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 58
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
35
530
A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
one, "Conference of Helpers in General of the Congregations and Stations in Pennsylvania and adjacent parts," referred to in a pre- ceding note, was given them.18
The rationale of all this was to eliminate, under the policy of that period, all semblance of autonomy from the body of American settle- ments, congregations and stations, as an integral section (Province) of the Unity; to place them, like those in Germany, under the immediate control of the Unity's Elders' Conference more fully, this board holding direct relations to them severally, as congre- gations, and undertaking to deal across the ocean with all their internal affairs, the same as a governing board on the spot. Such a thing as an American Provincial Government did not really exist under this arrangement. There was no Synod, properly speaking, from the last such gathering in 1768 until 1817. The meetings that took its place were merely conferences of ministers, shorn of all power to legislate independently, even on the most trifling things. What may be called the Provincial Board by courtesy was only an admin- istrative agency of the Unity's Elders' Conference, composed of its appointees sent over from Europe, from time to time, as vacancies occurred. They possessed no power of independent action in any particular beyond what they were occasionally compelled to exercise in emergencies. A related feature of this policy was the abandon- ment of church extension, so far as embracing opportunities to organize further city and country congregations was concerned. The growth of those which did exist was restricted by the system then everywhere established, of making even admissions to membership subject to the use of the lot, and by imposing regulations upon them as closely akin to those of the exclusive settlements as possible, and as nearly uniform as possible, even in the most petty details, quite regardless of varying circumstances and classes of people.
The only kind of extension taken into consideration under this regime was that invited by large land-owners who held out induce- ments for the founding of additional settlements after the model of Bethlehem. But one after another, these propositions, after inter- minable deliberations, came to nought in consequence of what the board in Germany concluded were insurmountable difficulties; these being often matters of detail which from the standpoint of present- day views, seem unimportant and sometimes even petty. The rigid
18 "Helfer Conferenz in's ganze der Pennsylvanischen und umliegenden Gemeinen und Posten."
531
1778-1785.
system which had been elaborated and everywhere imposed, required, in such cases, provision for every feature that entered into the organi- zation and equipment of the existing exclusive settlements, and when the means for such provision were not in sight the project must needs be abandoned. That under such a regime the Moravian Church in America, as a whole, as well as its several settlements and congregations, entered upon a stationary period, got out of touch with the spirit and movement of the country about them, became confirmed in an isolated, unique, quiescent character-self-absorbed and somewhat open to the charge of narrow self-complacency and conceit, like those in Europe-was natural and inevitable. That at Bethlehem and the other exclusive settlements, it was found by and by, that this isolation did not exclude human nature in any of its elements and phases; did not suffice to make all people perfectly good and harmonious, contented and happy, was just as natural and inevitable. On the other hand, the vitality preserved in spite of all the artificial restraints and trammels, so that these settlements did not become effete in the exotic character forced upon them-a vitality which was able eventually to emancipate itself and adjust itself to surroundings that had moved far away from them in the development of the country-remains a matter of surprise.
This stationary, exclusive and quiescent condition of Bethlehem was fixed by the results of deWatteville's visit. Such a more pro- nounced isolation of the Moravian villages was the alternative chosen when the question of future policy had to be decided after the Revo- lution. The other would have been to fully fall into line with the new general movements of the time. This would have required the entire abandonment of the church-village plan, and for many reasons deemed cogent, this was regarded as undesirable, impracticable, even fatal to Moravian ideals. The logic of the situation seemed to demand a decided course in one direction or the other. That which was taken greatly retarded the growth of the Moravian Church and accounts for its comparative smallness at the present time. Nearly fifty years passed before it began to organize new congregations again, and some old ones had, under this system, been permitted to die. But at Bethlehem, and its other exclusive settlements, it pre- sented one of the most interesting experiments in methods of reli- gious culture, municipal organization, regulation of business-adjust- ing supply and demand, taking care of the place and claim of each, preventing aggrandizement on the one hand and impoverishment
532
A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
on the other, making the millionaire and the pauper alike impos- sible-that can be found anywhere by the student of these matters.
In its effects on the general spirit of Bethlehem, deWatteville's sojourn was highly beneficial. His personal influence in allaying friction, smoothing out the wrinkles, reducing the jarring that had been produced during the trying years of the Revolution, and in gen- erally toning up the esprit de corps, was very great. His earnest appeals to heart and conscience were effective in recalling to their better selves, some who had drifted away from the standards, and in checking the inroads of baleful tendencies, such as intemperate indulgence in strong drink, which had become a cause for serious alarm in some quarters and had borne some sad fruit.
The entire system of finances was thoroughly examined and the agreements between Bethlehem and the Wardens of the Unity, as well as the Pennsylvania Sustentation Diacony, made in 1771, were renewed. Notwithstanding the grievous burdens of eight years of war and the heavy taxes which yet continued, the Bethlehem Con- gregation Diacony at the closing of accounts on May 31, 1784, not only showed no deficit for the year, but revealed that the amount for which its property in buildings stood obligated to the Wardens of the Unity-£10,000 in 1771-had been reduced to the extent of £3,500. It was found that the finances of the Sisters' House were in a gratifying condition. Those of the Widows' House showed a small deficit, due to the fact that there was less opportunity for carry- ing on productive industries, and that the rates for board had to be fixed very low on account of the indigence of most of the widows. The finances of the Brethren's House were not in good shape, owing to the long demoralization of most of the industries carried on by the single men, from which they had not recovered, the drain caused by the heavy war taxes and militia fines, which almost bankrupted their establishment, and a lack of loyalty and zeal in their common cause shown by some of the single men since the war. Some diffi- culty in the adjustment of wages to the price of living was also being experienced. It is stated, early in 1785, that the warden of the Brethren's House was finding some relief for the situation by the barter of products, especially from the oil-mill and from the oat and barley-hulling mill, for provisions in Philadelphia, enabling him to procure these cheaper than they could be furnished him through the Bethlehem store. In this connection the regulations of the time in the matter of mutual support between the various establishments of
533
1778 -- 1785.
the place appear, for while the authorities acquiesced in this enter- prise on the part of the warden of the Brethren's House, under the peculiar circumstances, strong disapproval of the practice of some people of commissioning him to make purchases in the city, was offi- cially expressed. The people were admonished to patronize their own village store, just as each of them expected the support of his brethren and fellow-citizens in his particular trade or business.
It is of interest to note that in connection with the need of farmers and of various craftsmen and artisans, such as shoemakers, tailors, linen-weavers, tinkers, a brazier and a coppersmith, then wanted in the industrial revival and advance, and to be secured from the church settlements in Europe, if possible, the decision was recorded when this matter was under discussion, that there should be no previous binding contract with such men, or advance of money for traveling expenses to America, for should any of them prove to be useless or unfaithful, the higher law of the place, as based on Christian brother- hood, would leave them a charge upon its resources, if indigent or sick. Thus, in its limited scope, Bethlehem, at that time, considered and pronounced upon the questions of pauper immigration and imported contract labor on which, in modern times, the United States Government makes laws.
A final important reconstruction effected at the opening of the new era, under Bishop deWatteville's supervision, was that of the boarding-school for girls, to be yet mentioned in this chapter. It is an interesting fact that at this third epoch in the history of that department of Moravian work in Pennsylvania, his wife, the Countess Benigna, again took part in shaping its plan and course-she who had opened the original school for girls in Germantown, May 4, 1742, and helped in its re-organization and permanent establishment at Bethlehem, January 5, 1749. The desire of various people outside the Moravian Church to have their daughters educated at Bethle- hem, which, as already stated, led to the thought of restoring the school to its original character on an enlarged scale, as a general boarding-school for girls, had been anticipated by action of the Gen- eral Synod of 1782. Such applications to the schools of the Church in Europe had there led to a similar move. Prior to 1769, both in Europe and America, all the children of Moravian settlements had been educated in their schools at the expense of the general treasury of the Unity. Then, this being no longer financially feasible, and more complete local organization being everywhere effected, only
534
A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
the children of ministers and missionaries continued to be so cared for, and arrangements had to be made to support schools for the other children out of the several congregation diaconies. This new arrangement went into effect at Bethlehem in 1771, as was men- tioned in a previous chapter.
The General Synod of 1782 was made attentive to a movement to so re-organize or newly establish schools in the church settlements of Germany and England, that the desire of outside people to place their children in such schools might be met and, at the same time, by means of the enlarged facilities and increased school income thus available, the very important end be gained to secure better school- ing for the village children without a heavier financial burden on the people ; while the presence of such boarding-scholars would, further- more, be a financial benefit to the several places in other ways. The Synod, taking the whole subject into consideration, concluded that this movement also indicated a mission which the Moravian settle- ments might fulfill in making educational work in their way, on this basis, a special department of Christian service to the public, and therefore officially authorized undertakings in this direction.
Thus opened the new era of schools, both for boys and girls, in the Moravian villages, with the two classes of scholars-boarders and day-scholars; the era of the boarding-schools in their modern char- acter, as one of the special departments of Moravian activity. In the boarding-school for girls at Bethlehem there had been, during the Revolution, a great decrease in the number of daughters of mis- sionaries from the West Indies and South America, and at this time, although it had not, like Nazareth Hall, been temporarily closed, there were only five inmates. After many deliberations, a scheme for the institution on the new basis was matured, and plans for the re-organization and re-opening of Nazareth Hall, as a boarding- school for boys, were worked out at the same time.
October 2, 1785, the school for girls, thus re-organized, entered the new period of its existence with those five boarders, Susan Bagge, Rosina Friedman, Maria Heckewelder, Anna Unger and Maria Unger as a nucleus, and eleven girls as day-scholars. Two former teachers, Elizabeth Burnet, serving since 1757, and Susan Langaard, retired ; also Juliana Esther Wapler, for many years the matron, and Anna Margaret Motz, for a while the stewardess. Two other teachers, Maria Elizabeth Beroth and Sulamith Nyberg, continued under the new order, performing also some of the duties of the retired matron
535
1778-1785.
and stewardess, while John Frederick Peter and his wife became curators of the establishment. The whole was in charge of the Head Pastor at Bethlehem, the Rev. John Andrew Huebner, as first "Inspector," or Principal of the new period, and its quarters continued to be in the bell-turret building-"Old Seminary" or "bell house"-in which it was established in 1749. On October 3, eleven Bethlehem boys were taken to Nazareth Hall and that institution was re-opened with the Rev. Charles Gotthold Reichel as Principal and George Godfrey Miller and Lewis Huebener as teachers, while a little boys' school was continued at Bethlehem.
CHAPTER XIV.
Two DECADES UNDER THE CLOSE REGIME.
1786-1806.
The re-establishment of Bethlehem on the basis of more complete conformity to the Herrnhut model caused it to become stationary amid surroundings that were all in flux politically, ecclesiastically, industrially and socially. This was, in accordance with the revised scheme, consummated step by step during the year 1786 and the first months of 1787. Bishop de Watteville and his wife, having finished their work in America, bade farewell to Bethlehem on June 4, 1787, and went to Philadelphia, where they had engaged passage for Europe on the brig Ruby, Captain Sam. Smith. They sailed on June 12. They were accompanied by several other persons. One of these was Susan von Gersdorff, the superintendent of the Sisters' House during the Revolution, who returned to Germany. Bethle- hem was left to struggle with the experiment of extreme exclusivism amid conditions more adverse to such a regime than could have been found anywhere in civilized countries-with the experiment of strict paternal government at a time when the contagion of independence was in the air to such an extent that even the legitimate outcome of the Revolution in the creation of federal government had to fight for its life, when the war was over, with many who, after indepen- dence had been achieved, wanted also to be independent even of a central government of their own. The spirit of the brewing French Revolution, already in the atmosphere of the times, moving the thinking and the unthinking, the educated and the ignorant in their several ways, could not be entirely kept out of even Bethlehem. An aversion to being controlled became contagious, especially among the younger men of the place, from the more intelligent craftsmen and mechanics who read books and newspapers and discussed the great movements of the time, down to the stable boys, who got ideas from others of their kind and tugged at their leading strings. The old heroic days of Bethlehem were a thing of the past, never to return.
536
537
1786-1806.
The spirit and aims of earlier times were specially recalled and fervently impressed upon the people on one memorable occa- sion during this period. This was when the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the settlement-Bethlehem's first jubilee-was celebrated with high festivities on June 25, 1792. A festal eve ser- vice of humble confession, fervent prayer and grateful praise was held on the previous evening. At six o'clock in the morning, the trombonists, stationed on the belvedere or roof-terrace of the Breth- ren's House, ushered in the festival with stirring chorales. At half- past eight, the people gathered to morning prayer. At the next ser- vice, at ten o'clock, a historical sketch of Bethlehem and several original poems treating of the theme of the occasion were read. There was lovefeast at three o'clock, the Holy Communion was celebrated at seven o'clock, and after that the day was closed with evening prayer around a pyramid of light in the square in front of the bell-turret house or old seminary. The entire town entered into the spirit of the day. Illuminations were arranged in the evening in nearly every building of the place, and the feeling prevailed that all ages and classes had a part in this great festival. There was an uplifting of spirit in the contemplation of noble men and women, and noble deeds, awakened by the historical review. The thought was impressed anew that Bethlehem had been founded to the glory of God, and had been preserved through tribulation and peril by His mighty hand for a further mission in His Name.
The festival was beneficial in its effects on the general tone of the place, and it evidently made many a one attentive to ideals that should not be abandoned. But it did not permanently revive the aspirations of the early years, or kindle anew the first love. To be heroically altruistic was not in the atmosphere of the time. The spirit of self- denying co-operation for the maintenance of ideals had given way, among many, to that of merely striving to better individual circum- stances, either by leaving and seeking their fortune in the world or by staying and trying to get all they could out of the establishment with the least necessary return on their part ; some doing this by agitation and clamor, other by circumvention. The former-those who left- deserved more credit than the latter and, although their depar- ture often saddened the hearts of the village fathers, they caused them less trouble and did not resort to dishonorable little ways of seeking their own interests, as the latter frequently did. Many other men, both married and single, were good and faithful and true. They
538
A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
were yet in sympathy with the old ideals, and continued to associate their place and calling with missionary work and with the service of Christ. In them the men who were sincerely trying to maintain exalted standards always found support. There were yet others who, although quiescent, so far as action for or against established ideas, principles and methods was concerned, were nevertheless a burden, for they perpetually murmured and found fault. The growth of this spirit, under such a regime, among those who lacked the force or the opportunity to do anything alse, was natural and became a prominent characteristic of Moravian villagers. The system was well adapted to developing a chronic disposition to grumble among persons who were so inclined and who in their narrow confines were given to magnifying the smallest occasions for dissatisfaction. With all there was of comfort and unconcern for the lesser spirits, in the state of being entirely taken care of, there appeared with it also the common propensity of persons who are beneficiaries to childishly dwell upon little grievances, supposed inequalities in the bestowal of favors, partiality in assigning places or tasks and the like. Those who had more energy and were engaged in occupations that gave them more importance, but who did not figure in controlling circles, chafed under an order of things that subjected them to so much official surveillance, and all their doings and affairs to such close and constant supervision.
What the old devotion and enthusiasm could submit to without growing restive, the spirit of those last decades of the century found very galling at times. The men, both at the top and in minor places, who were set in authority under the system, differed in ability, force and tact, as well as in heart. Some were able to control easily and hold good will, some could even inspire subordinates with loy- alty and zeal. Others were unable to be anything but a hardship to those under them. Not all could in a pleasing manner pursue the strictness and minuteness of the worked-out instructions under which they performed their official duties. Some were disposed to impress their own importance by being minutely severe and playing the mar- tinet. There were men then, just as there are now, who quickly grew great by being put into some little office and being clothed with a little authority .. Under such it was less easy for persons to patiently bear the yoke, and their assumptions often provoked insubordination and caused friction that under larger minded and wiser men would not have appeared. During the first years after
539
1786-1806.
the Revolution, more difficulty was experienced in all these respects than some years later, when the machinery of the place ran smoother and the period of serious new jarring and friction had not opened.
In numerous features, however, the life of the place was a very attractive one in its quiet retirement, its orderly industry, its degree of social equality and harmony hardly to be met with anywhere else except in similar Moravian villages, its average comfort among all classes, its genial intercourse which among many tempered the fault- finding spirit into a harmless habit, its cultivation of much aesthetic taste under the unpretentious plainness, particularly in music, and the picturesque externals of the situation. Such characteristics were usually charming to people who visited Bethlehem and did not come into contact with the things that were less pleasing, for these commonly escaped the attention of the outsider. The latter, which have thus been cursorily sketched, can indeed hardly become known and would not be associated now with those idyllic days except through an examination of the minutes of official boards. These records reveal how difficult it was to regulate some things and some men, and they give an insight into the sombre features of the situa- tion.
Some of the difficulties were occasioned, of course, by the attempt to operate, in all particulars, the over-wrought system that was imposed, often giving rise to serious embarrassments in quite trivial matters without compensating benefit resulting from the methods. It is true also that it was the official custom of those days, when treating of the conduct of people, to make use of language, in the way of allusion, that conveys the impression of something far more serious than really lay in many a case, so that such allusions must be taken with caution and with a proper understanding of the official expressions in vogue, in justice to many an individual referred to whose offence was really but a trifling thing. It is true, further- more, that the paternal administration of those days was disposed to attach too much odium in the relative estimate of various offences, to the particular one of insubordination, a very undefined misde- meanor ; one in which very insignificant occurrences were sometimes magnified by small men, jealous of their authority, into grave offences, and the offender was occasionally as much officially sinned against as sinning-like a child provoked to wrath. Nevertheless, many of the difficulties were experienced in the effort to suppress propensities and to keep out influences that were really evil. One most frequently referred to was intemperance in the use of strong
540
A HISTORY OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.
drink, mentioned in the previous chapter, which seems to have pre- vailed in some circles-as generally throughout the country at that period-to a deplorable extent. This was the most prominent evil in the declining establishment of the single men at Christiansbrunn, which finally sank into decadence that became hopeless. It had to be closed out on April 1, 1796, when the important farm and indus- tries were put in charge of a few competent and trustworthy men, mainly men with families, and several of the deteriorated bachelors were given a mere asylum there under watchful restraint.
Another flagrant vice which was particularly characteristic of that age throughout the country generally and at Bethlehem found its way into some circles to an extent that called forth earnest pastoral admonition, was the practice of coarse profanity. A spirit of irreverence, indifference and levity, over against sacred things, among many inmates of the Brethren's House and even among some heads of families, and a disposition to neglect the services of the sanctuary under all kinds of flimsy pretexts, occasioned the Elders' Conference of the village much anxiety. In all these things, the taint of bad influences during war times and the invading spirit of the age in revolt against long accepted religious tenets, ecclesiastical traditions and even moral restraints, did no little damage in Beth- lehem during those closing years of the century and taxed the resources of its guardians. Possibly if the policy of complete open- ing up had been adopted at this period, in harmony with the general course of things in the country, the result might have been disastrous to the spiritual and material trusts providentially committed to Beth- lehem. Perhaps the system, given the name of "close regime" in the heading of this chapter, was at that time, all things being considered, the best, as a means of conserving the body of resources centered at the place for more effective future unfolding and use under other conditions.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.