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NEVERSWEATS

Program
Legends & Lore®
Subject
Religion
Location
9707 Wayne Center-Rose Rd, Clyde, NY 14433, USA
Lat/Long
43.152697, -76.922777
Grant Recipient
Town of Rose
Historic Marker

NEVERSWEATS

Inscription

NEVERSWEATS
RELIGIOUS GROUP KNOWN FOR
TIRELESS FERVENT MEETINGS AT
JEFFERS SCHOOLHOUSE IN 1800S
LATER MOVED TO WISCONSIN
BECAME THE STANDALONES
NEW YORK FOLKLORE
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2020

The “Neversweats” was a nondenominational religious group formed in the Town of Rose, NY circa early 1800s. While they practiced in Rose, little is known about their exact origin. Its members believed in the bible, but not in formal church practices or organized religion. They met at the Jeffers schoolhouse (named for the former landowner). Their meetings were known to last long into the night, sometimes into the next morning. It is said that during their meetings some would speak in unknown tongues. Their reputation earned the group the nickname “Neversweats” among town residents and is believed to come from this expression, as quoted in the 1877 book, History of Wayne County:

We’ll hold on till morning and never sweat a drop. We’ll never tire; we’ll work constantly…l

The group earned themselves another nickname, the “Standalones”, due to their religious belief that every person, at the end, will stand before God alone.

While they prospered for a time, by the mid 1800s, the group known as the “Neversweats” left the area and moved to Wisconsin.