ABSTRACT
Calvin Green was born the child of Thankful Barce and Joseph Green in October 1780. During childbirth, Thankful Barce was under operations of heavenly power, singing and speaking in tongues, which may have served as a useful vent for her feelings at the time. As soon as he was delivered, Calvin looked around 'as if he was observing things like a person grown to rationality'. That was the beginning of the life of Calvin Green, born a good Shaker. Green credited Mother Lucy Wright with ameliorating the situation for the children as much as possible; she may have recommended the building of the new house for children and youth that Calvin Green moved into in 1792. Calvin Green was literate before the New Lebanon Shakers began a state-certified public school. Calvin Green might have suffered in private, but in public, he turned a potential disgrace into a teaching opportunity, proving he could rise above calumny.
