Each letter in this group carries the name of one of five places in Ohio: Turtle Creek, Lebanon, Warren County, Cincinnati, and Union Village. Not until 1812 was Union Village adopted as the official name of the Shaker community with which all of the letter writers were associated. It had been founded in 1806, one year after the first letter in this collection was written. These letters, therefore, reflect the concerns and activities of both Shaker missionaries and Shaker settlers, chiefly from a place called Union Village. While many topics are covered in these letters, four stand out: early survival, daily activities, persecution and destruction of property by "the world," and relations with other Shaker communities. Of these four, the last arguably offers the most information to the reader. Apparently, Ohio and Kentucky Shakers frequently paid visits to one another and commonly reported to the home ministry at New Lebanon, N.Y., on what had transpired during these visits. In 1822, for example, a writer from Union Village comments upon the way that the community at South Union, Ky., had handled its slaves. (The Kentucky Shakers had freed them. Many of these ex-slaves chose to remain in the community.) In 1826, two-thirds of a letter reports on the situation at West Union, Ind., where a Shaker community was folding. Besides the Shakers themselves, other religious/social organizations are discussed in the letters. The Harmonian and Halcyon societies are favorite subjects. Of the latter, one writer notes: "The Halcyon Society are a people that have had the greatest light in point of doctrine of any Denomination that has been before them (except the Believers)...." In addition to their substantive messages, this group of letters also contains the politesse typical of Shaker communications.
