USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > Bethlehem > Bethlehem and Bethlehem school (history of Moravian Seminary and College for Women (Bethlehem, Pa.)) > Part 1
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c 74.802 46mo 667598
M. C.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02230 2167
BETHLEHEM
AND
BETHLEHEM SCHOOL.
PENNSYLVANIA
BY C. B. MORTIMER, AUTHOR OF "MORTON MONTAGCE."
NEW YORK: STANFORD & DELISSER, 508 BROADWAY. 1858.
*
1
1667598
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by STANFORD & DELISSER, Ja the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.
Joux F. Tsow, frunwer, Stereotyper, and Electrotyper, 377 & 379 Broadway, Cor. White Street, New York.
PREFACE.
THE Author of the following sketches of "Beth- lehem and Bethlehem School," in presenting the First Scries to the public, deems it proper to state that it is no work of fiction, written to amuse and while away a passing hour, but altogether what it professes to be-simple narrations of facts of the different individual characters mentioned, leaflets of memory from the pages of childhood. Most of them, it will be perceived, are of Teachers and Scholars, contemporaries of mine at the School, to one and all of whom I dedicate this volume, with the hope thereby of not only thus recalling myself to their remembrance, but that the perusal of these bygones of ours may be as productive of pleasure to these former school associates of mine at Beth- lehem, as this simple record of " Auld Lang Syne" reminiscences has afforded me in penning them.
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CONTENTS.
PAGE 84
KATIE SULLIVAN AND SISTER MOCK,
The Farmer and his Wife .- The Brother and Sister .- Prejudices .- The Stepmother .~ Katie .-- Sister Mock .- A Character .~ Disposition .- In- sult .- Threatened Revenge .-- Sister H -.- Expostulation .- The Se- cret Resolve .- The Sisters' Festival .- The Proposition .- The Robbery. -- The Discovery .- Passion .- Opprobrious Epithets .- Visitors .- Mag- gie Slocum .- Invitation to Tea .-- The Secret Meeting .- Katie's Oath .- Preparation .- The Disguise .- The Trick .-- Katie's nice Tea .- The Surprise .- The Suspected .- Influence of a Character .- Appreciation. -Improvement .- Effect of Kindness,-Proposed Amusement .- Exhi- bition .- Katie's Performance .- Another Insult .- Consequence .- The Revenge .- Remorse. - Penitence .- Confession .--- Forgiveness, -- Good Qualities .- The Runaways .- Katie's Godmother .- The Legacy .- Ret- ribution .- Reunion.
135
SISTER MARIA, . The Black and White Sisters .-- The Difference .- The Separation .- A pain- ful Rumor .- Sad Facts .- The Slavemother's Death .- Maria's Agony .- Ravings-Sympathy .- The Promise .- Sensitiveness .- Talent Deval- oped .- Music and Singing .- Painful Recognition .- Agitation .-- The Father's Brother .- The Uncle's Ward .- Poor Betsey .- A proposed Gift .- One Hundred Dollars .- The Piano .- A new Situation .- The little West Indian .- Mary Young .- The Musical Soiree .- The Prima Donna .- The Demon .- The Performance .- The foul Fiend working. -The unsuspecting Teacher .- Poor Sister Maria .- The Envenomed Dart .- Death-blow .- The Victim .- That dark stain .- The wailing of a breaking heart .- Anticipations of Heaven .- Remorse of Mary Young. -Repentance .- The Stinger and the Stung .- Fancies of the Dying .- The Conflict and the Result .- Prayer and Pardon .- Sister Maria's last Lay .- The bruised Spirit at rest .- The Human Scourge.
LIZZIE GOULD,
A restless and unquiet Nature .- Carrying on .- Eccentricities .- Bygone Years .- Fun and Frolic .- Mischief .- The Bull .- A way to get Apples. -A Sam Patch Leap .- The Pumping Frolic. -- Sport and Enjoyment, - The Alarm .- The Luckless Offender .- Somnambulism .- The Acci- dent .- Removal from School.
DADDY THOMAS, 199
The Daddy of Daddies .- Delineation of Character .- The Daddy and the little Girls .-- Forbidden Fruit .- The Stolen Kiss .- The Arrival .- The Lady .- Little Lina-The print of the dear Old Hand.
-
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
WHO has not heard of Bethlehem ?- its School, or its various Institutions ?- or rather, where is there a district of inhabited country of any extent, in any of the old States especially, which does not contain at least an individual possessed of some knowledge of the place or people-or had some connection or acquaintance to sojourn there, either as visitor or pupil, in this cradle of the Moravian Society in the New World-this nursery of their missionary effort in America, and this principal and favorite gather- ing resort of their people from Europe.
This settlement of the Moravians was commenced in 1741,-hence it is now nearly one hundred and twenty years old. It was settled in the same way as most of the settlements of the Society originally were-namely, by a colony of their own people, and with the understanding that it was to be in every sense of the word a Moravian settlement ; to secure which object they made a purchase of suf- ficient land, for the purpose of enabling them to
8
MORAVIANS SETTLE IN GEORGIA.
conduct all the various business of life, including farming, among themselves, upon their own united property, and, of course, under their especial eccle- siastical jurisdiction and influence.
This party of Moravians, however, did not di- rectly go to this place from their native land, it be- ing their intention when they left Europe to locate themselves elsewhere. In truth these persons were the first of their Society who emigrated to this country-and they came all together for missionary purposes-to carry the gospel to the Indians and Negroes of Georgia and South Carolina, as an in ducement to which enterprise a tract of land in the latter State had been offered them by the Trustees of the Georgia Company through General Ogle- thorpe, the then Governor of that colony, which offer was immediately accepted.
Here they remained several years, their history tells us, with encouraging prospects of usefulness ; but presently their efforts were interrupted by some Spaniards who lived in their neighborhood. These people, who occupied this region of country previous to the English, became jealous of them ; and the two nations being then at war with each other, they made use of the opportunity it afforded of showing an unfriendly disposition to the repre- sentatives of that country resident among them, which resulted in the Spaniards determining to expel all the English by force of arms from Georgia. Hostilities hereupon took place between the con-
9
THE UNDERTAKING ABANDONED.
tending parties, when the Moravians were called upon to take a part, which they promptly refused to do, being, like the " Friends," opposed to fight- ing. For this reason, ere they entered upon this mission they had obtained, from the proper au- thorities of England, a legal exemption from the performance of any personal military service what- ever. Hereupon their situation, it is said, became really so unpleasant as to render it advisable for them altogether to withdraw from this field of labor for another, where they would not be subjected to the like annoyances.
Thus this first settlement of the Moravians in America was entirely abandoned after the period of five years. Yet they did not all leave until they determined where to go; and as some of their number had wended their way two years before to Pennsylvania, and were continuing there without any such molestation, the remainder resolved at once to join them. This occurred in 1740. But they were not permanently located there, nor had the Society as yet any organized settlement in Penn- sylvania,-neither had they established themselves anywhere in this country -- the only representatives of their people being the small band of unsettled missionaries of whom I am now speaking. How- ever, it was the intention of the Society to plant themselves in this country, as soon as Providence should direct them where to do so ; and it so hap- pened that almost directly afterwards this took place. 1*
10 MR. WHITEFIELD INVITES THEM TO NAZARETH.
It seems that among these Moravians were some who were acquainted with the celebrated Mr. Whitefield. This reverend gentleman had pur- chased the land on which Nazareth is situated, for philanthropic purposes, where he purposed to build a schoolhouse for the instruction of the negroes. For some unexplained reason he now wished some one else to undertake the business, which caused him to invite the Moravians there, when he offered the project to them, which they gladly accepted, as it promised them the means of support as well as a prospect of forming a community of their own; and presently afterwards, Mr. Whitefield being ne- cessitated to dispose of this property, they purchased it, and thus it came entirely under their control.
Yet Nazareth was not the first settlement of the Society in Pennsylvania, for previons to this cir- cumstance occurring, a gentleman offered to sell them some land at a very reasonable rate upon the forks of the Delaware, on a branch or tributary stream now called the Lehigh river. This offer, like the other, was readily accepted, and here all the colonists who went first to Georgia and South Carolina found a home ; and these were the original settlers of Bethlehem.
The colonists immediately began to build a regu- lar Moravian settlement, after the pattern of those already established in Germany. They commenced it in the winter of 1741; and such was the severity of the weather at that time, at this season of the
5
FOUNDING OF THE SETTLEMENT OF BETHLEHEM. 11
year, that in felling the trees in the forest the work- men stood above their knees in the snow. And we are told that among those who toiled the hardest g tho and most faithfully in this enterprise, so hazardous to health and life, was a venerable Moravian emi- grant of the name of David Nitschman, who had nearly reached the allotted period of man upon earth, being nearly seventy years of age. And it is further stated, that this zealous man of God yielded to none of his brethren in cheerful and per- severing industry, resolutely determining to endure every hardship, and spend his remaining strength in laying the foundation of a settlement, which he trusted in God would prove in America, what Herrnhut, their mother church, had already become in Europe-the nursery of many faithful laborers in the vineyard of the Lord.
And he with his company toiled so industriously and perseveringly, that when Count Zinzendorf* arrived at the place, which was towards the close of the same year, a small farmhouse and stable were entirely completed, while a larger building called the congregation house was being erected. The stable was immediately converted into a sanc- tuary ; and here the colonists celebrated the next Christmas festival. On account of this circum- stance, they resolved to call the new settlement by the name of Bethlehem.
* The great patron of the Moravians in Germany.
12
ARRIVAL OF SETTLERS.
It consisted then, I believe, of about twenty persons ; but early in the succeeding summer, quite an accession was made to their number by the ar- rival of nearly one hundred of their people from Europe, which increased the congregation to one hundred and twenty persons.
As space cannot be afforded here, and besides. I intend in another volume to give a more particu- lar narration of the formation of this settlement- also to describe some of the very peculiar arrange- ments made at that time in relation to the domestic management and government of this little Moravian community by Count Zinzendorf, Bishop Spangen- berg, and others; also to inform my readers of some of the means adopted to provide for the maintenance of all this needy and destitute popu- lation ; to tell what regulations were established to furnish each with constant employment, food and raiment, together with the contrivances made use of to raise sufficient funds to defray all the ne- cessary expenses of the undertaking, as well as to successfully carry out the original design of this settlement, of making it the great starting-point for the missionary enterprise of the Society on the western continent :- all this, as I purpose to speak of fully elsewhere, it is unnecessary for me to say more of them at the present than this brief notice.
The general history of Bethlehem, too, contains some interesting facts, which I would gladly detail to my readers, but am compelled to omit them for
13
REVOLUTIONARY WAR TRIALS.
want of room,-besides, as the object of this vol- une is to speak almost altogether of individual characters, I have put a restriction upon my pen in reference to this subject, and can therefore only find place for a few items.
To begin with the Revolutionary War .- It com- menced between thirty and forty years after this settlement was formed, during which interval it had considerably increased and greatly prospered. But it suffered much during our national struggle for independence ; for being in the route of the army, and a convenient locality for the purpose, the Americans established a military hospital in the place ; and it became the depot of all the military stores and baggage belonging to the American army, while the greater portion of the town was converted into barracks for the soldiery.
And at the very beginning of hostilities the set- tlement was visited by a considerable number of strangers, among whom were several members of ' Congress, with other persons of distinction, the most distinguished of whom was the venerated and illustrious chief, the commander of the Colonial forces and father of this glorious Republic-Gen- eral Washington. He was presently followed by his faithful ally and friend, General Lafayette. He came not however attended with all the parapher- nalia and state befitting his exalted rank, but borne upon a rude litter and wounded. And at Beth- lehem he was nursed and cured ; and it was from
14
COUNT PULASKI.
thence fully recovered he went forth to fight again the battles of our country.
And here too came Count Pulaski, an honored guest ; the noble Pole, who perished in this terrible conflict for our freedom. And he carried with him to battle a flag embroidered by some of the sister- hood of Bethlehem ; which circumstance has since been perpetuated in verse by the American poet. Longfellow, and as it is very beautiful, I here tran- scribe it.
Yet ere I do so, I would correct an error which the poet has made in supposing that the Moravian sisterhood were an order of nuns; and that in the religious observances of these houses, the Society assimilate to the Romanists, which is altogether a mistake ; neither was any incense offered in their church services, save that alone which arose from their pious hearts in its exercises of prayer and praise ; nor did those who ministered in holy things among them, their clergy, ever wear a cowl-unless the little black velvet German cap, which used to be so quaintly perched just upon the top of their heads, and a common appendage to their dress, can be denominated by this appellation.
15
HYMN OF THE MORAVIAN NUNS.
Somn of the Morabian Huns at the Consecration of qJulashi's Banner.
[The standard of Count Pulaski, the noble Pole, who fell in the attack upon Savannah during the American Revolution, was of crimson silk, embroidered by the Moravian Nuns of Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania.]
" When the dying flame of day, Through the chancel shot its ray, Far the glimmering tapers shed Faint light on the cowled head. And the censer burning swung, Where before the altar hung The proud banner, that with prayer Had been consecrated there. And the Nuns' sweet hymn was heard the while Sung low in the dim mysterious aisle.
"'Take thy banner! may it wave Proudly o'er the good and brave When the battle's distant wail Breaks the sabbath of our vale, When the clarion's music thrills To the hearts of these lone hills, When the spear in conflict shakes, And the strong lance shivering breaks.
"""Take thy banner! and beneath The war cloud's encircling wreath, Guard it-till our homes are free, Guard it-God will prosper thee ! In the dark and trying hour, In the breaking forth of power, In the rush of steeds and men, . His right hand will shield thee then.
16
CONTINUATION OF THE WAR.
"'Take thy banner ! but when night Closes round the ghastly fight, If the vanquished warrior bow --. Spare him !- by our boly vow, By our prayers and many tears, By the mercy that endears, Spare him -- be our love hath shared, Spare him -- as thou would'st be spared.
"'Take thy banner ! and if e'er Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier, And the muffled drum should beat To the tread of mournful feet, Then this crimson flag shall be, Martial cloak and shroud for thee.'
And the warrior took that banner prond, And it was his martial cloak and shroud."
Bethlehem continued to be more or less occu- pied by the American army for at least eighteen months of the war; which circumstance was at- tended with a great deal of inconvenience and trouble to the settlement, independent of the ex- pense it occasioned,-a part of which, as it will be detailed in another volume, is omitted here. Suffice it therefore at the present to say, that all the natural evil results of its appropriation by Gov- ernment were experienced, but rendered the more trying and difficult, because of the peculiar char- acter of the people belonging to the place. For the presence of so many strangers, of such va- rious classes and dispositions, among a people so thoroughly abstracted from the world as they were,
17
BISHOP ETTWEIN AND THE PRESIDENT.
and whose principles and characters were diamet- rically opposed to theirs, were all calculated, it was supposed, to produce an injurious effect upon this simple-minded and primitive Moravian community.
As it was, they were a source of considerable annoyance to the inhabitants ; and the tumult and consequent confusion they occasioned were so great, that when the President with some members of Congress passed through the settlement on their flight from Philadelphia, they gave orders for the immediate removal of the prisoners, and furnished the Society with a letter of protection, which se- cured the lives and property of the inhabitants.
It was at this period, I believe, that the desire was expressed, and an application made, to turn the Sisters' House of Bethlehem into the Congres- 'sional Hall of the nation, which excited the right- eous indignation of the good Bishop resident there.
" And where would you have us put our sisters ?" inquired Bishop Ettwein.
" Why the best way to dispose of them," replied ยท the President, "would be to marry all the young ones off, and make hospital nurses of the rest."
"Neither one or the other shall be done with my consent," answered the Bishop, quite excited, "and I beg you not to say any thing more about it ;" and so the subject was dropped.
The war had scarcely closed, ere an important change was made at Bethlehem, which has resulted in much benefit to the Society : this was the estab-
18
ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS.
lishment of a Boarding-School for Young Ladies. It is true, that Institutions of learning for either sex, previously existed in this, as well as in the other important settlements of the Moravians; in- deed were almost coeval with the existence of the place ; but with this difference, that until then at Bethlehem its pupils had been confined exclusively to the children belonging to their own denomi- nation, were comparatively few in number, and restricted in their studies. But at this period, in consequence of repeated and numerous applica- tions out of the pale of the Society for the like priv- ilege, arrangements were made to receive such schol- ars, and to furnish the requisite instruction for a good, plain, substantial education. This occurred about seventy years ago, when a building was sc- lected for the purpose.
It was commenced in one of the oldest build- ings in the place,-in a house which had I believe always previously been used as a school for the daughters of the resident population, besides those of their ministers, and missionaries; and here it continued to flourish with various success for thirty years, when it was removed to the present estab- lishment, also one of the ancient buildings of the settlement, being the Single Brethren's House of that community, and occupied by them for the space of nearly seventy years. They now vacated the premises. Immediately afterwards it was al- tered and arranged for its present purpose, which
COMMENCEMENT OF BETHLEHEM BOARDING.SCHOOL. 19
completed, the school was transferred there ; now more than forty years ago.
Apart from the local interest attached to this edifice by the Moravian people themselves, from having been one of the peculiar Institutions of the Society, is another which concerns more partic- ularly the American public generally, for during the Revolutionary War it was twice converted into a hospital for the Continental army, where it con- tained at one time seven hundred invalid soldiers, upwards of three hundred of whom it is said died within a few months, and were buried in the vicin- ity.
There were few if any Boarding-Schools for Young Ladies in this country at that date : this cir- cumstance, together with the character of the So- ciety, and the favorable impression it produced upon the public mind, caused Bethlehem School to be directly patronized, and it soon became a cele- brated Institution .. And many of the first families in the United States, together with some from the West Indies, sent their daughters thither, for the purpose of obtaining at least a part of their educa- tion.
It was here I took my place as a little girl, and continued at school for a space of rather more than six years; and it is of the circumstances and events I then learnt both by observation and hearsay of the acquaintances I then formed, besides, from sub- sequent inquiries and facts gathered, that the con-
20
RETROSPECTION.
tents of this volume are formed. And now, in re- viewing this portion of my life, let my readers travel retrogradingly with me through the vista of by-gone years, to one delightful afternoon in May, near the close of which I entered Bethlehem, for the purpose of becoming one of the pupils of its school. And while I write, how distinctly I re- member many of the circumstances attending this momentous affair, in which I was so deeply inter- ested.
I recollect the parting scene with all my family was at home; for my mother being an invalid, and my father so much and so thoroughly engaged in the duties of his vocation, including which was the reviving a congregation he had found in a lan- guishing condition, that he gladly embraced the opportunity of sending me thither, with some friends who were going on to attend the examination, and had kindly offered to take charge of me.
It is a great event in the history of any little girl, to be sent away from home to boarding-school : but when situated as I had always previously been, it was really a very trying circumstance. In truth, it was my first separation, even for a single day, from my parents ; nor had I ever before been absent from their watchful eye, gentle tender care. or affectionate, parental guardianship. I was al- ways with them, and besides had no intimate companionship but with the members of our own immediate family ; and in that loved and domestic
21
LEAVING HOME.
circle, were clustered all the affections and kindly sympathies, which cast such a charm about home to a young and sensitive nature. And now, I was parting from these endeared scenes of my childhood, my parents, little sister and brother, old nurse At- kins, the presiding genius of our nursery, who had always been so indulgent and kind to all her charge. I was leaving these blessings, to be launched anew into life ; to take my place, and play my part in a little world of which I was really ignorant, though I had heard much concerning it.
For as from my infancy it was a settled under- standing that I should spend some years at least at Bethlehem School, my parents had made it their duty to prepare me for it. . For this reason, I was purposely told a great deal in relation to the place and the people, in order to make me interested in them, and both my father and mother had spoken so judiciously to me upon the subject, and were so composed and cheerful all the while, that I became perfectly reconciled to the idea of going there. Their representations of Bethlehem were so beauti- ful, as to impress my young mind with the fancy, that it was the most delightful spot in the world to live in-in short, I believed that there I should en- joy almost heavenly felicity. Hence no marvel if my future existence there seemed pictured on my mind's eye, as bright and joyous as in my own loved home. My parents however had no idea of giving me erroneous impressions ; but I was naturally
22
ENTERING BETHLEHEM SCHOOL.
of a strong, hopeful, imaginative disposition-always inclined to have pleasant anticipations, and believ- cd that life there would be even as I desired.
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