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 29
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Giersch, Christian,
Groen, John George,
London, the Negro, Ludwig, Carl, Lung, Jacob,
Pfeil, Frederick Jacob, Pitzmann, John Michael, Priessing, Jacob,
Gross, Andrew,
Haensel, John Christian,
Masner John George,
Ralffs, Marcus,
Hasselberg, Abraham,
Matthiesen, Christopher,
Richling, John Henry,
Hege, Balthasar,
Matthiesen, Nicholas,
Richter. John,
Hennig, Paul,
Merck, John Henry,
Roesler, Godfrey,
Herbst, John Henry,
Merkle, Christopher,
Ruenger, Daniel,
Herr, Samuel,
Meyer, Jacob,
Sauter, Michael,
Herrmann, Jacob,
Meyer, John Stephen,
Sherbeck, Paul Jansen,
Heydecker, Jacob,
Meyer, Philip,
Schoen, Henry,
Hoepfner, Christian Henry,
Muensch, John,
Schweigert, George,
Hoffmann, John Gottlob,
Muenster, Melchior,
Schwartz, Christian,
Hoffmann, Thomas,
Nagel, John Jacob,
Schwartz, Gottfried,
Ingebretsen, Eric, Jaencke, Andrew, Kornmann, John Theobald,
Neilhock, Odenwald, John Michael, Ortlieb, John,
Sydrich, John Daniel,
Lange, John Gottlieb,
Otto, John Matthew,
Theodorus,
Lauck, John Samuel,
Pell, John Peter,
Thomas, John,
Lindemeyer, Henry, Loether, Christian Henry,
Presser, Martin,
Wagenseil, John Andrew, Weber, Andrew.
Petersen, Hans,
Stauber, Paul Christian,
Strauss, Abraham,
255
1749-1755.
of the several principal cities on the sea-board. A visitor, in April, 1751, said: "Though this place at Bethlehem seems but small, you can scarcely mention any trade which is in the largest city in this country, but what is at this place, and carried on after the best man- ner."13
On February 1, 1751, the plans drawn for the new stone wing that was to complete the connection between the Community House and the girls' school, and to contain a larger place of worship, were examined and adopted. It was decided that this structure should be erected without delay, because of the pressing need that was observed already on Whit-Sunday, 1749, when the people had to assemble in successive sections to receive the communion, on account of the con- tracted quarters in the original chapel of the Community House. That chapel had remained in its first interior form, with the rough logs of the walls and the joists and flooring above appearing, until February, 1750, when it was plastered and two pillars of black wal- nut were placed in it to support the heavy ceiling. The excavation for the foundation of the new building was commenced on April 5, after the adoption of the plans, and the masons began their work at once. The most of the timber was floated down the Lehigh from the Gnadenhuetten saw-mill. On July 9, it was entirely finished and the next day, July 10, 1751, this second place of worship in Bethle- hem was dedicated. It was Saturday, and at eleven o'clock the cus- tomary meeting and lovefeast for the children took place in the old chapel. Then followed the dedicatory service in the new building, which was entirely filled by the adult congregation; many being present "from the upper places"-an expression often used in refer- ence to the stations on the Nazareth land and Friedensthal-and some came from Maguntsche, or Salisbury. This service was in charge of Bishop John Nitschmann. He had composed some verses for the occasion that were sung, together with other hymns. After the service of consecration, a special service of the time, known as the Te Agnum, was sung kneeling. At the general "Sabbath love- feast," at one o'clock, a cantata arranged for the occasion was ren- dered by the musicians of Bethlehem, and at the close the Bishop discoursed on the watchword for the day: "And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks."-Isaiah 65:10. Besides these, there were two even-
'3 This, and the remarks about the Friedensthal mill in note 10, from the journal of two young men. Kennedy and High, transcribed at the Delaware Water Gap, and published in the Mountain Echo, in August, 1879.
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
ing services for the communicant membership. The first was of the ordinary character-singing and prayer, with a discourse suitable to the hour. The second consisted of another formal, chanted prayer characteristic of the time, called Te Pleuram, expressing the thoughts associated with the significance of the Saviour's pierced side. The regular order of daily evening prayer followed and closed the festivi- ties. Thus began the history of the present venerable "Old Chapel" of Bethlehem.
The original roof of the building was of tiles. On account of their great weight, they were removed in 1753, and shingles were substi- tuted. Under the chapel a large dining-room for the married people was fitted up. It was opened on February 8, 1752, by a formal din- ner of roast venison, of which fifty men and thirty-two women par- took. Meanwhile, the other wing which formed the connection between the Sisters' House and the eastern end of the girls' school- building-"bell house"-was being completed, as an extension of the Sisters' House, affording a larger dining-room and a new dormi- tory and later the chapel of that institution. This new dining-room was first occupied on May 10, 1752, when a dinner of shad from a catch of a thousand made the previous day in the Lehigh-"many of them the size of the carp in Germany," remarks one chronicler-was served to one hundred young women and girls. Yet other structures were under way, or had in view, and the Gnadenhuetten saw-mill, which at that time was supplying all the lumber used at Bethlehem, was kept busy. It is recorded that on May 13, seventeen rafts and, two days later, fourteen rafts, containing together thirteen hundred boards, reached Bethlehem from that mill. The statement is made that these rafts were usually built one board's length and high enough that one man could steer and control two rafts.
On September 2, 1751, the rebuilt grist-mill was put into opera- tion and on November 18, the fulling-mill, connected with it and worked by the same power, was started. A second run of stones was added to the mill and set to grinding, May 11, 1753, to meet the demand from an ever-widening extent of country that found the Bethlehem mill the most convenient and satisfactory. In June, 1752, the apothecary shop was finished and on July 10, Dr. Otto began to move the stock and outfit of his pharmacy from the room before occupied in the western wing of the girls' school-building into the new quarters. In October, a new building in which to break and prepare hemp was erected and on November 6, the masons com-
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FS/92
APOTHECARY'S UTENSILS, 1752
257
1749-1755.
menced work at an addition to Timothy Horsfield's house, already mentioned. After some delay this structure was finished in July, 1753. On the 17th of that month the occupation of these subse- quently interesting and important apartments began. Here was opened the first general store and trading-place of Bethlehem, long desired by the numerous customers of the grist-mill and others of the surrounding region, and long planned as a desirable addition to the establishments of the village.
At a meeting of the masters of trades, the previous March, the subject of stocking this store was discussed and over a hundred distinct items in the line of commodities for such a stock were enumerated that could be produced by industries then in operation at Bethlehem. Joseph Powell, who, by turns, was employed in evan- gelistic work and in various local capacities, had temporary charge of it until December 11, 1754, when it was entrusted to William Edmonds, who had been assisting at the Crown Inn, south of the river, and whose name was later associated with the tavern built in 1752, north of Nazareth, known as "the Rose,"14 having charge of the store that was carried on for a while there. Edmonds was elected to the Assembly of Pennsylvania in October, 1755, as the second repre- sentative from Northampton County. In that building were also quartered John Okely, the conveyancer and agent of the Bethlehem authorities in land matters ; Abraham Boemper and John Leighton who, in addition to other duties, were appointed to serve as
14 For some years Friedensthal (note 10) and the Rose were mentioned together in refer- ences to the group of settlements, because of near neighborhood relation. That inn on the north-eastern confines of the Barony of Nazareth and by its name perpetuating the remem- brance of the quit-rent token-a red rose in June-associated with the domain, was designed originally to serve the double purpose of quartering the men who were to build the projected village of Gnadenstadt north of Nazareth-of which the only outcome was the organization, in 1762, of the congregation of Schoeneck (Fairnook)-and to accommodate travelers, up and down the Minnisink road, who often sought hospitality at Nazareth, which under existing arrangements was difficult to furnish. 160 acres, bordering on the Nazareth land, were surveyed as the site, January 3, 1752. The designs for the building were ordered by the board at Bethlehem, February 2, and, on March 27, 1752, the corner-stone was laid. On September 15 of the same year the finished building was opened as an inn, with John Frederick Schaub and Divert Mary, his wife, as the first of the succession of inn-keepers. August 6, 1754, it first displayed its sign with the emblem of the rose. Like Friedensthal, it had a thrilling connection with the frontier horrors of 1755-56. The store was opened, 1763, in a near-by log house. In 1771 the property was sold to private parties. In 1772 the inn was closed. The building dis- appeared in 1858.
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
cicerones and otherwise attend to the wants of visitors. A little later two rooms were fitted up in it to lodge guests. These various associations of the house, together with the public business trans- acted in the office of Justice Horsfield, the successor of Henry Antes, made it the principal rendezvous of strangers and people from the neighborhood.
Another house, built in 1752, that deserves to be mentioned was the "Indianer Logis" (Indian lodge or inn), which stood near the west bank of the Monocacy, immediately north of the present stone bridge at the mill. It was a stone building of one story, fifty-two by forty feet in dimensions, erected as a temporary dwelling for the Indians of Friedenshuetten at the foot of the hill to the south, after it had been decided to transfer them to another spot. It was then to serve as the regular Indian tavern of the place, in which an Indian couple, or some white persons adapted to the task, were to have the over- sight and attend to the entertainment of Indian visitors. In the sequel, after all the Indians had removed from Bethlehem, it was fitted up to serve for a while as a lodging for travelers, when inclement weather or high water rendered it too difficult, or even dangerous, to cross the river to the Crown Inn at night; and the first public house of Bethlehem had not yet been built. That "Indian house" therefore shared, with the rooms over the store in the Horsfield house, the honor of being the first hotel on the north side at Bethlehem, of more pretensions-being built of stone-than the primitive guest-room of 1743, in one of the hastily-constructed log cabins. The first foundation-stone was laid, August 14, 1752, and on October 25, the house was ready to be occupied. On that day about twenty Indians moved in procession from Friedenshuetten to the new building and took formal possession, partaking together of a meal, with songs of praise.15 In the summer of 1756 a log house, sixty-three by fifteen feet, was built just south of it, near the creek, containing a chapel for the Indians. This was taken down and transferred, in 1758, to the Indian village of Nain near Bethle- hem, to which reference will be made in another chapter.
While these various building operations were in progress, time was found to also make numerous improvements which enhanced the
15 The Rev. Wm. C. Reichel, in Memorials of the Moravian Church, published in 1870, states, on page 23, that the spring which empties into the creek near the bridge, on the north side, rose in the cellar of the Indian house, that the building was removed early in the cen- tury, and that portions of the tiling, with which it was paved, remained at the time of writing.
J.S/93
A NAIN HOUSE
BAPTISM OF INDIAN CONVERTS IN EARLY TIMES
THE NAIN CHAPEL THE INDIAN HOUSE WEST OF THE MONOCACY
COURSE OF INDIAN TRAIL (1872)
259
1749-1755.
attractive appearance of Bethlehem and the places on the Nazareth domain, and added comforts and conveniences. Many things in this line were quickly accomplished by systematically distributing num- bers of workmen, to undertake one task after another vigorously, and with the stimulus that comes from seeing the work move rapidly under many hands. Thus streets were gotten into condition, pavements were laid, open spaces about the buildings were made tidy, large rows of trees were planted along the borders, and gardens were beautified, by efforts that often seemed like mere holiday diversions. When it was concluded that the time had come to make the road from Bethlehem to Nazareth look more like the highway of an old, settled country than a mere back-woods trail, barely passable for wagons, as the character of all the roads of the region then was, two large gangs of men and boys, one at the Bethlehem end and the other at the Nazareth end, were set to work simultaneously, the second week in May, 1750, to straighten, clear and level the road. One day's work, followed by another in the third week of the month, when they met with their respective sections finished, resulted in a thoroughfare so excellent by comparison with others in the surrounding country, that it occa- sioned special comment by visitors from a distance.
Loyal, energetic and capable men were at hand to direct the exter- nal affairs, so that the unsatisfactory conditions described in the pre- ceding pages did not seriously affect the situation in this respect dur- ing the time that elapsed before they were rectified. Knowledge of the crisis that came when Antes left Bethlehem soon reached head- quarters in Europe, and, without much delay, steps were taken to correct the mistake that had been made in sending Bishop John Nitschmann to Bethlehem to take Bishop Spangenberg's place, and in giving him the kind of instructions he was carrying out. In the autumn of 1750, after important interviews between Zinzendorf and Spangenberg had taken place and the position of Antes had become known, Nathanael Seidel went to Europe-apparently in response to a letter from there-to report on matters and take the written state- ments which Nitschmann was pleased to send. He was accompanied by David Zeisberger who went as a messenger, more particularly in reference to Indian affairs. They sailed from New York on the Irene, the first week in September.16
16 She left the dock, August 28, and sailed out from Sandy Hook, September 3. They had a very stormy passage. A captain who arrived at New York, October 5, from the north of Scotland reported that, September 25, he passed the Irene, after a gale of several days, with fore and top-mast and bowsprit gone, and sailing with a jury-mast rigged up; and that
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
Before they returned or any action towards righting matters had been consummated, death entered official circles at Bethlehem and wrought changes independent of the plans of men. The wife of Bishop John Nitschmann17 was taken away on February 22, 1751. Bishop Cammerhoff who was then bedfast departed on April 28. In view of the importance attached to their respective offices at the time, their decease caused no little consternation at Bethlehem. Three days after the death of Cammerhoff, Samuel Powell, who arrived from Philadelphia, brought an affectionate greeting to the sufferer from Antes who had not heard of his release. When Powell returned he was specially commissioned to stop at Fredericktown and give Antes an account of his happy departure which had made a deep impression upon all.
A kind of ad interim arrangement ensued. Bishop John Nitschmann confined himself mainly to purely pastoral ministrations. With Nathanael Seidel absent in Europe, the oversight of the large number of single men and the share in general administration otherwise taken by him devolved upon his able and zealous assistant Gottlieb Pezold.
two vessels which had sailed with her, were putting back, too badly crippled to proceed. Captain Garrison reported " all right " to this captain. Her two companions, one a vessel belonging to Captain Badger, which got back to New York, and the other under Captain Goelet, which reached Boston, were reported in port by the New York newspapers in October. Letters from Europe desiring Cammerhoff to visit Nova Scotia and inspect the opening for evangelistic work and a settlement there, in response to invitations, reached Bethlehem when Captain Garrison was getting ready to sail. He was asked whether he could make a detour and go to Nova Scotia, but he stated that, for some reason not explained, he could not do so. Letters came again in April, 1751, urging the Nova Scotia project but Cammerhoff being then on his death-bed, nothing could be done in the matter. Therefore, Nova Scotia was never visited by the Irene. The Rev. L. T. Nyberg, mentioned in the previous chapter, accompanied Seidel and Zeisberger to Europe.
17 She was born at Schoenau, Moravia, in 1712, fled to Herrnhut with her parents - her maiden name was Haberland-in 1729, and was one of the seventeen young women and girls who joined in the covenant with Anna Nitschmann, May 4, 1730. In the phraseology propagated during the period of extravagance, she, as overseer or Eldress of the female membership in America, was given the title of "the mother," as Anna Nitschmann was called in the more general sense. As a special distinction, she was interred in what was then the center of the cemetery at Bethlehem, where a marble slab now marks her grave. One of her four sons, Immanuel Nitschmann, was later a leading musician of Bethlehem and, for many years, the secretary who made those copies of official records, which are so gratifying to all who use them, on account of the ease with which they are read. He ended his days at Bethlehem. His wife was Maria Van Vleck, daughter of Henry Van Vleck, merchant, and sister of Bishop Jacob Van Vleck. She, late in life, became the second wife of Joseph Jones, son of the founder of the Jones farm east of Bethlehem, and himself its occupant until his death in 1824.
261
1749-1755.
Perhaps the most important man at Bethlehem during this time was the Rev. Frederick Emmanuel Herrmann, although his is not one of the more familiar names of that period. He appears to have been a man of uncommon executive ability and capacity for affairs. Besides fulfilling his duties as an influential member of the central executive board, and as a preacher of ability, he, for more than a year, served as a general inspector of trades and industries, and did much to perfect system and order. With Brownfield, the faithful steward, until his death in April, 1752, and Okely, as men experienced in the business affairs of the Economy; Timothy Horsfield as a new adviser, and the patriarch, Father Nitschmann, whose great personal influence was daily exerted in the interest of harmony and smooth- ness, all rallying together, things moved on without very serious disturbance.
In the night of September 24, 1751, Captain Garrison suddenly brought the long-expected Irene into port at New York. Nathanael Seidel and David Zeisberger were on board, returning to Bethlehem. With them came two married couples and two single men who all rendered conspicuous service in their several spheres : John Michael and Gertrude Graff, Joachim and Elizabeth Busse, John Jacob Schmick and Hans Christian Christiansen.18
Bishop John Nitschmann received intimation in letters brought by Seidel, of his recall to Europe, but this did not come formally until November 14. He immediately finished his preparations, took leave of Bethlehem three days later and went to New York where Captain
18 Graff and Schmick were both ordained men and university graduates; the first of Jena and the second of Koenigsberg. Busse was likewise an ordained man who had been serv- ing the Church in Berlin. He and his wife went to St. Thomas before the close of the year, as missionaries. Graff and his wife came to devote themselves especially to the work among the children. They located at Nazareth in 1755. He became a bishop, 1772, and settled at Salem, N.C., where he died in 1774. Schmick entered the Indian mission service in which he figured conspicuously amid the tribulations of a few years later. Christiansen was an eminently skilful mill-wright who rendered valuable service at Bethlehem and other places. Others who came with them were Adam Foelker, blacksmith and farmer from Wuertemberg, with his family; Andrew Giering, journeyman shoemaker from near Suelz, on the Neckar, Wuertemberg, who, on October 24, went to Maguntsche to work for Jacob Ehrenhardt ; a merchant named Schlosser from Pforzheim, Durlach, with two children attended by a maid named Schaemel, and Maria Barbara Meyer, who accompanied Foelker's family as a redemptioner. None of these people were members of the Moravian Church, but some of them became such. The maid with Foelkers was released for £9 by the single sisters at Bethlehem and taken into service in the Sisters' House. The girl Schaemel, upon application, was likewise so employed. Abraham Boemper's son was also a passenger.
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
Garrison was getting the Irene ready for her fifth voyage. Those who were to accompany him to Europe were assembled there or went with him from Bethlehem.19 On November 26, the vessel left the dock. After nearly drifting upon a reef in consequence of an almost instantaneous cessation of the wind, she lay to in a cove on the Staten Island shore, on account of a heavy storm that broke upon the coast, until December 4, when the Captain put out to sea. Moving down the narrows, they passed the ship that was bringing Bishop Spangenberg back to America to again take charge of the work. He, of course, recognized the Irene, but in consequence of the stormy weather, attempts to communicate with her by means of the speaking-trumpet failed. Bishop Matthew Hehl came with him as coadjutor, accompanied by his wife and a young woman, Henrietta Petermann, as attendant. Other Moravian passengers were Philip Christian Bader, Nicholas Henry Eberhardt, Matthew Kremser, Henry Miller the printer, who had again been in Europe, and Carl Godfrey Rundt. They reached Bethlehem, December 10. Spangenberg and Hehl went to Philadelphia on the 17th, to' pay their respects to the Governor. Returning to Bethehem, they stopped at Fredericktown to visit Henry Antes. Dr. Adolph Meyer accom- panied them from there, more than half way to the Lehigh. There was general rejoicing and a restored feeling of confidence at Beth- lehem. It had not been known with certainty, even by the principal officials, that Spangenberg would return, and his sudden appearance immediately after the departure of his predecessor, was a great surprise to every one.
One of his first important acts was to convene a Synod at Beth- lehem on December 22, to communicate various necessary matters, both of principle and method, in the general work ; to get back into personal connection with all ministers immediately and to reach as many spots in the varied activities as possible with such new regulations as were to be introduced. From this time, all that was abnormal in the tone, language and manner of the preceding few years rapidly disappeared.
19 The company consisted of John Nitschmann, J. C. P'yrlaeus and wife, John Philip Doerrbaum and wife, James Greening and wife, the widow of Cammerhoff, Henry Jorde, John Eric Westmann, Matthew Kuntz and Christian Frederick Post, from among the persons who had come over from Europe as members of the Church ; also Ferdinand Fend (Vend), son of "Kiefer " Fend, of Germantown, and the boy James Noble. Samuel Fockel, of the colony brought over by Henry Jorde, intended to return to Europe with them, but at New York changed his mind and remained.
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1749-1755.
At Bethlehem, and in the affairs of the Economy throughout, broken ends had to be caught up and tangled threads unraveled. A situation now existed that required stronger external regulation, for the somewhat demoralizing effects of temporary variance between factions, and the presence of numerous elements that were not in sympathetic unity, made it less easy than in previous years, to main- tain the necessary order through mere spontaneous sentiment. An evidence of what appeared necessary in this direction was the decision, in February, 1752, to resuscitate the Richter Collegium, explained in the preceding chapter. John Bechtel, David Bishop, John Brownfield and Jasper Payne now constituted this board and were formally inducted by Spangenberg on February 16, with Herr- mann and Pezold as advisory members. The former name, Richter Collegium, had been subject to misconception, not only by the public but even by some within the congregation. It was spoken of now for a while as cine Commission-a Board of Commissioners-and finally, in 1754, to indicate more clearly to the English-speaking part of the public and to the civil authorities, what the nature of its functions was, it was given the English name-officially used-"Com- mittee for Outward Affairs." In this, one line of internal organi- zation may be traced from the beginning through to the final system that existed, as in all exclusive Moravian Church-settlements, on to the eventual abolition of this system at the middle of the nineteenth century, at Bethlehem-the Gemein-Richter, an individual office, the Richter-Collegium, the Commission, the Committee for Outward Affairs, and finally the Aufscher Collegium, or Board of Supervisors, which existed until 1851. The general executive board which at different times bore various names, was not only the ultimate local authority, but the board in central control of the whole Economy, or co-operative union, and likewise superintended the entire work in America. It was not until after the dissolution of the Economy that this general executive authority began to be differentiated from the central, local authority, and the latter came to be embodied in a board of purely local executive control and spiritual oversight; and various functions distributed among a group of organized bodies of somewhat nebulous appearance, when superficially viewed, were concentrated in a smaller number of more clearly defined boards under a simplified arrangement.20
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