USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 25
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APPENDIX.
gregations and their divisions according to the different ages and sexes, by bis public and private discourses to them, in faith, love and hope. The Lord blessed his labor in a particular manner.
On the 20th August, he held the first holy commu- nion, in Hope, in the meeting house in this settlement. which was built in 1729, and this congregation was now settled and regulated according to the tenets, rules and rites established in the brethren's church . The same was done by him in Friedland, on the 4th September, in which settlement the meeting house had been built already, in the year 1775. These trans- actions were blessed in both places with a gracious feelings of the presence of the Lord, and the members of the new formed congregations pledged themselves- mutually, in a solemn manner, by grace to walk worthily their high calling in Christ Jesus, in truth and love. As the legislature of North Carolina had resolved to meet in November. in Salem, the governor, and several members of both houses, stayed there se- veral weeks, but no quorum was formed. These gen- tlemen were much satisfied with the reception and treatment which they met. Salem became more known, and the brethren were regarded as a peace- able, industrious and benevolent society. In the year 1782, an act was passed by the general assembly of North Carolina, entitled, "An act to vest in Frederick William Marshall, esq. of Salem, in Surry county, the lands of the Unitas Fratrum, in this state, for the use of the said United Brethren, and for other pur- poses."*
* It is as follows: " Whereas Frederick William Marshall, esq. of Salem, in Surry county, hath made it appear to this
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APPENDIX.
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On the 29th of August of the same year, bishop John Michael Graff, entered into eternal rest, and joy. The ministry of this meek and humble follower and faithful servant of Christ was blessed by his Lord in a particular manner to the congregation in Salem, and to all the brethren's congregation in North Caro- lina. The 4th of July in the year 1983, being set apart by the legislature of the state of North Carolina, as a day of prayer and thanksgiving, on account of the
general assembly, that all the tracts of land in this state, be- longing to the lord advocate, the chancellor and agent of the Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren, have been transferred to him from the former possessors, in trust for the Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren; and whereas doubts have arisen whether the said tracts do not come within the description of the con- fiscation act, and to quiet the minds of those to whom convey- ances have been, or are to be, made, or any part, or parts, thereof:
" Be it, therefore, enacted, by the general assembly of the state of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the au- thority of the same, that a certain deed of lease and release. dated the 27th and 28th of October, 1778, from James Hutton, conveying the tract of Wachovia, in Sarry county, be hereby declared valid in law, and to be admitted to probate in the county of Surry, and registered in the register's office, agreeable to the testimonials thereunto pertaining; and that all lands which, by a deed of bargain and sale of the 20th April, 1764, between William Churton and Charles Medcalf, registered in the county of Orange, in book No. 1, p. 106, and in Rowan county, in book 8, No. 5, p. 452, &c. were then conveyed to said Charles Medcalf, be hereby vested in the said Frederick W. Marshall, in trust as aforesaid, and all conveyances of the above mentioned lands, or any of them, made, or which shall be made, by the said Frederick W. Marshall shall be as good and valid, to all intents and purposes, as if the confiscation act had never passed.
"And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid: that the power of attorney of Christian Frederick Cossart, dated the 3d November, 1772, empowering said Frederick W. Mar- shall to sell his lands, be admitted to probate and registry in the county of Wilkes, and be as good and valid in law, as it could or might have been, had the act of confiscation never passed."
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freaty of peace and amity between the United States and Great Britain, was celebrated in a very solemn manner in all the brethren's congregations in this state, with heartfelt gratitude towards the Lord, for his protecting care and help which they had enjoyed during the war. in hours of danger and affliction, and with fervent prayers for the welfare and prosperity of the United States in general, and the state of North Carolina in particular, to the glorification of his name, and the propagation of the Redeemner's kingdom.
On the 31st of January, 1784, the tavern in Salem took fire by accident, and the whole building was re- duced to ashes. This, and a similar accident in Bethabara, where, in December, 1802, the distillery house was consumed by fire, were the two only cases of distress by fires in the settlements of the brethren in North Carolina. Salem received, in the year 1785, two fire engines from Europe, and a fire regulation was made in this town. Bishop Johannes von Watte- wille, a member of the Unity's ckders' conference, was deputed by the synod of the Unitas Fratrum, held in the year 1782, in Herrnhut, on a visitation of all the brethren's congregations in North America, and ar- rived, with his company, in May, 1784, in Bethlehem. They had a very tedious and dangerous voyage, and suffered shipwreck, on the the rocks on the coast of the small island of Barbuda, near Antigua. The reverend Daniel Kæhler, appointed minister of the congregation in Salem, in the place of the late bishop Graff, was in his company, and arrived, with his wife, and some assistants, in the month of October, in Salem.
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In the same month of the next year, bishop Jo- hannes von Wattewille came, with his lady, (daughter of the late count Zinzendorff.) to Salem, and returned to Bethlehem in May, 1806. His visitation of this and the other brethren's congregations in North Ca- rolina, was attended with a particular blessing of the Lord. During his stay, the general helper's confer- ence for the superintendence of all the brethren's con- gregation in North Carolina, was anew regulated and the baron Frederick W. von Marshall, John Daniel Kæhler, Godfrey Præzel and Christopher Lewis Ben- zien hecame members of it.
In the year 1787, a society was formed, under the · name of "A society of the United Brethren, for pro- pagating the gospel among the heathen." The mem- bers of this society, who reside in Pennsylvania, New- York, New-Jersey, Rhode Island and Maryland, had their first general meeting on the Ist November, 1787, in Bethlehem, and those who reside in North Carolina, on the 19th June, 1788. in Salem.
In the synod of the Unitas Fratrum, which was held in the year 1789, in Herrnhut, and which the reverend John Ettwien and Jacob van Vleck attended as deputies from the brethren's congregations in Pennsylvania, and the adjacent states, and the reve- rend Christopher Lewis Benzien, as deputy from the brethren's congregation in North Carolina, the reve- rend John Daniel Kohler, minister of the congrega- tion in Salem, was elected a bishop of the brethren's church, and consecrated to this office on the 9th of May, 1790, in Litiz.
His excellency, general Washington, president of the United States, honored Salem, in the year 1791
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on his tour through the southern states, with a visit. where he stayed two days, to the great joy and satis- faction of all the inhabitants, who paid him their re- gard in a respectful address, which he answered in an affectionate manner,
In the year 1792, Salem was afflicted by a malig- nant fever, of which fourteen persons died, all under thirty years of age, and whereby, for a time, all inter- course with the neighborhood was stopped. On the 9th of November, 1800, the consecration of a new church, in Salem, the corner stone of which was laid in 1798, was performed, in a very solemn manner. Most all of the brethren and sisters from the other settlements of the brethren in Wachovia, and a great number of neighbors and strangers, attended. All the transactions were accompanied with a gracious feeling of the divine presence.
On the 11th February, 1802, Frederick William von Marshall, senior civilis, was called into the eter- nal rest and joy, after a very laborious and useful life, of eighty-one years, of which he had spent more than fifty in the service of the Unitas Fratrum, and more than forty years in the service of the brethren's con- gregation in North Carolina, with great zeal and faith- fulness, and under the blessing of the Lord, who crowned his undertakings with good success. By his last will, he devised to the reverend Christian Lewis Benzien the Wachovia and other tracts of land, which he possessed in trust for the Unitas Fratrum. As bishop Kchler, who went, with his wife, at the end of the year 1800, to Europe, and attended the general synod of the Unitas Fratrum, which was held in the year 1801, in Herrnhut, as deputy of the brethren's
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congregations in North Carolina, received, in the synod, another appointment, the reverend Charles Gottheld Reichel, from Nazareth, in Pennsylvania was called, in his place, to be minister of the congre- gation in Salem, and being elected, in said synod, a bishop of the brethren's church, he was consecrated to this office on the 6th December, 1801, in Bethlehem. At the end of May, 1802, he came with his family, and some assistants, to Salem.
In the year 1803, the general direction of the bre- thren's congregation in North Carolina was committed by the Unity's elders' conference to the brethren Charles Gottheld Reichel, Christian Lewis Benzien and Simon Peter.
On the 17th November of said year, fifty years were completed since the arrival of the first twelve brethren from Bethlehem, who began the settlement of Wach- ovia. On this account, the day was celebrated as a jubilee by all the brethren's congregations in North Carolina, whose members met in Salem, and united in solemn praises and thanksgiving to our gracious Lord and Saviour, for all the favors and blessings which he had bestowed, in such a rich measure, during this period of fifty years, and in fervent prayers and sup- plications for a new outpouring of the spirit of grace, love and truth upon each congregation.
From the 25th October, 1806, to the 11th February, 1807, the reverend John Renatus Verbeck presb., and Charles von Forestier, senior cirilis, two members of the Unity's elders' conference, were on a visitation in Salem, and the other brethren's congregations in North Carolina. The Lord blessed their labor abundantly, and strengthened thereby the bond of love and union
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between the brethren's congregations in America and. Europe, and other parts of the world, in a particular manner. Having visited all the congregations of *the brethren's church in the United States, and like- wise the mission settlements at Goshen and Pettquat- fing, in the state of Ohio, and at Fairfield, in Upper Canada, they returned, in October, 1807, to Europe. On their voyage from Philadelphia to Hamburg, they were detained in England, from whence they went, by way of Goutenburg and Copenhagen, to Hamburg, where they arrived at the end of May, 1808, safe and well, in Berthelsdorf, a village near Herrnhut, in Upper Losatia, where at present the elders' conference of the Unitas Fratrum doth reside.
The following table shows the number of persons under the care of the brethren's church, in each of their settlements in North Carolina, children included, at the end of every decennium, from the 17th Novem- ber, 1753, to the 31st December, 1807.
Settlements.
begun .: 1753 1763 1773|1783|1793|1803|1807
Salem,
1766
132
185
241
290
1316
Bethabara,
1753
12
77
54
73
94
81
99
Bethany,
1759
73
108
230
187
293
306
Friedberg,
57
1032
1280
331
346
Friedland,
32
133
173
135
183
Hope,
21
151
170
175
199
Total,
| 12 |150 :404 |1004|1145| 1305 14 12
The beginning of the first settlement was made on the 17th November, 1733, with twelve persons:
Increase in the Ist ten years, from 1753 to 1763, 138 persons
1763 " 1773, 254
55
3d
1773 " 1783, 600
4th
66
1733 " 1792, 141
5th
1793 " 1803, 160
Increase in fifty years, from 1753 " 1803, 1305 persons
four years, from 1803 " 1807, 137
Increase in fifty-four vears, from 1753 " 1807, 14-12 persons
1%-
4
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APPENDIX.
. By the church registers, which are kept regularly in each settlement, it appears, that in the period of fifty years, from the 17th November, 1753, to the 17th November, 1803, 1337 births and baptisms of chil- dren, and 665 deaths, were entered ; so that the num- ber of births exceeds that of deaths by 692, which is more than one half: besides about 1300 births and baptisms of children, whose parents do not belong to the brethren's church, are entered during the same period in the register.
Now follows a description of each settlement.
Salem, the principal settlement of the United Bre- thren in North Carolina, is situated in Stokes county, eighteen miles to the south from Germantown, the county town, and 110 miles to the south-east from Raleigh, in 36 deg. 10 min. north lat. and 3 deg. 15 min. lon, west from Washington. The town was laid out in 1765, after a regular plan, on a piece of ele- vated but broken ground, near the Middlefork or Wach, over which a bridge was built in 1721. The principal street in it is sixty feet wide, in a direction from south to north, leading from the south-eastern parts of the state to Virginia. This is intersected by a street 56 feet in width, from east to west, leading to the Shallowford of the river Yadkin, which is at a distance of 18 miles. The other streets are 40 feet wide. Nearly in the centre of the town, is a square, 300 by 120 feet, surrounded with large catal- ba, sycamore, poplar and other trees. On the west side of this square, adjoining the main street, is a neat brick market house, which was built in 1803, and wherein also the fire engines of the town are kept in
APPENDIX.
a separnie apartment, The town lots are 96 in num v ber, from 66 to 85 in front, and from 170 to 380 in depth. Some are larger. The public buildings are: 1. The church, an elegant brick building, 92 by 45 feet, on the north-east corner of the square. It was built in the years 1798 to 1801, and consecrated on the 9th November, 1801, for divine service, which is held not only on Sundays, but every evening of the other days, chiefly in the German language. On the gallery, to the west side in the church, is a beautiful organ of fourteen stops: it is supposed to be at present the largest organ in the whole state of North Carolina .. In the steeple, on the west end of the church, is the town clock, which strikes hours and quarters.
2. The congregation house, to the south of the church, wherein the ministers reside. In the upper story was the first meeting hall of the congregation at Salem, which is now used for children's and other private meetings. The house was built in 1721.
3. The single brethren's house, on the west side of the square, opposite the congregation house, wherein the large boys and unmarried men live and board- The northern part of this spacious house, which in front is two, and the back three stories high, was built in 1768, and the southern part, wherein apartments are for dining and sleeping, and for family worship, in 1786.
4. The single sisters' house, on the east side of the square, was built in 1785. The regulations are the same as in the single brethren's house. Some of the unmarried women and girls, who live and board in this house, get their livelihood by needle-
APPENDIX.
work, spinning, &c. The greater part of them are, in the day time, employed in the families with washing and other work.
5. The school house for the boys, on the north- w.st corner of the square, was built in 1994, The male children of the inhabitants of the town and of other members of the congregation, living in the neigborhood, receive from their sixth to their twelfth or fourteenth year, instruction in reading and writing German and English, cyphering, history, geography and some of them in the rudiments of the Latin lan- guage, drawing and music.
6. The school house for the girls, on the east side of the square, between the congregation and single sisters' houses, a neat and elegant brick building, 62 feet long and 42 feet deep, which was erected in the years 1803 and 1804. In the lower story are, be -- sides a spacious entry, two large and some smaller apartments. In one of the first, the school for the. female children in town is kept; the other is a dining' room, for the young ladies who board in the house. In the upper story are three large apartments; in each of which, from fourteen to sixteen young ladies. have room to live under the care of two tutoresses; a fourth apartment in this story, is to accommodate such as may become sick. Over and above these rooms, is a large hall, 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 14 feet high, wherein the young ladies sleep with their tutoresses. This seminary, which commenced in the year 1801, is under the direction of the minister and elders of the congregation in Salem, and under the aspecial care and superintendence of an inspector, le
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APPENDIX.
whom all parents and guardians, who intend to put young ladies into this school for education, have to apply. The branches taught are, reading, grammar, arithmetic, history, geography, German if desired, plain needlework, &c. Music and fine needlework, such as tambour and embroidery, including drawing, are two extra branches, in which instruction is given, if expressly desired. From the beginning of the insti- tution, in May, 1804, to the end of the year 1807, , about one hundred and twenty young ladies from North and South Carolina. Virginia, Kentucky, Ten- nessee and Georgia, received their education in it, of whom, at the end of 1807, forty-one remained in the seminary.
7. The store, contains a good assortment of merchandise. The goods are partly imported from Europe, partly taken from the merchants in Fayette, Petersburg, and chiefly in Philadelphia. This house was built in 1774, on the south-west corner of the square, opposite to the single sisters' house.
8. The house of entertainment, or public tavern, at the south-west end of the principal street, was built in 1772. In the year 1781, it was destroyed by fire, the only accident of this kind in Salem, and re- built of brick, as most all the public buildings are.
Besides these public buildings, the following are to be noted, viz: the post-office; the house of the doctor, with an apothecary shop, an elegant building on an eminence; the pottery; toy shop; the tannery and leather dressery : a great quantity of deer skins, cured and dressed here, are annually exported by way of Philadelphia to Hamburg. The other tradesmen and
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mechanics in the town are: shoemaker, taylor, baker, carpenter, cabinetmaker, glover, hatter, saddler, wheel.' wright, turner, tinner, gunsmith, blacksmith, silver- smith, watch and clockmaker, tobacconist, &c. In the neighborhood of the town are several mills, built on the Middle or Brushy fork and other small branches, as paper, oil, saw, grist and merchant mills, and a cotton machine. The whole number of per- sons, belonging to the Salem congregation, children included, was at the end of the year 1807, 316, where- of 233, besides 1l young ladies in the boarding school, lived in the town, and 83 in the neighborhood on their farms .; the greatest part of them are of German ex- traction. The number of dwelling houses in the town was about 40; the town lot belonging to Salem, contains 3110 acres. The town is provided with water from several springs, about a mile distant from it, the water of which is conducted through wooden pipes into the town, and distributed in such a manner, that the greatest part of the inhabitants are supplied with it: there are also wells of good water in the town.
Bethabara, the first settlement of the United Bre- thren in North Carolina, was begun in 1753. It is situated in Stokes county, five miles to the north-west from Salem, near the Mill creek. It has a handsome church, with a steeple, built of stone in 1788; a store, tannery and distillery. and several other houses, inha- bited by tradesmen, viz: hatter, shoemaker, potter, turner, &c. The street on which the houses are built, in a direction from south-east to north-west, is 66 feet wide. On the Mill creek is a merchant and saw mill.
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APPENDIX.
The congregation at Bethabara consisted, at the end of the year 1807, of ninety-two persons, children in- cluded, all Germans; thirty-nine of whom lived in the town, and fifty- three on their farms, in the neigh- borhood, from a half to four miles distant. The town lot, belonging to Bethabara, contains 2118 acres.
Bethania, or Bethany, is situated in Stokes county, near Muddy creek, nine miles to the north-west from Salem, and three miles from Bethabara. The town which was laid out in 1759, of thirty lots, consists of a single street, 50 feet wide, in a direction from south south-west to north north-east. The houses are frame or log houses, most of them two stories high, and in- habited by farmers and tradesmen, viz: blacksmith. gunsmith, wheelwright, hatter, tanner, taylor, shoe- maker, &c. As the church, or meeting house, in the middle of the town, which was built in 1771, began to be too small for the congregation, a new neat brick church, 62 feet long and 42 feet deep, with a steeple on it, was built in 1807 and 1808. There is also a good store, tavern and apothecary shop in the town, and near it a saw and grist mill. The congregation at Bethania consisted, at the end of the year 1807, of 306 persons, children included, all Germans; of whom 130 lived in the town and 176 on their farms in the neighborhood, from a half to ten miles distant. The town lot contains 2500 acres.
Friedberg settlement is situated partly in Rowan and partly in Stokes county. The meeting house, which was buit in 1768, is in Rowan county, near the line of Stokes county, nine miles from Salem to the south-west, on a lot of seventy-seven acres, belonging
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APPENDIX.
to it. The number of persons under the care of the brethren's church, in this settlement, children included, were at the end of the year 1807, 346: they live on their farms, from one quarter to ten miles distant from the meeting house, where they attend divine service on Sundays, which is held in the German language.
Friedland, or Broadbay settlement, is situated in Stokes county, The meeting house, which was built in 1774, on a lot of thirty acres, belonging to it. is five miles from Salem, to the east. At the end of 1807, the number of persons in this settlement, under the care of the brethren's church, was 183, children in- cluded. The most distant live five to six miles from the meeting house, where divine service is held every Sunday, in the German language.
Hope, or Maryland settlement, is situated in Stokes and Rowan counties. The meeting house, wherein divine service is held every Sunday, in the English language, was built it 1779, and is eight miles from Salem, to the west, near Muddy Creek, on a lot of thirty acres, belonging to it. The number of persons under the care of the brethren's church, were, at the end of 1807, 199, children included. The greatest part live on Muddy creek and its branches, and some on Yadkin river, into which Muddy creek empties it- self about eight miles below the meeting house. Near the latter is a merchant mill, on said creek, and a toll bridge over it, and five miles from this, a bridge over Yadkin river.
About eight miles above the Hope meeting house, and ten miles from Salem, on the west side of Muddy croek, a meeting house was built in 1782, by a Ger -.
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man Lutheran and Reformed congregration, wherein since the year 1797 divine service is held, by one of the ministers of the brethren's church, every fourth Sunday, in the German language.
The foregoing wus received from the late major R. Williams, of Raleigh, and is believed to have been written by bishop REICHEL.
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in
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The following piece, which appeared in the Virginia Gazette, of November 7, 1771, was written by Maurice Moore, then one of the associate justices of the superior court of North Carolina.
To his Excellency WILLIAM TRYON, Esquire.
I am too well acquainted with your character to suppose you can bear to be told of your faults with temper. Yon are too much of the soldier, and too little of the philosopher, for reprehension. With this opinion of your excellency, I have more reason to be- lieve, that this letter will be more serviceable to the province of New- York, than useful or entertaining to its governor. The beginning of your administration in this province was x s marked with oppression and dis- tress to its inhabitants. These, Sir, I do not place to your account; they are derived from higher author- ity than yours. You were, however, a dull, yet willing instrument, in the hands of the British Ministry, to promote the means of both. You called together some of the principal inhabitants of your neighborhood, and, in a strange inverted self-affecting speech, told them that you had left your ¡native country, friends and connections, and taken upon yourself the gov- ernment of North Carolina with no other view than to serve it. In the next breath, Sir, you ad- vised them to submit to the stamp act, and become glaves. How could you reconcile such baneful ad- vice with such friendly professions? But, Sir, self'
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