Christmas Eve

To avoid religious persecution, the Society of Believers, more commonly known as the Shakers, began immigrating to America from England as early as 1774. Frederick William Evans (1808-93), reformer, editor, and Shaker elder, was born in Leominster, England. Having been influenced by the Owenites and a group of freethinkers and reformers in England, he sailed to the United States in 1820 where with his brother he edited several publications devoted to radical reform. After visiting a Shaker community in Lebanon, NY, he became a member and spent 57 of his last 63 years with the community as an elder. A born leader and natural orator, he became one of the nation’s most influential Shaker leaders and published much on this topic, including the collection hymns in which several of our Shaker hymns are found, Shaker Music: Inspirational Hymns and Melodies Illustrative of the Resurrection Life and Testimony of the Shakers.

Hymns in this collection are attributed only to particular Shaker communities—Mt. Lebanon and Groveland, New York; Enfield, Connecticut; etc.