■
L
o4
/O
THE EARLY HISTORY
OF THE
Church of the United Brethren,
(UNITAS FRATRUM)
COMMONLY CALLED MORAVIANS,
IN
North America,
A. 13. 1734-1748.
BY THE
Rev. LEVIN THEODORE REICHEL,
Member of ///<• Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and
of the Moravian Historical Society.
NAZARETH, PA.,
Published for the Moravian Historical Society.
1888.
PREFATORY NOTE.
FOR a number of years the MS. compiled by the Rev. Levin
Theodore Reichel, and containing " the Early History of the
Church of the United Brethren (Unitas Fratrum), commonly called
Moravians, in North America, A. D. 1 734-1748," which is herewith
produced in print for the Moravian Historical Society, was thought
to be absolutely lost. Fortunately, however, it was discovered in the
Summer of 1S87, and immediate steps were taken to prepare it for
publication. Owing in great measure to the difficulty of handling
the Germanisms to which the author so genially alludes in his Preface,
the work of editing progressed slowly. In no case, however, has the
Publication Committee taken upon itself to change any of the Rev.
Mr. Reichel' s statements or sentiments except linguistically, and a
recognizable flavor may still be perceived. The proof-sheets, in their
several stages, as well as the original MS. have been deposited in the
Archives of the Moravian Historical Society, where comparisons may
be made.
On account of its importance this little work will form Volume III
of the Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society, comprising its
publications for the years 1SS7, 1888 and 1889.
PREFACE.
WE propose in the following pages to give the history of the
Unitas Fratrum, or the Moravian Brethren, in Pennsylvania
and other English colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence.
A careful study of a mass of documents, preserved in the Archives
of the Moravian settlements, has furnished us with many interesting
facts in reference to the early history of Pennsylvania, and especially
its eastern Counties, which we believe will prove of general interest
to intelligent readers in any denomination. Our object, therefore,
is not to write exclusively for the members of that Church to
which we belong, and which we cherish and esteem as the Church of
our fathers and a chosen instrument in the hand of the Lord, by
which, especially in olden times, much good was effected in this
country; but, whilst we shall not try to hide our respect for the early
Moravian fathers in this country, we will endeavor to relate carefully
collected facts in such a manner that our pages may become inter-
esting and instructive to all who take any interest in historical truth.
By way of introduction to the History of the Moravian Church in
North America, we deem it sufficient to make only a few remarks in
reference to the Moravian Church in general.
We <all ourselves the Unitas Fratrum or the Protestant Church of
the United brethren, and date the origin of the Renewed Church to the
17th of June, ry22, on which day the first tree was cut down on the
estate of Count Zinzendorf — Berthelsdorf in Saxon) — by some poor
exiles from Moravia, descendants of the Church of the brethren
in Bohemia, Moravia and Poland, which flourished in those Slavonic
countries from 1457-1627. Having for conscience' sake left their
houses and homes in these bigoted papal regions, 1 1 seek religious liberty
4 PREFACE.
in a Protestant country, they, by the Providence of God, were led to
Berthelsdorf, and there on the slopes of the Hutberg commenced the
building of Herrnhut. Many of their countrymen followed them,
and after they had been joined by other awakened souls from different
parts of Germany this motley colony, by a gracious outpouring of the
Spirit of God on the memorable 13th of August, 1727, became a
congregation of true disciples of the Lord, firmly united in the bonds
of fervent love to their Saviour and Redeemer — the embryo of a
Church, which was soon to expand and to extend its operations to far
distant countries. In 1732 the first missionaries were sent to the
Danish West India Islands, and were followed by others to Greenland
in 1733. In 1735 episcopal ordination was obtained from the two
last remaining Bishops of the Ancient Church of the Brethren, Daniel
E. Jablonsky in Berlin and Sitkovius in Lissa, Poland, which gave
ecclesiastical rights to the Renewed Church of the Brethren.
Rapidly increasing in numbers, not only by the accession of lay
members from the evangelical churches of Germany, but also by a
considerable number of professors and students of theology, the whole
constitution of the Church, at first only calculated for a single congre-
gation of emigrants, was gradually re-formed and fully developed in
1 741, prior to the time of the first permanent American settlements.
In order fully to understand the operations of the Brethren in Penn-
sylvania, it will be necessary to give a detailed description of the re-
ligious state of this English colony prior to 1 740, which we trust, will
not prove uninteresting.
As our documents are almost exclusively in German, many German-
isms may occur and can hardly be avoided in the following pages,
which however will matter very little for the intelligent reader. For
the sake of those, who understand the German, we will occasionally
add some notes in that language.
LEVIN T. REICHEL.
Salem, N. C, March i, 1857.
CONTENTS.
PAGES.
Title, ....... i
Prefatory Note, . . . . . .2
Preface, . . . . . . . 3, 4
Contents, ...... 5-7
CHAPTER I.
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE GERMANS
IN PENNSYLVANIA.
PAGES.
i. Pensvlvania and its Inhabitants, . . 9-14
2. The Settlements of the Germans in Pennsylvania, 14-21
3. Moral and Religious State of the Germans in
Pennsylvania, more especially of the Lutherans, 22-30
4. The German Reformed, .... 30-35
The Mennonites, ..... 35, 36
The Tunkers, ..... 37-39
The Siebentager, .... 40-48
Separatists, ...... 48-50
The Schwenkfelders, .... 50—53
The Indians, ...... 53-59
Signs of Life, ..... 59-60
CHAPTER II.
BEGINNING OF THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS IN
NORTH AMERICA, 1 734-1 744.
PAGES.
1. Moravian Colony in Georgia, 1734, . . 62-68
2. Spangenberg in Pennsylvania, 1736, . . 68-72
PAGES.
72-80
81
82-
-91
91
-96
96-
I 12
) CONTENTS.
3. The Whitefield House at Nazareth, 1740,
4. The Church at Oley, ....
5. Settlement of Bethlehem, 1741,
6. Zinzendorf's Visit in Pennsylvania in 1742,
7. The Pennsylvania Synods, .
8. Zinzendorf's Activity among the Lutherans and
German Reformed, .... 11 3-1 17
9. Zinzendorf at Bethlehem, .... 1 17-125
10. Zinzendorf's Journeys to the Indians, . . 125-129
11. Zinzendorf's Opponents, .... 129-136
12. Zinzendorf's " Pennsylvania Testament. " Return
to Europe, ...... 137-139
13. Bethlehem and Nazareth, 1 743-1 744. Peter
Bohler, ...... 139-152
CHAPTER III.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BRETHREN'S CHURCH IN
PENNSYLVANIA. 1 744-1 748.
PAGES.
i. Spangenberg, Vicarius Generalis, . . . 153-158
2. Synods in 1745, ..... 158-162
3. Bethlehem. — The "Church of Pilgrims," 1744-
1745, . . . • . . . 163-165
4. Bethlehem. — " Family Economy," 1747, . 165-172
5. Nazareth. — " The Patriarchal Plan," 1744-1748, 173-178
6. J. F. C. Cammerhof — His Influence, 1747, . , 178-182
7. Pennsylvania Congregations in Connection with
the Brethren, 1744-174S, . . . 183-196
8. Moravian Schools, ..... 197-203
9. Home Missions in Pennsylvania and other Colonies, 203-207
10. Indian Mission, Gnadenhutten, 1746, . . 208-213
CONTENTS.
PAGES.
ii. Persecutions, . . • • • .214-220
12. The Synods of 1746, 1747, 1748, . , • 220-226
13. Visitation by John de Wattevil£e, 1748, . • 227-230
14. November 13, 1748, ■ 23°_235
Index, . • 237-241
CHAPTER I.
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION OF THE
GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
I. PENNSYLVANIA AND ITS INHABITANTS.
The moral and religious as well as the social and polit-
ical condition of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, about
the year 1740, more than a century ago, was in many
respects vastly different from the present state. The
colony itself, though according to the royal charter com-
prising three degrees of latitude and five of longitude, was
in reality encompassed by very narrow boundaries, hardly
extending to the Blue Mountains in the North and the
Susquehanna in the West. Beyond there was a yet
unexplored wilderness of endless mountains, dismal
swamps and interminable forests. Even the four settled
Counties of Pennsylvania contained not only many quite
unsettled districts, but even much unexplored land,
while other parts, now in the highest state ol cultivation,
were passed by and rejected as unfit for any agricultural
purposes. To reach any of the settlements in the inte-
rior, which were few and far between, required days ol
toil ; for in many instances roads had first to be cut
through trackless forests, and bridges to be erected over
swollen creeks and mountain torrents. Fortunate was
he who could hail his next neighbor within the reasonable
distance of only six or seven miles, or had only ten or
fifteen miles to walk, on Indian paths, to reach the nearest
mill. Whilst labor was plentiful and much hard work had
IO RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
to be performed in the clearing of the ground, the erection
of mills and the construction of roads, the first settlers,
living in primitive simplicity in their unadorned log cabins,
were perhaps happier than many of their descendants in
their stately mansions. If they had not as many com-
forts and luxuries, neither had they as many real or im-
aginary wants. Oppressed and down-trodden in the old
countries of Europe, they had left their homes, and had
embarked for the shores of America, to seek liberty,
religious and political, in the forests of Pennsyl-
vania. The full consciousness of being free from all
political oppression and every ecclesiastical restraint, of
having entire liberty to maintain and extend as far as
they pleased their own religious tenets and views, sweet-
ened all their toil and seemed to lessen all their labor.
There could not be found at that time on any other
spot on the globe such a mixture of nationalities and lan-
guages, such a medley of opinions and views, so freely
maintained and so fearlessly proclaimed, as in Pennsyl-
vania. English and Irish, Scotch and Welsh, Ger-
mans and Swiss, Swedes and Danes, Dutch and
French, Jews and Indians were scattered throughout the
whole province, maintaining their nationalities without any
political restraint ; and still more variegated perhaps were
the religious views of the first settlers. Truth and error,
genuine piety and utter indifference to all religion, fanati-
cism and mere formality were to be found side by side in
the enjoyment of equal rights and privileges.
In 1 68 1, William Penn, of the Society of Friends,
had opened an asylum in the wilds of North America
for the oppressed of all nations. The English govern-
ment was indebted largely to his father, Sir William
Penn, a distinguished Admiral, for money as well as ser-
vices, amounting, with interest, to about ,£16,000, in lieu
of which, the government being unable or unwilling to
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. II
settle with him in money, he proposed to receive land in
America, and accordingly presented a petition to King-
Charles II. asking for the issue of letters patent for the
same. His request was granted, and by the King's order,
much against Penn's inclination, the new province was to
be called Pennsylvania^ in honor of the services of his
illustrious father. The charter was dated March 4, 1 68 1 ,
and confirmed in April by royal proclamation.
On April 5 Penn' wrote to his friend, Robert Turner:
"Dear Friend. — My true love in the Lord salutes
thee, and dear friends that love the Lord's precious truth
in those parts. Thine I have, and for my business here,
know that after many waitings, watchings, solicitings
and disputes in Council, this day my country was con-
firmed to me under the great seal of England, with large
powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania, a
name the King would give it, in honor of my father. I
chose New Wales, being, as this, a pretty hilly country ;
but Penn being Welsh for a head, as Penmanmoire in
Wales, and Penrith, in Cumberland, and Penn, in Bucking"-
hamshire, the highest land in England, called this Penn-
sylvania, which is the high or head woodlands ; for I pro-
posed, when the Secretary, a Welshman, refused to have
it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to
it, and though I much opposed it, and went to the King
to have it struck out and altered, he said it was past,
and would take it upon him ; nor could twenty guineas
move the under-secretaries to vary the name, for I feared
lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as
a respect in the King, as it truly was, to my father,
1 Hazard's Annals <>f Pennsylvania, p. 500.
A curious translation we find in an old German hymn. " Den 55 Briidem
die aus Europa im November, 1754, in Amerika ankamen, wurde bei cinem
Liebesmahl zugerufen : ' Wilkomm'n, liebe Herzelein, Wilkomm'n in Penn's
(iebiisch ! ' "
12 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
whom he often mentions with praise. Thou mayest
communicate my grant to friends, and expect shortly my
proposals. It is a clear and just thing, and my God,
that has given it me through many difficulties, will, I
believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall
have a tender care to the government, that it will be well
laid at first. No more now, but dear love in the truth.
Thy true friend,
William Penn."
The extent of the province granted was three degrees
of latitude in breadth by five degrees of longitude in
length ; the eastern boundary being the Delaware River ;
the northern, the beginning of the three and fortieth
degree of northern latitude, and on the South a circle
drawn at twelve miles' distance from New Castle, north-
ward and westward unto the beginning of the fortieth
degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight line
westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned.
This impossible southern line was afterwards the source
of much dispute with Lord Baltimore.
In 1682, October 27 (old style), Penn with a numerous
company landed at New Castle, Del., and the next day,
November 83 (new style), proceeded to Upland in Chester,
Pa. Soon after the city of Philadelphia was laid out,
and the province divided into three counties, Philadel-
phia, Bucks and Chester.
Philadelphia and Bucks counties comprised all the
territory between the rivers Schuylkill and Delaware,
separated by a straight line, running in a northeasterly
direction to the limits of the province (the Kittatiny or
Blue Mountains), or as far as the land might be pur-
chased from the Indians. Chester contained all the ter-
! November 8, the day of the landing of Penn in Chester, and the Anni-
versary of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. I 3
ritory southwest of the Schuylkill to the extreme western
limits of the province, of course including the present
county of Delaware. In 1729, Lancaster County was
established as a fourth county, separated from Chester,
" comprising- all the province lying to the northward of
Octararo Creek, and westward of a line of marked trees
running from the north branch of the said Octararo
Creek northeasterly to the river Schuylkill." The city
of Lancaster, at that time called Newtown, had been laid
out by Governor Hamilton the previous year, and re-
ceived its first charter in 1742. York County was
separated from Lancaster in 1 749, and Berks and
Northampton Counties were formed in 1752. Conse-
quently when the Brethren made their first settlement in
Pennsylvania there were only four counties between the
Delaware and Susquehanna.
Soon after his arrival, Penn called an assembly at
Chester, where the "Great Law" was passed, so justly
celebrated for " liberty of conscience."4 There it was dis-
tinctly expressed as the " principal desire and intention
of the proprietary and governor and the freemen of the
province of Pennsylvania, to make and establish such
laws as shall best preserve true Christian and civil liberty,
in opposition to all un-Christian, licentious and unjust
practices, whereby God may have His due, Caesar his
due, and the people their due, from tyranny and op-
pression of the one side, and insolency and licentious-
ness of the other, so that the best and firmest foundation
may be laid for the present and future happiness of both
the governor and people of the province, and their
posterity."
By thus establishing his colony upon the broad prin-
ciples of Christian charity and constitutional freedom,
4 Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania, p. 619.
14 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
Penn very soon succeeded in drawing colonists to the
wilds of Pennsylvania. In 1682 thirty vessels arrived in
Pennsylvania, mostly from England, and in the following
year fifty more brought settlers from England, Ireland,
Wales, Holland and Germany. The banks of the Dela-
ware were one building scene ; some lodged in the woods
in hollow trees, some in caves, which were easily dug on
the high banks of the Wissahickon and Delaware, and
others in hastily erected huts.
Thus the colony rapidly increased in numbers, and if
the supposition be correct that the German population,
in 1742 about 100,000, formed the third part, then the
whole population of Pennsylvania in 1 740 may have been
nearly 300,000 souls. Among those of English descent
the Quakers at first predominated. Subsequently the
Episcopalians and Presbyterians gained in number and
influence, especially in the larger towns.
2. THE SETTLEMENTS OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
It is not our intention nor are we able distinctly to
point out all the different companies of Germans, who
from 1682 to 1 74 1 settled in Pennsylvania.5 Though many
came for conscience' sake, others came to improve their
temporal condition, and it may be well supposed that
not nearly all, who finally made a permanent settlement in
Pennsylvania, were led thither by a settled plan. How-
ever, the first impulse to emigration, the first invitations
to settle in North America came from Penn, who
had some interest in West Jersey lands before he ob-
tained the Charter of Pennsylvania. Well known in
Germany, he had learned to esteem the people, and, in
1677 and 1678, when traveling along the Rhine and in
5 I. Daniel Rupp's Collection of 30,000 Names of Immigrants in Pennsyl-
vania. 1 727-1 776.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 1 5
Westphalia and Franconia, both by his letters to the
governments and by his enthusiastic addresses to the peo-
ple on Christian charity and benevolence, he had created
more than a mere passing sensation. His words soon
led to actions.
In 1682 the " Frankfort Land Company" was formed
by ten gentlemen of note, mostly Mennonites, living in
Frankfort-on-the-Main. The object of this company
was to procure an asylum in Pennsylvania for their
friends and religious associates. In 1683, August 20,
one of the leaders of this company, F. Daniel Pastorius,
arrived on the shores of the Delaware with twenty Ger-
man and Dutch families, and they were soon followed by
others. They bought nearly 28,000 acres of land from
Penn, the Germantown and the Manatauny patent, and
in 1685, October 24, Germantown was laid out, and in
1689 incorporated by the Assembly, the first German
town in Pennsylvania.
The comparatively small number of German immi-
grants, which, however, gradually increased, was in 1709
followed by an emigration en masse. The continual wars
on the continent of Europe,, scarcity of provisions causing
an actual famine, and above all the religious oppression
of the different governments in connection with repeated
changes in the confession of faith, especially in the Pala-
tinate, awakened among the masses a desire for the land
of liberty. The distress seemed to have reached its
climax in the dreadful Winter of 1709, when thousands
died of cold and starvation. The invitation of Queen Anne
oi England, promising free transportation to America
and good land without price, was therefore joyfully ac
cepted, and in a short time no less than 30,000 Germans
had left their native places, relying on the promise of the
British Queen. So main- had not been expected. And
though the first-comers were well provided for both with
1 6 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
provisions and farming utensils — the Queen visiting them
in person ; and though many Christian inhabitants of
London provided great numbers with food and blankets,
still there were thousands for whom no provision had
been made, who, being strangers in a foreign land, had to
go begging through the streets of London, while their
wives and children lay almost naked and starving on
Blackmoor. Many were even beaten or otherwise
maltreated by the unfeeling populace of London. At
last, when the famishing multitudes began to disperse
over the country and fears were aroused, govern-
ment took the matter in hand. Seven thousand, and
amongst these especially the Roman Catholics, 3,584 in
number, with their priest, were sent back to Germany.
About 4,000 were taken to Ireland to settle some waste
lands in county Limerick, and of the remaining 20,000
hardly one-half were in 17 10 taken to America and
scattered in the different British colonies, while many
perished in England or at sea.
About 5,000 came in ten ships with Governor Hunter
of New York, arriving there June 10, 1710, part of whom
immediately went to Germantown, while the rest founded
several German villages on the Hudson, as Rhine-
beck, Ancram, Palatine Town or the Camp, New
Paltz, Germantown or the East Camp, and the German
Flats. Though the Queen had promised them a
tract ol land,6 "to be granted for the maintenance of
Lutheran parish schools and ministers for the Germans,
who either had settled or who should hereafter settle in
the neighborhood of the river Hudson," this grant was
wrested from them under various pretenses, and the
oppressions of New York land-owners obliged 2,000
Germans to remove in 1 714 to Albany, Beaverdam,
Schenectady and other places.
Hazelius' History of Lutheran Church, p. 25.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. J J
About one hundred and fifty families determined to
remove to Schoharie, a place about forty miles to
the west of Albany. They, therefore, sent deputies
to the land of the Maquas to consult with the Indians
about it, who allowed them to occupy Schoharie. For
the Indian deputies, who were in England at the time the
German people were lying in tents on Blackmoor,
had presented Schoharie to Queen Anne that she
might settle these people upon it. Indian guides
were sent to show the Germans where Schoharie was.
John Conrad Weiser, father of the well-known Indian
interpreter, Conrad Weiser, was the first of the German
deputies, and left his son Conrad, then seventeen years
old, with an Indian chief to learn the Maqua language
during the Winter.7
In November, 1 7 1 3, when the deputies had returned
from the Maqua country, these one hundred and fifty
families removed from Livingston Manor to Albany and
Schenectady, so as to be able to move in the Spring to
Schoharie. Bread was very dear, but the people worked
very hard for a living, and were kindly assisted by many
of the older settlers. In the Spring of 17 14 they
removed from Schenectady to Schoharie, in great
poverty. Borrowing horses and cows, plows and har-
ness wherever they could, they made common stock,
and broke up jointly so much land, that they raised
nearly enough corn for their own consumption the
following year. But this year they suffered much from
hunger, and made many meals on the wild potatoes and
ground beans which grew in great abundance at that place.
When they wanted flour they had to travel thirty-
five to forty miles to get it, and then had to borrow
it on credit. They would get a bushel of wheat here, a
7 Collections of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. I, p. 2, et seq.
Conrad Weiser's Family Register.
1 8, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
couple at another place, and were often absent from
home three or four days before they could reach their
suffering wives and children, who were crying for bread.
The people had settled in seven villages, in which they
lived peaceably for several years without preachers or
magistrates. Each one did as he thought proper. But
as they had taken possession of the land without in-
forming the Governor of New York, they were soon ex-
posed to new trials and hardships ; for Governor Hunter,
after letting- them know his dissatisfaction, sold the land
to seven rich merchants, four of whom lived in Albany,
the other three in New York.
Upon this a great uproar arose both in Schoharie and
Albany, because many in Albany wished the poor
people to retain their lands. The people of Schoharie
divided into two parties ; the stronger wished to
keep the land, and, therefore, sent deputies to England
to obtain a grant asking not only for Schoharie, but
for more land in addition. But their plans did not
succeed according to their wishes. The deputies had
to leave secretly, and embarked at Philadelphia in 171 8.
As soon as they got to sea they fell into the hands of
pirates, who robbed them as well as the crew of their
money, but then let them free. The ship had to put
into Boston to purchase provisions for the crew and
passengers, in place of those taken by the pirates.
When they reached England they found times had
changed, and that Queen Anne was no longer on
the throne. However they found some of the old
friends and advocates of the Germans among whom
were the Chaplains at the King's German Chapel,
Messrs. Bohn and Roberts, who did all in their power
to help them.
The affairs of the deputies finally reached the Lord
Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and the Gov-
OF THE GERMANS IX PENNSYLVANIA. 1 9
ernor of New York, Robert Hunter, was recalled.
Meanwhile the deputies became involved in debts;
one of them, becoming homesick, embarked for New
York and died at sea. The other two were thrown into
prison. They wrote promptly for money, but, owing to
the ignorance and carelessness of the persons whose
duty it was to transmit what the people had collected,
it reached England very slowly. Meanwhile Robert
Hunter, having arrived in England, had arranged the
sale of the Schoharie lands in his own way before the
Board of Trade and Plantations. The opposite party
was in prison without friends or money. Finally, when
a bill of exchange for £jo arrived, they were released
from prison. Hereupon they petitioned anew, and finally
obtained an order addressed to the newly-appointed
Governor of New York, William Burnet, to grant vacant
lands to the Germans who had been sent to New York
by Queen Anne.
Towards the end of the year 1720 William Burnet
arrived in New York, and soon after J. Conrad Weiser
presented a petition in behalf of the Germans. The
Governor appeared friendly, and stated what kind of an
order from the Lords of Trade and Plantations he had
brought with him, with which he would comply, but that
their deputies yet in England were not content with the
decision, though they could get nothing more done.
After the return of the deputies in 1723 Governor
Burnet gave patents for land to the few who were willing
to settle in the Maqua country, namely, in Stone Arabia.
and above the Mohawk Falls, where they founded Cana-
joharie, Little Falls, etc. The majority resolved to move
into Pennsylvania, whither they had been invited by Gov-
ernor William Keith, who, it is said, had at that time an
8 Letters of James Logan.
20 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
idea of forming an independent province in the West, to
be supported by his friends, the Palatines and Irish ; for
his chief popularity at that time was with these elements
of the population.
Many of the Germans in Schoharie united and cut a
road through the forest to the Susquehanna River, car-
ried their goods there, made canoes, and floated down
the river to the mouth of Swatara Creek, driving their
cattle overland. Going up the creek they found suit-
able places in Tulpehoken, and here began a settlement
in 1723.
Others followed this party and settled here, without
the permission of the Proprietary of Pennsylvania or his
Commissioners and also against the consent of the
Indians, from whom the land was not purchased till 1732.
As their nearest white neighbors lived thirty miles off,
they had to contend with many hardships. There was
no one to govern them — each one did as he pleased.
In 1729 Conrad Weiser, afterwards well known as an
Indian interpreter, removed to the neighborhood of the
present Womelsdorf, and soon became a man of influ-
ence among the Palatines in Tulpehoken, Heidelberg,
Mill Creek, etc.
Their numbers steadily increased. In 17 19 Jonathan
Dickinson remarks : " We are daily expecting ships from
London which bring over Palatines, in number about six
or seven thousand. We have a parcel who came out
about five years ago, who purchased land about sixty
miles west of Philadelphia and prove quiet and indus-
trious. This is besides our common supply from Wales
and England. Our friends do increase mightily, and a
great people there is in the wilderness, which is fast
becoming a fruitful field."9
9 Rupp's History of Northampton County, p. 7.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 2 I
The great influx of Germans very soon roused the
fears of the English colonists. It appears from a letter,
written in 1725 by James Logan, afterwards Governor of
Pennsylvania, that many of the Germans were not
over-scrupulous in their compliance with the regulations
of the Land Office. He says : " They come in in
crowds, and as bold, indigent strangers from Germany,
where many of them have been soldiers. All these go
to the best vacant tracts, and seize upon them as places
of common spoil." He says, they rarely approach him
on their arrival to propose to purchase ; and when they
are challenged for their right of occupancy, they allege
it was published in Europe that we wanted and solicited
colonists, and had a superabundance of land, and,
therefore, they had come without the means to pay.
Many of them, he states, are a surly people, divers of them
Papists ; the men well armed, and as a body, a warlike,
morose race.
In 1727, he states, that six thousand Germans mOre
are expected, and also many settlers from Ireland, and
these migrations, he hopes, may be prevented in future
by Act of Parliament, else he fears those colonies will be
in time lost to the Crown.
In 1729, he speaks of being glad to observe the influx
of strangers as likely to attract the interference of Par-
liament ; for truly, says he, they have danger to appre-
hend for a country where not even a militia exists for
government support. To arrest in some degree their
arrival, the Assembly passed a tax of twenty shillings a
head on newly-arrived servants.
These extracts plainly show that the increasing number
and prosperity of the Germans in Pennsylvania were
watched with great jealousy on the part of the English
colonists.
2 2 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
3. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE GERMANS IN
PENNSYLVANIA, MORE ESPECIALLY OF THE
LUTHERANS.
The political history of Pennsylvania during the early
part of the last century records a continual strife
between the people and the government of the Proprie-
taries, in which the German settlers more or less
participated. Having escaped the political tyranny of
their fatherland and the oppression of their former rulers,
they were not willing quietly to submit to the dictates of
those, whose language they could not understand. The
idea of forming German communities and even German
states in the land of promise was the sincere desire of
many, and this idea might no doubt at that time have
become a reality, if there had been more harmony. But
this was wanting.
Though jealously watching the progress of their
English neighbors, and obstinately resisting the influences
of the English spirit, they were no less suspicious of
each other. Prejudices brought along from the Old
World were not so easily laid aside, even amid
very different outward circumstances of life, more
especially as the majority of the German settlers
belonged to those classes which had been oppressed
and down-trodden for centuries, and were, therefore,
more distrustful and sensitive than the more educated
classes would have been. But this very distrust, which
prevented a hearty co-operation, united them in opposing
and resisting the aristocratic movements of the English
party. The English or "Gentlemen's party" was stren-
uously opposed by the " Freeman's party," consisting
mostly of the Quakers or Friends and the Germans.10 A
manuscript pamphlet in the Philadelphia Library,
Iu Rupp's History of Northampton County, p. 10.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 23
supposed to have been written by Samuel Wharton
in 1755, shows his ideas of passing events, saying
" that the party on the side of the Friends derived much
of their influence over the Germans through the aid of
Christopher Sauer in Germantown, who since 1729 pub-
lished a German paper — Der Pennsylvanisch Deutsche
Berickter — which, being much read by that people,
influenced them to the side of the Friends, and hostile to
the Governor and Council. All who are not of their
party, they call 'Governor's men,' and themselves they
deem strong enough to make the country their own.""
The anarchical political condition of the province
necessarily had an influence on the moral and religious
state of the people. Hence it is not surprising that
irreligion and indifference to all forms of public worship
prevailed to a fearful extent. Though there were many
who had emigrated to Pennsylvania for conscience' sake
to enjoy religious liberty (for instance, the Mennonites,
Dunkers, Schwenkfelders, and the Lutherans and German
Reformed from the Palatinate), still these were by no
means the majority. Much larger was the number of
those who, in order to escape political oppression or for
the purpose of acquiring riches, had embarked for the
New World, leaving in the Old also their old faith
and whatever they may have had of the forms of religion.
In their new homes they found no ministers, no school-
masters of the German tongue, and English teachers and
preachers they did not care for. The few preachers, who
in 1 7 10 had accompanied the large numbers of emigrants,
had gradually found their graves in the western wilds, or if
yet living, their influence on new-comers was very slight.
There were thousands, who, educated in Germany as
Lutherans, but now scattered about in the forest wilds of
" Compare Loh's Geschichte der Deutschen, |>. S4 91,
24 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
Pennsylvania, never saw a church, nor cared for it.
Many were so utterly indifferent to all religion, that
it became proverbial to say of those, who cared nothing
for God or His Word, that they belonged to the
" Pennsylvania Church."12 Many married people, nomi-
nally Lutherans, had never been baptized, the same being
true of their grown up sons and daughters.
"If it had continued thus for some years longer,"
Muhlenberg said in 1743, "our poor Lutherans would
have been scattered or turned into heathenism. Nu-
merous sects and opinions fill the country."13
In another letter he describes the state of religion in
the country as follows : " Atheists, Deists and Naturalists
are to be met with everywhere ; in short, there is no sect
in the world which has not followers here. You meet
with persons from almost every nation in the world.
Those that are not tolerated in Europe find a refuge
here. God and His Word are openly blasphemed.
Here there are thousands, who by birth, education and
confirmation ought to belong to the Lutheran Church,
but they are scattered to the four winds of heaven. The
spiritual state of our poor Lutheran people is so wretched,
that even with tears of blood it could not be bewailed
enough. The young people have grown up without
instruction and without knowledge of religion, and are
turning- into heathenism. Thus I found it, when I
arrived in Philadelphia."14
And really the religious arrangements of the Lutherans,
the most numerous German denomination, were as poor
and miserable as they possibly could be. Prior to 1730
hardly anything seemed to have been done for the
religious wants of those Germans who had settled in
12 Spangenbcrg's Life of Zinzendorf, p. 1230.
" Hallische Nachrichten, p. 16.
14 Hazelius' History of the American Lutheran Church, p. 51.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 2$
Philadelphia and vicinity for ten years or longer.
Having been accustomed to leave to the respective
political governments all care for the Church and
the schools, it naturally required some time before the
Germans learned themselves to care for their ecclesias-
tical wants. Far different it was among the neighboring
Swedish Lutherans, who since 1636 had settled along
the Delaware in New Jersey, and since 1643 were regu-
larly supplied with ministers from Sweden. One of these
ministers, Jacob Fabricius,15 who took charge of the
Swedish Church at Wicacao in 1677, had been for
eight years previous the German Lutheran pastor in
New Amsterdam (New York), where a Lutheran con-
gregation existed since 1621, and the first church had
been built in 1671.
The activity of these Swedish Lutheran ministers,
however, did not extend very far, there never being
more than three engaged in the work at the same time.
They were stationed at Wicacao (now Southwark, Phila-
delphia), at Fort Christina (Delaware), and at Racoon
and Penn's Neck (New Jersey). Nor was their influ-
ence very great, for not all of these Swedish colonist
preachers were men of sterling character — some being
rather too much inclined to eo to the nearest tavern
immediately after preaching and there spend the rest of
the Lord's Day in drinking and frolicking in company
with their parishioners.
In 1727 a very large number of Lutherans came to
Pennsylvania from the Palatinate, from Wiirtemberg,
Darmstadt and other parts of Germany; and though
they also were destitute of a regular ministry, yet there
were some school-masters and other good men among
them, who occasionally preached, assisted by the Swedish
: Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 324.
2 6 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
pastors. Many of these emigrants brought with them
the spirit of true piety ; they also brought many devo-
tional books, and often, for mutual edification, read
Arndt's "True Christianity," and other similar works.16
Churches or meeting-houses were as yet very rare
in Pennsylvania. One of the oldest, if not the very
oldest church of the Germans in Pennsylvania, was a
small wooden edifice in New Hanover, Montgomery
County.
In 1730 some Lutherans and German Reformed in
Philadelphia rented an old log building on Arch Street
which had been used as a barn or a carpenter-shop, and
assembled there occasionally to listen to the reading of
a printed sermon or to hear a short address, if anybody
present was willing and able to officiate. For a time a
certain J. Caspar Stiever (or Stcever), whose ordination,
by an imposter Schulz, seems very suspicious, acted as
minister. Soon afterwards he visited Germany, and col-
lected a considerable sum of money in aid of the American
Lutheran churches, part of which, however, was expended
for the purchase of a plantation and negro slaves in Madi-
son County, Virginia, where he preached for a time.
Later he returned to Pennsylvania and made disturbances
in Tulpehoken.
In 1734 we find the name of J. Chr. Schulze as minister
of the associate congregations of Philadelphia, New
Providence and New Hanover. He seems not to have
remained for any considerable length of time.
Hence the applications, addressed already in 1732
to Dr. Ziegenhagen, the German court-preacher in
London, and to the theological faculties of Halle and
Tubingen, to send suitable men, to feed them with the
Bread of Life, were renewed again and again.
16 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 326. Hallische Nachrirh-
ten, p. 665.
OF THE GERMANS TN PENNSYLVANIA. 27
"Living in a land," they said, "in which divisions in
religious opinions are almost countless, being destitute
of that food for our souls which we need,, and unable to
find ways and means in our own community to supply
our wants, we pray God to show us through our friends
abroad what may be done for us. The great bod)- of
our young people, bewildered by the multitude of
opinions, and in absolute want of schools and religious
instruction, will go astray, and be led into paths of error.
The Lord, the Searcher of hearts and the Trier of the
reins, alone knows how greatly we stand in need of the
assistance of fellow Christians, and that in asking our
friends to lift collections for us — we have nothing in view
but the honor of God and the spiritual welfare and
eternal salvation of our fellow-men. . We do not ask for
such contributions, as would enable us to build stately
edifices and temples ; no ! we shall be fully satisfied if we
can obtain sufficient aid to erect plain places of worship
in different parts of the country, where we may meet for
prayer and praise, and for the religious instruction of
our youth. And we trust that a merciful God will not
forsake us, but will excite the hearts of our fellow Chris-
tians to assist us in our great spiritual distress, and that
Your Reverence will grant us that aid which we so much
need."17
Years elapsed and these touching petitions seemed
to have been uttered in vain, partly because no men
could be found at the time, suitable for such a service (as
Dr. Ziegenhagen repeatedly assured Count Zinzendort '
in 1737), partly because no certain salary could be
determined upon.
For the present the Halle divines merely sent a supply
17 Hazelius' History, p. 37.
18 Zinzendort"*-, Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 207. Spangenberg's Life of Zin-
zendorf, p. 1360.
2 8 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
of Bibles, Testaments, hymn-books and prayer-books
to Philadelphia ; and fully ten years elapsed until the
desired pastor arrived there.
Another Lutheran congregation had been formed in
Tulpehoken by those Palatines who had removed thither
from Schoharie in 1723. They also had no settled min-
ister, but occasionally, at least once a year, Pastor Bern-
hard van Dueren, from Schoharie, came over to baptize
their children and administer the Lord's Supper. Occa-
sionally also Pastor Henkel, from Falkner Swamp, visited
here and administered the Communion. According to
his advice the Palatines in 1727 built a log meeting-house,
in which a German Reformed minister, Peter Miller,
preached for several years, after 1730, and also Caspar
Stiever now and then.19
However, these Palatines, accustomed as they had
been to regular church organizations and abhorring
sectarianism which threatened to make inroads in
their settlements, could not be satisfied with this state of
affairs, and desired to see a regularly ordained minister
settled in their midst as soon as possible. They there-
fore applied to Pastor Caspar Leutbecker, in Skippach,
who had been ordained in London, and often visited
them, and by his advice they sent a call to a minister in
Germany in 1733. He accepted the call and the Pala-
tines set about building a parsonage, under Leutbecker's
direction. After a year's time, however, it was ascer-
tained that the new minister had died at sea on his voy-
age from Germany, and in 1734 the Rev. Caspar Leut-
becker was appointed and accepted the call as minister
of the Tulpehoken church, which he served with great
faithfulness, insisting on practical Christianity, and observ-
ing a strict conscientiousness in the administration of tlTe
sacraments.
■9 Kirchenbuch of Tulpehoken, in the Bethlehem Archives.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 29
Having refused to baptize a child, whose father was
intoxicated when making the request, the latter went
to Caspar Stiever, who at that time stayed in Conestoga,
and had the child baptized by him. Stiever made use of
this opportunity to gain an entrance into this congrega-
tion, and at last succeeded in taking possession of the
church and keeping Leutbecker out of it. After much
quarreling and strife between the two parties, the whole
matter was referred to William Webb, of Chester
County, one of the attorneys20 of the proprietor of this
land in England, by whose interposition an agreement
was made September 1 5, 1 736, according to which Stiever
was permitted to preach there on every fourth Sunday.
But he did not care much for this arrangement. Finding
the church door locked, he did not break the lock, but
had a new door sawed out of the logs and kept the com-
munion the next day. Leutbecker, peaceful, old and
infirm, patiently suffered this outrageous conduct of a
brother minister and at last avoided the church altoofether.
But even in the parsonage he was not safe. Not only
were stones thrown into his window, but an attempt was
even made to demolish his home, while he was keeping a
meeting there, by putting some wood filled with gun-
powder into the fire, which, however, exploded without
doing any damage. Leutbecker, sick and wearied, re-
moved at last to the house of George Loesch, where he
died in 1738. Brother Spangenberg, who had accident-
ally come there from Skippach shortly before his death,
held his funeral service.
Stiever had now full sway in this congregation, until
Count Zinzendorf came in 1742 and sent another
minister.
The above narrative, showing the anarchical state of
The land — Manor of I'lumton — containing 5165 acres, belonged to John
Page, of Austin Friars, London.
30 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
Pennsylvania border-life more than a century ago, is taken
from a German manuscript entitled, "Die Confusion von
Tulpehoken," attested before Conrad Weiser, a Justice
of the Peace, on August 16, 1742, by the trustees of the
Lutheran Church at Tulpehoken.21
A third Lutheran cono-reofation we ^nc| at Lancaster
about the year 1 730. J. C. Schulze and C. Stiever vis-
ited there in 1731 and 1732. In later years some of the
Swedish ministers paid occasional visits there, and in
the name of this congregation applied to the Archbishop
of Upsala, in Sweden, for an ordained German minister.
Meanwhile old Pastor Valentine Kraft visited here occa-
sionally. The first regular Lutheran minister in Lancas-
ter was Laurentius Theophilus Nyberg, a native of
Western Gothland and a graduate of the University of
Upsala. Having been ordained by Archbishop Jacob
Benzelius, he arrived in Lancaster in 1743.
4. THE GERMAN REFORMED.
The destitution in a religious point of view and the
lack of the means of grace among the Reformed
" Kirchenleute " (church-people) were probably as great
as among the Lutherans, though they may claim priority
as regards the age of the first congregation in Mont-
gomery County. The greater part of them came from
the Palatinate, and therefore belonged to the German Re-
formed Church. While in New York and New England
Dutch Reformed and Scotch Reformed or Presbyterian
ministers, sent from Europe, had collected and organized
congregations more than one hundred years before, there
were thousands of the German Reformed immigrants of
Pennsylvania for whose spiritual welfare nobody seemed
to care. Without churches, without schools, without
Printed by Franklin, p. 8.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 31
ministers, they grew up in ignorance and vice ; and
though there certainly were diligent, sober, frugal and
industrious people among them, still practical religion
and vital godliness could hardly be expected of those
who either had no means of grace at all, or, even when
they heard an occasional sermon, were not led to Christ,
the crucified Saviour of the world. In a German hymn
written in 1 745 the following description is given of the
manner of preaching prevalent at that time :
A great deal is said concerning God's might,
But still the hearts are covered with night.
Concerning God none can have a true notion,
Until he perceive by Christ's bitter passion
God was made flesh.
The preachers enlarge on morality ;
Of Jesus Christ their sermons are free,
Except on Good Friday — and sometimes in Lent —
A great deal of power is uselessly spent
Condemning the Jews.22
To whom these lines may refer more particularly, we
are of course unable to say, but have reason to suppose,
that in those remote times, among the German Reformed
as well as among the Lutherans, there were worthless
men, who dared to act as pastors without any ecclesi-
astical sanction or authority. An instance of this kind
22 We have attempted a free translation of the following stanzas, which,
though imperfect, will give the Fmglish reader some idea at least of the
quaint poetry of one hundred and ten years ago. For the sake of those
who understand German, we subjoin the original :
Man redet /.war viel von dem groszen Gott,
Und bleibet im Herzen steinkalt und todt ;
Denn kein Mensch kann etwas von Gott verstehen,
\V\^ man lernt aus Jesu Wunden sehen
Gott war im Fleisch.
Man prediget nichts als Sittenlehr',
Und von dem Herrn Jesu so ungefahr ;
Zu Passionszeiten — in den Charwochen
Thut man so was iiber die Juden pochen,
Wie schlimm sie war'n.
o-
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
we find mentioned in the letters of Bishop Cammer-
hof to Count Zinzendorf.23 There was a Parson Freymuth
in the neighborhood of Minisink beyond the Blue
Mountains (now Monroe County), who for several years
had baptized children, married people, and performed
other ministerial acts, alleging that he had been regularly
ordained. After the Rev, M. Schlatter's arrival in 1746,
being convinced by him that his former ordination had no
ecclesiastical validity, he applied to the Classis of Am-
sterdam for ordination, which request was granted. At
the same time he received an order, which he read in
public, to rebaptize all those children whom he had bap-
tized before, because they were not properly baptized.
Some submitted ; others demanded their money back,
because according to his own confession they had not re-
ceived the value of their money.24
The oldest German Reformed congregation is sup-
posed to be that at Goshenhoppen (Montgomery
County), which was organized in 171 7. 25 The Rev.
Henry Goetschy is mentioned as its first pastor, but
the time and place of his ordination are not known. So
much, however, seems certain, that he was the first who
traversed the country as an itinerant preacher, officiating
from time to time in Skippach, Falkner Swamp, Saucon,
Egypt,26 Macungie, Moselem, Oley, Bern and Tulpe-
hoken, his circuit extending into the five counties of
Montgomery, Chester, Berks, Lehigh and Lebanon.
In 1726 George Michael Weiss,27 who had studied in
23 Cammerhof Epistola Sexta, 1747.
-4 " Weil er ja selbst bekannt habe, dasz seine Waare nicht gut gewesen."
25 Nevin's History of Heidelberg Catechism, p. 106.
;6 In 1733 J- H. Gitschi commenced the church-book of Egypt (North
Whitehall Township, Lehigh County). In 1734 Bbhm baptized the first
child there. In 1742 a log church was erected. Jacob Conrad Wiirt, from
Switzerland, served as minister a short time.
27 Chronicon Ephratense, p, 57. Nevin, p. 107.
OF THE GERMANS IX PENNSYLVANIA. 3$
Heidelberg in Germany, arrived in Pennsylvania, and
preached for a while anions his countrymen in Philadel-
phia. In 1730, in company with an elder named Reif,
he visited Holland and other parts of Europe in order
to make collections in aid of the feeble churches in Penn-
sylvania. Great interest was taken in their mission,
particularly on the part of the Church of Holland, which
was now led in fact to assume a sort of missionary ma-
ternal care over this German plantation in America. By
the permission of the Classis of Amsterdam28 J. P. Bohm,
formerly school-master in the Palatinate, received in 1729
ordination from the Dutch Reformed minister of New
York, and preached after 1730 in the log- meeting-house,
rented by the Lutherans and Reformed. This was evi-
dently the first " gemeinschaftliche Kirche" (a church held
in common by two denominations), which were to be
met with everywhere among the German congregations
of Pennsylvania, much to the detriment of the real
welfare of both denominations.
Many German Reformed had also settled in German-
town, where they built a small church in 1733. As they
could not obtain the services of an ordained minister, a
pious mechanic, John Bechtel, who had settled there in
1726. officiated as minister for more than sixteen years.
besides maintaining daily morning and evening meet-
28 Schreiben der Amsterdammer Classis an die Herrn und Briidervon der
Reformirten Getneine in Pennsylvania. — Die Classis urtheilt, dasz alle
Kirchenhandlun^en von Herrn Bohm als g'ultig anzuerkennen sind, dasz er
aber durch einen Praedicanten von \\u York nach kirchlichem Gebrauch zu
befestigen (ordinieren) sei; dasz diese Befestigung aber nicht sol] fortgehen,
bevor und ehe der bewuszte Bohm an die Herrn Praedicanten zu Neu York
verklart hat, dasz seine Ehrwurde den Heydelbergischen Catechismus und
alle die Formularen von Einigkeit annimbt, umb darnach seinen Dienst
tiptilyk zu richten, und sich unterwirfi der kirchlichen Ordnung von der
Synode zu Dortregt." J. Bakker,
Dep. CI. ad res ex /eras.
20 Jltllj, /J2Q.
34 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
ings in his own house. Though not ordained, he had a
regular call and a written confirmation or license from the
University in Heidelberg.
In 1730 another minister, John Peter Miller, who had
studied in Heidelberg, arrived in Tulpehoken, where he
for a time served both the Lutheran and German Re-
formed congregations. Having undergone an examina-
tion in Philadelphia, he was by order of the Scotch Synod
ordained by the Presbyterian ministers Tennent, An-
drews, and Boyd, who gave him a very honorable testi-
mony for his great learning.29 A few years later, in 1 735,
he united with the "Siebentager" (Seventh-Day Baptists)
at Ephrata, and died as Prior of their monastery in
1796.
His university friend, John Bartholomew Riiger, also a
Palatine, who had studied in Basel and Heidelberg, fol-
lowed him to America in 1731 and settled in Lancaster
County, where he served several German Reformed
congregations.
Besides these, a Pastor Dortius (or Peter Henry
Torschi), who had settled about this time in Bucks
County, is mentioned occasionally.
These are all the German Reformed ministers, whose
names we have been able to ascertain, and even if there
had been double the number, they would not have sufficed
to supply the most immediate wants. If learned men
like Miller were misled, it is not surprising that many
others of lower intellectual power and less firmly estab-
29 "There is lately come over a Palatine candidate of the ministry, who
having applied to us at the Synod for ordination, 'tis left to three ministers
to do it. He is an extraordinary person for sense and learning. We gave
him a question to discuss about Justification, and he answered it in a whole
sheet of paper in a very notable manner. His name is John Peter Miller,
and speaks Latin as readily as we do our vernacular tongue, and so does the
other, Mr. Weis." — Extract from a letter of the Rev. Jedidiah Andrews,
October 14, 1730.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 35
lished in the faith, were led astray by the errorists and
sectarians who at the time abounded in Pennsylvania.
Though the Moravian Brethren had not much inter-
course with most of these errorists and sectarians, still the
description of the religious condition of Pennsylvania in
1 740 would be incomplete without glancing at them also,
more especially as the remnants of most and the influence
of all is more or less to be felt in the eastern counties
of Pennsylvania to the present day.
5. THE MENNONITKS.
The Menhonites30 (or Manisten, as they are generally
called in Pennsylvania) derive their name from Menno
Simon, a monk of Friedland, who died in 1561. After a
faithful study of the New Testament, he renounced his
former popish views in 1530, and embraced the doctrines
of Protestantism, with some modifications however, of
which the following are the most important :
1. Rejection of Infant Baptism. "All penitent be-
lievers, who by faith, regeneration and the renewing of
the Holy Ghost are made one with God and written in
heaven, must upon their scriptural confession of faith
and reformation of life be baptized with water. These
alone constitute the Church of Christ."
2. A steady refusal to take a judicial oath, or to
bear arms under any circumstances, as contrary to
the distinct commandments of Christ (Matt. 5: 34, 35,
39-44)-
In his travels through the northern part of Germany
amidst trials and calamities of various kinds, Menno
Simon gained many adherents and founded many con-
gregations, more especially along the river Elbe. After
30 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 406.
36 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
his death and being exposed to many persecutions, they
were scattered over Germany, Denmark, Holland and
Switzerland, and became very numerous, especially in
the two last-named countries. In the Netherlands they
were left undisturbed, but in Switzerland a great perse-
cution arose in 1650, which induced many to flee to the
Palatinate, whence in 1683 some emigrated to Pennsyl-
vania. Others followed in 1698 and 1708, and settled
mostly in or near Germantown, where they built a meet-
ing-house in 1708.
The rest of the Swiss refugees prepared about this time
for an emigration en masse by buying from William Penn,
for five hundred pounds sterling, ten thousand acres of
land on the Pequea Creek, then Chester, now Lancas-
ter County. Led thither under the guidance of their
Bishop, Hans Meylin, they settled in the midst of the
Mingo or Conestoga, Pequea, and Shawanese Indians.
After the most necessary arrangements had been made,
they sent some of their number to Germany and
Switzerland to bring over their relatives and friends.
Some came in 171 1, the greatest number in 171 7, and
others followed ten years later. Before 1735 there were
five hundred Mennonite families in the present Lancaster
County. Some settlements were also made near Skip-
pach.
As a body the Mennonites did not belong to the poor
settlers ; almost all bringing some money in hand and
good common sense, by which they were enabled to
make a judicious selection for their future farms.
Economy, industry, frugality, simplicity in dress and in
their meeting-houses are to the present day the character-
istics of their descendants, many of whom live on the
very grounds purchased by their forefathers one hundred
and forty years ago. They have become very rich
farmers and enjoy the fat of the land.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 37
6. THE TUN REUS.
Of much later origin than the Mennonites are the
Tunkers" or German Baptists (Die Taufer), who also
refuse to take an oath or to bear arms, but differ from
the former in the manner in which they perform baptism,
viz., by immersion or dipping (Tunken). They have no
connection whatever with the Anabaptists, however, who
originated in the time of the Reformation.
The founder (Urstander) of this sect was Alexander
Mack, a native of Schriesheim, near Heidelberg, in the
Palatinate. In i 708 he and seven others — all pietistically
awakened souls, but quite uneducated, who lived in or near
Schwarzenau, one of the hot-beds of fanaticism — cove-
nanted together to study the New Testament carefully, and
to be governed only by the undisputed precepts of Christ.
" On a close and diligent search of the Scriptures, and
a careful examination of the authentic history of the
primitive Christian Church, they arrived at the inevitable
conclusion, as they hopefully believed, that the apostles
and primitive Christians administered the ordinance of
baptism to believing adults only, by trine-immersion.
And in conformity with this custom, they now resolved
to be immersed as obedient servants of their Lord and
Master." (Matt. 3 : 16.)32
"The question now arose : Who is the first to admin-
ister this sacred ordination f None of them as yet had
been immersed. To this end, one of their number visited,
in various parts of Germany, Mennonite congregations,
to confer with their ministers, touching the ordinance of
baptism. Many of the Mennonites admitted that this
ordinance, performed by immersion, if done from pure
!' Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 91 and 531, et scq.
'-' Winebrenner's History of Denominations. Introduction to the History
of the River Brethren, p. 551.
38 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
motives and love to the Saviour, was proper, but still
maintained that if administered by pouring or aspersion,
it was equally valid ; as no particular mode had been pre-
scribed."
" Mack and his consociates did not concur with the views
of the Mennonites on this subject ; they had determined
to yield to their convictions, as the result of investigating
the Scriptures and historical testimony. It was by
common consent agreed, that Mack should assume the
responsibility of baptizing the small number of believers.
However, as he conceived himself still iinbaptized, he
declined to comply, in this instance, with their ardent
wishes. They now resolved to fast, and in prayer and
supplication to the throne of grace, to ask God for direc-
tions. As did the eleven (Acts 1 : 26), they now cast
lots as to which of the brethren should be the first
baptizer. Lots were accordingly cast ; and he upon whom
it fell, baptized one of the brethren. The baptized one,
now baptized him by whom he had been baptized, and
the first baptizer then baptized the others. But upon
whom the lot fell to baptize first, has been studiously
concealed to this day. For it had been previously
agreed among themselves, never to disclose the name
upon whom the lot should fall."33
However, baptized they were, early one morning, in
the river Eder, near Schwarzenau, and then formed
themselves into a church, choosing Alexander Mack as
their minister. Their numbers soon increased in various
parts of Germany, and they were joined by men of
superior intelligence, as John Henry Kalklceser, of
Funkenthal, Peter Becker, of Dilsheim, and others.
33 " Sie gaben," says Mack, " aber unter einander ihr Wort von sich, dasz es
Niemand verrathen sollte, welcher der erste Taufer unter ihnen gewesen, damit
Niemand Ursache nehmen mochte, sie irgend nach einem Menschen zu
nennen, weilan sie solche Thorheit schon von Paulo an den Corinthern
bestrafet funden."
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 39
Being driven away by persecutions, many went to
Holland, and thence migrated in 17 19 to America, where
the first settlements were made near Germantown. The
last followed in 1 729, 34 and thus all the "Tunker churches"
of America sprang from the small church of Schwarzenau,
which commenced with eight souls in 1 708.
The most active and most influential man among the
first settlers was Peter Becker, who in 1723 was chosen
official baptizer of the church of Germantown. In
succeeding years he collected the dispersed brethren in
Lancaster County into a distinct society at Miihlbach
(Mill Creek). Congregations were also organized under
his supervision in Skippach, Falkner Swamp, Oley and
Conestoga.
The Tunkers have in course of time become pretty
numerous, retaining to a certain degree the simplicity of
their forefathers — commonly wearing long beards, and
hence called " Bartleute," and paying but little attention
to education.
At an early period they lost their best educated men
to the " Siebentager." Among these was one of their
teachers, G. A. Martin, who, as well as others, character-
ized the founders of this sect as uneducated "Erz Idioten
und Ignoranten " (ignorant idiots).
Zinzendorf, however, gave them in 1742 a more hon-
orable testimony as a people who were unenlightened,
but well-meaning and seriously inclined.35
;4 Im Jahr 1729 ist Alex. Mack, der Urstander der Taufer, sammt den
librigen gedachter Gemeinde, von Friesland abgesetzt, und in Pennsylvanien
angekommen.
»s " Es ist cine Versammlung gottesfiirchtiger, ohne Licht nach Gewissen
handelnder, ernstlicher, und urn dcswillen liebenswurdiger Menschen. So
lange sich Kinder (iottes entschlieszen konnen unter ihnen zu leben, und
Treue an ihnen zu beweisen, so sind sie gliicklich, und wir wollen dabei
denken, dasz nur Christus gepredigt wird." — Budingische Sammlungen,
II., p. 815.
4-0 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
7. THE SIEBENTAGER.
One of the most remarkable phenomena in the Penn-
sylvania sect-life of the last century, is the rise and for a
time astonishing progress of the " Siebentager" (the
German Seventh-day Baptists, or Sabbatarians) — the
Protestant monks and nuns of Ephrata in Lancaster
County. Some of their wooden buildings with their
small windows and narrow cells stand to the present day,
a monument of bygone times. We would hardly believe
that an order of Protestant Friars, adopting the most
absurd and ridiculous customs, could have originated in
this country ; much less, that men of learning and superior
intelligence could have joined such an order and sub-
mitted to the most arbitrary rules, if two members of this
society (Bros. Lamech and Agrippa) in the " Chronicon
Ephratense," which was printed in 1786, had not given a
circumstantial, and to all appearances, faithful narrative
of the doings and the times of Father Friedsam.
Father Friedsam Gottrecht (Peaceable Godright) was
the assumed monastic name of John Conrad Beisel, the
founder and superintendent (Vorsteher) of the Spiritual
Order of the Hermits of Ephrata. He was born in 1690
in Eberbach in the Palatinate, where his father was a
baker. He was a man of great natural abilities, and
though of very limited education, of a very lively imagi-
nation, which often seemed to gain the ascendency
over his more sober judgment. In his wanderings
through Germany as a journeyman baker, he succes-
sively adopted the views of the Pietists, the Inspired and
other Separatists, and resolved in 1720 to emigrate to
Pennsylvania, in order to dedicate his life to God in con-
templative -solitude.
Having learned the weaver's trade with a Tunker,
he removed in 1721 to Conestoga and settled near Mill
Creek. In 1724, P. Becker visited this neighborhood,
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 41
baptizing many, among them also Beisel,36 who soon after
was elected minister of the new Tunker congregation of
Conestoga.37
Conceiving after a while that there was an error among
the Tunkers in the observance of the day for the Sabbath
— the seventh clay being established and sanctified by the
Lord — he felt it his duty to contend for the observance
of that da)r, and in 1728 published a pamphlet on this
subject, in consequence of which the congregation
at Mill Creek adopted the seventh day for public wor-
ship and worked on Sundays, though often obliged to
pay a fine.
In the same year Beisel had himself re-baptized by
Brother Amos, thereby returning their baptism unto
the Tunkers. This action increased the breach between
the two societies of Germantown and Conestoga, which
even Alexander Mack was not able to heal.
Meanwhile Beisel's congregation increased ; men and
women flocking together from all sides ; even married
women leaving their families33 to lead "a more holy life,"
Y' "Da ist auch dor Vorsteher von seiner geistlichen Hohe herunter-
gestiegen, hat sich vor seinem Freund, Feter Becker, gedemlithiget, und ist
also denselben Tag von ihm nach Apostolischer Ordnung unters Wasser L,re-
tauft worden." — Chron. Ephratense, p. 21.
0 He now began to preach: " Wobey es ihm im Anfang nicht erlaubl
war, eine Bibel zu gebrauchen, damit nemlich das Zeugnusz im Vortrag
durch buchstabliches Wissen nicht geschwacht wiirde. Seinen Vortrag that
er anfanglich mit vcrschlossenen Augen, und das bey einer grosen Menge
Zuhorer; wann er aber die Augen wieder aufthat, so waren die meiste
wieder fort, als die des Geistcs Scharfe nicht ertragen konnten.
" Wann er fiihlte, das/ Menschen zugegen waren, welche suchten sein
Reden in die Vernunffi einzusacken, ward er plotzlich getrieben, eine seiner
vorigen Rede :4am/ entgegenlaufende Rede zu halten, und das mit ebenso
wichtigem Grund als die vorige, wodurch die Zuhorer in eine II. Confusion
gesetzt wurden. * * * Im Vortrag war er zu schnell, weil er dem Geist
muszte nacheilen, dabey er sich oft wehnig um die Regeln der Sprache
bekiimmert hat." — Chron. Ephratense, pp. 25, 26.
38 As ,-. g.% the wife of Christopher Saner, primer, in ( Germantown.
3
42 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
which induced him to write a tract against matrimony,
"the penitentiary of carnal men."39
In 1732 he suddenly retired from the settlement and
went secretly to a cell on the banks of the Cocalico, which
had previously been occupied by one Elimelech, a hermit.
When his retreat was discovered, some of his adherents
followed him, settling around him in solitary cottages,
and imitating his ascetic mode of life. In 1735 he suc-
ceeded in gaining over the young German Reformed
minister of Tulpehocken, John Peter Miller who, as
Brother Jabez, became his very valuable assistant. Some
Lutherans also were for a time led away, men even like
Conrad Weiser;40 and a few years later some of the prin-
cipal teachers of theTunkers — H. Kalklceser, Val. Mack,
and John Hildebrand — joined the followers of Father
Friedsam.
As the number of hermits steadily increased, the soli-
tary life was in 1735 changed into that of a conventicle,
39 Die P^he das Zuchthaus fleischlicher Menschen. 1730.
40 "Conrad Weiser war durch schwere Buszarbeit bald so heruntergesetzt,
und liesz seinen Bard wachsen, dasz ihn fast Niemand kante ; daneben hat
er Gott zu Ehren einen Theil seines Vermogens freywillig aufgeopfert zur
Auferbauung" des Klosters Kedar. Da Conrad Weiser als Dolmetscher in
den Verhandlungen mit den Indianern unentbehrlich war, kam Gouverneur
Thomas selbst mit groszem Gefolge nach Ephrata, und bot ihm das Amt eines
Friedens-Richters an, welches er mit des Vorstehers Bewilligung annahm>
"Man hat ihn noch auf der Court als obersten Richter gesehen, unter der
Krohne sitzen mit seinem gewohnlichen Bard; aber endlich hat doch sein
Amt so viel vermocht, dasz er seinen Briidern ist fremd worden. Den ersten
und schwersten Anstosz hatte er an seinen vertrauten Freund dem Vor-
steher selbst, der ihm einmal erzehlete, er seye vor einen verstorbenen Bruder
in den Risz getreten, und das habe ihm das Blut aus den Niigeln getrieben ;
daraus er schlosz der Vorsteher miisse sich vor Christum halten. Auch war
ihm sein vieler Aufenthalt im Schwestern-Konvent verdachtig, und bewog
ihn einmal zu gerichtlicher Untersuchung gegen ihn.
"Spaterhin besuchte er einmal seinen alten Freund, P. Miller im Lager.
Bei der Gelegenheit ward ein Liebesmahl gehalten, bei welchem er durch
den Gebrauch des heiligen Sacraments der Gemeinschaft im Geist wieder ist
eingeleibt worden, wiewohl wir seiner Mutterkirche gern die Ehre lassen,
dasz sie seinen Leib hat eingeerndtet." — CJiron. Ephratense, pp. 68 to 70.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 43
and a Monastic Society was established. Kedar, the
first convent for the sisters, was built in 1735, and
Zion in 1738 for the brethren. The habit of the Capu-
chins or White Friars was adopted by both the brethren
and sisters. It consisted of a shirt, trowsers and vest,
with a long, white gown or cowl, of woolen web in Winter
and of linen in Summer. That of the sisters differed only
in the substitution of petticoats for trowsers, and in some
little peculiarity in the shape of the cowl. Monastic
names were given to all who entered the cloister.
In 1740 there were thirty-six single brethren in the
cloister, and thirty-five sisters ; and at one time the
Society, including the married members in the- neighbor-
hood, numbered nearly three hundred.
Though Dr. Fahnestock maintains4' "that the com-
munity was a republic in which all stood upon perfect
equality and freedom," still it is evident from the candid
narrative of Brother Lamech in the " Chronicon Ephra-
tense," that Father Friedsam held very despotic sway
and that he well knew how to gain his point and to main-
tain his spiritual power as long as he lived.4'
41 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 1 10.
*- We subjoin a longer extract from the Chronicon Ephratense, p. 1 10 :
Vom geistlichen Kirc hen- Regiment im Lager.
" Nachdeme die Einsamen im Lager in ihre Convente waren heimgebracht,
fingen die Schulen des einsamen Lebensan. Da kamen solche Lectiones vor
zu erlernen, das/ einem oft Horen und Sehen ist vergangen. 1><t Vorsteher
war Tag und Nacht aufFiiszen, und wer seiner wolte loszwerden, muszte des
Nachts seine Thtir verschliesen, dann er stund unter dem Dienst der vier
lebendigen Thiere, welche Tag und Nacht keine Ruhe haben. Also war im
Lager eine bestandige Herumarbeitung, also das/, wann einer nurdrey Tage
abwesend war, er ein Fremder wurde; und muszte sich hernach wieder mit
vie! Miihe in das Spiel schaffen, Keiner ware ira Stande gewesen, wann er
auch viel Jahre hatte im Lager gewohnt, eine richtige Beschreibung von dem
Regiment darinnen zu geben ; es war unbegreiflich, und dabey vor der Ver-
nunft hochst anstosig. fallen und Aufstehen wechselte immer ab; wer
heute in geistlichcr Hoh sasz, lag morgen darnieder, und das war eine un-
vermeidliche Sache. Wem der Vorsteher seine Gemeinschaft grab, der
44 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
Some of the most remarkable men of this curious
society were Israel Eckerling and Peter Miller. The
former of these, whose monastic name was Brother Onesi-
mus, became Prior of the Brethren's Convent in 1740
and, supported by Father Friedsam, soon gained such
authority, that his word was supreme law and every-
body was forced to submit to his views.43 Assisted by his
own brothers he endeavored to obtain the sole control
of the considerable property of the brotherhood and
by trade and extension of their worldly business to
increase the power and the influence of the cloister. A
grist-mill, saw-mill, oil-mill, fulling-mill, and even a paper-
mill, were successively erected, and other still larger
buildings were planned. A convent-bell was ordered
in England, which was afterwards sold to the Lutheran
conoreo-ation jn Lancaster.44 For more than a year
Prior Onesimus had undisputed sway, to such a degree
that even Father Friedsam submitted to his authority
and did his bidding"- But after a while the latter
schwebte oben, unci wera er sie entzog, der sanck wieder unter sich, zu Zeiten
ins funstere Principium, da er dann wurde ansCreutz genagelt, welche Processe
haufig sind vorgekommen. Hierwar der gefahrliche Pfosten, wo viele seiner
Nacbfolger in Aergernusz fielen.
" Er war in seinem Umgang nicht natiirlich, und die nahe um ihn waren,
muszten sich auch darnach richten, dahero ihn Niemand mit der Selbheit
fassen konte. Den Gottesdienst stellete er in der unbequamsten, als in der
Mitternachts-Zeit an, und hatte sonderlichs Vergniigen im Geist, wann er
ihn bis an den Tag verzogern konte.
" Besonders driickte der Prior die Br-Lider durch seine Zankereien in den
Nachtmatten die oft der Vorsteher schlichten muszte.
"So unerbaulich auch diese Dinge klingen, so musz man doch gestehen,
dasz es an dem wesentlichen Theil des Gottesdiensts, als der Creutzigung
der Natur, nichtgemangelt hat ; darum gedencken wir noch derselben seligen
Zeiten."
41 " Der Prior hat die Bruderschaft in solche Sclaverey gebracht, dasz
zwischen einem Zionitischen Bruder und einem Neger nur der Unterschied
gewesen, dasz dieser Schwartz und gezwungen, jcner aber weisz und freywillig
ein Sclav gewesen." — Chron. Ephratense.
44 Rupp's History of Lancaster County, p. 223.
OF THE GERMANS IX PENNSYLVANIA. 45
succeeded in winning some influential members over to
his side and with their assistance expelled the Eckerlings,
who in 1744 removed to the wilds of Virginia.
Meanwhile a new sisters'-house, called Sharon, had
been erected, which is standing to this day, and in 1 746
the brothers' house, Bethania, was finished. The latter,
being three stories high, contained eight large rooms, to
each of which belonged six or eight small dormitories
surrounding the larger rooms, barely large enough
to contain the sleeping bench with a billet of wood for
a pillow, a closet and an hour-glass.15 The passages
leading to the cells and through the different parts of
both convents, are barely wide enough to admit one
person. Altogether these buildings present a very
singular appearance, with their small windows of only
four panes of glass, and the outer walls entirely covered
with shing'les. When Bethania was in course of
erection, it is said,4'1 a long dispute was held among the
brethren concerning the length of the house. Some con-
tended that it ought to be • 66 feet, others preferred
99, and some 100 feet. Those in favor of 99 feet,
considered their proposal the best, "for," they said, "the
circle means God, and the stroke signifies man. Now,
in 66 God is placed below and man above; in 100 man
stands before God ; hence 99 is preferable, where God
stands above and man below." This anecdote, which
was current at the time, is certainly characteristic, point-
ing out the spirit of this society ami the eccentric notions
of their spiritual father.
The hour lor religious worship was, for a long time, at
midnight, and the meeting was often prolonged till day-
break, when every one had to go to work again. At
other times there were no meetings at all, " in order that
45 Rupp's History of Lancaster County, p. 213, et seq.
46 Cammerhoff's Epistola IX, written in Xovember, 1747.
46 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
all might have time to bring into practice, what they
had been taught."
A great deal of time was devoted to music and orna-
mental writing (Fractur-Schriften), especially by the
sisters, and Father Friedsam was himself a poet and
musical composer, though of a very peculiar order. In the
"Chronicon Ephratense" there are long essays on music,
which are as strange and curious as everything else con-
nected with this singular society.
In a letter of a tourist during the proprietary adminis-
tration of Governor Penn the following is said concerning
their music, which was set in four, six, or eight parts:47
" The counter-treble, tenor and bass were all sung by
women, with sweet, shrill and small voices, but with a
truth and exactness in time and intonation that was
admirable. The performers sat with their heads inclined,
their countenances solemn and dejected, their faces pale
and emaciated from their manner of living, the clothing
exceeding white and quite picturesque, and their music
such as thrilled to the very soul. I almost began to
think myself in the world of spirits, and that the objects
before me were ethereal."
The most remarkable of the female members of the
" Camp " was Mother Marie (daughter of Daniel Eicher),
the prioress, who in spite of all intrigues maintained her
authority for a much longer period than any of the priors
of the brothers' convent, Peter Miller excepted. But at
last she also was compelled to resign, and after many
years of solitary penitential life, died, in 1784. Long
before her, July 6, 1768, Father Friedsam had departed
this life, well stricken in years.48
47 Rupp's History of Lancaster County, p. 227.
48 The following inscription we read on his grave-stone :
Hier ruhet eine Ausgeburt der Liebe Gottes
FRIEDSAM,
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 47
His faithful assistant, Prior Jabez (Peter Miller), man-
aged the spiritual and temporal affairs of the society for
nearly thirty years longer (he died in 1796) ; but, although
he was undoubtedly a man of much greater ability than
Conrad Beisel, still during his administration the decline of
this society became more and more perceptible. And this
can hardly be surprising, as the whole idea of a monastic
institution of the Middle Ages, in which celibacy and
ascetic exercises were considered the principal virtues,
was too little in accordance with the views of the
times, especially after the Revolutionary War. Hut it
is surely surprising, that such a society could spring up
in Pennsylvania one hundred and twenty-five years ago,
exist for nearly fifty years, and exert no inconsiderable
influence all around. This fact shows only too plainly
how low must have been the state of religious and
Christian life among the Germans of Pennsylvania in
general and how much they needed not only the teaching
of the Gospel, but also practical examples of true evan-
gelical godliness.
Spangenberg wrote to Count Zinzendorf in 1738 in
reference to the "Siebentager"49 : "These people triumph
now ; their affairs prosper. Everybody must perceive
that they have something peculiar in their external exer-
cises. They sleep neither in beds nor on straw ; they
eat no pork ; some live on bread and water only ; they
wear the cowl of the monks ; they neither buy nor sell ;
have no trades to earn money by ; some live separately.
Ein Einsamer, nachmals aber geworden cin Anfuhrer, Aufscher
und Lehrer der Einsamen und Gemeine Christi in und mn
Ephrata. Geboren in Eberbach in der Pfalz, genannt
Conrad Beisel ; entschlief d. 6ten Julius, Anno 1768,
seines geistlichen Alters 52 Jahr,
aber des natiirlichen
77 Jahr, 4 Monat.
** Risler's Life of Spangenberg, p. 149.
48 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
as in a convent, spending their time in watching and
fasting.
" If I had never heard of Dio«-enes and his tub, nor of
the doings of the Carthusian monks, I also might be
dazzled by them. But I know from experience that
external exercises do not constitute the new creature, or
produce the new birth ; that all this comes by grace and
through grace. Hence I can only look upon them
sorrowfully, for they make their works holiness, thereby
hoping to merit grace."
8. SEPARATISTS.
Besides the larger or smaller religious societies and
communities, there were in the first part of the last cen-
tury in Pennsylvania many individuals who, in Germany
already, for some reason or other had separated from
the Church, and were utterly opposed to any and every
form of ecclesiastical organization.
Among these Separatists there were some honest and
sincere seekers of the truth, as for instance a certain
Eckstein,50 Spangenberg's companion on his journey
from Pennsylvania to Georgia in 1737. But upon the
whole their condition was most deplorable, as with-
out any fixed principles, they agreed only in one point,
namely, to disagree with and to oppose all other religious
associations and societies. The principal food for this
hatred was a certain book written in 1730 by Andrew
Gross,51 a well-known Separatist in Frankfurt, Germany,
condemning the doctrine and constitution of the Mora-
vian Church, which was much read in Pennsylvania at
that time, and influenced men like Christopher Saner, the
printer in Germantown, J. H. Schcenfeld and others to
Spangenberg's Life, p. 140.
51 Biidingische Sammlungen, II, pp.817, 867.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 49
oppose Zinzendorf when he came to Pennsylvania in
1742.
Some of these Separatists not only refused to be con-
nected with any Christian denomination, hut, impelled
by sectarian fanaticism, avoided all other human
society, and lived as hermits, scattered about in the;
woods, and exposed to constant danger from the
Indians ; for instance, John G. Stiefel, the traveling-
companion of Beisel, who died in Bethlehem in 1745.
Many of these hermits joined the Ephrata cloister,
or went farther West, into the wilds where no white men
had yet ventured to settle. Thus Prior Onesimus
(I^ckerling) and his two brothers were the first settlers in
Monongalia County, Virginia. Two were killed by the
Indians in 1750. Onesimus was taken prisoner, but suc-
ceeded in escaping to Canada, whence he went to France,
where he closed his days in a Roman Catholic monaster)-.
Others again pretended to have received especial
divine revelations, and called themselves the' "Inspired."
There was at that time a community of such fanatics
in Western Germany, under the spiritual leadership
of J. F. Rock. Some of his adherents may have
come to Pennsylvania, without, however, forming distinct
societies. John Adam Gruber, who will be mentioned
hereafter, probably belonged to them.
Another sect, which originated and flourished ior a
short time in ( )ley Township (Berks County) was that of
the "New Born."5' A Palatine, Matthias Bauman (died
in 1727), was the founder and leader of this sect. They
professed sinless perfection, maintaining that those who
had received the "new birth" could thenceforth sin no
more ; consequently, whatever they might do, would
be right and good. That this doctrine must lead to
52 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 7.
50 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION
licentiousness, is self evident. Even twenty years after
Bauman's death there were still some adherents of these
doctrines.
There is yet to be mentioned a "spiritual society,"53
consisting- for the most part of unmarried men of liberal
education. Their founder was John Kelpius, an Austrian
by birth, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1694. Daniel
Falkner, John Seelig and others, in all forty persons,
joined him, and they settled on "the Ridge," (the ridge-
road from Philadelphia to Reading), which at that time
was a complete wilderness, and called their society the
"Woman of the Wilderness" (Rev. 12: 6). In 1704
Conrad Matthaei, a Swiss of noble connections, joined
them (he died as a hermit in 1748) and also Christopher
Wilt, a famous doctor and magician.
9. THE SCHWENKFELDERS.
One of the smallest of the German denominations in
Pennsylvania is that of the Schwenkfelders,54 who at pres-
ent [1851] count only eight hundred members. Even in
former times they were not numerous nor did they
display any outward religious activity, either of the miss-
ionary or polemical order, preferring to keep aloof from
all religious controversies. Thankfully enjoying the
religious freedom of Pennsylvania they led according to
the dictates of their consciences a quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty.
Though among the least influential for the general
history of the Church, still they deserve particular notice
in the history of the American Brethren's Church, as
their emigration to this country was the first cause for
establishing a Moravian colony in America.
53 Chronicon Ephratense, p. 11.
4 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 557. Erlauterung fur
Caspar Schvvenkfeld. Spangenberg's Leben, pp. 94, 150.
OF THE GERMANS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 5 I
Their founder was a Silesian noble and contemporary
of Luther, Caspar Schwenkfeld von Ossing, counselor to
the Duke of Lieomitz, a man of liberal education, well
read in the Latin and Greek classics, and active in various
ways in the service of his country. The movements of
the Reformation early attracted his attention but, differing
in some points from Luther and other friends of the
Reformation, he began a controversy with Luther about
the doctrine of the Holy Communion, which so irritated
the latter that, in 1543, he wrote a maledictory
letter to Schwenkfeld, breaking off all connection with
him. Nevertheless Schwenkfeld gained many adherents
among the higher classes, had an extensive corres-
pondence all over the empire with persons of every rank
and description, and wrote many learned treatises and
pamphlets, in German and Latin. After man)- trials
and hardships he died at Ulm in 1562, in the seventy-
second year of his age.
Schwenkfeld's followers, of whom the greater number
lived in Silesia, were repeatedly persecuted by the
Lutheran clergy, in the most cruel manner, especially in
1590 and 1650. But still greater were the hardships to
which they were exposed by the Jesuit missionaries of
the Roman Catholic Church, in 1719. Thus pressed
from two sides, many desired to leave their country. In
1723 they became acquainted with Count Zinzendorf
who, while on a journey through Silesia, interceded with
the government for them, though without success. In
1 726 many families left their homes ; some sought shelter
under the protection of the Senate of Gorlitz (a city of
Lusatia in Saxony) and others of Count Zinzendorf. The
latter lived for awhile in Herrnhut, and then removed
to L"pper Berthelsdorf, where they remained unmo-
lested for some years, until in 1733 the Saxon Govern-
ment withdrew its protection. Zinzendorf now endeav-
52 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONDITION.
ored to procure for them free transportation to Georgia,
which was to be colonized by German Protestants, but
succeeded only in procuring for them a grant of land.
On May 26, 1734, forty families, numbering one hun-
dred-and eighty souls, left Berthelsdorf, led by George
Wiegner. Spangenberg was to follow them and be their
minister in Georgia. In Altona (Denmark) and Harlem
(Holland) Christian friends took an interest in them,
and promised free transportation to Pennsylvania, in
consequence of which the Georgia plan was dropped.
Sailing from Rotterdam on June 28, they arrived in
Philadelphia on September 2, 1734, after a long and
tedious voyage.
They settled principally on the Skippack and Perk-
iomen (in Montgomery, Berks, Bucks and Lehigh
Counties), and the large barns with tile-covered roofs
show at the present day where their descendants
live, distinguished alike by their wealth and the simplicity
of their manners. They are most numerous in Goshen-
hoppen, formerly called " Schlesisch Warte ; " they are
connected in two congregations, with three hundred
families, and five churches or school-houses. Their first
minister was George Weiss, who died in 1760.
In 1 736 Bro. Spangenberg paid a visit to the Schwenk-
felders, scattered in the forest-wilds of Pennsylvania,
and for a time assisted Christopher Wiegner in his farm
labors. At the same time he made use of every oppor-
tunity to preach the Word of Reconciliation in the blood
of Christ, and to warn against self-righteousness. Many
heard him willingly, but there were no lasting fruits of
his endeavors.
In 1738, when* visiting the Schwenkfelders for the
third time, he complained of their exclusive sectarian
spirit, by which the consciences are burdened ; but it is
more than likely that Spangenberg himself, " still too
THE INDIANS.
53
learned to be an apostle" (as Zinzendorf expressed it),
and lacking experience, did not always meet them, and
especially their minister, George Weiss, with that
Christian candor and liberality, which alone awakens con-
fidence, and which in later years was the brightest
ornament of Bro. Spangenberg's character.
Nevertheless his protracted sojourn among the
Schwenkfelders was of great importance, as he was
thereby enabled to gather correct information concern-
ing the moral and religious state of the Germans
in Pennsylvania and the many heathen Indian tribes.
IO. THE INDIANS.
The first reliable accounts of the Indians which Bro.
Spangenberg received, were given to him in 1737 by
Conrad Weiser, who by request of Governor Gooch,
of Virginia, and under regular instructions from James
Logan, Esq., at that time President of the Provincial
Government of Pennsylvania, had undertaken a very
tedious journey53 through the wilderness of Northern
Pennsylvania to Onondaga in New York.
Onondaga was at that time the place of the great war
council, or the headquarters of the Aquanuschioni or
the allied Six Nations, by the French called Iroquois
(Mingoes by others, and Maquas by the Dutch). This
very powerful Indian Confederacy consisted at that time
of the following six nations:56
'' Narrative of a Journey made in the year 1737, by Conrad Weiser, Indian
Agent and Provincial Interpreter, from Tulpehokcn to Onondaga. Collec-
tions of Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Vol. I., No. 1, p. 6.
56 The relative position of the different Indian tribes is best seen on a
map published in Philadelphia in 1755, by Lewis Evans, containing the
.Middle British Colonies of America, tlu' country of the ( lonfederate Indians,
Aquanishuonigy and the Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain and parts of
New France.
54 THE INDIANS
i. The Maquas or Mohocks living between the
Hudson and the Susquehanna, near the Kaatskill
Mountains.57
2. The Oneidas or Onoycets, and
3. The Tuscaroras (who formerly lived in Virginia
and North Carolina and had joined the Confederacy
quite lately, in 1713), lived westward of the north branch
of the Susquehanna and around Onoydas Lake.
4. The Onondagas, more to the South and on the
Onondaga River.
5. The Cayugas and
6. The Senecas, near the Lakes, which still bear their
names.
By these six powerful nations some weaker tribes
were overthrown and absorbed, as, for instance, the
Susquehannocks,58 who, before 1680 possessed the whole
present Lancaster County. Settlements were gradually
planted by the conquerors along both branches of the
Susquehanna, and especially at Conestoga- which subse-
quently became the chief place of council of the Indians
seated on the Susquehanna, below the fork. The resi-
dents there were chiefly of the Seneca tribe, mixed
however, with Oneidas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras, and
were generally called Mingoes or Conestogas by the
white settlers.
About the year 1698 some Shawanos from the South
applied to the Conestogas, and through them to
William Penn's government, for permission to settle
near Conestoga. This being granted, they established
themselves upon Pequea Creek, under Opessah, their
57 Whether the Mohiccons (Mahicander of Loskiel) were a separate nation,
is not quite certain. Proud, in his History of Pennsylvania, II, p. 297, dis-
tinguishes the Mohocks belonging to the Six Nations from the Mohiccons,
who were confederates of the Delawares.
58 Notes Respecting the Indians of Lancaster County, by W. P. Foulke.
Memoirs of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Part II, p. 212.
IN PENNSYLVANIA. 55
principal chief, and gradually extended their settlements
to the North and West, until in the first part of the
eighteenth century they all removed to the wilds of Ohio.
In a similar manner, about 1 700, some Ganawese
from the Potomac and Nanticokes and Conoys from
Maryland appeared and settled in the same vicinity,
under the protection of the Six Nations.
While thus the power of the Six Nations on the
North was constantly increasing, the influx ol Kuropean
immigrants was pressing more and more upon the original
owners of the soil in Pennsylvania — the Delawares.
These were, according to their own traditions, direct
descendants of the Algonkins, one of the most powerful
nations of antiquity, and called themselves Lenni
Lenape,59 that is, " Indian Men," or Woapnachky, that is,
"a people living towards the rising of the sun," having
formerly inhabited the eastern coast of North America.
They were divided into three tribes ; the Unami,
the Wunalachtikos, and the Monsys. Many other
tribes, like the Shawanos and Nanticokes, called the
Delawares "Grandfathers,"6" and never ventured to
wage war against them, for they were alike celebrated
for their courage, peaceful disposition, and powerful
alliances. They were at one time the undisputed masters
of all middle America, and extended their wars against
the Alligewi as far as the Mississippi and maintained a
determined hostility with the Mengwi. On the arrival of
Penn their number in Pennsylvania was computed at
thirty or forty thousand souls.61
Their history spoke only of conquest. They were a
brave, proud and warlike race, who gloried in the preser-
59 History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in
North America, by G. H. Loskiel, translated by Christian Ignatius La
Trobe, 1794.
•~ Loskiel, I, 1 28. [36.
01 Discourse on the Surviving Remnant of the Indian Race, by |. R.Tyson.
56 THE INDIANS
vation of a character for valor, which had come down
to them from the remotest times. However, they
were finally vanquished by the Confederacy of the Six
Nations, and at a treaty at Albany, in 1717, had to submit
to be declared "a nation of women."
According- to their own tradition/'2 the Delawares were
always too powerful for the Six Nations, so that the latter
were at last convinced, that if they continued at war, their
total extirpation would be inevitable. They therefore
sent the following message to the Delawares : "It is not
profitable that all the nations should be at war with each
other, for this will at length be the ruin of the whole
Indian race. We have, therefore, considered a remedy,
by which this evil may be prevented. One nation shall
be the 'woman.' We will place her in the midst, and
the other nations who make war shall be the 'man,'
and live around the ' woman.' No one shall touch or
hurt the ' woman,' and if any one does it, we will imme-
diately say to him : ' Why do you beat the " woman ? " '
Then all the ' men ' shall fall upon him who has beaten
her. The ' woman ' shall not go to war, but endeavor
to keep peace with all. Therefore, if the ' men ' that
surround her beat each other, and the war be carried on
with violence, the ' woman ' shall have the rieht of
addressing them : ' Ye men. what are ye about ; why do
ye beat each other ? We are almost afraid. Consider
that your wives and children must perish, unless ye
desist. Do ye mean to destroy yourselves from the face
of the earth ? ' The ' man ' shall then hear and obey
the ' woman.'
"The Delawares add, that not immediately perceiving
the intention of the Six Nations, they had submitted to
be the 'woman.' The Iroquois then appointed a great
feast, and invited the Delaware Nation to it, when,
62 Loskicl, p. 124.
IN PENNSYLVANIA. 57
in consequence of the authority given them, they made a
solemn speech, containing three capital points. The first
was, that they declared the Delaware Nation to be the
'woman,' in the following words: 'We dress you in a
woman's long habit, reaching down to your feet and
adorn you with earrings,' meaning that they should no
more take up anus. The second point was thus ex-
pressed : ' We hang a calabash tilled with oil and medicines
upon your arm. With the oil you shall cleanse the ears
of the other nations, that they may attend to good, and
not to bad words ; and with the medicines you shall heal
those who are walking in foolish ways, that they may
return to their senses, and incline their hearts to peace.'
The third point, by which the Delawares were exhorted
to make agriculture their future employ and means of
subsistence, was thus worded: "We deliver into your
hands a plant of Indian corn and a hoe." Each of these
points was confirmed by delivering a belt of wampum,
and these belts have been carefully laid up, and their
meaning frequently repeated."
If the tradition of the Delawares be correct, it is cer-
tainly an extraordinary instance ol a nation voluntarily
^ivinq up the means ot self-defense, tor the purpose
of becoming mediators and arbiters between other
nations ; and this in itself would be an evidence, that
they were providentially prepared to accept the Gospel
of Peace. He this as it may, so much is certain, that the
missionaries ot the Brethren accomplished more among
the Delawares than among any other Indian tribe.
When Spangenberg received from Conrad Weiser
the first accounts ot the deplorable moral and relig-
ious state ot the Indians, he wrote in November,
1737, a letter'4 to Christian David, in which he com
1 -oskiel, I, pp. 124-126.
'4 Briiderblatt tor 1X54, p. 155. Conrad Weiser's Narrative, p. 17.
4
58 THE INDIANS
municated a prophecy current among the Indians at the
time. One of their seers (the Indians told Weiser) had
seen a vision of God, who had said to him the following-
words : "You inquire after the cause why game has
become scarce. I will tell you. You kill it for the sake
of the skins, which you give for strong- liquor and drown
your senses, and kill one another, and carry on a dreadful
debauchery. Therefore, have I driven the wild animals
out of the country, for they are Mine. If you will do
good and cease from your sins, I will bring them back ; if
not, I will destroy you from off the earth."
When this letter arrived in Herrnhut, Saxony, it made a
deep impression, especially on the single brethren, and
forthwith twelve of them were selected as candidates
for the Indian Mission, and after Spangenberg returned
to Germany in 1 739, one of these. Christian Henry Rauch,
was sent from Marienborn to New York, in order to
ascertain whether and where he might find an open door
to the Indians. Arriving in New York in 1740, he found
but little encouragement, as the idea of Christianizing
the Indians seemed to most people almost an impossi-
bility. Nevertheless he did not suffer his confidence in
God to be shaken in the least, and soon had an oppor-
tunity to become acquainted with some Indians of the
Mohiccon (Mahikander) tribe. These, Tschoop and Sha-
bosh, both very much addicted to drinking, gave with
true Indian solemnity their consent that he might be the
teacher of their people, and promised to take him along,
which, promise, however, was forgotten in a drinking
frolic.
Having waited for them in vain at the appointed place,
near the North River, he at last set out alone for the
nearest Indian town, Chekomeko, about twenty-five miles
east of the Hudson on the borders of Connecticut, near
the Stissik Mountain. The Indians at first listened
]\" PENNSYLVANIA. 59
quietly to his address, hut soon becoming weary they
laughed at him, and when intoxicated, which was no
unfrequent occurrence, even threatened his life. But,
though suffering much in body and in mind, and repulsed
from their huts repeatedly, he persevered, and soon
forgot every grievance, when he discovered that the
Word of the Cross began to be the power of God unto
salvation. Tschoop, the greatest drunkard amongst
them, was the first whose heart was powerfully
awakened through the grace of Jesus Christ, and he
was soon followed by others.
This, of course, created a stir among those of the white
settlers who were ungodly, and Ranch was soon the ob-
ject of hatred and persecution, both by the white and the
brown people. Nevertheless, the work of the Lord
prospered, the number of the converts increased, and in
1742 Bro. Rauch had the happiness of baptizing the three
first Indian converts at a public Synod in ( )ley, Penn-
sylvania.
I I. SIGNS OF LIFE.
Before going into a detailed account of the activity of
the Brethren in this country, more than a century ago,
we must point to some signs of religious life, of which
the evidences have happily been preserved. Deplor-
able as was the religious state1 of the German settlers
in Pennsylvania about 1740. even without distinct
historical records we would hardly venture to assert
that there were none amongst them who felt this
spiritual destitution and desired a better state of
affairs. On the contrary, there were certainly many,
especially among those who had left Germany tor
conscience' sake, who sincerely desired and earnestly
prayed for the dawn of the spiritual day for these
benighted regions : more especially when they perceived,
60 RELIGIOUS AND MORA!, CONDITION.
how vital religion was disappearing; more and more, and
how die different religious associations, instead of bearing
with each other in Christian charity, were finding fault
and quarreling with each other. These secret wishes
and desires found an expression in a printed pamphlet
of twenty-six pages, written in 1736 by fohn Adam
Gruber, and addressed to anxious inquirers in Penn-
sylvania,65 admonishing them to do away with their
mutual animosity, and to pray for a new outpouring of
the Spirit of God. " O ye souls," he exclaimed, " if there
are any among you in whom there is real love to God, to
yourselves, and to your neighbors, would that you might
take to heart the affliction of Joseph (Amos 6 : 6), the
breaches of Zion, the broken walls of Jerusalem, the devas-
tation of the sanctuary ! O that you might be the first to
humble yourselves, to embrace your erring fellow-ser-
vants, to admonish them, and pray with them, that the
hand of the Lord which is not yet shortened, may
strengthen the covenant, that new life, and faith, and
love may be granted unto us, and the work of God, in
His kingdom on earth, be perfected, according to His
gracious promise," (John 16: 23; 17: 21-23). 66
Whilst Gruber, a man of considerable religious ex-
perience, was thus trying by his writings to draw the
attention of his countrymen to their spiritual wants,
another man was endeavoring to promote the cause
of religion by his oral testimony. This was Henry
Antes, of the German Reformed Church, who lived
in Frederick Township, Montgomery County, a man
of great zeal and fervent piety, but of no great oratorical
65 " John Adam Gruber's An- und Aufforderung an die ehmalig erweckte
hier und dar zerstreute Seelen in Pensylvania, in oder ausser Partheyen, zur
neuen Umfassung, gliedlicher Vereinigung, und Gebets-Gemeinschaft, dar-
gelegt aus dringendem Hertzen eines urn Heilungder Briiche Zions angstlich
beki'immerten Gemiiths, im Jahr 1736." — Biidingische Sammlungen, III,
PP- 13-39-
66 Biidingische Sammlungen, (If, p. 37, 38.
STGNS OF LIFE. 6 1
powers. Though well aware that he had no call to
the ministry, nevertheless his love to his destitute
countrymen induced him occasionally to address an
assembly and to preach the Gospel. In Oley especially,
where he preached in 1736 for the first time, there were
many who rejoiced to hear a simple testimony of the truth
as it is in Christ fesus, though as yet the " Newborn"67
with their erroneous doctrine were in the ascendent:)'.
Nevertheless, the simple testimony of a pious me-
chanic aroused many, and prepared the way for the Home
Mission efforts of the Moravian Brethren.
A few years later, in 1 739, George Whitefield, the well
known leader of the Methodists, paid his first visit to
Pennsylvania, where thousands flocked together to hear
his "forest sermons." Seeing the moral destitution of
the Germans and not being able to preach to them in
their language, he wrote to Count Zinzendorf, requesting
him to send German missionaries. Hereupon Andrew
Eschenbach68 was sent, in 1740. Thus Whitefield, who
afterwards became a violent opponent of Zinzendorf, was
instrumental in introducing the Moravian Brethren into
Pennsylvania.
'" See p. 49, ante.
See " B. Ludewig's wahrer Bericht, de dato Germantown 20 Feb., 1742,
>t. v. an seine liebe Teutsche, wegen sein und seiner Briider Zusammen-
hanges mit Pennsylvanien," p. 6.
The following remarks aboul Whitefield are nut without interest :
" Mein Bruder Georg Whitefield ** * * hat mir mit clem Evangelio Halm
gemacht, wie es am Tage ist, und als er mir von Philadelphia schrieb, und
mich um Gehiilffen ersuchte, ist Andreas Eschenbach in seine Erndte ge
sandt worden unter die Teutschen, der nun seiner lieben Gemeine in Oley
/um Aufseher gesetzt ist."
" Ich hatte von meines Bruders Georg Whitefields Arbeit eine bleibende
Frucht gehoffet ; ich horte ihn aber mehr loben als mir lieb war, und was er
lobliches gestiftet hatte, davon sah ich nicht genug. Ich wolte in seine
Arbeit treten bey meinen Teutschen, aber wie konte ich, denn sein eignes
Korn unter den Englischen frassen die Vogel in der l.uft weg; und die
Lehre verriickter Sinnen " von der unbedungenen Yerw erffung der armen
Gemffenen," deren Ausbreitung dieser junge Zeuge so unweislich befordert,
war fast in aller seiner Jiinger Munde."
CHAPTER II.
BEGINNING OF THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS
IN NORTH AMERICA, 1734-1744.
I. MORAVIAN COLONY IN GEORGIA. 1734-
The congregation at Herrnhut, founded June 17,
1722, originally consisted of two elements — the Slavonic
and the German ; the first comprising the descendants of
the Ancient Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia and Moravia,
who for conscience' sake had left the land of popish
intolerance, to seek religious liberty in a Protestant
country ; the latter consisting of members of the Luth-
eran and Reformed Churches who were desirous of
a more special care of souls than was at that time to be
found in their own churches. Since the memorable
Thirteenth of August, 1727, both these elements were
firmly and intimately connected by the Spirit of God, into
one congregation, consisting of members firmly estab-
lished in faith, fervent in love to their Redeemer and
ever ready to serve Him, wherever they might be called
by the leadings of His providence. But though there
was but one mind and one spirit, though Moravian and
non-Moravian — David Nitschmann and Leonhard Dober
— went out together as the first missionaries of the Re-
newed Church of the Brethren, the political relations of
the country and the continued animosity of other Churches
rendered it advisable to make a distinction between the
properly so-called " Moravian " congregation — the rem-
nant of the Church of martyrs — and the "strangers,"
(62)
THE COD >\Y l\ GE( >RGTA. 63
who were willing for awhile to participate in the weal and
woe of the Moravian Church. It seemed not unlikely, that
just as the Saxon Government withdrew its protection
from the Schwenkfelders in 1733, so also the Moravian
and Bohemian emigrants might be ordered to leave the
land. Especially was this possible in view of the fact
that Count Zinzendorf had many enemies at court,
who succeeded at last, in 1736, in having him banished
from Saxony. His exile lasted ten years, and led to
the settlement of Herrnhaag in 1740.
To be prepared for such an emergency, Moravian
colonies were settled in various parts of the world,
according to the leading of Providence ; but the existence
of all these colonies was only ephemeral. The first was a
Moravian colon)- in St. Croix in 1731 ; the second a
similar attempt in Georgia in 1734; the third a "place-
congregation " at Pilgerruh in Denmark, commenced
in 1737, and abandoned in 1741 ; and the fourth a
mission-house at Heerendyk, in Holland, which in later
years led to the establishment of the congregation at
Zeyst.
The Georgia colony became important for the Amer-
ican branch of the Unitas Fratrum. and, therefore,
deserves more than a passing notice.
Georgia, thus named in honor of King George II,
and separated from South Carolina in 1732, was the only
English colony of the present United States, which was
settled with direct support from the English Government.
To prevent the Spaniards in Florida and the French on
the Mississippi from encroaching on the English colonies,
it was deemed important to take speed) possession of
the country between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers,
and in order to induce emigrants to settle there, free
passage and a grant of land were promised. Through
the mediation of Pastor Urlsperger in Augsburg, many of
64 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
the Protestant Salzburgers, who were driven from their
own country by the intolerance of the Romish Arch-
bishop, went there. The first company, consisting- of
ninety-one persons, embarked in November, 1733,
accompanied by their Lutheran pastors, Bolzius and
Gronau, and settled at Eben-Ezer — twenty-four miles
trom Savannah. They were soon followed by others of
their countrymen. By the liberal support of Christian
friends in Germany and England, and a grant by the
British Parliament of ,£26,000, they were enabled not
only to supply their immediate wants, but also to estab-
lish an orphan-house at Eben-Ezer.1
It was the intention of Count Zinzendorf, as mentioned
before," to procure an asylum in Georgia for the Schwenk-
felders, for which purpose he entered into negotiations
with the Trustees of this colony. After they had changed
their mind and set sail for Pennsylvania, Zinzendorf was
not inclined to drop the plan altogether, but wished to
use this opportunity for finding a permanent abode
tor the Moravian exiles, and, if possible, at the same
time, for beginning a Mission among the Cherokee and
Creek Indians.
Having mentioned this idea to the conerecration at
Herrnhut and called for volunteers, twenty brethren
were at once ready to undertake this enterprise ; and
in the same year (November, 1734) nine3 of them pro-
ceeded to England by way of Holland. Spangenberg
had meanwhile preceded them to London, in order to
make the necessary arrangements with the Trustees of
1 Hazelius' History of the Lutheran Church, pp. 27-34.
- See p. 52.
3 Their names were : Anton Seiffert, John Toltschig, Gottfried Haberecht,
Gotthard Demuth, Peter Rose, Michael Haberland, Frederick Seidel, Georg
Haberland, and George Waschke ; most of them natives of Bohemia or
Moravia.
THE COLONY IN GEORGIA. 65
the Georgia colony, and to obtain the promised grant of
land and free passage for the colonists. But he met with
unexpected difficulties. Applying first to the Rev. Mr.
Ziegenhagen, the German court-preacher in London, who
had come there from Halle, he found that his German
friends, especially Count Stolberg Wernigerode (a hitter
enemy of Count Zinzendori ) had prejudiced him against
this enterprise of the Moravian Brethren. The divines
at Halle as well as some of the Lutheran ministers
who belonged to the so-called "orthodox party," had
taken a lively interest in the transmigration of the
Salzburgers to Georgia, but tried their host to prevent
the Moravians from going there. Consequently Span-
genberg found no favorable reception from the ma-
jority of the Georgia Trustees. He, therefore, applied
directly to General Oglethorpe, the Governor of Georgia,
with whom he conversed in Latin, as he at that time-
was not acquainted with the English language, at
hast not sufficiently to converse in it, and the Governor
did not understand German. After repeated interviews
with the Governor, Spangenberg obtained the promised
grant of land (viz., 500 acres for Count Zinzendorf and
50 acres for himself) and the desired immunities, liberty
oi worship and exemption from bearing arms, for his
brethren. When they arrived in London, in January,
1 735 the ( Governor had anticipated their needs, by kindly
providing a dwelling for them until they could set sail
on February 6, 1 735.
Spangenberg accompanied the Brethren to Georgia,
superintending at the same time, at the request oi the
Trustees, a company of Swiss emigrants who sailed in
the same vessel for Carolina.
After a tract of 50 acres near the Savannah River had
been conveyed to Spangenberg in the usual manner, the
Brethren forthwith set about building a house of split
66 the brethren's congregations.
logs, and clearing land, though beset by many difficulties,
and at times sorely taxed by sickness, as is more or less
the case in all new settlements of this kind. Never-
theless, they were able to provide for their most pressing
wants (Bro. Spangenberg for a long time serving as
cook for the company), and also to build another house
in the town of Savannah for the reception of the second
company of colonists4 who arrived in February, 1736,
led by Bishop David Nitschmann.
In the same vessel with the Moravian brethren, the
Governor of the colony, General Oglethorpe, also
traveled, and with him John and Charles Wesley.
John Wesley was to be minister of the Episcopal
Church in Savannah. With him especially, Bishop
Nitschmann became intimately acquainted, the one
learning to speak German and the other English.
This was the first connection of the Brethren with
the leaders of the Methodists ; but it led to im-
portant results, preparing for the Brethren an
entrance into a great field of usefulness in En gland,
and preparing Wesley to accept from the lips of
Peter Bohler the doctrine of the free grace of
God in Jesus Christ, and the all-sufficient merit of the
Saviour, which led to his own conversion and made
him a blessing to thousands of his countrymen.
The impression made on Wesley by this intercourse
with David Nitschmann, the first Bishop of the Renewed
Church of the Brethren, was strengthened by his con-
versations with Spangenberg who, uniting fervent piety
4 The second company consisted of: John Bohner, Matthias Seybold,
John Martin Mack, Augustine and George Neisser, David Jag, David and
John Tanneberger, David Zeisberger and Anna, his wife, and some other
sisters.
They were, after some time, joined by two Moravian lads — David Zeis-
berger and Shober — who had left Heerendyk secretly, to join their friends in
< Georgia.
THE COLONY IN GEORGIA. 67
with great theological knowledge, soon gained the con-
fidence and esteem of the English divine.
Aft#r the departure of Spangenberg to Pennsylvania,
Bishop Nitschmann and Anthony Seiffert superintended
the affairs of the colon)', which were for a while very
prosperous. God blessed their industry in such a
manner, that, in a short time they not only procured a
sufficient maintenance for themselves, hut even repaid
the money advanced to them in London, and were also
enabled to assist their neighbors, especially the newly
arrived Salzburgers. At the same time the main object
of their mission, preaching the Gospel to the Indians,
was not lost sight of, and for this purpose a school-house
was established for Indian children, on an island in the
Savannah River, called Irene, about five miles from town.
Bro. Peter Rose and his wife, A. Seiffert, John Bonner,
and other brethren lived there for a while among- the
Indians, endeavoring to learn their language. Most of
these Indians, who had some knowledge of English,
heard the Brethren gladly, and frequently brought their
chief or king, Tomo Tschatschi, to hear " the great
word," as they expressed it.
The prosperity of this small Moravian colony, how-
ever, received a sudden check in 1737 ; for when the
neighboring Spaniards endeavored to expel the English
from Georgia, the latter called upon the Brethren to
join in taking up arms against them. This they re-
fused, having declared when in London, "that they
neither could nor would bear arms on any consideration."
Some were in favor of leaving Georgia immediately, but
following the advice of Bro. Toltschig they awaited the
arrival of Spangenberg from Pennsylvania. Lie advised
them to refer the whole matter to the Trustees of the
Loskiel, Pari II, \>. j.
68 the brethren's congregations.
colony in England. For this purpose they sent John
Toltschig to Europe, in company with the Rev. Benjamin
Ingham, an English clergyman, who had materially
assisted the Brethren in various ways. The decision by
the Trustees, given August 3, 1737, was to the effect
that the Brethren should be bound to furnish two men 6
for military service, but should not be obliged themselves
to bear arms.
Thou of h this decision was as favorable as could be
expected, still the jealousy of their neighbors was
thereby aroused, internal harmony became disturbed
and the death-blow was given to the colony. Already
in 1738 twelve of the colonists removed to Pennsylvania
and settled near Germantown. Among them were
David Tanneberger, Gotthard Demuth, and Augustine
Neisser.
Leaving the Moravian colony in Georgia for a while
we now follow Spangenberg on his first visit to Pennsyl-
vania.
2. SPANGENBERG IN PENNSYLVANIA, I 736.
Pour times, for longer or shorter periods, Spangen-
berg resided in Pennsylvania, and he may justly be
called the founder of the American branch of the Unitas
Fratrum, which owes as much to him as the German
branch owes to Count Zinzendorf.
Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg, among the Brethren
generally called "Brother Joseph," was born July 15,
1 704. He was the son of a Lutheran minister in Kletten-
berg, in Northern Germany. Having received a classical
education he went to the University of Jena in 1722, to
study theology under the especial superintendence of Dr.
6 That is, one man for Spangenberg's lot and one for Nitschmann's land.
— Biidingische Sammlungen, III, pp. 479, 480.
SPANGENBERG. 6g
Francis Buddeus, from whom he adopted two important
maxims: i. "That children of God may be found in all
denominations ; and 2. That the true Christian Church
consists of those who live in intimate communion with
the Saviour." 7
Havino- obtained the academical degree of Artium
Magister, he held public lectures in Jena, from 1726
to 1 732, which soon became very popular. Hut still more
useful was his pastoral activity among the awakened stu-
dents. From the year 1 72S on many of them entered
into spiritual communion with the Church at Herrnhut,
and afterwards became faithful ministers of the Unitas
Fratrum. (as Peter Bohler, P. E. Leyritz, G. H. Molther,
J. C. F. Cammerhof [. M. Graff, F. C. Lembke, G. A.
( Hdendorp, etc.).
In 1732 he accepted an appointment to Halle as Pro-
fessor of the University, and Dr. Franke's assistant in
: These maxims are beautifully expressed in a hymn ((imposed by
Spangenberg, during the Synod at Lancaster in 1745 :
Die Kirche Christi, die Er geweiht
Zu Seinem Hause, ist weit und breit
In der Welt zerstreuet — in Nord und Siiden,
In Ost und West, und doch so hienieden
Als droben Eins.
Die Glieder sind sich meistens unbekannt,
Und doch einander gar nah' verwandt ;
Einer ist ihr Heiland, ihr Vater Einer,
Ein deist regiert sie; und ihrer keiner
Lebt mehr sich selbst.
The Church of Christ, that He hath hallowed here
To be His house, is scattered far and near,
In North, and South, and East, and West abroad;
And yet in earth and heaven, through Christ, her Lord,
The Church is one.
One member knoweth not another here,
And yet their fellowship is true and near;
( >ne is their Saviour, and their Father one ;
One Spirit rules them, and anion- them none
I.i\ e> to himself.
JO THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
the Orphan-house, where, however, he never felt quite
at home. His more liberal way of thinking, his willing-
ness to serve everybody with the Gospel, which brought
him into intercourse with many Separatists, and above
all his continued connection with Zinzendorf and the
Brethren in Herrnhut, created many enemies, who at last
succeeded in having him expelled from the University.
He now went to Herrnhut, where he arrived May 9,
1733, and soon became Zinzendorf's most intimate
friend and valuable assistant. Next to Zinzendorf he
was the most influential man in the Renewed Church of
the Brethren, which he served both in Europe and
America for nearly forty years, with great ability and
faithfulness, until his death at Berthelsdorf on Sep-
tember 18, 1792.
Spangenberg had spent about a year in the wilderness
of Georgia, faithfully assisting by word and work in es-
tablishing a Moravian colony. After this object had been
accomplished and Bishop Nitschmann had taken charge
of the infant settlement, he was instructed to proceed
to Pennsylvania and visit the Schwenkfelders. With
letters of recommendation from General Oglethorpe
to Thomas Penn, Spangenberg left Georgia on March
15, 1736, after having been ordained a presbyter of the
Moravian Church by Bishop David Nitschmann. In
April he arrived in Skippack, Pennsylvania, where his old
friend, Christopher Wiegner, received him very cordially.
Here he remained for a considerable time, and from
occasional remarks in his letters to the Brethren in
Germany, as well as from other sources, it is evident that
the learned Professor of Theology took many practical
lessons in ploughing, threshing and other agricultu-
ral labors, by which he became well qualified for future
practical usefulness in the "economies" of Bethlehem
and Nazareth.
SPANGENBERG. ;r
"As regards my outward occupation," he wrote to
Isaac Lelong in fune, [738, "it is at present farm-work ;
but this is as much blessed to my soul as formerly my
studying and writing-. For nothing, even in outward
affairs, is in itself good or had ; hut whatever is done
with the blessing of God, thereby becomes good, whilst
anything, performed without God's blessing, becomes
bad."
But, though at times busily occupied on Wiegner's
farm, Spangenberg did not neglect his mission to preach
the Gospel whenever an opportunity offered. In 1737
he went to Oley, accompanied by Chr. Wiegner, to visit
those German Lutherans and Reformed (mostly from
the Palatinate and Wirtemberg), among whom Henry
Antes had been laboring with great success, until coun-
teracted by the influence of "the Newborn."
Here, as we read in the old Church-records of Oley,
Spangenberg several times proclaimed the testimony of
the meritorious death ot the Lamb, with such demonstra-
tion of the Spirit and of power, that a lasting impression
was made and a great victory obtained over the power of
darkness. He kept his first meeting- in the house of
Jonathan Herpdes; the second, in that of Abraham Rar-
tholet. At the latter place he attacked the spirit of the
" Newborn " in an address on 1 John 1 : 7-9, so vigor-
ously that from that time they could never regain their
influence.
He also visited repeatedly inTulpehocken ; for instance,
in 1738, shortly before the death of Pastor Leutbecker,
whose funeral sermon he preached. One of his earliest
acquaintances there was George Lcesch (who died at
Nazareth in 1790), in whose house he held many an
edifying and instructive meeting. Among the Men
nonites and Tunkers, also, he had many friends and ac
quaintances; and though opponents were not wanting,
72 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS
his humble, loving manner likewise made an impression
on them. As the sequel will show, the seed sown by
him in humble reliance on the blessing" of the Saviour
was not altogether lost.
When Peter Bohler came to Pennsylvania in 1740, he
found that Spangenberg was well known everywhere,
and often heard it said, " that he had come to Pennsyl-
vania a very wise man ; but had returned from this
high-school much wiser."
And in truth he returned wiser than he had come ;
richer in practical knowledge of the country and the
manners and customs of the settlers ; richer in knowl-
edge of the human mind and in pastoral experience.
In a letter to Bishop Nitschmann in 1738, he said:
" If Brethren are to come to Pennsylvania, the most
firmly rooted, staid, practical and every way useful mer
ought to be selected ; for they come into a country where
there are people who have considerable spiritual exper-
ience and can discern the spirits."
To this class, however, most of the first-comers from
Georgia did not belong. They left the colony without
direct permission of the Church at home and settled in
or near Germantown, preferring their own secular ad-
vantage to the welfare of the congregation which had
sent them, and were, therefore, a poor recommendation
for the Moravian Brethren who came to Pennsylvania a
few years later.
3. THE WHITEFIELD HOUSE AT NAZARETH. 1 74O.
Whilst Spangenberg was busily engaged in Pennsyl-
vania in proclaiming the love of the Saviour and promot-
ing His cause among sectarians and separatists of every
kind, and thus prepared the field for future cultivation
by the Brethren, another brother was no less actively
THE WIITTEFIELD HOUSE. J 1,
employed in Georgia in endeavoring to promote the
spiritual and temporal interests of the Moravian colony,
which already showed symptoms of decay.
This was Peter Bohler, a man of great gifts and fer-
vent piety, and, next to Spangenberg, the most important
man in the early history of the American Moravian
Church. Like Spangenberg he also was four times in
Pennsylvania, and his services, especially in the earliest
times of the Moravian settlements, were of the most
valuable and self-denying kind.
Peter Bohler was born December 31, 17 12, in Frank-
furt-on-the-Main. Showing, even in early years, great
ability, he was destined for the study of theology, and
accordingly went to the University of Jena in April,
1 73 1. At that time about thirty of his town-people
were students at this University, mostly irreligious and
profligate young men ; and as it was customary that
those from the same city generally kept together,
young Peter Bohler, only eighteen years of age, was
in great danger of being led astray if the Lord had
not graciously protected him. About a wreek before
his arrival one of his acquaintances from Frankfurt had
come to Jena. After seeing the wild life and for a few
days participating in the drinking frolics of his country-
men, which often led to fighting, he had become so dis-
gusted that he sought refuge among the more piously
inclined students, who were in connection with the
Church at Herrnhut. By him Peter Bohler was imme-
diately led to the house of Dr. YValch, where the
awakened students used to assemble, and, though his
other countrymen tried their best to entice him away
from the Pietists, he was graciously preserved by the
hand of the Lord. While attending oik; of their religious
meetings he heard a fervent address by Spangenberg on
a tract of Spener, of which, however, he himself relates :
5
74 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
" I heard and remembered only that one sentence: 'The
Saviour has the power to liberate from sin.' This went
to my heart, and the Saviour soon proved to me prac-
tically that He is able to free us from the power and
dominion of sin."
Having thus dedicated himself to the Lord he soon
began to preach the Gospel in different village-
churches, and was, after 1734, the acknowledged leader
of the awakened students who maintained connection
with Zinzendorf and the Brethren. Urged by the
former, he applied for and obtained in 1735, when only
twenty two years old, the academical degree of Magis-
ter Lessens, and commenced to lecture on the Hebrew
language.
In 1737, when Count Christian Renatus de Zinzendorf,
with some other young noblemen, accompanied by Bro.
John Nitschmann, went to Jena, Peter Bohler was re-
quested to direct their studies and select their teachers,
and did so to the satisfaction of Count Zinzendorf.
In October, 1737, he received and accepted an appoint-
ment from the Church at Herrnhut to go to Georgia in
company with George Schulius, and was commissioned
to pay a visit to the students at Oxford, England, and
speak with them about the Saviour.
This visit led to important results, by preparing the
entrance of the Moravian Brethren into Great Britain,
and afterwards leading to the establishment of a number
of Moravian congregations in England and Ireland. In
London Peter Bohler became acquainted with John
Wesley, who had just returned from Georgia, much dis-
turbed in mind and convinced of the necessity of a
change of heart.
"These convictions" — we quote from the " Wesleyan
Centenary" — "painful and humiliating as they were
to a man who had done and suffered so much in what
PETER BOHLER. 75
he conceived to be the cause of true religion, were
strengthened and confirmed by his intercourse with
Peter Bohler, a learned minister of the Moravian Church,
who arrived in England at this time. JHe was intro-
duced to this distinguished German at the house of a
Dutch merchant in London, February 7, 1738, and
omitted no opportunity of conversing with him, till the
beginning of May, when this pious stranger embarked
for Carolina. Mr. Wesley appears to have derived
more evangelical light from Peter Bohler than from
any other man with whom he had been acquainted up
to this period."7
The following notices in John Wesley's journal show
the deep impression which Bohler' s conversation made
upon his mind :
" Friday, ij. — I set out for Oxford with Peter Bohler.
''Saturday, 18. — We went to Staunton-Harcourt to
visit Mr. Gambold.8 At this time I conversed with Peter
Bohler, but I understood him not, and least of all when
he said : ' My brother, my brother, that philosophy of
yours must be purged away.'
"Saturday, MarcJi 4. — I found my brother at Oxford,
recovering from pleurisy, and with him Peter Bohler, by
whom (in the hand of God) I was on Sunday, the 5th.
clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of faith whereby
alone we are saved. Immediately it struck my mind :
'Leave off preaching. How can you preach to others,
who have not faith yourself?' I asked Bohler whether
he thought I should or not? He answered: 'By no
means.' I asked, 'But what can I preach?' He said.
' Preach faith till you have it ; and then because you have
it, you will preach faith.'
Wesleyan Centenary, p. 55.
8 At that time minister of the Established Church, afterwards the Inst
Moravian Bishop in England.
j6 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
" Thursday, 22. — I met Bohler again, who now amazed
me more and more by the account he gave of the
fruits of living faith ; the holiness and happiness which
he affirmed to attend it. The next morning I began
the Greek Testament again, resolving to abide by
the law and the testimony ; and being confident that
God would hereby show me whether this doctrine was
of God.
" Wednesday, May j. — My brother had a long and
particular conversation with Peter Bohler. And now it
pleased God to open his eyes, so that he also saw clearly
what was the nature of that one true living faith, whereby
alone through grace we are saved.
o o
" Thursday, May 4? — Peter Bohler left London in
order to embark for Carolina. O what a woik hath God
begun since his coming to England ! Such an one as
shall never come to an end till heaven and earth pass
away.
On May 13, 1738, Peter Bohler and George Schulius
embarked at Portsmouth in one of General Ogle-
thorpe's vessels. Both were destined for South
Carolina as missionaries among the negroes, and Peter
Bohler was to be the regular pastor of the Moravian
colony in Georgia, and had for this purpose been
ordained by Bishop Nitschmann and Zinzendorf, at the
Ronneburg, on December 15, 1737.
Their journey lasted very long ; for it was September
29 when they landed in St. Simons, Georgia, while they
did not reach the settlement of the Brethren before
October 15. In February, 1739, both removed to Purys-
burg in South Carolina, twenty miles' from Savannah,
" Peter Bohler's manuscript memoir states that he left London Thursday,
May 15. Evidently the same day is meant, according to old and new
style, which made a difference of eleven days.
GEORGIA ABANDONED. jy
a small town which in 1733 had been laid out by
John Peter Pury, from Switzerland, and was inhabited
mostly by Germans. Here Peter Bohler preached
every Sunday for the Germans, while during- the week
both endeavored to instruct the negroes, of whom, how-
oxer, there were not many in that neighborhood. In
the Summer both became sick with fever and Schulius
died August 4. Towards Fall Peter Bohler left Purys-
burg and wont to his brethren at Savannah, where his
faithful instruction had a salutary effect on the internal
well-being of this small colony. However, as the main
object of the mission, to preach the Gospel to the
Indians, could not be gained, because the colonial govern-
ment prohibited their going into the interior, and as,
after the breaking out of the war with the Spaniards,
the Brethren were again urged to take up arms, they
resolved to leave their houses and well-cultivated
fields and to remove to Pennsylvania. Their number
was already greatly reduced. Besides the twelve who
had left in 1738, Peter Rose and his wife had gone
to Pennsylvania ; Haberland had taken his sister, John
Toltschig's wife, to Europe ; Shober had died, and
Francis Regnier had deserted ; so that there remained
only six brethren, viz., Peter Bohler, Anthony Seif
fert, |ohn Bohner, John Martin Mack, George Zeis
berger, and his son David, and George Zeisberger's
wife. .
It was deemed best to send John Bohner in ad-
vance to find a place where they might settle ; but
whilst he was gone on an unsuccessful mission, as was
afterwards ascertained, the Lord had already prepared
another way. On New Year Pay, 1740, Mr. White-field
arrived in Georgia the second time, and immediately
went to see Bro. Bohler. with whom he had not before
been personally acquainted, though he had corresponded
78 the brethren's congregations.
with him. This led to a more intimate acquaintance both
with Mr. Whitefield and with Mr. William Seward, his
traveling- companion, which proved beneficial for the
settlement of the Brethren in Pennsylvania.
On April 13 the Moravian Brethren left Savannah,
where they had gained many friends, of whom some, as
John Brownfield, James Burnside, and H. T. Beck, after-
wards followed them to Bethlehem, as also did Abraham
Bl'ihninger, from Purysburg.
They traveled in Mr. Whitefield' s company10 to Phila-
delphia, where they arrived on April 25. They were
greatly disappointed at not finding either Spangen-
berg, who had left for Europe, or Bishop Nitschmann,
whose arrival was soon expected. They went to
Wiegner's, next to Henry Antes, and then back
again to Germantown. Those of the Georgia colonists
who had settled in this village in 1738, tried to per-
suade them to do the same ; but Peter Bohler and
Anthony Seiffert, though for the moment at a loss what
to do, preferred to await Bishop Nitschmann's arrival.
Meanwhile Mr. Whitefield had bought 5,000 acres
of land in the Forks of the Delaware (now Northamp-
ton County) from Mr. Wm. Allen for ,£2,200, (Mr.
Seward advancing the money), for the purpose of
erecting there a school for negroes. On May 5 he came
to Christopher Wiegner's plantation in Skippack, to
see Peter Bohler concerning the intended building, and
as some of the Brethren were carpenters, he offered to
pay them for doing all the carpenter work and requested
Peter Bohler to take general superintendence of the
building.
Many people having assembled to see and to hear the
famous Mr. Whitefield, he preached to them in English,
10 On board of Whiteheld's sloop.
THE WHITEFIELD HOUSE. 79
and Peter Bohler closed with a German address." The
next day Peter Bohler and Anthony Seiffert, accom-
panied by Henry Antes, set out to look for this tract
in the northern forest-wilds of Pennsylvania ; and on
Saturday, May 7, found a pretty considerable Indian
village, on the site of what was later known as " Old
Nazareth."
They returned to Philadelphia and reported to Mr.
Whitefield, who closed his contract with Mr. Allen, and
called the tract Nazareth, and once more renewed his offer
to the Brethren. After serious consideration they con-
sulted the will of the Lord by Lot. The answer being-
affirmative, they thereupon accepted Mr. Whitefield's
proposal, glad to have found, at least, a temporary occu-
pation till Bishop Nitschmann should arrive.
After a three days' march from Germantown the com-
pany of seven brethren, two sisters and two boys I2 might
have been found (May 30) seated under a large forest
tree, singing song-s of praise and prayer to their Lord
and Saviour.
Two days later the commissioners sent by Whitefield
arrived and marked off the spot where the house was to
be built. The entire management of the erection of the
building was left to Peter Bohler and his brethren. The
common tradition that Whitefield had commenced this
" W. Seward wrote in his journal, April 24, old style : " It was surprising
to see such a multitude of people gathered together in such a wilderness
country, thirty miles distant from Philadelphia. Our brother was exceedingly
carried out in his sermon, to press poor sinners to come to Christ by faith,
and claim all their privileges, viz., not only righteousness and peace, but joy
in the Holy Ghost: and after he had done, our dear friend, Peter Bohler,
preached in Dutch [German] to those who could not understand our brother
in English." — Gillie's Memoir of Whitefield, p. 36.
1 Peter Bohler, Anthony Seiffert, John Martin Mack, John Bohner, George
Zeisberger, and his wife Rosina, David Zeisberger, Matthias Seybold, Hannah
Hummel, who had accompanied them from Purysburg, and two boys, Ben-
jamin Summers and James.
8o THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
building and that it was afterwards finished by the
Brethren, is, therefore, erroneous. Whitefield himself
was never on the spot as long- as he was the owner
of the land, and his commissioners only marked the
size of the house, and may possibly have brought a
plan for the external and internal arrangement of the
house, but the execution of the work was left to the
Moravian Brethren.
For about four weeks they could not do much on
account of the almost continual rains, and so they built
the small log house which was afterwards enlarged
and is inhabited to this day. As soon as the weather
permitted they engaged as many people as they could
to push on the work, but they were exposed to many
disappointments and delays. Three hundred pounds
sterling were expended before the cellar-walls were
finished in September ; to run up a massive two-story
building and roof it before Winter would have been
an impossibility. Therefore it was deemed the best
policy to provide for their own immediate wants and
to erect a two-story log building. This was finished in
November, and is also inhabited to this day.
Though exposed to want and privation, nevertheless
these pious workmen enjoyed happy times in com-
munion with their Saviour, and often in later years
remembered how brotherly union and willingness to
serve each other had sweetened all labor. Peter Bohler
not only kept daily meetings for his brethren, but
faithfully assisted them in their work and generally
walked every week some eight or ten miles to the
nearest mill to fetch needed provisions.
In October the Brethren were unexpectedly cheered
by the arrival of Andrew Eschenbach from Europe, who
told them that more brethren and sisters were comine
in a short time.
THE CHURCH AT OLEV. 8 1
THE CHURCH AT OLEY
Andrew Eschenbach had been sent, in consequence
of Whitefield's request to Count Zinzendorf, to labor
amono- the destitute Germans in Pennsylvania, for which
work he seemed peculiarly qualified. 1 le was a shoe-
maker by trade and had joined the Brethren only a
few years before, but soon distinguished himself by his
eloquent address, and his humble and exemplary
walk and conversation. Whenever not employed in
the service of the Church, he was wont to take his
seat again on the shoemaker's bench, never arrogating
any importance to himself as one of the Elders of the
congregation.
Being introduced in Oley by Henry Antes, he
remained there for a time, lodging at first at Jean
Bertholet's and afterwards in John Leinbach's family,
and proclaiming the Word of God in houses and in
barns, wherever opportunity offered, with great power
and demonstration of the Spirit. Soon the whole town-
ship was excited ; the people came in crowds to hear the
Word, and though after a while the first excitement
subsided, still there were many on whose hearts deeper
impressions were made, and who gladly availed them-
selves by private conversation with Bro. Eschenbach
of the opportunity to be strengthened and confirmed in
spiritual knowledge and experience.
In 1 74 1 there were already fifty-one awakened souls
in this neighborhood, of whom many in later years
became members of the Brethren's Church, e.g., several
Leinbachs, originally German Reformed from Wetter-
avia, the Burstlers, who were Lutherans from the Palati-
nate, John de Turk, a Mennonite, and others.
For the present, however, only a small beginning was
made.
82 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS
5. SETTLEMENT OF BETHLEHEM, I 74I .
The brethren and sisters whose coming- was an-
nounced by Andrew Eschenbach, arrived at the two-
story log-house of Nazareth Manor in December, 1740.
It was only a small company, consisting of Bishop David
Nitschmann, old Father David Nitschmann and his
daughter Anna, Sister Molther and Brother Frohlich.
Bishop David Nitschmann, born at Zauchtenthal,
Moravia, in 1696, was one of those three David Nitsch-
manns who, in company with Melchior Zeisberger and
John Toltschig, arrived in Herrnhut May 12, 1724, when
the corner-stone of the first meeting-house was being laid.
They were all young men of good families, with the best
prospects before them in their own country, but rather
than give up their religious meetings and submit to the
errors of popery, they left house and home, wealth and
fame, to seek among strangers a spot where they could
serve the Lord according to the dictates of their con-
science. Leaving their native village by night they
expressed their feelings in the Moravian Emigrant's
song :
" Blessed be the day when I must roam,
Far from my country, friends, and home,
An exile, poor and mean ;
My fathers' God will be my guide, —
Will angel guards for me provide, —
My soul from dangers screen.
Himself will lead me to a spot,
Where, all my cares and griefs forgot,
I shall enjoy sweet rest.
As pants the hart for water-brooks, —
My thirsting soul, with longing looks
To God, my refuge blest.
By the providence of God they were led to Herrnhut
just when Frederick de Watteville was in the act of
praying at the solemn consecration of the corner-stone
BETHLEHEM. 8$
of that house which was to contain the first Moravian
chapel. Such a prayer they had never heard before,
and they at once decided to cast their lot with these
people. David Nitschmann and Melchior Zeisberger
learned the carpenter's trade with Christian David, and
were much happier here, though their fare was very
poor and scant, than they had been at home in the
plentiful enjoyment of the good things of this life.
On May 20, 1727, David Nitschmann was chosen one
of the twelve brethren who constituted the first Elders'
Conference of the Unity in the Renewed Church. In
1728 he was one of the three brethren who were sent to
England to make the Moravian Church known there.
On-August 21, 1732, he went out with Leonhard Dober
to St. Thomas, to preach the Gospel to the negro slaves,
thus beginning the first missionary work of the
Church of the United Brethren among the heathen.
After spending a year among the negroes, he was
recalled to Herrnhut and on March 13, 1735, he was
consecrated to the episcopal office as the first Bishop of
the Renewed Church. This solemn transaction took
place in Berlin in the presence of several Bohemian and
Moravian brethren, when Bishop Daniel Ernst Jablonsky,
court-preacher in Berlin and senior Bishop of the Ancient
( Tnitas FratniDL with the concurrence of Bishop Chris-
tian Sitkovius of Lissa, Poland, thus transferred the epis-
copacy again from the Polish to the Moravian branch of
the Unity. Both Bishops furnished him with the usual
certificate, giving him full authority "to hold visitations,
ordain presbyters and deacons, and perform all the
functions which belong to a bishop in the Church of
Christ."
Zinzendorf characterizes David Nitschmann in these
words: " His genuine conversion, his humble walk and
conversation, his straightforward manner, his authority
84 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS
before the world ; his indefatigable zeal to spread the
Gospel, his skill in planning and building-up settlements,
his first attempt among the heathen, since so abundantly
blessed by God — all this taken together pointed him out
as the only candidate, when it was time to renew the
Episcopacy of the Moravian Church. He spent most
of his time in visiting the Moravian colonies in foreign
countries."
In 1736 he accompanied the second company of col-
onists to Georgia, assisted in 1738 in the establishment
of Herrnhaag in Western Germany; and now in 1740
he arrived in Pennsylvania to superintend a settlement
there.
He was accompanied by his aged uncle, David
Nitschmann, generally called "old Father Nitschmann,"
who, though already sixty-four years old, was still very
vigorous, both in body and in mind. This venerable
patriarch of the Brethren, a genuine descendant of the
Church of Martyrs, was born in Zauchtenthal in 1676.
In early life he obtained a knowledge of evangelical
truth by studying the writings of the forefathers, which
were carefully hidden in secret places, and, later in life,
in 1723, in consequence of the preaching of Christian
David, he was led to open his house at Kunewalde for
the preaching of the Gospel. This, of course, exposed
him to persecution and he was repeatedly thrown into
prison, as "an arch-heretic," loaded with irons, and was
even put to the torture.
Having resolved to make his escape, Nitschmann made
known his intention to one of his fellow prisoners, David
Schneider, who decided to accompany him. About
eleven o'clock at night, as he was trying to unloose his
feet, to his astonishment he found that the stocks were
unlocked ; and having assisted Schneider to take off his
irons, they proceeded with cautious steps across the court
BETHLEHEM. 85
of the prison, and finding the doors open, hastened to
Nitschmann's wife, to give her the necessary directions,
and commenced their arduous journey out of the coun-
try, fanuary 2.5, [725. They escaped into Silesia, where
Nitschmann was joined by his wife and children (Melchior
and [ohn, Rosina and Anna) and on February 25 they
arrived at Herrnhut.
In [733 he went with the? first company of colonists to
St. Croix, W. I., where his wife died in 1735. Having
spent some time at I lerrnhut, lie assisted in building the
Moravian settlement at Pilgerruh in Denmark, and when
this plan failed, he; was requested to take an active part
in the settlement of a third Moravian colony, which was
more successful than the two former attempts. Having
been duly naturalized in 1750, he became the nominal
proprietor of all the lands belonging to the Brethren in
America. He died at Bethlehem, in 1758, aged eighty-
two years.
Old Father Nitschmann was accompanied to the New
World by his youngest daughter, Anna Charity, (born
November 24, 1715,) who exercised great influence in
the earlier times of the Renewed Church. When but in
her fifteenth year, on March 15, 1730, she was nominated
by the sisters of Herrnhut to the office of Eldress,
according- to the custom of the Ancient Church, and the
remarkable choice of so young a person to such an
office was confirmed by the Lord through the Lot. She
gained her livelihood by spinning wool. Whole nights
were frequently spent by her in prayer and communion
with her Saviour. While she thus led a peaceful and
happy life, she was of signal service in building up her
sisters in the faith and love of God. When the number
of chief elders decreased and their authority was virtu-
ally exercised by a single individual, she was regarded by
the Church as holding1 a similar office among the sisters.
86 the brethren's congregations
On May 4, 1730, she entered into a special covenant
with seventeen of her sisters, to devote themselves
wholly to the Lord. This covenant laid the foundation
for the celebration of the fourth of May as a memorial
day, for a solemn renewal of the pledge in the case of
all those unmarried women who feel themselves drawn,
by the grace of God, into the same spirit which was mani-
fested by Anna Nitschmann and her faithful companions.
No one, Zinzendorf not excepted, has been so highly
esteemed, nay almost venerated among the Brethren, as
this poor Moravian exile girl, Anna Nitschmann. From
affection she was generally called " Mother Anna," or
"The Mother."
For a time she laid aside her office as Eldress of the
Single Sisters, in order to labor as a free handmaid of
the Lord among her own sex in Pennsylvania. She was
accompanied to America by Sister Hannah Molther,
whose husband, the Rev. Philip H. Molther, was mean-
while active in England.
The fifth of this company was Christian Frohlich, from
Holstein, a baker by trade, and destined for missionary
service among the Indians.
The Brethren at Nazareth were highly rejoiced at the
opportune arrival of Bishop Nitschmann and his com-
pany ; for they were just then quite at a loss in refer-
ence to the future, as they had received a peremptory
order from Mr. Whitefield, to leave his lands forthwith.
The following was the reason for this strange proceeding :
When the Brethren left Georgia, they wished, if
possible, to preserve the influence which they had gained
among the heathen, and accordingly accepted an offer
made to them by Mr. Whitefield to assist him in his
establishment in Georgia, and Bro. John Hagen was sent
there in 1740. Living in Whitefield's house and being
in daily intercourse with his people, he often heard the
BETHLEHEM. 87
opinion expressed, that Christ had not died for all men,
but only for those predestinated to salvation. Though
avoiding- disputes as much as possible, still he could re-
frain from maintaining his views, for he disapproved of
the doctrine of election and reprobation as un-Scriptural.
In consequence of this, White-field ordered his people
to break off all intercourse with Bro. Hagen, while he
took a journey to New England.
In Philadelphia he met Peter Bohler and disputed with
him also on this doctrinal point, and as he could not con-
vince him, resorted to a very practical argument and
ordered the Brethren to leave his land. In justice to Mr.
Whitefield, however, we must add that this doctrinal
difference was probably not the only cause for such a
summary proceeding; for Whitefield had become preju-
diced against the Germans by the slanderous insinuations
of some of their Irish neighbors, who looked with envy
and jealousy on the German settlement. It was only
the commericement of many subsequent similar perse-
cutions, which in reality were caused not so much by
different religious convictions as by the innate antag-
onistic feeling- between the different races.
It was out of the question to remove "forthwith," as
Winter was at hand ; but still they had to look for
another place of refuge. Bishop Nitschmann's arrival
was, therefore, a very joyful event ; for he had been
commissioned to buy land in Pennsylvania for a settle-
ment of the Brethren. Of various offers that of Justice
Irish, agent of William Allen, of Philadelphia, seemed
the most acceptable. Irish had seen Peter Bohler occa-
sionally at the mill, and though not himself a professor
of religion, yet he esteemed the Brethren as moral and
industrious men, ami highly disapproved of Mr. White-
field's arbitrary conduct. He, therefore, offered them
five hundred acres of woodland at the confluence of the
8& THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS
Manakasy Creek and Lehigh River (or West Branch
of the Delaware).
Having been recalled to Europe, Peter Bohler, left the
care and superintendence of the intended colony to
Bishop Nitschmann, and set sail for England in January,
1 741, from New York. In that city he became ac-
quainted with the Noble and Horsfield families, which
was the first step towards the formation of a Moravian
congregation in New York City.
The Brethren went to work directly, cutting logs and
clearing the ground, and in March, 1 741 — the weather
being still very severe and the snow very deep — the first
house was blocked up, old Father Nitschmann surpass
ing all in industry and perseverance. In April, Bishop
Nitschmann closed the contract with Mr. Allen, and on
June 26, after all the brethren and sisters had removed
from Nazareth into the new house near the Lehigh,13 they
immediately began preparations for the erection of a
two-story " clergy-house," in which work they were
faithfully assisted by Henry Antes.
While thus engaged they received letters from Europe
announcing- that the Nazareth tract had been bought for
the Church. Mr. Seward having died suddenly, Mr.
Whitefield was called upon to refund the advanced
money, for which purpose he offered to sell a part of the
land, retaining only five hundred acres for himself. Peter
Bohler heard of it and consulted with Spangenberg, who
was in England at the time, and the latter, resolved to
13 They must have been rather crowded in that small one-story log building,
for the company consisted of ten brethren, two sisters and two boys, viz.,
Anthony Seiffert, George Zeisberger and his son David, M. Seybold, John
Martin Mack, George Neisser (who had left Georgia and for a time had lived
with Henry Antes), John Bohner, Bishop Nitschmann, Father Nitschmann,
C. Frohlich ; Sisters Zeisberger and Hannah Hummel; Benjamin Summers
and James. Sister Anna Nitschmann and Sister H. Molther had meanwhile
gone to Oley, to assist Andrew Eschenbach in his spiritual labors.
BETHLEHEM. 89
prevent needless discussions with Whitefield, decided
either to buy the whole tract, or not to meddle with it at
all. Whitefield agreed, on condition that the Brethren,
in addition to the original sum, should assume all the
expense already incurred. Thus those who had been at
first day-laborers on the land and afterwards exiles from
it, now became the lawful owners of the soil, which in
later years proved a very valuable property, comprising
as it did the whole of Upper Nazareth township.'4
For the present it was impossible to go on with the
building of the Whitefield house, as the large house at
the Lehigh had first to be finished. The corner-stone of
this building was solemnly laid on September 20, Bishop
Xitschmann and Bro. Andrew Eschenbach conducting
the religious ceremonies.
On October 26 three brethren arrived from Europe,
John Christopher Pyrlaeus, who had studied at Leipzig,
and Gottlob Biittner and William Zander, from the
Brethren's Theological Seminary, who were destined to
serve as missionaries among the Indians. They were
followed by Count Zinzendorf and his company, who
arrived on December 24, or December 13 old style. In
the same night Christmas Eve was celebrated by the
whole company in the small log-house, which was as yet
the only finished building.
John Martin Mack relates: "The place having as yet
no name, it so happened, that on Christmas Eve we called
u In reference to the title to the Nazareth tract we find the following notes
in a litter of Spangenberg to Matthew Hehl :
Mr. I'enn bought this land from the Indians, conveyed five hundred acres
to Laetitia Aubrey as a Barony, without quit-rent. From her Mr. William
Allen bought it, paying /"500 ; sold it again to Whitefield for ^"2200. By
him it was transferred to G. Stonehouse, and then to Countess Zinzendorf
for the Moravian Church.
Therefore it was not Indian land when the Brethren bought it, though there
wen- Indians living on it, who < [aimed to be the rightful owners despite the
fact that it had been sold long ago both by the Delawares and the Iroquois.
90 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
to mind the birth of our Saviour, and as there was a thin
partition-wall between our dwelling-room and the cow-
and horse-stable, the ' Ordinary ' in the tenth hour of
the night went over to the stable and commenced to
sing with great fervency of spirit :
' Not Jerusalem, —
No, from Bethlehem
We receive life and salvation, etc.' I5
"And thus on Christmas Eve, i 74 1 , this new settlement
received the name of 'Bethlehem.'"16
Thus passed the year 1741, in which the first steps
were taken for a permanent settlement of the Brethren
in Pennsylvania. Though their time was fully occupied
with building and clearing the land, one or the other
of the brethren occasionally visited the older German
settlements, to become acquainted with the spiritual
needs of the country. Bishop Nitschmann paid a
longer visit to Checomeko, to observe the work of
grace prevailing among the Indians.17 He found great
reason to rejoice at the blessing which attended Brother
Rauch's faithful and self-denying labors. Upon his
return he made a very favorable report of what he had
seen in Checomeko, in consequence of which John Martin
Mack was appointed Rauch's assistant. The Delawares
living in the neighborhood were an especial object of
solicitude to the Brethren, who omitted no opportunity
of showing a kind disposition to serve them in various
ways. Bro. Christian Frohlich soon became a favorite
among the Indians, and their Captain, Jan or John, who
15 " Nicht Jerusalem, — -
Sondern Bethlehem,
Aus dir kommet, was mir frommet."
— Hymn-book of 1735, No. 940, parts of stanzas 2 and 3.
16 Another derivation of the name, but probably of later origin, makes it
"the house on the Lehigh" (or Lecha).
*7 Loskiel, II., p. 17.
ZINZENDORF. 9 1
could speak a little English, conceived such an affection
for him, that he offered to make him a present of his
son, a boy about eleven years old.
Sister Anna Nitschmann visited in Skippack, Oley and
Ephrata. At the latter place she found Gottfried Habe-
recht, one of the Georgia colonists, who had been living
in the monaster)- for several years and now joyfully re-
ceived permission to return to his brethren. The
Ephrata monks and man)- others often visited the new
settlement on the Lehigh, where, especially in August,
an abundance of rockfish proved a very acceptable
supply for the colonists and their visitors.
It may be said, in truth, that from its very commence-
ment Bethlehem attracted the attention of all German
Pennsylvania. Now Zinzendorf had arrived, and soon
the whole country was excited either for or against the
Moravian Brethren.
6. ZINZENDORF'S VISIT IX PENNSYLVANIA IX I 742.
Ix 1737 Count Zinzendorf had been consecrated a
Bishop of the Church of the United Brethren, thus re-
nouncing- for ever all prospects of worldly fame and
political distinction, and thereby dedicating- himself en-
tirely to the service of the Lord in His Church militant
on earth. But though he was now a Moravian Bishop,
it was by no means his intention to devote all the strength
and energy of his mind exclusively to the service of the
Moravian Church. Considering himself a servant of
Christ in His Church on earth, his active mind could not
be restrained within the narrow bounds of any particular
branch of the universal Church. Wherever his Master
had work for him, he was ready to do it, quite uncon-
cerned whether his services would be acceptable to man
or not, caring as little for the praise or good will of his
92 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
fellow Christians as for the hatred and persecution of
the worldly-minded.
When in 1736 the decree of banishment from Saxony
was placed in his hands, he said : " Within the next ten
years I can not at any rate return to Herrnhut to re-
main there, for now we must collect the ' Pilgergemeine '
(the congregation of pilgrims), and proclaim the Saviour
to the world. Our home will be wherever the most real
service (das Reelste) is to be done for the Saviour."
In the same year a letter arrived from Spangenberg
in Pennsylvania, which seems to have made a deep im-
pression on Zinzendorf's mind, and which he afterwards
designated as his first call to Pennsylvania.18 On the
point of leaving for St. Thomas to visit the Mission
there, whilst Bishop Nitschmann intended to sail for
Europe in a short time, Spangenberg wrote, June, 1737:
"His (viz., Bishop Nitschmann's) walk and conversation
have been among all with whom he has become ac-
quainted, a shining light, whereby they might have
learned to know themselves, and to find the right way in
which they ought to walk. Yet there is a much greater
harvest awaiting you, dear brother, for it has been
impossible to speak thoroughly with all the souls that
hunger for the truth. There is not one in these parts,
among those with whom I have become acquainted, who
does not wish to see you and to hear you. I wish you
wings to cross the sea, and to collect for the warfare
of the Lord all those that have hitherto hid themselves
in caverns, in holes, and in the rocks. They promise
themselves a great blessing if a branch (Pfropfreis) of
the Church at Herrnhut could be transplanted here, con-
cerning which Nitschmann will tell you more. The
Lord will surely do much more than we expect, and
18 Ludewig's alissere erste Vocation nach Pennsylvanien. — MS in the Beth-
lehem Archives. See also "B. Ludewig's Wahrer Bericht," pp. 15 and 16.
ZINZENDORF. 93
eyes, ears, tongues and hands will fail us to see, hear,
tell and write it all. The Lord be praised for all His
faithfulness towards His people. I must conclude, as
the vessel is ready to sail ; but I remain for ever,
Your faithful
Span(;knp.kr(;."
The subsequent written and oral reports of Nitsch-
mann and Spangenberg, the accounts of the great desti-
tution of the Germans in Pennsylvania and of the miser-
able condition of the Indians, had their effect both on
Zinzendorf and on the congregation in general. The
failure of the Moravian colony of Pilgerruh in Denmark,
caused by the enemies of Zinzendorf, seemed a plain
indication of Providence that it was now time to look
for a permanent place of refuge for the Moravian exiles
in Pennsylvania, this being at that time the freest and
most tolerant country in the world. Therefore Bishop
Nitschmann and his company were sent out in 1740 to
found a colony in Pennsylvania, which in the providence
of God was destined soon to increase by numbers of
those who from all parts of Protestant Christendom
swelled the ranks of the Moravian Church.
A personal visit of Count Zinzendorf in Pennsylvania
would not have been absolutely necessary for the further-
ance of this Moravian colony. Either Nitschmann or
Spangenberg or Peter Bohler was much better qualified
than Zinzendorf to direct such an undertaking. But
his plans and ideas reached far beyond the narrow
boundaries of the Moravian Church, as may be gathered
from an address, delivered in Herrendyk, August 6,
1741, when he declared publicly: "I am destined by
the Lord to proclaim the message of the death and
blood of Jesus, not with human ingenuity, but with
divine power, unmindful of personal consequences t<>
myself. And this was my vocation long before 1 knew
94 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
anything of the Moravian Brethren. Though I am and
shall remain connected with the Moravian Brethren, who
have accepted and taken to heart the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and have called me and other brethren to the
ministry in their congregations, still I do not on that ac-
count by any means separate myself from the Lutheran
Church, for a witness of Jesus can well live and remain
in this Church. Nevertheless I can not with my testi-
mony confine myself to one denomination ; for the whole ,
earth is the Lord's, and all sou/s are His ; I am a debtor
to all. I know that I shall find opposition in future as
well as hitherto ; but the message of the crucified Jesus
is divine power and divine wisdom, and whosoever op-
poses it, will be confounded."
Zinzendorf was of the opinion that the best field for
unrestrained general activity for the Kingdom of God
would be found in Pennsylvania ; for in a country and
among a people where there were as yet no ecclesiastical
organizations whatever, there could not be hindrances
such as he had met elsewhere — hindrances founded upon
and emanating from ecclesiastical usages and customs of
old standing. Therefore if anywhere on earth his ideal
of " a Church of God in the Spirit" could be realized,
Pennsylvania, he thought, might be that country.
In order not to be restrained in any way in his general
activity for the Lord, Zinzendorf for a while severed his
connection with the Moravian Church, and in June, 1 741 ,
laid down his episcopal office. When he landed in
Philadelphia, in December, he announced himself to
Governor Thomas not as Count de Zinzendorf, but as
Dominie de Thlirnstein, wishing his rank as nobleman
not to become known in this country. Nevertheless
it became known that Dominie de Thlirnstein was the
famous Count de Zinzendorf, and so he tried to escape
the difficulties growing out of his rank by renouncing his
ZINZENDORF. 95
title as Count. This he did in a Latin oration before
Governor Thomas and other persons of distinction19.
But whether he called himself "Dominie de Thiirnstein,"
" Friend Lewis," " Brother Ludwig," " Johanan," or " the
Ordinary" everybody knew him to be and treated him
as the Count de Zinzendorf.20
He was accompanied to America by his daughter
Benigna, then sixteen years of age, Rosina Nitschmann,
1 In tin- Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 330 etc., the following memor-
andum of May 15 (Old Style, May 26, New Style), [742, is found:
Inclosed latin Oration and Declaration was made and pronounced by the
Right Honnble Count Lewis de Zinzendorff before the Honnble George
Thomas, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Pro-
vince of Pensylvania and Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex on
Delaware, at his Dwelling-house in the City of Philadelphia.
Present: — Doctor Thomas Graeme, one of the Provincial Judg -.
Willm. Allen, Recorder of the said City.
Tench Francis, Attorney General
James Hamilton, one of the Justices of the Peace and Protont. of the
Court of Common Pleace.
Thorn. Lawrence, one of the Governour's Council and one of the Jus-
tices of the peace.
Doctor Patrick Bard, the Governor's Secretary.
William Peters, Esq.
James Read, Esq.
The Rev. Mr. Eneas Ross, Minister of Christ's Church, Philad.
The Rev. Mr. Cross, Minister of a Congreg. of Dissenters, Philadelphia.
The Rev. Pyrlaeus.
Mr. Benezet, Merchant.
Mr. Jn. Sober, D.
Mr. Graydon, I).
Mr. Sam. M. Call, 1).
Mr. Cha. Willing, D.
Mr. Benj. Franklin, Postmaster.
And Mr. Cha. Brockden, Deputy-Master of the Rolls of the said Pro-
vince and Recorder of Deeds for the City and County of Philadelphia.
The Count reading over the printed Copy, each Gentleman in the mean-
time perused the other Copies, wich ware all herein inclosed under my Seal,
wich I affixed in the Presence of the Governour.
(A true copy.) C. BROCKDEN,
30 Zinzendorf, as Count and Lord of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf, Lord of
the Manors of Freydeck, Schoneck, Thiirnstein and the Wachau Valley,
and Lord of the Estates of Upper-, Middle-, and Lower Bertholdsdorf,
96 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
wife of Bishop Nitschmann, John Jacob Miiller, his
secretary, Abraham Meinung and his wife, Henry Miiller,
and David Bruce, who had been a Scotch Presbyterian.
7. THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS, 1 742.
Hardly had Zinzendorf arrived in Pennsylvania, when
he felt as if he ought to call out in the words of Moses :
"Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me."
Ex. 3:26. When he became acquainted with the moral
and religious state of society, he was for a time at a loss
how to find among- the crowd of infidels, scoffers and self-
rigfhteous saints, those humble and contrite souls who
were really desirous of a revival of religion. From the
accounts received through Spangenbergand others he had
conceived the idea that there was a general desire for
the glad tidings of the Gospel, and that therefore he, as
an ambassador of Christ, would be every where received
with open arms. But he found it very different. " I ex-
pected," he said in an open letter to the Germans in
February, i 742, " to be received with love and confidence,
but I encountered a great deal of mistrust and oppo-
sition. Is it to be wondered at, that I felt dejected, and
that the lukewarmness of my countrymen in Philadelphia
depressed me. But I thought : I will keep silent, and
not open my mouth. The Lord will help.
" I traveled through Pennsylvania, but could not speak
anywhere, except in Oley. Therefore, I can tell you,
my countrymen, in a few words, what I have done in
including Herrnhut, etc., etc., was fully and legitimately entitled to use any of
these feudal names, whenever he so wished, especially when he preferred to
travel incognito. See Preface to Spangenberg's Life of Zinzendorf, pp. 3
and 4. He was called " Friend Ludwig " or " Friend Lewis " by the mem-
bers of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers; while
" Johanan " was the name given him by the Indians. " The Ordinary " was
the easy English of a Latin official title conferred upon him by the Moravian
Brethren, namely, Ordinarius et Advocatus Fratrum.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. 97
these two months : I traveled and prayed, and wept and
bore witness, and sought for peace, and seek it still."
However, his bold testimony in Oley, his sermons and
other devotional meeting's in his rooms in Germantown
soon attracted the attention of those who were secretly
sighing over the deplorable state of religion among; their
countrymen. Henry Antes, John Bechtel, Adam Gruber,
Christopher Wiegner and others had often, in their
meetings at Bechtel's house, expressed the wish that
there might be less envy, malice and slander displayed,
both in conversation and in the public prints, and had
only waited for a favorable opportunity to do something
in the matter. Now the time seemed to have come,
and they thought that Count Zinzendorf, with whom they
had become acquainted, might be of essential service in
conciliating the clashing views, and in bringing about more
friendly relations between the different denominations.
On December 26, 1 74 1 , Henry Antes sent out a cir-
cular, inviting members of all denominations to attend a
general meeting at Germantown " not for the purpose of
disputing, but in order to treat peaceably concerning the
most important articles of faith, and to ascertain how far
they all might agree in the most essential points, for the
purpose of promoting mutual love and forbearance."21
Pursuant to the invitation a considerable number of
delegates of different German denominations assembled
at Germantown at the house of Theobald Endt, on
January 12, 1742 (New Year's Day of Old Style). The
minutes or summary results22 of these meetings are
31 Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p. 722.
32 Authentische | Relation | von dem | Anlass, Fortgang und Schlusse |
Der .mi rsten u\u\ 2ten Januarii Anno 174.1 | In Germantown gehaltenen |
Versammlung | Einiger Arbeiter | Derer meisten Christlichen Relijjionen ;
und I Yielei voi >uh selbst Gott-dienenden Christen-Menschen | in Pennsyl-
vania. I Aufgesetzt | In Germantown am Abend des 2ten obigen Monats.
Philadelphia, | Gedruckt und zu haben bey B. Franklin. |
Extracts in the Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p. 722, et seq.
98 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
extant in print, though the number of the members is
nowhere mentioned ; but more than fifty persons are
named as taking an active part in these deliberations.
The following seem to have been the most prominent :
Lutheran : Conrad Weiser.
German Reformed : Henry Antes, John Bechtel, John
Leinbach.
Mennonite : John de Turk (Oley).
Tunkers : Joseph Miiller, Andrew Frey, Abraham du
Bois, G. A. Martin.
Schwenkj elder : C. Wiegner.
Siebentager ; Prior Onesimus (Israel Eckerlin), John
Hildebrand, H. Kalkloser.
Separatists: J. A. Gruber, Theobald Endt, Conrad
Matthai.
Hermit: J. G. Stieffel.
Moravians : de Thlirnstein, John Jacob Miiller,
(Secretary of the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and
seventh Synods,) Bishop David Nitschmann,
Andrew Eschenbach, Pyrlaeus, Biittner, Rauch,
and others.23
When Antes' circular arrived at Ephrata, " a council of
war was held in the camp," and it was resolved that a
brother in Zion and some fathers should make their ap-
pearance there ; but the Prior, against whose dignity it
23 The following are some additional names whose Church-relations are
not mentioned :
Cornelius Weygand and Christopher Meng, from Germantown.
Adam Schaues, from Frederick Township, Secretary of the second Synod.
John Peter Jacobs von Larschett, Amwell Township, West Jersey.
John Kooken, Worcester Township.
Christian Kintsy, Oley.
John Bartley, Oley.
G. Merckel, Skippack.
Jacob Vetter and John Herpein, Oley.
Christian Baus, Skippack.
Heinrich Hollstein, Falkner Swamp.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. 99
would have been that another should be preferred to
him, knew how to manage that his hands were filled.24
The Mennonites at Skippack sent no delegates to the
first meeting.
According- to Zinzendort's statement, there were
generally about one hundred or more persons present at
these Synods, but he declares distinctly in his " Naturelle
Reflexionen : " a5 " I was neither the author nor adviser
(suasor) of these meetings, which were called by Penn-
sylvanians who had become tired of their own ways.
What the object ol these meetings may have been, I
am not able to determine. I should almost think that
every deputy had his own instructions. What my ulti-
nnis fines (ultimate object) was, I know well enough, and
have not for a moment endeavored to conceal. I wished
to make use of this opportunity to place on the
throne (inthronisiren) the Lamb of God, as the real
(eigentliche) Creator, Preserver, Redeemer and Sancti-
fier of the whole world, and at the same time to intro-
duce in thcoria et praxi the catholicity of the doctrine of
His Passion, as a universal theology for the German
Pennsylvanians."
It is difficult to decide whether the original purposes of
those who convened these meetings were always kept in
view and finally obtained, but as far as we are acquainted
with the proceedings, it may be said that they were not.
It appears as if Antes and other "lovers of peace"
would have been satisfied if they could only have
succeeded in forming a kind of confederacy among all
the different denominations and sects, henceforth to
avoid all animosities and, without condemning others
in minor particulars, to agree in the essential point
of the orthodox and evangelical doctrine, " Justifi-
*4 Chronicon Ephratense, p. 126.
■s Naturelle Reflexionen, pp. 194, 195.
IOO THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
cation by faith in Christ," lest the children of this world
might have reason to say: "They that preach peace and
conversion are at enmity 'amongst themselves."
Others may have attended with the intention of defend-
ing and spreading their peculiar views, and kept aloof
when they perceived that they could not succeed in their
design.
A Christian Union, in the modern acceptation of the
term, was not broug-ht about, nor was it intended, as far
as Zinzendorf was concerned. On the contrary, these
synodal meetings had rather the effect of increasing
the religious warfare between churchmen and dissen-
ters, errorists and indifferentists, lukewarm disciples and
fanatics. But the standard of the Gospel was raised
higher ; the warfare was no longer concerning outward
forms and ceremonies merely, but about the very
essence of Christianity itself. A fermenting leaven
was thrown into the corrupt mass, and many who had
been indifferent about the concerns of their souls,
began to inquire for the truth and to wish for the long-
neglected means of grace.
Hence more than a mere passing notice of these
Synods is important, not only for the history of the
Brethren's Church in America, but for the general Church
History of Pennsylvania.
. The first Synod was held at Germantown in Theobald
Endt's house, on January 12 and 13, 1742, (New Style.)
Henry Antes opened the meeting by once more stating its
object, as expressed in his circular mentioned above.
Thereupon a Separatist (whose name is not mentioned),
handed in a paper containing some stringent remarks
"about some sermons of a newly arrived German min-
ister and his uncharitable expressions." Zinzendorf thus
gained an opportunity to repeat what he had said in
a sermon in Germantown and to point out Christ and
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. IOI
His meritorious suffering and death as the only source
of our salvation. His words made a deep impression
and his proposal that they all. instead of judging and
condemning- each other, ought to how down before the
Saviour and implore His forgiveness, was generally ap-
proved of.
But as there were not only such present who desired
a closer connection with each other, but also Separatists,
who had conscientious scruples concerning too in-
timate and close connection, this point was thoroughly
discussed on the second day, and according to the
Saviour's declaration (John i 7 : 10-23), it was maintained,
that the closer fellowship of believers was in itself no
sign of sinful attachment. " The true communion of
the saints," it was said, "is the Church of God in the
Spirit throughout the whole world, constituting that
spiritual body whose Head is Christ. But they also
constitute a communion of saints who, though outwardly
belonging to different denominations, agree in all essen-
tial points of doctrine pertaining to salvation. And
lastly those small societies or congregations are called
a commmunion of saints, who form a closer and more
intimate connection among themselves in order that
their ministers, as they who must give account, may be
enabled to watch the better over their souls." (Heb.
13: 17.)
After these preliminaries the following resolutions were
unanimously adopted :
" We believe and unanimously confess, that no one
else could have saved us from eternal death, save our
Lord and God, Jesus Christ alone, by His blood. We be-
lieve that He must die for the world ; not that any one in
heaven or on earth could have forced Him, but because
there was no other way in heaven or on earth to save us ;
His compassion for us sinners constraining Him.
102 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
"The Father, who loved His only-begotten Son, es-
pecially because He (the Son) willed to give His life for
the world, even before its creation, has sent Him for this
purpose. He has given Him for the whole world, and
Jesus is, therefore, called not only the Saviour of believers
and the propitiation for their sins, but also for the sins of
the whole world, and the Saviour of all men. * * *
" Every one remaineth dead in sin, except he be called
to life by Christ. Every one must be regenerated ; but
when and in what manner, is known only to the Lord. It
is not our office to bring souls to life, but to impart the
Word of Life to those that have been awakened by
Christ. * * *
" The pardoned sinner has the privilege or the right,
henceforth not to sin any more, but to become holy ; and
lest Satan again pervert his senses, he must have his
heart and mind guarded by the grace of the Lord, our
God."
In conclusion all agreed to abstain in future from dis-
puting about all plain passages of Scripture ; and thus the
conference ended peaceably, orderly and in the most per-
fect unanimity, as is testified by the signing of the minutes
by nine witnesses, chosen from different denominations.
But we may well suppose that the oral and printed
reports of this meeting were not received alike favorably
everywhere. Here and there more or less opposition
was thereby called forth, and especially was this the case
at the Ephrata Monastery. Prior Onesimus, who had
been treated by Zinzendorf with great consideration, in-
sisted that the next Synod should be held "in the camp,"
that is, at Ephrata. But Father Friedsam strenuously op-
posed it, probably foreseeing danger for his own authority
in these public meetings. On this account, also, he took
care never to come into personal contact with Count
Zinzendorf, whose mental superiority he could not but
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. IO3
secretly acknowledge. He found it a good opportunity,
however, to break the increasing power of the Prior.
Meanwhile he permitted some of his community to
attend several of the succeeding meetings.26
The second Synod was held in the house of George
Huebner in Falkner Swamp, on January 25 and 26.
Zinzendorf was at once elected presiding officer, and for
the purpose of bringing some order into this chaos of
most contradictory views and opinions, and to avoid
unnecessary and lengthy discussions about trifling mat-
ters, proposed to decide by the Lot what subjects should
be discussed, and also whether any one should, or should
not, produce his own views, which might possibly prove
to be very undigested. Whether Zinzendorf himself
always strictly adhered to this rule, might be difficult to
decide.
The most important decision of this meeting was the
following- : 27
"The proper object of this assembly of all evangelical
denominations is, that henceforth a poor inquirer for the
way of life may not be directed in twelve different ways,
but only in one, let him ask whom he will. But if any
one should take a fancy to him who directed him in the
way, and should wish to travel on the same according to
his method, he has full liberty to do so, provided he be as
yet in no connection with any religious society."
The third Synod met at ( )ley, in John de Turk's house,
on February 2 1-23.
Through the evangelical testimony of Bro. Andrew
Eschenbach, a small congregation of believers, consisting
of Lutherans, German Reformed, Mennonites and others
had been gathered at this place ; their minister being
a Moravian. The most natural course would have been
36 Chron. Ephratense, p. i 26.
1 Fourth Question ; see Report, p. 26.
104
at once to organize these believers as a Moravian con-
gregation, and it is probable that all concerned would
have agreed. But Zinzendorf opposed this plan. He
did not wish to gain proselytes for the Brethren's Church,
his idea being that "if all could only agree in the most
essential points, every one might remain in his denomi-
nation."
The Synod, therefore, coinciding with Zinzendort's
views, recognized the Oley congregation as an undenomi-
national Church, and Andrew Eschenbach, who was to
continue his apostolic labors in this congregation, was sol-
emnly ordained a minister of the Gospel by the Moravian
Bishop, David Nitschmann, assisted by Brother Ludwig,
as a theologian from Tubingen28, and by Brother
Anthony Seiffert, an elder and teacher of the Moravian
colony in Georgia.
At the same time also, three other Brethren received
ordination, viz., Christian Henry Ranch, missionary among
the Indians between Esopus and Albany ; Gottlob Blittner,
destined to be a missionary among the Six Nations ; and
J. Christopher Pyrlaeus, minister-elect of the Lutheran
congregation in Philadelphia.
After this act, preparations were made for the baptism
of three converted Indians, who had come with the mis-
sionary, Brother Rauch, from Checomeko. The whole
assembly being met in a barn belonging to Mr. de Turk,
the three catechumens were placed in the midst, and with
fervent prayer and supplication were devoted to the Lord
Jesus Christ, as His eternal property ; upon which Brother
Rauch, with great emotion of heart, baptized these three
first fruits of the North American Indians into the death of
Jesus, calling Shabash, Abraham ; Seim, Isaac ; and Kiop,
28 Zinzendorf had been approved as a Lutheran theologian by the
Lutheran Superintendent and Divines at Stralsund, April 26, 1734, and had
been formally recognized as such by the Theological Faculty of the Univer-
sity of Tubingen, December 19, 1734.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. I05
Jacob. The Tunker brethren were present at this trans-
action, though the baptism was performed by sprinkling.
These solemn acts had a great influence on the spirit of
the whole assembly, which at first, when the Siebentager
brought forward a paper against matrimony, and a Scotch
Presbyterian addressed them, speaking of the secret
enemies of Jerusalem, threatened to become very stormy ;
but when the Siebentager had departed, so much harmony
prevailed, or seemed to prevail, and the guidance of the
Holy Spirit was felt in so powerful a manner, that all the
members present (Lutherans, Reformed, Baptists, Mora-
vians, Schwenkfelders) felt, for the moment at least, that
the)- were, indeed, one Church of God in the Spirit,
though outwardly divided into different denominations
and communities.
Fearing that this spiritual union might again be broken,
they made the following provision, which may be objected
to as inadequate, though it at least shows the sincerity '
of their convictions and the fervency of their brotherly
love. From fifty men there were selected by Lot, first
thirty, then twenty, then ten, and then five, and from these
five, appointed by Lot, three were elected as trustees of
the Synod, viz., Andrew Frey, a Baptist or Tunker ; Gott-
tried Haberecht, who had been a member of the Ephrata
community, and Anthony Seiffert, from Bethlehem.
These trustees were ordered by the Synod to select
from the children of God in this country two worthy men,
and to have them confirmed by Lot. These men, known
only to the trustees, should superintend the Church
of God in the Spirit, and should try to prevent, as much
as was in their power, this spiritual union from being
again dissolved, or from becoming a new sect without
spirit. In case their names should become known, their
commission was to cease, and others were to be elected
by the trustees.
7
106 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
Whether this resolution was ever acted upon, it would
of course, be difficult to determine, but from some hints
in the manuscript minutes29 of the sixth Synod it would
appear as if the selection of these two men had not been
made. But even if these proceedings should be called
unpractical, they at least prove that Zinzendorf aimed
at no spiritual dominion in this country ; that he did not
wish to become the founder of a new Church ; but that
his aim was that "all Christians might be perfect in
one." John 17: 21—23.
However, the immediate effect of this arrangement was
that the Mennonites and Schwenkfelders withdrew alto-
gether ; the Tunkers arranged their own annual meet-
ings,30 which continue to this day31 ; and the Sieben-
tager also refused to have any further connection with
these Synods. Hence the next meeting, which had been
appointed for Conestoga, had to be transferred to Ger-
mantown.
The fourth Synod met at Germantown in Mr. Ash-
mead's house, on March 21—23.
2? MS, Bethlehem Archives.
30 Chron. Ephratense, p. 210. George Adam Martin, at that time a min-
ister of the Tunkers and later a monk at Ephrata, speaks as follows con-
cerning these Synods: " Und weilen alle Gesinntheiten darzu eingeladen
wurden, wurde ich auch von meinero Vorsteher deputirt, dahin zu gehen : als
ich zur Conferenz kam, welche in Oley gehalten wurde, fand ich daselbst
von unsern Taufern, Siebentager, Mennonisten und Separatisten ; der Graf
aber selbst war Vorsitzer, daselbst horete ich drey Tage wunderliche u.
seltsame Sachen. Als ich nun wieder heimkam, brachte ich mich bey
meinen Vorstehern an, und sagte ; dasz ich des Grafen Conferenzen ansehe
als einen Fallstrick, um einfaltige und ungeiibte erweckte Leute wieder an
die Kindertaufe und den Kirchengang zu bringen, und das alte Babel
wieder auf zu richten. Wir hielten Rath, was zu thun seye, und wurden einig,
dieser Gefahr zu vor zu kommen, weil schon einige Taufer sich an dieser
nichtigen Lehre vergaft hatten, jahrlich eine Conferenz zu halten, oder, wie
wirs nannten, eine grose Versammlung, (a big meeting) und wurde zugleich
Zeit und Ort bestimmt : dieses ist der Anfang und das Fundament von der
grosen Versammlung der Taufer."
31 Winebrenner's History of Denominations, p. 93.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. ICJ
When Zinzendorf entered and found that only those
had made their appearance who were really one in spirit
— the Mennonites and Schwenkfelders having sent no
deputies — he felt that the proper object of these meet-
ings would not be gained, and proposed to dissolve the
meeting at once, but this proposition was overruled by
the Synod.
The discussion soon turned from general matters to
the especial wants of particular localities, and different
proposals and resolutions were passed, which, however,
are of no general interest.
The most important matter was Zinzendorf's inci-
dental declaration concerning the Lutheran Church.
When a Tunker and Siebentagfer began a theological
dispute, he made use of this opportunity to request
permission of the Synod to demonstrate that the
Lutheran denomination, of which he still held himself to
be a member, was properly the most blessed one and, as
to the internal concerns of the soul, preferable even to
the old Moravian, and open for all apostolic graces, if
only its ministers would be valiant, single-minded, well-
grounded in doctrine and would act with divine wisdom.
He further stated, that it was a great question whether
a servant of Christ who had separated himself from the
Lutheran Church, had gained anything by joining
another sect ; he considered it very doubtful.
As regards the Reformed Church he referred to the
first part of the published proceedings of the Synod of
Berne, saying that the chief points of doctrine were there
set forth according to the truth, in such a manner, that a
servant of Jesus in that Church, might, under the shield
of his denominational creed, proclaim the pure Gospel.
Hence it would naturally follow, that if these two
Churches would unite and hold their spiritual treasure
in common, they might form a real apostolic Church, and
108 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
gradually absorb all smaller sects, whereupon the Mora
vian Church, seeing" her dear brothers in one house,
would be their faithful sister.
The fifth Synod was held in a more public manner,
on April 17-20, in the German Reformed Church in
Germantown, and was attended by those only who were
of one mind and one spirit. Concerning the ecclesiastico-
religious state of Pennsylvania the Synod declared :
" Pennsylvania is a complete Babel. The first to be
accomplished is to liberate its sighing prisoners, which
cannot be done according to the common rules ; apostolic
powers are required."
Quite unexpectedly Bro. C. G. Israel, missionary in
St. Croix, W. I., arrived while the Synod was yet in
session, and related his wonderful preservation in a ship-
wreck near Tortola, December, 1739, where his com-
panion, Albinus Feder, perished.32
Immediately after the Synod the minister of the Re-
formed Church in Germantown, John Bechtel, was
ordained by Bishop Nitschmann, who thereupon de-
parted on a visitation of the Moravian Missions in the
Danish West Indies.
The sixth Synod, also held at Germantown, on May
16-18, seems to have been but sparsely attended, and
was the least important of all. It is evident that these
meetings followed each other in too quick succession,
and it is not to be wondered at, if even those who at
first had taken a lively interest became tired and
remained away.
A proposal to invite all parents in the four counties of
Pennsylvania to send one man from each township to a
conference in Bethlehem, to devise ways and means for
the establishment of a general boarding-school, led to no
results.
32 Oldendorp's Missions-Geschichte, p. 627, et scq.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. IO9
The seventh Synod was convened at Philadelphia, on
June 13 and 14, "in Mr. Evans' house," and was numer-
ously attended, partly because it was intended to be the
last of these meetings, and partly because it had become
known that a considerable company of Moravians had
arrived, and curiosity was excited to see these people.
It must be borne in mind, that when these Synods
began, there was no Moravian Church in this country,
and therefore no deputies of the Moravians could
attend them. There were some members of the Church
living in the woods where Nazareth and Bethlehem
are now located, who had made the first beginnings
of a settlement. As they enjoyed the love and confi-
dence of other children of God, they were freely per-
mitted, as far as they themselves were concerned, to take
part in the deliberations of the Synods, and some, for
instance, Bishop Nitschmann and Anthony Seiffert, even
became active members. Still, as Zinzendorf expresses
it,33 "as the)' had nothing to do with the prevailing con-
fusion of tongues in Pennsylvania," not having any
established congregations in the country, they could not
participate in the deliberations of the Synod in the same
manner as did other denominations. But now the time
was come when the first Moravian Church in .America
was to be established, under the direction of the Lord.
A colon)- of Moravian pilgrims, fifty-seven in number,
had arrived in Philadelphia, on June 7, a few days before
the opening of the seventh Synod, and had made applica-
tion to be received into the spiritual connection of the
"Church of Ood in the Spirit." After several letters
addressed to the Synod had been read, Peter Bohler, the
leader of this company which had been regularly organ-
ized as a "Sea Congregation," and three elders, George
Piesch, John Brandmuller, and Adolph Meyer, were then
53 Zinzendorf's Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 192.
IIO THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
summoned, and closely questioned concerning their doc-
trine ; the names of all the brethren and sisters who were
to constitute the Church at Bethlehem, were read — one
hundred and twenty in all — and a vote having been
taken, all present in Philadelphia were permitted to
enter.34
After a fervent prayer by Andrew Frey, one of the
trustees of the Synod, and a short address by the Presi-
dent, Zinzendorf, Henry Antes declared in the name of
all the members present, " that the undenominational35
Synod of Pennsylvania acknowledges the old Moravian
Church just arrived, as a true Church of the Lord ; that
their ministers especially will be considered their brethren
and fellow-servants ; that as regards the internal arrange-
ments of their Church, the Synod, according to its
fundamental rules, will not interfere in any way, deeming
this, as well as any other, Church ' independent and
inviolable;" and finally expressed the wish, that the
grace of the Lamb might be with them.
Anthony Seiffert, another trustee of the Synod, and an
Elder of the Church, concluded the solemnity by prayer.
In the afternoon the members of the Synod and the
" Sea Conereofation " held a love-feast on board the
vessel.
The second day was altogether devoted to the regular
business of the Synod. After full discussion the views
of its members in reference to the religious state of nine
denominations, viz., the Friends, Moravians, Lutherans,
German Reformed, Mennonites, Schwenkfelders, Tunkers,
Conestoga Siebentager, and Separatists, were recorded
and published in nine paragraphs as the " unanimous
result of the General Synod of Pennsylvania."36
" Authentisch? Relation der siebenten Synodus der Gemeine Gottes im
Cxeist, p. 109.
& " Unpartheyische " = undenominational.
36 Authentische Relation der siebenten Synodus, p. 113.
THE PENNSYLVANIA SYNODS. Ill
It was further resolved to convene as regularly as
possible a quarterly Ministerial Conference (Arbeiter
Rath,) either at Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Conestoga, or
somewhere else in the country, to be attended by all
those who had remained faithful to the decisions of the
first conference, and open to all servants of Christ who
acknowledged His divinity, did not believe in the doctrine
of reprobation and promised not to abuse the confidence
of the Synod.
Lastly, Henry Antes was commissioned to prepare, in
the name of the Synod, a circular to the whole country,
in which all the children of God should be invited to join
the Church of God in the Spirit. In this circular
occurs the following passage, which will easily be recog-
nized as Zinzendorf s own resume of these seven Synods :
" All of us, taken together, constitute the body of Jesus
in Pennsylvania, which was recognized as such in the first
conference of all denominations ; acknowledged anew in
the second Synod ; sealed in the third ; opened in the
fourth ; demonstrated in the fifth and sixth ; and in the
seventh and last general conference of denominations
cheered by the presence of a visible Church of Jesus.
We intend to continue holding this Church-council every
quarter of a year, with all quietness, according to the
wisdom which the Lord will grant. Our members will
assist; for as regards externals all are called and spirit
ually all are known. Whoever belongs to the Lord, let
him come to us !
"These are the words of the Church of the Lord to
all her members, whether hidden or known, yea, to all
whom the Lord our God will yet call. Have Thou mercy
on Zion ! "37
37 " Wir alle zusammen machen den Leib Jesu in Pennsylvania aus, der
auf der ersten Conferenz von alien Religionen bekannt, auf der zweiten
nochmals eingestanden, auf der dritten versiegelt, auf der vierten eroffnet,
I I 2 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
Thus ended the Pennsylvania Synods in which Zin-
zendorf personally participated ; but though he had to
turn his attention to other matters, they were still con-
tinued as general meetings for all denominations until
they gradually assumed a different character and changed
into Synods of the Moravian Church.
During Zinzendorf's absence among the Indians the
eighth Synod was held on October 16, 1742, in Frederick
Township, at the house of Henry Antes. Seven brethren
from Bethlehem were present and Peter Bohler presided.
The number of members cannot be ascertained, but there
still exists a short manuscript report and a printed cata-
logue of the standing members of these Synods, which
was probably drawn up at this meeting, to which were
invited "all those children of God, who have the greatest
insight into John 17, and serve their own churches most
faithfully ; to be elected per vota, and to be confirmed by
Lot.38
It was resolved at this meetinpf :
1. To establish a boys' school for the whole country at
Philadelphia and a girls' school at Germantown.
2. To build a church in Philadelphia by the Moravians
for the use of the Lutherans, as long- as these are willing1
to hear the Gospel proclaimed by the Moravian Brethren.
auf der fiinften und sechsten bewiesen, und auf dieser siebenden und letzten
allgemeinen Religions-Conferenz durch die auswesende sichtbare Gemeine
Jesu begliicket worden. Wir werden auch diesen Kirchen-Rath, nach der
Weisheit die der Herk darreichen wird, vierteljahrig in aller stille fortsetzen.
Unsere Glieder werden dabey assistiren; dem aussren nach alle beruffen,
dem geiste nach alle gekannt. Her zu uns, wer dem Herrn angehoret !
" Das sind die Worte der Gemeine des Herrn an alle ihre verborgene und
bekannte Mitglieder, und alle die der Herr unser Gott noch herzu ruffen
wird. Du wollestdich iiber Zion erbarmen /" — Authentische Relation, p. 120.
38 Budingische Sammlungen, III, p. 95.
LUTHERANS AND GERMAN REFORMED. I I 3
8. XINZENDORF's ACTIVITY AMONG LUTHERANS AND GERMAN
RIM IRMED.
In the intervals between these Synods Zinzendorf de-
voted most of his time to the spiritual needs of his
Lutheran brethren. For he had come to Pennsylvania
not as a Moravian Bishop, but as a Lutheran clergyman,
and he wished and endeavored to be considered in this
light only.
His first sermon in Pennsylvania was preached at Oley,
and soon after, on December 31, he was invited to occupy
the pulpit of the German Reformed Church in German-
town, where he delivered a series of discourses on 1
Tim. 3 : 16. In Philadelphia, where he had taken private
lodgings, he held daily family worship which was often
attended by visitors. After a time, when the Lutherans
who attended his meetings had become fully convinced
that his doctrine was exactly the same as that which they
in their earlier days had learned in Luther's Smaller Cate-
chism and in many of those evangelical hymns which
still clung to their memory, they requested him to preach
occasionally in their meeting house in the city. Count
Zinzendorf, or Brother Ludwig. as he preferred to be
called, cheerfully complied with this request, and having
made the needful arrangements with the Reformed pastor,
Mr. Bohm, as to the time for the services, he began on
Sunday, January 21, and continued regularly every
Lord's Day as far as circumstances permitted, preaching
in the morning in Philadelphia and in the afternoon in
Germantown.
Many of his auditors, who for years had had no oppor-
tunity to partake of the Lord's Supper, requested him
to administer to them this holy ordinance. For a
time he refused, not being willing to permit a mixed
company of godly and ungodly people to approach
the sacramental table. Rut when the blessed fruits
114 THE BRETHREN S CONCxREGATIONS.
of his faithful ministration became more evident, and
especially when an extraordinary emotion pervaded the
whole assembly during the service on Palm Sunday,
April 2 2,39 he declared his willingness to administer
the Lord's Supper, which was done on Easter Monday,
April 30, according to the Lutheran ritual.
About this time all the German Lutherans in and around
Philadelphia unanimously expressed the desire that
Brother Ludwig might become their permanent pastor.
Before answering their request he called them together,
and proposed a number of questions, to which he re-
quired their answers in writing. From these it is evi-
dent, that the Lutherans in Philadelphia at that time had
no other minister, that they were in no connection what-
ever with any other congregation, and that they had, or
at least professed, full confidence in the Count and his
advice.40
Still Zinzendorf was not over-anxious to accept this
vocation at once, knowing- well that he was watched from
beyond the ocean, and that especially his opponents at
Halle would misrepresent and misconstrue his motives.41
He therefore wished his countrymen to reflect a little
longer on this important matter, and after some weeks,
when they all remained firm in their resolution and not
one objected, he accepted the vocation, on May 19, in
which document also the Rev. J. C. Pyrlaeus was named
as his assistant and successor.42
Thus Count Zinzendorf became the regularly called
pastor of the Lutheran congregation at Philadelphia,
the first one who had received regular ordination, and
39 Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 580.
40 Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p. 827.
41 A proof of this may be found in Weisman's Church History, p. 1104,
et seq., and p. 1 1 1 3, et seq., to which Zinzendorf replied at length in his
Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 190, et seq.
42 Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p. 828.
LUTHERANS AND GERMAN REFORMED. I 1 5
as such he performed all ministerial functions, though
only for a short time.
Immediately after the Synod at Oley, Zinzendorf had
paid a visit to Tulpehocken, and preached there on Feb-
ruary 25. Since the death of Pastor Leutbecker, as
related above, the greatest confusion had prevailed in this
Lutheran Church. At the request of the more respect-
able part of the congregation, Zinzendorf took an active
part in its affairs and sent the Rev. Gottlob Biittner to
be their Lutheran minister. He, however, was recalled
in the same year, and sent as missionary among the
Indians.43 In his place John Philip Meurer was nomi-
nated by Zinzendorf as minister of this congregation,
and as such ordained December 9, at Tulpehocken.
Thereupon both these Lutheran congregations ac-
knowledged Zinzendorf not only as a Lutheran minister,
but as the Superintendent of the Lutheran Church in
Pennsylvania, investing him for the time with the right of
installing and recalling ministers according to his judg-
ment.
But though he wished to be considered a Lutheran
minister only, he was a man of too liberal principles
to suffer himself to be restrained in serving his Lord
and Master in any way, and therefore he cheerfully pro-
claimed the Gospel of Christ, the crucified Redeemer of
the world, whenever and wherever opportunity offered.
He had no objection to preach frequently in the German
Reformed church in Germantown, though he carefully
abstained from interfering in any other way in the affairs
of the German Reformed Church, and when the desire
was expressed that John Bechtel, who had preached in
Germantown for many years, might be ordained, Zinzen-
dorf very properly left it to Bishop David Nitschmann to
perform this solemn act, which was done on Palm Sunday.
43 Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p. 830.
Il6 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
With the Reformed congregation in Philadelphia he
had, of course, no connection whatever, as their minister,
the Rev. Mr. Bohm, had become one of his most violent
opponents.
But there was yet another mixed congregation, that at
Oley, which consisted of Lutherans, Reformed and
Mennonites. Andrew Eschenbach was minister and
John Leinbach elder. It was resolved to build a new
church, John de Turk, a Mennonite, having presented
to this congregation a piece of ground for that purpose.
Gradually the peace of this congregation was disturbed.
Eschenbach, not satisfied with a loo--buildincr desired a
large two-story building like the clergy-house at Bethle-
hem, and not succeeding in his plans, manifested his
disappointment so plainly in his public discourses, that
he at last entirely lost the confidence of the congregation.
On this account Zinzendorf, as President of the Penn-
sylvania Synod which had recognized this congregation,
considered it expedient to recall Bro. Eschenbach,44 and
proposed Henry Antes as minister in his stead.
The various sermons45 which Zinzendorf preached in
Pennsylvania, have been published in a separate volume,
and are a standing memorial of his activity among
Lutherans and German Reformed.
Concerning the manner and substance of his sermons
we find the following passage in a letter written " to his
brethren among different people," May 28, 174246:
"Our method in proclaiming salvation is this: To point
out to every heart the loving Lamb, who died for us
44 Andrew Eschenbach returned to Bethlehem, served for a time as itiner-
ant preacher here and there, but the success of his ministry was gone. In
1745 he left Bethlehem and became a farmer.
45 Pennsylvanische Reden.
46 Zinzendorf's Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 38, et seq. Schreiben an seine
Briider unter allerlei Volk, wahrend der Pennsylvanische Synode verfasst.
Philadelphia, am \\ Maji, 1742.
ZINZENDORF AT BETHLEHEM. I 1 7
and, although He was the Son of God, offered Himself
for our sins, as his God, his Mediator between God and
man, his throne of grace, his example, his brother, his
preacher of the law, his comforter, his confessor, his
Saviour, in short, his all in all, by the preaching of His
blood, and of His love unto death, even the death of the
cross ; never, either in the discourse or in the argument,
to digress even for a quarter of an hour from the loving
Lamb ; to name no virtue, except in Him and from Him
and on His account ; to preach no commandment except
faith in Him ; no other justification but that He atoned
for us; no other sanctification but the privilege to sin
no more; no other happiness but to be near Him,
to think of Him and do His pleasure ; no other self-
denial but to be deprived of Him and His blessings ; no
other calamity but to displease Him; no other life but in
Him."
This method of referring everything to Christ and of
regarding Him as all in all, made Zinzendorf s sermons
very powerful, impressive and effective, and many could
be pointed out in later years, who traced their first
impressions of divine truth to one or the other of these
animated Gospel discourses.
9. ZINZENDORF AT BETHLEHEM.
Count Zinzendorf had been in Pennsylvania more
than six months, without bestowing any special attention
to the small Moravian colony at Bethlehem. His mind, as
well as his time, was fully occupied with that kind of
activity for the Kingdom of Christ, which he found at the
Pennsylvania Synods and as Lutheran pastor in Phila-
delphia. Moreover, his extensive correspondence and
voluminous writings in pamphlets and newspapers, forced
upon him by his opponents, demanded not a little part of
Il8 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
his time and labor ; hence he actually had no leisure to
attend to the affairs of the infant colony at Bethlehem ;
and, in truth, there was as yet no occasion to pay a
longer visit there. The number of colonists was very
small, and as each Synod was attended by some of their
number, whilst others were visiting here and there in the
country, the building of the "house of the pilgrims" on
the Lehigh proceeded very slowly, and when Father
Nitschmann demanded more assistance, he was told
that the spiritual work must be attended to first.47
After the close of the seventh Synod, however, which
also for a time closed the home-mission labors of
Brother Ludwig, and after the " Sea Congregation " had
arrived, the time was at hand when, either in Bethlehem
or elsewhere, a more definite arrangement had to be made
for the organization of the first Moravian congregation
in America, and for a while Zinzendorf turned his whole
attention to this matter.
After the celebration of the festival of Pentecost, June
17,48 (we read in the Diary of Bethlehem, which Brother
George Neisser commenced on that day.) thirty-five of
the European Brethren and Sisters left Germantown and
marched on foot by way of Skippack, Falkner Swamp
and the Great Swamp to Bethlehem. On account of the
great heat they did not reach the settlement before the
fourth day, June 21,49 when they were welcomed in a
love-feast.
On Sunday, June 24, Brother Andrew Eschenbach
preached in the morning, and in the afternoon the first
47 Es wurde uber den Mangel an leiblichen Arbeitern vor Bethlehem und
Nazareth, nun Nitschmann nach [St.] Thomas <,nenge, geklaget ; und von
Bruder Ludewig zur antwort gegeben, es moge lieber noch ein jahr brache
liegen, und das brodt gekaufft werden ; die Seelen-saaten im Lande giengen
vor. — Authentische Relation, p. 97.
48 According to Old Style five weeks later than according to New Style.
49 Now hardly a two hours' ride by railroad.
ZINZENDORF AT BETHLEHEM. 119
church-council was held, which in this case, there
being no children among the emigrants, was a delibera-
tive meeting of all the members of the Church present
at that time. In this council two very important
resolutions were passed, which in a manner decided the
character of this congregation for main' years to come.
The first was "to observe as a day of rest not only
Sunday — the da)- of the Lord, but also Saturday, the
Jewish Sabbath," partly in order to avoid giving offense
to the Seventh Day Baptists at Ephrata, partly on account
of the Indians and missionary labors among them, as not
a few at that time supposed that the Indians might be
descendants of the ten tribes of Israel which had been
led into the Assyrian captivity.
The second resolution was " to divide this church
into two parts, the home-church, (Hausgemeine) and
the church of pilgrims, ( Pilgergemeine)," with the
intention that the former should principally attend to
the work of the general housekeepi ng, whilst the latter
should devote its time and strength to spiritual labor
throughout the country.
According to this arrangement the church at Beth-
lehem was solemnly organized, June 25, 1741, in an
evening-meeting kept by Zinzendorf, in which he ad-
dressed the congregation on the daily word: "Strong
is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a
rock," Num. 24 : 21. Ever since 1752, this day has
been annually celebrated as the church-festival of Beth-
lehem.
To the congregation of pilgrims belonged Abraham
Meinnng, [ohn Brucker, Adolph Meyer, A. Eschenbach,
Anthony Seiffert, C. H. Ranch, \Y. Zander, John Hagen,
J. C. Pyrlffius, David Bruce, Nathanael Seidel, George
Neisser, Jacob Lischy, Christian Frederick Post, Leon-
hard Schnell, Philip Meurer, John Bohner and John
I 20 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
Reinhard Ronner, all of whom were employed in
various ways in the service of the Church, either in
Pennsylvania or on missionary stations. There were
some among those who were reckoned at first to the
home-church who later entered the missionary or minis-
terial service, e. g„ Joachim Senseman, David Zeisberger,
and Paul Daniel Bryzelius, a Swede, who had studied at
Upsala. Of the English brethren who subsequently
arrived in Bethlehem in company with Peter Bohler,
the following ought to be mentioned here, as having
soon after entered the service of the Church : Owen Rice,
Thomas Yarrell, Joseph Powel, Joseph Shaw and Hector
Gambold.
From its very commencement, the whole organiza-
tion of the church at Bethlehem according to this plan
was a very peculiar one. It might be called an econ-
omy of pilgrims, a missionary family on a grand scale ;
or it might appear to some as a socialistic commu-
nity directed by some secret power ; and there were,
no doubt, many who were utterly at a loss what to make
of this colony, so utterly different from any other in the
country. And in truth it was a strange mixture ; from
one point of view, a colony in its incipient stage of
gradual growth, expansion and development only ; but
at the same time a fully organized church, ruled and
directed by men of no ordinary powers. Whilst some
were working on, steadily building houses, clearing
lands, or making roads, others were going and coming,
and strangers who visited Bethlehem — and their number
was considerable — received very different impressions,
and accordingly spread very different reports concerning
"these Moravians and their outlandish ways." Though
many of these reports, no doubt, were not in accordance
with the real state of the case, still many misconceptions
were excusable, especially in the early period, when all
ZINZENDORF AT BETHLEHEM. 121
arrangements for the social and religfious life of the in-
habitants of Bethlehem were as yet unstable and subject
to constant changes. This was especially the case as
long as Count Zinzendorf was personally present, for
his inventive genius constantly proposed new plans, or
modifications and alterations of those already adopted.
Hence it is extremely difficult to sketch a faithful picture
of the early days of the Moravian mother-church in
America, without transcribing almost literally the Diary
of the Church. We trust, however, that the following
condensed extracts will give some idea of the state of
affairs during Zinzendorf's visit in Bethlehem.
On Sunday morning the first meeting, after the daily
morning prayers, was generally a church-council in
which all the external and internal affairs of the
Church were fully and fraternally discussed. Then
followed German preaching, kept by Zinzendorf, Peter
Bohler, Bishop Nitschmann, Anthony Seiffert and others.
In the afternoon there was English preaching, or Bible
lectures, or private meetings for the different choirs or
classes of the congregation, for which services the church
of the pilgrims afforded a great variety of speakers.
Whenever he was present, Count Zinzendorf was con-
sidered the ordinary or pastor of the congregation, and
during his absence and after his return to Europe, Bro.
Peter Bohler held this first and most important office
until Bishop Spangenberg arrived. But besides their
pastor the congregation had, like the early congregation
in Herrnhut in 1727, a spiritual elder. Anthony Seiffert
held this office for a time, being publicly confirmed in
it l>v Zinzendorf, fuly 9, and after him Andrew Esch
enbach. There were besides vice-elders and eldresses
for the different choirs.
In a church-council on July 15, ten brethren were
nominated as "fishermen" 1 Matt. 4: [8, ig) and the
122 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
places pointed out in which to cast out the net of the
Gospel. After an absence of five weeks they returned,
made their reports to the congregation, and were sent
out agfain, with the distinct direction, not to interfere
with the labors of any servant of Christ and to avoid all
useless disputes.
On November 26 we find the following quaint notice:
" To-day the wheel ran out," i. e., one of those four
brethren and sisters who for the time formed the
" Pennsylvania wagon," (consisting of one married and
one single brother, one married and one single sister)
— the idea being taken from Ezekiel.
In July a regular mail service was arranged by the
brethren for their own use, to expedite letters, diaries
and reports between Bethlehem and Philadelphia, prob-
ably the first arrangement of this kind for the interior
parts of Pennsylvania. The first postmasters were :
Bro. Pyrl?eus in Philadelphia, and George Neisser in
Bethlehem. The letter carriers were: Abraham Btihn-
inger, Andrew, the negro, Christian Werner and George
Schneider; their resting-places being in Philadelphia at
John Stephen Benezet's, and in Falkner Swamp at
Brother Holstein's. They left Bethlehem every Monday
morning, walked as far as Falkner Swamp ; reached
Germantown on Tuesday night ; went on Wednesday
morning to Philadelphia, and returned again to German-
town ; on Thursday back again to Holstein's, and on
Friday returned to Bethlehem. Verily, our ancestors
were great pedestrians. After a time Henry Antes
provided them with horses for this mail service.
According to an arrangement adopted at Herrnhut in
1727, some brethren and sisters were appointed as
hourly intercessors,50 others as watchmen for the night ;
others as attendants on the sick ; and as all these services
5" Memorial Days of the Renewed Church of the Brethren, p. 131, et. seq.
ZINZENDORF AT BETHLEHEM. I 23
were gratuitous, these various offices often changed
among the members of the congregation.
Meanwhile old Father Nitschmann superintended the
outward affairs of the colony and himself helped faithfully
in the erection of houses and barns, assisted by young
and old, not only 1)>' the members of the home-church
but also by the brethren whose main calling was to pro-
claim the Gospel of salvation to their destitute neighbors.
Whenever one or the other of these "pilgrims" or
"fishermen" returned to Bethlehem for a day or two,
he would not idle away his time, but cheerfully assisted
in burning bricks, in making fence rails, or mending his
own shoes. All were cheerful and happy, although their
fare was at times very scant, and the labor and toil
were severe.
From all parts of the country there constantly arrived
visitors who wished to see this colony, which by these
means became known far and near. To accommodate
them, without interfering with daily avocations, a
" Fremdenstube." — a room for visitors and strangers —
was devoted to this purpose. Among the: rest a visit of
ten Mennonites is mentioned in October, and in No-
vember several of the Siebentager from Ephrata came
to spy out the land. Among these visitors were some
who came for curiosity's sake merely and never returned
again ; but others frequently repeated their visits, and,
at last, applied to be received as members of this con-
gregation.
( )n December 22 thirteen persons, mostly from Oley
(John and Frederick Leinbach, and others), were sol-
emnly received into the Church, and their number was
farther increased on December 29, by the admission of
seventeen persons to church-membership, partly from
the neighborhood and partly from Philadelphia. Among
these we mention especially Sebastian Knauss and Jacob
124 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
Ehrenhard, the fathers and founders of the Emmaus
congregation. And probably the number would have
increased still faster, if Count Zinzendorf had not warned
his brethren repeatedly, not to be too hasty with the
reception and admission of new members ; nay, he
even required that brethren and sisters who came from
European congregations should undergo a certain time
of probation before being admitted to all the rights and
privileges of full membership in the Church in this coun-
try. "Not to proselyte, but to evangelize," had always
been his motto.
Among the brethren and sisters who had come from
Europe in June, there were some fifteen or twenty from
England. These were sent to the Nazareth lands in
July, with the intention of forming the nucleus of an
English congregation to be collected there, of which
David Bruce was to be the Elder and John Hagen
the Warden. Zinzendorf visited there in July and wrote
to the congregation of Bethlehem, July 27 :
"Dear Brethren: — Do, I entreat you, nurse and
care faithfully, both bodily and spiritually, for your Sister
Nazareth, upon whose door I have written: 'We have
nothing to do but to be happy.' Adopt bold measures
to promote their building-up and everything else to their
best advantage, even if it should be to your own disad-
vantage. Never say No to anything that they may
demand. The Saviour will help you and enable you to
assist liberally.
"Your faithful and happy foster-son,
LUDWIG JOHANAN."
Soon, however, the brethren became convinced that
it would be impracticable to adopt any national dis-
tinction for the congregations at Bethlehem and Nazareth,
and hence it was resolved (September 10) to take
measures to make Nazareth a "place-congregation,"
ZINZENDORFS JOURNEYS TO THE INDIANS. 125
according to the model of the European congregations,
though this plan was not carried into effect until 1772.
Meanwhile the English brethren were recalled and
removed in October, mostly to Philadelphia. The two
log-houses in the woods at Nazareth were occupied
for the Winter by M. Seybold, who removed thither with
his wife on October 16. It was necessary that some one
should live there on account of the Indians, who would
not give up their claim to the land. In December, how-
ever, an agreement was made with them," upon
which they peaceably relinquished their claim, and the
Brethren resolved, though the full value of the land had
been paid, to give to the Indians, as soon as they should
have permanently settled elsewhere, the same amount
as a present which they had demanded as the price oi
the land ; thus proving by deeds as well as by words
that they were friends of the redmen of the forest.
IO. ZINZENDORF'S JOURNEYS TO THE INDIANS.
Hardly had the most necessary arrangements been
made for the temporal and spiritual organization of the
Moravian colonies at Bethlehem and Nazareth, when
Count Zinzendorf again set out to visit the Indians, in order
to convince himself, from personal observations on the
spot, how far his brethren could become useful to them.
From July 24 to November 8, he successively under-
took three journeys to the Indians, the first having for its
object the Delaware's within the borders of the Province;
the second the Mohicans in the Province of New York,
and the third the Shawanese in the Indian Country.
Without entering into any details, we will merely
sketch52 the route of these wanderings, which as far as
51 Budingische Sammlungen, II, p. 933.
5JFor a full account, see Loskiel's History of the Mission among the
Indians, II, pp. 24-33.
126 THE BRETHREN'S C< )NCREGATIONS.
the Indians were concerned, did not lead to any great
results, though they testify to the zeal of Count Zinzen-
dorf in promoting the Kingdom of Christ to the utmost
of his power.
On July 24 Count Zinzendorf set out from Bethlehem
for his first Indian journey, accompanied by his daughter,
Beniena, and eleven brethren, Eschenbach, Zander,
Lischy, and others. Having visited Patemi53 and other
Indians, who were yet living on the Nazareth lands, they
found beyond the Blue Mountains a larger Indian village,
Meniologameka, which afterwards for a time became a
flourishing missionary station of the Brethren. Without
returning again to Bethlehem, they rode across the
country to Maguntsche (now Emmaus) and thence to
Allemangel (now Lynn Township, Lehigh County),
where Zinzendorf became acquainted with some piously
inclined German settlers, who afterwards became the
pillars of Moravian country congregations.
Toiling on through forests and through swamps, and
crossing hills on roads which now would hardly receive
that name, and having forded the Schuylkill,54 they at
last reached the house of Conrad Weiser, at Tulpehocken,
53Patemy or Tatemy (Moses) owned a tract of three hundred acres, bought
from the Proprietors, occupying the site of Stockertown, not far from
Friedensthal."
54 August 1. On the Schuylkill:
" Hier schrieb ich einen Brief,
Als alles um mich schlief ;
In der finstern Wiisten
Sickihillehoken,
Wo wenig Vbglein nisten ;
Werd' ich doch kaum inn',
Dasz die Schuylkill rinn'
Ueber Nachbar Green." — Zinzendorf.
As I write, I vigils keep,
While all around me silent sleep,
In the forest, dark and deep,
Of Sickihillehocken, etc.
ZINZENDORF S JOURNEYS TO THE INDIAN'S. 1 2 7
where Zinzendorf had the satisfaction of meeting some
sachems or chiefs of the Six Nations, who invited him to
visit them in their own country, and as a token of their
good-will presented him with a fathom of wampum,
which afterwards became very useful to Bishop Spangen-
berg in his intercourse with these savages.
Having returned to Bethlehem on August 7, by way <>l
Philadelphia, Count Zinzendorf forthwith made prepara-
tions for his second Indian journey to the Mohicans at
Shecomeko, beyond the Hudson. His daughter Benigna,
Anna Nitschmann, Anthony Seiffert and Conrad YVeiser
accompanied him. After a fatiguing ride of six days over
mountains, through woods and swamps, they arrived
safely on August 16 at Brother Rauch's hut, and found a
cottage of bark prepared for their reception. During the
Count's abode at Shecomeko six converted Indians were
baptized and several useful regulations were introduced.
While returning to Bethlehem he had to experience an
instance of Puritanic intolerance which bordered on the
ridiculous. Resting on the Sabbath, near Hurley, some
people assembled near his tent, and tried to commence
a dispute with him, and finding him engaged in writing
and unwilling to listen, one of them, as a justice of the
peace, had him fined the next day, six shillings for
breaking the Sabbath!"
The third Indian journey to the Shawanese on the
Susquehanna beyond Wajomik56 was by far the most
dangerous and fatiguing. Brother Mack and his wife,
Peter Bohler, H. Leinbach, from Oley, and two baptized
Indians, accompanied the Count, who left Bethlehem on
September 2 1.
Conrad Weiser also went with them from Tulpehocken.
The Susquehanna not being navigable, they took the
---" Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 332.
56 Wajomik, Wajomic, and Waimoic were forms of the name Wyoming.
128 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
land road, through thick woods, low swamps, and over
unfrequented and steep mountains, and after much
fatigue arrived on September 25 in Shamokin, a populous
Indian town, where they had the pleasure of meeting the
friendly chief Shikellimus, whom Zinzendorf had seen at
Weiser's in August.
In another Indian village, Otstonwakin, which was
deserted a few years after, they met a French woman,
Madame Montour, who had married an Indian warrior,
and rested at her house for two clays. Bohler, Weiser
and the two Indians now turned back whilst Zin-
zendorf and his few companions ventured still farther
into the trackless wilderness,57 as far as Wajomik, where
57 Count Zinzendorf gave the following graphic description of this journey :
Wir dachten an die Hirtentreu'
Des Jesuah Jehovah,
In der betriibten Wiisteney
Mit Namen Skehandowa.
Des Zeltes erster Ruheplatz
Das waren Dorn und Disteln,
Der dritte ein verborg'ner Schatz.
Wo Blaseschlangen nisteln.
Der viert' ein unwegsame Spitz
Der Susquehanna Ouellen,
Der and're und der fiinfte Sitz,
Das waren gleiche Stellen.
Da sassen wir das erste Mai
Acht Tage, zu erfahren
Was unsers Lammes Hochzeitsaal
Zum Theil mag offenbaren.
*******
Allein das morderische Herz
Der wilden Schawanosen,
Verdrosz so wohl der Zeugenschmerz,
Als all' ihr Liebekosen.
Der Konig liebete uns zwar;
Alleine kam's zur Sache,
Wo uns urn Trost so bange war,
So that er wie der Drache.
ZINZENDORF S OPPONENTS. I 29
the wild Shawanese received diem rather suspiciously.
However, trusting in their Lord and Saviour, they ven-
tured to pitch their tent in the midst of this treacherous
tribe and remained twenty days among them. lint all their
endeavors to make them acquainted with the way of
salvation proved abortive, and the savages resolved at
last to murder these intruders. This, however, was
prevented by the providential arrival of Conrad Weiser
who, becoming uneasy at their long delay, had hastened
to seek them, and arrived just in time to discover and
prevent the execution of the murderous plan.
The return of the Count and his company to the cul-
tivated parts of Pennsylvania was very laborious and
even dangerous, on account of the late season of the
year and the great floods; but by the mercy of God
they all arrived safely at Bethlehem on November 8.
11. zinzendorf's opponents.
Tin: appearance of a German Count in Pennsylvania,
who came not as a common tourist, merely to see the
country, but as an ambassador of Christ ; who attended
and even conducted large meetings of the Germans ;
who held piublic and private meetings without number,
and never hesitated to give his opinion boldly and fear-
lessly— naturally not only attracted the attention of
everybody, but also provoked opposition and discussion
pro and con in the'public papers. To go into details and
to take part with either of the contending parties after
a lapse of more than a century, when these quarrels
have long ago been forgotten, would be useless and in-
judicious. On the other hand it does not appear advisa-
ble to omit all reference to these matters of history ;
since the effects of misrepresentations, even if made
one hundred and thirty-six years ago, occasionally mani-
I 30 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
fest themselves here and there, even at the present day
and, we apprehend, partly at least because for many
years this subject has not be'en touched upon by Mora-
vian writers.
Our Christian friends in the Lutheran, German
Reformed, Presbyterian and other churches, and all who
are friendly inclined to the Moravian Church, will no
doubt kindly bear in mind that what we are about to say
in strict accordance with the truth, merely stating histori-
cal facts, refers to a time passed long ago, and is not in-
tended to imply any reflections on the present relation
of the Moravian Church to other American sister-
churches, which is of the most friendly kind.
The first who opposed Zinzendorf, soon after his
arrival in this country, were the Separatists in and near
Germantown, who succeeded in entangling him in a
controversy which, both as to its contents and to its form,
was quite beneath the dignity of his social and religious
standing. They called him the beast of Revelation or
the false prophet, accused him of intemperance and
invented various stories which were printed in the
Pennsylvanische Geschieht-Sclireiber^ and went the round
of the German newspapers. Some even maintained
that Beniofnade Zinzendorf was not his daughter, but the
daughter of an officer in the navy, whom he had kid-
napped.59 Zinzendorf answered these newspaper articles
by several replies inserted in the Pennsylvania Gazette,
edited by Benjamin Franklin, as well as by separate
German pamphlets, and at last demanded, that his
slanderers should come forward and prove their asser-
tions, for which purpose he offerred to give them six or
58 Published in Germantown by Christopher Sauer.
59" William Tennent, minister at Philadelphia, preached from the pulpit in
New York, that Benigna, Countess of Zinzendorf, is not my daughter, but a
child I had taken from a lieutenant of a vessel; and everybody ask'd my
child, if it is so?" — Zinzendorf 's Letter to Lord Granville, May, 1753.
ZINZENDORF S OPPONENTS. I 3 I
eight months' time. This, however, as might have been
expected, was not done.
These mere personal attacks, which Zinzendorf ought
not to have noticed at all, were the towntalk for a short
time, but were, of course, soon forgotten in America,
though they diverted his opponents in Germany a little
longer. Hut it can not he denied that Zinzendorf, in his
zeal for the cause of the Redeemer, sometimes exceeded
the bounds of prudence and used expressions which
gave just cause lor complaint and afforded ample mate-
rials for malicious accusations on the part of his oppo-
nents, even ten years after."
Of greater consequence, however, was the controversy
with the leaders of Puritanism, the effects of which were
60 A great 111. my papers referring to this controversy taken from the
American papers, were published, in the Biidingische Sammlungen, of
which we mention the following :
" Anerbietungsschreiben an das ganze Land Pennsylvania." See
Pennsylvanischer GescAicAl-Schreider, No. 19, 1742. Philadelphia, Febru-
ary 1, 174.1. — Z. Vol. II. p. 851.
"Johann Heinrich Schonfelds Beschwerung liber gedachtes Schreiben."
— See Pennsylvanischer Gesckicht-Schreiber, No. 20. — Vol. II, p. 854.
"Brief an den Pennsylvanischen Gazettier." March 1 6, Old Style. See
Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 692. — Vol. II, p. 860.
" Antwort daraufvon J[acob] W[eiss]." Mertz 22. See Pennsylvania Ga-
sette. No. 693.— Vol. II, p. 862.
Zinzendorfs Letter to the Secretary of the Proprietors concerning this
Matter, in French; March 27. Vol. II, p. 864.
"Zinzendorfs Privat Erinnerung an Christoph Sauern, Johann H. Schon-
felden, Johannes Ecksteinen, Adam ( '.rubern, Theobald Enten und Consorten
in Germantown." Philadelphia, Marz 27, 1742. — Vol. II, p- 865.
" Zinzendorfs Brief an Kieter Fende und sein Iran. December 26, 1742.
— Biidingische Sammlungen, Vol. Ill, p. 101.
Letter of Zinzendorf to the Pennsylvania Government. November, 174}.
— Biidingische Sammlungen, III. p. 183.
Spangenbergs Darlegung richtiger Antwortcn auf mehr als drei Hundert
Beschuldigungen gegen den Ordinarium Fratrum, 1751. Apologetische Er-
klarung. Erstes Schreiben, p. 21.
It would be more than useless to repeat the harsh expressions used more
than a century ago. The curious in such matters may rind them in the
works quoted above.
I32 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
felt by the Moravian Brethren when the mere personal
quarrels of the Count had been forgotten.
Soon after his arrival in this country, Count Zinzen-
dorf had become acquainted with the Rev. Gilbert
Tennent, a friend of Whitefield, and had freely expressed
his views in condemnation of the Calvinistic doctrine of
reprobation. All the English ministers who held this
view were, thereupon and very naturally, arrayed against
him. Thus ensued a controversy, which was carried on
on both sides in terms by no means the most polite or
the most charitable.62
Tennent, S. Blair and other Presbyterian ministers
preached publicly against Zinzendorf and the "damnable
doctrines of the Moravians," calling them " locusts out
of the bottomless pit;" "foxes who spoil the vineyard
of the Lord;" "heretics which the devil has sent in these
last times to delude the earth,"63 etc.
The press also was used against Zinzendorf and
the Moravian Brethren, and "A Compendious Extract,
* * * * " published, in which Zinzendorf and his partici-
pation in the Pennsylvania Synods was severely criticised.
This pamphlet of more than thirty pages was answered
62 In the Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 308, the following letter is pre-
served, which was inserted in the Philadelphia papers, thus attracting the
attention of the English population to the German Count and his followers:
"mr. franklin: I have read in a Letter from Philadelphia, dated Jan.
13, 1 741, which is inserted in the Boston Gazette, No. 1042, that Count Zin-
zendorf has been in conference with Mr. Gilbert Tennent. I was surprised
by reading the 20. Errors which it is said Mr. Gilbert Tennent took down.
" The Count says in very serious terms that he never was in conference with
Mr. Gilbert. He remembers, that Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave him a Visit at
New Brunswick ; but, besides that the Count could not understand Mr.
Gilbert, because he spoke in such Latin as was very strange for a ( Jerman, and
that the Count himself could not find expressions which were plain enough
for Mr. Gilbert ; he had not a mind to confer with that Gentleman in such a
matter, being convinced by long experience, that he must not discourse with
any Presbyterian Reprobant, except in a Company of different Principles,"
63 Letter of Peter Bohler to S. Blair, March, 1743.
ZINZENDORF S l >PP< INENTS. I 33
in German by Zinzendorf's private secretary, John Jacob
Miiller."
About the same time George Neisser, school-master
in Bethlehem, answered another libel against the
"Herrnhuter" (the Moravians settled in the forks of the
Delaware) written by Ae Rev. |. Philip Bohm, German
Reformed pastor in Philadelphia.65 This Mr. Bohm,
confirmed in his office by the Classis of Amsterdam and
ordained on their order by the Dutch Reformed min-
isters of New York, had, by publishing a pastoral letter,
written against Zinzendorf by some ministers in Amster-
dam in 1735.'' proved plainly what position he would
take in reference to Count Zinzendorf.
Though he could not hinder Zinzendorf from preach-
ing in the log- meeting-house in which the Lutherans
and German Reformed of Philadelphia worshiped
alternately, yet the very correspondence67 into which
Zinzendorf entered on this account, not asking- his
permission, but merely inquiring whether he (Bohm) had
a right to hinder him (Zinzendorf) from preaching there,
created ill feeling, and Mr. Bohm in his answer gave
plainly to understand that he would work against Zin-
zendorf with might and main. However, as long as
Zinzendorf himself was in Philadelphia, Bohm refrained
from taking any decisive steps. But when he had left
on a journey to the Indians, an attempt was made to
-1 Extracts in the Biidingisqhe Sammlungen, II, p. 906.
Biidingische Sammlungen, II, p.
Biidingische Sammlungen, II, pp. 289-339. Vaterlicher Hirten-Brieff an
die bliihende Reformirte Gemeine in Amsterdam, zur Entdeckung von, und
Warnung gegen die gefahrliche [rrthiimer von denen Leuten welche unter
(1cm Nahmen der Herrnhuter bekannt sind. Geschrieben (lurch die Prei
und Aeltesten des Kirchen-Raths von Amsterdam, 1738.
67 Anfrage an den Reformirten Inspector der Hollandischen Conferentz in
Philadelphia, (January ,7S, I7J.\) und AntWOIl von Bohm, (January 8, 1742).
— Biidingische Sammlungen, III. pp. ^2-63.
134
exclude the Lutherans and their minister, the Rev. Mr.
Pyrlaeus, from the meeting-house. For this purpose, at
the suggestion of Mr. Bohm, a padlock was attached to the
door, under the pretense of keeping out the cattle. On
the next Sunday, when the Lutherans came at the usual
time and found the door locked, and the man who had
the key had absented himself, they forced the door open.
But hardly had Mr. Pyrlaeus commenced divine worship,
when a number of ruffians entered the meeting-house,
pulled him from the pulpit and kicked him into the street.
The whole congregation followed their pastor without
offering any resistance. Zinzendorf, however, having
heard of this scandalous affair at Tulpehocken, con-
sidered it his duty to interfere, and therefore went to
Philadelphia and entered the church, which was filled
with German Reformed and others to the exclusion of
the Lutherans, and boldly and fearlessly told them that
he would not suffer himself to be intimidated in his
Master's cause by any mob. The whole matter was then
referred to the court, which after long delay decided
favorably for Zinzendorf.68
Meanwhile the Reformed congregation kept pos-
session of the house, and Zinzendorf promised the
Lutherans to have another church built for them. But
before this plan could be executed the state of affairs in
the Lutheran congregation of Philadelphia was materially
changed by the arrival of the Rev. Henry Melchior
Muhlenberg.
Mr. Muhlenberg,69 born September 6, 171 1, at Ein-
beck, in Hanover, had studied theology in Gottingen,
and served for several years as superintendent of the
orphan-house at Hennersdorf, belonging to Henrietta,
08 Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 579; p. So and p. 91.
°9 Evangelical Review, October, 1851.
ZINZENDORF S OPPONENTS. [35
Baroness de Gersdorf, Zinzendorf's aunt, who supported
it from private means to the utmost of her ability.
When in 1741 want of means compelled retrench-
ment, Mr. Muhlenberg endeavored to assist in pecu
niary matters by raising collections.
This led him to Halle, where Prof. Franke told him
that a Lutheran minister had been urgently demanded
lor Pennsylvania by Dr. Ziegenhagen, of London.
Muhlenberg declared his willingness to go there, and
being satisfied with the offers and conditions made by
Dr. Ziegenhagen, left Hennersdorf in December, 1741,
and set sail from England for the New World in June,
1742. In September he arrived in Georgia, wrh«re he
wished to consult with Pastors Bolzius and Gronau
on the affairs of the Lutheran Church in the American
colonies. He reached Philadelphia November 25, long
after the disturbances mentioned above, with wdiich he
had nothing to do. Nevertheless Zinzendorf and his
brethren suspected70 at the time,- that jealousy against
him and his activity among the Lutherans in Pennsyl-
vania might at least have been one of the reasons, if
not the sole cause, why the Halle divines suddenly
became anxious to supply the wants of their Lutheran
: Spangenherg, who always expresses himself with great caution, ^ays in
his " Life of Zinzendorf," |>. [398: "Eskamein Lutherischer Prediger aus
Deutschland und fing an gegen den Grafen zu arbeiten. Denn da man
bis daherdie Lutheraner in Pennsilvanien, ihres wiederholten Bittens ohnge-
achtet, ohne Prediger gelassen hatte; so wurde man anderer Gedanken, als
der Graf, ihnen zum besten, si< h hergegeben hatte. Dadurch entstand nun
eine Trennung unter den Lutheranern. Der neuangekommene Prediger, ein
geschickter und begabter Mann, land bald eine Parthej , die sich zu ihm hiell ;
und diejenigen, an denen der Diensl des Grafen gesegnet gewesen war,
hiclten wieder iiber demselben. Der Erfolg war endlich dieser, dasz der
Graf fur gut (and, besagten Prediger und seine nachherigen Gehiilfen
machen zu lassen, weil es ihm genug war, wenn nur Christus geprediget
wurde." — See also Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 207; Biidingische Samm-
lungen, 111, p. <>\ .
I36 THE BRETHREN'S C< >N< iREGATIONS.
brethren in Pennsylvania, who had been neglected for
so many years. Hence it is not surprising that
Zinzendorf, being harassed and attacked on all sides,
and considering Mr. Muhlenberg an intruder, should
freely have expressed himself to that effect, though there
could not have been any personal enmity between them,
since, as far as known, they met only once, and that
shortly before Zinzendorf returned to Europe.71 On
the other hand, it is no less natural that Muhlenberg,
denying with all the Halle divines Zinzendorf s right to
act as a Lutheran pastor, made the best use of these
unhappy disturbances in the Lutheran congregation, to
gain 9. party for himself, which for a while was the
smaller fraction.
We are far from wishing to detract one jot or tittle
from the fair fame of Pastor Muhlenberg, whose inde-
fatigfable zeal and long; and arduous labors for his
Master's cause justly entitle him to the appellation of
Patriarch of the American Lutheran Church,72 but his-
torical truth compels us to repeat the fact, that Count
Zinzendorf was as Lutheran pastor actively engaged in
Philadelphia before he could possibly know anything of
Muhlenberg's intended arrival, and that the subsequent
divisions in this congregation were not brought about by
him.
While Muhlenberg built a meeting-house at New
Providence, the Moravian brethren erected a church on
Race Street for the use of those German Lutherans
who wished to continue in connection with the
Brethren at Bethlehem. The Lutheran St. Michael's
Church was consecrated April 5, 1745.
71 Zinzendorf 's Naturelle Reflexionen, p. 211.
72 Winebrenners's History of Denominations, p. 327.
ZINZENDORFS "PENNSYLVANIA TESTAMENT. 1 37
12. ZINZENDORF'S " PENNSYLVANIA TESTAMENT."
RETURN TO EUROPE.
On his return to Bethlehem from his third Indian jour-
ney, in November, i 742, Count Zinzendorf found various
letters and reports from the European congregations,
in reference to the undertakings of his fellow-laborers
there, which deeply affected and even irritated him.
The bishops and ministers of the Church, making use of
the favorable circumstances of the times, had obtained
several concessions from the Government for the establish-
ment of new congregations, without consulting the Count
and in opposition to his well-known views. Zinzendorf
not only protested in writing, but resolved to return as
soon as possible, and to use all his influence to readjust
those matters in which his brethren, in his judgment,
had acted too hastily. But there was yet a great deal to
be arranged in this country, and he was detained two
months longer. On November 13 a "Congregation
Day" was held, for the purpose of communicating in
public meetings the last news received from the Euro-
pean congregations; two brethren were also ordained as
ministers, viz., Valentine Lohans, missionary for St.
Thomas, and John Martin Mack, Indian missionary ;
three traveling ministers, Bryzelius, Kohn, and Schnell,
received their commissions, and several brethren and
sisters, lately arrived from Europe, were received as
members of the Bethlehem congregation.
On November 14, the Lord's Supper was admin-
istered, and on November 15 resolutions were passed
and plans adopted for the furtherance of the work of
the Lord in this country by the "Pilgrim's Wheel"
(Pilgerrad) or "Pennsylvania wagon," the traveling
ministers, "the fishers" and other laborers.
In the beginning of December Count Zinzendorf, ac-
companied by Anna Nitschmann and Andrew Eschm
I38 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
bach, once more visited his friends and acquaintances in
Maguntsche, Oley, Tulpehocken, Conestoga, Heidelberg,
and Lancaster, returning to Bethlehem on December 12,
after he had preached seventeen times at different places.
The rest of the month he spent at Bethlehem and Naza-
reth making his final arrangements.
On December 31, 1742, Zinzendorf and his company
of twenty-one persons took leave of the Bethlehem
congregation in a general love-feast, and departed to
Philadelphia. Having organized an English congrega-
tion here, he once more assembled some of his fellow-
laborers in a deliberative meeting on "the Ridge" near
Philadelphia, January 7, 1743, of which, however, no
minutes have been preserved, and on January 9 de-
livered a valedictory address in John Stephen Benezet's
house, which he used to call his "Pennsylvania Testa-
ment."73 This is a long and very important document,
containing his views and ideas in reference to the activity
of the Brethren in America, the "Church of God in the
Spirit" and the "Church of Pilgrims" at Bethlehem.
"Of two truths," he says, "I am fully convinced in my
heart. The first is this : that America as well as Europe
must be clipped into the blood of Christ; but — and
this is the second — America must be treated in quite a
different manner from Europe, for to stretch both over
the same last, would spoil everything in the Saviour's
cause.
"You know that we have commenced here with the
Church of God in the Spirit. This is a great advantage
which America has over Europe. It is certainly a great
thine, that we could commence thus. And if we in
future also watch over it, that the Church of God in the
Spirit may remain our abiding-place, then we are on the
right track. In Europe, on the other hand, the Moravian
re Biidingische Sammlungen, III, pp. 188-252.
BETHLEHEM AND NAZARETH. 1743-I744. 1 39
Church is that house in which the Saviour dwells with
His people, and in which He directs His affairs and dis-
poses of His servants with absolute power. But here
the Church of God in the Spirit is the factotum, and not
the Moravian Church."
These remarks contain important truths, but it seems
that not only his fellow-laborers, but Zinzendorf himself
forgot in 1755 what he had said in 1743, that America
ought not to be treated in the same manner as Europe;
for at the latter date European institutions were intro-
duced which were not adapted to the American spirit
and, though well meant, proved, in the end, detrimental
to the cause of the Saviour.
On January 11, 1743 (December 31, Old Style), Zin-
zendorf concluded his labors in America with a public
sermon in Philadelphia on Matt. 14:7: "She hath done
what she could," immediately after which he departed to
New York, whence he sailed on January 20, and reached
Dover, England, February 28.
13. BETHLEHEM AND NAZARETH. 1743-1744.
PETER BOHLER.
Shortly before his departure for Europe, Count
Zinzendorf had made the following- interimistic arrange-
ments until Bro. Spangenberg should arrive, to whom
he wished to entrust the whole management of the
work of the Brethren in America: — Bro. Peter Bohler,74
now for the second time in America, was appointed Vice-
Inspector of the Lutheran Church in America and
Syndic of the Pennsylvania Synod, and also ordinary or
pastor of the church at Bethlehem; and was to be
assisted by Anthony SeyHert, Vice-Elder of the congre-
■ Peter Bohler, recalled to Europe in 1 741 . had spent nearly a year in
England, mostly in Yorkshire. On February 20, 1742, he married Sister
Elizabeth Hopson, in London, Spangenberg performing the ceremony.
I40 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
gation at Bethlehem, and Bishop David Nitschmann,
Superintendent of the Indian Mission.
Bro. Bohler accompanied Zinzendorf to New York,
and remained there, according to his direction, about
a month, in order to preach the Saviour to the friends
of the Brethren. He did so faithfully, but very soon his
daily sermons attracted not only attention but also
opposition on the part of the Presbyterian clergy. At
their instigation Bro. Bohler was ordered to make his
appearance before the Mayor and six Aldermen, January
31, who came to the wise conclusion, that he was a
papist ! and thereupon ordered him to leave the city
forthwith. He protested, both orally and in writing,
against these unjust proceedings, but without effect, and
therefore returned to Bethlehem about the middle of
February.
In connection with this instance of Presbyterian in-
tolerance, a correspondence of Peter Bohler with S.
Blair, minister in Londonderry, Chester County, Pa.,
must be mentioned here, in which a conference was
proposed by the Presbyterians between some of their
preachers on the one side, and some Moravian brethren
on the other, to meet March 30, at Mr. Howard's house
in Philadelphia, for the purpose of discussing the doc-
trine of the Moravians. Though Bohler had neither
time nor inclination for such controversies, he declared
his willingness at any time to meet Mr. William Tennent,
as the most moderate of these Presbyterian opponents.
Such a conference as proposed by the Presbyterian
ministers, regarding the doctrine and the social arrange-
ments of the Moravian brethren, seemed superfluous to
the latter. They were conscious of the rectitude of
their intentions ; they were ready to receive and entertain
visiting strangers and to give them a full account of their
doings, of their escape from the land of popery, of their
BETHLEHEM AND NAZARETH. 1743-1744. 141
sufferings for Christ's sake, of their missionary under-
takings, of their connection with Count Zinzendorf, of
their doctrine, and of their ecclesiastical and social
arrangements. Bethlehem being settled by German
emigrants, the German language was, of course, used
exclusively, and hence those who knew only the English
language would he apt to misapprehend and misconstrue
many things. But were the Brethren to be blamed for this?
Besides, there were the public Synods, open for all
servants of Christ ; for it was the wish and desire; of
Count Zinzendorf that they might be continued as
General Pennsylvania Synods of all denominations.
Any Presbyterian minister might attend them and
express his views and opinions as freely as the German
Reformed, the Lutheran, or the Moravian Brethren, but
as the majority of the delegates were Germans, their lan-
ouaore, of course, was used.
In 1743 four Synods were held, generally lasting two
days, Peter Bohler presiding, which, however, are of
less general interest than those of 1742, in which Zin-
zendorf presided, and the subsequent ones under Span-
genberg's direction. It will, therefore, suffice to mention
them in only a few words.
The first was held in Philadelphia in March. The
English congregation established there requested to be
acknowledged as such by the Church of God in the
Spirit, that is, by the General Pennsylvania Synod. In
consequence of this recognition there were now two
congregations in Philadelphia in connection with the
Brethren at Bethlehem, neither of which was as yet a
Moravian congregation. The one was the German
Lutheran congregation on Race Street, attended to by a
Lutheran brother from Bethlehem and separate from the
German Lutheran congregation under Pastor Muhlen-
berg; the other was this English congregation with
I42 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
laborers from Bethlehem, under the superintendence of
the General Synod. These were the elements from
which the Moravian congregation of Philadelphia was
formed in 1749.
The second Synod of 1743 was held in June at Miihl-
bach (Mill Creek, Berks County), not far from Tulpe-
hocken, and a congregation "without a name," that is,
undenominational, not in connection with any denomina-
tion but under the superintendence of the General
Synod, was organized there.
The third Synod, held at Bethlehem in September,
was occupied with reading and discussing a pamphlet
written against the Moravians by the Siebentager at
Ephrata.
In December a fourth Synod was held at Philadelphia,
in which the latest reports from the Moravian congre-
gations in Europe were communicated.
In 1 744 there were two General Synods, one at Oley
in March, and the other at Heidelberg in November.
At the former George Nicke, pastor-elect of the
Lutheran church at Tulpehocken was ordained by
Peter Bohler, as the Lutheran superintendent. Peter
Bohler was not yet a Bishop of the Moravian Church,
and consequently this ordination must be viewed as a
bona fide Lutheran ordination.
At the latter the new meeting-house at Heidelberg was
solemnly dedicated to the service of the Triune God.
Besides these Synods there were also other public
meetings, in which the Moravian element was more
predominant, especially the annual "great love-feast" at
Philadelphia. The first meeting of this kind was held
in May, 1743, and lasted two days. More than two
hundred persons of different denominations and lan-
guages were present. Lutherans, Reformed, Tunkers,
and Moravian brethren (or according to their nationali-
BOHLER S ACTIVITY, I 744. I 43
ties, emigrants from Moravia, Germany, Sweden, Eng-
land, and native Indians) after a public sermon, partook
in fraternal harmony of a love-feast, consisting of
bread, meat and beer, whilst letters and reports from
Europe and America were communicated. One of
these letters, from Spangenberg, urged the organization
of a society for the Furtherance of the Gospel. Peter
Bohler and Henry Antes were the principal speakers.
Such meetings, not of a deliberative nature but of
an exclusively devotional character, naturally served
to strengthen the bond of love between the members
of the Moravian Church and their friends in different
parts of the country, and above all increased their
love and devotion to their common Lord and Master.
But at the same time the antagonistic zeal of their
opponents was also augmented thereby, and it is not
surprising that the Presbyterians of these days took
offense at such meetings, which, as devotional exercises,
were perfectly unintelligible to the spirit of Puritanism.
Upon the whole, this was a time of universal excite-
ment either for or against the Brethren. Many among
the Lutherans and German Reformed, who had desired
and written for ministers of the Gospel to their friends
in Europe, and had waited in vain from year to year,
now joyfully embraced the offer made by the Brethren
at Bethlehem, to supply their spiritual wants, without
any compensation. Thus many congregations were
organized at the time and supplied with the means of
grace by the itinerant ministers sent from Bethlehem.
The most active of these itinerant ministers of the
Brethren was Jacob Lischy, a native of Switzerland.
1 laving accompanied Count Zinzendorf on his first
Indian journey within the borders of the Province of
Pennsylvania, he became acquainted with many <>i his
German Reformed brethren, and soon received a number
144 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
of vocations75 or calls from various parts, either to
organize new conoreofations or j-0 serve as minister for
those who for a longer or shorter period had been
destitute of Gospel privileges. Willing to serve his
countrymen to the utmost of his power, he accepted
these calls and preached alternately at eighteen different
places, among them Heidelberg, Berne, Mill Creek,
Warwick, Coventry, Donegal, and York.76 As his
evangelical sermons were gladly received by the people
and the number of his hearers increased everywhere,
opposition on the part of the enemies of the cross of
Christ soon manifested itself, and was augmented by
Pastor Bohm who, both in the public papers and in the
pulpit, condemned him and his doctrine. This induced
Lischy to convene a church council of the different
German Reformed churches, at Heidelberg, August 29,
t 743, which was attended by fifty elders and deacons,
besides by many lay members of twelve different
congregations. Many complaints were preferred against
him; he was called a Zinzendorfler (a follower of Zinzen-
dorf ) ; it was said that he had promised him to try to
gain over to his interest all the German Reformed ;
and his ordination was declared invalid. To refute
these charges, Lischy produced his certificate of ordina-
tion, and related candidly how he had become awakened
by the preaching of the Moravian Brethren in Switzer-
land, and showed that there was nothing in their doctrine
to which the German Reformed (who did not hold the
doctrine of Reprobation which was defended by the
Holland classis) could object.
All these German Reformed congregations, satisfied
with his defense, gave him renewed vocations, which he
75 Vocation to Coventry. Biidingische Sammlungen, III, p. 109.
76 Aufrichtige Relation vom Anfang der Reformirten Sache in Penn-
sylvanien, December, 1744," written by Lischy for Spangenberg.— Beth-
lehem Archives.
BOHLER S ACTIVITY, 1/44- , 1 45
had printed, in order to justify himself before the ene-
mies of the Brethren. Nevertheless, the Brethren at
Bethlehem did not fully approve of the manner in which
Lischy carried on the work of the Lord in these German
Reformed congregations, and a few years later it became
manifest that their fears had not been unfounded.
Besides Andrew Eschenbach, Bro. Leonhard Schnell
was at that time a very active and efficient itinerant
minister among- the Lutherans. The first awakenings
in Maguntsche (now Emmaus) were produced by his
preaching there in 1742. In November, 1 743," accom-
panied by Robert Hussey, he undertook a journey from
Bethlehem to Georgia, on foot, during which journey he
proclaimed the ( rospel in Virginia and North Carolina, in
many instances in places where there never before
had been any preaching. Here and there he heard
very strange reports concerning the Zinzendorflers,
which in part at least could be traced to either willful or
unintentional misrepresentations in the'letters of Gilbert
Tennent and Mr. Muhlenberg. Brownfield, Conrad
Fiihrer, and others, rejoiced at his arrival in Georgia.
Pastor Bolzius and many of his parishioners opposed
him openly, but still he found opportunity of preaching
the Saviour's love even among the enemies of the
Brethren. In April, 1744, they returned by sea to
Bethlehem.
A third itinerant minister to be mentioned here was
Paul Daniel Bryzelius, a native of Sweden, who had
studied at Upsala. The field of action assigned him was
among his countrymen in New [ersey, along the Dela-
ware, south of Philadelphia, where there had been no
regular pastor for some years. On January 13, 1743,"
Journal of Schnell and Hussey, of their journey to Georgia, November
6, 1743, to April 10, 1744.
78 Bryzelius' Report of his Labors .1111011- the Swedes. MS.. Bethlehem
Archives.
I46 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
Bryzelius (Pryzelius) left Bethlehem and traveled directly
to Provost Tranberg, at that time the only Swedish
pastor in the country, who received him very kindly.79
Having- candidly related the object of his visit, Tranberg
not only made no objections, but urgently invited him
to take charge of three Swedish and one German con-
gregation, on the Jersey shore of the Delaware. Bryze-
lius soon found kindred souls who received him joyfully
and invited him to preach among them.
On January 26, he did so for the first time in the
Swedish language, in the house of Joran Kyn, near
Maurice River. Soon after a small church was built in
this neighborhood, and Bryzelius received a regular call
as pastor, and accepted it. His second preaching-place
was in Cohansy, where a neglected German Lutheran
congregation gladly availed itself of his services in the
church near the so-called Glasshouse, or the Emmanuel
Church. Leonhard Schnell afterwards took charge of this
congregation until Pastor Muhlenberg's influence became
predominant. A third preaching-place was the Swedish
church at Penn's Neck, where Bryzelius served as minister
for upwards of a year, until Gabriel Falk, a deposed
Swedish minister, began disburbances. As occasional
preaching-stations the following are to be mentioned :
Wicacoa, Manathanim, Ammas' Land, Potomack and
Kalckenhucken ; but the principal station was the church
at Racoon, near which Bryzelius resided with his family,
after having received a regular call from thirty-three
members of the congregation. Here he was to all
intents and purposes the regularly installed pastor, and
his name outrht, therefore, not to be omitted in the list
of the Swedish ministers on the Delaware.
79 Evangelical Review, Vol. I., No. 2, The Swedish Churches on the
Delaware, by Prof. W. M. Reynolds.
BRYZELIUS AND TTIE SWEDES. 1 47
That the faithful ministration of Brother Bryzelius, and
especially the preaching of Christ and Him crucified,
was not without the blessing of the Lord, no one can
deny, who will attentively consider the circumstances
connected with some unpleasant affairs which at last
induced him to give up his charge. Nearly a year had
he performed all the pastoral functions, clear])' beloved
by the greater part of his congregation, when Magister
Naesman arrived from Sweden. His first public act was
on December 23, 1743, forcibly to enter the church at
Racoon, and to preach against Bryzelius. In his polem-
ical harangue he produced his diploma as Magister, and
maintained that Bryzelius could not be an orthodox
teacher without such a diploma. One of the people
exclaimed : "We do not believe this, for to-day we have
both seen and heard, that in spite of your bio- paper,
you are not sent by God, for you are angry and uncon-
verted, and tell lies." Another said : "We do not
want you, for we are afraid you are a son of old Falk,"
who, when his people could not answer his scriptural
questions, is said to have pulled them by the hair.
Magister Naesman became exceedingly angry, and
threatened publicly to excommunicate Bryzelius. The
latter did not answer, but looked at him in a friendly
way, whereupon one of his opponents exclaimed: "You
are a Satan, for you laugh in church," to which Bryzelius
replied: "But what are you, that you get angry in
church?" As might bo expected, the meeting dissolved
in great tumult, but the majority sided with Bryzelius.
On Christmas-day he went to the church as usual, but
found that it had been locked, probably at the instigation
of Naesman. The door was forcibly opened, and he
preached to a large congregation.
Two weeks after this, fifteen stout men, Swedes,
Germans and Irish, were ordered to guard the door,
148 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
one of whom even attacked Bryzelius, who found great
difficulty in prevailing upon his people to refrain from
resorting to violent measures. The consistory imme-
diately reported this disgraceful proceeding to the Gover-
nor, who ordered the fifteen men to be lodged in jail.
Bryzelius left for a time, visiting Pastor Nyberg at
Lancaster, and afterwards at Bethlehem. Upon his
return he found a warrant against him "as a common
breaker of the King's peace," because his sermons had
caused disturbances. On March 13, 1744, a constable,
with fear and trembling, took him prisoner and led him
to a tavern. The Swedish landlord was his bitter enemy,
because owing to his preaching, his traffic in ardent
spirits had been seriously diminished during the past
year. For formerly the Swedes had been accustomed
after sermons to frequent taverns, and to spend whole
nights in drinking and dancing, but since Bryzelius had
preached of the sufferings and death of Christ, many
had been awakened, and even those who would have
liked to stop at the tavern, were often ashamed to do so,
because the rest passed by. In this place he had to pass
the night, and he himself relates the following circum-
stances : "The wife of one of my accusers accidentally
came into the room, and when she saw me a prisoner,
she began to weep, and publicly affirmed, that I was
persecuted without' a cause, for she had felt that I
preached the truth. My adversaries, both men and
women, assembled, abusing and reviling me in the most
absurd manner. I remained silent. At last they became
ashamed, and would have set me free, had I promised
never to return; but I said: T shall not go away on
account of your persecutions ; you have cited me before
the judge, and to the judge will I go.' '
Judge Hingsman, of Gloucester, before whom Bryze-
lius had his first hearing, treated him very kindly, and
BRYZELIUS AMi Till: SWEDES. 1 49
soon perceiving how matters stood and that he was not
the disturber of the King's peace, but rather that his
adversaries were, cheerfully gave him permission to con-
tinue his ministerial service at Maurice River and Penn's
Neck until the next term of the Court, satisfied that his
mere verbal promise would be sufficient to insure his
appearance before the Court. And so it was. At the ap-
pointed time, on April 17, Bryzelius entered the court
house at Gloucester, unattended by any legal adviser
(although his adversaries had employed three lawyers
against him), trusting alone in Him who can bring to
naught the counsels ot the worldly wise.
His enemies insisted upon his being examined by
some ministers, of course, of their own selection. This
he refused, not acknowledging their jurisdiction over
him. As the grand jury found no bill against him, he
was dismissed the same day, with the friendly advice,
however, not to preach in the church at Racoon, until
the arbitration ordered by the Court had taken place.
The Society of Friends offered him a meeting-house,
in which he continued to preach before larger audiences
than ever, and with the manifest blessing of the Lord.
Many became awakened, and Magister Naesman, at a
later period, made an apology for what he had done.
Magister Naesman was not satisfied with having
shown his ill-will against Brother Bryzelius, but en-
deavored to array the whole Lutheran clergy against
the Moravian Brethren. For this purpose a meeting
was convened at the house of a Swedish merchant ot
Philadelphia, in May, 1744, which was attended by the
Swedish pastors Tranberg of Christina, Nyberg ol
Lancaster, Naesman of Wicacoa, and the ( ierman pastors
Muhlenberg and Wagner. \\<rr the question was
discussed "whether the Moravian Brethren should be
acknowledged to be in the same communion with them
I 50 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
according to the Augsburg Confession." This question
had been decided affirmatively in Germany again and
again, and, therefore, a negative decision of five Lutheran
ministers in America would not in the least have affected
the standing of the Moravian Church. But even here
the opponents of the Brethren could not have it all
their own way, for one of these five Lutheran pastors,
Laurentius Theophilus Nyberg, of Lancaster, unex-
pectedly stepped forth as a defender of the Brethren,
with whom at that time he had no further connection
except an acquaintance with his countryman Bryzelius.
But in Sweden already he had heard favorable reports
of the Moravian Brethren and Bishop Benzelius had
warned him to beware of the Hallensians, and hence the
proposed union of the .Swedish and German Lutheran
churches, defensive and offensive against the Moravians,
was not brought about.
While the itinerant ministers sent out from Bethlehem
and supported by the congregation there, were actively
engaged in making known the truth as it is in Christ
Jesus, the brethren at Bethlehem were not idle. Be-
sides some smaller buildings, the mill was finished in June
and the clergy-house, which already had to be enlarged,
was completed in August. In September, as many
brethren as could be spared from the framework went
to Nazareth to assist the masons, who had to be pro-
cured from Germantown, in finishing" the laree house
there, which task was accomplished in December, just
in time to accommodate a part of the brethren and
sisters lately arrived from Europe. This second "Sea
Congregation" landed at New York in December, 1743,
and consisted of one hundred and twenty persons.
Among these were thirty-three young couples who had
all been married in Herrnhaag on one day, May 27,
and were destined for Pennsylvania. The more promi-
THE SECOND "SKA CONGREGATION. I 5 I
nent among the newly arrived brethren who were after-
wards more or less engaged in the service of the
congregation were : Matthew Schropp, George Ohne-
berg, Matthew Reuz, John Wolfgang Michler, George
Nicke, Anton Wagner, and the English brethren, Richard
Utley, Jasper Payne and James Greening.
After having refreshed themselves at Bethlehem and
partaken of the Lord's Supper with the congregation
there, a part of these newcomers (among them twenty-
five young married couples) set out for Nazareth on Jan-
uary 2, 1744, the brethren walking ahead with axes and
cutting out a new road through the woods. Having
arrived there in the evening, they were welcomed by the
Brethren Peter Bohler, Anthony SeyfTert, Nathanael
Seidel, and Bishop Nitschmann, and the meeting-hall in
the "big house" was consecrated to the service of the
Triune God. Brother Adolph Meyer was the superin-
tendent of this colony, and Brother J. C. Franke his
assistant, especially in all spiritual matters. For the
present, at all communion services and special festival
days of the Church, the Nazareth brethren and sisters
went to Bethlehem, both congregations being considered
as one church.
In Bethlehem the choir of single brethren constantly
increased. Though twenty of the thirty-six single
brethren sent from Europe, had married by the
end of 1744, twenty-four young men from Oley,
Philadelphia, Staten Island, and other places, had in-
creased their ranks, and therefore a separate building
for them seemed indispensable. Brother Nathanael
Seidel, the Elder of the single brethren, laid the corner-
stone for the Brethren's House (now the Sisters' I [ouse)
on August S, 1744. Within sixteen weeks it was read)
for the reception of its inmates and was solemnly con-
secrated on December 6 by Bishop Spangenberg, who
152 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
had arrived in Bethlehem a few days before, accompa-
nied by his wife. Brother Abraham Rein eke and his wife,
and some other brethren and sisters.
Brother Spangenberg now came to Pennsylvania for
the second time and remained until October, 1749.
Since his return from Pennsylvania in 1739 he had been
employed in the service of the Church in various ways
in Germany and England, for some time acting as
steward of the great "church of pilgrims" in Marien-
born, where, on March 5, 1 740, he was married to the
widowed sister Eva Maria Immigf, late Zie«"elbauer.
In 1 74 1 he went to England, founded in London the
Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the
Heathen, assisted in the deliberations of the Synodal
Conference in September, took charge of the General
Diaconate, that is, the economical affairs of the whole
Church, sent several companies of pilgrims to Penn-
sylvania, organized congregations in London and York-
shire, held several important interviews with the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and in short, was indefatigable in
his service of the Church while he remained a pattern of
Christian humility and childlike simplicity for all men.8"
He now entered a new sphere of labor and became
the ruling spirit in the American Moravian Church
until 1748. Brother Bohler returned to Europe in
April, 1745.
80 Compare his famous hymn :
" Heil'ge Einfalt, Gnadenwunder !
Tiefste Weisheit, grosste Kraft !
Schonste Zierde, Liebeszunder !
Werk das Gott alleine schafft."
A very inadequate rendering of some of the thoughts is found in the
attempted translation : "When simplicity we cherish," etc.
CHAPTER III.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BRETHREN'S CHURCH
IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1744-174S.
I. SPANGENBERG, VICARIUS GENERAI.IS. 1/44-
It was one of the favorite ideas of Count Zinzendorf,
to endeavor to bring about a union of the Evangelical
Churches. His attention had already been directed
to this subject while a student at Halle and Witten-
berg, but though he did not succeed in his well-meant
attempts at bringing about a reconciliation of the
faculties of these two universities, and though he was in
later years constantly opposed and even slandered and
persecuted by man)- members of high standing, both in
the Lutheran and in the Reformed Church, still he
repeatedly turned his thoughts to this subject.
After his return from America and after his appoint-
ment as minister plenipotentiary of the Unity, as
expressed in the title, " Advocatus et Ordinarius
Fratrum," when his brethren had solemnly declared
"that henceforth nothing of any importance should be
undertaken in the external or internal arrangements ot
the Moravian congregations, without his consent," and
he had thus, de facto, become the head and ruler ol
the Church, he thought the time had come for the
realization of his favorite idea.
Looking at the different congregations of the Brethren
(Niesky, Gnadenberg, Gnadenfrei, Neusalz and Fulneck
were commenced at this time?) and the almost daily
154 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
increase in their membership from other denominations,
he found "in their totality," that is, in the Moravian
Church, as it now developed itself, "a realization of an
ancient idea of the Brethren, as expressed by the
Consensus Sendomiriensis" when in 1570 the Lutheran,
Reformed and Moravian Churches of Poland, by
common consent at a Synod in Sendomir, brought about
a temporary union of these three denominations. And
looking still farther back into the history of the Refor-
mation and examining the characteristic peculiarities,
whether of doctrine or church-o-overnment, as set forth
in the Church of the Bohemian Brethren, in the Lutheran
Church and in the Reformed Church, he found that what
others were wont to consider merely "marks of distinc-
tion and points of dispute," were really "successive
and distinct conceptions of one and the same gospel
truth and of the apostolic ideal of the Church as
portrayed in Holy Scripture" ; and that the apparent
divergence was due to the fact that parts of the whole
truth had become unduly prominent, by being urged
singly and without due reference to other parts which
were of equal necessity to a complete view. Herein he
acknowledged the direction of divine wisdom, and felt
convinced, that this must be so, from many declarations
of Holy Writ in reference to "the household of God"
(Eph. 2: 19-22), or "the preparatory education for
Christ" (Gal. 3 : 24). Regarding the Reformation as a
renewed instruction in righteousness (naidsia ev 61-
KaioGvvr\, 2 Tim. 3 : 16), the successive rise of the three
Evangelical Churches of the Continent of Europe was
considered by him as so many different modes of instruc-
tion [rpoitoi 7t aide las) for the perfecting of the saints,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till all should come
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man (Eph. 4 : 1 1-16).
SPANGENBERG, VICARIUS GENERALIS. 1 55
Meanwhile it became more and more his favorite idea,
(applying the rponoi rtaideias to the Moravian, Lutheran
and Reformed Churches), to look upon them theoretically
not as a separate organization, but as tropes (t/jottoi) or
branches of the One Evangelical Church ; and he
rejoiced to see a commencement of this Unity in the
Brethren's Church. Hence it was his sincere desire and
earnest endeavor, especially at the different Synods held
at Marienborn in 1743, 1744 and 1745, to induce his
brethren to accept his standpoint, in order to keep
them in intimate connection with the Evangelical Church,
and to counteract the Moravian spirit of independence.
He hoped that the time would come, when this idea
would be universally acknowledged as biblical, true and
also practicable for the whole Church.' For the present,
at least in German)-, he saw in the Brethren's Church
alone a field for the practical application of these ideas.
He, therefore, made a distinction between the members
of the strictly Moravian, of the Lutheran and of the
Reformed Tropus, each of which might retain the doc-
trinal preferences of his own Church, especially in
reference to the Lord's Supper, and thus join the Breth-
ren's Unit)' and enjoy her peculiarities of ritual
and constitution, without separating from his former
denomination. This idea was accepted and reinforced
by succeeding General Synods.
However, a farther application to the then existing
congregations, according to which some, tor example.
1 More than one hundred years Inter .1 < ommern emenl was made tow ards
the realization of these ideas by the German Kirchentag, which met at
Wittenberg, September 21-23, l,s45. '>> which an Evangelical Church
confederaey was to be established. This confederal \ was to contain (see
Resolution, 'i 3): "All those denominations which stand on the basis
of the confessions of the Reformation, namely, the Lutheran, Reformed,
United Evangelical and Herrnhut Brethren."
F. W. Kolbing, deputy on the part of the (Jnitas I'ratrum, declared that
the brethren, though not inclined to join a mere outward confederacy,
would acknowledge the idea of .1 spiritual union of all believers.
156 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
Herrnhut, were to be considered con ere rations of the
Lutheran Tropus, others (like Herrnhaag) as belonging
to the Reformed Tropus, could not be practically carried
out in Europe. In Pennsylvania, on the other hand, this
idea was apparently already being realized. The
Moravian, the Lutheran, the Reformed Churches were
as yet in the most incipient states of their existence ;
there was no distinct organization or connection of the
different congregations of one confession. By far the
greater part of the Lutheran and German Reformed
congregations of Pennsylvania, as well as the "Pilgrim
Church." at Bethlehem and the Moravian colony at
Nazareth, were joined under one General Synod, which,
as "the Church of God in the Spirit," had theoretically
an independent position, though practically it was
under the indirect influence of Count Zinzendorf.
Spangenberg was now sent to America, not only to super-
intend the affairs of the Bethlehem congregation and the
Moravian Missions among the Indians, but also to con-
tinue the work commenced by Count Zinzendorf during
the Pennsylvania Synods, and to be, as it were, the center
for the three united Churches. Therefore, at Herrnhaae,
on June 15, 1744, he was consecrated a Bishop, by
Bishops Zinzendorf and Frederick de Watteville. Under
the influence of the current mode of thought, it was
becoming the custom to consecrate Bishops for each
Tropus, as, for instance, Frederick de Watteville for the
Reformed Tropus, and John Langguth for the Lutheran
Tropus ; but Spangenberg's consecration was as Vicarius
Generalis Episcoporum in America (or Vicar General
of the three Tropoi) in puncto ordinationis. That is, he
received from the Unitas Fratrum ecclesiastical power
and authority to ordain, not only ministers of the
Moravian Church, but also Lutheran and Reformed
pastors. It must be noted, however, that this power
SPANGENBERG, VICARIUS GENERALIS. I 57
was not acknowledged by the Lutheran or Reformed
opponents of the Brethren's Church.
Besides this ecclesiastical office, Spangenberg held
another peculiar office which, however, referred only
to a certain time and to the peculiar situation of the
congregation at Bethlehem. According to a decision of
the London Conference of 1741, which was confirmed by
Lot, he was appointed Chief Elder for the " Church of
the Pilgrims" at Bethlehem and of all real Moravian
Brethren scattered over the; country. For though Leon-
hard Dober had resigned the office of General Elder of
the Church and the Brethren assembled at London
(September 16, 1741) had felt that no one could comply
with the requirements of this office but He who is the
Lord and Head of His Church ; though that which justly
may be considered the Magna Charta of our church-
government, that Christ, and He alone, is the General
Elder, the Head and Ruler of the Moravian Church,
had been published to the European congregations,
still Spangenberg, the Vicarius Generalis Episcoporum in
America, was — by an especial decision of the Lot — for
the time being appointed per Americam in Pres-
byterio Vicarius. That is, the Chief Eldership of Jesus,
though known and appreciated by the European
brethren and sisters, was for the present not to be
published in America. Strange as this may appear,
subsequent events fully justified this decision ; for
the promulgation of these ideas to people who had
never before had any connection with the Moravian
Church, and therefore could neither understand nor
appreciate them, might have done more harm than good.4
4 Even now, while we write, we are doubtful whether all our readers,
especially those not belonging to, or not knowing the Moravian Church,
will fully understand our meaning. But we refer them for further infor-
mation to historical documents, namely, the Memorial Days of the Renewed
Church of the Brethren, pp. 184-222. See also many of our hymns and
Crceger's Brethren's History, II, p. 62.
158 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
Spangenberg had a very faithful and efficient assist-
ant in his wife, Mary. She was one of the most extra-
ordinary women of the olden times, of lively tempera-
ment and great energy of character. Born in Dresden
in 1696 (February 25), she had married a Dr. Immig
and, on their becoming acquainted with Count Zinzen-
dorf, had gone to Herrnhut in 1727, where her husband
died the next year. She was one of the first female
elders of the congregation, and served for twelve
years as spiritual laboress of the widowed sisters, at
the same time assisting Brother Martin Dober in the
outward concerns of the congregation in Herrnhut.
She had too practical a mind ever to become senti-
mental ; was serious, faithful, sometimes rather severe
and imperious to those under her authority ; well versed
in domestic affairs, especially since she had had the charge
of the housekeeping* of the "pilgrim congregation"
at Marienborn, and was therefore peculiarly adapted to
direct the Bethlehem Economy. She was also an efficient
and tiuent speaker, at any time ready to keep a meeting
for the sisters. Generally esteemed, she was more
feared than beloved. She was usually called " the
Mother," and acted as such with great fidelity in Beth-
lehem until 1748. She died at Herrnhut in 1 75 1 .
2. SYNODS IN 1745.
Having landed at New York, Spangenberg first
visited the Indian Mission in Checomeko, where the
missionaries, harassed and persecuted by their English
neighbors, were not a little comforted by his judicious
counsels. He then proceeded to Bethlehem, where he
arrived on November 30, 1744, and at once entered
upon the discharge of his manifold official duties. The
amount of labor performed by Bishop Spangenberg is
SYNODS IN 1745. 159
almost incredible, for his activity was directed to a variety
oi subjects, each of which would seem sufficient for an
ordinary man.
1. Being sent to America by the Directing Board of
the Unity, which was centered at that time in Count
Zinzendorf and his immediate assistants, one of his
duties was to conduct the correspondence with his Euro-
pean brethren. This correspondence was very important
in the earl)' times of the Church, when the whole con-
nection of the work of the Brethren in America with
their European brethren depended thereon.
2. To him, as Chief Elder of the Moravian Brethren
in America, was committed the especial care of souls of
all the European colonists settled at Bethlehem and
Nazareth, and man)- a time, especially at communion
seasons, all the brethren and sisters of these settlements
had private religious conversation with him or his wife.
Thus he was the confidant and adviser of all, in the most
important concerns of the soul.
3. He was also the pater-familias (the* father of the
family), the chief steward of the rapidly extending
Family Economy of Bethlehem and Nazareth, ably and
faithfully assisted by his wife, especially in the first years
<>l great poverty. Well acquainted with the financial
affairs of the Church, and knowing what great expenses
had to be met in all the new settlements of the Brethren
in Europe, he was loath to demand funds from Europe,
and preferred to sacrifice his own private property,
without, however, demanding the same from any of his
brethren.
4. As superintendent of the missionary affairs of the
Brethren in America, he had not only to care, outwardly
and inwardly, for the Indian Missions, but the Mis
sions in the West Indies and Surinam were also, to a
great extent, committed to his charge. To procure the
l6o THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
necessary means, he proposed in August, 1745, the
establishment of a "Society for the Furtherance of the
Gospel," which was organized at a Synod in Lancaster
in December and existed for about ten years.
5. Lastly, the General Synods demanded a good deal
of his time and labor. He not only presided at these
meetings, but generally wrote the very compendious re-
ports of the proceedings.
Three Synods of this kind were held in 1745. The
first met in Frederick Township, probably in Henry
Antes' house, on March 21 and 22, and was attended
by one hundred and four members. Among these are
named three Elders of the Brethren's Church, namely,
Spangenberg, Anthony SeyrTert, and Nathanaet Seidel,
ten brethren who served as Lutheran pastors in different
congregations, three ministers of Reformed congrega-
tions, twelve wardens and trustees of congregations in
Bethlehem, Nazareth, Tulpehocken, Philadelphia, German-
town and Oley, eight missionaries, and others. Pastor
Laurence Theophilus Nyberg, sent by the Swedish Con-
sistory to the Lutheran congregation at Lancaster, at-
tended this Synod, and was received as a member of it.
The following passage contains the spirit of the report :
"As the Synod still adheres to its original plan of af-.
fording to all the children of God, though of different
denominations, an opportunity, not only of strengthening
the bond of Christian fellowship, but of assisting each
other in the mutual prosecution of the work of God in
this country ; therefore, be it resolved, in order to avoid
confusion and to prevent disorderly men from entering
into the ministry, that all the Lutheran and German Re-
formed ministers of the congregations in connection with
this Synod, be ordained only by Bishop Spangenberg."
The second Synod convened at Bethlehem, August
18 and 19. About two hundred members attended,
SYNODS IN 1/45- l6l
among: whom there were seventeen ordained ministers
of the Gospel, twenty-eight assistant ministers and
teachers, and nine missionaries. Anew it was resolved :
"We will continue to preach the Gospel at all those
places where the Saviour grants us open doors, and
we are ready to supply with ministers all such congre-
gations as desire teachers from us." Heidelberg, for
instance, was acknowledged as a free congregation
under the superintendence of the Synod, and was sup-
plied with ministers from Bethlehem.
The third Synod of this year assembled at Lancaster,
December 8 and 9. Henry Antes had preached here
in 1743, and quite lately the Swedish Lutheran pastor,
the Rev. Mr. Nyberg, had joined the Synod. But there
were not a few, especially among Pastor Nyberg' s
congregation, who opposed the work of the Brethren,
and who looked with very suspicious eyes on these
assemblies. On this very account it was important
to hold a Synod here and in as public a manner as pos-
sible. Justice Smout courteously offered the court-
house for the public sessions of the Synod, which,
however, so enraged some of the more bitter enemies
of the Brethren that they threw mud and stones at
Spangenberg, when he rose to preach on the word of
Jesus: "Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do." His perfect composure, his meek and friendly
deportment, but above all his fervent prayer for all the
enemies of the cross of Christ, made a deep and lasting
impression upon Justice Smout and many others. It is
related that one man in particular, who had filled his
pockets with stones to join in the premeditated attack,
was so much struck by the fervency of Brother Spangen-
berg's prayer, that he not only emptied his pockets, but
with tearful eyes confessed his evil intentions, and him-
self became a follower of the meek Lamb of God.
1 62 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
The one hundred and eighty members of the Synod
are thus classified : sixty-two Lutherans, seventy-seven
German Reformed, eleven English Reformed, six Mora-
vian Brethren, eleven Mennonites, seven Taufer (Tunker),
two Siebentager, one Separatist, three Indians, and one
without denominational name, that is, Spangenberg.
They had come from twenty-four different localities.
The following is the most important resolution: "We
will carefully guard against any one favoring the idea
that this or that denomination, this or that Church,
is the Church of Christ to which he must belong in
order to be saved ; for though we cheerfully acknowledge
the happiness of our times, in which the Saviour col-
lects His children into conorecjations here and there,
still we firmly believe that there are children of God
among the different denominations of various nations,
of whom but few may possibly be known to us."
This and many other similar passages prove plainly
that Spangenberg, evidently the master-mind of these
Synods, had firmly resolved to continue the work of
the Lord in Zinzendorf's liberal spirit, not suffering
himself to be bound and tied down by any outward
forms, but endeavoring to promote the welfare of his
fellow-men and to advance the Kingdom of Christ in
Pennsylvania by all and every means in his power.
Thus he went on in the strength of the Lord, actively
engaged one clay in the affairs of the Bethlehem Economy,
the next morning surprising the colonists at Nazareth at
their morning devotions, having walked thither before
breakfast. His wanderings frequently extended to
the scattered Christian settlers of the Province, or
even beyond its boundaries to the savages of the
wilderness. But wherever he went, whatever he did,
his sole aim and object was to win souls for Christ and
to promote the cause of His Kingdom.
BETHLEHEM — "THE CHURCH OF PILGRIMS." 163
3. BETHLEHEM THE "CHURCH OF PILGRIMS,"
i 744-1 745.
It would have been quite impossible for Brother
Spangenberg to accomplish all that was expected of
him, if the same courage, the same spirit of disinter-
ested devotion to the cause of the Lord, the same steady
endurance and persevering willingness amidst difficulties,
toil and embarrassments of various kinds had not
animated by far the greater part of the colonists, and
above all if there had not been willing" and implicit
obedience to their leader. This period, especially from
1744 to 1748, may, in truth, be called the heroic age of
our American Church. A careful perusal of the diaries,
journals and other papers, preserved in the Bethle-
hem Archives, proves abundantly that it was not love
of ease or the desire for the treasures of this world
that induced our ancestors to leave their own country,
and to settle in the wilds of Pennsylvania ; but that it
was their sincere and ardent desire to proclaim among
Christians and heathen the Saviour's love, and to com-
mend the cross of Christ, the saving power of which they
had experienced in their own hearts.
More especially was this the case with that part of the
Church at Bethlehem which constituted the "Church
of Pilgrims," and consisted of such only as had
voluntarily dedicated themselves to the service of the
Lord. Spangenberg remarks in one of his letters :
"When the congregation in Bethlehem heard the news
of the departure of our brethren in St. Thomas, all
burned with desire to be permitted to venture their
lives, and if I had called for volunteers to go to this
pestilential spot, twenty or thirty brethren or sisters
would at once have been willing to go."
This spirit of devotion, this willingness to be spent in
the service of the Lord, this readiness to undertake the
164 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
most arduous enterprises, almost at a moment's warn-
ing, was nourished and strengthened not only by their
regular daily devotions at morning, noon and evening,
but also by their peculiar manner of social life. The
whole Church at Bethlehem, which numbered in 1 747
about three hundred persons, was considered and treated
as one family, eating at one common table. Partly from
necessity, for want of house-room, partly from religious
conviction, they were separated and divided into the
different rooms of the clergy-house, and afterwards
into different houses, according to their ages and sexes,
which separation of the sexes and classification into
different "choirs" was carried out to a much greater
extent than in any of the European congregations.
While in most of the settlements of the Brethren in
Germany and England, separate houses (choir-houses)
were erected for the single brethren, single sisters and
widows, in Pennsylvania, from 1 744 to 1 748, all the
single brethren (numbering in 1 747 with the older boys
more than eighty souls) were assembled at Bethlehem
under the spiritual superintendence of Nathanael Seidel
and Gottlieb Pezold, while the single sisters (twenty in
number) found their temporary abode at Nazareth. In
1 748, after the single brethren had built a larger house
for themselves — the present middle building of the
Young Ladies' Seminary — the single sisters took perma-
nent possession of the former Brethren's House, which
has ever since retained the name of Sisters' House.
The older girls were collected in Bethlehem, the smaller
ones (from four to eleven years of age) in Nazareth, and
the little boys in Henry Antes' house in Frederick
Township. Even the married people lived separately in
two buildings, where the present church is located. The
mothers generally retained their children till they were
about eighteen months old, when they were taken in
BETHLEHEM — KAMI I ,Y ECONOMY. 1 65
charge by the authorities of the Church and placed in
the nursery at Bethlehem, and after 1749 at Nazareth.
All this was an extension of the European choir-ar-
rangements of a quite peculiar kind, and naturally
led to more or less arbitrary, if not despotic rule,
and could not be continued nor be recommended
for imitation. Similar in some respects were the
Ephrata convents, with this difference, however, that
there the "solitary state " was considered the most holy
and acceptable to God, while the Moravians not only
esteemed and honored married life, but endeavored to
sanctify it in a peculiar manner. Many verses, used at
that time, referred directly to conjugal duties, or rep-
resented the felicity of the children of God in terms
taken from matrimonial life, exceeding sometimes those
to be met with in Holy Writ, and were therefore liable
to misconstruction and afforded abundant material for
malicious and slanderous attacks from the opponents of
the Brethren. Nevertheless, they were happy in the
Lord and went on cheerfully in their works of duty and
of love.
4. BETHLEHEM. — FAMILY ECONOMY. 1/47-
In commune oramus,
In commune laboramus,
In commune patimur,
In commune gaudemus.
This favorite motto of "Dr. Anton, in reference to the
orphan-house and other institutions in Halle, was justly
applied by Spangenberg to the external and internal
affairs of the Moravian colonies at Bethlehem and
Nazareth; for not only in a general or spiritual sense
was the word of the Apostle applicable: "And
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with
it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice
with it" (1 Cor. 12: 26); but actual!) and literally all
1 66 the brethren's congregations.
their joys and griefs, their labor as well as their worship
was the joint affair of all and each. They formed but
one family ; had but one house-keeping.
In the "Life of Spangenberg," written by Jeremiah
Risler, as well as in other German publications which refer
to this time, only the general principles are pointed out
by which this singular Family Economy was governed.
A full detail has never been published, and without such
a detailed account, the full extent of this Economy can
not be appreciated. Therefore, we take from Bishop
Cammerhof's letters the following statements, which,
though referring particularly to the year 1747, show
what expenses devolved at that time already upon this
Economy, increasing, of course, from year to year, and
what were their principal resources.
To the annual expenses belonged the following
items :
1. Board and clothingf of the brethren, sisters and
children in Bethlehem (about 300 in 1747), in Nazareth
(100), Gnadenthal (20), Gnadenhutten (15, besides
presents to the Indians), Frederickstown (40 boys and
18 brethren and sisters who managed Henry Antes' mill
and farm), and Germantown (about 12 persons) — in all
about 500 persons, among whom there were many
non-producers. Though the board was at first very
plain and scant, meat being put on the table but twice
a week, still the weekly consumption of wheat amounted
to between forty and fifty bushels. In 1747 there were
consumed: In Bethlehem, 2,307 bushels of wheat, 12,-
832 eggs, 15,586 pounds of meat; in Nazareth, 1,011
bushels of wheat, 6,875 eggs> 4-992 pounds of meat,
inclusive of 576 pounds of venison ; for which purpose
60 sheep, 7 oxen, 7 steers, 16 cows and 20 calves were
slaughtered ; not to mention many other not inconsider-
able items.
BETHLEHEM — FAMILY ECONOMY. I 67
Besides, there were distributed 450 shirts, 150 pairs
of stockings, and many other pieces of apparel, for ex-
ample, 145 pairs of shoes, and none had to complain of
the superabundance of his wardrobe.
To the annual expenses belonged further:
2. The support of the congregation-schools at Oley
and Maguntsche, and of the Philadelphia ministerial
laborers.
3. Nearly the whole support of the two married
couples who lived among the Indians at Shamokin.
4. The clothing of all the brethren and sisters who
were sent out on missionary tours, as well as of those
who were stationed at various places as ministers or
school-masters — about fifty persons in all.
5. Traveling expenses for the itinerant ministers in
Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and New England.
6. Various expenses in connection with the Indian
Mission, and for presents in the negotiations with the
Six Nations.
7. Boarding of many visiting friends, especially during
Synods.
S. Expenses for the transportation of the brethren
and sisters traveling in missionary service to and from
St. Thomas and Berbice.
9. There was annually a not inconsiderable item of
expense for building purposes. For instance, in 1 747
the following houses were erected for the Society ;
a dwelling-house and blacksmith-shop at Shamokin,
a minister's dwelling at Philadelphia, two barns and
several stables at Bethlehem ; a new fiat-boat for
the Lehigh River; a wash-house at Nazareth, a <rrist-
mill and saw-mill at Gnadenthal, a farm-house at
Christian's Spring, a grist-mill, saw-mill, blacksmith-shop,
barn, stables and some Indian houses at Gnadenhiitten-
on-the-Mahony. Much was yet to be done and was
postponed for the following years.
1 68 the brethren's congregations.
To meet all these expenses the Brethren had the fol-
lowing resources or capital :
I. The most important, and in later times a valuable
source of revenue was the land which was gradually
bought up, having been selected very judiciously. Here
they found building materials in abundance and in later
years these very fertile acres yielded an abundance of all
the necessaries of life. For the present, however, only a
small part of these thousands of acres were cleared and
in a state of cultivation, not nearly enough to raise
sufficient grain for the rapidly increasing number of
consumers. Belonging to the Bethlehem plantation
there were only about 200 acres of arable land and 20
acres of meadow-land ; at Nazareth, 250 acres were
cleared, 20 acres meadow; at Gnadenthal, 125 acres of
cleared land, 4 acres meadow ; on the new farm near
Gnadenthal (afterwards known as Christian's Spring)
there were as yet only 15 acres in cultivation, but it was
hoped that much meadow-land might be obtained there ;
the farm at Gnadenhlitten beyond the Blue Mountains
contained 450 acres, of which only 50 were in a state of
cultivation.
Besides these farms which belonged to the Brethren,
there were some others, which they cultivated and used,
by agreement, without paying rent, namely: Widow
Ysselstein's farm on the south side of the Lehigh ; Henry
Antes' farm and mill in Frederick Township, and John
Bechtel's house and garden in Germantown.
Under the careful and judicious cultivation of these
German practical farmers, these lands, orchards and gar-
dens yielded a considerable amount for the support of the
Family Economy, but not enough for home consumption ;
hence the needful cash for Mass, iron, sugar, blankets
and many other articles, all which were brought from
Philadelphia, had to be procured by other means.
BETHLEHEM FAMILY ECONOMY. I 69
II. A second source of support and also of income
were the following trades, carried on at different places :
1. The grist-mills at Bethlehem, Gnadenhiitten, Gna-
denthal, and in Frederick Township.
2. The saw-mills at Bethlehem, Gnadenthal and Gna-
denhiitten.
3. The oil-mill at Bethlehem, under Father Nitsch-
mann's superintendence.
4. The tannery at Bethlehem — by far the most lucra-
tive business.
5. The smitheries at Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gnaden-
hiitten and Shamokin (the; latter especially for the
Indians).
6. The locksmith shop at Bethlehem.
7. The pottery.
8. The joinery and glaziery.
9. The turnery, under Father Bechtel.
10. The wheelwright shop of Henry Antes.
11. The linen weaving in Bethlehem and Nazareth,
under the special charge of Mary Spangenberg and
Anna Cammerhof. There were six looms in Bethlehem,
on which 3,30cS yards of linen were woven.
1 2. The stocking weaving and fulling-mill.
13. The rope-making, under Henry Antes.
14. The tailoring and furriery.
15. The dyers' trade, under M. Weiss.
16. The shoe-making at Nazareth, Frederick Town-
ship, Gnadenhiitten and at Bethlehem under I). Tanne-
berger.
17. Father Demuth's box and spindle-making.
iS. The cooper)-.
19. The distiller)-, the products of which, however,
were not for sale.
20. The bakery.
2 1. The butcher)-.
I70 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
22. The medical and chirurgical business in the
hands of die brethren Adolph Meyer, Otto, Owen Rice,
Christian H. Ranch and Sisters Mary Spangenberg and
Huber. Brother Otto had his own garden for medical
herbs, where the eastern building- of the Young; Ladies'
Seminar)' now stands.
23. The soap boiling.
24. The chimney sweeping.
25. The mason-work, in which more skillful men
would have been needed.
26. The carpenter work.
27. The brick-making, under L, Hiibner.
28. The pewterer-work, under S. Powel and A. Bom-
per.
29. The tavern on the other side of the Lehigh, and
the Ferry.
30. The shoe cleaning.
31. The tar-making at Gnadenhutten.
32. The button making.
Thirteen of these trades yielded in 1 747, besides what
was consumed at home, a clear profit of ^221 14.S. 4c/.
Pennsylvania currency, equivalent to about $591.
III. A third source of income was the Society for the*
Furtherance of the Gospel, founded by Bishop Spangen-
berg, and consisting mostly of friends of the Brethren.
From August 13, 1745, to December 31, 1747, this
Society collected for missionary purposes, ^454 13^. 5c/.,
a not inconsiderable sum for those times. This was a
material assistance to the Economy, on which the whole
expense of the Indian Missions would otherwise have de-
volved.
According to a very low estimate, the annual ex-
penses of this Family Economy exceeded $10,000,
which would have required a very considerable capital,
if all male and female members had been only con-
BETHLEHEM FAMILY ECONOMY. I 7 I
sinners and not producers. But though young and old
worked diligently and faithfully, still it was often
apparent, that the Lord had helped where human
wisdom failed.
"Well may we exclaim," says Cammerhof, astonished
at the results of another year, "The Almighty Himself
has managed for us; for if we. had not tin's comfort, we
would often not know how to act ; but as the Saviour's
credit is our proper stock, we leave the; management to
Him."
At the close of the year 1 747, there was about
£200 cash in hand and about ^150 available assets in
account current debtors. But the liabilities amounted
to 7^4400, mostly occasioned by the purchase of land
near Bethlehem and Gnadenhutten. The money for
the Whitefield Tract, or the Nazareth lands, had been
paid in Europe from the general funds of the Church,
and the Bethlehem Economy was only to pay the
interest thereon, as soon as they would be able to do
so. In the debt of /4400 there were several items,
which according to Cammerhof \s expression were
"canceled by a draft on the Saviour's Conto," that is,
a sum of ^1082 which Brother Spangenberg received
as a personal legacy from Thomas Noble's estate,
but which he gave to the Family Economy, hiding
his disinterested liberality by saying that he lent
it. There were many smaller sums belonging to
the members of the Economy or to friends of the
Brethren (for instance, Timothy Horsfield, of New
York, and Captain Garrison), which could be re-
claimed at an)- time, but for which no interest was
demanded.
Though there was a great deal of ill-will against
the Brethren among many of their ungodly neigh
bors, and main stories concerning their social and re
172 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
ligious organization were freely circulated, still no one
doubted their honesty, and they might have raised
almost any amount of money to increase their landed
property, if this had been the end and aim of their
Family Economy.
Honor to whom honor is due ! Therefore we mention
the names of those who ably and faithfully assisted the
pater familias, Brother Joseph and his wife, "Mother
Mary," in these outward concerns. Besides Bishop
Cammerhof, the general assistant of Bishop Spangen-
berg since 1 747, these were the brethren Adolph
Meyer, David Bischoff, Nathanael Seidel and, above
all, the indefatigable and practical Henry Antes. Jas-
per Payne was a well-informed and diligent book-keeper,
who was succeeded by John Brownfield, formerly secre-
tary of General Oglethorpe. Abraham Bomper and
Timothy Horsfield were faithful agents in New York,
especially in expediting brethren and sisters to St.
Thomas and Berbice, and were succeeded a few years
later by Brother Henry van Vleck (father of Bishop
Jacob van Vleck, and grandfather of Bishop William
Henry van Vleck), merchant in New York.
Under the superintendence of these agents a vessel'
was built in New York, the snow Irene, which was
launched May 29, 1748. Henry Antes, as a naturalized
citizen, was the nominal proprietor, while Spangenberg
bore the greater part of the expenses from private
means. On September 8, 1 748, the Irene, Captain
Garrison, cleared for her first voyage to Europe, and
served the Brethren for ten years, bringing many
colonists to Pennsylvania and for North Carolina, until
taken by a French privateer in 1758.5
5 See Bricder-Blatt, April 1S57.
NAZARETH "THE PATRIARCHAL PLAN." I 73
5. NAZARETH, "THE PATRIARCHAL PLAN." I 744— I 748.
The Family Economy of the Brethren was not con-
fined to Bethlehem, hut also comprised the settlements
on the Nazareth tract ; hut while there was at Bethle
hem a "church of pilgrims," and all brethren and
sisters, capable in any way of spiritual labor, were re-
tained in that "school of the prophets," the practical
farmers were mostly sent to the Nazareth settlements,
which were intended to raise the necessary means for
carrying on the work oi the Lord by agricultural labor.
Therefore, they called this colony the " Patriarchen
Plan," (the Patriarchal Economy). Hut here also it was
the main object of Spangenberg and his assistants, to
promote the spiritual growth of the colonists and by
every possible means to increase their love; to the
Saviour. The sweat of the brow and faithfulness in
business ; yea, all their labor of body and of mind was
to be hallowed unto the Lord ; they were not to entangle
themselves with the affairs of this life, but to work for
the Lord, and always to be conscious of the fact that
whether they worked in the field or in the stable, they were
servants and handmaidens of the Lord as fully as the
pilgrims of the Bethlehem Economy. Eor this purpose
Brother Spangenberg and his wife visited them fre-
quently, encouraged the brethren and sisters in their toil
and labors, and endeavored in various ways to make
the outward activity itself a means for spiritual edifica
tion. Besides the regular love-feasts on every Saturday
afternoon, commenced January 30, 1745, and continued
for many years, there were others for smaller or larger
companies on particular occasions. Thus, on February
5, nine brethren had a love-feast, before commencing
ploughing for that year. Love-feasts for the milkers, the
washers, the threshers, and others, became very frequent.
( )n August 1 * there was a general love-feast, after the
174 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
greater part of the farmwork had been done, and a
large stable for the sheep had been finished. It was
quite a lively and edifying meeting and Mary Spangen-
berg spoke very feelingly concerning child-like faith,
especially referring to the corn crop in Gnadenthal, which
for a long time had appeared very unpromising (these
German farmers seeing the growth of this crop prob-
ably for the first time). The spinning business among
the sisters was properly organized and "Mother Mary"
closed the service with prayer.
From the latter part of 1 745 these love-feasts served also
for the cultivation of the poetic talent, Brother Spangen-
berg giving the impulse by composing a hymn on spinning
for the spinning sisters, on October 27, in which he says :
" Know, ye sisters, in this way
Is your work a blessing,
If for Jesus' sake you spin,
Toiling without ceasing.
Spin and weave ; compelled by love ;
Sew and wash with fervor,
And the Saviour's grace and love
Make you glad for ever."
Other brethren and sisters followed this example, not
only those of a more liberal education, such as Abraham
Reincke and his wife Sarah, but also common farmers,
and though their productions are by no means poetic
master-pieces, still they all breathe a spirit of fer-
vent piety and entire devotion to the Lord, and are in
themselves the best proof, that it was their sincere en-
deavor to devote to the Lord all their powers of body
and of mind, and that these pious farmers, though bur-
dened with work and exposed to privations6 of many
6 March 13, 1746, Brother Reincke, minister at Nazareth, received a visit
from Mr. Hughes, Presbyterian minister at Long Island, and after preach-
ing, invited him to dinner, which consisted of mush, bread and salt and
good spring water. The English gentleman was somewhat astonished at this
entertainment, having expected that the minister at least would have better
fare. But all ate at one table.
NAZARETH "THE PATRIARCHAL PLAN. I 75
kinds, had a mine of wealth in their love to their
Saviour :
" [f we can serve our Lord And King
Ev'n in the verj meanest thing,
It is indeed to us so sweet,
That we do feel it drink and meat.7"
Spangenberg remarks in one of his letters concerning
the Nazareth colonists: "They connect the Saviour and
His blood with all they do or say : they highly esteem
their patriarchal economy; they grow in spiritual matters,
while working bodily. Nowhere else have such beautiful
and edifying hymns for shepherds, ploughers, threshers,
reapers, spinners, knitters, washers, sewers, and others
been composed as among them and by them. They
would fill a whole farmer's hymn-book."8
'Sung on September 28, 1746. Most of these hymns are in German, ol
which the following are specimens:
Du siisster Herzbezwinger,
Die Melker, Wascher, Schwinger,
Die sehen jetzt auf Dich ;
Und warten mit Verlangen,
I in Segeitzu empfangen
Aus Deinem blut'gen Seitenstich.
Du bist bei alien Dingen
Beim Melken, Wa.sch.en, Schwingen,
Das einz'ge Augenmerk,
Dir leben wir auf Erden,
Bis wir Dich sehen werden,
Dir Unit man jedes Tagewerk.
8 Spangenberg himself composed many of these hymns; for instance, a
hymn for a prayer-meeting in January, 1744, of which the following is the
conclusion :
Schlafen, Wachen, Ruhen, Machen,
Essen, Trinken, Botschaft geh'n,
Denken, Schweigen, Singen, Zeugen
Lasz durch Gnad' im Blut gescheh'n.
Thue, Lamm, was Dir beliebct,
Deine Gnadenhand, die giebet
Mehr, als wir begreifen konnen.
O, wer wollte alles nennen !
176 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
In Nazareth as well as in Bethlehem, the special
choir and class meetings were introduced, besides which
there was also an especial day of festive remembrance
for the original colonists, namely, the Twenty-seventh of
May, on which day most of the married people, who
were now living in one house and formed one family,
had been married.
Though their mode of housekeeping will naturally
appear strange to us, still it can not be denied that
much more labor could be performed by these concen-
trated powers, than under the present system of separate
housekeepings, and visitors often expressed their
astonishment at the rapid growth of the colony and
their excellent arrangements, especially in barns and
stables. Yet before the end of their first year, 1744,
preparations were made for the erection of extensive
barns and stables at a spring not far from the "stone-
building" which, with some dwelling-houses, one of
which afterwards contained the meeting-hall of the
congregation, is now called "Old Nazareth.9 In January,
1 742, a second farm was opened about a mile and a half
to the west in a well-watered valley and was called Gna-
denthal.10 In 1747 a mill was built there. In 1748 a
third farm was commenced, near a spring," half a mile
farther south, which for many years was managed
exclusively by single brethren. It was called Christians-
brunn, in honor of Christian Renatus, the son of Count
Zinzendorf.
Most of the first colonists of Nazareth came from
Silesia and Upper Lusatia in Germany, and had all
belonged to the Lutheran Church before they joined the
9 After more than a century the first house was sold and removed in
1849, being for many years in a very dilapidated condition.
10 Now the site of the Almshouse of Northampton County.
11 Called Albrecht's Spring, later Christian's Spring.
NAZARETH "THE PATRIARCHAL PLAN.' I 77
congregation at Hcrrnhut. Now, as it was Zinzendorf's
desire above all to build up the Lutheran Church in
Pennsylvania, Nazareth, where the Lutheran element
prevailed, for several years was counted among the
Lutheran congregations connected with the General
Synod of Pennsylvania. Accordingly the ministers oi
this congregation, Brother Reinhard Ronner and, after
him, Brother Abraham Reincke, took their seats in the
Synod as Lutheran pastors, and wished to be considered
as such. But the peculiar arrangements of their choirs
and the whole outward organization which resembled that
of the Church of Pilgrims at Bethlehem, was vastly dif-
ferent from any other Lutheran congregation in the
country, and especially after the introduction of the new
hymns from Germany, in 1746, which deviated greatly
from old orthodox Lutheranism, it became plain that it
would be an absurdity any longer to call Nazareth a
Lutheran congregation in the common acceptation of the
term. Therefore, on January 25, 1747, a re-organization
of the congregation in Nazareth was made by Bishop
Spangenberg and his assistant. Bishop Cammerhot, five
years after the organization of the congregation at Beth-
lehem, whereby this congregation was duly declared
a Moravian congregation, throwing off all further con-
nection with the Lutheran Church. Brother Abraham
Reincke returned to Bethlehem, after Brother Ohneberg
had been introduced as Elder and Brother Schropp as
Warden of the congregation. Both received a truly
apostolic blessing from Brother Joseph.
Bishop Cammerhof addressed the congregation in
general and expressed the idea that the congregation at
Nazareth, as the " Patriarchal Economy," ought to imi-
tate, and, as it were, represent in a practical manner the
lite of our blessed Saviour up to His thirtieth year, when
Me lived in retirement at Nazareth, occupied with the
178 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
every-day affairs of domestic life, while die Church of
Pilgrims at Bethlehem would find their pattern especially
in the ministerial life of our Saviour and imitate Him
in going about from place to place and doing good.
Thus both conprepations would serve the Lord in their
peculiar ways, and it might be plainly seen, that not only
by direct preaching of the Gospel, but also by the walk
and conversation of pious and devout farmers, the truth
as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord, might be proclaimed.
6. J. C. F. CAMMERHOF. HIS INFLUENCE. 1747-
Brother Spangenberg, to whom was entrusted the
management of all the affairs of the Brethren in America,
though able to accomplish a great deal and always
willing to perform any kind of work, gradually be-
came convinced that, without an able and efficient
assistant, he could not do justice to the multifarious
demands on his time and strength, and, therefore, in
1744, urgently desired that his brethren in Europe
might send him an assistant. Even before his letters
arrived, the Synod of the Brethren assembled at Zeist in
Holland, in May, 1746, had appointed Brother John
Christian Frederic Cammerhof for this office, who arrived
in Pennsylvania, January, 1747, and labored there for
four years. By his influence considerable changes were
brought about both in the spirit of the congregation and
in the external arrangements.
Schrautenbach characterizes him as a young man of
amiable and affable disposition, well versed in the meta-
physical and ecclesiastical sciences, of much spirit, great
courage and untiring energy in the service of the Saviour
and the Brethren's Church. He was born on July 28,
1 72 1, near Magdeburg, and studied theology in the Uni-
versity of Jena, where he became acquainted with the
CAMMERHOF. 179
Brethren and especially with Brother John Nitschmann
(afterwards his colleague at Bethlehem), lie became
teacher in Kloster Bergen, a Protestant school under the
direction of Ala Steinmetz, who highly esteemed him and
his fellow-student, Theophilus Shumann. Acquainted
with the pietistic methods of edification, and not find-
ing therein peace for their souls, Cammerhoi and Shu-
mann left the ranks of the Lutheran Church and went, in
1743, to Marienborn, where they were received into the
Seminary of the Brethren and for a time assisted in
transcribing missionary reports under the immediate
superintendence of Count Zinzendorf. This was an im-
portant school for their future practical usefulness, lor
both were called to the missionary service — Cammerhoi
to North America ; Shumann to South America, where
he became the apostle of the Arawacks in Surinam from
1 748 to 1760.
Brother Cammerhof, having been married in July,
1 746, to Anna de Pahlen, a Livonian baroness, was con-
secrated in London, September, 1 746, by Zinzendorf, Mar-
tin Dober and Steinhofer, as Bishop of the Brethren's
Church, for the country congregations of North America
[XGapsTtiffK07tos). Soon after his arrival in Pennsylvania
he commenced his epistolary correspondence with the
Directing Board of the Unity in Europe, which probably
has never been carried on with such minuteness, lor some
of these letters, of which copies have been preserved
for the Bethlehem Archives, contain more than a hun-
dred closely written pages, giving- a full insight into the
work of the Brethren, even to its most minute details.
From these letters of the youthful Bishop it appears
plainly that the enthusiastic love lor the Saviour which
was cherished by Cammerhof and that band of disciples
with whom he was associated, bordered on fanaticism.
1 le had left the new settlements of the Brethren in Wet-
l8o THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
teravia (Herrnhaag, Marienborn, etc.) at a time, when
the most sober-minded Brethren began to talk " senti-
mental nonsense," and the whole Church was in immi-
nent peril of being led away from the very substance of
the Gospel by a puerile and often silly mode of expres-
sion, and of embracing- fatal delusions. For more than
a century the Brethren's Church has acknowledged that
this was the period of "sifting," the time in which much
chaff was separated from the wheat, the time in which
much wood, hay and stubble was built on that foundation
(i Cor. 3 : i i ), than which no other can be laid — a super-
structure which but a few years later was consumed in
that fiery persecution, by which Herrnhaag, the most
numerous of all the conorecrations, was scattered to the
winds. We would not revert to these times at all, if the
assertions made now and then, that these delusions had
not found their way to America, were perfectly correct.
Bishop Cammerhof introduced them,12 fostered them,
and was praised for it. With his death all vestiges of
these delusions ceased at once.
And wherein did these delusions consist? Bishop
Holmes13 crives the following concise and sufficient
answer : " In their zeal to root out self-righteousness,
the Brethren were not sufficiently on their guard against
levity in expression. The delight they took in speaking
of the sufferings of Christ, which arose from the pene-
trating sense they had of their infinite value, by degrees
degenerated into fanciful representations of the various
scenes of His passion. Their style in speaking and
writing lost its former plainness and simplicity, and be-
1 See Cammerhof s Epistola Tertia, where he speaks of himself in the fol-
low-in- strain : "Cammerhof und seine Anna sind bekannt, sind Kreuzluft-
Vogelein, verliebt in seine vier Nagelcin, krankelnd vor Liebespein nach
Jesu Seitcnsc hrein ; wol zwei junge Kinder, aber doch Kinderlein und
Siinderlein, und nicht ohne gute Hoffnung."
13 History of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren, Vol. 1, p. 399.
CAMMERHOF. 1 S I
came turgid, puerile and fanatical, abounding in playful
allusions to Christ as the Lamb, the Bridegroom, etc.,
by which He is described in Holy Writ, and in fanciful
representations of the wound in His side. In describing
the spiritual relation between Christ and His Church the
highly figurative language of the Canticles was substi-
tuted in the place of "the dignified simplicity, used by our
Saviour and 1 lis Apostles, when speaking on this sub-
ject. Some less experienced preachers even seemed to
vie with each other in introducing into their discourses the
most extravagant and often wholly unintelligible expres-
sions. This kept the hearers in a state of constant ex-
citement, hut was not calculated to subject every thought
of the heart to the obedience of Christ. Religion, in-
stead of enlightening the understanding, governing the
affections, and regulating the general conduct, became- a
play of the imagination.
"This species of fanaticism first broke out at Herrn-
haag in the year 1 746, and from thence; spread into
several other congregations. Many were carried away
by it, for it seemed to promise a certain joyous perfec-
tion, representing believers as innocent, playful children,
who might be quite at their ease amidst all the trials
and difficulties incident to the present life. The effect
produced was such as might be expected. The more
serious members of the; Church (and these alter all
formed the major part) bitterly lamented an evil, which
they could not eradicate. Others, considering the
malady as incurable, withdrew from its communion.
The behavior of such as were most infected with this
error, though not immoral and criminal, was yet highly
disgraceful to their Christian profession."
Pictorial representations of the sufferings of Christ,
illuminations of the church and other public buildings,
birthday celebrations, connected with expensive love
1 82 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
feasts, were manifestations of the unnaturally excited
poetic spirit of the congregation, which, in its practical
consequence led to extravagance — and to debts. Peter
Bohler, at that time in England, as superintendent of the
monetary affairs of the Church there, was fully aware of
the fearful increase of their liabilities, and raised a
warning voice, but his protest was not heeded. Neither
was any attention paid to the wise counsels of Spangen-
berg who, in a letter to Count Zinzendorf in 1746,
expressed his forebodings in reference to the lavish
expenditures in the European settlements and their
inevitable consequences. This letter was not answered,
and Spangenberg, the most faithful and indefatigable
of all the Brethren, had reason to suppose that some
of the most influential of his fellow-laborers in Europe
looked upon him with a suspicious eye, considering
him as having become lukewarm, because he, the man
of good common sense, could not appreciate their extrava-
gant religious notions, nor approve of the sentimental
nonsense, which in a flood of hymns was pouring over
to America also. He rejoiced to receive in Cammerhof
a faithful and able assistant, but was inwardly grieved,
when he perceived, that the latter had received secret in-
structions, according to which he acted in such a manner,
that the original idea of Zinzendorf of a Church of God
in the Spirit was gradually but entirely set aside. The
hymns of the twelfth addition to the German hymn-
book — set aside long ago as puerile in the extreme —
were eagerly received, and Cammerhof s addresses, in
the same perverted style, found many willing listeners.14
14 It is almost impossible to translate into English the religious jargon,
which for a time — happily only a short time — took the place of sober Gos-
pel language. The following short extracts from Cammerhof s letters may
serve as a specimen:
Im Juny 1747 wircl ein besonders gesegnetes Abendmahl in Bethlehem so
erwahnt :
CONGREGATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE BRETHREN. l8
J
7. PENNSYLVANIA CONGREGATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH
THE BRETHREN, 1744-J74X.
Besides the two colonics of the Brethren, the Church
of Pilgrims at Bethlehem and the Patriarchal Economy
at Nazareth, there were organized in Pennsylvania in
this period quite a number of congregations, all more
or less in connection with the General Synod and
thus also with the Brethren, some of which afterwards
" Uns alien war's vor Kreuzesfreuden weinerlich,
Und Brustblattjungermasziglich
Und Jesu Schweisz theilhaftiglich."
Im Februar 1748 schreibt Cammerhof, Epist. X : " Ms schmeckt der
Gemeine nichts als die blutige Kost aus des Lammes Seite, unci was nicht
den blutigen Strich hat, das ist ekelhaft, und das Lammlein thut uns audi die
Gnade, und liiszt unsern Gemeinbau immermehr zusammensinken, so das
alles, was nicht blutig und ins Blut gelegt ist, herausgedrangt und zuriick-
gewiesen wird. Un's Herzel, dies Lammlein in's Herzelhafte spielerliche
Fachel hineirigebracht.damitwirauch andern wasvorspielen konnen, bis alles
Volk, einjedes nach seiner Art, doch harmonisch mitspielen kann, vordem
der uns erwahlet hat, hat er in einem seligen Liebesbunde erhalten, und
noch mehr zusammenrilcken lassen, sodasz unser Arbeiter-Haiiflein den
blutigen Siinder-Character zu seiner einigen Schone hat, und die Mutter
(d. h. Geist) ist geschaftig, es noch lieblich scheinender und allgemeiner zu
machen."
5 Mar/ '48 wurden 2 Kindlein getauft, geboren den 4ten : " lis sah sehr
niedlich aus, da die beiden Vater mit einander ihre Kinder in die Gemeine
brachten, just da ihnen die Gemeine entgegensang :
Hi r sel'gen Kreuzluft-Kiichelein,
Willkommen in der Kreuzgemein',
In unsere freien Kin henluft, u. s. w.
und darauf wurde dann zuersf die kleine Anna Miksch und dann der kleine
Joachim Senseman mit Hint und Wasser aus der Pleura bestromt, und
dann gesungen :
Du Kreuzluft-Magdlein bleibe Braut,
Dem Marterlamm durch Blut vertraut,
Auf e\\ 'ge Zeiten.
Du Kreuzluft-Knablein zeige dich
Recht Jesuskinderhaftiglii h,
I "nd wachs <\\u< li alle deine Zeil
Fort in der Jesushaftigkeit,
Und so bleibt alle beide
Des Kreuzvolks ew'ee Freude.
184 the brethren's congregations.
became Moravian conoreeations. As was the case in
Europe, so also in Pennsylvania Moravianism gradually
developed itself and was finally separated from Luther-
anism and Calvinism, and Zinzendorf's idea of bringing
about a union of the three Churches has not been
realized Yet this idea gives a peculiar stamp to the his-
tory of the times, and it would be impossible fully to
describe the development of the American Brethren's
Church without reverting at least briefly, to the organiza-
tion of the Lutheran and German Reformed Churches
in America. Accordingly we will have to make a distinc-
tion among those congregations which at that time were
more or less in connection with the Brethren, and will
for brevity's sake call those churches Lutheran or
Reformed, in which the one or the other element pre-
vailed, to which, however, a third class is to be added,
namely, the free or mixed congregations.
A. LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS.
When Zinzendorf left Pennsylvania in 1743 there
were five organized Lutheran congregations :
1. Philadelphia, organized by Count Zinzendorf ; but
in consequence of the riot mentioned before, split into
two parties, for and against the Brethren.
2. Tulpehocken, attended to by ministers sent from
Bethlehem.
3. Lancaster, since 1743 supplied with a Swedish
pastor.
4. New Hanover, and
5. New Providence.
Both these latter neighborhoods had never been in
any connection with the Brethren, and here the Rev.
Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg found his first field of labor.
In 1743 he built a new church in New Hanover, minis-
LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS. 185
tered in this congregation and also in New Providence,
and gradually also gained a party in the Philadelphia
congregation. He had been sent to America from
Halle for the purpose of organizing congregations here
and there, in which by the faithful preaching of the Gos-
pel and the administration of the Sacraments, Chris-
tian life was to be awakened gradually ; while on the
other hand the Brethren never commenced with outward
organizations of conoreiiations, but endeavored rather
to gain souls for the Saviour, and to assist in the
further development of the Christian life already mani-
fested, leaving it to the Lord and the leadings of His
providence, whether such small companies of truly
awakened souls should organize into congregations or
not. Add to this, that among these awakened persons
many regulations were introduced, which were con-
sidered important at the time, but untenable on Scrip-
tural grounds, and it is certainly not surprising that
Muhlenberg's congregations soon surpassed those of
Zinzendort's in numbers and in influence.
In 1 745 Pastor Muhlenberg welcomed three assistants,
sent to him from Germany, the Rev. Mr. Brennholz, who
had been ordained by the Consistory of Wernigerode,
the candidates of the ministry, Schaum and Nicholas
Kurtz, and thus was enabled to extend operations to
Germantown and to Cohansey in New Jersey, and occa-
sionally also to visit in Tulpehocken.15
(In the part of the Brethren about this time eight or
ten Lutheran ministers could be counted, but there were
not as many Lutheran congregations. Besides Naza-
reth, which till 1747 was reckoned as Lutheran, there
were but three in connection with the Brethren.
1. Philadelphia. — Since 1743 there was in this city a
1 I [azelius I listory, p. 53.
1 86 the brethren's congregations.
German Lutheran congregation, to which also some
German Reformed and a few Separatists belonged, and
an English congregation, formed partly of English
brethren and sisters of the first " Sea Congregation " of
1742 and partly of members of the Society of Friends.
Both congregations had been acknowledged as such by
the General Pennsylvania Synod, and received their
ministers from Bethlehem. Matthew Reuz and after him
Abraham Reincke were the German Lutheran pastors ;
and James Greening, Thomas Yarrell, Owen Rice and
Hector Gambold served as their assistants and kept the
English meetings, so that generally two, sometimes
three ministering brethren resided at Philadelphia.
The peculiar regulations of the Moravian congrega-
tions were at that time not yet introduced, as there was
rather an anti-Moravian spirit manifesting itself, the Eng-
lish congregation especially taking a very independent
position, which was fostered by national jealousies. They
would not let the Germans "lord it" over them, com-
plained that their children were "dutchified," and took
offense at the simple word of the cross. The influence of
Whitefield became very evident, especially in the case of
Edward Evans and others, who kept their own private
meetings in and near Philadelphia, in which more stress
was laid on "many exercises," prayers, etc., than on the
"free erace in the blood of the Lamb." Even after
Evans had been excluded from church-fellowship by a
Synod in 1748, the effects of these disturbances were
felt for a long while.
2. Tulpehocken. — From the Church Register (Kirchen-
buch) of this congregation, deposited in the Bethlehem
Archives, it plainly appears that there was here a regu-
larly organized Lutheran congregation. Count Zinzen-
dorf before his return to Europe had installed John
Philip Meurer as minister of this congregation. In
LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS. I 87
February, 1744, Peter Bohler, as Vice-Inspector, "held a
church-and school-visitation, and with the consent of the
trustees (Kirchen-Vorsteher) introduced George Niekeas
assistant minister and ordained him in a Synod at Oley
in the Lutheran manner, assisted by Pastor Pyrlams and
Pastor Meurer. He also made some new regulations
for the parochial school at Tulpehocken.
In 1 745 the trustees resolved to build a new church of
free-stone, and invited the Lutheran Vice-Inspector,
Spangenbeg, to conduct the religious ceremonies of the
laying of the corner-stone. This was done April 1, and
a hymn composed for the occasion was sung, which found
a place in the appendix to the Moravian hymn-book of
1 735-
From the documents placed in the corner-stone it ap-
pears that the congregation consisted of thirteen fami-
lies and seventy-seven children. On December 1 of the
same year, the church was solemnly dedicated to the ser-
vice of the Triune God by Spangenberg, the Lutheran
Vice-Inspector, the Swedish pastor Abraham Reincke and
Pastor Meurer, who concluded the solemnities by admin-
istering the Holy Communion to twenty-two persons.
In January, 1746, Pastor Meurer was recalled, and John
Brucker sent there as school-master. Meanwhile the
I lallensian Kurtz had gained a party for himself, and dis-
16 Zugaben, No. 2249. Briider-Gesangbuch, 404: 10, 11 :
Wollt's Gott, wir bauen cin Hiittlein her,
Da fort zu pred'gen die reine Lehr,
Von dern Opfer Jesu, darin zu linden
Gnade und Rettung von alien Sunden,
Fur alle Welt.
Da legen wir nun den ersten Stein,
Lamm, das geschehe inn Namen Dein ;
Spricb Du : sei gesegnet! zu diesem Werke
Gib mis Gnade und Geistes Starke,
S<> eehl es fort.
sensions arose in the congregation. Qn fals account the
trustees preferred a request to the Synod that a brother
who had studied theology in Germany might be sent to
them. This request was not complied with, and Count
Zinzendorf made use of this opportunity in a long letter,
dated London, September 1 3, 1 746, formally to re-
nounce17 his superintendence of the Lutheran Churches
in Pennsylvania.
This letter of Zinzendorf was discussed in a session of
the Lutheran Consistory at Bethlehem, January 27, 1747,
twelve Lutheran brethren being present, who could not
agree with the view taken by Zinzendorf, and especially
protested against the idea that their preaching among
the Lutherans would produce a schism in the Lutheran
Church in Pennsylvania. For as yet the Lutheran
Church was not organized. On the other hand, Zinzen-
dorf's former ideas of Church Union were far from
realization, and the Brethren became more and more
convinced that they could hardly expect to be permitted
to preach in many Lutheran pulpits, partly because the
number of Lutheran ministers was increasing, partly be-
cause their present mode of expression was not calcu-
lated for the great mass of unconverted souls. There-
fore, in Tulpehocken as well as elsewhere, the people
would have to decide for themselves either for or against
the Moravians.
17 Zinzendorf says : " Ich will kein Religions-Schisma haben. Wenn es
nur um den Naracn, oder gar nur darum zu thun ist, dasz der point d'
honneur des Bruder Ludwigs gegen den Pfr. Muhlenberg behauptet werde,
den gab ich hiemit von Herzen los, und ein solcher kann zu den Schwe-
dischen oder Hallischen Theologis, ohne deswegen von mir einiger Untreue
und Unbestandigkeit oder Unbefugniss schuldig geachtet zu werden, jetzt
und allemal iibergehen nach kurzer Anzeige. Und das ist der gegenwartige
casus, wafum ich meinem Amt bei dieser Religion in Pennsylvanien in
tantum renuntiire. Denn meine Vocation griindet sich auf die absolute
Noth, und eine giinzliche Eutbloszung der sammtlichen Lutheraner von
allem verniinftigen Gottesdienst, als voriiber im Monat Marz, 1742, in aller
Vorsteher Gegenwart ein Instrument errichtet worden."
LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS. 1 89
3. Lancaster. — The circumstances and outward rela-
tions of the Lutheran Church at Lancaster were of
a different character. In 1743 Laurentius Theophilus
Nyberg, who had studied at Upsala, Sweden, and had
been ordained by the Swedish Archbishop Jacob Benze-
lius, had arrived here and labored faithfully and success-
fully. From far and near people came to hear his edi-
fying discourses and many entreated him to preach
also at other places. In 1744 a small log church
called St. lames' Church, was built eight miles from
Lancaster in Warwick Township, on George Klein's
land. Here Pastor Nyberg preached at stated times,
commencing July 25, 1744. In 1745 he became a mem-
ber of the General Pennsylvania Synod and soon also
a faithful friend and bold champion of the persecuted
Moravians, in consequence of which two parties were
formed in his Lutheran congregation. The larger of
these, which was not favorably inclined towards the
Brethren, kept the old church. The smaller one in 1 746
built a new church, which, being dedicated on St. Andrew's
Day, November 30, was called St. Andrew's Church. On
account of these dissensions Pastor Nyberg resigned his
office, but on February 8, 1747, he accepted a new voca-
tion to St. Andrew's Church, in which call was inserted
the special clause, that he might have connection with
the Brethren in Bethlehem and visit their Synod, without
thereby being considered a member of their Society.
Meanwhile his enemies sent formal complaints concerning
him to the Swedish ecclesiastical courts, his Swedish fel-
low-ministers publicly condemned his "heresies," the
Hallensians stirred up the fire in his congregation, and
Pastor Nyberg, expelled by his own communion, felt
himself more and more drawn to the Brethren. Altera
long delay he at last received permission to move to
Bethlehem, whereon August 13, 1 74S. he was formally
received as a member of the Brethren's Church.
I9O THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
Those amonor the Lutherans in Lancaster who were
favorably inclined to the Brethren and who had sent
their children to a school, commenced by Brother J. G.
Nixdorf, now requested the authorities at Bethlehem to
send them a minister ; which request led to the organi-
zation of a Moravian congregation at Lancaster, at a
somewhat later date.
B. REFORMED CONGREGATIONS.
There were not many ministering brethren of the
Reformed Tropus, that is, Moravians who for a while
served as German Reformed ministers, but there was
a great number of congregations and preaching-places,
of which, however, the greater number never desired a
closer connection with the Moravian Church.
Thus it was, for instance, in Germantown. Here John
Bechtel had served his countrymen for many years as
minister and by the advice of Count Zinzendorf had
been ordained by Bishop Nitschmann in 1742, and thus
this German Reformed congregation had been regularly
organized. But Germantown was at that time a hot-bed
of Sectarianism, and hence it is not surprising that the
peace of the Reformed congregation was soon disturbed.
The enemies of the Brethren did not rest until Bechtel
was dismissed from his ministerial office, February 9,
1 744, and expelled from the Reformed congregation.
In September, 1 746, he removed to Bethlehem, where,
abstaining from all spiritual labor, he served the Econ-
omy as turner, and died in 1777, eighty-seven years old.
The connection of the Brethren with the Reformed con-
gregation in Germantown was never renewed. Brother
Bechtel's house was used for a time for school purposes.
Among the German Reformed congregations under
the charge of Jacob Lischy there were several which
were only preaching-places, and never afterwards were
REFORMED CONGREGATIONS. I 9 I
served by the Brethren, that is, Heme, Cocalico,
Coventry Town, Erlentown and Cushehoppen. In other
neighborhoods Lischy made the commencement of a
lasting connection with the Brethren, though his own
relation to the Brethren was for a time of rather an am-
biguous nature, until he became an open opponent and
severed his connection with the Moravian Church. Al
read\- in 1 744 misunderstandings and distrust are observ
able, most probably occasioned on the part of Lischy,
by his endeavors to appear at Bethlehem as a devoted
Moravian brother, while elsewhere his aim was to be
considered only a Reformed pastor. On March 21,
1745, a second grand church council oi the Reformed
congregations was held at Muddy Creek, attended by
sixty elders and trustees of twelve different congrega-
tions. Lischy was asked whether he was a "I Icrrn-
huter? " At first he evaded the question, " carrying the
church around the village," as Henry Antes expressed
it. Being more closely questioned by the other Re-
formed ministering- brethren, J. H. Ranch, Bechtel and
Antes, he publicly avowed that he was in connection with
the Brethren at Bethlehem. In answer to a question of
one of the trustees, how their con<>-recrations were to be
provided for, if Pastor Lischy should die, Antes gave a
brief statement in reference to the Reformed Church
College (or Consistory) at Bethlehem and Spangenberg's
authorization to ordain Reformed pastors, vested in him
by his ordination as Bishop ; to him, therefore, they
would have to apply in such a case. Everybody seemed
satisfied with this declaration, except Lischy, who was
afraid that his ministerial dignity might suiter thereby.
Meanwhile he labored on in his own way, and the differ-
ences between him and his brethren at Bethlehem became
more and more apparent, until the Synod of May, 1 747,
resolved that he should give a written declaration,
I92 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
whether he wished to be considered a member of the
Moravian Church, and hence accountable to their Gov-
erning Board, or a Reformed pastor under the direction
of the Reformed Consistory of the Brethren, or an inde-
pendent German Reformed pastor. Lischy refused for
some time to give any declaration by which his position
might be defined, but at last decided for the third alterna-
tive by joining the Rev. Michael Schlatter, who arrived
from Switzerland in 1 746, and by becoming a member of
the Reformed Pennsylvania Coetus, organized by Schlat-
ter, Bohm and Weiss, September 9, 1747, as the nucleus
of the present German Reformed Church of North
America.18
Inasmuch as the greater portion of the Reformed
Church people, that is, "such who coute qu'il coute will
maintain verbis et, si opus fuerit, verberibus that they are
such" — as Cammerhof put it — did not desire the Brethren,
the Reformed Brethren's Consistory was, of course,
dissolved. In many of the neighborhoods, however,
where the Brethren had preached, small companies of
awakened souls gradually associated themselves to-
gether, and at a later period were organized as Mora-
vian congregations. As such are to be named :
1. Warwick, now Lititz. — Here a school-house had
been built for the Brethren. In 1747 Daniel Neubert
moved there as the first Moravian minister.
2. Muddy Creek or Moden Creek. — Here also a
school-house had been built, and several brethren
labored here, until Pastor Conrad Tempelman forcibly
took possession of it.
3. Tonigall, now Donegal, near Mount yoy. — In 1 745
Lischy had dedicated a German Reformed Church, which
became a bone of contention.
18 Nevin on the Catechism, p. no.
FREE CONGREGATIONS. I 93
5. Quittopehille, in later times Hebron, near Lebanon.
— In February, 1747, a Synod was held here.
5. Swatara, afterwards Bethel.
6. York. — Mere and on die Crice Creek (or Grist
Creek) man)- had been awakened by Lischy's evangel]
cal testimony, who were afterwards, by his hostile be-
havior towards the Moravians, again led away.
C. — FREE C( >NGREGATIONS.
Besides the Lutheran and German Reformed con-
gregations mentioned above, there were yet some others,
composed of members of different denominations, which
at first would not submit to any formula, but applied for
admission to the Synod as "free congregations" or
" congregations without name." Most of these became
Moravian conoreQfations.
1. Oley. — The first commencements at Oley have
been mentioned already, as well as the disturbances
in 1742. Henry Antes had been installed there as
minister, instead of Andrew Eschenbach, but he was
not able fully to reconcile the embittered minds, and was
at last obliged to leave this once promising field to a
Separatistic minister, by the name of Bennville, who
gained over the greater part of this congregation, and
openly opposed the Brethren. However, forty-five souls
remained faithful in their connection with the Brethren
at Bethlehem. They resolved to build a school-house,
which was finished in 1744. From 1745 to 1751 a kind
of boarding-school was established there, and in connec-
tion with it a small Moravian congregation, which, how-
ever, was dissolved before 1770.
2. Heidelberg. — According to a desire expressed by
several awakened persons in Heidelberg, Brother Anton
Wagner was sent there in January, 1744, to visit and en-
194 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
courage them. In November of the same year a Synod
was held in a school-house which had just been built and
was then solemnly dedicated for religious worship. The
awakened of this neighborhood applied to the Synod to
be permitted to enter their connection as a congregation
without name.
On April 9, 1745, Brother Spangenberg organized this
congregation, and kept the Lord's Supper for eight per-
sons according to the ritual of the Brethren's Church.
Friedrich Bockel was the first elder. The "Congre-
gation days " were also introduced, that is, days on
which, in connection with singing and prayer, reports
and letters from the different Moravian congregations
and missionary stations were communicated.. Thus
Heidelberg was the first and oldest of the "country
congregations."
3. — Miihlbach [Mill Creek). — Already in 1743 a free
congregation had been organized here, which was ac-
knowledged as such by the Synod held there in June,
1743. Wendel Lautermilch was elected elder, Michael
Brecht teacher. In 1 745 a school and meeting-house
was built, in which the Brethren officiated now and then,
but their visits ceased entirely before 1760.
4. Machkunschi {Makuntsche, Macungie = Emmaus.)
— Most of these small congregations in connection with
the Brethren were at some distance from Bethlehem ;
but also in the immediate neighborhood there were to
be found friends of the Moravians, who desired to par-
ticipate in their religious blessings. A number of these
lived beyond the Lehigh Hills in a south-westerly direc-
tion, but too far off to be able to visit the meetings at
Bethlehem regularly. These, and more especially
Sebastian Henry Knauss, Jacob Ehrenhardt and
Andrew Schaus, had, already in 1472, while Count
Zinzendorf visited Pennsylvania, preferred the request,
FREE CONGREGATIONS. I 95
that the Brethren might attend to their spiritual wants.
This request was granted, on condition, however, that
this congregation was to be organized as a Lutheran
congregation. Accordingly Brother Leonhard Schnell
commenced regular preaching in a small log church,
built in 1742, somewhere near the old Moravian burying-
ground at Emmaus, and also administered the Lord's
Supper according to the Lutheran ritual, though some
German Reformed and others participated. In 1746 a
school-house was built, in which Christopher Demuth, a
native of Moravia, served as first school-master. In
1 747 this day-school was enlarged to a boarding-
school and according to the desire of the friends of
the Brethren a Moravian congregation was formally
organized, on July $0, 1747, consisting of forty-four
persons who, for this purpose, had assembled at Beth-
lehem. Anton Wagner was the first pastor of this
congregation.
To give permanency to this undertaking and secure
the support of their minister, facob Ehrenhardt and
Sebastian Henry Knauss made a liberal donation of one
hundred acres of excellent land, on which in later years
the village of Emmaus has been built. To the present
day these two worthy men are kept in grateful remem-
brance as the grandfathers of a considerable number
of the Emmaus congregation.
There is yet one place to be named, beyond the
boundaries of Pennsylvania, in which at this time the first
steps were taken for the formation of a Moravian con
gregation, namely, the city of
5. New York. — The commencement of this congre-
gation can be traced to the year 1736, when Bishop
Nitschmann and Brother Spangenberg became ac-
quainted with some awakened persons. This acquaint-
ance was cultivated by other Brethren, in passing through
I96 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
New York, especially by Peter Bohler, who in January,
1 74 1, enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of the
Noble and Horsfield families. Zinzendorf also became
acquainted with them, and the visits of the Brethren
were regularly continued since 1 742. In February, 1 748,
Abraham Bomper was commissioned to make an ar-
rangement with the trustees of the Lutheran or any of
the Reformed Churches in New York, to obtain permis-
sion for Moravian worship at stated times. This request
was not granted, and in consequence the Brethren built
a church of their own, in 1752.
Beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania there was
yet another neighborhood, in which the services of the
Brethren were desired at this time and where at a later
period the country congregation of Graceham was
organized, namely :
6. Monocasy in Maryland. — The first acquaintance
with the Brethren was occasioned by Pastor Nyberg, who
in 1745 kept the funeral of the Lutheran Pastor Canzler.
By his powerful testimony of the sufferings and death of
the Saviour many became awakened and requested
Pastor Nyberg to procure for them a minister or school-
master or lector. Upon his application to the Brethren
at Bethlehem, J. H. Herzer was sent there as Bible-
reader, and was succeeded in 1 746 by the ordained
Brother George Nieke, who for a while was in blessed
activity there as a Lutheran pastor, until dissensions
arose and he had to be recalled. Thereupon fifteen
English families requested ' a minister, and Daniel
Dulaney, of Annapolis, made a present of ten acres of
land for church and school purposes, which tract, called
" Dulaney's gift," was secured to the Brethren by law in
1 75 1, a school-house having been built upon it in 1749.
A number of years elapsed, however, before a congrega-
tion was organized.
MORAVIAN SCHOOLS. 1 97
8. MORAVIAN SCHOOLS.
A peculiar feature of the Brethren's Church from its
earliest times, and retained to the present day, lias been
their solicitude not only to preach the Gospel to the
adults among Christians and heathen, but to suffer little
children to come to the Saviour and for this purpose to
conduct their schools in such a manner, that not only the
faculties of the mind might become developed and
strengthened by judicious training, but the affections of
the heart be drawn in early years to the best Friend
of children. Before Count Zinzendorf left America
he said in his " Pennsylvania Testament :" " It is one of
my greatest hopes and desires that Bethlehem may
become a pattern of the education of children."
This desire was remembered and acted upon by
those brethren to whom the superintendence and di-
rection of all congregational affairs was entrusted, and a
system of education was introduced, the like of which
may probably never be found in any other community.
The peculiar situation of the Bethlehem congregation,
forming one very extended Family Economy, connected
with their peculiar religious tenets, led to a system which
we, a century later, would hardly wish to imitate, but
which nevertheless, was a most judicious arrangement
under the peculiar circumstances of the times. The infants
were hardly weaned from their mother's breast when the
Church as'sumed all further care for their support and
early training. With very rare exceptions all the infants
of the colonists at Bethlehem and Nazareth were placed
by their mothers in the "Nursery," when hardly sixteen
or eighteen months old, where widowed or unmarried
sisters devoted all their time to nursing them. And
as it was not considered the main object of educa-
tion to aim at a ripe scholarship for all their children,
but to nurse and train them for the Lord and 1 lis King-
I98 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
dom, their tutors and nurses endeavored to make them
acquainted with the Saviour, and their infant lispings
and their juvenile plays were governed and biased by
this one and all-important idea.
Cammerhof remarks in one of his letters : "The dear
little ones are very lively, playful and unaffected. The
wounds and the blood are their favorite theme, and their
parents rejoice when they hear of the life and sufferings
of the Saviour. Now and then some five or six sit to-
gether on a bench and have a meeting. They sing a
hymn, and one or the other tells of the Saviour's blood,
how many wounds He had, etc., or they keep a
love-feast." J. C. Franke, a man peculiarly adapted
for such a station, was the superintendent of this school.
In May, 1747, there were in this nursery more than fifty
infants, all under five years of age. Hence it may justly
be called the first infant school that ever existed.
On January 7, 1749, the Nursery was transferred
from Bethlehem to Nazareth and found its dwelling-
place in the so-called Whitefield House, which gradually
was devoted entirely to this purpose. On June 5, 1758,
the little girls were removed to Bethlehem, but the little
boys remained till 1764, when the remaining seven were
transferred to Nazareth Hall and this Nursery came to
an end.
When five or six years old, the boys were trans-
ferred from the Nursery to the Boys' School, which
was commenced in Nazareth in July, 1743, and was
removed to Frederick Township in May, 1745, where
Henry Antes had ofTered his own house for this pur-
pose. Besides the sons of the colonists at Bethlehem
and Nazareth, some children of friends of the
Brethren were admitted, and in November, 1 747,
there were about forty boys in this school, including
seven Indians and a few negroes. Brother Adolph
MORAVIAN SCHOOLS. I 99
Meyer was the superintendent of this school. The
plantation and mill of Henry Antes, and for a time
also the farm of William Frey, a Baptist, were man-
aged for the benefit of this school, around which a
small con erection was collected.
"Such a company of white, brown and black children,
as was assembled here, who were singing and speaking
of the wounds of the Saviour," could not fail to make a
deep impression on the hearts of all visitors. Brother
Spangenberg always found time to keep up a regular
correspondence with the larger boys. In 1750 this
school was connected with that in Oley.
The school for the little girls, of five to eleven years
of age, was commenced in Bethlehem in 1743, trans-
ferred to Nazareth in June, 1745, and afterwards again
removed to Bethlehem. In 1 747 it contained about
thirty girls, among whom there were some Indians, for in-
stance, one adopted by Spangenberg and called Mary
Spangenberg. Amongst themselves these children
elected a spiritual elder, Elizabeth Horsfield, of New
York, who, though young in years, was a faithful hand-
maiden of the Lord. There was a great work ot grace
among these children and many impressions were made
on their youthful hearts which lasted for life.
On July 27, 1746, Mr. Whitefield paid his first and
only visit to Nazareth, accompanied by Henry Antes :
" He was very friendly and polite, and when he heard the
name of Brother Abraham Reincke he remembered that
he had seen him formerly in London. He admired our
whole arrangement, and especially the order prevailing
everywhere. He was pleased to observe the industry of
the children, especially in spinning. The Indian girls
greatly attracted his attention and enlisted his most lively
interest, and he was pleased to sec his original plan ot a
school executed in this way." Amongst the children he
200 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
found one whom he six years before had baptized in
Georgia — Rebecca Burnside. Soon after she died of the
small-pox, after a great deal of patient suffering. Besides
her some ten or twelve girls were suffering from the same
disease, and it was a great comfort when Brother Pyrlaeus
had his spinet19 brought into their sick-room and kept a
singing-meeting there. Two little Indian girls also died
from this sickness — one commonly called "Little
Chicken," baptized Beata, the other, "Little Worm,"
and in baptism called Sarah. When they were buried
on the old grave-yard (once a desolate spot in the fields)
a brother had to precede to point out the way through the
dense forest.
As a peculiar feature of this first American Moravian
Female Academy must be mentioned the industry of the
little girls in spinning, which was not only a regular
branch of instruction, considered needful for a complete
female education,. but also a source of income for the chil-
dren themselves and a means by which they were enabled
to assist in repaying, in part, the expenses of their educa-
tion. And when, from time to time, these little spinners
had their special love-feasts, the extra toil was fully com-
pensated by this additional pleasure and the conscious-
ness of having learned in early years to do their duty.
From these schools the larger boys and girls, at the age
of twelve or fourteen years, entered the choir-houses of
the unmarried brethren and unmarried sisters, where they
remained under the spiritual and temporal superinten-
dence of the "laborers of the congregation" or the
"choir elders," until they entered the service of the
Church either as members of the " Church of Pilgrims "
or as economists, or settled in some other place where
the Family Economy system was not introduced.
19 Spinet, an old-fashioned piano ; probably the first musical instrument of
this kind in these parts of Pennsylvania.
MORAVIAN SCHOOLS. 201
In this manner the idea which at that time prevailed
among the Brethren, that it is the duty of the Church
to care for the education of the rising generation, was
carried out at Bethlehem and Nazareth to such an
extent, that very little scope was left for parental training
or maternal home influences.
Nevertheless, though fully occupied with the care of
their own children, the Brethren also tried to assist
their countrymen in this respect, by opening here and
there both day-schools and boarding-schools, the com-
mencement of which we can trace to Count Zinzendorf.
In a sermon preached at Manatawny in April, 1742, he
suggested the necessity and usefulness of a General
Boarding-school. In consequence of this suggestion
some applications were made to Zinzendorf concerning
the education of children of friends of the Brethren in
Germantown, and the young Countess Benigna de Zin-
zendorf undertook the care of a school for little girls,
which numbered twenty-five pupils and to which she at-
tended for some months, endeavoring to lead these chil-
dren to the Saviour, whom she had found in early years.
Count Zinzendorf wished to benefit, if possible, all the
children of his German countrymen in Pennsylvania by
the establishment of such a General Boarding-school,
and in his "Pennsylvania Testament" (in which he fully
acknowledges the skill of the Hallensians with regard to
education) he once more proposed the establishment of
a General Boys' School at Philadelphia and a General
Girls' School (ein Madchenhaus furs Land) at German-
town or elsewhere. This project of erecting a General
Boardine-school for the whole Province was, of course'
impracticable, but gave the first impulse for diffusing
more knowledge amon£ the scattered German settlers.
Ten years later, Michael Schlatter,'0 the founder of the
Deutsche Kirchenfreund, 1849, p. 13.
13
202 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
German Reformed Church in America, proposed to
erect free schools for the pious education of German
youths of all denominations, but this proposition also
did not succeed.
Meanwhile the Brethren established and for about
ten years maintained day-schools and boarding-schools at
various places. In 1743 Brother Lischy commenced a
day-school at Muddy Creek, for which a house was built
and finished in six days by Lutherans and German Re-
formed. The enemies of the Brethren called it "Little
Bethlehem." Brother Adam Luckenbach was the first
school-master here. Similar schools were commenced
at Lancaster, Oley, Mill Creek (Muhlbach), Warwick,
Heidelberg, Maguntsche and Walpack, beyond the Blue
Mountains. All these schools were kept by married
brethren from Bethlehem, who received the principal part
of their support from the Bethlehem Economy.
In 1746 a Boarding School was commenced at Ger-
mantown in Bechtel's house " shining as a light into all
directions." This being quite a new undertaking, it
attracted a great deal of attention and called forth both
friendly and censorious remarks from the neighborhood.
Brother and Sister Greening, Jasper Payne and John
Leighton had charge of this school, which in 1748
counted eleven boys and eighteen girls as boarders.
The boys were transferred to Oley and the number of
girls increased to twenty-seven by some newcomers
from Nazareth.
Still larger was the school at Oley, commenced in 1745.
Henry Antes built a house for this purpose on John
Leinbach's plantation, and in 1748 a second larger one.
Thus room was gained for the reception of the boys from
Germantown and Frederick Township. Brother John
Wolfgang Michler and Brother Robert Hussey were the
first teachers, in 1745. In 1749 the number of boarders
was thirty-eight — twenty-one girls and seventeen boys.
HOME MISSIONS. 203
Apart from the great expense of conducting this
school on account of its distance from Bethlehem, the
Brethren became fully convinced that the main object
was not gained, as the good impressions made upon the
hearts of the children were generally obliterated after
their return home, and thus no abiding fruits of right-
eousness were obtained. In 1 75 1, therefore, this school
was given up. The boys were transferred into the
strictly Moravian Boys' School at Maguntsche, com-
menced in 1747, and the girls into a house near Beth-
lehem beyond the Lehigh. In 1754. these two schools
were also given up, and the Brethren confined them-
selves to the education of their own children.
The present Boarding-schools at Bethlehem, Naza-
reth, Lititz, Pa., and Salem, N. C, are of later date.
9. HOME MISSIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND OTHER
COLONIES.
Besides the Lutheran and Reformed congregations
which were served regularly by the Brethren, there was
a large field open for cultivation among those who as
yet belonged to no church organization whatever. This
required, besides the settled ministry, a number of itin-
erant preachers and visitors, who were ready and willing
to go and proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all who
wished to hear it or were indifferent about it. thus devel-
oping a Home Missionary activity of a novel kind, and
not without blessed results. Time and space would not
permit a detailed account of all the journeys of the
itinerant preachers, or the joys and sorrows of these
evangelists. It will suffice briefly to sketch the field of
their activity.
204 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
A. IN PENNSYLVANIA.
In Brother Bohler's time in 1743, the commencement
was made of ministerial itinerancy, which seems to have
flourished most from 1746 to 1749.
At the Synod at Bethlehem in February, 1 746, Brother
Leonhard Schnell was appointed to preach to all the
Lutherans within the Province, and he visited sixteen
places, whilst Christian Henry Rauch, sent to the Ger-
man Reformed, preached at fifteen places. David Bruce,
a Scotchman, preached to the English and Irish in ten
different neighborhoods. Everywhere these itinerant
ministers were gladly received, and the only complaint
was that their visits were too few and far between.
Bishop Cammerhof greatly encouraged this kind of
activity, as being well calculated to counteract the plan
pursued hitherto of supplying Lutheran and Reformed
congregations with ministers, thus putting pseudo-
Lutheran and pseudo-Reformed ministers into a wrong
position, or at least a situation which, being liable to mis-
construction, was not tenable for any length of time.
The intinerant ministers had no system to maintain, no
ecclesiastical rules to observe, but merely preached
Christ crucified, and could, therefore, often reach those
who, filled with denominational prejudices, would not
have listened to Lutheran or Reformed pastors. Cam-
merhof himself undertook such a circuit from October
1 to November 5, 1747, extending it beyond the
southern boundaries of Pennsylvania and preaching
at twenty-nine different places. In Allemangel (Lynn
Township) he renewed acquaintance with those who,
formerly awakened by the Tunkers, had been visited by
Count Zinzendorf. They now entered into closer con-
nection with Bethlehem, which led to the formation of a
small Moravian congregation in 1 749.
Brother Nathanael Seidel and Brother John E. West-
man undertook a similar journey in December, 1747,
HOME MISSIONS. 205
which was attended with much bodily hardship and dan-
ger, especially their crossing- the Susquehanna on very
thin ice. In general it is to be remarked, that the state
of the road or the weather, heat or cold, were never
taken into account when starting on foot for their mis-
sionary trips — and in this respect they undoubtedly
underwent greater hardships, than their less hardy
descendants would be willing to bear.
In February, i 748, Brother Spangenberg made a longer
visit amongst the Mennonites of Lancaster County, where
eleven of their teachers and ministers received him in a
very friendly manner. Trusting mostly to their own
righteousness, they would not exactly contradict the
doctrine of the free grace of Christ, but seemed not to
appreciate it very much. Still some of their number
became members of the Brethren's Church.
The Society of Friends was visited by John Wade
and Ludwig Hiibner, who were received very kindly,
but made very little impression with their Gospel-mes-
sage. The intercourse with the Schwenkfelders and
Tunkers had ceased almost entirely.
B. BEYOND PENNSYLVANIA.
Beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania the Brethren
had found a large field of usefulness among the Swedes
on the east side of the Delaware. Here Bryzelius had
preached for more than a year, until driven away by
Magister Naesman. Since then the Brethren had
visited here regularly both among the Swedes and
the English. Abraham Reincke, Thomas Yarrell, Owen
Rice, Joseph Powell and Sven Roseen (all Swedish or
English brethren) stayed there for a longer time. In
1746 a church was built for the Brethren near Maurice
River, which was dedicated to the worship of God by the
Brethren Reincke, Rice, Nyberg and Reuz. Here the
206 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
Brethren were at liberty to preach as often as they
pleased. Also at Oldman's Creek and Penn's Neck
they were always welcomed and permitted to preach in
the Swedish churches.
In Maryland and Virginia the Brethren had many '
friends, who were not deterred from listening to the ser-
mons and addresses of Leonhard Schnell and Matthew
Gottschalk by a proclamation of the Governor of the
latter colony. Cammerhof visited Maryland in i 747, but
found Frederickstown occupied by Schlatter and Muhlen-
berg since Schnell had been there.
In July and August, 1748, Brother Spangenberg, ac-
companied by Matthew Reuz, made a longer journey
through Maryland and Virginia to near the boundary of
North Carolina, preaching, wherever an opportunity
offered, to Germans and English.
In 'the northern part of Pennsylvania, beyond the
Blue Mountains, in the " Minisink Country," as well as in
the adjoining counties of New Jersey, English breth-
ren were actively engaged both as itinerant preachers
and as settled school-masters. Though they were
not welcome every where, especially where Presbyterian
influences prevailed, still there were many who heard
them gladly and rejoiced whenever their visits were re-
peated. In Dansbury,21 beyond the Blue Mountains,
where Shaw and Burnside had visited for several years,
Brother Nathanael Seidel found the people, in Janu-
ary, 1748, making preparations for building a church for
the Brethren ; in Walpack, fifteen miles east of Dans-
bury, beyond the Delaware, Brother Bruce had erected a
school-house in 1 746, which served also as a meeting-
house for the Moravian itinerant preachers. Still farther
north along Pawlins Kill, in New Jersey, some .Ger-
man families were visited occasionally.
21 In the present Monroe County.
HOME MISSIONS. 20"J
According to a resolution of a Synod held at Bethle-
hem in 1 743, the visits of the Brethren were extended
to Long Island and the New England provinces. Staten
Island was visited about this time ; on Long Island lived
Timothy Horsfield, a friend of the Brethren ; in New-
port, R. I., the Brethren were introduced by two mission-
aries— M. Reuz and G. Kaske — who sailed from this port
for Berbice in South America in 1747, after having spent
some days in the house of Richard Hayward. In 1748,
Jasper Payne and Christian Frohlich, having returned
from a visit to the negroes in Maryland and Virginia,
undertook a longer journey to New England, walking
through snow and ice even beyond Boston. They visited
Saybrook, New London, Providence, Boston, Newport,
and New Haven, and found many awakened souls, who
would have liked to see Bethlehem. Sixty miles be-
yond Boston, in Durham, they found a new sect of quite
a peculiar kind. The religious exercises of these people
consisted in dancing and yelling, clapping of hands, and
especially cursing, since they maintained and probably
firmly believed that it was their special commission from
the Lord to curse Satan in man. In other respects they
seemed truly awakened people, ready to receive the
Gospel of Christ.
In February, 1 747, Leonhard Schnell and Burnside
paid a visit to the Germans settled in Canatschochary
(Canajoharie), beyond Albany, N. Y., most of whom
were Lutherans, but destitute of a regular ministry and,
therefore, very glad once again to hear the sweet sound
of the Gospel in their own language.
At the close of 1747 there were altogether thirty-one
localities in which the Brethren or friends of the Mora-
vian^Church were to be found, exclusive of the mission-
ary stations among the heathen.
208 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
IO. INDIAN MISSION, GNADENHUTTEN. I 746.
The missionary stations in the Danish West Indies
and Berbice (South America) being under the immedi-
ate supervision of Brother Spangenberg, the Church
of Pilgrims at Bethlehem took a lively interest in these
Missions, partly by sending pecuniary aid and still more
by furnishing missionaries. Some of the first colonists of
Bethlehem and Nazareth finished their pilgrimage in the
Danish West Indies, for instance, Abraham Meinung (died
1749), and Joseph Shaw (perished on the voyage, 1747).
Others, as Christian Frohlich, John E. Westman, George
Ohneberg, J. Reinhard Ronner, Abraham Biininger, hav-
ing spent a number of years there in the service of the
Lord, returned to North America ; Christian Henry
Rauch and Nathanael Seidel made repeated visitations ;
W. Zander, G. Kaske and M. Reuz went from Bethlehem
to serve on the Mission amono- the Arawack Indians; all
of which served to increase the missionary spirit of the
congregation.
The main activity of the Brethren in Bethlehem, how-
ever, was manifested in the Indian Mission. Brother
Christian Henry Rauch had commenced this Mission in
1745 among the Delawares and Mohicans in Cheko-
meko. In 1 747, John Martin Mack commenced a second
station twenty miles farther east in Pachgatgoch, Conn.,
and visited also in the Indian village Potatik, about
seventy miles off, where he was very kindly received.
A few years later we find flourishing Indian congregations
at Checomeko, Pachgatgoch and Wechquadnach, which
were well calculated to awaken the most pleasing antici-
pations. But already the powers of darkness were ac-
tive to undermine this work of the Lord. White neigh-
bors, enemies of the Gospel and of vital religion, began
to harass the missionaries in 1744, by enticing the
Indians to indulge in strong drink and by spreading evil
INDIAN MISSION. 2O0
reports concerning the Brethren. The most dangerous
of all their insinuations was that the Brethren were in
secret alliance with the French in Canada, and that they
fomented the disturbances which took place, and in-
tended to furnish the Indians with arms to fight against
the English. This falsehood was spread about with
such boldness, that at last the whole country was
alarmed and filled with terror. The missionaries were,
therefore, cited before the magistrates, were ordered
to drill with the militia and were required to take
the following oaths: first, "That King George being
the lawful" sovereign of the kingdom, they would not in
any way encourage the Pretender;" the other: "That
they rejected transubstantiation, the worship of the
Virgin Mary, purgatory," etc. The missionaries cheer-
fully assented to every point contained in the oaths, but
begged for conscience' sake to be excused from swear-
ing as well as from bearing arms. Impartial magistrates
and all who, not blinded by prejudice and fanatical zeal,
could appreciate their motives, were fully convinced of
their innocence and spoke of them in the most honor-
able terms, and even Governor Clinton took their part.
But their enemies succeeded in having an Act passed in
the Colonial Assembly, September 21, 1744, by which
they were forced to leave the country or to act against
their consciences. In this Act — " An Act for Securing
of his Majestie's Government of New York" — the
following passages occur:
"Whereas, an Invasion hath been lately attempted
against his Majestie's kingdom and government in favor
of a popish Pretender :
"Be it enacted — that it shall be lawful for any of the
Judges of the Court of Common Pleas with any two
Justices of the Peace, to summon any person, whom
they shall suspect to be disaffected to the government, to
appear before them to take the oath of Allegiance."
2IO THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
The Society of Friends, however, was excepted from
this enactment, and their simple affirmation that they
were faithful subjects of King George, and detested the
damnable doctrine of the Pope, was to be received in-
stead of an oath. But in reference to the Moravians
we read :
" And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid ;
that no Vagrant Preacher, Moravian or Disguised Papist
should preach or teach either in public or private without
first taking the Oaths appointed by this Act, and ob-
taining a License from the Governor or Commander-in-
Chief for the time being, and every Vagrant 'Preacher,
Moravian or Disguised Papist, that shall preach without
taking such Oaths, or obtaining such License as afore-
said shall forfeit the sum of £40 with six months Im-
prisonment without Bail or Mainprize, and for the second
offence shall be obliged to leave the Colony, and if they
do not leave this Colony or shall return, they shall suffer
such punishment as shall be inflicted by the Justices of the
Supreme Court, not extending to Life and Limb.
" And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
that no person or persons whatsoever shall take upon
them to reside among the Indians under the pretense of
bringing them over to the Christian Faith, but such as
shall be duly authorized so to do by License from the
Governor or Commander-in-Chief for the time being, by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Council, and
every Vagrant Preacher, Moravian, Disguised Papist or
any other person presuming to reside among and teach
the Indians without such License as aforesaid shall be
taken up and treated as a person taking upon him to se-
duce the Indians from his Majestie's Interest and shall
suffer such punishment as shall be inflicted by the Justices
the Supreme Court, not extending to Life and Limb.
"Provided always and be it enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, that nothing in this Act contained shall be con-
INDIAN MISSION. 2 I I
strued to oblige the Ministers of the Dutch and French
protestant reformed Churches, the Presbyterian Minis-
ters, Ministers of the Kirk of Scotland, the Lutherans,
the Conoreo-ational Ministers, the Quakers and the Ana-
baptists to obtain Certificates for their several places of
public worship already erected or that shall be hereafter
erected within this Colony, anything in this Act to the
Contrary notwithstanding.
"This Act to be and remain of force from the publica-
tion hereof for the term of one year and no longer.
"Third reading, September 13, 1744.
Adolph Philipse, Speaker.
" Signed by Gov. G. Clinton, New York, September
21, 1744."
It is pretty evident that the sole aim and object of this
Act of the Colonial Assembly of New York was, if pos-
sible, to destroy the work of the Brethren among the
Indians at one stroke. Of this Bishop Spangenberg
was fully convinced when he visited the persecuted
band of missionaries after his arrival in New York
in November, 1744, and presently all were recalled to
Bethlehem. One of them, however, Brother Gottlob
Biittner, finished his pilgrimage in Chekomeko. Being
of a weak constitution, the hard life which he led
among the Indians, and above all the persecutions at-
tended with frequent and troublesome journeys in bad
weather, increased his infirmities and hastened his disso-
lution. He gently fell asleep in Jesus, February 25,
1745, and his grave was for a long time — until the
plough passed over the spot — a continual remembrance
of the blessed work of the Brethren, but also of the bitter
enmity of their fellow-Christians. How intense this
hatred was, soon became manifest by the imprisonment of
C. Frederick Post and David Zeisberger. The)' had gone
to Canatschochary (Canajoharie), beyond Albany, not for
2 I 2 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
the purpose of preaching, which they could not do under
existing laws, but in order to improve in the Maqua
language, and thus to prepare themselves for farther
usefulness among the Six Nations. On the mere sus-
picion of treacherous views they were taken prisoners,
brought to New York, February 22, 1745, and were
confined in the City Hall. Here they were required
to take the oath of allegiance and to abjure the Pope.
They declared again and again that they were faithful
subjects of King George, but refused to take any oath,
for conscience' sake, which besides could hardly be
required from mere travelers. This affair created not
a little stir and the City Council was at a loss what to
do with these refractory "vagrant preachers." Many
Christians came to visit them in prison and kindly cared
for their bodily wants, among whom are especially to be
noticed : Mr. Thomas Noble, a respectable merchant of
New York, and his clerk, Henry Van Vleck.
As no charge against them could be proved and Gov-
ernor Thomas, of Pennsylvania, cheerfully signed a
testimonial to their faithfulness as citizens of that colony,
they were dismissed, April 10, after an imprisonment of
seven weeks.
Under these circumstances it was not to be expected
that the Indians themselves would be left at rest at
Chekomeko for any length of time, and the Brethren at
Bethlehem were of opinion that it would be best for
them to remove entirely from the neighborhood of the
white people and settle near their countrymen at
Wajomik (Wyoming) on the Susquehanna. In order
that no difficulty might be made on the part of the Six
Nations, to whom this part of the country belonged,
Bishop Spangenberg himself, accompanied by Conrad
Weiser, David Zeisberger and Shebosh, undertook a
tedious and fatiguing journey to Onondaga, May to
INDIAN MISSION. 213
July, 1745, where the great council of the Six Nations,
with great solemnity, renewed with T'gerhitonti
(Spangenberg) the covenant made three years before
with Count Zinzendorf, granting the believing Indians
permission to remove to Wajomik.
Contrary to all expectation the Indians at Chekomeko
refused to accept this offer and remained until they were
expelled by the white people by main force. Having
taken refuge on Pennsylvania soil, they tarried for a
while at Friedenshutten, near Bethlehem, whence they
removed to a tract of land purchased by the Brethren
beyond the Blue Mountains, at the junction of the
Mahony Creek and the Lehigh River. Here the Mission-
station Gnadenhiitten was founded in 1 746 by Brother
John Martin Mack, who soon became one of the most
prominent servants of the Lord in the Mission cause, in
which he was active until 1 784, both among the Indians
in North America and the negroes in the West Indies.
He died in 1784, a Bishop of the Brethren's Church.
While the greater part of the believing Indians re-
moved to Pennsylvania, there were still some left in
Connecticut, both at Pachgatgoch and Wechquadnach.
These were also supplied with missionaries, until they
gradually followed their brethren westward.
According to the wish of the Indian Chief Shikellimus,
a blacksmith shop was established at Shamokin (now
Sunbury, Pa.), which was considered an outpost, from
which, as soon as opportunity should offer, the Gospel-
message might be brought to the headquarters of the
Six Nations. Bishop Cammerhof visited here in Janu-
ary, 1 74S, performing one of the most dangerous and
adventuresome journeys, exposed to hardships of all
kinds, but trusting the protecting hand of his Lord and
Saviour, by whom he was graciously preserved through
snow and ice and flood.22
Moravian Church Miscellany, 1855, p. 41.
214 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
I I . PERSECUTIONS
The persecutions of the Moravian missionaries in the
Colony of New York induced Count Zinzendorf to
apply for protection to the Board of Trade in England.
By this Board Governor Clinton was ordered to state
the reasons why a law had been passed against the Mo-
ravians residing- among- the Indians. In the official
answer, dated May, 1746,23 the following passages occur
which we insert here, as an exposition of the popular
feeling of .the English part of the population against the
German Brethren :
"This Count & his Moravian Brethren have by
many Prudent People been lookt upon with a Jealous
Eye, ever Since his Arrival in these Parts. He is called
a German Count, & as Many of his Countrymen have
for several years Successively been imported into and
Settled in Pensilvania, Roman Catholicks as well as
Protestants Without Distinction, Where it Seems by the
Indulgence of the Crown, their Constitution Granted by
Charter, all Perswasions Roman Catholicks as well as
others are tollerated the free Exercise of their Religion ;
the Increase of the People in that Colony has been so
Great that they are Computed to be Already much an
Overbalance to the English Subjects there ; And from the
Priviledge given them of Settling in Bodys by themselves,
they are like ever to Remain a Distinct People ; and this
seems to be their Aim, for they are fond of keeping up
the [German] Language by Retaining Clergy, School-
masters & even Printers of their own Country; and
Language ; nor, as is credibly reported, will they Suffer
any of their People to Intermarry with the English, so
that by these means & the Privi.ledges the Government
of Pensilvania Admits them to upon Importation, in
23 Documentary History of the State of New York, by E. B. O'C'allaghan,
Vol. Ill, p. 1022.
PERSECUTIONS. 2 15
Common with the English Subjects, they may in a Short
Time bear the Chief Say in the Government of that
Colony, which from the aforegoing observations may
Probably be attended with Dangerous Consequences not
only to Pensilvania, But his Majesty's other Colonies in
North America.
"These Moravians have Compassed Sea & Land to
make Proselytes, & have so far Succeeded as to Gain
in Pennsilvania, this and other Colonys ; And the house
at the Forks before-mentioned, [/. e., the house built for
and afterwards bought from Whitefield at the forks
of the Delaware — Nazareth] is the principal place of
Rendezvouz & Quarter of the Chiefs of them ; 'tis kept
according to Whitefield's Scheme as a Seminary for Con-
verts, & house of Support to their deluded Votaries,
and many have Resorted thither ; from thence they dis-
patch their Itinerant Emissarys, Teachers or Preachers,
Simple, illiterate persons, who were wont to be Content
to busy themselves in their Native Country in the Or-
dinary & humble Occupations they were bred to, viz1,
Bricklayers, Carpenters, Woolcombers, Taylors, and
Such like Mechanical or handy-Craft Trades, 'till they
were infatuated with a certain decree of Enthusiasm or
Folly, Sufficient for Qualifying them for the plantation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; of whose Delusions, It
seems, the Count has laid hold & thought them proper
Tools to be Employed in his Service, perhaps with views
unknown to these Creatures themselves, though at the
same Time they are forwarding his Schemes."
These extracts show sufficiently the spirit of the times ;
the national jealousy of the English against the Ger-
mans ; the hatred of ungodly people against sincere dis-
ciples of the Saviour, the scorn of the proud and worldly-
wise against the humble lovers of their fellow men.
That poor and illiterate mechanics should travel about
2l6 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
through forests and swamps, in heat and cold, for no
purpose whatever than to gain souls for Christ, who
would believe that? And that these men "though un-
qualified as to the knowledge of the Indian language or
any other but their own mother-tongue," should live
among the Indians, to convert, to Christianize and
civilize the untutored sons of the forest, seemed so un-
likely, that the most absurd notions would sooner be be-
lieved than this. They may be emissaries from the Pope,
they may be secret allies of the French ; they refuse to
swear allegiance to the King, will not participate in mili-
tary exercise. Why should we suffer them among us ?
Who are these Moravians ? Where do they come
from ? Why do they assume such an unintelligible
name ? That questions of this kind were really pro-
posed and discussed publicly is evident from the follow-
ing answer of Peter Bohler, written in March, 1745, in
New York, before his return to Europe :
" I suppose that the Author means by Moravians that
Protestant People of God, which these several centuries
past was called the United Brethren, of which a Congre-
gation lives in the Forks of the Delaware, and suppos-
ing that, I must say :
"That this is a denomination altogether improper and
quite out of the way, to call the United Brethren Mora-
vians : for Moravia is a marquisate in Germany, belong-
ing to the Queen of Hungary : And tho' some natives
of Moravia belong to the United Brethren, yet they are
by far the least part of the United Brethren. For we
consist of all nations almost, namely, Germans, English,
Scotch, Irish, Low Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Welsh,
Livonians, Esthonians, Gronlanders, Hottentots, Mala-
bars, Negroes, Indians, and others — and under what pre-
tence can they be called ' natives of Moravia,' for that is,
what ' Moravian ' signifies ?
PERSECUTIONS. 2 I 7
" But if one would say : We don't mean Natives of such
a Marquisate, but such as belong to that Religion. But
in this sense is the denomination as improper for the
United Brethren as in the above sense. For the United
Brethren do not only consist of properly such-called
' Moravian Brethren,' but also of Lutherans, Calvinists,
Church of England-men, Independents, Baptists, and
other Protestant Denominations. And indeed the
properly so-called Moravian Brethren are the very least
part of the United Brethren. And therefore as logically
a miuori nunquam Jit denomination it is very improper to
use the word Moravian for a distinguishing denomina-
tion for the United Brethren ; and we can never allow of
it, to call us so in general."
In conformity with this declaration of Peter Bohler, the
Synod at Germantown, May, 1747, protested against the
appellation " Moravian Brethren," as being a sectarian
name. Nevertheless this name has maintained itself, and
is now — and justly so — considered the most honorable ap-
pellation for all true members of the Unitas Fratrum ; for
though, even at the present day and among those where it
should be least expected, much ignorance prevails in refer-
ence to the origin and the religious views of the Moravian
Brethren, still neither ignorance nor malice will confound
them with "vagrant preachers" or "disguised Papists."
Thus they were designated in the Commonwealth of New
York more than a century ago ; as such they were perse-
cuted and driven beyond the boundaries of the Colon)-.
A few years later the following Proclamation was pub-
lished in Virginia :
" Whereas it is represented to me that several
Itinerant Preachers have lately crept into this Colony
and that the suffering those corruptors of our faith and
true religion to propagate their shocking doctrine may
be of mischievous consequences :
2l8
" I have therefore thought fit, by and with the advice of
his Majesty's council, to issue this proclamation, strictly
requiring all Magistrates and officers to discourage and
prohibit as far as legally they can all itinerant preachers,
whether New Lights, Moravians or Methodists from
teaching, preaching or holding any meeting in this
Colony and that all persons be enjoined to be aiding
and assisting to that purpose.
" Given under my Hand at Williamsburg, this 3d day of
April, 1747, in the 20th year of his Majesty's reign.
God save the King, William Gooch,
His Majesty s Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-
Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia."
By this proclamation of the governor of the estab-
lished High Church, all Episcopalians were warned
aeainst Moravians, Methodists and New Lights. The
last were an ultra-Puritanic sect, who maintained and
proved by many arguments that God was a great tyrant,
plaguing people with His unmerciful cruelty. They hated
and detested the "Free-grace preachers" and warned
people against the Moravians by public placards. One
of these, attached to the church door in Penn's Neck,
was worded thus :
"Read the 16th Chapter of Luke, and you will find
whole households in a damned condition without they
repent before it be too late. So therefore consider this,
Ye Moravians, lest a curse come upon You when it is
too late to help it : Therefore depart ye Flatterers from
hence, for You tell all the promises but not the threaten-
ings. Therefore begone, Ye Deceivers, which put no
charge to your , but say : Come to Christ, but how
Ye tell us not ; therefore, begone, we want none of
Your sort here — Amen."
Among the Swedes in New Jersey, where these
fanatical New Lights seem to have been most numerous,
PERSECUTIONS. 2IQ
the Swedish Lutheran ministers, Naesman, Sandin, and
even Tranberg, openly or secretly opposed the Breth-
ren, as "the followers of the Count" (die Grafischen),
hut could not hinder their labors altogether. For a sea-
son the Brethren were kept out of the church in
Penn's Neck by an English minister in Salem, but after
his death the people there requested the Brethren to
come again, and more especially Owen Rice, who exerted
a very blessed influence among the Swedes. The
Swedish Church at Maurice River was placed under the
trusteeship of the Brethren A. Reincke, O. Rice and
Nyberg, and when Pastor Sandin tried to take posses-
sion of this church, he was told that he must first get a
letter from Brother Spangenberg, for him they had
asked for a minister. Pastor Sandin died in 1 748, de-
serted by his own people, and nursed by the Moravians.
Pastor Tranberg and Brother Greening kept his funeral
in Christian fellowship.
While in the neighboring Provinces the persecutions
to which the Moravian Brethren were exposed originated
in ignorance and misconception of their true motives,
we might suppose that in Pennsylvania, among their
own countrymen, who spoke the same language and
could more closely observe their whole walk and con-
versation, all unfriendly feelings would gradually dis-
appear. This was, however, not yet the case. On the
contrary, the jealousies brought across the Atlantic Ocean
from the German mother-country were nourished for
a while and led to some unjust actions. In Tulpe-
hocken, for instance, the Hallensian Kurtz had gained
a party for himself, and, a funeral occurring in the
neighborhood, he forcibly took possession of the
church built by the friends of the Brethren. " It is a
Lutheran church," he reasoned ; " I am a Lutheran pas-
tor, and therefore entitled to the use of this church."
2 20 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
He was assisted by Conrad Weiser, who had been a
friend and faithful counselor of the Moravian Brethren ;
but after Pastor Muhlenberg had married his daughter
this friendship gradually cooled off and by his influence
those who had no legal right or claim to this church,
kept possession of it.
In a similar manner the German Reformed Pastor
Tempelman took possession of the school-house at
Mode Creek, [Muddy Creek] January 13, 1748, forcibly
expelling the brother who was living there, on the plea
that he, as Reformed pastor, had the first right to a
school-house built by and for the Reformed.
In Lancaster, the Brethren were expelled from their
burying-ground and obliged to lay out a new one.
But as Brother Spangenberg, on the part of the
Brethren, refrained from retaliating and preferred to
suffer injustice rather than increase the unhappy state of
enmity between his fellow-ministers in the Gospel by
controversy, Pastors Muhlenberg and Schlatter also
refrained from personal participation in those acts of
injustice which their followers committed.
It thus became more and more manifest that Zinzen-
dorf's original idea of a union of the German churches
had to be altogether abandoned, and hence the Synods
also gradually assumed a different character.
12. THE SYNODS OF I 746, I 747, AND I 748.
The Synods held by Brother Spangenberg in 1745
were, in spirit and in outward arrangements, not
materially different from the General Pennsylvania
Synods at which Count Zinzendorf had presided in 1742.
The same also may be said in reference to the Synods of
1 746, though we already find some traces of the increas-
ing opposition of the Lutheran clergy, which as yet was
SYNODS OF I746, 1747, AND 1 748. 22 1
met by a very conciliatory spirit on the part of the
Brethren.
There were four Synods in 1746: The first met at
Bethlehem, February 4 to 8, and consisted of one hundred
and thirty-nine members from twenty-five different
places. In the voluminous minutes the following
passages occur :
"If the Saviour will take our part and defend us
against the calumnies heaped upon us, He can do it
easily and effectively. We, however, will not enter on
any defenses for the present, for we have no time." (§30.)
" We would like to see in Pennsylvania both Lutheran
and Reformed congregations, maintaining not only their
doctrine, but also their church government." (§49-)
"In reference to those ministers, who storm against
us, to detain people from us, or who speak our language
to draw people to themselves, we will act as hitherto.
We suffer them to go on and wait on the Lord." (§61.)
The second Synod was convened at Philadelphia,
April 5 to 7.
In the minutes we read :
"It is not right to call this Synod a Moravian Synod.
It is an assembly of persons from different denomina-
tions for the purpose of caring for their own and their
neighbors' real well-being, according to the maxims
of the doctrine of Jesus and the general plan of love of
the children of God."
The third Synod of the year also met at Philadelphia,
August 11 to 14, numbering sixty-seven members.
The following are extracts from the minutes :
"The Brethren are accused of enticing people from
their religion by pretending to be Lutherans or German
Reformed, which they are not." This current accusa-
tion was met by the Synod by the following statement :
" Those amontr Us who adhere to the Confession of Augfs-
222 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
burg, as Leonhard Schnell and others, are Lutherans,
while those who subscribe to the Synod of Berne, as
Rauch, Lischy and others, are Reformed. It is a wrong
imputation, as if we intended to draw away people from
their own denominations. The truth is this : As soon as
any one begins to strive after godliness in Christ Jesus in
his own denomination, he is rejected by the ministers and
members of his own Church as an errorist, and set down
as a Moravian Brother, even if he should never have
seen one."
The fourth Synod assembled at Grist Creek (Kreuz
Creek), and was probably the first meeting of the kind
ever held west of the Susquehanna. One hundred and
sixty members had come together from twenty-two
different places.
There it was again publicly declared: "The aim and
object of the Synod is, that that religious animosity which
is but too common in this country, may cease amongst
awakened persons, who live in different denominations.
It is no Moravian Synod, but a General Religious Con-
ference. No Church in the world dare pretend to be
the only true and real Church of God. Religion and
faith are not the same, though they are continually
confounded. The Church of the Brethren in our
days is no new religion, no new sect, but is an
institution (Anstalt) established by the Saviour, for
the salvation and preservation of souls. He Himself
collects those souls, whom He will not only save, but
also use for His holy purposes ; these He baptizes with
His own Spirit into one body."
In 1747 these Synods began to assume a different
character, caused probably by the arrival of Bishop
Cammerhof, and the new manner of teaching which he
introduced. Even the outward arrangement Gf the
Synod became different, as a distinction was made
SYNODS OF I746, 1747, AND 1 748. 223
between the proper members of the Synod and the in-
vited guests. Pastor Nyberg, for instance, always a
regular attendant and a full member of the Synod, is
mentioned at the second Synod of 1747 as one of the
guests, which, however, may have been caused by his
peculiar situation in the Lancaster congregation.
The first Synod of 1747 assembled at Bethlehem,
January 26 to 29. Brother Spangenberg said in his
opening address : " We are still in our novitiate ; we are
yet tender plants, which are not deeply rooted ; we are
exposed to many dangers, which we cannot meet in our
own strength ; but we are the novitiate of the Saviour."
" Our Synod is and shall remain a general (ocumen-
ische) Synod."
Accordingly the discussions referred first to the state
of religion in Pennsylvania in general. As a new sect
mentioned the New-mooners (Neumonder), who had
lately separated from the Mennonites, and kept their
meetings only at the time of new moon. By far the
greater part of the discussions, however, referred to the
different spheres of activity of the Moravian Brethren,
their congregations, schools, missions, etc.
The second Synod of 1 747, consisting of fifty-two
brethren, twenty-five sisters and thirty-nine guests, met
in Germantown, May 10 to 14. The Trustees of the
German Reformed Church had been asked to allow
the members of the Synod to assemble in their meeting-
house, but refused. A suitable place, however, was found
at the house of Engfelbert Lack, a baker. When the time
for the Synod arrived, the rain poured down incessantly,
and the enemies of the Brethren openly triumphed at
their supposed disappointment. But their exultation
was premature. At the appointed day the brethren and
sisters from Bethlehem and many other places arrived
at Germantown in spite <>t rain und mud and mire.
2 24 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
While their enemies maintained that the elements of
heaven had opposed them, and ascribed their arrival to
their obstinacy and stubbornness, Cammerhof and his
brethren said : " We know it was the strength and grace
of the Lamb."24
Such synodical meetings of the Brethren, convened in
the midst of their most bitter opponents, were surely
powerful testimonies to their cheerful reliance and confi-
dence in the Lord, and if men of high standing, like
Justice Smout, of Lancaster, Recorder Brockden, of
Philadelphia, and Mr. Brodhead, Indian-trader at Mini-
sink, participated in these meetings, their testimony in
favor of the Brethren would surely have had weight with
many, whilst others were perhaps still more favorably
inclined to them on beholding the Christian Indians, who
by their instrumentality had been led from darkness to
light, and freely took part in these meetings.
The Synod again protested against the name " Mora-
vian Brethren," as being sectarian.
"We are no sect, but free servants of Christ. There
is but one true and saving religion, which consists not in
written formulas and confessions of faith or outward
ceremonies, but is exclusively a matter of the heart, and
depends only on this, that the individual soul may be-
come truly acquainted with Christ the Lamb of God, as
his Saviour, and find grace, and forgiveness of sin in
His blood, and thus enter into communion with Him
and with all His children. This is our aim and object."
In the third Synod, however, held at Bethlehem in
September, quite a different spirit prevailed and the
influence of Cammerhof had evidently gained the
ascendency.
" By grace we have received the great privilege, that
we can say : Where is a people to be found on earth,
24 Cammerhof's Letters, No. 4.
SYNODS OF 1746, 1747, AND 1 748. 225
among whom the presence of our God may be found
and felt as sensibly as among- us. If you seek the king-
dom of the cross — here it is." (Wir diirfen hier be-
zeugen : Wer's Kreuzreich sucht — Ich bin's.)
The Synod was held in two divisions. The first
(September 14 and 15) was attended exclusively by
members of the Brethren's Church, to which the congre-
gations of Nazareth and Maguntsche now belonged,
and many resolutions were passed in direct opposition to
the principles professed at former Synods.
The second division (September 16 to 19) was attended
besides by ninety-four friends of the Brethren's Church
from twenty different localities. These public meetings,
however, can hardly be called synodical meetings, as
they were not so much of a deliberative, but rather of
an edifying character. They were opened by singing and
an address on the daily word, whereupon reports from
the different congregations and missionary stations were
communicated. Now and then some of the friends would
make proposals or prefer their wishes, but in these
public meetings no resolutions were passed.
In 1756 Spangenberg said in reference to this and the
next Synod : "At these Synods the meetings of other
denominations ceased. Thus far it had been our inten-
tion: 'We would have healed Babylon' (Jer. 51: 9), but
now it became evident that ' she will not be healed.' '
The first Synod of 1748, held in Ouittopehille (Hebron,
Lebanon County), February 11 to 14, is still called a
Pennsylvania Synod, but it is the last time that this
term occurs in the Synodal Acts. It had to be acknowl-
edged, that "in certain respects the Synod which we
used to hold in Pennsylvania, has assumed another
type than had been intended at first."
And this could hardly be otherwise after the Lutheran
Church had become fully and independently organized
2 26 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
by the formation of a synodical body by Dr. Muhlenberg,
convened at Philadelphia, August 14, 1748,25 and after
the German Reformed Church, under Schlatter's influence,
had entered into a closer connection with the Classis of
Amsterdam. The natural consequence was, that all
those congregations, which had hitherto been served by
the Brethren — if they did not join one or the other of
these new church organizations — now entered into closer
connection with the Moravian Church. This organization
of the American Brethren's Church was brought about at
the twenty-seventh Synod, the third of the year 1 748,
held in October at Bethlehem, at which Bishop John de
Watteville presided.
Before this, however, there was yet one Synod, the
second of 1748, held at Bethlehem, June 13 to 16, which
may be called the transition Synod.
In his opening address Brother Cammerhof stated the
object of this meeting to be ''the renewal and sealing
(Versiegelung) of our covenant of grace, the common
(gemeinschaftliche) joy and recreation by a new view of
our election of grace and the blessed calling of the
Church."
Brother Cammerhof remarks in one of his letters in
reference to this Synod: "We see more and more
plainly every day, that among no denomination in this
country we can act successfully and with blessing except
by taking an independent position as free servants of the
Lord.'' The separation from the other denominations
had taken place already, and it was only necessary to
give a public declaration of this fact. This was done by
John de Watteville.26
25 Hazelius' History of the Lutheran Church, p. 66.
26 Die ausfuhrlichen Erklarungen iiber das Kreuzluft-Vogelein und dessen
Lebenslauf beweisen deutlicher als alles andere, dasz auch die Synode
bereit sei, neue Blicke zu thun in den seligen Gemeinberuf.
Spangenberg sagte, 1756, von dieser Synode : " Bei dieser Synode hat das
Versel regiert : Seitenhohlchen, du bist mein, u.s.w. — Ein schones Versel ! "
VISITATION BY JOHN DE WATTEVILLE. 22 7
13. VISITATION 15V JOHN DE WATTEVILLE. 1 748.
On September 19, 1748, Bishop John de Watteville
arrived in Bethlehem, accompanied by his wife, Benigna,
oldest daughter of Count Zinzendorf. Having informed
himself as to the internal state of the congregation in
Bethlehem, he visited, in company with Brother Spangen-
berg, in Maguntsche, Frederickstown, Germantown,
Philadelphia, Nazareth and Gnadenthal. In October, ac-
companied by Brother Cammerhof, he undertook a jour-
ney to the Indians, in whom he took great interest.
They went to Gnadenhtitten, Wajomik (Wyoming) and
Shamokin; and rejoiced to find the very spots where Count
Zinzendorf had pitched his tent six years ago, which could
be recognized by the "J " (Johanan being Zinzendorf's
Indian name) cut on many trees.27 He became ac-
quainted with the Chiefs of the Shawanese, Chickasaws
and Nanticokes, and renewed the covenant with Shikel-
limus which Johanan (Zinzendorf) had entered into.
Immediately after his return from this Indian journey,
a Synod was held at Bethlehem, October 23 to 27, which
must be considered the first properly Moravian Synod,
being that assembly in which the Brethren's Church in
America was organized.
All the ministers and laborers of the congregation,
about one hundred and ten brethren and eighty sisters,
and about one hundred guests from twenty-one different
places assembled in a large room of the newly-erected
Single Brethren's House (now the " old building " of the
Young Ladies' Seminary). Brother Spangenberg opened
the Synod, but John de Watteville was the principal
speaker and evidently the ruling spirit. In reference to
the Church and doctrine of the Brethren he made the
following statements :
27 Des Zeltes dritten Ruheplatz, Wo Blaseschlangen nisteln.
2 28 THE BRETHREN'S CONGREGATIONS.
" Our doctrine of the Lamb and His wounds is a
power of God, and contains a certain something which
all must feel, who come near us. The description of
the pleura and the nail prints of the Lamb shines power-
fully into the hearts and eyes, leaving something behind,
which cannot be erased. And this power of God be-
longs to the doctrine of the pleura exclusively, com-
pared to which all other methods of doctrine, be they
arranged ever so ingeniously, are dry and empty, nor
can they leave a real blessing for the heart."
Intimately connected with this new manner of doc-
trine was the sectarian idea : "We are the visible body
of the Lord."
" By His wounds and His blood, and by the Spirit
from His pleura and His Philadelphia, the Saviour has
formed and sealed the Brethren's Church, and whoever
is seeking the kingdom of the cross, to him we say:
Here it is ! Therefore we believe that all those who
are born out of the pleura, and therefore are children of
God, will love us, and appreciate our doctrine of the
Lamb."
After this the different plans of usefulness and insti-
tutions of the Brethren were considered, not, as ex-
pressed formerly, as being under the direction of the
" Church of God in the Spirit," but as being under the
superintendence of the Brethren's Church and in con-
nection therewith.
The position of the congregations having been thus
defined, it became necessary to regulate the service of
the Church (Kirchendienst) according to the resolutions
of the Synod of 1745 at Marienborn, by the introduc-
tion of the different ecclesiastical grades or degrees of
Presbyters and Deacons. Not all the ' Ordinati '
(which thus far had been the only grade under the
Bishops) were declared Presbyters, as had been the case
VISITATION BY JOHN DE WATTEVILLE. 229
in Europe, but some were ranged among the Deacons
" because they had been ordained merely for the service
of other denominations."
On October 27 solemn ordinations took place, and
thus the following were the ordained brethren of the
Brethren's Church of America :
John de Watteville, Bishop. Spangenberg and Cam-
merhof, Co-episcopi.
These three brethren ordained Henry Antes Consenior
chilis or Senior politicus, because he, as Justice of the
Peace, had charge of the political affairs of the con-
gregation, which, however, amounted to very little, as
the Brethren abstained from meddling with the politics
of the country.
Ordinati, now declared to be Presbyters, were the fol-
lowing : B. A. Grube, C. H. Rauch, J. C. Pyrkeus, J. M.
Mack, A. Reincke, G. Weber and R. Utley.
Besides these there were ordained as Presbyters the
Brethren : N. Seidel, A. Meyer, M. Reuz and L. Schnell.
The following- Ordinati were declared to be Deacons :
J. Bechtel, P. Meurer, J. Bonner, J. Brucker, J. R. Ronner,
G. Nieke, J. Brandmuller and G. Geitner.
The following were ordained Deacons : O. Rice, G.
Neisser, S. Roseen, M. Schropp and G. Pezold.
Furthermore the rule was laid down: "Those who
have received ordination in the Lutheran and Reformed
Churches, we of the Brethren's Church can hardly
acknowledge to be more than Deacons." But even this
was not done in the only case of the kind which came
before the Synod, namely, that of Pastor Nyberg, since
1745 a faithful friend of the Brethren, and persecuted
on their account in his own Church. He had studied at
Upsala, Sweden, had received ordination as presbyter by
the laying on of hands of the Swedish Archbishop, Jacob
Benzelius, and now — probably to show other Churches
23O THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
how independently the Brethren's Church could act —
Pastor Nyberg, ordained by a Lutheran Bishop in
regular form, was not even acknowledged as a Deacon,
but was only received as an Acolyte of the Brethren's
Church. In 1752 he was ordained a Deacon, in 1754
a Presbyter of the Brethren's Church, both ordinations
taking place in London.
We would by no means defend the Synod of 1 748 in
this irregular ecclesiastical action, but merely remark
that the many unjust attacks of their fellow-servants in
other Churches and the prevailing enthusiastic view —
"we are the Church" — blinded their better judgment
for the time.
In honor of the Lutheran Church we would here state,
that P. D. Bryzelius, when he entered the ranks of the
Lutheran ministers in 1760, was, as far as we know,
not re-ordained, his ordination in 1742 being considered
valid, as it ought to be among sister-churches.
We believe that the case of Pastor Nyberg is the only
one to be found in the annals of the Brethren's Church,
in which regular ordination in another established Church
has been set aside in the Moravian Church.
14. NOVEMBER I 3, I 748.
In the gradual development and final organization of
the Church of the Brethren in America we can plainly
trace the wonderful direction and providential guidance
of the Lord. The Moravian Brethren had come to this
country not with the view of extending their peculiar
church-organization, but for the sole purpose of gaining
souls for Christ. They had taken active part in the
Pennsylvania Synods, which gradually came under their
exclusive influence and control ; they had sent out
itinerant ministers and collected small bands of disciples
of the Lord here and there ; they had met opposition
NOVEMBER 13, I 748. 23 I
and persecution in various ways, hut these very persecu-
tions served only to connect them more closely, and
were one of the means in the hand of the Lord, to con-
vince them that in this country an ecclesiastical organi-
zation, independent of all other churches, was absolutely
necessary for the furtherance of the work of the Lord.
For if Bethlehem and Nazareth had only been and
remained colonies of the Brethren in America, as
Sarepta is to this day a German colony in Russia, we
might possibly as little be able to speak of an American
Brethren's Church, as we can speak to-day of a
Russian Brethren's Church. But the Lord in His wis-
dom overruled all the errors of His servants and led to
the organization of the American Brethren's Church,
which though intimately and at times very closely con-
nected with the other parts of the Unitas Fratrum in
Europe, and especially with the Supreme Governing
Board of the Unity in Germany, in many respects has
from the very commencement assumed and maintained
"in local matters" a more or less independent position.
There is yet one feature to which particular attention
must be directed in connection with the final ecclesiasti-
cal organization of the Moravian Church in America.
Brother Spangenberg had been sent over from Europe
to guide the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Brethren
both in their relation to other Christians and denomina-
tions within the borders of the English colony of Penn-
sylvania, and in regard to their connection with the Ger-
man mother country. He had come to Pennsylvania as
Vicarins Gcneralis Episcoporum in America and, as
Moravian Bishop, he had been the universally acknowl-
edged presiding officer at the Synods. At the same time
he had been appointed Agni per Americam in Presbyterio
I "icarius, that is, the chief elder and spiritual head of the
Moravian congregation. It is true, this office could
232 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
only have reference to those who claimed to be "the
Moravians " in this yet undefined union of congregations
in connection with the Brethren, as those only of the
colonists at Bethlehem and Nazareth who had lived for
some time in the European congregations, could under-
stand and appreciate the idea of " Chief Eldership."
But since a number of congregations, composed of
persons who in Germany had not been connected with
the Moravian Church, had become American Moravian
congregations, and had adopted more or less the new
doctrinal views which Bishop Cammerhof had introduced
with great zeal, and since the plan of union with the
other German denominations had been dropped entirely,
and Spangenberg's General Episcopacy was, therefore,
of less moment than before, his chief eldership, as it be-
came better known and understood among the new
members of the Church, might have given an hierarchi-
cal form quite incompatible with the ideas of true Mora-
vianism. But the Lord preserved him and preserved
the Church from this danger. Brother Spangenberg re-
signed his office as " Chief Elder" of the American con-
gregations. Even without this peculiar office, we should
suppose, he might have remained the presiding Brother
in the Executive Board of the Province, but at the sug-
gestion and by the counsel of John de Watteville, who had
instructions from Count Zinzendorf to that effect, Brother
Spangenberg suffered himself to be sent to Philadelphia,
where he spent nearly a year in retirement and great
discontent. There must have been some difference be-
tween him and his fellow-laborers, concerning which,
however, no documents are extant ; but whatever er-
rors he may have committed, and however salutary
for his inward man this, as we believe, unbrotherly
action may have been, the events of the following years
showed plainly, that no one was as able and as well
NOVEMBER I 3, I 748. 233
qualified to guide and direct the American work as
Brother Spangenberg. He returned to Europe in Feb-
ruary, 1750, where his wife died in March, 1751.
When her memoir was communicated to the congrega-
tion at Herrnhut, Count Zinzendorf remarked: "The
great things which she has done, were not always appre-
ciated at the time, nor has she always received the thanks
which she deserved." This was certainly the case;,
when Brother and Sister Spangenberg, in return for
their faithful and self-denying labors in Bethlehem and
Nazareth, were sent for a season into retirement and
almost complete inactivity in Philadelphia.
Nevertheless, it was good for the American Church
that he resigned his chief eldership, which he did in a
written communication to the Elders' Conference, No-
vember 5. This resignation was accepted, and the
members of the Conference felt at once that it was time
now to publish in the American congregations, what
seven years before had been a cause of rejoicing in the
European congregations, namely, "that the government
amongst us belongs not to man, but that the Saviour is
the Chief Elder of our brotherly covenant."
This was solemnly communicated to the congregation
of Bethlehem, on November 13, by John de Watteville.
He said among the rest, that the doors were now opened
for any one either to leave or to re-enter the congrega-
tion ; and if there should be any one who had been
hitherto in connection with the Brethren, but had no in-
clination to belong to that Church of which Jesus
Christ is Elder, he was at full liberty to follow his own
inclination and leave. No case of this kind occurred,
however, while not a few who had been excluded from
church-fellowship, applied for readmission. In the after-
noon there were separate meetings for the ditlerent
Life of Spangenberg, ]>. 25''.
'5
234 THE BRETHREN S CONGREGATIONS.
choirs of the congregation and in the evening a general
love-feast connected with the adult baptism of the
Siebentager J. F. Lesley.
On November 14, three Indians and a mulatto from
Berbice were baptized by Cammerhof and John de
Watteville, and in the afternoon three hundred and
thirty-four communicants (including those from Nazareth
and other places) participated in the celebration of the
Lord's Supper. This latter meeting was held in the
prayer-hall of the Single Brethren's House. On the
same day one hundred and ten brethren and boys
moved into this house. Spangenberg devoted these
days, to private meditation and prayer.
In the following weeks similar festival days were cele-
brated in all the other congregations : At Maguntsche,
November 20 ; at Fredericktown, November 21 ; at
Oley, November 22 ; at Heidelberg, November 24; (at
the latter place the brethren and sisters from Tulpe-
hocken, Muddy Creek, Miihlbach, Warwick and Lan-
caster were present) ; at Nazareth and Gnadenthal,
November 23 ; at Gnadenhiitten, November 26 ; at
Shamokin, December 11.
In December Bishop de Watteville, accompanied by
Bishop Cammerhof and Nathanael Seidel, visited the
Indian congregations in the East and promulgated the
Eldership of the Saviour at Wechquadnach, December
19 ; at Pachgatgoch, December 21, and at New York,
December 27.
In January, 1749, de Watteville and Spangenberg
visited Philadelphia for the same purpose and, as had
been done at all the other places, kept a love-feast with
ninety-six persons, and the Holy Communion with
thirty-one. In all these places about six hundred
communicants were counted, among them fifty-five
Indians.
NOVEMBER I 3, I 748. 235
From January 23 to 26, 1749, a second Moravian
Synod was held at Bethlehem at which all those who had
participated in the celebration of the Lord's Supper at
the above-mentioned places, were recognized as mem-
bers of the Brethren's Church. During this Synod
twenty persons were baptized, among them an Indian
seventy-six years old, several negro boys, one Tunker
and six Mennonites.
In February, 1749, John de Watteville once more-
visited all the country congregations and left Pennsyl-
vania in April to make a visitation in St. Thomas.
Since November 13, 1748, all those congregations
which were now recognized as Churches of the United
Brethren had increased rapidly, no less than one hundred
adults having been received into church-fellowship by
baptism during the time of his visitation ; and when
Bishop de Wateville left for the West Indies, there were
in connection with and forming the American Brethren's
Church, 630 communicant members; 125 adults, not
communicants ; 245 children — a total of 1000 members
of the Brethren's Church in America.
INDEX.
Allemangel, congregation organized, ..... 204
Antes, Henry, as preacher, . . . . . . 6l
call for Pennsylvania Synod, . . . .97
appeal for church union, . . . . 1 1 1
ordained Consenior civilis, .... 228
Baptists, the German, ...... 37
the Seventh-day, ...... 40
Bechtel, John, preacher in Germantown, .... 33
" " ordination of, ..... 108, 115
" expelled from Reformed Church, . . . [90
Becker, Peter, supervisor of Tunker congregations, . . 39.4'
Beisel, John Conrad, ...... 40
Berks County, Pa., establishment of, ..... 13
Bethlehem, first house built, . . . . .82, 88
" congregation organized, . . . . 1 1 < >
a family economy, . . . . . 105
Holder, Peter, sketch of, . . . . . . 7 3
return to Europe, . . 152
in defense of missionaries, .... 216
Bohm, Rev. J. P., ordination of, . . . . 33
" ." " opponent of Zinzendorf, .... 133
Brethren's House, erection of, in Bethlehem, ... 151
Brownfield, John, acquaintance with the Brethren, . . .79
Urine, Rev. David, arrival in Pennsylvania, . . . 96
Bryzelius, Rev. Paul Daniel, ..... 145, 230
Bucks County, Pa., boundaries of, ..... 13
Buttner, Rev. Gottlob, ordination of, ..... 104
Burnside, James, acquaintance with the Brethren, . . 70
Cammerhof, Bishop J: C. F., sketch of, .... 178
Canajoharie, founding of, ...... [9
Schnell and Burnside's visit to, .... 207
Checomeco, visited by Rev. C. H. Rauch, .... 58
Indian mission at, ...... 208
" abandoned, . . 212
Chester County, I 'a., boundaries of, . . . . .12
Choir Houses in Bethlehem and Nazareth, . . . [64
Chrisriansbrunn laid out, . . . . . Y]&
" Chronicon Ephratense," ...... 40
238 INDEX.
PAGE.
Dansbury, church built at, ...... 207
Donegal, church built at, . ... . . 192
Eckerling, Israel, career of, . . . . . 44. 49
Emmaus, Pa., congregation organized, .... 195
Ephrata, the hermits of, . . . . . . .40
Eschenbach, Andrew, arrival in Pennsylvania, . . . 61, 80
" preacher at Oley, . . . .81
ordained, ..... 104
h " recalled from Oley, . . . .116
Fort Christina, Swedish settlement, . . . . 25
Frankfort Land Company, . . . . . .15
Frohlich, Christian, arrival in America, .... 86
Georgia, Brethren's colony in, . . . . . .62, 76
German, settlements in Pennsylvania, . . . . 14
immigration under Queen Anne's Grant, . . .15
Germantown, incorporated, . . . . . . 15
first Moravian settlers in, . . . .68
Gnadenthal laid out, . . . . . . 176
Gruber, J. Adam, the Separatist, .... 49, 60
Goetschy, Rev. Henry, Reformed Pastor in Pennsylvania, . 32
Heidelberg, Pa., congregation organized, .... 194
Hiibner, Ludwig, as itinerant preacher, .... 205
Hussey, Robert, teacher at Oley, ..... 202
Indian Confederacy, tribes of the, ..... 53
converts baptized at Oley, ..... 104
" traditions, . . . . . . . 55
" C. H. Rauch's first visit to the, . . . . .58
mission at Checomeco and Pachgatgoch, . . . 208
" abandoned, . . . .212
" " at Gnadenhiitten, Pa., .... 213
Irene, the ship, . . . . . . . .172
Itinerant preachers, ....... 204
Lancaster County, Pa., establishment of, . . . .13
" town of, laid out, . . . • . . 13
" congregation organized, ..... 189
Leinbach family at Oley, Pa., . . . . . 81
" received by the Moravians, . . . .123
Leutbecker, Rev. Casper, pastor in Tulpehocken, . . 28, 29
Lighton, John, teacher in Germantown, .... 202
Lischy, Rev. Jacob, . . . . . . . 145
" as opponent to the Brethren, . . . 191
Lititz, first Moravian pastor in, . . . . . I92
INDEX. 239
PAGE.
Long Island, Moravian work in, . . . . . 207
Luckenbach, Adam, teacher at Muddy Creek, . . . 202
Lutheran congregations served by Moravian pastors, . . .184
Mack, Alexander, ....... 37
Mack, Rev. J. Martin, at Shccomeco, . . . . .90
Maguntche (Macungie) congregation organized, . . . 195
Mail service, first in Pennsylvania, ..... 122
Maurice River, church built at, .... . 205
Mcnnonites, origin of, . . . . . . . 35
immigration of, . . . . 36
Miller, Rev. J. P., preacher at Tulpehocken, . . . .34
" " " convert to the Siebcntager, ... 42
death of, ...... 47
Minnisink Country visited by the Brethren, . . ". 206
Missionaries persecuted by Government, . . . 210, 214
Monocacy, Md., Moravian work at, .... 196
Muddy Creek, school-house built, ..... 192
Miihlbach, meeting-house built, ..... I94
Muhlenberg, Rev. H. M., sketch of, . . . . 134
" Pennsylvania congregations organized by, . 184
Nazareth, building of, . . . . . . 173
Newtown, Lancaster County, Pa., laid out, . . . . 13
Newport, R. I., Moravian work in, ..... 207
New Born, the sect at Oley, ...... 49
" " assailed by Spangenberg, . . . . .71
New England towns, Moravian labors in, .... 207
New Hanover, old church at, . . . . . .26
New York City, church built, ..... 196
Nitschmann, Anna, ....... 85.
Nitschmann, David (Bishop), sketch of, ... . 82
Nitschmann, David, {Sen. civ.) sketch of, . . . .84
Northampton County, Pa., establishment of, ... 13
Nyberg, Rev. I.. Thcophilus, arrival of, . . . .30
" " labors at Lancaster, Pa., .... 161
received by the Brethren, . . . .189
" ordination of, ..... 230
Oley, Pa., church built at, . . . . . .116
" " " and school at, . . . . . 193
Palatinate immigrants into Pennsylvania, . . . .20
Pastorius, F. 1)., . . . . . . . 15
Payne, Jasper, arrival in Pennsylvania, . . . .151
" teacher in Germantown, .... 202
Penn, William, landing of, ...... 12
Pennsylvania, Charter of, proclaimed, . . . . ti
24O INDEX.
PAGE.
Philadelphia, County, boundaries of, . . . .12
" rirst German services in, ... . 26
Lutheran church built by the Brethren, . . 136, 185
" Moravian congregation organized, . . . 142
Pyrlaeus, Rev. J. C, arrival in America, . . . .89
" " " ordination of, . . . . . 104
Queen Anne's Grant, . . . . . . .15
Racoon, N. J., Swedish settlement at, . . . 25
Rauch, Rev. C. H., first visit to the Indians, . . . .58
" ordained, ..... 104
Reformed, German, first congregation in Pennsylvania, . . 32
Reincke, Rev. Abrm., arrival in Pennsylvania, . . . 152
" " " preacher to the Swedes, . . . 205
Reuz, Matthew, arrival in Pennsylvania, . . . . 151
Rhinebeck, N. Y., founding of, . . . . . .16
Rice, Owen, preacher to the Swedes, .... 205
Sabbatarians, the, ....... 40
Sauer, Christopher, Printer, . . . ... . 23
" opponent of Zinzendorf, . . . .49
Schnell, Rev. Leonhard, . . . . . . 145
Schoharie, German settlers of, . . . . . .17
Schools, infant, boys' and girls', ..... 198, 199
in Germantown, ...... 201
at Muddy Creek, ...... 202
Lancaster, Oley, etc., ...... 202
Schropp, Matthew, arrival in Pennsylvania, •. . . 151
Schwenkfelder, origin of the, . . . . . .51
" visited by Spangenberg, .... 52
Sea-congregation, the first, ...... 109
" " the second, ..... 124, 150
Separatists in Pennsylvania, . . . . . .48
Siebentager, sketch of the, ...... 40
Spangenberg's opinion of the, . . .47
Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel, . . . . 170
Spangenberg, Rev. A. G., sketch of, . . . . .68
visit to Georgia, ..... 65
" consecrated as Bishop, . . . . .156
second visit to America, . . . 152, 156, 157
return to Europe, 1750, . . . . . . 233
Stiever, Rev. J. Casper, at Philadelphia, .... 26
" " " at Lancaster, . . . . .30
" at Tulpehocken, .... 28
Swedish Lutheran settlements, ...... 25
Swedes in New Jersey, visited by the Brethren, . . . 205
Synod, first Pennsylvania, . . . . . .96
INDEX.
24I
Synod, second and third Pennsylvania,
" fourth, fifth and sixth Pennsylvania,
" seventh and eighth, .
" of 1743, ....
" of 1744, ....
" of 1745, ....
of 1746-7-8, ....
Tschoop, awakened by Rauch's testimony,
Tulpehocken, Palatinates occupy, .
early German services at,
visited by Spangenberg,
visited by Zinzendorf,
church built by the Brethren,
church seized by the Lutherans,
Tunkers, origin of the,
" immigration of the,
Warwick, first Moravian minister at,
Watteville, Bishop John de, visit to America,
Weiser, Conrad, as Mohican scholar,
settles in Penna.,
Wesley, John, connection with Moravians, .
Whitefield, J., in Pennsylvania, .
" in Georgia,
" purchase of the Nazareth tract,
" dismisses the Moravians,
" sells the Nazareth tract, .
" only visit to Nazareth,
house at Nazareth,
Wicacao, Swedish settlement of,
York County, Pa., establishment of,
Zeisberger, David, imprisonment in New York,
Zinzendorf, Count Ludwig von, arrival in Pennsylvania,
testimony of the Tunkers,
banished from Saxony,
at Oley, Pa., .....
declares his preference to the Lutheran Church,
labors among Lutherans and Reformed,
as Lutheran Pastor in Philadelphia,
sermons in Pennsylvania,
first visit to Bethlehem,
journeys into the Indian country,
" opponents in America,
advocates Boarding Schools,
" return to Europe, ....
PAGE.
103
106, 108,
IO9, I 12
141
142
. 158
220
59
20
28
7i
115
187
219
37
39
192
227
17
20
66, 74
61
77
• 78
86
88
199
72, 79
25
"3
212
29, 91
39
• 63
96
107
i'3
114
116
117
125
129
201
• '39
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