the fall of 1860….”
