Pilots of the Republic: The Romance of the Pioneer Promoter in the Middle WestHulbert, Archer Butler
History
Pilots of the Republic: The Romance of the Pioneer Promoter in the Middle West
Hulbert, Archer Butler
Canals -- United States; Mississippi River Valley -- History; Northwestern States -- History; Pioneers -- United States
The record of Zeisberger's resolute faithfulness to the remnant of his
church from this time onward is almost incredible. Like a Moses he led
them always, and first to a temporary home in Macomb County, Michigan.
From there they were in four years driven by the Chippewas. The forlorn
pilgrims now set sail in two sloops on Lake Erie; they took refuge from
a terrible storm in the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. For a time they
rested at a temporary home in Independence Township, Cuyahoga County.
Famine drove them in turn from here. Setting out on foot, Zeisberger
led them next along the shore of Lake Erie westward to the present
site of Milan, Erie County, Ohio. Here they resided until the outbreak
of the savage Indian War of 1791. To escape from this, Zeisberger
secured from the British government a tract of land twelve miles long
and six miles wide for the Moravian Indians along the Grand River in
Canada. Here the pilgrims remained six years. But with the close of the
Indian War, it was possible for them to return to their beloved home
in the Tuscarawas Valley. The United States had given to the Moravian
Church two tracts of land here, embracing the sites of the three towns
formerly built, containing in all twelve thousand acres.
Back to the old home the patriarch Zeisberger brought his little
company in the year 1798. His first duty in the gloomy Gnadenhütten
was not forgotten. With a bowed head and heavy heart the old man and
one assistant gathered from beneath the dense mass of bush and vine,
whither the wild beasts had carried them, the bones of the ninety and
more sacrificed Christians, and over their present resting-place one of
the proudest of monuments now rises. For full ten years more this hero
labored in the shadow of the forests where his happiest days had been
spent, and only as the Winter of 1808 came down upon the valley from
the lakes did his great heart cease beating and his spirit pass through
the heavenly gates.
The dust of this true hero lies, as he requested, surrounded by the
remains of those "brown brethren" whom he led and loved so long, when
all the world reviled them and persecuted them and said all manner of
evil against them falsely. In 1908 the memory of this man will have
blessed us for a full century. Shall not a more appropriate token of
our esteem replace the little slab that now marks that hallowed grave?
And yet no monument can be raised to the memory of David Zeisberger so
valuable or so significant as the little pile of his own manuscripts
collected by Edward Everett and deposited by him under lock and key, in
a special case in the library of Harvard University. Here are fourteen
manuscripts, including a Delaware Indian dictionary, a hymn book, a
harmony of the Gospels, a volume of litanies and liturgies, and a
volume of sermons to children.
CHAPTER VI
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account