Obituaries : Gertrude Soule, 93; Eldress of Rapidly Vanishing Shaker Sect

Gertrude Soule, a Shaker eldress whose stories of distant times helped outsiders understand her rapidly disappearing religious community, has died at age 93.

Her death in her sleep here Saturday leaves no more than 10 U.S. members of the celibate sect, known worldwide for its Spartan furniture and artifacts.

Richard Kathmann, director of the Canterbury Shaker Village, said there are now only two Shaker women in their 90s here and about eight other members in Maine.

Soule was born in Topsham, Me. At age 11, she and her sister were placed with the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Me., after the death of their mother.

Signed Vow of Celibacy

She chose to remain with the community when she turned 21 and signed the Shaker vow of celibacy. In an interview this year, she said the vow was a challenge at times.

“Of course, when you’re young you have high thoughts,” she said. “But you’re living in a community where a lot of sisters and brothers are living a celibate life and you don’t think anything about it.”

Shakers, credited with creating the clothespin, the flat broom and the slat-back chair, believe that God has a mission for everyone, she said.

“Whoever’s mission it is to marry and bring new life into the world, that’s their mission,” she said. “Our mission is to live as near as we can to Christ’s teachings.”

Became Eldress in ‘50s

In the early 1950s, Soule became an eldress, or spiritual leader, of the Sabbathday Lake Society. In 1957, she was appointed to the Lead Ministry of the United Society of Believers.

She moved to the village here in 1972 to assume further responsibilities as a member of the Lead Ministry and served as vice president of the nonprofit educational corporation and museum that administers the historic site founded in the 1780s.

Her storytelling helped children visiting the museum, which attracts about 18,000 people each summer, understand the ways of the sect, which is famous for its simple, efficient creations.

At their height in about 1840, Shakers numbered 6,000 at 24 communities throughout the country.

Few Shakers Left

Now, the villages in Canterbury and Sabbathday Lake are the only ones with Shakers. The Sabbathday Lake Shakers still admit new members, but the Canterbury village has admitted none since 1965.

The Maine village has five members recognized by the New Hampshire village and three whose membership is in dispute because of the 1965 decision not to admit newcomers.

The New Hampshire village was once a community of 400 men, women and children. Soule’s death leaves Sister Ethel Hudson, 92, and Eldress Bertha Lindsay, 90, as the last Shakers at the village.