Dorothy Durgin
Dorothy Ann Durgin (November 23, 1825 - August 24, 1898) was an eldress of the Canterbury Shaker community who designed and patented the Dorothy cloak.[1] She also wrote over 500 pages of hymns.[2]
Early Life
Dorothy Durgin was born on November 23, 1825, in Sanbornton, NH, to William Durgin and Dorothy Dearborn Sanborn. She had a brother, Henry. Her mother died when Durgin was eight, at which point she and her brother were adopted by Asa and Abigail Bean, her uncle and aunt. Dorothy and Henry were admitted to the Canterbury Shaker Village on July 13, 1834.[2] She was instructed by Mary Whitcher in the Shaker women's school.[3]
Shaker Leadership
Durgin was a teacher at the Shaker School from 1846 to 1852. Durgin became a Second Eldress under Marcia Hastings in 1852. In 1857, she continued to rise through the ranks and became a First Eldress of the Church Family, and she continued as an Eldress for 46 years.[2]
She wrote over 500 pages of hymns.[2]
The Dorothy Cloak
Durgin designed the Dorothy Cloak in 1890. The loose-fitting, hooded garment was sold by Hart and Shepard and trademarked in New Hampshire in 1901. Frances Cleveland wore a Dorothy Cloak for the second inauguration of her husband, President Grover Cleveland, in 1893.[4]
Death
Eldress Durgin died of cancer on August 24, 1898. [2]
References
- ^ nell_porter_brown@harvard.edu (2017-08-03). "Canterbury Shaker Village, in New Hampshire | Harvard Magazine". www.harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
- ^ a b c d e Paterwic, Stephen (2008). Historical dictionary of the Shakers. Internet Archive. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5959-3.
- ^ Hill, Isaac (2015-04-01). "A Chapter on the Shakers: Reprint". American Communal Societies Quarterly. 9 (2): 89–103. ISSN 1939-473X.
- ^ "The New Hampshire Shakers — ingenuity and worldly ventures". UnionLeader.com. 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
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