http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/30204229

The South Union, Kentucky, Shakers and tradition : a study of business, work, and commerce

Understudied and often misrepresented in Shaker literature, at the outskirts of the Shaker federation, yet leaving a rich corpus of manuscript material, the South Union Shakers provide a stellar opportunity to examine tradition in its dynamic mode across perceived, or constructed, group boundaries. The examination of the labor, business, and commercial aspects of South Union industrial enterprises reveals a common traditional basis between Shaker processes and products and those of their regional neighbors, reflecting not a "Shaker" style of business but a regional one. A significant underlying component of the regional continuity lies in the emphasis the Shakers placed on consanguineal bonding, for the family traditions the Kentucky converts brought into the South Union community profoundly affected the character and actual shape of the South Union community. An extensive and intensive examination of the South Union flatboat peddling trips serves as a core chapter exemplifying their regional affiliations. Ultimately, the South Union example, founded in their business and labor activities, is revealed to be a creative manipulation of regional traditions as processed primarily through consanguineal lines.

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