William Adee Whitehead’s Visit to the Shakers: Introduction

On Saturday morning, August 7, 1830, William Adee Whitehead left New York City with his sister and brother “for the purpose of making part of what is called the ‘fashionable tour.’” The party traveled north up the river to Hudson and then rode twenty-five miles to the summer haven of Lebanon Springs. Over the next two days, the Whitehead siblings took part in a popular antebellum pastime, visiting the Shakers