USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > Bethlehem > The Old Moravian Cemetery of Bethlehem, Pa., 1742-1897 > Part 1
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Efe Oto Moravian Cemetery of Bethlehem, (pa., 17 42-1897.
BY AUGUSTUS SCHULTZE, D.D.
PREFATORY NOTE.
0 F the interesting and attractive places in historic Bethlehem there is perhaps none which is more sought out by strangers and which we hold in greater veneration than the old Moravian Cemetery, "God's Acre," as our fathers called their burying ground.
Its central location, well kept walks, stately shade trees, rustic benches, and elevated position affording a fine view of the Lehigh Mountains, all combine to make it a pleasant resort for old and young: The solemn still- ness which pervades the place, in contrast with the noise and commotion of business and travel on the adjoining thoroughfares, invites the passer-by to peaceful rest. The uniform simplicity of more than 2600 graves arranged in parallel rows, with their plain tombstones and concise epitaphs marking the resting places of rich and poor, high and low alike, teaches an impres- sive lesson as to the common brotherhood of mortal man. Once a year, at the inspiring service held within its gates on Easter morning, towns-people and visitors gather in a vast concourse to give joyful expression to the faith in a blessed resurrection of all those who have died in the Lord. An additional interest attaching to this Cemetery lies in the remarkable ming- ling of races, the graves of men and women fron: different nationalities of Europe being interspersed with those of many Indians and Negroes who, through the labors of the Moravian Brethren, found salvation in Christ. The descendants of Bethlehem Moravian families, furthermore, can here trace their pedigree through a number of generations and find all the representative names of the past 155 years of the town's existence.
But the greatest attraction of this historic spot lies in the contemplation of the life records made by many of the men and women whose earthly remains have found a resting place here. Detailed biographies of all those prominent in the church and community, and a narration of the varied ex- periences through which they passed, as outlined in the official Record of Interments, would fill several interesting volumes. For our purpose it will be sufficient to give brief abstracts of these biographies.
The original plot of the Cemetery, as laid out in 1742 and 1746, com- prised the northwestern portion of the grounds only, the grave of Juliana Nitschmann, in the middle of the path, marking the center of the Cemetery ; the first grave is that of John Mueller who died on June 26, 1742, one day after the organization of the church at Bethlehem. We, therefore, begin at the north-west end, near Market Street, with Section A, Row I, and con- tinue taking the Rows and Sections in regular order from West to East, and from North to South.
The dates after the names indicate the year of birth and death. When the death of a child occurred in the year in which it was born, but one date is given.
MARKET STR
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VII
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IV
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THE OLD MORAVIAN CEMI OF BETHLEHEM, PA.
ET STREET.
B
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VI
VII
VIII IX
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RAVIAN CEMETERY 'HLEHEM, PA.
NEW STREET.
The Old Moravian Cemetery of Betblebem, Da.
SECTION A. (Beginning at the north-west gate.) ROW I .- MARRIED MEN.
1. Nathaniel Seidel, 1718-82, a Bishop of the Moravian Church, and for twenty years the President of the American Provincial Board. He was born at Lauban, Silesia, on October 2, 1718, the son of a Bohe- mian emigrant, and learned the trade of cloth-weaving. Having found Jesus as his Saviour he joined the Moravian Church at Herrn- hut in 1739, and came to Bethlehem in 1742 to engage in evangelistic work. He was appointed itinerant missionary among the Indians and white settlers, and to this end made many journeys, always on foot, laboring with great zeal and success. In 1748 he was ordained a Presbyter. Five years later he was sent on an official visitation to the Danish West Indies, the next year to North Carolina, (where he founded the church at Bethabara,) and the following year to the mission in Surinam, S. A. In 1758 he was consecrated a Bishop, and after Zinzendorf's death became President of the Provincial Board of Elders in place of Bishop Spangenberg, who returned to Germany. He was married to Anna Joanna Piesch, a niece of Anna Nitschmann. They left no children. He departed this life on May 17, 1782.
2. John Ettwein, 1721-1802. He was born at Freudenstadt, Würtemberg, on June 29, 1721, a descendant of protestant refugees from Savoy. Having joined the Moravian Church in 1739, he soon distinguished himself by his zeal and sound judgment, and was appointed to various offices in the churches of Germany and England. Coming to America in 1754, he here found a field of labor for which he was particularly qualified. For the next thirty years he served with un- wearied energy in various places and capacities, among whites and Indians, attending both to the temporal and spiritual interests of the Church. In 1766 he became the assistant of Bishop Nathaniel Seidel and from that time on, and especially during the stormy time of the Revolutionary War, he was the accredited representative of the Moravian Church before the Government. In 1784 he was con- secrated a Bishop and became the successor of Nath. Seidel as Presi- dent of the Governing Board of the Moravian Church in America. He lived to the age of 80 years. A street in Bethlehem is named after him. His wife, Joanna M. Kymbel, preceded him to the grave in 1789 (Section C, VI, 16); one married son died in 1798. One daughter married J. D. Kliest, a justice of the peace in Bethlehem.
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3. David Digeon, 1722-77, a shoemaker from French Switzerland. He came to Bethlehem in 1743 in the ship Little Strength, with 120 Mo- ravian Brethren and Sisters. His wife Mary, maiden name Bardsley. was from England. During the last twenty years of his life he was demented.
4. John Tobias Hirte, 1707-70. He was born at Eybau, Saxony. He was converted while serving in the Saxon army, and Moravian Brethren purchased his freedom. He proved an efficient workman in build- ing the first houses of the Church at Herrnhaag, and was master carpenter at the building of Nazareth Hall. His wife whose maiden name was Klose, died in 1767.
5. George Christ, 1701-69, born at Neuhofmansdorf, Moravia : was spiritu- ally awakened by the preaching of the carpenter and missionary Christian David. He married Anna Maria Schroller, and coming with her to Bethlehem in 1743, he found employment on the Church farm.
6. Martin Hirt, 1729-60, born at Leinbach, Alsace. He came to Pennsyl- vania as a child, with his parents, and joined the Church, but proved a backslider, and remained rough and worldly, until he lost his eye- sight and became a paralytic, when he repented of his ways. He was married to M. Beroth.
7. John Gottlob Klemm, 1690-1762, born near Dresden, Saxony. After attending the University of Leipzig for a short time, he became an organ-builder in Dresden and was married. Count Zinzendorf who had rented the lower story of his house, engaged him to repair the organ at Berthelsdorf, near Herrnhut, and he went there to live ; but in 1735 he emigrated with the "Schwenkfelders" to Pennsylvania. Here his wife died. He then returned to the Moravian Church, built an organ for the Nazareth Hall Chapel, and for a while taught also at the Hall.
8. Michael Schnall, 1715-63, a stocking-weaver from Speier, in the Palati- nate. He had been a sergeant in the French army and heard of Herrnhut from his fellow-soldiers. Was received into the Church at Heerendyk, Holland, and came to Bethlehem with three companions in September of 1741, when the first house only had been built. He married in 1747, and left three sons. One of them, John Schnall served as a missionary at Fairfield, Canada.
9. Samuel Johannes, 1730-63, of the Malay race, and the first Moravian convert from the Island of Ceylon, in the East Indies. Christian Dober, a surgeon on that Island, who himself was converted by the preaching of the Moravian missionaries, in 1742 brought him to Marienborn, Germany, where he was baptized. In 1754 he came to Bethlehem, and here married the widow Magdalene, m.n. Mingo, a colored woman.
10. Andrew Schout (Schaut), 1700-63, a seaman, born at Copenhagen, Denmark. Having risen to the rank of captain of a Dutch man-of-
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war, he in 1737 entered the service of the adventurer King Theodorus of Corsica (Baron Neuhof), who made him commander of a ten-gun- ship. Later he was first mate on a Russian admiral's ship. Meeting the Moravian Brethren at Reval, Russia, he became converted through their testimony, and was engaged as mate on their mission ship Irene, under Captain N. Garrison. In 1757 this ship was cap- tured by a French privateer, and Schaut spent nine months in a French prison. Finally coming to Bethlehem, he served as constable and visitors' guide. His wife, m.n. Jungblut, whom he married in 1744, lived but a few years.
II. John Henry Segner, 1714-63, born at Steinhude, in Schaumburg-Lippe, Germany. A tailor by trade, he became body servant of Count Christian Renatus Zinzendorf. Later he served in the mission house- hold on the Island of St. Thomas, W. I., and finally in the " clergy- house" at Nazareth and at Bethlehem. He was married to Chris- tina Frev.
12. George Partsch, 1719-65, born at Langendorf, Upper Silesia. In 1743 he married Susan L. Eller at Herrnhaag, twenty-four couples being joined in wedlock on the same day, all of whom came to Bethlehem in that year. In 1755 he and his wife were appointed to Gnaden- hütten on the Mahony, Pa., where six days after their arrival the missionaries were massacred by hostile Indians. Partsch crawled through a window, and his wife leaping down from the burning house escaped with him. Both afterwards served in the " Economy " or common household of the Bethlehem congregation, and of the mis- sion in St. Thomas.
13. William Angel, 1729-69, born at Hanixerton, Wiltshire, England. Came to America in 1754 and was sent to Bethabara, N. C. After the death of his first wife, m.n. Holder, he returned to Bethlehem and took charge of the Burnside farm near Bethlehem. He died of small-pox.
14. Richard Popplewell, 1718-71, born in Yorkshire, England; was brought here with three companions for the purpose of conducting a cloth- weaving and fulling establishment. In 1757 he married Elizabeth Cornwell. He died suddenly, from a stroke of apoplexy.
15. George Schneider, 1716-73, born at Zauchtenthal, Moravia. He came to Bethlehem in 1742, and four years later married Gertrude Peter. sen. For some years he farmed the church-land at Nazareth and the Nain tract near Bethlehem.
16. H. W. Gottlieb von Vippach, 1713-73, a German nobleman, born near Gnadenfrei, Silesia, and early in connection with the Church. After living in various Moravian settlements in Germany, he resolved in 1769 to emigrate to America. His wife had died at Herrnhut.
17. Ephraim Culver (Colver), 1717-75, born at Lebanon, Connecticut. Coming to Pennsylvania in 1753 he built him a grist-mill north of the Blue mountains. After the Indians had burned his house and mill,
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he moved to Nazareth and became landlord of "the Rose " Inn. Later he lived at Schoeneck. He was thrice married.
18. Robert Hussey, 1713-75, born at Wiltshire, England. In 1743 he ac- companied the itinerant missionary Leonard Schnell on a journey from Bethlehem to Georgia, on foot, proclaiming the Gospel in many places, where there had never been any preaching.before. After his return he was appointed teacher in the school at Oley, Pa. He mar- ried Martha Wilkes.
19. Christian Froehlich, 1715-76, born at Felsberg, Hesse Cassel, learned the trade of a baker and entered the service of Count Zinzendorf in that capacity. In 1740 he came to America, in company with Bishop. David Nitschmann and others, and in the Spring of 1741 helped in the founding of Bethlehem and the building of the first large house (Gemeinhaus). He also dug the first grave on this cemetery for John Mueller (A, VII, 22). After being married to M. E. Robins, he served the church for a while as a missionary in St. Thomas, and among the Indians at Pachgatgoch, Conn. In 1752 he entered the employ of a sugar refiner in New York, where his wife died. He returned to Bethlehem in March, 1776, and died a month later.
20. John Bechtel, 1690-1777, born at Weinheim in the Palatinate, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1726, settling at Germantown, where, though un- ordained and simply a pious mechanic, he officiated as the minister of the Reformed Church for 16 years. In 1742 he was ordained by Bishop Nitschmann, but four years later, being dismissed from the Reformed Church, he removed to Bethlehem, and served in the "Brethren's Economy" as turner. He was also President of the Bethlehem Board of Trustees, attaining an age of 87 years.
21. John Brandmueller, 1704-77, from Basle, Switzerland, a minister ; arrived here in 1743, and two years later was ordained a Deacon of the Church. Served at Swatara, Allemængel, Donegal and Friedensthal, until after the departure of his wite, when he retired to Bethlehem. His father had foretold him that he would meet his death by drowning, and after two narrow escapes during his life he was actually found dead in the mill-race, where he had gone to bathe his head, as was his custom.
22. Daniel Kunkler, Sr., 1719-77, a shoemaker, born at St. Gall, Switzerland. Was twice cited before the government in his home country, because he spoke against "the Decree of Reprobation" and proclaimed Christ as the " Saviour of all men." Here in America he found em- ployment at the Bethlehem ferry, at the Inn, and in the carpenter- shop of the congregation.
23. Joseph Moeller, 1713-78, born at Zittau, Saxony. He came here with the first "Sea Congregation," in 1742, and was employed at Naza- reth, Gnadenthal, and Bethlehem as gardener. He married Catharine Koch, and had two sons.
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24. John Chr. Richter, 1712-78, a cabinetmaker from Saxe-Altenburg. He was married to Charlotte Eisen, who died in 1764, after the birth of her fifth child. Richter was a sacristan for 28 years.
25. James Langley, 1708-78, an Englishman, a friend of the Church, but not a member. Being old and invalid he came to see his daughters in Bethlehem, who faithfully nursed him until his death.
26. Andrew, a negro, born in Ibo, West Africa, sold as a slave from place to place. In 1741 a New York Jew bought him and wanted to sell him to the island of Madeira. Andrew being very anxious to remain, was advised to pray to God for help. The next day the New York merchant, Thomas Noble, one of the first members of the Moravian Church in that city, bought him. He came to Bethlehem, where he was baptized in 1746, Mr. Noble having given him to Bishop Spang- enberg as a present. He married Magdalene, a native of Guinea, and had three children, + 1779.
27. John Matthew Graf, 1747-79, born at Lancaster, Pa., a hatter by trade. Was married to Margaret Moore. In 1776 he became lieutenant of a company of militia taking an active part in the Revolutionary War. He came here to be cured of a serious ailment.
28. Andrew Brocksch, 1703-79, born in Silesia. He was a widower since 1758, his wife Anna, m. n. Helwig, having departed in that year. For more than 16 years he served the town as a faithful night- watchman.
29. Valentine Haidt, 1700-80, from Danzig, Prussia. In 1724 he was married in London to Cath. Compigni, with whom in 1774 he cele- brated a joyful golden jubilee. He served the Church in various ca- pacities, but especially by executing many oil-paintings of our Saviour's birth, life, sufferings and death, for the use of the churches at Herrnhaag, Herrnhut, London, and at Bethlehem; many of the portraits preserved in the Archives are his handiwork.
30. Christian Eggert, 1714-80, born in the Uckermark, not far from Berlin. Having gone to Berbice in South America, in 1742, as superintendent of a plantation, he there met the missionary Theo. Schuman, was converted, and started for Bethlehem. Here he did faithful service for many years as a gardener. He was married to Apollonia Grosch, and left two sons and a daughter.
31. Frederick Boeckel, 1716-80, born in the Palatinate. He came with his wife to Pennsylvania in 1736, settling in Berks County, heard Count Zinzendorf preach, and was one of the founders of the church at Heidelberg. Later he was employed in the school at Germantown and on the farms at Christiansbrunn and Bethlehem, at which place after the common household ceased he took charge of the farm entirely. Of his first marriage there were one son and five daughters ; of his second marriage, one son.
32. John Jones, 1714-81, a blacksmith from Skippack, Pa .; moved into the neighborhood of Bethlehem in 1749, and bought a farm. He left five sons and fifteen grandchildren.
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33. Nicholas Garrison, 1701-81, born on Staten Island, N. Y., went to sea in his 13th year, and did not return home for eight years. during which time he was three times made a prisoner of war. Having married after his father's death, he again followed seafaring. In 1736 he met Bishop Spangenberg in the West Indies, who came in Garrison's ship to New York. The next year Garrison taking sick on the Island of St. Thomas was tenderly nursed by the missionary Frederick Martin. In 1740 he was captured by a Spanish man-of- war and held as prisoner on the island of Cuba for six months. In 1743 he went with Count Zinzendorf to Europe and joined the Church at Marienborn.' The same year he brought 132 Moravians to America in The Little Strength, and soon after was twice captured by the Spanish and the French. Taking command of the missionary vessel of the Brethren, Irene, he continued to serve them as captain until 1756, going as far as Greenland and Surinam. Retiring from the sea he lived for some time at Niesky, Germany, but returned to America in 1763, and served the town of Bethlehem as cicerone or visitors' guide. He departed in the 81st year of his life. Garrison street is named after him. He was twice married, and had twelve children.
34. John Henry Miller, 1702-82, from Waldeck, Germany, a printer by trade. Came to America in 1741, with Zinzendorf, and set type for Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. The next year he accompanied Zinzendorf on his first journey to the Delaware Indians. Returning to Europe he .founded the first Moravian printing office at Marien- born, and coming again to Philadelphia in 1751 he established his own printing office. He continued serving the public and the Church until 1780, but suffered many losses during the Revolutionary War. The last two years of his life he spent at Bethlehem, where his wife had departed in 1779.
35. Michael Haberland, 1698-1782, born at Schoenau. Moravia; emigrated with 21 other persons to Herrnhut, and from there in 1734 proceeded to Georgia, as one of the nine Brethren who took up their abode near the Savannah river, as colonists and missionaries. Returning to Germany in 1740, he married A. H. Jahne, and found employment as a carpenter. Since 1749 he lived at Bethlehem and Nazareth, working faithfully at his trade as a mechanic.
36. Daniel Kunkler, 1753-92, son of Daniel Kunkler, (A.I, 22), born at Naza- reth ; was engaged in the tobacco business, and after his father's death took charge of his store. He married Mary Colver.
37. Ludwig Stotz, 1710-82, from Lauffen, Würtemberg, a weaver and farmer, who came here in 1750. He was married to Cath. Wolfer and had four children.
38. Henry Ferdinand Beck, 1710-83, born at Pfuellingen, Würtemberg ; learned the baker's trade, and after the death of his parents emi-
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grated to Georgia. There he married S. Barbara Knauer, with whom he had nine children, of whom five survived him. One son, David, died as a missionary in St. Thomas. Having become acquainted with the Moravian Brethren in Georgia, he followed them to Bethle- hem, and served as a minister in various congregations. He was or- dained a Deacon of the church in 1754. Epileptic troubles com- pelled him to retire from active life tn 1767.
39. James Hall, 1724-83, born at Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng., was converted under the preaching of the Brethren Cennick and Ingham, and came to Pennsylvania in 1756. Being a cloth-weaver and fuller by trade, he found employment at the fulling-mill in this town. He was twice married.
40. John George Klein, 1705-83, from Kirchardt in the Palatinate, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1727, married Anna Bender, and settled on the spot where afterwards Lititz was built. Being spiritually awakened he helped to erect a chapel by the side of his farm, and in 1755 ceded his farm for the laying out of the town, and moved to Bethlehem.
41. Anton Schmidt, 1725-93, a tinsmith, born near Presburg, Hungary. His parents emigrated with him for conscience sake to America. He came to Bethlehem in 1746; was married first to A. C. Riedt, who bore him three sons, and then to Beata Ysselsteyn, with whom he had six children.
ROW II .- MOSTLY UNMARRIED MEN.
I. George Henry Loskiel, 1740-1814, Episcopus Fratrum, born at Anger- münde in Courland, Russia, the son of a Lutheran divine. He studied theology, and joining the Moravian Church filled various im- portant offices in the ministry of the Church in Germany and Russia. He also wrote a history of the Indian Mission and "Etwas für's Herz." In 1771 he married Magdalene Barlach of Wolmar, Livonia. They had no children. In 1802 he was consecrated a Bishop, and came to America, having been appointed president of the " Provincial Helpers Conference." In 1812 he was elected a member of the "Unity's Elders Conference" in Europe, but was unable to leave America on account of the war and failing health.
2. Henry William Schemes, 1726-77, born at Urholdsen, Germany, the son of an officer of the army. He went to St. Croix, West Indies, in order to escape military service in Denmark, and became overseer on a plantation. There he met the missionary Frederick Martin and became a converted man. In 1752 he removed to Bethlehem. After some years he was sent out to the mission in Jamaica and later to the mission in Surinam, in both of which he assisted in the work, mainly in temporal affairs. In 1775 he retired to Bethlehem.
3. Christian Christensen, 1718-77, a shoemaker, born at Christiania, Nor- way. He spent some years at Herrnhaag and in Holland, and came to Bethlehem in 1762. He was unmarried.
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4. Christopher Henry Baermeyer, 1722-74, son of the burgess and town- captain of Feuchtwangen, Franconia, Germany. He taught for a time at Nazareth Hall.
5. John Godfrey Engel, 1755-74, a Bethlehem youth, and a shoemaker by trade. He died of consumption.
6. Stephen Volz, 1747-74, an Alsatian ; come to America as a child with his parents. He was an invalid.
7. Balthasar Koehler, 1740-58, a pious youth, born in Skippack Township. He moved to Bethlehem one year before his death.
8. Casper Boeckel, 1742-58, born at Heidelberg, Pa. He attended the Moravian schools at Germantown and Macungy, before coming to. Bethlehem.
9. Paul Jens Scherbeck, 1726-58, from Holstein, Germany. Came to Bethlehem in 1750, with 80 other "Single Brethren" from Herrnhaag. 10. Joachim Busse, 1736-58, born at Reval, Livonia ; attended the Mora- vian school at Lindheim and learned the tinker trade ; quiet and of retiring disposition.
II. John Rodgers, 1704-58, born at Portsmouth, England. In his 12th year he came to New York and spent eight years with a farmer, but found this manner of life too dull, and became a sailor, and later a Spanish soldier. Being stationed at Oran, in Africa, he was taken prisoner and sold to the Dey of Algiers as a Christian slave. Here, in 1746, Chas. Nottbeck, a Moravian missionary, brought him the message of spiritual redempton in Christ. When three years later he was ransomed, he joined the Brethren as soon as he could find them, and eventually came to Bethlehem. He spoke six lan- guages, and translated several Moravian hymns into the Spanish tongue.
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