[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.11″ custom_padding=”25px|||” custom_margin=”0px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.11″]<\/p>\n
Although terse, the brief notations on the jerks in the journal of Knoxville shopkeeper Richard Green Waterhouse help to establish a timeline for the emergence of the bodily exercises in east Tennessee. In addition, Waterhouse\u2019s December 1804 entry reveals how the \u201cstrange and unknown Nervous Affection\u201d developed its own name: \u201cthe Jerks.\u201d<\/h3>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.11″ \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.11″]<\/p>\n JUNE A.D. 1804.<\/p>\n A strange and unknown Nervous Affection, or Disease, made its appearance, in a variety of forms, in different parts of the Counties of Knox and Blount. Prevailing most at Public Religious collections, much excited by singing, preaching, and praying\u2014hence, few of the weak and ignorant who attended the Camp Meetings and other Religious Assemblies, escaped this sympathetic contagion, they being the principal objects of its virulence. Those afflicted, were attacked precipitately, with involuntary motions, distortions, slight alienations of the Mind, consternation, and vociferation. Hence, the Disease was termed; \u201cthe Jerks, or Exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n JULY<\/p>\n Camp Meetings very frequent. Numbers afflicted with the \u201cJerks, or Exercise,\u201d with great pretentions to Religion. Wrote to my brother, John Waterhouse, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania\u2026.<\/p>\n DECEMBER.<\/p>\n The frequency of Camp Meetings much abated, and the \u201cJerks, or Exercise\u201d less prevalent. Continued my courtship with Miss Tipton. Sold to Robert McBath, an Indian Horse, bought of Red Bird, for $40.00. To be discharged in Whiskey, at 50 cents per gallon. Laid in a large stock of Liquors. Removed an old log house from back lot in Iredell, to a vacant lot on the River, at the Flat Landing. All the Property of James Charter. Bought of Peter Houston, for $33.00, a small bay Mare, which died in 5 or 6 days thereafter. Now, speaking of myself, and very much to my discredit, I still continued intemperate, lewd, and depraved. Regardless of the Admonitions of my most valuable and sincere Friends, in whose estimation, I was (very much to my disadvantage), continually depreciating. Oh the direful, Hell-suffering pangs of these sensations! R. G. W.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.11″ \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.11″]<\/p>\n Richard Green Waterhouse, journals, 1795\u20131897, typescript, 151\u2013153, box 1, MS 918, Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “A strange and unknown Nervous Affection, or Disease, made its appearance, in a variety of forms, in different parts of the Counties of Knox and Blount…. [It] was termed; ‘the Jerks.'”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":1580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86387,86456,94907,94919,86358,95987],"tags":[86362,86393,21063,86410,94923,86353,94922,86372,86371,86338,86379,86390,94924,86520,94925,94919,94926,94921,86358],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1802-1804","category-diaries-journals","category-other-unknown","category-richard-green-waterhouse","category-tennessee","category-university-of-tennessee","tag-blount-county-tenn","tag-camp-meetings","tag-diseases","tag-iredell-county-n-c","tag-james-charter","tag-jerking","tag-john-waterhouse","tag-knox-county-tenn","tag-knoxville-tenn","tag-nerves-nervous-affection","tag-north-carolina","tag-pennsylvania","tag-peter-houston","tag-philadelphia-pa","tag-red-bird","tag-richard-green-waterhouse","tag-robert-mcbath","tag-sympathy","tag-tennessee"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/files\/2018\/01\/Waterhouse1804-1080.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Source<\/h3>\n