Whitewater Shaker Village Cemetery

                The cemetery at Shaker Village in Whitewater Township is located on Oxford road, near Miami Whitewater Park. The village was founded in 1824, and I was unable to find out when the cemetery itself was founded, but I imagine it was close to that time.

                Between 1787 and 1824 the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as “Shakers” (due to the dancing found in a traditional service), founded 24 communal villages.  Members of the Shakers from Lebanon, OH, came to share their religion with a group of settlers. The rich soil they discovered, along with the possibilities Whitewater River provided, led them to settle here.

                The Shakers were communal. A large portion of their religion was celibacy, and they did not practice marriage. Instead, they lived in non-related “families”. Each family lived in a large house, with separate entrances for men and women.  These houses were often named by their direction from the leading group, called the Church house. Then there would be the North house, the South house, and so on. Each house was self-sufficient, with its own farm and businesses.

                Women and men were separate, but equal. Even in the church, the women were allowed to hold positions of power.

                The Shakers did not practice procreation themselves. Children entered the religion either through the conversion of their parents (whose marriage was dissolved upon conversion), or by the adopting of orphans.

                The Shaker religion faded after the Civil War. The world became more liberal, and people were not interested. With no children being born into the religion, it essentially died out.

                Whitewater was sold by the Canterbury Ministry, the “parent” Shaker organization, in 1916. The last two shakers departed.

               The layout of the cemetery is strange. While the property isn’t large, only around ¼ of the land has any type of markers on it. The first half of the cemetery is just grass. About halfway back, there is a large granite memorial placed by the Canterbury Ministry in remembrance of all the Shakers that lived and died there. There are two smaller headstones on either side. From there, it seems they grouped people at the two back corners, and were moving inward. It may be, due to the Shaker idea of men and women being separate, that men are in one corner, and the women in the other. From what I observed, this could be the case. I did observe “mother” in one portion, and “father” in the other.  However, given the shape of the cemetery, I don’t know if there are more buried there than there are markers for, and therefore what I observed is not what was intended. 

View from the Front of the Cemetery

Close up of memorial

Looking Right

Looking Left

From the right, looking center

             The cemetery at Shaker Village was neglected, until two individuals restored it in 1984. The Crosby Township trustees are now responsible for maintaining it.

                 The trustees are not doing a very good job. Although the grass is cut, the cemetery is in bad shape. The headstones are falling over, cracked, and sunk into the ground. Some of them, I couldn’t even tell if the headstones were just incredibly worn, or if anything was written on them in the first place. There is very little iconography, or monuments. In fact, I only saw three of what I would consider monuments; two scrolls and a tiny pillar with a wreath on it. For the most part, all of the memorials looked like your typical headstones. This may be due to the Shaker belief that all are equal.

               

Small Monument

Scroll

        There were a few things I found unusual, especially when compared to your typical cemetery. A few headstones that I could make out had “Mother” or “Father” on them. This is interesting, as the Shakers would not have your typical “Mother” or “Father”.  One Headstone seemed to have been broken, but was poorly reconstructed out of cement. A couple headstones only had initials on them. Some do not appear to be worn, but there is nothing on them. Lastly, there is only one child memorialized.

"Mother" inscribed on the top of headstone

Child Headstone

Reconstructed Headstone

             

                Gladstone and Strauch would not have wanted to spend time in this cemetery. I imagine it is due to cemeteries that appeared as this one did that Spring Grove was built, and meticulously landscaped.  

                The Shaker Cemetery reminded me more of a rock garden than a cemetery. It was interesting to explore, simply due to the disrepair. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed. I was looking forward to reading headstones, and trying to decipher the Shaker heritage. However, due to the condition of the cemetery, this was impossible. 

Showing the general condition of the Cemetery