USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > Bethlehem > A history of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1741-1892, with some account of its founders and their early activity in America > Part 23
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1745-1748.
sand-stone, in the bluff across the river, were secured, to be squared for lintels over the main door-ways, front and rear. They were placed in position, June 24, ornamented with inscriptions which be- trayed the influence of Cammerhoff. That on the north side read: Vater, Mutter, Lieber Mann-Habt Ehr vom Jüngling's Plan. The stone on the south side contained the words, Gloria Pleura,8 and had a sun- dial in the center, while above this was a star, and beneath it the figures 1748.
The framework of the roof having been raised on August I, a love- feast was held the next day on the floor of the house, to which "all who could come, both old and young, were invited, for all had helped in some way." A harvest festival was combined with it, the people being ranged in semi-circular rows, with the little children in the center. On November 14, the building was so nearly com- pleted that it could be occupied. That day, after partaking of the Communion in their former house, the single men marched in procession with music, to the new building and took formal pos- session of it. The next day they transferred the furniture and, November 16, the edifice was regularly dedicated with impressive ceremonies. That night seventy-two young men, after the con- clusion of these services with an evening hymn in the large dormitory, lay down to rest the first time in those commodious quarters. The previous day the single women and girls-twenty- one of the former and twenty-nine of the latter-who had come down in a body on the 13th, from Nazareth, where they had been domiciled since June 1, 1745, took possession of the former house of the single men, and on that day, November 15, 1748, it became the Sisters' House ?.
8 These enigmatical phrases have been quoted incorrectly, and without elucidation, by several writers describing this building. The first is simply an ascription of praise to the Holy Trinity, in the thought and language of the Herrnhaag extravagance, which has been explained. It means the Father, the Holy Spirit, "the Comforter" as a mother, and the Son, the "supreme man." Jüngling's Plan-young men's plan-meant the organized body of young men, with their whole system and round of activity. The word Plan, as used in German, was a favorite term of Zinzendorf, and was variously applied to a scheme, system, sphere or field of labor, or even an organization. The other inscription, Gloria Pleura, a phrase much in vogue at that period, was in adoration of the vicarious sufferings of Christ, as most specifically contemplated in His pierced side, when they reveled, with exaggerated imagery, in the thought more soberly expressed in the lines : "Rock of ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee, Let the water and the blood, From Thy riven side which flowed," etc.
9 One book on the history of Bethlehem, much read and quoted, contains the absurd state- ment that half of the new house was intended for the young women.
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At this time, the number of single men at Bethlehem had already increased by fifteen. On June 25, the Rev. Bernhard Adam Grube, who subsequently filled a conspicuous place among the missionaries to the Indians, in connection with the founding of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina and in the ministry of the Church generally; an alumnus of the University of Jena and a man of eminent gifts, arrived at Bethlehem with fourteen other young men10. They had landed at New York, with five others brought from Europe by Captain Garrison to make up part of the crew of the new church-ship, then being fitted out at New York for her first voyage.
The building of this vessel deserves more than a brief notice, because her fourteen voyages, from 1748 to 1757, have such an important relation to people and things at Bethlehem. In 1744, not long after the loss of the Little Strength, it was decided to have such a ship built and put in command of Captain Garrison, to transport colonists to Pennsylvania. The contract was given to a ship-builder of Staten Island, John Van Deventer, whose yard was near the present Port Richmond and whose family name is kept in remem- brance in Van Deventer's Point. It was evidently commenced early in 1745, for on February 7, Captain Garrison reported "good progress."
On account of changeable instructions from Zinzendorf and delay in the receipt of money from abroad, the work proceeded very slowly during the next two years. In January, 1747, it was decided to procure the rigging, cables and anchors from England, on account of the high price of such materials in New York. It was the intention to have the figure of a lamb beak the prow, but in the following April it is recorded that the carver "could not make a lamb in shape to suit the purpose," and thereupon it was decided to have a lion as figure-head. Thomas Noble, of New York, who had acted as financial agent of the enterprise, had died in 1746, and Timothy
10 The others who arrived at Bethlehem with Grube were :
John George Bitterlich, Andrew Broksch,
John George Geitner, Joseph Hobsch, Gottfried Hoffmann, Matthew Kunz, Paul Paulsen,
Christian Pfeiffer,
Gottfried Roemelt,
Jeremiah Schaaf,
Christian Schmidt,
Paul Schneider,
John Seiffert, Samuel Wuetke.
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1745-1748.
Horsfield, of Long Island-later of Bethlehem-now had charge. Beyond caulking the vessel, no progress was made during the sum- mer of 1747, but early in 1748, the work was gone at vigorously, with a view to getting her ready for service as soon as possible. On April 25, it was reported at Bethlehem she would be ready for launching in May, and that the ship-builder had kindly consented to have the customary riotous demonstrations of sailors, ship-carpenters and others, dispensed with at the launch. This took place on May 29, when the vessel was "christened" the Irene. She was towed to the "old slip" on the East River front and docked there, May 31, to be finished, rigged and gotten ready for the first voyage, under Captain Garrison's personal supervision. The total cost was about £1800. The vessel was launched free of debt, through the help of a gift by Bishop Spangenberg, of the larger part of a legacy of £1082 which he had received from the estate of Thomas Noble. The Irene was of the class called a snow; was larger than the Catherine or the Little Strength and was very solidly built. Her keel was 85 feet and her depth of hold 9 feet 9 inches. Spangenberg reported at Beth- lehem that a person could walk upright between her decks and that she was "as strong as a tower." She was registered at New York in July, in the name of Henry Antes, as a naturalized free- holder of Pennsylvania ; he having executed a declaration of trust to the Brethren. Her registry describes her as "plantation-built," i. e., at a colonial ship-yard, and "of eighty tons burthen, mounted with two guns and navigated by nine men." Captain Garrison advertised her, in the last week of June, to sail, August I, "for Amsterdam direct," and took on a general cargo. She was detained, however, until the end of August. She was gotten out of the dock on August 31, but on account of adverse wind, the next three days were con- sumed in the passage down the bay. On September 4, Bishop Cammerhoff and Westmann of Bethlehem, with some friends from New York, joined with the Captain and crew in a parting lovefeast on board, after which they left her and she put out to sea on her maiden voyage. There were twenty-nine persons on board. Nicholas Garrison, master; Christian Jacobsen and John Christian Ehrhardt, mates; Andrew Schoute, Jarvis Roebuck, William Okely, Gottlieb Robbins, Martin Christiansen, William Edmonds, Thomas Kemper, Jean and Jacobus Van der Bilt, sons of Jacobus Van der Bilt of Staten Island-the first a sailor and the second cabin boy-consti- tuting the crew. With them sailed also Vitus Handrup and wife who
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had come over with Cammerhoff, but now returned dissatisfied to Europe. The rest were passengers whose names do not appear. They reached the Texel, November I. Then Captain Garrison began to make preparations for the return voyage, on which he was to bring over a larger colony than any that had yet come to Pennsyl- vania.
In addition to these more important operations, a variety of minor improvements, new equipments, and extensions of room and facilities for growing local needs are mentioned in the records of those years. Some of these may be noted. Early in 1747, an evidence of concern for the purity of Bethlehem's highly-prized water supply, which was the first chief attraction of the spot in 1740, appears. It was thought desirable by the village board to better guard the spring, and, in March, Matthew Weiss, by their order, enclosed it with a fence to keep away domestic animals and barn-yard fowls; and he and Joseph Powell were appointed to clean it "in the light of the moon;" this having been declared the best time by men who possessed "Penn- sylvania knowledge," like William Frey, a neighbor of Antes in Frederick Township, who had followed the example of the latter in temporarily placing his farm at the disposal of the Brethren to help support their important school there opened, and who was at this time living at Bethlehem-a valuable man in the work of developing the extensive agricultural industry. In May of that year, a large addition to the grain-storing quarters was built, and in June a new foot-bridge took the place of the primitive one constructed across the Monocacy near the spring, in 1741. The history of "freshets" at Bethlehem also began in 1747. On February 28, the ferry was torn from its moorings by the raging waters, because Bishop Spangen- berg's suggestion to fasten it more securely was not heeded by the men in charge; and it was carried down to the Delaware, where their friend, David Martin of Delaware ferry fame, recovered and purchased it. It was replaced by a new one at Bethlehem on June 8, a few days after Mr. Martin opened negotiations with the Beth- lehem boat-builders to construct a new flat for him. At the close of the year 1747, when the howling winds of winter were making the numerous large wood fires seem dangerous, sundry new regulations and precautions were adopted in this matter, and certain men were selected and instructed as a kind of "bucket brigade" to be ready at a moment's notice, according to a system of turns arranged, to come to the rescue, if, perchance, something else than the logs on
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1745-1748.
the hearth should begin to burn. This is the earliest trace of steps towards a fire department. Orchards and gardens received diligent attention at this period, and, in planting fruit trees, ornamentation as well as utility was had in view. Some years later the results at the blossoming and the bearing season evoked much admiration from visitors.
In March, 1747, the extensive garden of the single men's estab- lishment was laid out "back of their house," with the understanding that a portion of it should be devoted to growing medicinal herbs for the laboratory and pharmacy ; it having been agreed at a medical conference, shortly before, that special attention should be given to studying the flora of the region. Men were appointed to collect such herbs as had become known. The first one entrusted with this duty was Joachim Sensemann. The minutes of that same conference record that the virtues and various uses of different plants and shrubs were discussed, snake root and sassafrass berries being particularly mentioned. The remark is made, in the next session, that Doctor Otto was over-worked and had not a sufficient supply of medicines; and it was decided, that when they were in Bethlehem, James Greening, who had served his time as an apothecary's apprentice in England, and Owen Rice, who possessed considerable knowledge of medicines, should assist him in the laboratory. Dr. Meyer had at this time removed from the neighborhood to the establishment opened on the farm of Antes. It is mentioned in those minutes that a certain balsam prepared at Bethlehem had become so celebrated that an imitation of it was sold in New York, as "Doctor Schmidt's Balsam." It was sagely concluded that the prices in the apothecary shop and the charges for bleeding persons should not be fixed too low, for this , suggested the bungler or the quack. It was furthermore decreed that Doctor Otto should also perform the somewhat unprofessional task of compiling a collection of the most valuable household recipes in use among people, for general reference, and the physician did not seem to manifest any contempt, when certain salves and plasters among "home remedies" prepared by experienced Pennsylvania women, that had become known to members of Bethlehem's Board of Health, were mentioned as desirable items of this repertory. The heavy mortality during the epidemic of small-pox had led to more thorough measures to prevent disease, as well as to better equipment for treatment.
While gardens were being laid out, and the general surroundings of the houses gotten into more sightly shape, the cemetery also
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
received special attention. On August 14, 1748, the first complete plan of this sacred spot, and of its proposed extension and embellish- ment, was finished, to be sent to Europe. The record states that up to that time, 109 interments had been made in this "labora- torium"11-64 males and 45 females, or according to choirs, 9 married men, 10 married women, 12 single men, I single woman and 77 children. This included the Indians buried there. Those graves of Indians, side by side in the rows with missionaries and teachers, artisans and farmers, all marked and cared for alike, with no distinction-a characteristic subsequently perpetuated in that interesting place of burial-were not only significant of the spirit and principle fostered by the Brethren, but, when considered in connection with the nationalities represented by the various stones which then already marked the resting places of departed members, added to the striking evidence it furnished of the cosmopolitan population of the place. The like of it could not have been found in any other settlement in America, no larger nor older than Beth- lehem.
This characteristic of the place was set forth in a novel way, already in 1745, in a fanciful diversion that came into vogue, and was customary for a few years at Bethlehem, as well as at centers of the Church in Europe, particularly on special missionary occasions. This was polyglot singing, when companies were gathered in which persons of various nationalities and languages, or at least persons acquainted with such languages, were present. One such occasion was on August 21, 1745, the thirteenth anniversary of the departure from Herrnhut of Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann to begin the first missionary work of the Moravian Church among the heathen. Then the same verses, as rendered in English, German, Swedish, Danish, and Jewish-German, were sung simultaneously to the same tune, by persons whose native tongue belonged to this list. It was observed on that occasion that eighteen languages were spoken among converts of Moravian evangelists in different countries. Another such object-lesson in song was given on September 4, following. Three days before that, Pyrlaeus, master of the school
II In this term, as applied to the cemetery, another interesting specimen of the odd phrase- ology introduced by Cammerhoff appears. Elsewhere occurs, for interment, the expression " in das Laboratorium auf den Test bringen"- to put into the cupel in the laboratory - and " zur verwandelung des Fleisches"-transmutation of the flesh-in the sense of I Cor. 15 : 44, " sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body."
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1745-1748.
of Indian languages at Bethlehem-transferred, August 8, 1747, to Gnadenhuetten, where it was continued until the destruction of that mission in 1755-had rendered the first verses from the German hymnal into the Mohican language, to the tune, In Dulce Jubilo. At that lovefeast, on September 4, thirteen languages figured in the polyglot harmony; academicians, missionaries and residents of Bethlehem from various European countries ; men who were masters of three or four languages and Indian converts, uniting their voices in the strains, accompanied by the music of wind and stringed instru- ments. The languages were Bohemian, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Irish, Latin, Mohawk, Mohican, Swedish, Welsh, Wendish; and it was stated that three persons representing yet other languages were present who did not contribute a stanza ; Matthew Reuz the Dane, Matthew Hancke the Pole and Christopher Baus the Hungarian. In connection with demonstrations of this kind, the desire was increased to cultivate the musical talent of Beth- lehem to a higher degree of excellence and serviceableness. 'There is mention, occasionally, of fine music rendered by Pyrlaeus ; of cantatas arranged by Oerter and verses composed and set to music by Neisser, who seems to have been the most skillful in the preparation of scores. At a conference on this subject in October, 1747, it was stated that Spangenberg, who had organized the first Collegium Musicum at Herrnhut, and was much interested in this sub- ject, in the midst of his heavy responsibilities and arduous labors in more important matters, thought the prospect, just then, not encour- aging for bringing the orchestra up to a proper churchly ideal. At a meeting of the Bethlehem Collegium Musicum, on January 14, 1748, it was noted that the organization then numbered fourteen, mostly single men and older boys. Their leader, Pyrlaeus, being at that time stationed at Gnadenhuetten, they were drilled by John Eric Westmann, who devoted one hour each evening to this task. On that occasion a subscription list was opened for a fund to purchase instruments. Increased effort is apparent in cultivating musical talent among the children at this period.
In this connection, in order to preserve continuity in the course of events in school work noted, the movements in this department since its last mention may be reviewed. May 28, 1745, the girls' school was transferred from Bethlehem to the Whitefield House at Nazareth. The whole body of the single women then at Beth- lehem followed on June I, to live there until a Sisters' House could be provided. They remained until November 13, 1748, as
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
already stated. At Nazareth, some were employed in the instruction and care of these girls and others at various industries. On July 27, 1746, George Whitefield, now again for a while, on cordial terms with the Moravians, made his first and only visit to the spot which he once owned and intended to render notable by charitable and educational work. This household and school of girls-there were twenty-eight then, of whom six were Indian girls-afforded him great pleasure, as a work built on the foundation of his attempt, and caused him to exclaim, "can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? come and see." (John I :46.) June 3-10, 1745, the boys taken to Nazareth by Francke in July, 1743, were transferred with some other boys from Bethlehem in detachments, down to the farm of Henry Antes in Frederick Township, as the nucleus of the more extensive estab- lishment now opened there ; with Francke as superintendent joined by Dr. Adolph Meyer and a corps of assistants in secular and religious instruction and manual training, together with farmers and a miller, to operate the whole plant, as left by Antes for the support of the institution.
Meanwhile, the youngest boys and girls of the Economy-later spoken of as "the nursery children"-remained at Bethlehem and were newly quartered in a room made vacant for them in the apart- ments of the married women. Besides these, only a few boys learning trades, and a few older girls in domestic service were retained at Bethlehem, and special evening school was kept for their benefit when circumstances permitted. In 1745, moreover, the first steps were taken towards the opening of such institutions12 at some other points, which require mention here, because they all came into
12 It must be borne in mind that, while the most suitable common word school is applied to those early establishments, they were not distinctly schools in the modern acceptation of the term. The German word used for them all, at the time, was Anstalt. Their para- mount purpose was close religious culture. In some cases they could be called boarding- schools, as that term is now understood. They constituted separate special households for children. Along with the religious and secular education imparted - the latter varying in scope and prominence according to circumstances-the boys and girls living in such house- holds were trained to various useful occupations, to which a portion of their time was sys- tematically devoted. In general, they had the two-fold object in view of properly caring for the children of the members who were giving all their time either to missionary service or to the work of the co-operative union, in field, shop and mill, and, under existing arrange- ments, could not live together as separate families and care for their children in their own homes ; and of undertaking the education and training of other children entrusted to them, as a department of the home-missionary activity.
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1745-1748.
connection, in the course of many shiftings, with the eventual con- centration again at Bethlehem and Nazareth.
A first official discussion, on September 6, 1745, followed by others, and a final one on the "Wunden Eiland" with representatives from the Maguntsche neighborhood, on August 7, 1746, led to the estab- lishment of a school there. A log school-house was built and on February 6, 1747, Christopher Demuth opened the school with forty children who had been enrolled, to which number some well-trained children from Nazareth were added "as a salt." January 13, 1746, eight men from Germantown came to Bethlehem with a petition to again have a boarding-school opened there. The Rev. John Bechtel, who through Mr. Boehm's untiring efforts had been thrust out of the charge he had served gratuitously for many years, intending to remove to Bethlehem-he came with his wife and youngest daughter Susannah on September 24, following-offered his Germantown house and garden for the purpose. The project was submitted to a synod at Philadelphia in April, when a local committee of ten was appointed to carry it out, and the institution was opened, September 21, 1746, as a boarding and day-school for both sexes, with a corps of competent and trust-worthy men and women in charge, and some boys and girls from Fredericktown and Nazareth as a trained nucleus. Jasper Payne, the efficient steward of Bethlehem for some years, with his wife, had charge of the general management for a season. Others associated with it, during its existence of less than three years, were John Christopher Heyne, an able instructor who served also at the other school-stations ; Greening, already mentioned several times ; Schaub and his wife, whose names figure prominently in connection with the Crown Inn at Bethlehem and the later Rose Inn to the north of Nazareth-they having to do with the manage- ment of the externals-and various single women. Bechtel's daughter Susannah, with her husband John Levering, to whom she was married at Bethlehem in 1747, was also connected with it for a season. They likewise assisted at the Fredericktown school for a while. One of the most faithful and valuable Germantown supporters of that under- taking was the widow of Michael Leibert, Barbara Leibert, whose daughter was among the school girls at Nazareth.
Furthermore, it was decided, July 4, 1746, to open a school for boys in "the Great Swamp," in the house of Joseph Mueller who had accompanied Zinzendorf to Europe, where among other things, he was studying medicine with a view to future usefulness in Pennsyl-
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vania in combined capacities. His premises, at this time, were in charge of Antes. That school was started, the first week in the following November, "for boys who had learned bad habits and whom it was not desirable to have with those in the other insti- tutions." It was a kind of reformatory. Its maintenance there being encumbered with special difficulties, it was transferred, May 24, 1747, to the Ysselstein farm house,13 south of the Lehigh at Beth- lehem; an agreement for the purchase of this property for Beth- lehem having been made, the previous year, by Antes with the second husband of the widow Ysselstein, Abraham Boemper. Therefore, just before the close of the year 1748, the only organization of children in Bethlehem was that of the quite young children already mentioned. Such other boys and girls who were then at the place, and a few at Gnaden- thal and Nazareth, were engaged in various capacities, constituting the nucleus of the subsequent choirs of older boys and girls organized independently of the boarding-schools. Now, however, the transfer, in November, of the girls of the Nazareth institution, with the single women, to Bethlehem constituted the first step in important changes of the entire school-economy which will be treated of in the next chapter. The children living at Bethlehem were also transferred to new quarters in November, preparatory to these changes. One of the two log houses which for many years stood to the west of the Community House, on the site of the present Moravian Church- although the records make hardly any mention of their erection- was built, as it seems, at this time ; and in that, these young children, and, temporarily, the few widows living at Bethlehem, were appar- ently now quartered. All the other boys and girls of the Economy, with the other children placed under the care of the Brethren, were distributed in the institutions at Fredericktown, Germantown and Maguntsche; besides the few troublesome ones in the Ysselstein house on the south side, figuring among the population of that neighborhood with which the people of Bethlehem stood in relations of various kinds.
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