Composition of Simple Gifts
- When
- 1848
- Where
- Alfred Shaker Village (generally attributed)
The Shaker song 'Simple Gifts' was written and composed in 1848 and is generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett, though his community affiliation at the time is disputed.
The tune and lyrics of 'Simple Gifts' were written in 1848 and are generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) of the Alfred, Maine Shaker community. There is some disagreement as to which community Elder Joseph belonged to when the song was written: he had resided with the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village before being called to serve in the Ministry in 1848, and the Alfred community's history makes no reference to the song, though it mentions Elder Joseph several times.
Sources
- Simple Gifts Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.