9
each, two or more families comprising a "bishopric" or colony.6 The
Elders and Eldresses, as spiritual leaders, had to call and conduct meetings,
hear confession of sins, handle any moral problems and know "everything
owned and possessed by everyone under their charge." They also did
preaching at home and to "the world" whenever missionary work was under-
taken, met and talked to those who wanted to know about the Shakers, and
received and instructed applicants for admission. Also appointed by the
ministry were two Deacons and two Deaconesses who managed the practical
matters of the family such as housekeeping, farm management, workshops,
social regulations, care of children, care of the sick, etc.
When their industries grew and they began to trade with the "world"
the Shakers appointed Trustees or "office deacons" to act as agents in busi-
ness transactions such as the sale of Shaker products, investment of funds,
and the handling of legal questions.
It might appear, then, that the Shakers led insufferably circumscribed
lives, the more so since they had nothing to say in choosing their superiors
or their laws. But if their society was a despotism, it was one to which
they submitted voluntarily and only for so long as they liked. They regarded
the freedom of the world as frivolous, illusory, ephemeral at most. True
7
freedom for them lay exclusively in the Holy Kingdom.

6. By the time Joseph Meacham died in 1797 the Shakers had prospered and
increased to nine bishoprics (4 in western Massachusetts, 2 each in New
Hampshire and Maine, and 1 in Connecticut, each having two or more
families and housing from 200 to 800 members. [Fried, p. 22] See also
Appendix C, p. 55
7. Fried, A. , ed. Socialism in America, p. 21