The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740

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xury that space permits, a table that equals any provided by the best hotels ashore, and attendance that is unsurpassed. Then weeks were consumed in the mere effort to get away from the British Isles, the breeze sometimes permitting the small sailing vessels to slip from one port to another, and then holding them

d beneath them, cutting them off so absolutely from the loved ones left at home, from the wise counsels of those on whom they were accustomed to depend, and from the strong arm of the Government under whose promised protection they sailed, to work out t

l on her. A parting visit was paid to Gen. Oglethorpe, who presented them with a hamper of wine, and gave them his best wishes. After the review on the boat Spangenberg and Nitschmann returned with Mr. Vernon to London to attend to some last matters

rrnhut it was customary to divide the twenty-four hours among several members of the Church, so that night and day a continuous stream of prayer and praise arose to the throne of God, and the same plan was now adopted, w

text that had been given in the morning. Spangenberg, Toeltschig, and Seifert, in the order named, were the recognized leaders of the party, but realizing that men might journey together, and live together, and still know each other only superficially, it was agreed that each of the ten in turn should on successive days speak to every one of hi

ead 12 years old, and under 12 two for one, and under 7 three for one, and unde

week for said mess, 5 lbs. o

eek for said mess, 2-1/2 lbs.

t 16 ounces

s. of bread, of 14 ounces

(whereof one of the quarts for drinking), ea

s for drinking) each head, by the day aft

at times was so light that they unitedly prayed for wind, "thinking that the sea was not their proper element, for from the earth God had made them, and on the earth He had work for them to do," at other times storms broke upon them and waves swept the decks, filling them with awe, though

to be set to the music of some "Danish Melody" known to them both. There is a beauty of rhythm in the original which the English cannot repr

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unsre Tr

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raenken z

ungeheu

waren von

haeflein

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rze brach v

sern Jam

t du! O wie

ns zu dir

arheit dein

zen Geist

einen Lie

zes Herz

egte un

eine Lie

gen und z

uessen Hi

rmen wird

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uessen Li

deine Mu

lig und w

du dein

den dass

ine Kron'

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werden nu

ach dem

ade auf d

ch durch Le

weilen f

deine Kr

ille ble

och so wi

ausen, wuet

ord und O

ermen, lass

then aus

kest und

der aus d

e, may Thy

ll for Th

ling hearts

hee a man

aven Thou d

lessing, fu

miseries

st, unfat

ayward step

hy safe-gu

ned toward

ulphurous v

heart throb

ess and w

asten, Thou

ned our ste

h's convinc

spirits f

bborn heart

ervor of

ing heart

hteous law

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eaven we s

erit we,

rning day

okens of T

f Thy fai

rely and

ead and gua

erous grace

ustre to

s we feel t

ye and hea

on earth

ward the F

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path be set

all our sp

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North and Ea

oll and lea

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rength and p

ut their material needs were many. There was a great deal of sickness among them, and four died, being buried hastily, and without ceremony. The Moravians themselves were not exempt, several being dangerously ill at times, even Spangenberg was prostrated, from having, he supposed, stayed too long on deck in the night air, tempted thereto by the beaut

s obliging, always helpful, until the sailors came to trust them absolutely, "even with the keys to their lockers." When the cook was suddenly taken sick they nursed him careful

sly declined, fearing it would breed jealousy. His kindly feeling, however, continued, and when Toeltschig was ill he brought a freshly killed fowl from which to

n Spangenberg was invited to dine with them, but their light jest

g a S

ee magistrates charged with all civil and criminal jurisdiction in Savannah, and his position as keeper of the Store, from which all provisions promised by the Trustees were dispensed, gave him such additional power that he was really the dictator of Savannah, ruling so absolutely that the people finally rebelled, and in 1738 secured his dismissal from office. On his return to England in 1739, he found great difficulty

gaining information as to the customs of the place, Mr. Causton again claiming them as his guests at dinner, and in the evening they accepted the invitation of a merchant to supper. As they ate, t

ving their belongings to the town, as it was some distance, and everything had to be carried by hand to the little hut which was hastily erected and roofed over with sacking. Evening came before they had really finished the arrangement of their possessions, but before they prepared and shared their evening meal, they humbly knelt and thanked God for His mercies, discussed the Bible text for the day, and joined in several familiar hymns. A N

of red paint, and they seemed very friendly, rejoiced over the gift of two pewter mugs, and on le

hurch, and heard a sermon on the text, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,

arn and write down. He also introduced him to Tomochichi, the Indian Chief, and to John Musgrove, who had a successful trading house near the town. Musgrove had married Mary, an Indian princess of the Uchees, who had great influence with all the neighboring tribes. At a later time, through the mach

lot was finished. It was twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and fourteen feet high, with a little loft where they slept, their goods, with a table and benches being in the room below. At daybreak they rose, sang a hymn, and prayed together, breakfasted at eight o'clock, the daily

osed, while the neighbors came to look on and opine "that the Moravians had done more in a week than their people in two years." As the gardens (the five acre lots) lay

to pay for medicine. So resort was had to bleeding, then an approved practice, and to such medicine as remained from their voyage, and Rose was fortunate enough to shoot a grouse, which gave them some much needed palatable meat and broth. Perhaps the most serio

e additional two hundred acres which the Trustees had promised to hold in reserve, and grant to the Count's "servants" whenever he should request it, but there was rum

ould stop early, and every Sunday should be a real day of rest." As an immediate beginning, they on Saturday evening united in a Lovefeast, where "we recalled

d Atta

the New World, they took with them Count Zinzendorf's

I shall only bid you remember the principles and customs of our Congregation, in which, if you stand fast, you will do well. Your one aim will be to estab

ur own labors, but you will request free transportation for yourselves and those who w

for my sake, refrain from doing it, remembering that I am

go to Georgia. Enter into no disputes, but, if questions are asked, give the history of the Congregation, being careful not to censure our opposers, and saying, which is true, that the Congregation at

n as you are settled an ordained minister will be sent you, out of consideration for the scruples of the Salzb

the way for me. Our dear Elder (Spangenberg) will quickly return fro

ther and

unt v. Z

the Elders at Herrnhu

rywhere

gs serve His

tlement in a quiet, secluded spot. The inability of the Trustees to grant their request for the first, burdened the Moravian colonists with what was, un

ns had been accustomed to invade Carolina. This "Fort Argyle" was garrisoned with a detachment of rangers, and ten families were sent from Savannah to cultivate the adjacent land. The tract selected in London fo

as deferred until Aug. 22nd, when Spangenberg, Toeltschig, Riedel, Seifert, Rose, Michael Haberland, and Mr. Johnson, the Trustees' surveyor, prepared to start on their toilsom

came across a ship riding at anchor they decided to stay by her and wait for the day. When dawn broke they hastened on to Thunderbolt, where a fort had been built, and some good land cleared, and there they found two Indians, who claimed to know the country, and agreed to go with them as pilot

Island, exact

ith the return of day it became necessary to retrace their course for some hours in order to learn where they were. That night was spent at Sterling's Bluff, with the Scotch who had settled upon it, and the next morning they proceeded t

for the Moravians. The horses were accustomed to service against the Indians, and went at full gallop, pausing not for winding paths or fallen trees, and the

s, and it was not until early Sunday morning that they reached their destination, only to find the place deserted, as the band had left a few days before for a hunting expedition, and, if fortune favored them, for a

land, some low and damp for the cultivation of rice, sandy soil covered with grass for pasturage, and dry uplands suitable for corn and vegetables. A rapid stream furnished an abundance of pure water, and site for a mill, while the thick growth of timber guaranteed a supply of material for houses and boats. Near

he trail to Savannah and Ebenezer led directly by Old Fort, while the opening of t

last, after night-fall, in the face of a terrific thunder storm, they forced their way to a place where they could land, and where they passed the rest of the night, enduring as best they could the heavy rain, and the attack of insects, against neither of which they were able to protect themselves. "This place takes its name,-'Rotten-possum',-from an animal frequently found here, which they call a Possum. I am

eir industry would soon have made an oasis in the wilderness, but one thing after the other interfer

garden were cleared in time for the first summer's crop of corn, which yielded them sixty bushels. They also rai

of trees, and gradual removal of stumps as time permitted, but on the rice lands it meant far more. The great reeds, ten to twelve feet high, grew so thick that a man could scarcely set fo

om their cattle, which ran at large, and when a few were wanted for beef or for domestic purposes, they were hunted and driven in. The Moravians had to wait until midsummer before they could get the

t body, and if he left Georgia before this was accomplished he would give a full Power of Attorney to Toeltschig. From the first his land had been used as the common property of the party, and he desired that the nine m

oximate cost, urging that instructions be sent as to his wishes. Later he wrote that the company had decided not to wait for Nitschmann's reply, but to clear the garden on the terms usual in Georgia, e.g., that the man who cleared a piece of ground held it rent free for seven years, when it reverted to the owner. This had been done, and the gar

un and storm, which the settlers found equally trying. Two additional cabins had been built in Savannah on Spangenberg's lot, and by the end of the year a house, thirty-four by eighteen feet in

three days after the boat left Savannah, and by the time they returned he was obliged to go to bed, and soon became delirious. The other Moravians were greatly distressed, but could do nothing except nurse him carefully and pray for him earnestly, and toward the end his mind cleared, though his body had lost the power to recuperate. He died on the 30th of September, the first Moravian to "fall asleep" in the United States, though others had given up their lives for the mission work in the West Indies. His spiritual condition had at times caused much concern to Toeltschig, w

six months for his recovery, heartlessly turned him out, to live or die as the case might be. Instead of dying, his strength returned, and then his former master demanded 10 Pounds Pennsylvania currency, for his unexpired term, although only 5 Pounds had been paid for him, and he had served five years. The young man was obliged to promise to pay this, and Spangenberg encouraged him to push his spoon-making, in order to do it as speedily as possible. Meanwhile the Moravians were so much pleased with his appearance and speech, that they agreed to receive him into their company for as long as he chose

h aptitude for nursing, and Spangenberg put him in charge of several cases. A man from a neighboring village sent word that he had severed an artery and could not check the bleeding, and asked for help. Regnier went to him, and was so successful in his treatment that in two weeks the man was entirely restored. Some one discovered a poor Scotchman, dying with dropsy, lying utterly neglected upon the floor of a mise

open to them when they came to Savannah. Nor were they slow to avail themselves of the kindness. Gronau and Bolzius often lodged with them, and others came in groups of nine or ten to spend the night. During the evening stories would be exch

l the conditions in Georgia were so different from what they were accustomed to in Germany that it took them some time to adapt themselves, and longer to become really acclimated, and they noticed that the same was true of all new-comers. All of the Moravians were sick in turn, many suffering from frosted feet, probably injured on the voyage over, but Spangenberg, Toeltschig, Haberecht and Demuth were dangerously ill. Nearly all of

ornmeal mush, and butter was so dear as to be entirely out of the question. During the summer months which preceded the harvest, they could get neither corn, rice nor beans at the store, so lived on mush, salt-meat, and the beans they themselves had plant

em suffered, so they made a kind of sassafras beer, which proved palatable and healthful, and u

ummer, when credit came to be accorded grudgingly, and finally Spangenberg, personally, borrowed 15 Pounds sterling, and applied it on their account, which restored their standing in Mr. Causton's eyes. On Feb. 8th, 1736, they decided to buy enough corn, rice and salt-meat to last until harvest, having learned by sad experience how very dear these necessities were later in the year. Very little work had been done which brought in ready money,

harlestown, but somehow found his way to Savannah. His father was hanged, for murder I have heard, and his mother has married another man, and abandoned the child. A woman here took charge of him, but treated him most cruelly. Once she became angry with him, took a firebrand, and beat him until half his body was burned; another time she bound him, and then slashed him with a knife across the back, and might have injured him still more if a man had not come by and rescued him. The magistrates then gave him to other people,

work, so after four weeks' trial she was installed as maid, and promised $14.00 a year wages. She proved to be quiet and industrious, but not

o do as soon as he could be spared. With Tomochichi they were much pleased. "He is a grave, wise man, resembling one of the old Philosophers, though with him it is natural, not acquired. Were he among a hundred Indians, all clothed alike, one would point him out and say, 'that is the king.

ould at once please and impress them. All the settlers were put under arms, and led out to meet them, saluting them with a volley of musketry. With great pomp they were conducted into the town, presented with guns, clothing, etc.,

one of Zinzendorf's "servants" to take his place, he explained that the Moravians did not understand English, and knew nothing of military manoeuvres. During the first year the question

order from the Trustees to show to the local officials, and not even a copy of the letter in which reference to the subject was made. As Count Zinzendorf'

he turn came every seventeen days, and a man expected fifty cents for day and one dollar for night duty each time, this was expensive, doubly so because the officers demanded a substitute for the absent Nitschmann also. Twice had Spangenberg been before the Court, attempting to have the matter adjusted, but he found that this, like m

ebruary 17th, the town was roused by the sound of bells and drums. Thinking it meant fire, the Moravians rushed out, but learned that Gen. Oglethorpe's ship had reached Tybee, and the people were awakened to welcome him. Full of inter