Chapter VI: Disintegration (2)

On the 16th of October, Peter Boehler and George Schulius arrived in Savannah, accompanied by the lad, Simon Peter Harper. They came as missionaries to the negroes of Carolina, the hearts of various philanthropic Englishmen having been touched by reports of the condition of these half wild savages recently imported from the shores of Africa to till the fields of the New World.

The plan originated during Count Zinzendorf’s visit to London, in February, 1737, when it was suggested to him that such a mission should be begun by two Moravian men, under the auspices of “the associates of the late Dr. Bray”.

Thomas Bray, an English divine, was born in 1656, made several missionary trips to America, and in 1697 organized a society for the propagation of the Gospel in the English Colonies. He died in 1730, but the work was continued by his “associates”, many of whom were also interested in the Georgia Colony.

As this mission was to be under their direction, “the associates of the late Dr. Bray” wished to be very sure that the doctrine and rules of the Unitas Fratrum did not conflict with the Church of England, but being assured by the Archbishop of Canterbury that he considered them as agreeing in all essential points, they closed an agreement with Zinzendorf whereby the Count received 30 Pounds with which to prepare “two Brethren to reside for the instruction of the Negroes at such place in Carolina as the said associates shall direct.” The missionaries, when they had entered upon their work, were to receive a salary, “not exceeding thirty pounds a year,” from the “associates”.

For this missionary enterprise, so much to his liking, Zinzendorf appointed “one of my chaplains, master Boehler,” and “Schulius, a Moravian brother,” who with Richter and Wenzel Neisser arrived in London, February 18th, 1738. At the house of their friend Wynantz, the Dutch merchant, they met John Wesley, who offered to secure them a pleasant, inexpensive lodging near James Hutton’s, where he was staying.

Peter Boehler had been a student at Jena when Spangenberg was lecturing there, and was himself a professor at that seat of learning when he decided to accept Zinzendorf’s call to mission work, and join the Moravians, with whom he had been for a long time in sympathy. Like Spangenberg he was a highly educated man, and an able leader, fitted to play an important part in the Church of his adoption. In December, 1737, he was ordained at Herrnhut by the bishops, David Nitschmann and Count Zinzendorf, and in later years he, too, became a bishop of the Unity.

On the 22nd of February, Boehler and his companions called on Gen. Oglethorpe, who at first supposed they were simply going over to join the Savannah congregation. Boehler explained that Richter, who spoke French as well as German, had come as the Agent of the Moravians, in accordance with the suggestion made by the Trustees to Bishop Nitschmann in 1736; that Wenzel Neisser was going on an official visitation to America, especially to the West Indies; and that he and Schulius were the missionaries promised by Count Zinzendorf for work among the negroes in Carolina. The General courteously invited them to confer with him further, either by letter or in person, and offered to take them with him, as he expected shortly to sail for Georgia with his regiment.

Later, when they wished to come to a definite agreement with Oglethorpe, who represented the “associates of Dr. Bray”, they experienced some difficulty, owing to the fact that a letter of introduction Oglethorpe expected to receive from Count Zinzendorf had failed to arrive, but the exhibition of their passports, and Richter’s explanation that Zinzendorf thought (from newspaper notices) that Oglethorpe had already left England, enabled Boehler and Schulius to establish their identity. So soon as Zinzendorf heard that his word was needed, he sent them a formal letter of introduction to Oglethorpe, which was gladly received as corroboration of their statements. The Moravians were at their own expense while waiting in London, but Oglethorpe promised that they should be provided with Bibles, grammars, and other things they might need for the negro school.

Being detained in London for three months, instead of three weeks as they expected, Boehler and his friend had ample opportunity to make acquaintances in the metropolis. They sent word of their arrival to those Germans who had learned to know Zinzendorf and the earlier Moravian emigrants to Georgia, and on the first Sunday “the brethren”, (as they affectionately called all who, like themselves, were interested in living a Christian life,) came to them, and a series of meetings for prayer, conference, and instruction was begun. Boehler was a man of attractive personality, and convincing earnestness, and in spite of his slight knowledge of their language many English also became interested and formed a society similar to that begun by Zinzendorf, the two soon uniting in the Fetter Lane Society.

Ten days after Boehler reached London he accepted an invitation from the two Wesleys, and went with them to Oxford. There he was most kindly received, preached in Latin once or twice each day, and had many private conversations with inquirers. Among those with whom he became acquainted was the Rev. John Gambold, who later became a bishop in the Moravian Church, and many others were mightily stirred to seek the salvation of their souls.

Noting how little English Boehler and Schulius knew, Gen. Oglethorpe offered them a boy who was bright and intelligent, could speak both English and German, and understood some French, and they found him so serviceable that they asked and obtained permission to take him with them to Carolina.

Through Wesley, Boehler heard that Gen. Oglethorpe was much surprised at the speed with which he acquired English, and that he had asked whether Boehler would consent to serve as Minister of the Church of England in Savannah, if that Congregation remained without a pastor. Boehler expressed his willingness to preach at any time, but declined to administer the Sacraments for any denomination except his own, so the appointment was not made.

On the 28th of April, the baggage of the Missionaries was put aboard the ‘Union Galley’, Capt. Moberley, with instructions that Boehler and his companions should join her at Portsmouth. Neisser was to go with them to Georgia, and from there, as opportunity offered, to St. Thomas, but while the ship lay at Portsmouth other instructions reached him, and Oglethorpe kindly made no objection to his withdrawing his box and staying behind, though he did not quite understand it.

On the 15th of May, Peter Boehler, George Schulius, and the lad Simon Peter Harper, left London, but finding the ship not yet ready to sail, they, by Oglethorpe’s instructions, went to Southampton where some of the vessels were lying.

Returning to Portsmouth they embarked on May 22nd, and soon found they were “to dwell in Sodom and Gomorrah” during their voyage. On the 30th the fleet sailed to Southampton for the soldiers, and when they came aboard four days later “Sodom and Gomorrah were fully reproduced.” As the ships lay off Spithead a conspiracy was discovered,--the soldiers on one vessel had planned to kill their officers, take what money they could find, and escape to France. During the voyage there were several fights among the soldiers, or between them and the sailors, and in one drunken riot a soldier cut off a young girl’s hand. “The Lord was our defense and shield, and we were among them like Daniel in the midst of the lions,” wrote Boehler, for the quiet, Bible-reading Moravians found little to like in their rough associates, who cared for them just as little, and wished they could be thrown overboard.

The ships put to sea July 16th and reached the Madeiras on the 29th, where they were detained until the 8th of August. Boehler and Schulius went on shore a number of times, were courteously treated by the most prominent Catholic priest there, climbed a mountain for the exercise, and particularly enjoyed their escape from turmoil and confusion. The captain, who had taken a dislike to them, tried to prevent their leaving the ship, but Oglethorpe stood their friend, and ordered that they should have entire liberty. For Boehler, as for many who had preceded him, Georgia and Carolina were to be a school where great life lessons would be learned. Fresh from the University halls of Jena, he had met the students of Oxford on equal footing, quickly winning their respect and admiration, but these soldiers and sailors, restless, eager for excitement, rude and unlettered, were a new thing to him, a book written in a language to which he had no key. Later he would learn to find some point of contact with the unlearned as well as the learned, with the negro slave and the Yorkshire collier as well as the student of theology, but just now his impulse was to hold himself aloof and let their wild spirits dash against him like waves about the base of a lighthouse which sends a clear, strong beam across the deep, but has few rays for the tossing billows just beneath.

On the 18th of September land was sighted, and on the 29th the fleet anchored in the harbor of St. Simon’s Island, and with grateful hearts the Moravians watched the landing of the soldiers. On the 4th of October they transferred their baggage to a sloop bound for Savannah, which sailed the 6th, but on account of head winds did not reach Savannah until the 16th. The Moravians still at Savannah came in a boat to welcome them, and take them to their house, but Boehler was anxious to see the scene of his future labors, and stayed in town only a few days, leaving on the 21st for a tour through Carolina. Schulius accompanied him all the way, and several others as far as the Indian town where Rose was living with his wife and child. Here they talked of many things regarding the Savannah Congregation, but on the following afternoon the missionaries went on their way, Zeisberger, Haberland, Boehner and Regnier accompanying them to Purisburg.

There Boehler and Schulius lodged with one of the Swiss who had come to Georgia with Spangenberg and the first company. His wife expressed the wish that the Moravians in Savannah would take her thirteen-year-old daughter the following winter, and give her instruction, for which she would gladly pay. Boehler took occasion to speak to the couple about salvation and the Saviour, and they appeared to be moved. Indeed this was the main theme of all his conversations. To the owners of the plantations visited, he spoke of their personal needs, and their responsibility for the souls of their slaves; while to the slaves he told the love of God, filling them with wonder, for most of them were newly imported from the wilds of Africa, and suspicious even of kindness. Many knew little of the English tongue, and the few who could understand his words had not yet learned that there was a God who cared how they lived or what became of them. Their masters, as a rule, thought the missionaries were attempting an almost hopeless task in trying to lift these negroes above the brute creation, but were quite willing to give permission and an opportunity to reach them, and on this tour Boehler found only one land-owner who refused his consent.

Purisburg had been named as the location of the negro school, but Boehler found there were very few negroes in the town, which had been largely settled by Swiss, who had not prospered greatly and had bought few slaves. The nearest plantation employing negroes was five miles distant, and only seven lived there, so the outlook was far from encouraging at that point.

Boehler and Schulius then made their way from one plantation to another, until they reached Charlestown. The Rev. Mr. Garden, to whom they had a letter of introduction, advised that the school should be begun in Charlestown, where there was a large negro population, perhaps a thousand souls. This was more than could be found on any single plantation in Carolina, and as the slaves were strictly forbidden to go from one plantation to another it would hardly be possible to find another place where so many could be reached at the same time. Boehler and Schulius were much impressed with the advantages offered, especially as Mr. Garden promised all the assistance he could give, and they debated whether Schulius should not stay and begin at once, while Boehler returned to report to Oglethorpe. The lot was finally tried, and the direction received that they should carefully study the situation but wait until later to commence work. Therefore on the 1st of November the two companions set out for Savannah, which they reached in eight days.

The following weeks were a sore trial for the missionaries. With a promising field in sight, and eager to commence work in it, they were obliged to wait for Oglethorpe’s permission, and Oglethorpe was very busy on the frontier establishing the outposts for which his regiment had been brought over. When he did return to Savannah, it was only for a few hours, and he was in no frame of mind for a long argument of pros and cons. He told Boehler rather testily that they should not go to Charlestown with his consent; that if they were not willing to follow the plan for Purisburg he would have nothing more to do with them; and that if they wanted to talk further they must wait till he came again.

Boehler and Schulius wished themselves free to proceed without his consent, wished they had not entered into an agreement with “the associates of the late Dr. Bray”, but under the circumstances felt themselves bound to give the work at Purisburg a fair trial. In December, Schulius went to Purisburg to look over the field, and make acquaintance with the people, while Boehler waited at Savannah for Oglethorpe, and finally, when his patience was quite exhausted, followed the General to St. Simons. Oglethorpe persisted in his intention to have the school at Purisburg, and when he learned that his wishes would be obeyed he gave instructions for the renting of a large house and two acres of ground, and for supplies to be furnished from the store at Savannah.

In February, 1739, therefore, Boehler and Schulius settled in Purisburg. Young Harper seems to have been with them in Purisburg on some of their earlier visits, but was sent temporarily to Savannah, and as he does not reappear in the records, he probably went back to his English home. David Zeisberger, Jr., joined Boehler and was his willing helper in many ways.

At first the outlook was rather more promising than they expected. There were very few colored children for the school, but “daily more were bought and born,” there was some interest aroused among the older negroes, and the owners were disposed to be friendly, and allow the missionaries free access to their slaves. The German and Swiss settlers were unaffectedly glad to have the Moravians in their midst, and begged for religious services, and instruction for their children, so Boehler and Schulius agreed on a division of labor, the latter to devote himself to the white residents and their little ones, while Boehler spent most of his time visiting adjoining plantations.

But when the warm weather came Boehler was taken with fever, and from June to October he suffered severely. From time to time he was able to be up, and even to visit Savannah, but he was so weak and his feet were so badly swollen that walking was very difficult, and of course missionary tours were impossible.

On the 4th of August, George Schulius died, after an illness of eighteen days’ duration. Boehler was in Savannah when he was taken sick, but returned in time to nurse him, to soothe him in delirium, and to lay him to rest amid the lamentations of the Purisburg residents. At his death the school for white children was given up, for Boehler was too weak to shoulder the additional load, and felt that his first duty was to the negroes. In September, Oglethorpe was in Savannah, and after much difficulty Boehler obtained speech with him, and succeeded in convincing him that a negro school at Purisburg was hopeless. He approved of Boehler’s plan to itinerate among the plantations and promised that both his own and Schulius’ salaries should be paid him, that he might be supplied for traveling expenses. In November, when his health was restored, Boehler wished to make his first journey, but the storekeeper declined to pay him any money until the expiration of the quarter year. When he went again at the appointed time the storekeeper refused to pay anything without a new order from Oglethorpe, except the remainder of the first year’s salary, now long overdue. Boehler concluded that the man had received private instructions from Oglethorpe, and that his services were no longer desired by the representative of “the associates”, so in January, 1740, he gave up further thought of obligation to them, and prepared to go on his own account. He planned to go by boat to Purisburg and from there on foot through Carolina to Charlestown, but on the way up the Savannah River the canoe was overtaken by a severe thunderstorm, and forced to land. Knowing that a sloop would sail in two days he returned to Savannah, meaning to go to Charlestown on her, but on trying the lot he received direction to wait for the present in Savannah.

While Boehler was making his attempt among the negroes, some changes were taking place in the Savannah Congregation. He had been very much distressed by the condition he found when he arrived, for owing partly to their many difficulties and partly to Seifert’s absence among the Indians, no Communion had been celebrated for a year, and the “bands” had been dropped. The Bible and prayer gatherings were steadily observed, but it seemed to him there was a lack of harmony among the members, and they were by no means ready to take him at once into their confidence. Seifert, too, was not well, and had been obliged to leave the Indians, and return to Savannah.

The Indian work was most discouraging, for the men were careless and drunken, and in January, 1739, even Rose gave up, and moved back to Savannah with his family. In October, Tomochichi died, and was buried with great pomp in Percival Square in Savannah. The Moravians were asked to furnish music at the funeral, but declined, and it was hardly missed amid the firing of minute guns, and three volleys over his grave. After his death his little village was abandoned, and the question of further missionary efforts there settled itself.

During the winter John Regnier became deeply incensed at some plain speaking from Schulius, and decided to leave at once for Europe, the Congregation paying his way. He probably went to Herrnhut, as that had been his intention some months previously, and later he served as a missionary in Surinam. In after years he returned to Pennsylvania, where he joined those who were inimical to the Moravians.

Peter Rose, his wife and daughter left for Pennsylvania soon after their withdrawal from Irene. They settled in Germantown, and there Peter died March 12th, 1740. Catherine married John Michael Huber in 1742, who died five years later on a voyage to the West Indies. Being for the third time a widow, she became one of the first occupants of the Widows’ House in Bethlehem, and served as a Deaconess for many years, dying in 1798. Mary Magdalena became the wife of Rev. Paul Peter Bader in 1763.

On August 10th, 1739, John Michael Schober died after a brief illness, the ninth of the Moravian colonists to find their final resting place beside the Savannah River.

In September, General Oglethorpe received instructions to make reprisals on the Spanish for their depredations on the southern borders of the Georgia Province. He rightly judged this to be the precursor of open hostilities, and hastened his preparations to put Carolina and Georgia in a state of defense. In October the British Government declared war on Spain, and November witnessed the beginning of fighting in the Colonies. Of course this meant a re-opening of the old discussion as to the Moravians’ liability for service, a repetition of the old arguments, and a renewal of the popular indignation. Oglethorpe was fairly considerate of them, thought Zinzendorf ought to have provided for two men, but added that he did not want the Moravians driven away. Still the situation was uncomfortable, and the Moravians began to make arrangements for their final departure.

By this time Boehler had won his way into the confidence of the Savannah congregation, and had learned that he was not the only one who had the Lord’s interests at heart. With Seifert again in charge of affairs, the religious services had taken on new life, and on October 18th, John Martin Mack was confirmed. Judith Toeltschig, however, gave them great concern, and her brother Michael Haberland sided with her, so that the company gladly saw them sail for Germany in the latter part of January, 1740. There Michael married, and returned to America in May, 1749, as one of the large company which came to settle in Bethlehem, where he died in 1783. Judith joined her husband in England, and in 1742 was serving as “sick-waiter” of the Pilgrim Congregation in London.

This left only six Moravians in Savannah, for John Boehner had already started for Pennsylvania on January 20th. He had a very sore arm which they hoped would be benefited by the change, and he was commissioned to try and gather together the members who had preceded him, and to make arrangements for the reception of the remnant which was soon to follow. He aided faithfully during the early days of the settlement at Nazareth and Bethlehem, and in 1742 went as a missionary to the island of St. Thomas, where he labored earnestly and successfully for the rest of his life, and died in 1787.

Nothing now remained for the members still in Savannah, but to so arrange matters that they might leave on the first opportunity. Oglethorpe had already bought their trumpets and French horns at a good price, but they needed to sell their rice and household furniture to provide sufficient funds for their journey. This was happily arranged on the 2nd of February, when George Whitefield, who had reached Savannah for the second time a few days before, came to see them, promised to buy all they cared to sell, and offered them free passage to Pennsylvania. This offer they gratefully accepted, receiving 37 Pounds for their household goods, and on April 13th, 1740, they sailed with Whitefield on his sloop the ‘Savannah’, Captain Thomas Gladman. Their land and improvements were left in the hands of an Agent, and the town house was rented to some of Whitefield’s followers for a hospital.

With the Moravians went the two boys, Benjamin Somers and James ----, who had been given into their hands by the Savannah magistrates in 1735, and a young woman, Johanna Hummel, of Purisburg. The two lads gave them much trouble in Pennsylvania, and Benjamin was finally bound out in 1748, while James ran away. Johanna married John Boehner, and sailed with him to the West Indies in 1742, but died at sea before reaching there.

Boehler and his company expected to find Spangenberg and Bishop Nitschmann in Pennsylvania, and were much disappointed to learn that both were absent. They scarcely knew what to do, but Boehler held them together, and when Whitefield decided to buy a large tract of land and build thereon a Negro school, and a town for his English friends of philanthropic mind, and when the Moravians were offered the task of erecting the first house there, Boehler and his companions gladly accepted the work. Bethlehem followed in due time, and all were among those who organized that congregation. David Zeisberger, Sr., died there in 1744, his wife in 1746. Anton Seifert was appointed Elder, or Pastor of the Bethlehem Congregation, married, and took an active part in the Church and School work there and at Nazareth, the latter tract having been purchased from Whitefield in 1741. April 8th, 1745, he sailed for Europe, laboring in England, Ireland and Holland, and dying at Zeist in 1785.

John Martin Mack became one of the leaders of the Moravian Church in its Mission work among the Indians in New York, Connecticut and Ohio until 1760, when he was sent to the negro slaves on St. Thomas, preaching also on St. Croix and St. Jan, and the English West Indies. He was ordained to the ministry November 13th, 1742, and was consecrated bishop October 18th, 1770, during a visit to Pennsylvania, this being the first Episcopal consecration in the American Province of the Moravian Church. He was married four times, his last wife passing away two years before his departure. He died June 9th, 1784, and was buried in the presence of a great concourse of people,--negro converts, planters, government officers and the Governor-General.

David Zeisberger, Jr., lived a life so abundant in labors, so picturesque in experiences that a brief outline utterly fails to give any conception of it. “The apostle of the Western Indians traversed Massachusetts and Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, entered Michigan and Canada, preaching to many nations in many tongues. He brought the Gospel to the Mohicans and Wampanoags, to the Nanticokes and Shawanese, to the Chippewas, Ottowas and Wyandots, to the Unamis, Unalachtgos and Monseys of the Delaware race, to the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas of the Six Nations. Speaking the Delaware language fluently, as well as the Mohawk and Onondaga dialects of the Iroquois; familiar with the Cayuga and other tongues; an adopted sachem of the Six Nations; naturalized among the Monseys by a formal act of the tribe; swaying for a number of years the Grand Council of the Delawares; at one time Keeper of the Archives of the Iroquois Confederacy; versed in the customs of the aborigines; adapting himself to their mode of thought, and, by long habit, a native in many of his ways;--no Protestant missionary and few men of any other calling, ever exercised more real influence and was more sincerely honored among the Indians; and no one, except the Catholic evangelists, with whom the form of baptism was the end of their work, exceeded him in the frequency and hardships of his journeys through the wilderness, the numbers whom he received into the Church of Christ, and brought to a consistent practice of Christianity, and conversion of characters most depraved, ferocious and desperate.” “Nor must we look upon Zeisberger as a missionary only; he was one of the most notable pioneers of civilization our country has ever known. * * * Thirteen villages sprang up at his bidding, where native agents prepared the way for the husbandman and the mechanic of the coming race.” “He was not only bold in God, fearless and full of courage, but also lowly of heart, meek of spirit, never thinking highly of himself. Selfishness was unknown to him. His heart poured out a stream of love to his fellowmen. In a word, his character was upright, honest, loving and noble, as free from faults as can be expected of any man this side of the grave.” *

* “Life and Times of David Zeisberger”, by Rt. Rev. Edmund
de Schweinitz.--

He died at Goshen, Ohio, Nov. 17th, 1808, having labored among the Indians for sixty years.

Like Spangenberg, Peter Boehler’s story belongs to the whole Moravian Church, rather than to the Georgia colony. His time was divided between England and America, in both of which spheres he labored most successfully. Jan. 10th, 1748, he was consecrated bishop at Marienborn, Germany. After Zinzendorf’s death he helped frame the new Church constitution, and in 1769 was elected to the governing board of the entire Unitas Fratrum. He died in London, April 20th, 1774, having been there for a year on a visitation to the English congregations of the Moravian Church.