Collect Day #37, EDITH MARY GREEN
Today, O Lord we remember your faithful daughter, Edith Mary Green, whose dedication and service to the Shaker Community in Canterbury, New Hampshire is remembered especially for her gentle ways and patient spirit in sharing the faith and the Good News of your liberating love as we are all invited to turn, turn until all things come around right; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
DAY #37 April 17, 2019
CANTERBURY, NH
EDITH MARY GREEN (1879-1951)
Edith Butler
Edith Mary Green was born May 31, 1879 in Gloucester, MA. Her father, Joseph, was a tailor, born in the Danish West Indies; her mother, Lizzie Bradley, was from Portland, Maine. They were married in Gloucester in 1871.
Lizzie Green died in 1889 when Edith was 10. In 1895, her father married Rhoda Wiley, a woman twelve years younger than he was.
Edith, who was 16, moved that same year to the North Family of Canterbury Shaker Village. There were a number of teenage children who came to the Village under similar circumstances – not welcome in their step-mothers’ homes.
The North Family was part of the larger Village, about one-quarter mile north of the Church Family, which is now the only remaining portion of Canterbury Shaker Village. Edith enrolled in the Shaker school and completed the equivalent of a high school course.
In 1900, when she was 21, she visited her family in Gloucester, MA for six weeks during July and August. During that year, Edith became a covenanted Sister in the community, formally signing the document to commit to Shaker principles and dedicate herself to the community.
After finishing school, Edith joined the adult work force of the North Family. In 1903, she was working as a bookkeeper there. By 1915, there were few people living at the North Family, and the community decided to move those living there to the Church Family. Edith then entered into daily life and work with the other Sisters and Brothers.
Every summer, several Sisters traveled to resort hotels in the White Mountains and in Maine to sell the “fancy work” products created by the Sisters – Shaker capes, knitted goods, aprons, and poplar ware. In 1915 and 1916, Sister Edith accompanied Sister Mary Louisa Wilson on these sales trips.
When the U.S. Census was taken in 1920 and 1930, Sister Edith’s occupation was listed as dairy worker. She worked in the creamery where milk was processed. After the dairy herd was sold in 1920, cheese was still made from milk purchased from a local farmer.
One of the girls who came to live with the Shakers in 1929, Alberta MacMillan, recalled that Sister Edith also served the community as a Sunday school teacher. Looking back upon her youth at the Village many years later, Alberta spoke fondly of Sister Edith because of her gentle ways and her patience in answering all the questions Alberta had about the Bible.
Sister Edith remained at Canterbury Shaker Village for the rest of her life and died in 1951.
