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1943 |  The Hancock Shaker Cemetery Monument

Sitting on U.S. Route 20, just opposite the Trustees’ Office & Store, perches a lone monument surrounded by a wrought iron fence. This is the Shaker Cemetery; however, it is not the *first* cemetery used by Hancock Shakers. Beginning in the 1780s, early community members were interred at the Shaker burial ground near the former site of the West Family. One of the earliest families to convert to Shakerism, the Tallcotts, brought with them their property and land, including their family burial plot. The Hancock Shakers were buried in this same plot until the “Winter Fever” epidemic of 1813 that, unfortunately, necessitated the establishment of a larger plot of land in which to bury the dead. 

In 1943, the nearly 250 individual Shaker gravestones erected at the Hancock Cemetery were replaced with the single monument you can see here today. The monument honors all the Shakers buried there. Its inscription reads:

In loving memory Of members of the Shaker Church Who dedicated their lives To God and to the good of Humanity Passed to immortality.

Photos: Ben Garver

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1968 | Fire in the Ministry

The spiritual life of each Shaker community was overseen by two Elders and Eldresses who, together, constituted the Ministry. The Ministry Shop served as their workspace -- the Elders and Eldresses were under the same obligation to perform handwork as the brethren and sisters in their care. The Ministry Shop at Hancock is located on the north side of route 20. After the Hancock Ministry was abolished on June 18, 1893, the Shop served as home to a group of Shaker sisters who were relocated to Hancock following the closure of the Enfield, CT community.

In 1968, when the Ministry Shop was awaiting its museum-era restoration, a fire broke out. The Hancock and Pittsfield Fire Departments responded quickly but, even so, the north wing of the building was entirely destroyed. The Shop had been used as a carpentry and cabinet shop, and much of the material inside was turned to ash. Today, evidence of the fire can still be seen in the attic, where charred beams remind us of this significant occurrence. 

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1995 | Amy Bess Miller in her office at Hancock Shaker Village

Powerhouse. Demure demeanor and iron will. This is how Amy Bess Miller (1912-2003), founder and first president of Hancock Shaker Village, is remembered for her extraordinary effort to preserve the City of Peace as a living history museum. By many accounts, she saved the Village from certain destruction in 1960, when competitive bids for the property were placed by a youth correctional facility, the Pittsfield Airport, and a horseracing outfit with mafia connections that proposed to raze the entire campus except the iconic Round Stone Barn. 

An intrepid and steadfast leader, Amy Bess and her husband Lawrence K. “Pete” Miller (1907-1991) struck an agreement with the Shaker Ministry in Canterbury, NH, to secure the future of Hancock Shaker Village in perpetuity. Together, they created a captivating setting to engage ideas and artifacts of the Shakers in a way that “breathes the spirit of the original culture.”

Amy Bess Miller served as president of Hancock Shaker Village from 1960 - 1991, and she continued to be an active presence at the Village until the early-2000s.