Shadrack Ireland

Shadrack Ireland was a religious leader in 18th century America in the wake of the First Great Awakening. He was a disciple of George Whitefield. [ Narder Reeder Campion, "Mother Ann Lee Morning Star of the Shakers" (Hanover: University Press of New England, 1990), 170.] His followers were centered around Harvard township, Massachusetts. He taught what is known as Perfectionism, meaning that he and certain of his followers had achieved perfection in their lifetime. As such he claimed that he would not truly die but would be resurrected. He ordered his followers not to bury him but to await his resurrection. Following his death his body was left in the chair where he died until the smell became so bad that he had to be put in a coffin and bricked into the house. Later some of his followers, relocated the body and buried him in an unmarked grave in a cornfield.

Following his death, many of his followers were converted to Shakerism by Ann Lee. Ann Lee later anathemized Ireland and would sometimes refer to his presence as an evil spirit. At one time, she even claimed to have banished him to hell. [ Richard Francis, "Ann the Word: The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, The Woman Clothed with the Sun" (New York: Penguin Books, 2000), 175. ]

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