USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. I > Part 9
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Encouraged by these tokens for good, the Trustees applied to Parliament for assistance ; and their peti-
taken root, and are about one foot and a half high. The next year, he says, he does not doubt raising a thousand more, and the year following at least five thousand."
Sheftall, one of the original settlers, in the Hebrew language. Translations and Extracts from the original manu- script have been published in “The Occident and American Jewish Advo-
18 A portion of these interesting cate," i. 247, 379, 486.
facts were preserved by Mr. Benjamin
105
A LIBERAL BENEFACTION.
tion, delivered to the house by Sir Joseph Jekyll, the Master of the Rolls, seconded by Sir John Barnard, and advocated by Horace Walpole and Colonel Bla- den, met with the desired success.
In May, Sir Charles Turner reported a resolution from the Committee of the Whole House, " that His Majesty be requested to issue, from moneys remaining in the receipt of the Exchequer arising by sale of lands in the island of St. Christopher, the sum of ten thousand pounds to the Trust, for establishing the Col- ony of Georgia in America, to be applied towards de- fraying the charges of carrying over and settling foreign and other Protestants in said colony."19
This liberal benefaction enabled the Trustees to carry out a plan which they had for some time been interested in, and which is indeed hinted at in the res- olution of the House of Commons.
As early as October the 12th, 1732, the " Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge " ex- pressed to the Trustees a desire "that the perse- cuted Salzburgers should have an asylum provided for them in Georgia."20
The proposition was favourably entertained by the Trustees, who stated their willingness to grant them lands, and to become the almoner of any benefactions that might be contributed towards defraying their ex- penses thither ; but did not deem it proper for them to expend for the Salzburgers any of their funds, con- tributed for an express purpose. A correspondence was immediately opened, between the Reverend Doc- tor Bundy and Hon. James Vernon, with the "Society
19 Journal of House of Commons, kin's Missions of the Church of Eng- xxii. 147.
2º Journal of Trustees, i. 20. Haw- land, 91.
106
COLONIZATION OF THE SALZBURGERS.
for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge," and their correspondents in Germany, to ascertain if any were willing to embark for Georgia, and become British subjects by conforming to the Trustees' rules.
Satisfied by the answers sent to the Society, that there were such, and warranted by the special con- tributions for that purpose, the Trustees, in Decem- ber, 1732, sent over to Germany an invitation to fifty Salzburgers' families from Bertholdsgaden,21 to be transplanted to Georgia; the venerable Society having resolved to pay their expenses from Ger- many to Rotterdam, and also to support a minister and catechist in Georgia. Temporary hindrances prevented the carrying out of this design; but on obtaining this grant from Parliament, together with three or four thousand pounds from private benefac- tions, they were enabled to meet, more fully than before, the wishes of the Society. Immediately, therefore, on the passage of the bill, they wrote to Germany for some Salzburgers to be sent over to England, thence to embark for Georgia. To those thought worthy, the Trustees resolved to defray the charges of their passage and sea-stores ; to provision them gratis in Georgia till they could take in their harvest ; to give them three lots, viz., a lot for house and yard within the town ; a lot for garden near the town, and a lot for tillage at a small distance from the town; the said lands to be a freehold to themselves and heirs forever." In consideration of these privi- leges, they were to obey the Trustees' orders and become denizens of Georgia, with all the rights and privileges of Englishmen.22
21 Colonial Transcripts, 20. Jour- 22 Journal of the Common Council, nal of Trustees, i. 51. i. 83.
107
ORIGIN OF THE SALZBURGERS.
These Germans belonged to the Archbishopric of Salzburg, then the most eastern district of Bavaria ; but now, forming a detached district in upper Aus- tria, and called Salzburg, from the broad valley of the Salzer, which is made by the approximating of the Norric and Rhetian Alps. Their ancestors, the Val- lenges of Piedmont,23 had been compelled by the bar- barities of the Dukes of Savoy, to find a shelter from the storms of persecution in the Alpine passes and vales of Salzburg and the Tyrol, before the Reformation; and frequently since, had they been hunted out by the hire- lings and soldiery of the Church of Rome, and con- demned for their faith to tortures of the most cruel and revolting kind. Such was the case in 1620, when the head of one of their pastors was nailed to his pulpit, and others murdered by ingenious ways. In 1684-6, they were again threatened with an exterminating persecution; but were saved in part by the interven- tion of the Protestant States of Saxony and Branden- burg, though over one thousand then emigrated on account of the dangers to which they were exposed.24
But the quietness which they had enjoyed for nearly
23 Those who desire to trace them back further can consult “ Ausführliche Historie derer Emigrantem oder Ver- triebenen Lutheraner aus dem Ertz Bishthum Salzburg," etc. Das ii. Capitale, p. 5 : Leipzig, 1732.
24 For an account of these early persecutions, vide Geschichte der Aus- wanderung der Evangelischen Salz- burger in yahre 1732: Karl Panse, Leipzig, 1827. The first book in this work contains notices of former perse- cutions. Die Protestantischen Salz- burger in 18ten Yahrhundert : Gustav Rierik, Leipzig, 1840. Menzel's His-
tory of Germany. Mosheim's Eccle- siastical History, vol. iii. " History of the American Lutheran Church," a valuable compend, by Rev. Ernest L. Hazelius, D.D., Professor of Theology in the Theological Seminary of the Lutheran Synod of South Carolina, published at Zanesville, Ohio, 1846. At the end of “ Aktenmäskige Ge- schichte der verühmpten Salzburgis- chen Emigration," Salzburg, 1790, is a valuable collection of original agree- ments, letters, confessions, &c., relating to these several periods, 242-288.
108
PERSECUTION OF THE SALZBURGERS.
half a century, was now rudely broken in upon by Leo- pold, Count of Firmian, and Archbishop of Salzburg, who determined to reduce them to the Papal faith and power. He began in the year 1729, and ere he ended in 1732, not far from thirty thousand had been driven from their homes, to seek among the Protestant States of Europe, that charity and peace which were denied them in the glens and fastnesses of their native Alps. More than two-thirds settled in the Prussian States ; the rest spread themselves over England, Holland, and other Protestant countries.
Thrilling is the story of their exile. The march of these Salzburgers constitutes an epoch in the history of Germany. They were an army of martyrs, setting forth in the strength of God, and triumphing in faith even under the rigour of persecution. Marshalled under no ensigns but the banners of the Cross; led on by no chieftains but their spiritual pastors ; armed with no weapons but their Bibles and hymn-books, they journeyed on, everywhere singing pæans, not of military victory, but of praise and thanksgiving to Him, who, though they were cast out, and oppressed, had yet made them " more than conquerors." Arriv- ing at Augsburg, the magistrates closed the gates against them, refusing them entrance to that city, which two hundred years before had, through Luther and Melancthon, and in the presence of Charles V. and the assembled Princes of Germany, given birth to the celebrated Augsburg Confession, for clinging to which, they were now driven from their homes ; but overawed by the Protestants, the officers reluctantly admitted the emigrants, who were kindly entertained by the Lutherans.
The sympathies of Reformed Christendom were
109
EVIDENCES OF PUBLIC SYMPATHY.
awakened on their behalf, and the most hospitable entertainment and assistance were everywhere given them. Reigning princes, heads of universities, stu- dents of colleges, rectors of churches, vied with each other in doing honour to those who preferred to forsake the haunts of their youth, rather than the religion of their hearts. In answer to the invitation addressed by the Trust to the venerable Samuel Urlsperger, forty-two men with their families, numbering in all seventy-eight, left Augsburg on the 21st of October, 1733, and took up their melancholy journey to the sea-board. Furnished, through the kindness of their Augsburg friends, with three rude carts, one to carry their baggage, and the other two to carry their feeble women and children-the rest travelling on foot-they began their pilgrimage as strangers to a far country. Various were the fortunes of their toilsome journey ; now cheered by the charities of their brethren, now threatened by their adversaries, and now turned out of their course by the intolerance of Romish zeal. But their sorrows seemed for a moment forgotten in the heartiness of their reception by the pious Lutherans of Frankfort, in Nassau. These worthy burghers, learning of their approach, went out on the road to meet and welcome them. Joyous were the con- gratulations, affecting the interview with the toil- worn pilgrims ; and hastily forming a procession, they marched towards the city two and two, and entered the gates singing one of their much-loved psalms. Remaining here a few days for refreshment, they embarked upon the Maine, and soon entered the beautiful Rhine; and as they sailed down its cur- rent, now passing under beetling cliffs, now hurry- ing by some grim and frowning castle, now floating
110
THE SALZBURGERS SAIL FOR GEORGIA.
through vine-clad slopes, and now sweeping past its beautiful towns and villages, they spent their days in holy converse, and the hymnings of devotion.
On the 27th of November they reached Rotterdam, where they were joined by " their chosen teachers of the Divine Word," Rev. Mr. Boltzius, deputy superin- tendent of the Latin Orphan School at Halle, and Rev. Mr. Gronan, a tutor in the same.25 They embarked on board the Trustees' ship at Rotterdam, on the 2d of December ; and after a long passage down the chan- nel, having been much tossed by the waves, they reached Dover on the 21st of December. Here they were visited by the Trustees, and treated with every kindness and attention; engaging the sympathies of their English friends by the piety and sobriety of their lives and actions. With an ." oath of strict piety, loy- alty, and fidelity," they began their long sea voyage on the 8th of December. In the minute diaries which they kept, as well as in the letters of the pastors, are abundant records of their thoughts, sayings, and doings on this voyage. All was new to them : coming
25 The authorities consulted respect- ing what is mentioned here and else- where in this work concerning the Salzburgers, are, “ De Præstantia Co- loniæ Georgico-Anglicanæ præ Co- loniis Aliis :" Augsburg, 1747 ; the books mentioned in former notes ; and also Ausführliche Nachricht von den Salzburgischen Emigranten die sich in America nied ergelassen haben, von Saml. Urlsperger, 4 vols. small 4to, Halle, published respectively in 1736, 1741, 1744, 1752. Urlsperger also published, under the title of " Con- tinuation der Ausführlichen Nachrich- ten Salzburgischen Emigranten," &c., thirteen other volumes of the same
size, containing the Diary of the Eleven Ministers, their various records, cor- respondence, &c., down to 1752. Ame- ricanisches Ackerwerk Gottes ; oder zurer lassige Nachrichten, etc., also compiled by Urlsperger, in 4 vols. 4to, brought down to 1767. These twenty- two volumes contain a vast number of minute facts and incidents of little his- torical importance, forming what might be termed the daily annals of the Salz- burgers for many consecutive years. Would that the English had had some of the persevering energy in writing of the Germans : our early stock of his- torical materials would not then be so scanty as it now is.
111
OGLETHORPE MEETS THEM AT CHARLESTON.
from the interior of Europe, they knew the ocean only in name ; but now this world of waters, with all its strangeness and sublimity, was around them. The wonders of the deep inspired them with awe and humility, but did not cower or dispirit them ; for no sooner had the last hill of England sunk behind the horizon, than with united voice they broke forth in a psalm of glory. Sunset upon the ocean, the silvery path of the moon upon the waters, the cloud-filled sky, the storm howling through the rigging, the sea cloven into waves by the mighty tempest, the favouring gale that speeds them merrily on their course; furnish them with new themes of praise, new emotions of gratitude, and new topics for their daily journals or unwearied correspondence. Their good ship reached Charleston in March; and here they were so fortu- nate as to meet with Oglethorpe, who had come thither for the purpose of embarking for England. Abandoning this design for the present, in order that he might settle the Salzburgers, in whose welfare he had taken such deep interest, he returned to Georgia.
The "Purisburgh " left Charleston on the 9th; and the next day, which, in the Lutheran calendar, was, " Reminiscere Sunday," they entered the river. And truly. it was to them a day of remembrance ; and memory busied herself in retouching with her magic pencil the half-faded pictures of former joys, and in recalling also the days when they " endured a great fight of afflictions," among those who would stamp out with the iron-shod heel of religious tyranny, the last glimmering spark of freedom of conscience in matters of religion. But amidst the thronging recollections of that Reminiscere Sunday, their minds were tranquil- lized by the promises of peace, and buoyed up by the
112
THEIR ARRIVAL AT SAVANNAH.
swelling hopes of the future. " While we lay off the banks of our dear Georgia," writes one, " in a very lovely calm, and heard the birds singing sweetly, all was cheerful on board. It was really edifying to us that we came to the borders of this promised land, this day, when, as we are taught in its lessons from the Gospel, that Jesus came to the borders by the sea- coast, after he had endured persecution and rejection by his countrymen."
On the 12th they reached Savannah, and were received with shouts of gladness and the utmost hos- pitalities of the colonists. Oglethorpe met them there, and told their leader, Baron Von Reck, that they should have a choice of the unappropriated lands. They expressed the wish to be settled at some dis- tance from the sea, in a hilly country, where there were springs of water; that being the nature of their native land. To seek for them such a location, him- self, with Paul Jenys, Esq., Speaker of the South Car- olina House of Assembly, Baron Von Reck, Rev. Mr. Gronan, Doctor Twiflen, their physician, and one of the Lutheran elders, with some Indians, went up to search for some fit place, while the body of the people refreshed themselves after their voyage in Savannah.
After penetrating about thirty miles into the inte- rior, the explorers came " to the banks of a river of clear water, the sides high, the country of the neigh- bourhood hilly, with valleys of rich cane land, inter- mixed with little brooks and springs of water." The Salzburgers of the party were greatly pleased with the place; and fitly ending their journey as they began it, kneeled down by the river side, and returned thanks to God for giving them such a goodly heritage ; and, singing a psalm, named the place, in commemoration
113
THE SETTLEMENT OF EBENEZER.
of their wondrous deliverances and present joys, Eben- ezer, (the stone of help ;) for they could truly say, with the prophet of old, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
Oglethorpe marked out for them a town; ordered workmen to assist in building houses; and soon the whole body of Germans went up to their new home at Ebenezer. The wanderings of the exiles were over ; they were now at rest, where persecution could no more alarm, and where the heart and the tongue, free from the censorship of man in his spiritual life, acknowledged fealty and paid obedience alone to God. How the Salzburgers esteemed their place, may be learned from the Journal of Baron Von Reck, who states : " The lands are enclosed between two rivers which fall into the Savannah. The Salzburg town is to be built near the largest, which is called Ebenezer, in remembrance that God had brought them thither. It is navigable, being twelve feet deep. A little rivulet, whose water is clear as crystal, glides by the town; another runs through it; and both fall into the Ebenezer. The woods here are not so thick as in other places. The sweet zephyrs preserve a delicious coolness, notwithstanding the searching beams of the sun. There are very fine meadows, in which a great quantity of hay might be made with very little pains. The hillocks also are very fit for vines. The cedar, walnut, pine, cypress, and oak, make the greatest part of the woods. There are likewise a great quantity of myrtle-trees, out of which they extract, by boiling the berries, a green wax, very proper to make candles with. There is much sassafras, and a great quantity of those herbs of which indigo is made, and abundance of China roots.
8
114
OGLETHORPE VISITS ENGLAND.
" The earth is so fertile, that it will bring forth any- thing that can be sown or planted in it, whether fruits, herbs, or trees. There are wild vines, which run up to the tops of the tallest trees ; and the country is so good, that one may ride full gallop twenty or thirty miles an end.
" As to game, here are eagles, wild turkeys, roe- bucks, wild goats, stags, wild cows, horses, hares, partridges, and buffaloes."
On the first of May, lots were drawn for the houses to be erected at Ebenezer; and a plan was adopted for building a chapel.
Prior to the arrival of the Salzburgers, Oglethorpe, with suitable attendants, had visited the coast and islands to the south. Skirting along the sea-board, and through the inland passages, they reached St. Simons island, and proceeded on to Jekyll; thence returning up the Ogeechee, landed at Fort Argyle, having made a valuable tour of observation along the ocean frontiers of Georgia. The results of this little voyage were of great consequence to the colony, as it placed in his possession a point of defence, which was ultimately to become the Thermopyla of Georgia.
Nothing further occurring to detain him in Georgia, Oglethorpe soon returned to Charleston ; and, declin- ing his original purpose of making the tour of the north- ern colonies, and consequently unable to accept the pressing invitation of the Governor, Council, and Assembly29 of Massachusetts to visit that province, he embarked in the Alborough, man-of-war, on Tuesday, the 7th of May, for his native land.
How stood the colony now ? Fifteen months of colonial existence had expired, and the most encour-
29 Gent. Mag., 1734, p. 460.
115
CONDITION OF THE COLONY.
aging results were visible. Savannah had been beau- tifully laid out, with open squares and wide streets, crossing each other at right angles. About forty houses had been built, which, being disposed of in as many large lots, gave an airy and pleasing appearance to the place. A court of judicature had been erected, and the town placed under appropriate municipal officers. To protect it from incursions landward, Oglethorpe had stretched around it a heavy barrier of palisade; while, to guard it seaward, he had erected on the east end of the bluff a small battery of five cannon, commanding the passage of the river. An ample storehouse, and a guardhouse, near which towered the flagstaff, stood upon the edge of the bluff, upon which goods were landed from vessels lying beneath, by means of a large crane and windlass. At the eastern extremity of the town, he had laid out ten acres as a public garden, and placed it under the care of an experienced gardener. The object of this was, to cultivate in this land, as a nursery, such plants and trees as the Trustees should deem profitable for the colony, and then, having tested their qualities, distribute them to the several settlers, to be cultivated on their respective farms.
To secure the best horticultural stock, the Trust, aided by benefactions from the Earl of Derby, the Duke of Richmond, and Sir Hans Sloane, had commis- sioned William Houston, an able botanist, to visit Madeira, the West India islands, and the northern parts of South America, to secure vines, roots, seeds, and cuttings of their best and most valuable plants and trees, to propagate in Georgia.30
Sailing up the river fifteen miles, we find the village
30 Minutes of Common Council of Trustees, i. 5, where articles of agreement are inserted.
116
DESCRIPTION OF THE SETTLEMENTS.
of Abercorn, situated on a creek, three miles from the river, containing ten families. Further up still, we reach Ebenezer, on a river of the same name, empty- ing into the Savannah, where the energetic Salzburgers are busily engaged in clearing their lands, framing their dwellings, planting their crops, and stockading the town. Eastward of Savannah, on the island of Tybee, lying at the mouth of the river, was begun a large light- house, ninety feet high, which, when built, would be the loftiest in America. South from Savannah, four miles, we meet with two small villages, Hampstead and Highgate. East of these, upon Augustine creek, was a good timber fort; and three families at a place called Thunderbolt, so named from a meteoric explo- sion, which left its sulphurous effects plainly discerni- ble, in the taste of some of its waters. Directly south of Savannah, and upon the banks of the Ogeechee, stood Fort Argyle-a small square fortification of wood, musket-proof, but having no cannon, and garrisoned by a party of rangers, and ten families.
These were the points occupied by the emigrants, and this the condition of the colony, when Oglethorpe left it for England. Some of the people, it is true, had misbehaved, and some had been sick; but their bene- factor had appeased their tumults, and visited and nursed the sick ; at all times blending the firmness of the magistrate with the humanity of a friend.
The thoughts of benevolence which, far away across the Atlantic, had arisen in the minds of a few philan- thropists, were here developed in visible form; beauti- fully realizing their designs of mercy, making a hundred glad homes in the New World echo back praises to the charity of the old.
CHAPTER III.
PROGRESS OF COLONIZATION.
A VOYAGE of forty days brought Oglethorpe to the shores of England. He returned after an absence of more than eighteen months, having in that brief time led a colony across the Atlantic, planted it in a new country, established treaties of peace and amity with the Indian tribes, settled several frontier villages, advanced many improvements, explored large districts of country, and erected such fortifications as gave effi- cient protection to the newly-created province. Sharing with the colonists their humble fare, enduring with them their manifold toils, exposing himself for their sakes to the dangers of the climate and the pathless wilds, remaining with them until completely settled, he bore all the fatigues, and perils, and perplexities, and la- bours incident to the planting of a new colony, with a loftiness of heroism and grandeur of philanthropy truly sublime.
To enlarge the views and strengthen the friendship of the Indians, as well as to interest the people of Eng- land in these sons of the American forest, Oglethorpe brought over with him Tomochichi, the King of Yama- craw, Senanky, his wife, Tooanhouie, their nephew, Hillipili, the war captain, five chiefs of the Cherokees, and one of the chiefs of the Palachocalas.
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118
TRIBUTES TO OGLETHORPE.
A few days after his return, he waited upon the king and queen,1 by whom he was graciously received; and at a full meeting of the Trustees, he received their formal and unanimous thanks " for the many and great services he has done the colony of Georgia."? In the evening, at an entertainment given in honour of his return, he related to the Trustees the state and condition of the settlement, and the bright prospects which it opened before them in the future.
Nor did these alone feel interested in his enterprise; but his success and benevolence gave inspiration to the bard who sung, in impassioned stanzas, the " deeds of his heroic life." Let nervous Pope, in his immortal lays,
" Recite thy actions, and record thy praise. No brighter scenes his Homer can display Than in thy great adventures we survey. * * * * *
Hail, Oglethorpe ! with nobler triumphs crowned Than ever were in camps or sieges found."
And true was the prophecy which closes this poetic tribute :
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