ABSTRACT
John Woods's Shakerism Unmasked is a very important text for many reasons: it is the longest apostate narrative published by a member of one of the western Shaker communities; Woods was a Shaker for seventeen years; he lived at, or visited, a number of the western communities; and he personally knew most members of the western Shaker leadership. Woods was from Albemarle County, Virginia, near the Shenanadoah Valley. He married Jane Brank, and they had two sons James and Robert. Woods's wife Jane despaired when he joined the Shakers – even to the point where John feared she would commit suicide. Eventually, the Shaker Ministry at Union Village, Ohio, instructed John to bring his older son James to Union Village and leave his wife and younger son Robert to their own devices. Woods summarized some of the grievances of his generation of western Shaker converts.
