Publications
The Collected Writings of Henry Cumings (1834-1913): Shaker Elder and Citizen of Enfield, New Hampshire
By Compiled with introduction by Mary Ann Haagen
January 1, 2012
Tags Shaker Studies
Shaker Studies, no. 4. 259 pages, illustrations, 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-937370-02-2 ($25)
Henry Cumings was ten years old when he and his family joined the Enfield, New Hampshire, Shakers in 1845. Capable and intelligent, he was entrusted with increasing leadership responsibilities as he came of age. For twenty years he served as one of the Society’s most eloquent spokespersons for a Shaker way of life. In 1881, at the age of forty-five, Cuming reappraised his commitment to Shakerism and left the community. He did not, however, repudiate his Shaker heritage. Between 1904 and 1913 he wrote a series of historical essays for the local newspaper, the Enfield Advocate, in which he shared his personal reflections on Shakerism. Collected here for the first time, this volume of Henry Cumings’ writings offers the reader a lively and detailed account of the Shaker community he knew so well, and its influence on the town of Enfield, New Hampshire.
