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 45
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
views of policy, competitive local interests, all bearing upon the one question of the hour-the Indian problem. In the subsequent Sep- tember, Pontiac's war came nominally to an end and, early in Decem- ber, peace with the Indians was proclaimed at Philadelphia. The good tidings reached Bethlehem, December 7, 1764. Quiet had been restored in the neighborhood, the sensation connected with the trial of Renatus had subsided, the last of the two hundred refugees who had again found shelter at Bethlehem had long returned to their homes, and strict vigilance was no longer considered necessary, when the good news was communicated to the congregation.
In the meantime another important personal change had taken place at Bethlehem. The man who was the pioneer leader in the Forks of the Delaware, and next to Spangenberg had stood pre- eminent-Bishop Peter Boehler, had taken final leave of America and returned to Europe. He and his wife left Bethlehem on May 7, 1764, the day on which, twenty-four years before, he first came to the neighborhood. They sailed with Captain Jacobsen on the Hope on May 16.7
On April 26, prior to his departure, he had held a Synod at Beth- lehem, at which the scope and plan of the boarding-school at Naza- reth Hall were elaborated to embrace not only training for mis- sionary service, but a "pacdagogium" course in different branches of knowledge, with a view to other pursuits. Things had again assumed a sufficiently normal condition that there was encouragement to plan for the future, and even in the matter of missions among the Indians, the outlook was not considered hopeless.
Boehler took occasion to caution the people against participating in political discussion and party strife. This was then rampant under the new Lieutenant Governor, John Penn, inexperienced, unfamiliar
7 Besides Bishop Boehler, his wife and two children, there were four other passengers from Bethlehem : Anna Rosina Anders, John and Mary Antes and Dr. John Michael Schmidt. who had come to Pennsylvania with Spangenberg in 1754. He is a somewhat unfamiliar person. He seems to have remained in New York until March, 1755, when he came to Bethlehem with Boehler. In November, 1755, he went to Lancaster County, with George Klein. He married Anna Elizabeth Smouth, widow of Justice Edward Smouth, of Lancas- ter. She died in October, 1757. He seems to have had an apothecary's shop there which after the death of his wife he transferred to Lititz for a while. Subsequently he came to Bethlehem, where he assisted Dr. Otto and looked after patients at Nazareth. He also served as one of the organists at Bethlehem during his last sojourn. His name deserves a place among the medical practitioners of olden time in the Lehigh Valley. He was called a doctor when he came to America, and was then a widower. He was born September 28, 1697.
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1762-1771.
with the situation, assuming office under great disadvantages at such a time, and lacking both strength and tact to deal with the growing movement to overthrow the Proprietary Government and have an executive appointed directly by the Crown, which was being fostered by Franklin and other strong men of the Province. Agitation was rife, and the Indian question with others, on which parties were again quite differently divided, complicated matters. The position of the Moravian leaders was that of conservative loyalty towards the Pro- prietary Government, as well as towards the Crown as supreme. This was, with them, a matter of general principle as well as policy, in connection with what they held to be the calling of the Church, as an international Unity of Brethren, propagating the gospel in many lands and under different governments. Their calling, as they viewed it, was not to help make and unmake governments, but to use the privileges and opportunities which the existing government, what- ever it might be, afforded to pursue the one chief object which was the same everywhere, and to seek the peace of the places where they dwelt. While, in consistency with this standard there is no dicussion of the great questions of the time in Moravian records, there is occasional reference to the discord and excitement on occasions like that of the election of an Assemblyman in September, 1764. Indirectly the effects of the efforts being made in that, and the following years by the British Government, burdened with the debts of protracted war, to press more revenue out of the colonies, were felt in the struggles at the polls on such occasions. It was not long before the question of taxation without representation, the obnoxious Stamp Act and the "Declaratory Act" which followed the repeal of the other (1764-66) were topics of conversation, at least among English speaking people, in all corners, even of the back townships, where men gathered at the mills or at the Squire's office and heard matters expounded by some one who was better informed or who regularly read a newspaper.
At Bethlehem there were more men of education and general information and more men who read the newspapers and often got away from home than could probably have been found in any other town of its size in Pennsylvania. They were, moreover, near the county-seat, where Court statedly met, and there was constant contact with men who went to and fro on such business. Further- more, there was not a point at the same distance from Philadelphia so much visited by people from that city, and, with few exceptions,
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
the visitors were of the intelligent classes, very many of them persons of prominent position. That the men of Bethlehem had little to say on the public questions of the time was by no means an evidence that they knew and thought less about them than those who continu- ally "talked politics." The favorite popular idea in modern times, that Bethlehem, in those days, was a secluded hamlet cut off from the world, a kind of large, quiet cloister around which men traveled, wondering what was inside, is a very great fallacy. It was, amid its surroundings of that time, even less so than, by comparison with other progressing towns, it was, half a century later, when things elsewhere were moving and Bethlehem was self-centered and stagnant.
The year 1765, which brought general restoration of orderly life and activity and renewed vigor in trades and industries, also brought the end of what may be called the Indian history of Bethlehem. Under the settlements and arrangements which followed the termin- ation of the Pontiac War, so far as Pennsylvania was concerned, the Moravian Indians were released from the barracks at Philadelphia to be removed in a body to the Wyoming Valley. On March 22, in the midst of a heavy snow-storm they arrived at Bethlehem. They left about sixty of their number behind them, buried in unmarked graves. There were now eighty-three souls belonging to the mission. With them were a number of other peaceable Indians who had surrendered themselves, secured the protection of the Government and latterly occupied the barracks with the Moravian Indians. They were under the responsible escort of Major Thomas Apty, Govern- ment Commissary, with a small guard. They were taken to the houses at Nain to rest a few days. Their arrival awakened much sympathetic interest at Bethlehem. The inclement weather continued during the following days. On Sunday, March 24, the snow lay two feet deep, and such a high wind prevailed that no paths could be opened and services had to be omitted. At the evening service on March 26, the letter of thanks sent to the Governor by the Indians, before they left the barracks, was read to the congregation. March 31, a farewell service was held at Nain which is described as a deeply touching occasion. April 1, William Allen, Jr., arrived from Philadelphia, as a representative of the Governor, to give personal attention to their secure passage through the country between Beth- lehem and the mountains, because it was learned that an attack upon them had been threatened by vindictive men.
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1762-1771.
The next day he had a consultation with the Justices of the several Townships in reference to this matter, and arranged for the time and manner of their departure. April 3-Wednesday of the Holy Passion Week-they set out on their journey to the Indian country, accompanied by the missionaries Zeisberger and Schmick, and escorted by Major Apty, Lieutenant Hundsecker, Sheriff Kichline and Justice Moore. Passing through Bethlehem, they again thanked the people for all the kindness they had experienced and were warmly commended to the Divine protection. A brief halt was made at the Moravian outpost, the Rose Inn, where they were again speeded on their way by words of good cheer and benisons from a number of persons, gathered there to greet them in passing. The next day they reached the ruins of Wechquetank where they built temporary huts of bark and remained until after Easter. Then they continued their journey through the wilderness, a journey of great hardship, and reached Machwihilusing (Wyalusing) on May 9. There a village was laid out, with gardens and fields, and there a new mission was founded which received the name Friedenshuetten-Habitations of Peace-like the temporary Indian village of twenty years before, at Bethlehem. They were permitted to remain there in peace for seven years. Then came again the call to move on, and in 1772 the one hundred and fifty-one people to which this Indian congregation had again grown had to leave their beautiful Friedenshuetten in the Wyoming Valley, and with the fifty-three of the Schechschiquanunk mission which had arisen west of the Susquehanna, proceeded westward to Ohio, to make the Tuscarawas Valley historic. Thus, with the departure of those Indians from Bethlehem on April 3, 1765, Moravian Indian missions in the Lehigh Valley came to an end. The houses of Nain had been sold at auction, on March 30, to citizens of Bethlehem. April 13, they were taken down and removed. Six of them, among which was the chapel of the village, were set up again in Bethlehem and made use of for many years.8
During the summer and autumn of 1765, numerous visits by persons of prominence are alluded to in the diary of Bethlehem. The conspic- uous connection of the place and its people with the dealings between the Government and the Indians had attracted the attention of some of these who otherwise would have taken little notice of the Moravian
8 One of them remains standing at the south-west corner of Market and Cedar Streets. The old chapel, until 1868, stood a little way above that, on the same side of the street, on the site of the present "Chapter House."
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
town. The weekly trips now made by the "stage-wagon" which George Klein, in September, 1763, put on the road between Beth- lehem and Philadelphia made travel more convenient, and the Sun Inn had already acquired the reputation of being by far the best house of entertainment outside of Philadelphia and its immediate environs. The fact that such a hotel was to be found so far up the country added inducements to many to visit the picturesque region of the Lehigh Valley, not merely with a view to investments in land farther up where desirable purchases could be made, but also in mere search of recreation and for the purpose of hunting and fishing; Bethlehem being a convenient point from which to make tours into the back country in various directions. Here and there men of wealth were selecting spots at which to erect a "forest lodge" or a remote country-seat within a day's journey, to and fro, of Bethlehem. One such place quite near, that became the nucleus of a city, now the most populous center in the Lehigh Valley, appears upon the scene at this time. It was the country-seat of the Allens on the Jordan Creek which received the name Trout Hall. Already in December, 1763, the diary of Bethlehem refers to a party with "young Mr. Allen," who were on a hunting trip and passed the night at the Sun. On June 6, 1764, the first mention is made of "Northampton Town," at that point up the river. In July, 1765, Governor John Penn, who was a son-in-law of Chief Justice William Allen, was here with his brother and young Mr. Allen, and they were guests at the Inn. They paid a visit, as it seems, to that place. In October and November, "Mr. Penn, brother of the Governor," and other men from Philadelphia, were again here at intervals, some of them engaged in hunting, as it appears, and on December I, the Governor himself was again in the neighborhood and stopped over night at the Sun. Their movements indicate that they came and went between Bethlehem and "Northampton Town," and perhaps plans in reference to the prospective town were combined with the enjoy- ment sought by sportsmen on these occasions.
During the following summer (1766) there were again many per- sons of note, in connection with public affairs of the time, among the visitors at Bethlehem. One of these, in September, with a party from Philadelphia, was Sir Thomas Stirling, captain of the Royal Highlanders, later prominent in the Revolution, who had in the pre- vious months accomplished a march of over three thousand miles with his troops.
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1762-1771.
In the autumn of 1765, however, a visitor had arrived from Europe whose presence was of far more interest to the people at Bethlehem than that of such persons. This was Bishop David Nitschmann, Jr., often officially styled the "Syndic." He was sent by the central board in Europe to make a thorough inspection of things, to announce and explain the enactments of the important General Synod of 1764, at which the foundations of a proper constitutional church government were laid to take the place of the system that had existed to the death of Zinzendorf in 1760. Nitschmann was a member of the board that had been administering the government of the Church under the ad interim plan, and now was a member of the General Board of Syndics which administered constitutional affairs and represented the government of the Church over against civil and ecclesiastical authorities and the public generally.9 He was accompanied by his wife and reached Bethlehem, November 28, 1765, having come over on the Hope with the Rev. Joseph Neisser and his wife. Their visit gave great pleasure to the people and was regarded as of much importance. Bethlehem was at this time the center of a body of Moravian work embracing, besides the local con- gregation, those on the Nazareth land and the new settlement of Lititz, fourteen congregations and five preaching-places in Pennsyl- vania, New York, New Jersey, the New England States and Mary- land, together with the transplanted Indian mission. Nitschmann visited the most of these places and convened a Synod which was in session at Bethlehem from May 30 to June 4, 1766. One of his tasks at Bethlehem was a thorough examination, assortment and arrange- ment of the archives. Much of the accumulated manuscript matter was filed to remain at the place, some was taken by him to Europe and some was destroyed.10 He remained until September, 1766.
9 David Nitschmann, Jr., was a younger man than Bishop David Nitschmann-since 1760 living in retirement at Bethlehem-who, with his uncle, Father David Nitschmann, founded Bethlehem. This official visitor of 1765 was, with his senior namesake, among the three David Nitschmanns who, with Zeisberger and Toeltschig, were called "the five Moravian Churchmen" of 1724. The General Synod of 1764 instituted the General Boards in control : the Directory, in general oversight ; the Board of Syndics, as stated above; and the Board of Wardens, in charge of the finances.
10 The oldest extant catalogue of the Bethlehem archives was compiled by him at this time. In 1769, he was appointed General Archivist of the Unity. this being considered a post of much importance. Zinzendorf once said " Die Archive ganzer Kirchen giebt man in keine ungewaschene Haende."
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
On the 16th of that month he embarked at Philadelphia, with some others who accompanied him, to return to Europe.
A general toning up of things and a revival of cheerfulness, zeal and harmony, after the disturbing experiences that had again been passed through, resulted from his visit. Various matters, in external affairs, were gotten into better order and simplified. It was decided, among other things, to lease the farms of the place to individual ten- ants, as a more business-like and profitable arrangement, and less troublesome. There was a large increase during 1766 in the demand for wares from the Bethlehem manufactories, so that the most of them were decidedly profitable. Towards the end of 1765, a very substantial stone building11 had been erected in the place of the oil- mill that was burned down in November, 1763. At the time when the rafters were set up, in October, 1765, it was referred to in the records with some pride, as one of the most solid and durable struc- tures in the country. It was equipped with two water-wheels in the center. One was to drive the machinery of the oil-mill, with the hulling and stamping machines and the fan in the loft. The other one was to operate the bark grinder and other appurtenances of the tannery, a hemp-stamper, "of the kind in use on the Rhine," in the first story, and a rubber or grater for hemp in the second story.
The active inception of a larger and eventually more interesting building enterprise comes into view at this time. It was the erection of a home at Bethlehem for the widows, projected some years before. This constituted one of the subjects of deliberation at the Synod in June, 1766, while Bishop Nitschmann, Jr., was in Bethlehem, for it concerned all the ministers and missionaries present and, to some extent, the membership of other congregations ; for, through various circumstances, many a woman from Lititz and the Nazareth places and even from other points would be likely to become an inmate of such a home. The cramped and uncomfortable quarters in the log house at Nazareth were commented upon and it was remarked that it was a hardship for women, after the death of their husbands, to be compelled, for want of a "choir house" for widows at Bethlehem or other suitable quarters, to move up to that house. An earnest appeal for support in this undertaking was written by Sister Wer- wing, the superintendent of the widows, and was communicated at Bethlehem on June 19, 1766. On December 2, the site was selected in the garden opposite the girls' school; the original idea of build-
II The building in which the present water-works of Bethlehem are contained.
I
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FSIS
WIDOWS' HOUSE VIEWS
4II
1762-1771.
ing it at the east end of the Sisters' House having been abandoned because an extension of that establishment was now had in view. On January 8, 1767, the final plans were adopted and the work was soon commenced. The corner-stone was laid April 27, with solemn and impressive services. The widows had all come from Nazareth and were present, together with three who lived at Bethlehem on account of duties in which they were engaged. The building was not entirely finished and ready to be dedicated and occupied until October, 1768. After a farewell service at Nazareth on the previous day, the whole company of widows who had been living there came to Bethlehem on the morning of October 12. A ceremonious recep- tion was accorded them and on that day their new home, with its chapel, was solemnly dedicated in the manner customary in those days. An addition, commenced in 1794 and finished the next year, was built at the east end.12
Another project for the benefit of widows of the Church began to be discussed when the important end of providing them a suitable home had been reached. This was to institute a fund for their benefit, so that those who were left without resources would by this means be assured of something towards meeting their needs. An association for this purpose had been in existence a few years in England, formed by men who, by paying a certain sum, acquired membership and thereby secured for their wives, if they survived them, a share of the income from the interest of the capital thus created. The matter was deliberated upon at the General Synod of the Church in 1769, and the formation of such associations at Beth- lehem and elsewhere was encouraged. A modest beginning was made in 1770. It is referred to in the records of the time as "the founding of a society for the sustentation of poor widows." At a meeting of the Elders of Bethlehem on September 3 of that year, the constitution of the English society and a draft of a similar one for Bethlehem were considered and a committee was appointed to work out this draft and report. On September 15, at a meeting of married men of Bethlehem and other places who had joined, the articles
12 The generous provision by which this historic building was devoted to its present laud- able use is a matter of recent history. In 1871 the late John Jordan, Jr., of Philadelphia, made a gift of $10,000 to maintain it as a home for widows and daughters of Moravian ministers, and other women who have been engaged in church service, under terms and conditions set forth in an agreement between him and the executive authorities of the Church, made in due form of law. In 1889, through the munificence of the same kind donor, the commodious annex to the rear was built.
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A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
reported were adopted and six trustees were elected to develop the details of organization. Before the close of the year there were more than a hundred investors. The first general meeting was held, Janu- ary 2, 1771. The number had then reached a hundred and ten. Six "stewards" were elected to take care of and administer the funds. This, in brief, was the beginning of "The Widows' Society of Beth- lehem," probably the oldest existing beneficial society in America, which since that beginning has disbursed more than $177,000 in small annuities to the widows of deceased members, and is yet pros- pering in its unpretentious work.
During the year 1767, when the building of the Widows' House was in progress, the dwelling accommodations for families in the village were enlarged by the erection of other houses. With this gradual increase of separate households and development of a more ordinary village life, more attention had to be given to perfecting the system of ordinances and regulations needed to meet these changing conditions. Thus on the last two days of June, what was styled a general Polizei-Tag-a kind of town meeting, was held, at which a revised and improved code of rules was communicated, with various connected matters, duly expounded and impressed. On the first of those days the general statutes embodied in the Brotherly Agree- ment, which all male residents who were voting members had to sign, were taken up. On the second day the fire regulations par- ticularly engaged attention. Such a Polisci-Tag was periodically appointed during those years, and in subsequent times, to refresh the memories of the people and to bring necessary matters to their attention; for there were some in those days, as well as in modern times, who forgot the ordinances and the statutes, and even some who violated the rules and needed to be admonished.
During this year some reconstruction of local school arrange- ments again took place. In 1764 a separate day-school for girls, in addition to the boarding-school, and a day-school for boys had been established, because it was not practicable to continue the complete consolidation which had existed for a while. The girls' school became unwieldy and the boys could not all be sent to Nazareth Hall after they outgrew the nursery or infant school, which was yet maintained at Bethlehem, like that for girls, both on a small scale. This day-school for boys was now moved into a room in the finally completed addition to the Brethren's House on September 25. Thus at the close of the period embraced in this chapter, the
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schools at Bethlehem consisted of the infant schools, in which quite young children of missionaries lived, the day-schools for boys and girls and the boarding-school for girls.
The arrangement that had been decided upon to put the several farms in charge of tenants was also carried into effect at the end of March, 1769. Conrad Ernst was the first tenant of "the new farm,"13 that at the Crown Inn, including the fields and improvements of the former Ysselstein place. Marcus Kiefer, blacksmith at Shamokin when the Indian ravages commenced in 1755, took the "Weygandt Farm"14 on the south side. William Angel took the "Burnside Farm," up the Monocacy, and the Bethlehem Farm continued to be operated on the old basis by Frederick Boeckel. It may, in this connection, be mentioned, on account of interesting associations about to be referred to, that at this time the household organization, yet maintained at Friedensthal, ceased. Dorst Alleman leased the Friedensthal farm, while Herman Loesch yet continued to run the mill for the general treasury under the existing arrangement, as it had before been run for the General Economy.
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