Walking with the Wicks

The Shakers are a Utopian society whose beliefs of gender and racial equality date back to the late 1700's. Join us while we explore America's 1st Shaker settlement through the eyes of one family, the Wicks. The stories of the Wicks family members reflect a wide range of experiences of those who sought refuge with the Shakers. Job and Polly Wicks and their 10 children arrived in the fall of 1824 and began a 70-year association with the Shakers. Some members stayed with the Shakers for the rest of their lives and undertook a variety of work for the community, some played important roles during the spiritual revival known as the Era of Manifestations, and others left for various reasons. Your tour guide is Ann Sayers, longtime Shaker Heritage Society volunteer and author of Their Name is Wicks.

*Tour will cover approximately half a mile on some uneven terrain, with little to no incline.

More about Ann Sayers:

As a longtime volunteer with Shaker Heritage Society, Ann has grown a deep interest in the history of the Watervliet "Believers," as the Shakers called themselves. Her research over the decades have resulted in several published articles and her book Their Name is Wicks.