Scenes in the wilderness: an authentic narrative of the labours and sufferings of the Moravian missionaries among the North American Indians

Front matter

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Chapter I

Formation of the first Moravian mission in Georgia — Prosperity of the settlement at Ebenezer, until finally abandoned on account of war between Great Britain and Spain — Foundation of Bethlehem and Nazareth — Arrival of Christian Henry Rauch at New-York — His settlement at Shekomeko — His success, notwithstanding violent opposition — Arrival of other missionaries from Germany — Their meekness and humility — Extent and increasing interest of the work in Shekomeko and the adjacent country — Sketches of converted Indians — Increased persecutions of the brethren — Death of the missionary Buettner — Expulsion of the brethren from Shekomeko by the assembly of New- York — Their retirement to Bethlehem Page 9

Chapter II

Preparations for the removal of the Indians from Shekomeko to Pennsylvania — Settlement of the first emigration at Friedenshutten — Commencement of Gnadenhutten — Its rapid growth — Mahony is built in its vicinity — Gnadenhutten much visited on account of its neatness, regularity, and beauty — The Stranger's Inn — Embassy of the Nauticoks and Shawanese — Manner of religious instruction at Gnadenhutten — Sketches of Indian character and eloquence — Rebuilding of the chapel — Spirit of the Moravians 39

Chapter III

Excursions of the brethren — Their sufferings in their journeys — Death of the Rev. Bishop Cammerhof — The French encroachments upon the British colonies — Their success in b SCENES IN THE WILDERNESS.

securing the friendship and alliance of the Indians — The Indians at Gnadenhutten invited by the Iroquois to remove to Wyoming — They refuse, and are threatened — The brethren remain quite unconscious of danger — Commencement of the " old French war" — Attack upon Mahony — Its destruction — Desertion of Gnadenhutten, and its utter ruin by the hostile Indians — The brethren seek an asylum at Bethlehem Page 53

Chapter IV

The old French war and its ravages — Murder of Francis Hill — Preparations for defence at Bethlehem — The imminent danger of that settlement — Its preservation by the care and watchfulness of the friendly Indians — Christian Frederick Post employed by the government of Pennsylvania to negotiate a peace with the Indians — Establishment of Nain and Wechquetank — Strange fanatical opinion of the white people respecting the war — Wechquetank abandoned — Arrest of Renatus — The Christian Indians removed to Philadelphia for protection — Massacre of the Canestoga Indians — The Indians on Province Island threatened with a similar fate — They are sent to New-York, but are refused admittance into that territory by the governor — They are brought back to Philadelphia — Their danger from a mob — Prompt exertions of the government and citizens in their behalf — This danger being passed, they suffer from sickness — Their resignation — They are permitted to depart — Their farewell address 69

Chapter V

The Indian congregation, having left Philadelphia, take leave of their brethren at Nain and Bethlehem, and proceed to a new home in the wilderness — Their journey ; its perils, privations, and religious comforts — They found Friedenshutten — Their numbers increase — Progress of the gospel — A missionary settled at Sheshequon — Troubles with white traders—Hazardous and fatiguing expedition of Zeisberger — The forsaken village — The hermit hunter — Zeisberger arrives at Goschgoshing — Depraved character of the Indians at

SCENE* IN" THE WILDERNESS. i

that place — They acknowledge the truth of the gospel — A inission established at Goschgoshing — The brethren now meet with opposition — Conversion of Allemewi — Departure from Goschgoshing., and settlement at Lawunakhannek — Spiritual prosperity of this congregation — The Indian orator, Glichican — Removal to the Big Beaver — The new town, Friedenstadt increases greatly - Page 91

Chapter VI

The Iroquois sell the tract of land including Friedenshutlen to the English — The Indians are driven from this town, and resolve to emigrate westward — Friendship of the great Delaware chieftain, Netawatwees — He offers them land in his territory on the Muskingum — Its beautiful location— The last religious services in Friedenshutten — The long and tedious journey to Friedenstadt, and from thence to their new residence — The pleasant village, Shoenbrun, and the new Gnadenhutten, built on the banks of the Muskingum — Friedenstadt abandoned — Encouraging prospects — Death of Anthony — War between the Indians and Virginians — Danger of the missionaries and their settlements — Their joy and thanksgiving on the establishment of peace - - 119

Chapter VII

A third mission settlement formed at Lichtenau — Conversion and death of Netawatwees — His funeral obsequies — Prosperity and beauty of the settlements, Shoenbrun and Lichtenau — Testimony of Colonel Morgan to the beneficial influence of the labours of the brethren — War of the revolution — The Indians leave Shoenbrun and Gnadenhutten for a season — Their return — The inhabitants of Lichtenau remove to a new town, called Salem — Instances of remarkable religious enjoyment — New calamities — A conspiracy formed by the English against the brethren — The half-king of the Hurons engaged in the enterprise — The unexpected arrival of the Indian warriors at Salem — Elliot's duplicity — Council at Gnadenhutten — The half-king desires the Christian Indians to leave their villages, and accompany him — They decline— The missionaries taken prisoners — The three settlements broken up — Departure for Sandusky ... Page 138

Chapter VIII

Journey of the missionaries and their congregations to Sandusky — They encounter a violent storm — Arrival at Upper Sandusky — The desolate and barren appearance of the country — Their sufferings — Mockery of the neighbouring Indians — The missionaries summoned to Detroit — They are there kindly treated, and return in peace — They suffer from scarcity of provisions — The Indians return to their forsaken towns for corn — Shabosh and another Indian slain by the whites — The white people treacherously persuade the Indians to accompany them — The inhuman massacre — Return of the fugitives 169

Chapter IX

The brethren take leave of the congregation at Sandusky — The Christian Indians expelled from that region — A mission settlement established on the River Huron — Unexpected aid— Severity of the winter — Providential discovery — Four years of prosperity — Opposition of the Chippeways to the Christian Indians' longer residence in their country — Removal to the Cuyahoga River — They are compelled to flee to Canada — The town of Fairfield built — Shoenbrun rebuilt, and called Goshen — Last days of Zeisberger — His peaceful death — Ineffectual efforts to establish new missions among the savages — Spring Place and New-Fairfield — Conclusion 192

SCENES IN THE WILDERNESS.

CHAPTER I. Fast, fast recedes our native land

Hush'd is the parting song, That brings to our united band

The farewell of the throng.

In the spring of 1734* a company of Moravian brethren,! sixteen in number, under the guidance of Mr. Spangenberg, one of their pastors, (afterward a bishop of that church,) arrived in Georgia, North America. They had been invited to emigrate, in the capacity of missionaries, to this new colony, by the English " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," and had been offered by the trustees of Georgia, of whom General James Oglethorpe was the most active and influential

* According to Bancroft ; others say 1735. Mr. Bancroft, doubtless, has examined the original documents with care.

t Moravians is the name which is commonly given to a religious community which originated in Bohemia in the member, every inducement and facility for the promotion of their object — " a free passage ; provisions in Georgia for a whole season ; land for themselves and their children, free for ten years, then to be held for a small quit-rent ; the privileges of native Englishmen ; freedom of worship; — these were the promises made, accepted, and honourably fulfilled."

" On the last day of October, 1733, ' the evangelical community,' well supplied with Bibles and hymn-books, catechisms and books of devotion, — conveying in one wagon their few chattels, in two other covered ones their feebler companions, and especially their little

fourteenth century. They regarded the Scriptures as their rule of faith ; rejected the popish doctrine of transubstantiation ; and were very strict in their discipline. They had their bishops, seniors, presbyters, and deacons, who administered their civil as well as ecclesiastical affairs. During the " thirty years' war," which occurred in the early part of the seventeenth century, their settlements in Bohemia and Moravia were utterly destroyed, and their descendants, after various migrations, were settled, in 1722, by Count Zinzendorf, on his estate of Bethelsdorf, in Upper Lusatia, where their colony took the name of Herrnhut.

The Moravians, or, as they call themselves, " The United Brethren," are chiefly distinguished in modern times for their zeal in carrying the gospel to the heathen. — Ed.

ones, — after a discourse, and prayer, and benedictions, cheerfully, and in the name of God, began their pilgrimage."*

They arrived at Charleston March 18th, 1734, at which place " Oglethorpe bade them welcome. In five days more the wayfaring men, whose home was beyond the skies, pitched their tents near Savannah.

" It remained to select for them a residence. To cheer their principal men as they toiled through the forest, and across brooks, Oglethorpe, having provided horses, himself joined the little party. By the aid of blazed trees and Indian guides, he made his way through morasses ; a fallen tree served as a bridge over a stream, which the horses swam for want of a ford. At night he encamped with them abroad round a fire, and shared every fatigue, till the spot for their village was chosen ; and, like the little stream which formed its border, was named Ebenezer. There they built their dwellings, and there they resolved to raise a column of stone, in token of gratitude to God, whose providence had brought them safely to the ends of the earth. "f

* Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii, p, 423.

t Bancroft's History, vol. iii, p. 426,

The missionaries commenced their labours by preaching among the Indians of the Creek nation, many of whom resided on an island called Irene, about five miles from the town of Savannah, and possessed a tolerable knowledge of the English language. They also established a school for the education of the children ; and for some time their prospects were very encouraging.

On February 6th, 1736, another company of Moravians arrived. In the vessel which brought them, as well as other emigrants to Georgia, were John and Charles Wesley. The following is Mr. Wesley's first mention of them in his Journal : —

" Friday, 17th. I began to learn German, in order to converse with the Germans, six and twenty of whom we had on board."*

In his Journal, dated Sunday, January 25, he gives the following testimonial of their humility and resignation to the divine will : — " At seven I went to the Germans. I had long before observed the great seriousness of their behaviour. Of their humility they had given a continual proof, by performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would undertake ; for which they desired, * Wesley's Works, vol. hi, p. 14.

and would receive no pay, saying, ' It was good for their proud hearts,' and ' their loving Saviour had done more for them.' And every day had given them occasion of showing a meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again, and went away ; but no complaint was found in their mouth. There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English ; the Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterward, ' Was you not afraid V He answered, ' I thank God, no.' I asked, ' But were not your women and children afraid?' He replied mildly, 'No; our women and children are not afraid to die.' "*

After a stormy voyage, the vessel came to anchor in the Savannah River, near Tybee Island; " where," says Mr. Wesley, "the groves of pines, running along the shore, made an

* Weslev's Work?, vol iii, p. 17.

agreeable prospect, showing, as it were, the bloom of spring in the depth of winter."

" At once General Oglethorpe visited the Moravians at Ebenezer, to praise their good husbandry, and to select the site of their new settlement ; of which the lines were no sooner drawn, and the streets laid out by an engineer, than huts covered with bark rose up as a shelter, and the labours of the field were renewed. In a few years the produce of raw silk by the Germans amounted to ' a considerable quantity ;' and indigo also became a staple. In earnest memorials they deprecated the employment of negro slaves, pleading the ability of the white man to toil even under the suns of Georgia. Their religious affections bound them together in the unity of brotherhood ; their controversies were decided among themselves : every event of life had its moral ; and the fervour of their worship never disturbed their healthy tranquillity of judgment. They were cheerful, and at peace."*

War breaking out between Great Britain and Spain interrupted the labours of the brethren. Though specially exempted, in the agreement made with the trustees of Georgia, from military service, yet so great appears to * Bancroft, vol. iii, p. 430.

have been the dissatisfaction occasioned by their refusal to serve in the approaching contest, that the missionaries resolved to abandon their flourishing settlements. This step was taken very reluctantly in the year 1739.

The first missionary settlements of the brethren having been thus broken up, the greater part of those who had settled there proceeded to Philadelphia, while Mr. Spangenberg, with two others, returned to Germany.

Those who set out for Philadelphia, having reached that place, were, soon after their arrival, invited by Mr. Whitefield to settle on a tract of land between sixty and seventy miles south of the city, which had been purchased, and to which he had given the name of Nazareth. Mr. Whitefield had already laid the foundation of a large storehouse, which it was understood the brethren were to erect for him. It was also designed to establish, on the same tract, a free school for negro children. Having thus unexpectedly found both a home and employment, the brethren went to work with their usual diligence ; but, owing partly to the dissatisfaction of the Indians, who were still settled on the tract, and who could not reconcile themselves to abandon such a favourite spot, which they did not consider as fairlv purchased ; and partly to the pecuniary embarrassments of Mr. Whitefield, the brethren were obliged to leave the building unfinished, and withdraw from the land.

But no sooner was one door closed than an» other was opened. The brethren having left Nazareth, a gentleman of Philadelphia offered to sell them a tract of land in the forks of the Delaware, ten miles nearer the city than Nazareth, situated at the same time toward the country inhabited by the Indians. They accepted the offer, and having purchased the land, they built houses upon it, and called the place Bethlehem.

At a little later period, in 1743, all the disputes with the Indians about the land having been previously settled, both by compromise and by a special treaty with the Five Nations, the brethren purchased the Nazareth settlement, including the unfinished building, which they then completed.

Such was the origin of Bethlehem and Nazareth, which were purchased and improved with the intention of supporting such missionaries as should be sent from time to time among the Indians ; to afford a place of retirement for those worn down with fatigue ; and which were also designed to sen*e a* an asylum in case of danger or need. They were afterward found fully to answer these purposes. In tracing the early settlement of these two places, we have somewhat anticipated the order of our narrative. We now return to it.

It has been stated that Mr. Spangenberg, with two others, returned to Germany. These missionaries, having rejoined their brethren at Hernhutii, drew such a picture of the deplorable condition of the Indians as induced several of these devoted men to express their l'eadiness to go and preach the gospel to them, whatever might be the personal hazard of such an enterprise.

From among those who offered to engage in this work, Christian Henry Rauch, a very amiable and pious man, (says Heckenwelder,) was chosen to commence a new mission among the Indians residing in the provinces of New- York and Connecticut. He accordingly set sail for the city of New-York, at which place he arrived on the 16th of July, 1740.

Having disembarked, the missionary found himself an entire stranger in the city, knowing nothing even of the people to whom he was to preach the gospel, nor even where to find them. But, being assured of his call, he placed full* confidence in God, that he would assist him, and lead him to those heathen to whom he was sent.

A kind Providence befriended the missionary. As he wandered, solitary and unknown, through the streets of the city, whom should he meet but a brother missionary just arrived from the island of St. Thomas* Rauch was introduced by him to some pious friends in New- York, from whom he expected to obtain information respecting the people to whom he was going. These, however, instead of encouraging him to proceed in his laudable undertaking, rather dissuaded him from it, representing those Indians as a people utterly debauched in their morals, among whom no European could dwell in safety. Just at this time an embassy of Indians from the very place where he was directed to labour came to New- York on some business connected with the government. Rauch went immediately in search of them, and found that they were Mohegan Indians, residing at a village called Shekomeko, on the borders of Connecticut, about twenty-five miles east of the North River. They appeared extremely ferocious in their manners,

* The Moravians commenced their missions in the Danish West India Islands in the year 1732; and in the following year a mission wa« begun in Greenland.

SCENES IS THE WILDERNESS. 19

and were at that time much intoxicated. He waited patiently until they were sober, and then asked two of them, named Tschoop and Shabash, whether they would not like a teacher to settle among them, to instruct them in the way to heaven. To this they readily assented. Some days after he visited them again ; but they were so much intoxicated that they could neither speak nor stand. At his next interview with them they were sober, and they then made some arrangements for their journey to Shekomeko, for which place the missionary set out in company with them.

At Shekomeko Rauch was received by the Indians with much kindness ; but the very next day after his arrival, when he spoke to them on the subject of religion, they derided his instructions, and laughed him to scorn. Not discouraged by their rude behaviour, he was indefatigable in visiting them daily in their huts. He also travelled among them from town to town ; though, as he had neither the means to keep a horse, nor money to hire a boat, he often suffered extremely from heat and fatigue in the woods. He was also often refused admittance into their houses. The first signs of encouragement which he saw were in the cases of Tschoop and Shabash, the two Indians to whom he had first spoken in New- York, and who were among the most abandoned of their whole tribe. Tschoop was the greatest drunkard in the town, and had made himself a cripple by his debaucheries. The eyes of these two Indians were now seen to overflow Avith tears. They often lamented their former blindness, and their ignorance of the true God, who loved them so much that he sent his Son to save them.

These favourable symptoms of a reformation in the Indians alarmed some white people who lived in the neighbourhood, and who were apprehensive lest such a change should prove detrimental to their own interest. These persons, by giving as a return for labour, or other services, liquor in the place of a fair pecuniary compensation, often defrauded the Indians of their just due. Should their credulous customers become temperate in their habits, this source of profit would at once be cut off. Stimulated, then, by the same motive which led the silversmiths of Ephesus to excite a tumult against Paul, namely, that their craft was in danger, certain of these white settlers in the vicinity of Shekomeko used every means in their power to have Ranch sent away from the town. It is said that some of them carried their malignity to such a pitch, that they offered liquor to any Indian that would kill the missionary.

Among other base reports that were circulated against the missionary, it was said that he designed to seize the young people, carry them beyond the sea, and sell them for slaves. Absurd as this report really was, yet so tenacious are these children of the forest of their personal liberty, and so often had they been deceived and injured by the treachery and baseness of the white people, that nothing could have been hinted or suggested more likely to excite their jealousy than this. Hurried along by their natural impetuosity, without allowing themselves time to investigate the source of the slander, or the motives to which it owed its birth, in the height of their irritation they threatened to shoot the missionary unless he left the place without further delay. Rauch, thus threatened and exposed to imminent peril, thought it prudent to leave the town for the present ; but he did not retire far from the scene of his labour ; the house of a neighbouring farmer becoming his temporary residence. During his abode here, regardless of the risk he ran, which was indeed great, he paid daily visits to the Indians at Shekomeko. The ex-> citement against the missionary did not expend itself merely in threats. Upon one occasion an Indian ran after him with his hatchet, and would certainly have killed him had he not accidentally stumbled and fallen into the water. Even Tschoop, losing for a while his religious impressions, was so highly incensed that he endeavoured to shoot him ; and Shabash, though he threatened not his life, carefully avoided all intercourse. These various difficulties and dangers did not dismay Rauch, who continued his labours with unshaken courage and unremitting zeal, in the hope that they would at length be crowned with success.

But if the jealousy of the Indians could be excited by the strong love they entertained for freedom, and their abhorrence of slavery, they were equally susceptible of the feeling or sentiment of admiration upon the performance of actions which harmonized with their own views of what was praiseworthy and deserving of imitation. Thus it was in the present instance. The courage of Rauch, his patience and perseverance, happily united with so much meekness, gentleness, and humility, gradually abated their animosity, and removed their prejudices. He often spent half a day in their huts, ate and drank with them in a friendly manner, and when weary slept in the midst of them with the utmost composure. Nothing that the missionary did made a deeper impression on the minds of the Indians, particularly on Tschoop, than his lying down to sleep unconcernedly in his hut, as if entirely fearless of danger, though he knew that he thus placed himself wholly in the hands of one who had already actually attempted his life. One day when the missionary was lying in his hut fast asleep, Tschoop was struck with the sight, and reasoned thus with himself : — " This cannot be a bad man : he fears no evil, not even from us who are so savage. Here he sleeps comfortably, and places his life in our hands." The missionary's calmness and confidence when in the midst of those whom he had been represented as desirous of injuring in the tenderest point, so indicative of innocence, led this Indian chief to reflect with greater deliberation and coolness upon the nature of the reports circulated by the white people ; which finally resulted in the conviction that they were not only without the slightest foundation, but had proceeded wholly from the wickedness and malice of those who had so diligently propagated them. Satisfied himself of the innocence of the missionary, Tschoop used his influence with his countrymen to remove the violent jealousy which they still entertained toward Rauch, and finally succeeded in re-establishing the confidence which had previously existed.

The friendship of the Indians having thus been regained, Rauch soon enjoyed the pleasure of seeing the fruit of his labours. Several of them were much impressed with the love of Christ to sinners, as displayed in his sufferings and death. In Tschoop especially the change was very striking. The seriousness and deep feeling which he had first shown, though for a while apparently destroyed by the prejudices he had formed against his teacher, now returned with great force, and resulted in a complete transformation or change of the whole man. The drunkard had learned to be sober, and the man who was savage as a bear became mild and peaceful as a lamb. He afterward gave the brethren the following simple yet interesting account of his conversion : — " I," said he, " have been a heathen, and have grown old among the heathen : therefore I know how the heathen think. Once a preacher came, and began to tell us that there was a God. We answered him, saying, ' Dost thou think us so ignorant as not to know that ? Go back to the place from whence thou earnest.' Then another preacher came to us, and began to say, ' You must not steal, nor lie, nor get drunk.' To him \vc answered, ' Thou fool, dost thou think that we do not know that ? Learn first thyself, and then teach thy own people to leave off these practices. For who steal, or lie, or get drunk, more than white men V Thus we dismissed him. After some time brother Rauch came into my hut, and sat down by me. He then spoke to me as follows : — ' I am come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He sends to let you know that he will make you happy, and deliver you from that misery in which you at present lie. For this purpose he became a man, gave his life a ransom, and shed his blood for us,' &c. When he had finished his discourse he lay down upon a board, fatigued by his journey, and fell into a sound sleep. I then thought, 'What kind of a man is this ? There he sleeps. I might kill him, and throw him out into the wood, and who would regard it ? But this gives him no care or concern.' At the same time I could not forget his words. They constantly recurred to my mind. Even when I slept I dreamed of that blood which Christ shed for us. I found this to be somethins different from what I had ever heard before ; and I interpreted the missionary's words to the other Indians. Brethren, preach Christ, our Saviour, and his sufferings and death, if you would have your words to gain entrance among the heathen."

After labouring in the village of Shekomeko and the neighbouring towns nearly two years, Rauch baptized Tschoop, Shabash, and two other Indians, on the 22d of February, 1742 ;* and before the close of the year twenty-six more were added to the number. In addition to Shekomeko, Pachpatgoch and Wachg-uatnach, neighbouring towns, are particularly mentioned as places where the gospel was preached with success. " It was truly delightful," says one, " to see the poor Indians coming from places five and twenty miles distant to hear the new preacher, who, as they expressed it, spoke of God who became man, and loved the Indians so much that he gave his life to save them from the devil and the service of sin."

Rauch, who had laboured such a length of time without any assistants, was now joined by other missionaries from Hernhuth. The account of his success, and encouraging prospects of usefulness among the Indians, led to this welcome accession of labourers. The In- * Count Zinzendorf was present on this occasion.

dians soon discovered that the new teachers were men of the same stamp as Rauch, endowed with a like zeal, and equally disinterested. Such was the humility of these truly Christian missionaries, that they earned their livelihood chiefly by working for the Indians, though they received, as may easily be imagined, but little compensation for their labour. They also lived and dressed in the Indian manner ; so that in travelling through the country they were often taken for natives. Wherever they went and laboured, if they did not see immediate good effects, yet the kindness with which they uniformly treated the savages made a strong impression on their minds, and prepared them for the reception of the gospel.