7/22/2014

7/20/2014

On This Date in 1825 ...

Wesley Ryan [age 16] departs Pleasant Hill.
Wesley was the son of Nancy Runyon Ryan. Nancy brought him to Pleasant Hill at age seven. His twin brother Lawson Ryan stayed with the Shakers three more years before departing.

7/19/2014

Accounting Records

Income and expense analyses for the year ended March 31, 1841 shows that the Pleasant Hill Shakers made:

$124.26 on leather transactions

$1,074.07 from the sale of linseed oil

$2,177.18 from the sale of hogs

$1,570.50 from the sale of cattle

$379.00 on horse transactions

$2,468.55 from the sale of garden seeds

Revenues from the sale of leather, cattle, horses, and garden seeds were consistently good throughout the period 1830-1850. Revenues from the manufacture and sale of linseed oil were extremely good during the late 1830′s when linseed oil sold for $1.00 to $1.25 a gallon.

Income from the sale of hogs was consistently good during the period until 1848 when a prohibition against the use of hog meat was made mandatory in all Shaker communities. This prohibition eliminated one of the best sources of revenues for the Pleasant Hill Shakers [Ham, p. 189].

In 1842, the community paid out $2,162.50 for 7205/6 roods of stone fencing at $3.00 per rood. A rood is a unit of length varying locally from five and one-half to eight yards. Over twenty miles of stone fencing was constructed around Pleasant Hill over a twenty-five year period from 1826 to 1852 [Ham, p. 136].

More on Shaker Accounting Records at Pleasant Hill: 1830-1850 can be found here.

7/08/2014

On This Date in 1852 ...


At 3:30 p.m. Nancy Runyon Ryan "died of epileptic fits" at age 65. She "had been subject to fits...was not able to take care of herself, had but little if any sense left, it was a great releasement to the family and a blessing to her no doubt." ~ Amos Stewart Journal



7/02/2014

On This Date in 1867 ...

Charlotte Runyon resigned her station at first Office Deaconess and mov'd to Center Family & Eliza Byram took her place at Office.

East Family Journal