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 Richard McNemar’s “General Review” (July 1804)
“The jerking & barking exercises were astounding….”
Excerpt from William Henry Foote’s Sketches of North Carolina (ca. 1804)
“A venerable clergyman now living…was affected by the jerks a few times…. Suddenly he began leaping about, first forward, then sideways, and sometimes, standing still, would swing backward and forward ‘see-saw fashion.’ This motion of his body was both involuntary and irresistible at the commencement….”
Excerpt from Thomas Hunt’s “Autobiographical Sketches” (ca. 1804)
“This work [the Kentucky Revival] continued until the year 1805, with various manifestations and opperations of outward power, such as the jerks, barks, singing, dancing, shouting, and the like….”
