The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740Fries, Adelaide L. (Adelaide Lisetta)
History
The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740
Fries, Adelaide L. (Adelaide Lisetta)
Moravians -- Georgia
In the latter part of January, 1738, eight more of the Moravian
colonists left Savannah,--Gotthard Demuth and his wife, George Waschke,
his wife and mother, Augustin Neisser, Gottlieb Demuth, and David Jag,
those who remained giving them money and provisions for their journey
to Pennsylvania. Gotthard Demuth and wife settled in Germantown,
later moving to Bethlehem and joining in the organization of that
Congregation. In 1743 they were again living at Germantown, where
Gotthard died the following year. Regina subsequently married David
Tanneberger and moved once more to Bethlehem. Gottlieb Demuth lived
at several places, but finally married, and settled in the Moravian
Congregation at Schoeneck. Jag, who located at Goshenhopper, and the
Waschkes and Augustin Neisser who went to Germantown, never rejoined the
Church.
On the 28th of January, the Moravians in Savannah received an
unlooked-for addition to their number. Toeltschig wrote to Spangenberg,
“Yesterday two boys, who belong to Herrnhut, came unexpectedly to our
house. They ran away from the Brethren in Ysselstein and went to Mr.
Oglethorpe in London, begging him to send them to the Brethren in
Georgia. He did so, but we will have to pay their transportation. One is
Zeisberger’s son David, about 17 years old, and the other John Michael
Schober, about 15 years old. Both are bad boys.” It appears that when
Zeisberger’s parents went to Georgia he was left in Herrnhut to finish
his education. From there Count Zinzendorf took him to a Moravian
settlement near Utrecht, Holland, where he was employed as errand boy
in a shop. He was treated with well-meant but ill-judged severity, and
finally after a particularly trying and undeserved piece of harshness in
October, 1737, he and his friend Schober decided to try and make their
way to his parents in Georgia. In this they succeeded, and though their
story was received with disapprobation, they soon made a place for
themselves. Schober did not live very long, but Zeisberger, from the
“bad boy” of Toeltschig’s letter, became the assistant of Peter Boehler
in South Carolina, and later the great “apostle to the Indians”.
During this Spring the Moravians strained every nerve to do an amount
of work sufficient to balance their account with the Trustees. It took
a little longer than they expected, but at last Toeltschig was ready for
his journey to England, the lot having previously decided that he should
go as soon as financial affairs made it proper. His wife remained in
Savannah, it being uncertain whether he would stay in Germany or return
to America. John Regnier took his place as financial agent of the
Moravians.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account