USA > Pennsylvania > The German Pietists of provincial Pennsylvania : 1694-1708 > Part 27
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Such was Conrad Matthäi, the last Magister of the Her- mits on the Ridge, or, as he was locally called, der alte Matthäi. In his later years he was known by sight to every man, women and child in the German Township of Philadelphia County. He was respected by the aged and
389
" Der Alte Matthai."
CONRAD MATTHAI, 1678-1748, FROM AN OLD ETCHING.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
reputable citizen, feared by the frivolous and by the children and superstitiously inclined was avoided as a supernatural being.
After the death of Kelpius in 1708, and upon the refusal of Seelig to assume the responsibilities of the leadership of the Theosophical Community, Conrad Matthäi became recognized as the Magister of the Fraternity on the Wissa- hickon, and after the disbanding of the communal organi- zation, he was still recognized as the Magister or Magus of such as remained upon the Vicaris tract and vicinity and lived the life of anchorites or hermits.
The hut on the Hermitage estate, pointed out by Phoebe Righter, and the remains of which, enlarged and improved, now serve as a tenant or farm-house, was undoubtedly the one inhabited by Conrad Matthäi during the last forty years of his life. 416
But little is known of the family or antecedents of this recluse Theosophist, except that he came to the Province in 1704, with others, to reinforce the Community and join the Chapter of Perfection.
According to some accounts he is said to have been a Swiss gentleman, a member of a wealthy and influential family, who had left his native country to join the Mystics on the Wissahickon, and there put to a practical test the occult theories with which he became imbued during his academic career.
Another old record examined by the writer intimates that Conrad Matthäi was a relative of the noted Georg Heinrich Matthäi, who was an instructor at the Harburg (Haarburg ?) University in 1695. However, be this as it inay, that the subject of our sketch was a student of note and a man of great learning is shown by the deference paid to him, not alone by the various religious enthusiasts
416 Vide p. 210, supra.
391
The Magus on the Wissahickon.
who came to these shores, but also by the leaders of the different orthodox denominations within the Province.
Upon frequent occasions his advice and judgment were sought in the various religious movements in which the first half of last century was so fertile.
But little is known of Matthai during the years immedi- ately succeeding the death of Kelpius, except that the communal system was abolished and that of the Separatists or Anchorites adopted.
The evangelistic and educational features of the old Com- munity, however, were retained by the different hermits, as was the practice of astrology and medicine.
The first definite information of Matthäi is found in the " Chronicon Ephretense," where he is mentioned in connec- tion with the arrival, in the fall of 1720, of Conrad Beissel, who had come to America, together with three companions, with the avowed intention of joining the Chapter of Per- fection which they thought still flourished here. Finding, upon their arrival, that the Community had been aban- doned, after a year's sojourn in the vicinity, Beissel and his companion Stuntz, upon the advice of Matthäi, journeyed to the wilds of Chester County to live there a life of con- templation and solitude. The intercourse between Matthäi and Beissel during the latter's sojourn at Germantown was intimate and close, and tended much to influence the latter's eventful course in after years.
In the year 1725 the population of Germantown was in- creased by a little party consisting of an old woman and her four stalwart sons. She was the widow of Michael Eckerling of Strasburg, who had been one of the prime movers in combining the Pietistical inovement with the secret mystical organizations of the day, and in consequence had suffered great persecution in his native city from both
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
church and state. He was by trade a master cap-maker, and a man of some wealth.417
There is no written record as to what interest, if any, Matthäi took in building the large Community house or Monastery, in 1738, on the Wissahickon, some distance up the stream, as a branch of the Ephrata Community ; nor is there anything but tradition to show that lie ever visited the Mystic Community on the Cocalico.
The Ephrata traditions, however, lead us to believe that the Swiss Magus was not an entire stranger to the camp of the "Solitary" at Ephrata. He certainly took an active interest in the Community affairs, as is shown by the tein- porary estrangement with Beissel, after the expulsion of the Eckerling brothers in 1745, where Matthäi espoused the cause of the four brothers.
The differences thus engendered, however, did not last, and were healed prior to the old Theosophist's death. The final reconciliation between the two leaders was effected during a pilgrimage from Ephrata to Philadelphia, June 12, 1747, when the two leaders again embraced each other. The following account of this incident appears in the " Chronicon Ephretense :"
"On the journey he (Conrad Beissel, Father Friedsam) visited his old friend, Conrad Matthäi, not far from German- town. He alone was left of a venerable society, which the celebrated Johann Kelpius had founded, which, after his death, however, was again scattered, as has been mentioned. At this visit, when they embraced each other, a difference
417 In the " Chronicon Ephretense," p. 41, Israel Eckerling, the oldest of the brothers, and who afterwards became the Prior of the Brotherhood of Zion on the Cocalico, tells us how, upon the advice and council of Conrad Matthäi, he, together with his mother and brothers, in the year 1727 left those regions (Germantown) because those people lived in vanity, and he came to the Conestoga country.
White Magic. 393
which had existed between their spirits was removed. They had formerly been good friends, but after the Super- intendent (Beissel) had permitted himself to be instrumental in the new awakening in Conestoga, a separation of their spirits took place, which was healed again by this visit, as just mentioned. Therefore he wrote a favorable letter to him as soon as he returned home, and likewise exhorted Johannes Wüster, in Philadelphia, wlio was also his bene- factor, not to withdraw his hands from him." #18
As has been before stated, the recluse Anchorites on the Ridge, according to popular tradition, in addition to their Theosophical speculations and religious studies, engaged in "white magic," such as casting nativities, exorcising spirits and the practice of horoscopy and devination.
Conrad Matthäi, in addition to the above, was also credited with maintaining communication with the unseen spirit- world, and with the ability of detaching at will his own soul or spirit from the body. Of this latter power, won- derful as it may seem, the following well-authenticated account has come down to us :
"In the year 1740 the wife of a ship captain living in Philadelphia, whose husband was on a voyage to Africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings, over- whelmed with anxiety for his safety, upon the advice of a friend, as a last resort journeyed to the glen of the Wissa- hickon to consult, for council or consolation, "old Father Matthäi." The latter received her kindly and listened to her fears and story. After she was through, he bade her remain and wait where she was for a short time, when he would bring her the intelligence she souglit for. He then left her, going into the back room or closet of his cabin,
418 Chronicon Ephratense, translation, p. 204.
50
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
which was separated from the main room by a door having a small curtained sash in the upper half.
" Long waited the sailor's wife for the Magician's return ; as the time passed slowly by minutes became as hours, and yet no movement was heard or came from the other room. At last her impatience becanie so great, thinking that the old herinit had perhaps passed out of another door and forgotten her, that she peeped through a corner of the sash which was not covered by the curtain, and there, to her surprise, beheld the hermit lying on a rude wooden pallet, as pale and motionless as if he were dead.
"She then resumed her vigil. Shortly afterwards the door opened, and the old hiermit entered, looking pale and wan. He told her that her husband was then in a coffee- louse in London, that he was well and would shortly return. Further, for certain reasons, which he told her, the husband had not been able to send her any letter. With her fears thus greatly allayed, she left the cabin of the old recluse and returned to her home in the city.
" When at last, after a lapse of three months, her hus- band returned to Philadelphia, she learned from him that · the cause for his delay and unusual silence had been word for word as was stated to her by the old Hermit on the Wissahickon.
" The curiosity of the woman, now thoroughly aroused, determined upon a visit to Matthäi with her husband. Upon the arrival at the cabin, the moment that the captain saw the old hermit (who was entirely unknown to him) he told his wife that he had seen this very man, upon such a day (it was the very day that the women had made lier visit) in a coffee-house in London, and that he came to him telling him how distressed was his wife that he liad not written.
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School at John Bechtel's.
"He then told him why he had not written, with the reasons why his return was delayed, but that he was then upon the eve of his departure for home, after which the stranger was lost sight of.
"Another account of this strange occurrence describes the hermit, Conrad Matthäi, a man of retired habits, who spoke but little ; in demeanour grave, benevolent and pious, with nothing against his character except that he, in com- mon with his associates, possessed secrets which were accounted not altogether lawful."
How intimate the relations were between the old Theoso- phist and the various evangelists and missionaries, has been aready told in a previous chapter.
In the latter years of his life the old recluse became too feeble to support himself by his own manual labor. In these days he found a firm friend in Johannes Wüster, the Philadelphia merchant, who lived at Germantown, and who befriended him until his death.
Toward the close of his earthly sojourn, Conrad Matthäi became very friendly with the Moravian Bretheren, and even in his advanced age continued to take a great interest in their efforts to spread the Gospel among all people, and bring about a union of all Christian denominations as well as the education of the children. So great was his interest in the educational problem, that upon the opening of a Moravian boarding-school, in John Bechtel's house, on March 8, 1747, the first to send greetings to the Bretliren is old Father Conrad Matthäi, " who," as Bishop Cammer- hoff writes, " lives a few miles from here in his hut as a recluse." 419
A few months later, May 22, 1747, during the Synod
419 Bethlehem Diaries.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
held at Germantown, Brother Martin Mack visited Mat- thai, at his cabin on the Ridge, accompanied by three In- dian converts, who were presented to the old Pietist as an living evidence of the Brethren's success in spreading the Gospel of Christ among all people. 420
It was, indeed, a picturesque sight wherein the patriar- chial anchorite, with his snow-white hair and flowing beard, clad as he was in his rough home-spun pilgrim garb, formed the chief figure. The Moravian Brethren, in direct con- trast, with their long hair, smooth-shaven faces and plain brown garb, brought out the figure of the old Pietist in in even bolder prominence, while the three dusky Indians, still partly robed in their semi-barbarous costume, added yet more to the charm, and completed the composition, as it were,-the background of which was formed by the hut of the old recluse, with its surroundings of flowering shrubs and dark foliage.
It was a happy day for the Moravian Brethren to be able to present their "first fruits" before the old Magister, and it afforded the latter no less pleasure to greet these practical evidences of the Moravian missionary efforts.
Conrad Matthäi received the Indian converts very kindly, and exhorted them to remain steadfast in their faith, and he finally dismissed them with his blessing, given with his hands uplifted and his face turned to the Orient.
It is recorded that this interview made a lasting impres- sion upon the three Indian converts.
In the fall of the same year Conrad Matthäi, together with Brother Jaebetz (Rev. Peter Miller), Prior of the Ephrata Community, attended the Pennsylvania Synodal Conference held September 25, 1747.
420 These Indians were from Shecomeco and were baptized by Brother Rauch at the Synod held at the house of John de Turck at Olney, Feb- ruary 21, 1742.
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Moravian Evangelists.
This seems to have been the last public occasion on which he was present. During the following winter his healthı continued to fail, the old man getting feebler and feebler as the monthis rolled by.
When his helpless condition became known to the Mora- vian Brethren, he was frequently visited by their evangel- ists, and upon a report of Brothers John Wade and Ludwig Huebner, who came from Neshaminy for the purpose of visiting him in the summer of 1748, Brother Richard Utley 221. was sent down from Bethlehem to remain with him and minister to his wants.
Brother Jasper Payne and his wife, who were then in charge of the Moravian school at Germantown, also attended to his wants, and occasionally sent some of the children over to liis cabin to sing for him, an act which he ever appreciated. As his serious condition became known at Ephrata, a member of the Zionitic Brotherhood was at once dispatched to the Wissahickon to minister to him.
This action upon the part of the Ephrata Community caused more or less friction between the Moravian and Ephrata Brethren, for each party claimed the dying Magis- ter as their own. This peculiar condition was aggravated still more by the fact that the object of their solicitation would neither renounce the one nor acknowledge the other faith.
421 Richard Utley was born in Yorkshire, England, February 22, 1720. Ile was a weaver by trade, received into the Moravian Church in 1742 ; came to America with the " 2d Sea Congregation ;" ordained a Deacon by Spangenburg at Philadelphia, August 14, 1746; Pastor at New York (twice), Lancaster, Philadelphia (1749-52), Graceham (twice). In 1766 was sent to North Carolina and served in congregations, was Warden at Salem, and from 1772-75 member of Prov. Helpers Conference. Died October 9, 1775. " He loved to preach much better than to attend to the duties of Warden or a member of the Conference."-J. W. JORDAN.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
However, toward the latter part of August, 1748, as Conrad Matthäi felt that his end upon earth was drawing near, he sent a request to Brother Payne at Germantown that the children at the Moravian school be sent over to him. When they arrived he asked them to sing for him some parting hymns,-a custom which was then in vogue among the Germans when one's end was approaching.
The hymn which pleased him most and gave him the greatest comfort was the peculiar Moravian hymn of the period, 322_
" Was macht ein Kreuz-luft vögelein Wann's 'naus fliegt aus dem Hüttelein?"
After the singing was over, Matthäi turned toward the East, raised up his hands and prayed fervently ; then turn- ing once more to the children, he blessed them according to the ritual of the Mystic Brotherhood, after which he dismissed them.
Two days later he departed from his humble recluse hut on the Wissahickon to enter into the glorious palaces of his Redeemer the celestial Bridegroom.
Bishop Cammerhoff, in his diary, notes, in reference to the death of Matthäi, that "at his ending his heart was filled with love and tenderness for the Lamb and His con- gregation (Unitas Fratrum). Though the enemies (the Ephrata Mystic Community) tried their utmost to turn him against the congregation, they did not succeed in diverting him."
After the death of the old Pietist, both parties claimed the body for burial, and the Moravian einlader (invitor) went from door to door in Germantown to inform the people that "old Father Matthäi" was dead, and when he was to be buried.
422 Hymn 2251 Zugabe to the xii Anhang.
.
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Burial of Matthai.
Notwithstanding this somewhat unseemly rivalry between the two opposing orders, in the end a compromise was effected by which both parties officiated at the funeral. This happy result, it is said, was effected by Johannes Wüster, who bore the funeral expenses.
In the main the wishes of the deceased were respected, at least in so far that his grave was dug at the feet of that of his former Magister, Johannes Kelpius, as he considered himself unworthy to repose by his side. This spot, accord- - ing to Bishop Cammerhoff, was but a short distance from the hut lately inhabited by the dead Mystic.
The interment took place on Thursday, September I, 1748, in the presence of a large concourse of people, promi- nent among whom was Dr. Christopher Witt, now the last survivor of the former Community, and Johannes Wüster, the German merchant of Philadelphia. Although the ser- vices commenced witli an address by Brother Timotlieus (Alexander Mack) of the Zionitic Brotherhood of Ephrata, the ceremonies virtually ended in a Moravian burial, the chief feature of whichi was the reading of a biographical sketch of the deceased, followed by a sermon by Rev. James Greening, who had come up from Philadelphia expressly for that purpose, and, as Bishop Cammerhoff writes, "por- trayed to all present the Lamb with His wounds and bloody martyr scene," after which the body was consigned to the mother earth amidst the singing by all present of the hymn, " Christi blut und gerechtigkeit." #23
423 This hymn is still in use by the Moravian Church throughout the world. The English translation, hymn 302 in the new Hymnal, reads : "The Saviour's blood and righteousness
My beauty is, my glorious dress ;
Thus well arrayed, I need not fear,
When in His presence I appear."
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
The Chronicon Ephretense, commenting upon the death of the old Mystic, states: "Conrad Matthäi, after he had fulfilled righteousness among men by works of love, came to live a life of faith, whereupon God awakened for him a rich merchant, by the name of Johannes Wüster, who served him with his possessions, and also helped to bury him by the side of Kelpius, although he in his humility had not desired to lie beside him, but only at his feet. May God grant him a blessed resurrection."
.. Two weeks after the burial of the last of the Herinits who remained on the Ridge, Christopher Sauer, in his paper Pennsylvanische Berichte, September 16, 1748, pub- lished the following notice :
" Conrad Matthäi, der alte Einsiedler auf der Ritch, ist den Isten dieses Monats begraben im 70 Yahr seines Alters."
In the MS. minutes of the Brüder-Synode, held at Beth- lehem from October 12-23 to 16-27, 1748, appears the fol- lowing interesting entry relating to the death and burial of Conrad Matthäi. On account of its quaintness and as an illustration of the peculiar religious literature in vogue in Pennsylvania at that period, the extract is reproduced verbatim :
" Bei gelegenheit der Kinderanstalt in Germantown allwo geschwister Payns mit ihren gehilfen sind wurde erzählet dass unser lieber Bruder Conrad Matthäi der auf der Ridge zeci meilen von Germantown gewohnet vor 5 wochen recht selig sum lieben Lammlein gegangen sei.
" Zu seiner krankheit haben ihn unsere geschwister von Germantown desgleichen auch bruder Uttly der express dazu von Bethlehem aus abgeschickt worden, fleissig besucht. Und sonderlich sind die Kinder in der Germantown anstalt seines herzens lust und freude gewesen, die ihn auch etwa 2 tage vor seiner heimfarth noch einmal besucht, und ihm auf
PIETISTS OF PROVINCIAL PENNSYLVANIA.
2
()
i-
7
3
GROUP OF MORAVIAN EVANGELISTS WHO LABORED IN PENNSYLVANIA.
1 COUNT LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF.
2 BISHOP AUGUST G. SPANGENBERG.
3 BISHOP DAVID NITCHMANN.
4 BISHOP J. C F CAMMERHOFF.
5 BRO. JOHN MARTIN MACK.
6 BRO. FRIEDERICH MARTIN.
7 BRO. GEORG NEISSER.
FROM THE ORIGINAL PORTRAITS IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE CHURCH AT BETHLEHEM. BY PERMISSION OF THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL COMMITTEE, VIDE FOOT-NOTE, P. 7, SUPRA.
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A Moravian Tribute.
besucht, und ihm auf seinem verlangen viel wunden und seiten-hölchens-versel zum abschied gesungen haben.
" Item,-Sein Seelchen wird sich auch einmal aus seinem Hüttlein schwingen.
" Da er dann seine Hände empor gehoben und mit einem hertzlichen gebet die Kinder gesegnet und ein paar tage darauf recht selig ins seiten-hölchen gefahren. Sein hertz ist bis an sein ende voller liebe und zärtlichkeit zum Lamm- lein u zu seiner Gemeine geblieben, und alle die feinde die ihr auserstes an ihn versucht um ihn gegen die Gemeine einzunehmen haben ihn nicht zu stöhren vermocht.
" Und da sein Hüttlein nahe bei den alten Baron Kelpio zur ruhe gebracht worden so hat zuerst Alexander Mack dabei eine rede gehalten und hernach Bruder Greening das Lämmlein und seine wunden und blutige Martyrs gestalt allen anwesenden vorgemahlet. Wie dann auch in den zeitungen etwaz davon erzehlet worden."
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DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER WITT.
MERCY JUSTICE
ARMS OF PENN, FROM THE FIRST PRO- VINCIAI. CURRENCY, PRINTED 1723.
OCTOR Christopher Witt, who died at Ger- mantown toward the close of January, 1765, at the advanced age of ninety years, was, so far as is known, the last survivor of all the Pietists, philo- sophical students and religious enthusiasts who, during the life- time of Magister Kelpius, had been connected with the Theo- sophical Community on the Wissahickon.
It was ordained for him to outlive his fellows, to soothe their sufferings, and in some cases to close the eyes of such as remained in the vicinity, or came to him from afar in their time of sore distress,42' as in the instance of Isaac van Bebber. +25
424 Chronicon Ephretense, translation p. 18.
425 This Isaac van Bebber, according to the Chronicon, was a young Hollander and an early companion of Beissel ; he was a nephew or rela- tive of the Isaac van Bebber at whose house Köster instituted the Luth- eran services upon his arrival in 1694.
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Christian Warmer.
When finally it came to the time for Christopher Witt to leave this transitory world and rejoin his former com- panions, his last act was to devise the bulk of his property, togetlier with the house in which he lived, to Christian Wariner, a grandson of the charitable tailor who had done so inany acts of kindness to Kelpius and his fellow Pietists during the times of sickness and adversity.
Christopher Witt, or DeWitt as lie is sometimes called, was born in Wiltshire, England, in the year 1675; he came to America in the year
Christopher Witt AUTOGRAPH OF DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER WITT.
1704, and at once join- ed the Theosophical enthusiasts on the Wissahickon. He was then in his twenty-ninth year, and in addition to being a thorough naturalist and a skillful physician, was well versed in the occult sciences and in practical astronomy.
On account of his varied accomplishments he was per- haps, to the public at large, the most valuable man of the Mystic Community, and from the very outset his services as a physician were called into requisition, not only by the residents of the immediate vicinity, but also from out- lying districts, his fame extending even into the adjoining provinces.
Shortly after the death of Kelpius and the partial dis- memberment of the Community, Doctor Witt, together with Daniel Geissler, the former famulus of the Magister, removed into a small house in Germantown upon the land of Christian Warmer. Their personal wants were care- fully attended to by the Warmer family, which then con- sisted of Christian, the emigrant, Christiana his wife, two sons, George and Christian, and two daughters, Christiana and Elizabeth.
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The Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania.
In September of the year 1718, Dr. Witt purchased, for £60, silver currency, from John Doeden and wife, two tracts of land containing in the aggregate 125 acres; 10I of which were located within the inhabited parts of the town, the rest being pasture land in the township. The witnesses to this conveyance were Matthias Zimmermann 426 and Daniel Geissler.
On the 21st of May, 1720, Witt, as " Doctor of Physic and Chirurgene," deeded the whole of this purchase to Cliristian Warmer, " Taylor," the consideration being the same amount as above. This deed was witnessed by Daniel Geissler, Pieter Keyser, Phillip Christian Zimmer- mann and Matthis Melan.
Christian Warmer, prior to his death in the spring of 1728, made the following provision in his will for the two Theosophists :
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