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 28
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This was contemplated, however, with less anxiety by men at Bethlehem, like Antes, who were most capable of understanding the whole situation and were of most service in explaining the principles and purposes of the Brethren to people of all kinds and in correcting popular misapprehensions, than the internal tendencies that had set in since Spangenberg's retirement, and were being propagated by his successor, John Nitschmann, supported by the new element he had brought with him to Bethlehem. Nitschmann began his
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administration with the understanding that he was to foster and establish certain things that were products of the unhealthy spirit which was then prevailing in the central circles in Europe and in some respects yet holding Zinzendorf under a spell for a season; things which, although promulgated from headquarters, Spangenberg had been discreetly evading. They had taken pronounced form and become matters of deliberate official annunciation in Europe since Cammerhoff came to Pennsylvania, at an earlier stage of the distemper, and are therefore not to be laid to his charge. They were advanced to a certain degree by de Watteville before he left Bethlehem, but with caution and with an intelligent tact superior to that of the man now installed to bring the spirit, language and practices of Bethlehem into full accord with the most recent fancies. The things thus referred to were an exaggerated idealizing of certain offices and functions; the adoption of unwarrantable titles and prerogatives by the incumbents, corresponding to this ; the exaltation of the persons to a kind of spiritual pre-eminence and a laudation of them in over-wrought terms that were distasteful to sober-minded people, startling when suddenly introduced and regarded as danger- ous. With this came methods of conducting internal affairs in the spirit of these eccentricities and the cultivation of a novel liturgical system elaborated to give expression to the underlying conceptions. While Zinzendorf was not responsible for every absurdity that issued from this tendency, yet primarily it was all the fruit of his propensity, already mentioned, to follow out and experimentally apply every idea or fancy with which he started, to the utmost extent and in minutest detail. This eccentric regime brought in by John Nitsch- mann was something later than the mere reveling in extravagant language that is associated with Cammerhoff. The latter had been more tolerable to solid and staid men at Bethlehem than what now followed, for they had recognized under the effervescing surface the sound, true gospel of the cross. They were impressed by his heroic, self-sacrificing devotion to arduous duty. He was as ready as any of them to endure every kind of hardness ; was gentle. unassuming, and won the hearts of all.
John Nitschmann's name is not associated with apostolic labors among the Indians, like that of Cammerhoff. It cannot be said of him that he was "in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness," to carry the word of life to brutal savages
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and to serve men of every kind in the spirit of his Divine Master, as can be said of Cammerhoff. The sturdy men who laid the material and spiritual foundations of Bethlehem, who battled with the stern realities of the beginning, who opened the farms and built the mills while they preached the gospel of the love of Christ in plainness to plain people, were personally attached to Cammerhoff, with all his extravagancies and in spite of the fact that he was sent to work at cross purposes in certain respects with the policy of Spangenberg, whom they esteemed above all others, but who was not considered sufficiently imbued with the spirit of the time by those in control in Europe. Antes, Garrison, Horsfield, Payne, Brownfield and other such men who were of most value at the time and were Spangenberg's most staunch friends loved Cammerhoff, notwithstanding all this. The Indians sent messages of sorrow from distant places when they heard that he had passed away, and years afterward the name of Galichwio, by which they knew him, was spoken among them with reverence and affection. His memory deserves to be exonerated from the exclusive respon- sibility for introducing fanatical tendencies at Bethlehem which has commonly been laid upon him by Moravian writers.
He was the diarist and correspondent with the European author- ities during the greater part of his term of service at Bethlehem. He was a voluminous writer who went into great detail on all subjects and wrote without reserve in the kind of expressions he was accus- tomed to use. Thus what there was in his words and ways that was objectionably eccentric became conspicuous afterwards in the written evidences. John Nitschmann did very little of the writing. He was the central manager who gave the impulse and steered the course of things. His chief mission was to establish himself at headquarters and press the innovations he was authorized to introduce. He had been held in high esteem in Europe and had rendered service in various ways that was much prized. He enjoyed the full confidence of those who wished him to rectify what were thought, in the infatuation of the time, to be internal defects of Spangenberg's administration. Not only did he throw himself completely into that infatuation, so that he was not disposed to be cautious and reserved in propagating it, but he thought himself under obligation to follow the letter of his instructions blindly, no matter what obstacles and embarrassments he met. Lacking the degree of scholarly culture possessed by Spangenberg and Cammerhoff, as well as the broad-
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mindedness, the extensive knowledge of men and things and the excellent common sense and tact that distinguished the former, he was not able to see where and how he ought to adapt himself and his course to conditions that were different from those out of which he had come and different from what he anticipated. From first to last, he quite failed to get into touch with his larger surroundings in the New World.
He moreover felt fortified in things which he soon discovered were not acceptable to those who were the most substantial and forceful men at Bethlehem, for most of those whom he had brought over with him had come right out of the atmosphere of Herrnhaag and rallied around him. Some, previously at Bethle- hem, were drawn in, and in the summer of 1750, a large colony of those who had made up the population of the Herrnhaag Brethren's House and had been constrained to emigrate when the abandonment of the place became necessary, arrived at Bethlehem with yet more offensive assumption of superiority over against the original congre- gation and yet more distasteful parade of sentimental puerilities ; posing, besides, as persecuted exiles deserving admiration. Many of them, when they later came to their senses and settled down to soberness, became stalwart pillars in the Church, but many were unreliable and unsound-mere useless nurslings. They spoke in terms of disparagement of the people who were previously at Beth- lehem and strutted before them like religious coxcombs, assuming to be the select clientelage of the man at the head. A schism was cre- ated between "the old congregation and the new congregation." Many of the former were filled with grief and indignation.
Some resented such assumptions and spoke their minds plainly to certain of the new-comers, who had stepped in to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice and toil, but hardly any dared to express open dissent and object to the innovations in official quarters. One man, however, whose position was such that he most readily could, did so honestly and fearlessly. This was Henry Antes. Not only was the new departure, with its speech and manner, exceedingly distasteful to him personally, just as it was to other sensible men at Bethlehem, but he discerned under it the beginning of a drift away from scriptural soundness, and recognized a new occasion that would be given for sensational public discussion of the Brethren. He understood-as John Nitschmann and those who went with him did not-how serious, in spite of the act of Parliament passed in 1749, the constant agita- tions of those who were trying to inflame the public against them
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as alleged Papists, and therefore allies of the French, intriguing with the Indians, might become, if anything within the Church should seem to lend new color to this accusation. He knew the readiness of ill-informed and credulous masses to exaggerate every eccentricity or oddity reported of Bethlehem and to draw groundless inferences.
Therefore, when he heard absurd titles applied to Zinzendorf, to Anna Nitschmann and to others who held general offices of a spir- itual nature among men or women, and heard John Nitschmann declare that the members must all now call these persons by such names according to instructions from abroad-names that could be easily construed by some people as indicating Romish institutions, orders and functions ; by other people as evidences of fanatical mys- ticism like that into which Conrad Beisel had led the Ephrata com- munity-he found in this something far more objectionable and ominous than the mere affectation of spiritual child-talk in which Cammerhoff and others had before been indulging. He wrote a plain, manly letter to Zinzendorf on the subject in September, 1749. He had been in correspondence with him occasionally since 1743. To his great perplexity this letter remained unanswered. Subse- quently he became convinced that it had been intercepted in Europe and had never been seen by the Count. He followed this with pro- tests and even entreaties addressed to Bishop John Nitschmann, face to face and in writing. Failing to accomplish anything, he concluded to go to Europe and present the case to Zinzendorf and the general conference personally, but, although he was encouraged to do so by leading men at Bethlehem, his wife objected and he did not go.
Under these trying circumstances John Nitschmann became some- what obstinate and imperious, and, in addition to other blunders, played the martinet in disciplinary matters, going to lengths so auda- cious, in dealing with recalcitrants, that Antes, as local magistrate, warned him that he would not only create fatal dissension and jeopar- dize everything that had been accomplished at Bethlehem, but might even get himself into serious trouble under the law of the Province. In this blind pursuance of what he understood by his "instructions" and this infatuated determination to assert the authority with which he thought himself clothed, he was sustained by his wife, who had been placed in similar authority over all the female membership-a woman of rare gifts, intense devotion and great personal influence, but, like her husband, carried off beyond reason by the idea of the functions supposed to be committed to them; sustained also by
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Samuel Krause, who had been sent over with him as coadjutor at Nazareth in his efforts to bring things in Pennsylvania into "com- plete conformity."
Finally Antes tried to persuade the Bishop to simply suppress the objectionable sayings and doings of the "new congregation" and to let the peculiar innovations in official regime and terminology, in which Nitschmann appealed to his "instructions," stand in abeyance until proper communications with the authorities in Europe could be had; for Antes believed that if the case was properly stated to Zinzendorf, in connection with his interview with Spangen- berg, everything would be set right. In this effort he was supported by Cammerhoff and Nathanael Seidel, whose official connection with Nitschmann and partial agreement with his course on the one hand, and their warm attachment to Antes and to the "old congregation" on the other, made their position very embarrassing. John Nitsch- mann, shut off to the choice between receding even to this extent or breaking with Antes and risking all that this might involve, chose the latter, and then Antes concluded to withdraw from Bethlehem, retire to his farm and there, out of immediate connection with the things which he could not be reconciled to, await further develop- ments. His breach was only with John Nitschmann officially and with current tendencies which he believed would be rectified in due time. Meanwhile he felt that less harm would be done by his quiet withdrawal than by the possible further centralizing of factions pro and con if he remained at Bethlehem.
While much consternation followed the announcement of his intentions, and there were rumors on all sides of others doing likewise, Antes used the great influence he possessed among the former residents of Bethlehem and the Nazareth stations, in the interests of peace and quiet and patient waiting. He faithfully completed the work he had in hand, especially the important large mill10 on the Bushkill where the colony of Friedensthal was estab-
10 This mill, built east of Nazareth, where the first purchase of 324 acres was made in the autumn of 1749, " at the kill," as the place was called for a while - Lefevre's Creek, Leheitan, Bushkill - was the largest and most complete that Antes had erected for the Economy. Work at the spot was commenced, January 6, 1750, and, August 21, the first grinding was celebrated by a lovefeast in the mill. A visitor in April, 1751, thus described its mechanism : " It grinds and bolts all at once, there being no trouble in hoisting the flour as in common mills, but as the stones deliver it so the bolting cloth receives it, and so it is- bolted as fast as ground. Another contrivance, which is very extraordinary, is that when the wheat is within about a peck of being ground out of the hopper, there is a stick so fixed that one end shall strike against the stone as it runs round which has a bell fastened at
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lished, and got all the affairs with which he was further connected into such a shape that he could give them what further attention they required from him at his home or by occasionally coming to Bethlehem, and on the morning of September 5, 1750-before day- break, when few were astir, in order to avoid painful scenes -he started with his wife and some of his children for Frederick- town.11 Cammerhoff accompanied him, weeping, across the river and some distance on the way, and then took an affectionate leave of him and turned sadly back to Bethlehem.
When Antes reached his home, the premises which he had turned over to the use of the Church in 1745 were nearly vacated. The flourishing school was closed. John Nitschmann, having determined not to yield any points and knowing that this would cause a breach between them, instituted measures, without consulting Antes, to remove the children from Fredericktown. These were carried into effect in August, 1750. On the 12th of that month a number of boys were taken to the Maguntsche school and a few of the Indian boys were removed to Bethlehem and Gnadenhuetten. Two weeks later the remaining boys were placed in the school at Oley. Pyrlaeus and his wife, who had stood at the head of the work, came to Bethlehem the first week of September, with Peter Sehner and wife, John Mich-
the other end, which rattles in a surprising manner, to give the miller warning that the mill is near running empty." In this contrivance, which seemed a novelty to that visitor, many a reader will recognize a familiar feature of old-time grist-mills. It was equipped with double water-wheels and two run of stones. The settlement which arose there received the name Friedensthal -Vale of Peace - at the dedication of its community house and the organization of its milling, farming, dairying and stock-raising personnel, with chaplain, steward, etc., April 27, 1751, in the season just after Easter, when the peace greeting of the risen Lord called to mind, suggested the name. The mill was stockaded and turned into a fort during the Indian war, 1755-56. The property was sold to private parties by the church authorities in 1771, and a second mill was built there in 1794. The history of Friedensthal and its Stockaded Mill, entertainingly written by the Rev. Wm. C. Reichel, is to be found in Vol. II, Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society.
11 Some readers, to whom the whole subject is new, may fail to appreciate the reason for introducing this episode, little to the credit of those in control at Bethlehem. Like the general fanatical distemper of that period with which it was connected, it might have been passed with a brief reference or left quite untouched, if it were never mentioned by other writers. But since it has been frequently written about and occasionally over-stated, mis- stated or alluded to in that manner which sets readers to guessing, or perhaps drawing groundless inferences in view of the many calumnies of the time that have found their way into print, it has seemed best to present the whole offence given - the gravest that Antes himself ever adduced against them according to his own statements. It is true, as some- times stated, that he objected to the sudden introduction of robing by Bishop John Nitsch-
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ler and several farm laborers who had been employed at the estab- lishment. John Levering and his wife and Peter Braun accompanied the detachment to Oley. Dr. Adolph Meyer and wife remained after this at Fredericktown. September 14, he brought the closed out accounts of the institution to Bethlehem and returned two days later, and thus ended the history of the Fredericktown school.
In this connection the various changes made in the schools to the next epoch may be noted. Financial strain in the summer of 1751 caused the abandonment of the important Oley school, which had been organized in February, 1748. The institution was closed on Septem- ber 10, when the boys were transferred to Maguntsche-after this more frequently spoken of as Salisbury-and the girls of this latter school, as previously stated, were brought to Bethlehem with those from Oley, during the following two weeks and distributed between the boarding-school and its adjunct in the Ysselstein house on the south side, the school history of which to the end has already been given. In August, 1753, the authorities decided to close the boys' school at Salisbury and on the 27th of that month fourteen boys were brought from there to Bethlehem and quartered in a room in the Brethren's House, which had been occupied by the boys of the Beth- lehem school now domiciled in one of the log houses on the site of the present church. In December, 1754, however, it was concluded to move them back to Salisbury, and this was done, January 10, 1755,
mann at the celebration of communion, May 2, 1750, the first time a surplice was worn by a Moravian minister in Pennsylvania. But a large-minded man like Antes would not have made an open grievance of a thing like this, even if he were strongly averse to it, under circumstances otherwise normal. Associating it as an innovation with the more important things against which he had protested, his disturbed mind found in it the proverbial " last straw," while he thought with dread of the ill-natured gossip this new thing, so unfamiliar in the region, would stir up among those who were watching for new evidences of "Romish practices," in addition to the foregoing offences of following the new style dates of a " Popish," calendar, kneeling in worship, etc., which vigilant neighbors had made much ado about. Another point, always in question, has been the extent to which his removal from Bethlehem meant withdrawal from the Moravian Church. That it was quite generally so interpreted and published abroad by those with whom the wish was father to the thought, is very natural, and even Moravian writers have frequently adopted this supposition. A more complete examination of the subject in the light of all authentic sources of information extant, including statements by Antes himself and subsequent lists of members, than has probably been given to it hitherto by any one, has made it quite clear to the writer of these pages that his removal from Bethlehem was not so intended by him and was not so regarded afterwards by the Church authorities. Antes considered himself and was considered in the fellowship of the Church to his death.
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when a new school was opened there, with Joachim Sensemann and wife in charge of the household and Hans Petersen serving as pre- ceptor, the whole under the general superintendence of John Ettwein and Francis Boehler with their wives, now in charge of the entire department of work among the children at outlying places. This school existed when the dire times to be treated of in the next chap- ter suddenly brought such peril to old and young at these places.
Antes, after he returned to his farm, seems not to have visited Bethlehem until the following spring. He came early in March, to transact business, and went up to the Bushkill to examine the new mill and see that it was operating properly. He also had consulta- tions with those in charge of the work, in reference to the enlarge- ment of the grist-mill at Bethlehem, the building of a fulling-mill in connection with it, needed repairs to the bark-crushing-mill and the dye-house, the proposed extension of the Sisters' House and the building of another wing to the west of the Children's Home ("bell house") occupied by the boarding-school for girls, to contain a larger place of worship, a wing having been added on the east side in 1748, and one to the west in 1749. Some of these tasks were then being commenced. The large accession to the working-force the previous June12 rendered these undertakings possible, and the expec- tation of yet other colonists in the course of the following year, made it desirable to proceed with them as rapidly as possible.
12 This large number of young men, mainly from Herrnhaag, in part also from the settle- ments of the Church in Holland, has already been referred to. They came under the leadership of Henry Jorde and are sometimes called the "Henry Jorde Colony." There were SI besides Jorde, one of them being a Negro called "London," and they were accom- panied by two married couples : the Rev. Frederick Emanuel and Susan Maria Herrmann, and Francis and Sophia Steup. The most important man among them was Dr. John Matthew Otto, the second, and more distinguished, of these two brother-physicians of Beth- lehem, referred to in a previous chapter. This colony sailed on the Irene from London, May 9, put off from Dover, May II, and reached New York, June 22. It is stated that they came up the bay enveloped in such a dense fog, the entire way from Sandy Hook, that all the seamen in the harbor were astonished at Captain Garrison's skill. They arrived at Bethlehem in squads from June 25 to July 2. On July 13, thirty of them located at Chris- tian s Spring. The following is the list for reference :
Albrecht, John Andrew, Baumgarten, George,
Erd, Justus. Euler, Nicholas,
Fockel, John Godfrey, Fockel, Samuel, Fritz, Henry,
Bergmann, Henry,
Feldhausen, Christopher,
Feldhausen, Henry,
Freyhube, Andrew,
Borheck, John Andrew, Eckhard, Zacharias, Ernst, Walter,
Feldhausen. John George,
Fockel. Godfrey,
Fuss, Lucas, Gerstberger, Henry,
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Besides the external improvements already mentioned, material additions to the agricultural and industrial equipment were made during 1750. A large increase of barn-space and stabling was in readiness for use before winter. A new blacksmith-shop, with facili- ties for the employment of more workmen to meet the growing needs of the Economy and the calls for such work from the surrounding region, was added. The establishment of a hattery, long under dis- cussion, was also consummated. After the plan of locating it in the Ysselstein house, south of the river, had been abandoned, the build- ing formerly occupied by the blacksmiths and locksmith was fitted up for the purpose, the latter part of the year, and before the middle of January, 1751, it was put into operation. These various indus- tries, with the accumulating buildings of the stock-yard-the latter grouped about the original log-house of the settlement, in which the man in charge of this department was living-were strung along what is now the old west side of Main Street, from above the present Goundie's Alley, down to Church Street, and turning toward the Old York Road, the first thoroughfare following the Indian trail. That row, with the increasing cluster about the grist-mill below, made up the busy section of the place, which was an object of surprise and admiration to visitors. Nothing like it, in the extent and variety of industries, could have been found anywhere in the country, outside
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