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and put up with the utmost care by the Society at Enfield, Conn. and
are confidently recommended as decidedly superior to those offered for All that remains of the Shaker
sale by some dealers, which they obtain promiscuously from various graveyard is this memorial created
sources. For sale, either in small packages, as neatly put up by the from member headstones with the
Shakers, or by weight and measure, in quantities to suit purchasers, and plaque stating, “Erected by the
Society of Shakers, Enfield,
at prices that cannot fail to please.” Connecticut, An Order of Celibate
Other manufacturing concerns included a sawmill, a hammer mill Christian Communists. To Honor
for making lead pipe, and a variety of other smaller operations, such as the Memory of the Members Whose
rug weaving. While Enfield was not one of the communities making Mortal Remains are Interred in
furniture to sell, the Enfield Shakers did make furniture. this Lot, 1787-1915. ‘They that
have done good unto the
Resurrection of Life Whose Abiding
Decline and Closing
As happened across the Shaker communities, the Enfield Shakers Place is Immortality.’”
declined in number and in the production of goods following the Civil
War. Factory jobs were increasing and offered workers the same securi- From Sanctuary to Prison
ty of earning a living without the strict religious practices that were part In 1931, the State of
of the Shaker lifestyle, attracting more men, in particular. Connecticut purchased
In 1854, the West Family closed, followed by the East Family in 1,400 acres of the former
1874. As membership continued to drop, hired help was brought in to Shaker property, which
help maintain the properties. In 1913, the North Family closed its included the Church and
doors. The Shaker property was purchased by John Stewart of North Family buildings,
Windsor, Connecticut, and John Philips of Wendham, Massachusetts to build the Osborn
with the caveat that the remaining Shakers could stay for the rest of Prison Farm. This mini-
their lives. In 1917, the remaining three members left Enfield for other mal security prison was a
communities. working farm and many
of the remaining Shaker
buildings were utilized
for storage of farm
equipment, animals, and
other necessary tools to
keep the farm going. An The current state of the Garden House
irrigation system devel- on the North Family’s land. Deserted and in
oped by the Shakers a state of ill repair, the building cannot be tended to
kept the fields full of as it is on prison grounds.
vegetables and flowers.
Over many decades, the Department of Corrections has changed the
landscape and five separate prisons were established across the acres. On
a hill where the Shakers had established their “Mount of Olives” now
stands the closed Enfield Correctional Institution. The Robinson
Correctional Institution is now located on the grounds where the
Church Family was settled as the Osborn prison was relocated to
another location. The remaining two facilities are the Cybulski and
Willard, as well as the recently shuttered
Above: This drawing made while planning the Northern correctional institutions.
Family buildings shows a double row of build- Church Family Meeting House as it stands today on the As this prison system grew, the history and
ings, including large communal dwelling hous- grounds of the Robinson Correctional Institution meaning of the Shaker Community started to
es. Notes identify an “office” and the “Church
Family.” Buildings belonging to the Family in disappear – the true monetary and historic
the center of the Shaker village are generally value lost to the new owners. Much of the
called the Church Family. Drawn by John community has been lost or destroyed. The
Warner Barber (1798-1885) Chs.org Church Family meeting house is now home to
the heating and plumbing maintenance depart-
ment with empty floors above the workrooms.
The barns stand empty. The irrigation system
is gone, and the fields are fallow. The homes
used by the elders and eldresses are gone to
seed, with one growing weeds on its roof. The
cemetery contains one monument with a
plaque made from the burial stones of the
Church Family Meeting House was part of the dead, and no one can visit.
central North Family complex, and now stands
alone at this part of the prison grounds
South Family
The South Family acreage is now home to vari-
ous industrial buildings and occasional tobacco
farms. Large trucks rattle the roads and the mix of
steel buildings and old farmhouses line the land-
scape. A tract of the original South Family property
is still privately owned, and a few of the Shaker
buildings remain.
The Brick House or Dwelling is now home to a
few apartments. The wash house behind it is slowly
decaying and unstable to use, as is the shop next to

34 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles