The Moravians in Georgia [80]
work they had begun for him was completed for their own use.
Whitefield, in after years, rather excused himself for his first harshness toward the Moravians, but a letter written by him to a friend in 1742, is a good statement of the armed truce which existed among the great religious leaders of that day. "Where the spirit of God is in any great degree, there will be union of avail, tho' there may be difference in sentiments. This I have learnt, my dear Brother, by happy experience, and find great freedom and peace in my soul thereby. This makes me love the Moravian Brethren tho' I cannot agree with them in many of their principles. I cannot look upon them as willful deceivers, but as persons who hazard their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Mr. Wesley is as certainly wrong in some things as they, and Mr. Law as wrong also. Yet I believe both Mr. Law and Mr. Wesley and Count Zinzendorf will shine bright in Glory. I have not given way to the Moravian Brethren, nor any other who I thought were in the wrong, no, not for one hour. But I think it best not to dispute when there is no probability of convincing."
Hagen remained in Savannah until February, 1742, when he went to Bethlehem, accompanied by Abraham Bueninger, of Purisburg, who entered the Moravian ministry in 1742, and labored among the Indians, the white settlers, and in the West Indies.
Nine more residents of Georgia followed the Moravians to Bethlehem in 1745, John Brownfield, James Burnside and his daughter Rebecca, Henry Ferdinand Beck, his wife Barbara, their daughter Maria Christina, and their sons Jonathan and David, all of Savannah, and Anna Catharine Kremper, of Purisburg. All of these served faithfully in various important offices, and were valuable fruit of the efforts in Georgia.
John Hagen was appointed Warden of the Nazareth congregation, when it was organized; and died at Shamokin in 1747.
1746.
General Oglethorpe was much impressed by the industry of the Moravians in Savannah, and was sorry to see them leave the Province. In October, 1746, therefore, he proposed to Count Zinzendorf that a new attempt should be made further up the Savannah River. He offered to give them five hundred and twenty-six acres near Purisburg, and to arrange for two men to be stationed in Augusta, either as licensed Traders, for many Indians came there, or as Schoolmasters.
Zinzendorf thought well of the plan, and accepted the tract, which Oglethorpe deeded to him Nov. 1st, 1746, the land lying on the Carolina side of the Savannah River, adjoining the township of Purisburg, where Boehler and Schulius had made many friends.
No colonists, however, were sent over, and the title to the land lapsed for lack of occupancy, as that to Old Fort, on the Ogeechee, had already done.
1774.
Early in 1774, Mr. Knox, Under-Secretary of State in London, asked for missionaries to preach the Gospel to the slaves on his plantation in Georgia. He offered a small piece of land, whereon they might live independently, and promised ample store of provisions.
This time the plan was carried into execution, and Ludwig Mueller, formerly teacher in the Pedagogium at Niesky, with John George Wagner as his companion, went to England, and sailed from there to Georgia. They settled on Mr. Knox's plantation, and at once began to visit and instruct the slaves, and preach to the whites living in the neighborhood. "Knoxborough" lay on a creek about sixteen miles from Savannah, midway between that town and Ebenezer. The land had been settled by Germans, Salzburgers and Wittenbergers, and Mr. Knox had bought up their fifty acre tracts, combining them into a large rice plantation. The homes of the Germans had been allowed to fall into ruin, the overseer occupying a three-roomed house, with an outside kitchen. Mueller was given a room in the overseer's house, preaching there to the white neighbors who chose to hear him, and to the negroes in the large shed that sheltered the stamping mill. Wagner occupied a room cut off from the kitchen.
In February,
Whitefield, in after years, rather excused himself for his first harshness toward the Moravians, but a letter written by him to a friend in 1742, is a good statement of the armed truce which existed among the great religious leaders of that day. "Where the spirit of God is in any great degree, there will be union of avail, tho' there may be difference in sentiments. This I have learnt, my dear Brother, by happy experience, and find great freedom and peace in my soul thereby. This makes me love the Moravian Brethren tho' I cannot agree with them in many of their principles. I cannot look upon them as willful deceivers, but as persons who hazard their lives for the sake of the Gospel. Mr. Wesley is as certainly wrong in some things as they, and Mr. Law as wrong also. Yet I believe both Mr. Law and Mr. Wesley and Count Zinzendorf will shine bright in Glory. I have not given way to the Moravian Brethren, nor any other who I thought were in the wrong, no, not for one hour. But I think it best not to dispute when there is no probability of convincing."
Hagen remained in Savannah until February, 1742, when he went to Bethlehem, accompanied by Abraham Bueninger, of Purisburg, who entered the Moravian ministry in 1742, and labored among the Indians, the white settlers, and in the West Indies.
Nine more residents of Georgia followed the Moravians to Bethlehem in 1745, John Brownfield, James Burnside and his daughter Rebecca, Henry Ferdinand Beck, his wife Barbara, their daughter Maria Christina, and their sons Jonathan and David, all of Savannah, and Anna Catharine Kremper, of Purisburg. All of these served faithfully in various important offices, and were valuable fruit of the efforts in Georgia.
John Hagen was appointed Warden of the Nazareth congregation, when it was organized; and died at Shamokin in 1747.
1746.
General Oglethorpe was much impressed by the industry of the Moravians in Savannah, and was sorry to see them leave the Province. In October, 1746, therefore, he proposed to Count Zinzendorf that a new attempt should be made further up the Savannah River. He offered to give them five hundred and twenty-six acres near Purisburg, and to arrange for two men to be stationed in Augusta, either as licensed Traders, for many Indians came there, or as Schoolmasters.
Zinzendorf thought well of the plan, and accepted the tract, which Oglethorpe deeded to him Nov. 1st, 1746, the land lying on the Carolina side of the Savannah River, adjoining the township of Purisburg, where Boehler and Schulius had made many friends.
No colonists, however, were sent over, and the title to the land lapsed for lack of occupancy, as that to Old Fort, on the Ogeechee, had already done.
1774.
Early in 1774, Mr. Knox, Under-Secretary of State in London, asked for missionaries to preach the Gospel to the slaves on his plantation in Georgia. He offered a small piece of land, whereon they might live independently, and promised ample store of provisions.
This time the plan was carried into execution, and Ludwig Mueller, formerly teacher in the Pedagogium at Niesky, with John George Wagner as his companion, went to England, and sailed from there to Georgia. They settled on Mr. Knox's plantation, and at once began to visit and instruct the slaves, and preach to the whites living in the neighborhood. "Knoxborough" lay on a creek about sixteen miles from Savannah, midway between that town and Ebenezer. The land had been settled by Germans, Salzburgers and Wittenbergers, and Mr. Knox had bought up their fifty acre tracts, combining them into a large rice plantation. The homes of the Germans had been allowed to fall into ruin, the overseer occupying a three-roomed house, with an outside kitchen. Mueller was given a room in the overseer's house, preaching there to the white neighbors who chose to hear him, and to the negroes in the large shed that sheltered the stamping mill. Wagner occupied a room cut off from the kitchen.
In February,