Ethel Hudson (June 4, 1896,

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

– September 7, 1992,

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

) was the last surviving member of the

Canterbury Shaker Village Canterbury Shaker Village is a historic site and museum in Canterbury, New Hampshire, United States. It was one of a number of Shaker communities founded in the 19th century. It is one of the most intact and authentic surviving Shaker commu ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Ethel Hudson was 11 years old when, in 1907, she and her older sister, Elizabeth, left a broken home in Salem, Massachusetts, and traveled by train and horse-drawn carriage to be raised and educated by the Shakers. Elizabeth left when she was 20, but Hudson stayed on as a member of the community. After Eldress Bertha Lindsay died in 1990, Hudson became the last Canterbury Shaker. Hudson died in 1992, the 200th anniversary year of the founding of the Canterbury Shaker community. The United States has only one Shaker community with members that are living. It is in New Gloucester, Maine.

References

1992 deaths People from Canterbury, New Hampshire Shaker members 1896 births {{US-reli-bio-stub