George Whitefield: A Biography, with special reference to his labors in AmericaBelcher, Joseph
Religion
George Whitefield: A Biography, with special reference to his labors in America
Belcher, Joseph
Whitefield, George, 1714-1770
"January following, 1739, I met my family at Georgia, and being
unwilling to lose any time, I hired a large house, and took in all
the orphans I could find in the colony. A great many also of the
town's children came to school gratis, and many poor people that
could not maintain their children, upon application, had leave given
them to send their little ones for a month or two, or more as they
could spare them, till at length my family consisted of between
sixty and seventy. Most of the orphans were in poor case, and three
or four almost eaten up with lice. I likewise erected an infirmary,
in which many sick people were cured and taken care of gratis. I
have now by me a list of upwards of a hundred and thirty patients,
which were under the surgeon's hands, exclusive of my own private
family. About March I began the great house, having only about one
hundred and fifty pounds in cash. I called it _Bethesda_, because
I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls. Many boys have
been put out to trades, and many girls put out to service. I had
the pleasure, the other day, to see three boys work at the house in
which they were bred, one of them out of his time, a journeyman,
and the others serving under their masters. One that I brought from
New England is handsomely settled in Carolina; and another from
Philadelphia is married, and lives very comfortably in Savannah. We
have lately begun to use the plough, and next year I hope to have
many acres of good oats and barley. We have nearly twenty sheep and
lambs, fifty head of cattle, and seven horses. We hope to kill a
thousand weight of pork this season. Our garden is very beautiful,
furnishes us with all sorts of greens, etc., etc. We have plenty
of milk, eggs, poultry, and make a good deal of butter weekly. A
good quantity of wool and cotton have been given me, and we hope to
have sufficient spun and wove for the next winter's clothing. The
family now consists of twenty-six persons. Two of the orphan boys
are blind, one is little better than an idiot. I have two women to
take care of the household work, and two men and three boys employed
about the plantation and cattle. A set of Dutch servants has been
lately sent over. The magistrates were pleased to give me two; and I
took in a poor widow, aged near seventy, whom nobody else cared to
have. A valuable young man from New England is my schoolmaster, and
in my absence performs duty in the family. On Sabbaths, the grown
people attend on public worship at Savannah, or at White Bluff, a
village near Bethesda, where a Dutch minister officiates. The house
is a noble, commodious building, and every thing sweetly adapted
for bringing up youth. Georgia is very healthy; not above one, and
that a little child, has died out of our family since it removed to
Bethesda."
A tabular statement follows this account, giving full particulars of
the eighty-six children who to that period had been admitted into
the establishment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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