The Moravians in Georgia by Adelaide L. Fries - HTML preview

Chapter 6. Disintegration

Spangenberg's Visit.

After Spangenberg had decided not to comply with the request contained in the letter from Savannah, but to stay and prosecute the work among the Schwenkfelders, where a door seemed to be opening, he became conscious of a feeling of uneasiness, an impression that he was needed in Georgia. This was increased by news of the expected Spanish outbreak, for so general was the alarm that all the war-ships in the northern harbors were ordered to Carolina, and the selling of supplies to the Spaniards was absolutely prohibited.

At this point George Neisser and Benjamin Ingham came, bringing word of the pressure on the Moravians, their decision to leave Georgia as soon as it could be arranged, and their request that Spangenberg should go to England with Ingham to see the Trustees, and secure their consent. Of this plan Spangenberg did not approve, for he thought the war would ruin everything, or else the danger would be over, before he could make the long journey to England, and return. Ingham professed himself ready to carry letters to the Trustees, and do his best to influence them to grant the Moravian requests, so Spangenberg decided to entrust that errand to him, and himself go at once to Georgia, to see whether he could not help matters there.

John Eckstein, a resident of Germantown, a middle-aged man who was in entire sympathy with Spangenberg's plans for religious work in Pennsylvania, resolved to accompany him on his trip to Georgia. They sailed from Philadelphia on the 22nd of May, 1737, and had a long and very trying voyage. The Captain and crew were evil men, given to cursing and swearing, and more than once they threatened to murder the two passengers, whom they called sorcerers, and accused of bringing the continuous head winds and frequent storms upon them. Seventy-seven long days the voyage lasted; twice they sailed southward past Cape Hatteras, and twice were they driven back to north and east, taking weeks to recover the distance lost; and the Captain finally discovered that not only were the elements against him, but his helmsman was slyly hindering their progress all he could, for some malicious purpose of his own.

To the mental strain of the long journey was added physical discomfort, for firewood gave out, so that no cooking could be done, and for a month the crew lived on hard tack, dried cherries soaked in water, and raw fish, -- dolphins caught as need required. Spangenberg and his companion had brought provisions to supplement the ship's fare, but long before the voyage was ended their store of butter and sugar was exhausted. Dried ham and tongue had a tendency to increase their thirst, but by soaking tea in cold water they made a beverage which bore at least a fancied resemblance to that brewed on shore. Then the supply of water ran low, each man's allowance was reduced to a pint a day, and even this small amount would have failed had they not been able occasionally to catch rainwater to replenish their casks. The Captain at last opened a keg of beer found in his cargo, and sold his passengers enough to relieve their thirst, for which they were very grateful.

But unkind words, delay, uncooked food, thirst, were not all that Spangenberg and his companion had to bear, for actual danger was added to their experience from time to time. High waves broke over the ship, winds tore away the sails, and a water-spout threatened total destruction. So late was the ship in reaching port that she was given up for lost, and word was sent to Pennsylvania which caused much grief, -- needless grief, for Spangenberg's days of service were not to be ended thus. It sounds almost trivial to say that in the midst of trials of body, mind and soul Spangenberg occupied himself with making buttons, but no doubt the homely, useful labor did its part toward rendering endurable the seemingly endless days.

At last, on the 7th of August, the ship ran on a sandbank near Tybee, and the Moravians, hearing that Spangenberg was on board, took a boat and brought him to Savannah. They had asked him to go to England, he had disregarded their request and come to Georgia, but he was dear to them through many months of united service and mutual help, and they gave him a hearty welcome, ignoring all cause for complaint, and taking him at once into their full confidence. He and Toeltschig sat up all of the first night carefully discussing the condition of affairs and what could be done to remedy them. Their views were very different, for Spangenberg thought they had been too hasty in deciding to leave Georgia, while Toeltschig felt that it was a reflection on the lot to try and hold them in Savannah, when the lot had said "go". But Toeltschig possessed the rare art of seeing a disputed question through the eyes of those who did not agree with him, as well as from his own standpoint, and now, with no petty self-assertion, he quietly awaited developments, and told Spangenberg all that had happened since Neisser's departure.

As the alarm concerning an immediate invasion by the Spanish had died away, the inhabitants of Savannah had regained their composure, and the wild outcry against the Moravians gradually ceased. The wagon and oxen which had been taken for work on the fort had been returned to their owners, after seven or eight weeks of hard usage, and the hope that starvation would shake the resolution of the non-combatants had signally failed of fulfillment. The ship which was to bring the town supplies had been twelve weeks late in coming, and the stock in the store-house was almost exhausted. The authorities therefore had announced that provisions would be sold only to those who were helping build the fort. This entirely excluded the Moravians, but instead of suffering from hunger they had been able to share with some of their neighbors. The prices charged at the store in Savannah were always high, so, as he was passing through New York on his return from St. Thomas, Spangenberg had asked a friend to send the Moravians two thousand pounds of flour and salt-meat, for which they were to pay. The merchant at that time knew of no ship sailing for Savannah, so in Philadelphia, Spangenberg had arranged that two thousand pounds of meat should be sent from there at once on a year's credit. Meanwhile the New York merchant found an opportunity to send what was ordered from him, so the Moravians had been surprised by a double quantity, which proved to be just what they needed during the general scarcity. When the friends in Pennsylvania heard that provisions had been sent, but not enough to last until the next harvest, they gave thirty-six hundred pounds of flour to Spangenberg to be taken, as a present, to the Georgia Moravians, and when word was received that Spangenberg's ship was lost, they sent an additional eighteen hundred pounds, so the "Society" was well supplied with this necessary article of food for some time to come.

In their household affairs the Moravians had had various experiences. Hermsdorf had been so thoroughly frightened by the demonstrations against the Moravians that on the 16th of May he had sailed for Germany, regardless of Toeltschig's efforts to persuade him to wait, as his wife might even then be on her way to join him. Not only did he fear the townspeople so greatly that day and night he stayed in his room "as in a prison", but he was still more afraid to face Gen. Oglethorpe, who, it was said, would soon return. Only once had he joined in the devotional exercises of the household after his return from Frederica, and it was rather a relief when he left for home, having first repaid the amount of his passage to Georgia. He seems to have retained his connection with the Moravian Church, for he was in Herrnhut when Wesley visited there, and showed him many courtesies; and he is mentioned in 1742, as bearing letters to the "Sea Congregation", then about to sail for Pennsylvania.

On the 6th of June a four-year-old English boy had been taken into their household. He was an orphan, and they meant to bring him up, but the little fellow died on the 23rd of July.

On the 10th of June the matrimonial troubles of George Waschke and Juliana Jaeschke had been happily terminated by their marriage. Waschke had been one of the discontents ever since the arrival of the second company, but when his marriage was finally arranged he professed himself contrite, and promised all obedience to the rules of the "Society", so long as he stayed in Savannah, though he retained his desire to leave as soon as possible. Juliana also had greatly improved in her behaviour before the wedding.

This marriage was the cause of a very interesting discussion among the Moravians, as to who should perform the ceremony. "In the afternoon the Brethren met to decide who should be appointed to marry Waschke and Juliana. Properly Br. Peter (Rose) should have been ordained by Br. Anton (Seifert) to the office of a "Diener" in the Congregation, that he might marry and baptize, but the Brethren did not think it necessary to ordain him on Waschke's account, and voted that Toeltschig should marry them. He objected, but they said Toeltschig had been made a `Diener' of the Congregation at Herrnhut. He protested that he had not been sent to Georgia to marry and baptize, and did not wish to do it. The others insisted, and asked that the lot be tried; Toeltschig agreed to submit to their wish, and the lot drawn read `he shall marry these two'," which he did the next day.

Parallel with this is the baptism of Rose's twin daughters, Anna Catherina and Maria Magdalena, who were born on the 16th of September, 1737, -- Anna Catherina dying later in the same year. Of this Toeltschig wrote: "I, at the request of the Brethren, baptized them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, after Br. Anton (Seifert) had ordained me a "Diener" in the Congregation."
It frequently happens that a puzzling action becomes clear when it is considered from the standpoint of the man who has done it, but when the motive can not be fathomed many things are hard to understand. That Seifert had been empowered to delegate to another member a duty usually reserved for the clergy, was reasonable, though unusual, for his serious illness or death would have left the Congregation without ministration until word could be sent to Germany, and some one else could come to take his place, -- a matter of months, -- but, when the "Aeltester" was present, in full health, in entire accord with his Congregation, and when he in person confirmed candidates for Church membership, why did he not marry and baptize directly, instead of ordaining a "Diener" especially for those two offices? There must have been some regulation in the Congregation at Herrnhut which led to it, for the idea that Seifert himself should marry Waschke and Juliana, and baptize the Rose children, evidently did not occur to them, but the rule can not now be found, and there is no clue to the strange proceeding.

Soon after the Waschke affair had been settled to the satisfaction of all parties, serious trouble had arisen with Jag and Haberecht. It was reported to the Moravians that Jag had engaged himself to a Swiss woman living in Savannah, and when questioned he admitted that it was true. They argued with him, and pled with him, but to no avail, and finally told him plainly that they would not allow him to bring the woman to their house, and more than that, if he persisted in his determination he would have to leave them; and angry and defiant he did take his departure the next day, July the 10th.

That "troubles never come singly" was exemplified, for the very day that Jag left, Haberecht went to Toeltschig, and asked if some way could not be found so that HE could marry that same Swiss woman! Toeltschig was almost stunned by this second blow, and gave a stern answer, whereupon Haberecht applied to Seifert, the Aeltester, who was equally as unyielding in his condemnation of the acquaintance already made, and his refusal to countenance further steps. Poor Haberecht, less resolute than Jag in his rebellion, drank deeply of the waters of Marah during the next weeks; promising to give up the woman, who was really unworthy of his regard, and then trying to draw Toeltschig into a discussion of his possible marriage; despairingly making his way to the garden to hide himself among the swine, feeling he was fit for no better company, and then going to the woman and asking her to marry him, to which she consented, having already thrown Jag over; again bitter repentance, confession, and a plea that his associates would forgive him. Either he was really in earnest this time, or Spangenberg's arrival had a salutary effect, for after that the Swiss woman disappears from the story, and two months later Jag returned, promised good behaviour, and humbly asked for readmittance to the household which was at once accorded him.

The first days of his visit to Savannah, Spangenberg spent in acquainting himself with the condition of affairs, and in interviews with the members singly and collectively, trying to persuade them to content themselves in Georgia. The "bands" were reorganized, but he was unable to re-establish a feeling of unity among them, and even those who were willing to stay, and work, and try whether their plan might not still be carried out, felt that it would be unwise to hold the rest, for as Toeltschig wrote, almost with a groan, "it is a blessed thing to live with a little company of brethren, who are of one heart and one soul, where heart and mind are dedicated to Jesus, but so to live, when many have weak wills and principles, and there must be a community of goods, is rather difficult, especially when many seek their own ends, not the things of Christ."

Spangenberg was forced to see that his arguments were futile, and wisely yielded to the inevitable. At a general conference each man was called upon to state his wishes. Several desired to leave at the earliest possible moment, others as soon as the debt was fully paid; two or three wanted to return to Europe, others preferred to go to Pennsylvania to Spangenberg; some longed to live among the Indians as missionaries, while quite a number were content to stay in Savannah, unless absolutely forced to leave, or definitely called to labor elsewhere. However, no immediate steps were taken toward breaking up the settlement.

On the 12th of August, Spangenberg and Wesley visited the Salzburgers at Ebenezer, by the invitation of Bolzius, the senior pastor. They, too, had had their troubles without and within, and Gronau had mourned over the fact to the Moravians, who deeply sympathized with him. At this time Gronau and Bolzius differed greatly in their feeling for the Moravians. Gronau was openly and honestly on the best of terms with them, but Bolzius, while occasionally accepting their hospitality in Savannah, sent complaints to the Trustees, in keeping with his original protest against their coming to Georgia. The English friends of the Moravians heard of these letters, and were much puzzled, as the reports from the Savannah Congregation spoke only of pleasant relations with the Salzburgers, and requests for union of the two forces. Probably Bolzius was fretted by their refusal to join him, even as the leaders at Halle resented the independence of Herrnhut, and after Gronau's death, in 1745, the pastors of Ebenezer steadily opposed the efforts of the Moravians to recommence a mission work in Georgia.

Apart from the friction with their fellow townsmen and the lack of united purpose among their own number, Spangenberg found the Moravian colony in good condition. Their devotional hours were steadily observed, the Lord's Supper was celebrated regularly, and a weekly conference kept the many interests of the "Society" running smoothly.

By the aid of the second company, various improvements had been made, so that their lots and garden presented a prosperous appearance. "They have a house in town (on Spangenberg's lot) with a supply of wood for the kitchen. Behind the house is a well, with a pump, on which almost the whole town depends, for it not only never goes dry, as do all the others, but it has the best water to be found in the town. From early morning to late at night the people come with barrels, pails and pitchers, to take the water to their homes. Once some one suggested that strangers should be charged so much a pail for the benefit of the orphans, but Frank said `they have so far received spiritual water from us without price, let them also have this freely.' Between the well and the house is a cow shed. They have a cow, which is pastured out during the day, but comes back in the evening, and they use the milk and butter for the sick. Near the shed is a kitchen and bake-oven, and on the other side a hut for their provisions. Behind the well, on Nitschmann's lot, stands on one side Tanneberger's and on the other Rose's cabin, with a roof between, under which the leather is stored, which is to be made into shoes. "Two English miles from the town they have cleared ten acres, (the garden) and planted corn and rice, which is growing nicely. They have set out mulberry, peach, and apple trees, which are doing well; in the middle of the garden, which is enclosed with a fence and ditch, they have built a corn-house, a cabin in which to live, and a stable." Another cabin, the first erected in the garden, had been burned in January, at which time Mrs. Waschke was living in it, though she was away when it caught fire, and returned too late to give an alarm and save it. The farm four miles from town was proving unsatisfactory, requiring much labor and yielding little return, and they had about decided to stop cultivating it, and give all their effort to the garden, which was paying well.

From the 14th to the 17th of August, Spangenberg busied himself with the account between the Moravians and the Trustees. In addition to the bonds signed by the first and second companies for their passage to Georgia, and provisions to be delivered on arrival, it had been necessary to get a great deal at the store on credit. On the other hand the men had done a considerable amount of carpenter work and hauling for the Trustees and for others. The account on the books at the Trustees' store was all in confusion, and as everybody at the store claimed to be too busy to unravel it, Spangenberg obtained permission to do it himself, and found that in addition to the bonds, (60 Pounds and 226 Pounds 13 Shillings 9 Pence,) the Moravians had taken supplies to an amount which gave them a total debt of some 500 Pounds ($2,400.00). Against this they had a credit which entirely paid their current account at the store, and reduced their debt to the Trustees to 121 Pounds 2 Shillings 9 Pence, ($580.80).

On the 19th, a Lovefeast was held in honor of Spangenberg and Eckstein, and on the 21st of August the two visitors sailed for Pennsylvania, landing there safely in due time.

 

A Closing Door.

With the month of September letters began to come from England and Germany in response to Dober's report, and the communications sent by Ingham, who presented the Moravian request to the Trustees, (receiving "a sour answer",) and also sent a full account of their circumstances to Count Zinzendorf. The Count had already written to his distressed brethren, giving his advice on various points, and this letter, which was the first to arrive, gave them little comfort. They had once hoped for reinforcements, earnest men and women who would strengthen their hands for the work among the Indians, and even now it was disappointing to hear that Zinzendorf had decided not to send any more colonists to Georgia. He argued that it would take very few men to supply teachers for Tomochichi's little village, and that as the Trustees would only permit four missionaries among the more distant tribes, that number could easily be spared from the company already in Savannah.

Regarding military service he repeated his former definite instructions, "you will not bear arms either defensive or offensive." He said that he had tried to secure from the Trustees a formal "dispensation", either verbal or written, exempting the Moravians entirely from military duty, but they refused to give it, insisting that the Moravians must at least employ two men to represent the two town lots in defense of the country. Zinzendorf had agreed to this, so far as the night watch was concerned, since such a watch was necessary for civic peace and well-being, and the Moravians were authorized to pay the necessary sums therefor, but he considered it inconsistent to refuse to fight as a matter of conscience and then hire others to do it, and so, as he said, "there is nothing to do but to say NO, and wait."

Although Spangenberg had hoped it would not be necessary for the Moravians to leave Georgia, he had sent the Trustees their request for permission to go, adding, "Nor indeed is there any reason why they should be detained, since it is their full intention and design to pay every farthing of their debt before they stir a foot; and they have never yet sold their liberty to any man, neither are they bound to any man by any writing or agreement whatsoever. I doubt not therefore but ye will readily shew the same clemency towards innocent and inoffensive men, which any one may expect from your Honors, whose business is not to destroy but to save and benefit mankind. May it please you therefore to send orders to the Magistrate of Savannah that these people may have leave to depart that Province. I do assure your Honors they always thought it a great favor that ye were pleased to send them thither; but now they will think it a greater to be dismissed."

In reply the Trustees wrote to Mr. Causton, forbidding the introduction of martial law without their express order, and reproving him for having required more than two men from the Moravians, but in that very reproof practically insisting that two must serve. The Moravians thought they had defined their position clearly at the outset, and believed they had the Trustees' promise that all should be as they desired, and if the Trustees realized the construction placed upon their words they had taken a most unfair advantage of the Moravians by offering them the two town lots as a special favor, and then using the ownership of those lots as a lever to force unwelcome service. On the other hand the Trustees claimed that Zinzendorf had tacitly agreed to furnish two fighting men when he allowed Spangenberg and Nitschmann to take the two freeholds, and one can hardly imagine that the gentlemen who served as Trustees of Georgia would stoop to a subterfuge to gain two soldiers. Probably it was an honest misunderstanding for which neither side was to blame, and of which neither could give a satisfactory explanation, each party having had a clear idea of his own position, and having failed to realize that in the confusion of tongues the other never did grasp the main point clearly.

Regarding the Moravian request for permission to leave, the Trustees declined to give instructions until after an exchange of letters with Zinzendorf; but in a second letter to his Congregation, the Count wrote, "If some do not wish to remain, let them go," and "if the authorities will not do what you demand it is certain that you must break up and go further; but whether to Pennsylvania, or New York or Carolina, the Lord will show you." Carolina would be no better than Georgia for their purpose, for the military conditions were identical, and Bishop Nitschmann's advice that they go to Pennsylvania, together with Spangenberg's residence there, decided them in favor of that location.

Zinzendorf's permission having cleared the way for departure, they resolved to wait no longer on the Trustees, and a general conference was held on September 18th, in which definite arrangements were made for the assumption of the debt by those who were willing as yet to remain in Georgia, freeing the four who were to go first. A recent letter had informed Tanneberger of the death of his wife and children in Herrnhut, and the news shattered his already weak allegiance. Without them he cared little where he went, or what became of him, if only he could get away, and Haberecht was more than ready to join him. His young son went as a matter of course, and Meyer, another member who had been lazy and unsatisfactory, completed the party, which sailed for Pennsylvania on the 16th of October. Jag also intended to go, but for some reason waited for the next company.

Haberecht settled at Ephrata, and the two Tannebergers at Germantown. In 1741, Haberecht joined the Moravians who were building in "the forks of the Delaware", and became one of the first members of the Bethlehem Congregation. In 1745, David Tanneberger married Regina Demuth, who had lost her husband the previous year, and they ultimately moved to Bethlehem also. Meyer never renewed his association with the Moravians.

Before the four started to Pennsylvania, another member had taken the longer journey, and had been laid beside his brethren in the Savannah cemetery. This was George Haberland, who died September 30th, from flux, a prevalent disease, from which almost all of the colonists suffered at one time or another. He had learned much during his life in Georgia, had been confirmed in June with his brother Michael, and had afterward served acceptably as a "Diener" of the Congregation.

On the 7th of October, Seifert and Boehner moved to Tomochichi's village to perfect themselves in the language, and begin their missionary work. As some of the congregation had already left Savannah, and others were soon to follow, Seifert thought that he could be spared even though he was "Aeltester", especially as at first he returned to Savannah every Saturday to hold the Sunday services. In November he and Boehner spent several weeks in town helping the carpenters raise the frame of a large house they were building, and when they returned to the Indians in January, 1738, Peter Rose, his wife, and surviving daughter went with them.

Friday, December 13th, John Wesley left Savannah, to return to England. His popularity had long since waned, in the face of his rigid insistance on ecclesiastical rules, and it was said "the Brethren alone can understand him, and remain in love with him." He was unfortunate enough to provoke a spiteful woman, a niece of Mr. Causton, the Magistrate, and so greatly did the persecution rage under her influence, that Wesley's chance of doing further good was ruined, and nothing was left but for him to withdraw. The Magistrates forbade him to leave, (secretly rejoicing that they had driven him away,) but he boldly took his departure, without molestation, making his way to Beaufort, where Charles Delamotte joined him. Together they went to Charlestown, where he parted from Delamotte, and on the 2nd of January, 1738, sailed from the continent that had witnessed the shattering of so many fond hopes and ambitions.
Forty-seven years later Brierly Allen settled in Savannah, the first minister there to represent the great denomination which grew from Wesley's later work in England, and the first Methodist Society in that city of his humiliation was organized in 1806.

During the preceding summer Zinzendorf had written to the Trustees, asking once more for (1) entire exemption from military service for the Georgia Moravians, for (2) permission for them to leave Georgia if this could not be granted, and (3) that at least four might remain among the Indians as missionaries.

In answer the Trustees (1) repeated their former decision regarding freehold representation, (2) gave consent for the Moravians to leave if they would not comply with this, and (3) refused to let them stay as missionaries. "The privilege of going among the Indians was given to your people out of consideration for Your Excellency, and also on account of their good conduct, they being citizens of this colony; but if they cease to reside there, this privilege will not be continued to any of them. To employ them as missionaries to instruct the Indians would be a reflection on our country, as if it could not furnish a sufficient number of pious men to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore your people may continue among the Indians, only so long as they are citizens of the colony."

This was the death-blow to the Moravian settlement in Georgia. Had the Trustees exemplified their much-vaunted religious toleration by respecting the conscientious scruples of the Moravians, there were enough members of the Savannah Congregation who wanted to stay in Georgia to form the nucleus of the larger colony which would surely have followed them, for while they were willing to give up everything except religious liberty, they were human enough to regret having to abandon the improvements which they had made at the cost of so much labor and self-denial. The Church at large shared this feeling, and for many years watched and waited for an opportunity to re-open the work in Savannah, but without result. If the Trustees had even permitted the Moravians to stay as missionaries it might have saved the settlement to Georgia, for within a decade the English Parliament passed an Act granting the Moravians the very exemption for which they now asked in vain, and had there been a promising work begun among the Indians during the intervening years it would inevitably have drawn more laborers, as it did in Pennsylvania. But the Trustees shut the door in their faces, other promising and more hospitable fields opened, and the Moravian efforts were thereafter given to the upbuilding of other commonwealths.

In the latter part of January, 1738, eight more of the Moravian colonists left Savannah, -- Gotthard Demuth and his wife, George Waschke, his wife and mother, Augustin Neisser, Gottlieb Demuth, and David Jag, those who remained giving them money and provisions for their journey to Pennsylvania. Gotthard Demuth and wife settled in Germantown, later moving to Bethlehem and joining in the organization of that Congregation. In 1743 they were again living at Germantown, where Gotthard died the following year. Regina subsequently married David Tanneberger and moved once more to Bethlehem. Gottlieb Demuth lived at several places, but finally married, and settled in the Moravian Congregation at Schoeneck. Jag, who located at Goshenhopper, and the Waschkes and Augustin Neisser who went to Germantown, never rejoined the Church.

On the 28th of January, the Moravians in Savannah received an unlooked-for addition to their number. Toeltschig wrote to Spangenberg, "Yesterday two boys, who belong to Herrnhut, came unexpectedly to our house. They ran away from the Brethren in Ysselstein and went to Mr. Oglethorpe in London, begging him to send them to the Brethren in Georgia. He did so, but we will have to pay their transportation. One is Zeisberger's son David, about 17 years old, and the other John Michael Schober, about 15 years old. Both are bad boys." It appears that when Zeisberger's parents went to Georgia he was left in Herrnhut to finish his education. From there Count Zinzendorf took him to a Moravian settlement near Utrecht, Holland, where he was employed as errand boy in a shop. He was treated with well-meant but ill-judged severity, and finally after a particularly trying and undeserved piece of harshness in October, 1737, he and his friend Schober decided to try and make their way to his parents in Georgia. In this they succeeded, and though their story was received with disappro