Freegift was now 58 years old. He was again
appointed Elder Brother and again went to work with his carpentry
and joiner work. In 1844 he put a belfry on the dwelling house
for their new bell; the next year he and Jesse Harwood of the
West Family began to make plans for a new meeting house, going to
Albany to see the new railroad building for ideas. Later in 1845
he and another brother went to a swamp to get moss to try an ex-
periment of placing it between lath and clapboarding of the new
addition to the dwelling house as an insulation. It was
apparently thought successful because many wagonloads of moss
were gathered to put in the meeting house walls in 1848-49.
Beginning in 1846 he worked on various items for the dwelling
house addition and then for the new meeting house. First it was
setting glass in window sash; then getting lumber and turning
1400 pins (or pegs) and 400 window screws; and making two cases
of drawers for the elders ' room.
In January 1850 he wrote one of his most controversial papers and
it was in connection with the Shaker diet. It all began in 1837
when Ephraim Prentiss, who was in charge of the boys'^Talong with
other Shakers came under the spell of Sylvester Grahamf a diet
faddist who advocated a strictly vegetarian diet. In a letter to
Sejih Weils; Prentiss tells of an experiment which he had carried
on with his boys for the previous two years. Prentiss says he
gave the boys the choice of a vegetarian diete also and they
agreed. But then it was decided to leave off beans baked with
pork, pie crust that contained mutton or hog fat, and cheese
that he says the boys considered tasted "cowy". Then milk was
taken away also. By this time he considered the boys had become
harmless and agreeable, quiet at night, working diligently during
the day but at night soon beginning to grow sleepy and wanting to
go to bed.
Freegift countered in 1850 with a paper entitled "A Series of
Remarks Showing the Power of the Adversary in Leading Honest
Souls Astray Through the Influence of Inspired Messages, or a
Lamentation Because the Beauty of Zion Hath Faded and Her Light
Become Dim." In it he assailed the restrictions in diet which he
says are causing Believers to lose ground. "They have produced
hardness of heart, blindness of mind, and unbelief in the genuine
orders of God." The fanatics who were living wholly on bread and
water wanted others to follow their example; but others wanted the
old way of life and this caused dissension, dissatisfaction and
femade much trouble for the elders. Freegift concludes it is "the
work of the Devel..."
He goes on to say he believed that the Devil first planned to
destroy the Believers through Grahamism. That failing, his next
strategem was to effect it through inspiration--that is, he gave
inspired statements. Freegift claimed to have analyzed these
statements and was persuaded that half or more of the messages
that had been declared by the instruments to have come from
heavenly parents or good spirits had been from the Devil. Par-
ticularly he believed this true about the message not to eat