Marie Frances Burgess; Oldest Member of Shaker Sect

Sister Marie Frances Burgess, one of last members of the Shaker sect, died Monday at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine. She was 81.

Her death of natural causes leaves the religious group with only six members.

The Shakers, which is formally called the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearance, originated in England in the 1770s and at its peak the group had several thousand followers. Called the Shakers because of their boisterous movements during prayer services, they took vows of poverty and celibacy. They became famous for their simple and practical furniture designs, an outgrowth of the Shakers’ “hands to work and hearts to God” motto.

Sabbathday, founded in 1783, is the last of 20 Shaker settlements that once existed in the United States. The surviving members are equally divided between women and men and range in age from 37 to 74, including two novitiates who entered last year.

Though its members maintain a rustic lifestyle on the village’s 1,000 acres--which include apple orchards and pastures for sheep--they do not shun the modern world. The Shakers invite public contact through tours of the community’s museum, library and other buildings dating to the 18th century. They even maintain a Web site.

Burgess, born in Rumford, Maine, was the oldest of the remaining Shakers. She entered the community in 1939 when she was 19. She knitted mittens and scarves and was known for many years as a prodigious candy maker, specializing in fudge, chocolates and candy bars. She also made dolls and dusters that were sold in the village store along with her candy.

In her later years, she was known as a baker whose wheat bread was especially prized.

“We have a once-a-year sale on the first Saturday in December, and it was her idea to make 100 loaves of bread that day,” said Brother Arnold Hadd, the village elder. “They were always snatched up.”

Another of her duties was tending the community’s raspberry patch where she was the champion picker, undeterred by the hottest summer days.

Hadd described her as the embodiment of the Shaker creed, always upbeat and willing to lend a hand. But “she knew how to have a good time, too,” Hadd said, noting that Burgess was a devoted fan of the Boston Red Sox.

The underachieving team was “probably her favorite subject,” he said. “She never got daunted, no matter how bad the year was. She never stopped rooting for them.”