Issachar Bates: A Shaker's Journey

“This biography is so rich and multi-dimensional that it becomes far more than simply a contribution to Shaker studies In particular, it should have special appeal to anyone interested in pioneer life on the midwestern frontier, the dynamics of religious revivalism during the Second Great Awakening, and the development of religious music during the early nineteenth century.”—Indiana Magazine of History

“How a rough-talking, hard-drinking ex-soldier became a Shaker preacher is an intriguing story, and Carol Medlicott has done it justice. Her biography of Issachar Bates will add immeasurably to our understanding of Issachar Bates’s life and times, and his significance to western Shakerism.” (Glendyne Wergland, author of Sisters in the Faith: Shaker Women and Equality of the Sexes)

“Medlicott masterfully exploits the historical and religious sources that shed light on Bates’s diverse roles in western Shakerism. Her narrative breaks new ground and attains the highest level of biography.” (Stephen J. Stein, Chancellor’s Professor, emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington)

“Medlicott paints a rich landscape of early American life, through which Bates moves in a bold and sometimes picaresque fashion. Bates is nexus for an adventure that combines the American Revolution, frontier struggle, music, poetry, religious revival, and celibacy.” (Christian Goodwillie, director/curator of special collections, Hamilton College)