This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: SHAKER RECORDS Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/gBB.2ACI/3401.1 Message Board Post: I will try to answer your question on Shaker records as I am also interested in the religious sect. My direct ancestors were among the first to join when the group formed in 1805...of the first five family names, four were my family lines and two of the four were my direct lines. It is virtually impossible to obtain original records for Pleasant Hill as many were destroyed either on purpose or accidentally, not knowing the importance of the journals. However, these places have some of those found intact and are available for the public to view. Filson Historical Society in Louisville, KY has the largest collection of the original journals....33 in all. They are kept in the manuscript dept at the Filson and they are quite strict in letting them be viewed. I have read all 33 over the last few years and they are a wonder to read. The earlier journals have exquisite handwriting and one is purported to have been kept by my gtgtgt grandfather, though only cirumstantial evidence and gut feelings by the curator of Pleasant Hill and myself, tell us, Francis Montfort did keep it. The Filson has a website.... www.filsonhistorical.org, think that is it. The Harrodsburg Historical Society in Harrodsburg, KY, county seat of Mercer County, where the Shaker village is located, has perhaps 11 original journals and they are available on microfilm at several places in KY...the Filson, Harrodsburg Historical Society, among others.... I am not sure if they are available for purchase however. They have also made copies of the journals and have put the originals in storage. U of KY has Shaker records on microfilm from the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio....some refer to Pleasant Hill, but not many. Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, has a collection but most refer to the Eastern Shakers with very little on the societies in KY> Western Kentucky University at Bowling Green, KY has in their archives records of the Shakers in Logan County at South Union....and they do have their journals on microfilm. You might contact the archives dept at the WKY library for information. I bought a copy several years ago and it was about 35.00 at that time. It does have some info from Pleasant Hill, but most of it refers to the South Union Shakers. The director of the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, in Mercer County, KY also has some journals, but have not had the chance or time to sit and read them. MS Larrie Curry is the director and may be able to help you with information on your family. Her email address is found at the website for Pleasant Hill. Those are the main sources of information and if there are any other journals out there, they are in private collections and no one knows of them. There is a book written by Marc Rhorer, which I don't think is in print any longer, but a copy can be found at the Filson and the KY History Center in Frankfort, KY, that I am aware of....plus a copy I have in my collection. I have found your names in it with the following.... Abner Kulp b. 7/1/1830 MontgomeryCO, PA, arrived at PH on 5/21/1838 John Kulp b. 5/31/1837 Bucks Co, PA, arrived PH on 5/21/1838 and absconded on 5/11/1862 Lydia Kulp b. 8/18/1808 Montgomery Co, PA arrived at PH on 5/21/1808 Thomas Kulp b. 12/24/1834 Montgomery Co, PA arrived at PH on 5/21/1808 and absconded 9/17/1855 The information is taken from original journals and are subject to error as I was cautioned by MS Curry. In my case, a date is in error on one of my ancestral lines and I had other means to disprove it....sometimes it was a typo error and a reading of the original journal gives you the correct information. I have a large collection of books on the Shakers..currently doing an inventory and am at 50 plus and still countin. If I can help any more than this, please let me know. I will tell you that you are on a wonderful mission if you are studying the Shakers....fascinating society. As I said my own family were the Bantas and Monforts who went to the Shakers in 1805 and were part of the Low Dutch Colony that went to KY in 1780. Pleasant Hill is the largest restored Shaker village in the U.S. with over 33 buildings restored to date. Most have rooms for staying overnight and I highly recommend it....it is the most tranquil place I have ever been, the nights are so quiet and peaceful....the land surrounding the village is absolutely beautiful. The rooms are restored with Shaker style furniture, comfortable and clean. I had the pleasure of staying in the East House where my gtgtgt grandfather lived his last 19 years and was buried from there in 1867 after being a Shaker for over 60 years. If you go for a visit, be sure to take in the program in the Meeting House where they sing the old hymns of the Shakers...it will send chills up your back, I guarantee. In the fall they stage a Shaker funeral, very moving experience. I attended last fall and it was like I was following my gtgtgt grandfathers casket to the cemetery and paying my own respects. If I can answer any questions on the Shakers, fire away....I am not an expert, but have about 15 years experience researching the Shakers and give talks locally about the Shakers to various historical groups. If I don't know the answer, I can check in my own book collection and see if that helps. Would like to hear from you....perhaps I can be of more help than this. Barbara Whiteside bobbeo60@yahoo.com PS I am answering this on ancestry where you had your posting so others may also know the answer, but have sent you an email, hopefully, to your address listed. I've got a plan so cunning, put a tail on it and call it a weasel.