ABSTRACT
Absolem Blackburn's Brief Account is one of the richest Shaker apostate narratives ever written. Elizabeth A. De Wolfe, in her essay 'A Modern Pamphleteer', recognized that instead of a detailed theological tract, Blackburn offered 'something far more valuable – a candid description of his experiences among the Shakers; a peek at the inner workings of Union Village and West Union when Shakers were under continued attacks from apostates in the east and west'. From his own narrative we know that Blackburn joined the Shakers at Union Village, Ohio, in 1819, only to leave on 5 January 1820. The Union Village journals of the period make no mention of his presence, which is not unusual for a novitiate member. Blackburn, like other apostates, accused Mother Ann Lee of being a prostitute. The Shakers use plain language, but not yet gramatical, their pretensions to perfection notwithstanding.
