Ann Lee
| Ann Lee | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 February 1736 Manchester, England, Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Died | 8 September 1784 (aged 48) Watervliet, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Ann Elizabeth Lees |
| Parent(s) | John Lees |
Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or Shakers.
In 1774 Ann Lee and a small group of her followers emigrated from England to New York. After several years, they gathered at Niskayuna, renting land from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Albany County, New York (the area now called Colonie). They worshiped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which dubbed them as the Shakers. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women were religious leaders.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England, and baptized privately at Manchester Collegiate Church, now Manchester Cathedral, on 1 June 1742, at the age of 6. Her parents were members of a distinct branch of the Society of Friends, and too poor to afford their children even the rudiments of education. Ann Lee's father, John Lees, was a blacksmith during the day, and a tailor at night. It is probable that Ann Lee's original surname was Lees, but somewhere through time it changed to Lee. Little is known about her mother other than she was a very religious woman. When Ann was young she worked in a cotton factory, then she worked as a cutter of hatter's fur, and later as a cook in a Manchester infirmary.
In 1758 she joined the Wardley's, an English sect founded by Jane and preacher James Wardley; this was the precursor to the Shaker sect. She believed in and taught her followers that it is possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations. Like her predecessors, the Wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the Holy Spirit, purifying the worshiper.
Beginning during her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. This repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself most poignantly in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage and remain single. Eventually her father forced her to marry Abraham Stanley. They were married at Manchester Cathedral on 5 January 1761. She became pregnant four times, all of her children died during infancy. Her difficult pregnancies and the loss of four children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Ann Lee's dislike of sexual relations. Lee developed radical religious convictions that advocated celibacy and the abandonment of marriage, as well as the importance of pursuing perfection in every facet of life. She differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported gender equality, did not accept forbidding sexuality within marriage.
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