Tuscarawas County, Ohio - Chapter 5: The Moravian Missions, 1884 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 5: The Moravian Missions

THE MORAVIAN CnURCTl - POSTS FIRST EFFORT IN OHIO - MISSIONS ESTABLISHED ON THE TUSCARAWAS - CARRIED INTO C APTI VIT V - TnE MASSACRE AT GNADENHUTTEN - THE WANDERING MORAVIANS - RETURN AND FOUNDING OF GOSHEN - SKETCHES OF THE MISSIONARIES - FIRST CHILD BORN IN OHIO - THE GNADENIIUTTEN MONUMENT.

T | "1HE history of the labors of the Moravian missionaries among the Dela- JL wares of the Tuscarawas Valley possesses far more than the ordinary local value and interest which may be attached to other events that have transpired in the same locality. The evangelization of the native Americans, attempted by many Christian sects, nowhere finds ,a better example of the bright success which might await it under favorable circumstances, nor of the utter failure which inevitably follows through the certain bad influence of contact with the whites and other demoralizing environments. No religious society has made more untiring, persevering or successful efforts in behalf of the salvation of the red man's soul than the Moravians; and of their many missions, covering a period now of about a century and a half, none have opened with that brilliant prospect of success, and none have met with the overwhelming disaster that marks the history of those which dotted the beautiful valley of the Tuscarawas. A brief account of the Moravian Church is not inappropriate in connection with its greatest missionary work.

In the spring of 1735, a little band of Christians, eleven in number, having endured persecutions at home on account of their religious belief, sought an asylum in the New World. They were natives of Moravia, Germany, and members of the Moravian or United Brethren Church. This society derived its origin from the Greek Church in the ninth century. Bohemia and Moravia at that time were inhabited by the Cheskian Slavonians, ancestors of the present Bohemians and Moravians, and to them the Gospel was preached by two ministers sent from Constantinople, and accepted first in Moravia, then Bohemia. The Popes of Rome exerted every influence to win them to the Catholic Church, and in the year 1080, Gregory VII brought them under his supremacy. But the hearts of the people clung to the customs of their fathers, and John Huss, who attacked the moral corruption of the church, in the early part of the fifteenth century, received their support. After his execution, the Hussite War followed, and for many years Bohemia and Moravia were rent with religibus and political factions. In 1457, a few Bohemians, who longed for a revival of pure and undefiled religion, retired to the barony of Lititz, Bohemia, with Bradacius, a godly priest, for the purpose of worshiping in the simplicity of primitive times. The object at this time was not to found a new church, but to carry out a reformation on articles of concession already made, and form a society within the National Church, pledged to accept the Bible as the only form of faith and practice. The association took the name of the " Brethren and Sisters of the Law of Christ," soon after changed to the Unifas Fratrum or "Unity of the Brethren." The society increased and oppressions began. The impossibility of obtaining a sufficiency of regular pastors and the increasing corruption of the National Church, led to the discussion of the propriety of totally separating from it. Determined, however, to leave the decision entirely with God, in 1464 or 1465 they resorted to the lot , which decided the question in the affirmative. In 1467, the Brethren met to elect the first ministers, but again not knowing whether this was the time appointed by th$ Lord, they again had recourse to it, and as a result three ministers were chosen. The ministers were ordained by priests of the Walderises, and a new form of church government was adopted. In spite of persecutions the Brethren increased numerically. Before the advent of Luther, they had about 400 churches in Moravia and Bohemia. In the Smalcaldic war, which ensued soon after his death, between the Catholics and Protestants, the Brethren refused to engage. In 1548, a decree was promulgated in Bohemia, commanding conformity with the Romish Church under penalty of expulsion from the realm. In consequence, a large number of the Brethren emigrated to Prussia, then to Poland, where a branch of the church had been organized. The opposition soon after ceased through the treaty of Augsburg. In 1621, a violent persecution began under Ferdinand, and six years later not a single church of th^ Unitcis Fratrum remained in Bohemia or Moravia, and shortly aft^r the Polish branch became extinct. Some fled to England, Saxony and Brandenburg, while many, overcome by the severity of the persecutions, conformed to the Church of Rome. In Moravia, however, many families secretly maintained the old faith, and Bishop John Comenius preserved the episcopacy, with which clergymen were invested from time to time.

In 1722, nearly a century after the destruction of the church, through the exertions of Christian David, a humble mechanic, a few descendants of the Moravians wishing to return to the worship of their ancestors, found shelter at Herrnhut, Saxony, on the estate of Count Zinzendorf. Others joined the colony, and in five years it numbered 300 souls. Count Zinzendorf soon after accepted their religion, and became their advocate and defender against much opposition and persecution. In 1735, he was ordained Bishop, and discharged the duties of that station till his death in 1760. David Nitschmann was the first Bishop ; Count Zinzendorf the second. The church, thus renewed, spread over Europe to Great Britain and to North America.

The first small colony to America, in 1735, settled in Georgia. A second colony of twenty persons joined them the next year, and the first Moravian Church in America was organized February 28, 1736. In 1840, this church was brought to a premature end. War had broken out between England and Spain, and the Moravians were called upon to take up arms. This was contrary to the principles of the church, and rather than obey they relinquished the im-

History Op Tuscarawa8 County

John Wesley arrived at Savannah, Ga., in the same vessel that brought these first Moravians. In his journal he thus described them : " I had long before observed the great seriousness of their behavior. Of their humility they had given a continual proof by performing those servile offices for other passengers, which none of the English would undertake, for which they desired and would receive no pay, saying, ''It was good for their proud hearts, and their Savior had done more for them.* And ever}' day had given them occasion of showing a meeknass, 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, a storm arose ; the sea broke over up, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the docks as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sang on. I asked one of them afterward, 4 Was you not afraid ? ' 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.' " Of their manners in Georgia, Wesley said : "They were always employed, always cheerful themselves and in good humor with one another." Of one of their meetings he adds: "After several hours spent in conference and prayer, they proceeded to the election and ordination of a bishop. The great simplicity as well as solemnity of the whole almost made me forget the seventeen hundred years between, and imagine myself in one of those assemblies where form and state were not, but Paul, the tent-maker, or Peter, the fisherman, presided yet with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power." This tribute from a cotemporary evangelist reveals the spirit that pervaded the life and prompted the missionary labors of these humble Moravians.

The remnant of the Georgia Moravians reached Philadelphia April 20, 1840. Some had returned to Europe, and others had scattered to different colonies. From Philadelphia, those who remained proceeded with George Whitfield to Northampton County, Penn., where they remain d a short time, then removed ten miles farther south, on the Lehigh River, where Bishop. Nitschmann, who had been commissioned to begin a settlement in Pennsylvania, had just purchased an extensive tract. At Christmas, 1841, on the occasion of Count Zinzendorf s first visit to America, this place received the name of Bethlehem, by which it is still known. It was originally intended as the center for an Indian mission, but other emigrants arriving a church settlement was organized June 25, 1742, on the plan of those established in Germany, with all their appliances of exclusivism. Three other towns near by were organized soon after, and were also made exclusive. For twenty years the Brethren formed a semi-communistic association, chiefly for the sake of meeting the emigration expenses yet unpaid. It was a communism of labor only.

not of goods, and it was left to the free will of each member to adopt or reject. While in force, it defraj'ed these expenses, gave the colony a sufficient daily support, and maintained the mission among the Indians as well as an extensive itinerancy among the white settlers. A part of the community called Pilgrims traveled over the country and preached the Gospel to the settlers Men, however, were to be merely converted, not gathered within the fold of the church, and this plan greatly impeded church extension. Preaching stations were established in different colonies, and instead of forming church societies of the converts, isolated retreats were founded for the promotion of personal spirituality and the development of a holy brotherhood. This system prevailed until 1843, when the exclusive policy was given up and church- extension adopted.

Mission work among the Indians was inaugurated in Georgia in 1736 by the founding of a school for the children of the Creek nation. A fruitless attempt to spread the Gospel among the Cherokees followed. The first successful enterprise was begun by Christian Henry Raiich among the Mohicans and Wampanoags of Dutchess County, N. Y., in August, 1742. Several Indian churches were established, but in 1744 this work was brought to a close by the Assembly of New York, which forbade the missionaries to preach in the province. This action was taken in consequence of a report that some of the Indian con verts had detached themselves from friendly connection with Great Britain. The traders, whose traffic in whisky with the red men was greatly reduced by their conversion, were loud in their denunciation of the missionaries. Many converts of the Six Nations followed the missionaries into Pennsylvania, where several missions were founded.

In 1755, the French and Indian war opened, and further operations of the missionaries were for the time checked. In that year, nearly all the missionaries at Gnadenhutten, PenD., together with their families, were massacred by the savages. In 1763, when Pontiac's war opened, the atrocities of the savages so inflamed the passions of the settlers, that they no longer distinguished between the Christianized Indians and the murderous red men on the war path. A number of the Moravian converts were massacred by the exasperated whites, and about 140 were conveyed to Philadelphia for safe keeping. They were followed by a large body of men, bent on their destruction, but the authorities of the State furnished them protection during this Paxton insurrection. More than one- third of the coverts died at Philadelphia. The remnant, after peace had been concluded, founded Friedenshutten in 1765, in Bradford County, Penn.

The church relinquished the idea of converting the Six Nations, and devoted itself to the salvation of the Delawares. Several 'successful missions were founded among the members of this nation in Western Pennsylvania. Glickhican, a Delaware Chief, residing in what is now Butler County, Penn., became first the friend of the Moravians and afterward a convert to Christianity. He was baptized by the name of Isaac, and was prominent in the history of the Ohio missions.

The first effort to establish a mission among the Indians in Ohio was made by Eev. Christian Frederick Post. He was born in Conitz, Polish Prussia, emigrated to America in 1742, and the next year entered upon the labors of a Moravian missionary. He acquired a good command of the Mohawk language, and while engaged in work among that nation in 1745 was arrested, together with Rev. David Zeisberger, for supposed sympathy with the French, and imprisoned in Albany and afterward in New York. After enduring many weeks' confinement, they were examined, acquitted and discharged. Rev. Post then joined a mission in Connecticut, remaining until 1749, when he paid a brief visit to Europe. On his return, he carried on the missionary work as an independent laborer among the Indians of Wyoming, but at the breaking out of the Indian war in 1754, he returned to Bethlehem. He was appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania embassador to the Delawares, Shawanees and Mingoes who lived on the Ohio, and were at that time allied with the French against the English. In July, 1758, he set out on his expedition, and was so successful in his negotiations that the Indians refused to join the French in attacking General Forbes on his march against Fort Du Quesne. He started on a second expedition of the same nature in October, 1758, returning the following January. Post had married an Indian Christian woman, named Rachel, of the Wampanoag tribe, who died in 1747. His second marriage, which occurred in 1749, was with Agnes, a Delaware Moravian; she died in 1751. His third wife was a white woman. His matrimonial alliances with the Indian race were distasteful to the Moravian authorities, and in consequence he failed in securing their full co-operation. He remained a Moravian, was in full communion with the congregation, and had received full permission from Count Zinzendorf to preach the Gospel wherever he pleased among the Indians.

His previous expeditions to the Ohio had aquainted him somewhat with this region, and ho determined to plant the Gospel in the great West, far removed from white settlements. Accordingly, in 1761 he journeyed to the Muskingum, visited the capital of the Delawares at Tuscarawas (now Bolivar), and obtained from the tribe permission to settle among them for the purpose of instructing the natives in the Christian doctrine. On the spot designated by the Indians, he built a cabin; then returned to Bethlehem to secure an associate who might teach the Indian youth to read and write, and assist him in preaching the Gospel. The cabin erected stood in what is now Bethlehem Township, Stark County, just across the Tuscarawas County line. The adjacent Indian town, however, was on Tuscarawas County soil, and the history of the attempt to plant Christianity at this village is a proper subject of notice.

At Bethlehem, Post secured as his companion John Heckewelder, then serving his apprenticeship to a cooper. Heckewelder was not yeti nineteen years of age, and was afterward intimately connected with the missions in Tuscarawas County. In the spring of 1762, the journey to the distant wilderness was commenced on horseback. At Fort Pitt, Post had expected to make arrangements for a supply of flour to be brought to his new home by traveling traders, but to their great disappointment, the magazine had been overflowed by a tremendous inundation, and no flour was to be had. Neither oould any be procured from the surrounding country, as there were no farms within hundreds of miles. The journey was performed through floods, and Tuscarawas was reached April 11, after a pilgrimage of thirty-three days. The two missionaries entered their cabin singing a hymn.

Heckewelder has preserved a full description of this expedition, and from it this account is taken. The cabin in which they lived stood on the east side of the river about four rods from it. A mile down the stream lived a trader, Thomas Calhoun, " a moral and religious man." Farther south was Tuscarawas, consisting of about forty wigwams. A mile still farther down, a few families had settled. The Indians were suspicious of Post's intentions, and when they observed him marking out three acres for a corn-field and beginning to cut down the trees, they sent word for him to desist and to appear before the council the next day. On his appearance, they expressed their fears of ultimate claims to their lands by the whites by this method, to which Post replied that he did not wish to become a burden to them, and only desired the use of land enough to raise provisions for his and his companion's sustenance. The Indians then allowed him a garden lot fifty steps square.

The situation of these pioneer missionaries was embarrassing. They had failed in securing flour, and in consequence of a famine, no corn was to be obtained from the Indians. Potatoes also were very scarce, and they were forced to depend upon the scanty vegetation of the forest, and the gun and fishing hook Ducks and geese were almost inaccessible from lack of a canoe; pheasants and squirrels were almost worthless in summer. Larger game was rapidly shot down by the more expert Indians, whom hunger rendered still more active. Fish were obtained in abundance, but they soon became distasteful and even loathsome, from the manner in which they were compelled to prepare them. They lived mostly on nettles, which grew abundantly in the bottoms, and of which they often made two meals a day. A few vegetables and greens were also made use of, and they had brought with them some tea and chocolate, which they drank without milk or sugar. This kind of diet weakened them from day to day and made the labor of clearing the garden patch more exhaustive to them.

Heckewelder sayB: u One day some chiefs came to request my assistance for a few days in making a fence round their land. I gladly accepted the invitation, being desirous of doing anything to secure their good will, and I did my beet to be of service to them. At the same time, I was enabled to restore my health and strength; for as long as I stayed with them, I could eat enough to satisfy the cravings of hunger. Thus I found myself suddenly transferred as it were to a land of plenty, and where I had opportunities to cultivate the acquaintance of the Indian youth, and to secure the favor of the tribe by my industry. Daring my stay with them, I received the name of u Piselatulpe," turtle, by which I am still known among the Delawares."

Late iu the summer, au Indian conference was to be held at Lancaster, and Post had premised the Governor of Pennsylvania that he would attend and bring with him as many of the Western Delawares as possible, u but above all King Beaver and the great war chief Shingash. " The latter was the greatest Delaware warrior of that time. His person was small, but in point of activity and courage, he was said never to have been exceeded by any one King Beaver and other chiefs accompanied Post, but Shingash refused, believing the English ODly wanted to murder him for the damage he had done them in the late war. Scarcely six weeks after they had departed, it became known that the French bad once more persuaded the Indian nations to take up arms against the English, and it was said a treaty with the English by those who had gone to the conference at Lancaster would have no effect, and that Post would not be permitted to return to the Tuscarawas.

t It had been arranged at Bethlehem by the Elders of the Congregation that if Post proceeded to Lancaster, Hecke welder should accompany him to Pennsylvania, but the brave youth was unwilling to abandon the enterprise and remained in his lonely cabin. With the assistance of Post and one of Calhoun's men, a'canoe had been made for the purpose of bringing down cedar wood with which to make tubs and other articles for the Indians, and also for the purposes of hunting. By means of the canoe, Heckewelder shot an abundance of wild ducks, but by the carelessnese or dishonesty of the Indian boys, who often borrowed the canoe to spear fish or to pursue deer on the river by torch- light, it was lost before many days. He was then left in great distress for food. The nettles had become too large and hard, and the vegetables in his garden were stolen by passing traders. To assist him in passing the time, Post had left a number of old sermons and religious books, at the same time cautioning Heckewelder never to read or write in the presence of the Indians, and also to conceal the books from their sight, as the Indians were very suspicious and would believe it concerned them or their land. The youth kept the books in the garret, from a window of which he could see any one approaching. There he whiled away many an hour.

In a short time, the wife of the chief Shingash died, which was announced by the most dismal howlings of the women of the town. Heckewelder, Calhoun and four Indians carried her to the grave. The body was covered with ornaments, painted with vermilion, and placed in a coffin, at the head of which a hole had been made, that the soul might go in and out On arriving at the grave, the deceased was entreated to come out of the coffin and stay with the living. The coffin was then lowered, the grave filled up, and a red pole driven in at its head. A great feast was then made, and presents distributed around, Calhoun and Heckewelder each receiving a black silk handkerchief and a pair of leggins. For three weeks, a kettle of provisions was carried out every evening to the grave to feed the departed spirit on its way to the new country. Mr. Calhoun invited Heckewelder to come and stay with him, which he finally did on account of sickness.

the river, in consequence of which he was soon attacked by fever and ague. His strength was exhausted and his sufferings great. Alone, sick and almost famished, in returning from Calhoun's, he was often obliged to lie down in the path till the paroxysm of fever was over. The trader, a man of open heart and hand, invited him to remain at the store, but Hecke welder had promised Post to remain at the cabin, as otherwise the Indians would have stolen everything. At last his strength failed so that he dared not venture upon fording the river, and he was obliged to remain at home. While in this miserable condition, an Indian acquaintance visited him and agreed to make him a little bark canoe for a knife. Jn his reduced condition Heckewelder used it, when finished, to visit. Mr. Calhoun and the Indians of the village in order to procure some food.

It soon became evident that this missionary effort would be a complete failure. The Indians were induced to bolieve that the sole object of the visit of Post and Heckewelder was to deliver the Indian country into the hands of the white people. Post was forbidden to return; war with the English colonies was imminent, and Heckewelder was twice warned by friendly Indians to leave their country. He wrote this state of affairs too Post and received answer to r«tum as speedily as possible. It was some time before the young missionary could do this. He was too weak to walk, his horse had been stolen or was lost, and Mr. Calhoun's pack-horse drivers, who had intended to set out for Pittsburgh with furs, were all laid up with the fever. Every time Heckewelder visited Tuscarawas, he saw strangers, who scrutinized him closely. One afternoon one of Calhoun's men called to him from the opposite bank of the river, requesting him to lock his cabin door and cross the river immediately as Mr.x Calhoun wished to speak to him on business of great importance. " Having wrapped up a few articles of dress in my blanket," says Heckewelder in his journal, " I paddled across." " As soon as I arrived at Mr. C.'s, he told me privately that an Indian woman, who frequently came to his store, and who made spirits, which he kept for sale, had asked him that day whether the white men who lived above, on the other side of the river, was his friend, and that on answering in the affirmative, she had said: 'Take him away; don't let him remain one night longer in his cabin; he is in danger there.' The next morning I wished to return to see whether anything had taken place at the cabin, and, if possible, to fetch a few necessary articles which had been left behind in the hurry of my departure. Mr. Calhoun, however, would not let me go, but sent two of his strongest men to see how things stood. One of them, James Smith, was a man of such uncommon strength, that the Indians considered him a Manitou, and would hardly be anxious to engage him personally. They reported that the house had been broken open during the night, and that, judging from appearances there, two persons had been in. There were signs of a late fire on the hearth, and they had evidently been waiting for me. Of course my return was ouf of the question; any attempt would have been actual foolhardiness. I never saw my lonely cabin again, remaining under the hospitable roof of the trader. Meanwhile, as I afterward heard, emissaries of the Senacas and Northern Indians were busily en- gaged in exciting the Delawares to take up the hatchet against the English, and soon after my departure war broke out. At Mr. Calhoun's I experienced nothing but the most true-hearted friendship; and under his kind treatment I recovered from the fever."

About this time, the chiefs, who had accompanied Post to Lancaster, returned, their friendship for the English, from some reason, considerably cooled. King Beaver, however, remained favorably disposed, and advised Heckewelder to hasten his departure. Calhoun's men were now restored to health ; this trader lent the youthful missionary a young horse, and with the drivers he set out for Pittsburgh. On the third day, they met Post returning in company with an Indian agent, Capt. Alexander McKee, who was going to the Delaware villages to receive Indian captives which the chiefs at the late treaty had promised should be restored. The* were in ignorance of the real state of affairs, but insisted on proceeding, not regarding the danger as imminent. In this they were soon undeceived. The agent, however, was protected by the friendship of the chiefs, but returned without the promised prisoners. Post, whom the Indians suspected of secret designs against them, as they were at a loss to explain his missionary movements, had to fly for his life, and was conducted to a place of safety through a secret forest path by one of his former fellow- travelers to Lancaster. His diplomatic services in seeking to procure a treaty with the Indians doubtless increased their suspicions and caused them to view with greater mistrust his asserted religious object in their behalf.

Thus closed the first attempt to introduce the Bible among the red men on the Tuscarawas. Had the time been more opportune, and not on the verge of a fierce, relentless border war, the result might have been different. Heckewelder, on his homeward journey, was again attacked by fever, and was joyfully received by his brethren at Bethlehem after an absence of nine months, but so worn down by fatigue and disease as to be scarcely recognized. Thomas Calhoun, the trader on the Tuscarawas, would have left the Delaware country with Heckewelder, but property of great amount had been intrusted to him, and he felt bound to guard it as long as possible. The Indians soon after ordered him to leave the country, as they were unable to protect him any longer. With his brother and their servants, Calhoun finally set out for Pittsburgh, but they were attacked on the way at the Beaver River by a band of savages, and all killed, save two. Mr. Calhoun escaped by outstripping his pursuers in the race, and James Smith by strangling his antagonist.

Of the after life of Rev. Post, little is known. After his return from Ohio, he proceeded to the Bay of Honduras to establish a missionary settlement among the Mosquito Indians, represented to be of a peaceable and friendly disposition. His connection with the Moravians seems to have been dropped about this time, for there is no record of his subsequent life. He is said to have died and been buried at Germantown, Penn. De Schweinitz says that while Post was a good and zealous man, he was unstable and erratic ; wandered from the wilds of Ohio to the lagoons of Central America, accomplishing nothing ; and finally withdrew altogether from missionary work.

Missions Founded On The Tuscarawas

The success of the missions among the Delawares in Western Pennsylvania was soon heralded among the neighboring tribes, and though viewed with disfavor, as any departure from the ancient customs would, the exemplary conduct of the converts gained for them, for the time, the respect of of their savage brothers, while the superstitious were inclined to attach a supernatural or magic power to their religion. In the spring of 1770, at a new Moravian village called Friedensstadt, on the Beaver River in Pennsylvania, a wampum belt was brought from the great council at Gekelemukpechunk (now Newcomerstown, Tuscarawas County), with notice that, inasmuch as an epidemic had recently carried off many of the Delawares, and believed to have been brought on by the power of witchcraft, some of the counselors were of opinion that by embracing Christianity the contagion would ceace; it was therefore resolved that the remedy should be resorted to, and that whoever should oppose the preaching of the Gospel among them ought to be regarded as an enemy -of the nation. An urgent request was sent to several of the Pennsylvania missions to remove to the valley of the Tuscarawas, where they might have their choice of lands and dwell in peace and safety.

David Zeisberger, one of the missionaries, was impressed with the idea of removing the missions to this fruitful valley in Ohio. In March, 1771, escorted by several Christian Indians, all mounted, he visited the Delaware capital, Gekelemukpechunk. The town lay amidst a clearing, nearly a mile square, just east of the present Newcomerstown, and consisted of about one hundred houses, mostly built of logs. Zeisberger was the guest of Netawotwes, the chief of the nation, who dwelt in a spacious cabin, with shingle roof, board floors, staircase and stone chimney. In this building, at noon of the 14th of March, 1771, a throng of Indians, together with nearly a dozen white men, gathered to listen to the first Moravian sermon delivered in the territory now comprising the State of Ohio. His subject was the corruptness of human nature and the efficacy of Christ's atonement; and he exposed the absurdity of the doctrine then urged by Indian preachers, that sin must be purged out of this body by vomiting. After remaining a few days, the missionary returned to Friedensstadt. Scarcely had he left when au Indian preacher denounced him as a notorious deceiver, and threatened the most terrible judgment of the great spirit if the people gave the Moravians further countenance. The preacher enlisted a strong party in his views, and Glickhican, a converted Delaware chief, /who arrived at the capital a few weeks later, had great difficulty in counteracting its influence.

Zeisberger presented to the Indian converts in Pennsylvania the offer of the Delawares in the Tuscarawas Valley, and urged its acceptance. At a conference of the church authorities, his plans were adopted, and it was resolved to transfer the three missions - two on the Susquehanna and one on the Beaver river - to the wilds of Ohio. The Susquehanna mission unanimously resolved to emigrate, and, in the spring of 1772, Zeisberger, accompanied by several converts, proceeded to Geckelemukpechunk, and notified Netawotwes of the coining of the Indians. 'While on the way, about two miles below the present New Philadelphia, on the morning of March 10, he discovered a large spring, in the midst of the richest bottom lands, above which lay a plateau, offering an excellent site for a town. Netawotwes granted, for the use of the Christians, the Tuscarawas Valley, extending from the mouth of Stillwater Creek to Tuscarawas (Bolivar).

Returning, he set out from Pennsylvania, April 14, with five Indian families, numbering twenty-eight persons, and reached the above-mentioned spring at noon May 3. The next morning he commenced work, clearing land, planting it and erecting temporary cabins. The spot was a beautiful location for a town. On both sides of the river, says De Schweinitz, were bottom lands, interspersed with small lakes, reaching, on the west bank, to the foot of a precipitous bluff ; on the eastern, to a declivity not quite so high. Near the base of the latter, the spring gushed in a copious stream from beneath the roots of a cluster of lindens and elms, and fed a lake nearly a mile long, united by an outlet with the Tuscarawas. Both lake and outlet were navigable so that canoes could be paddled from the river to the very foot^)f the declivity. While Zeisberger and his assistants were at work here, the place was visited by many Delawares. The mission house was completed June 9. The town was situ ated about two miles southeast of New Philadelphia, and the road from that town to Gnadenhutten passes over its site. The " beautiful spring " is now dried up, and the lake a marsh, choked with water lilies.

The main body of the Susquehanna converts from the two missions, 204 iu number (Heckewelder gives the number 241, including the missionaries and their families), arrived at their new Ohio home August 23, 1773. Revs. John Heckewelder and John Ettwein accompanied them, but the latter returned at once to Pennsylvania.

A conference of the missionaries and native assistants appointed an embassy to proceed to Gekelemukpechunk ; it was gladly received by Netawotwes, who ceded to the mission a further grant, extending from the mouth of Stillwater Creek southward to within two miles of Gekelemukpechunk. At this first conference, the station was called Schonbrunn, or " Beautiful Spring."

At another conference, held soon after, the rules of the congregation, as prepared by the missionaries, Revs. Zeisberger, Heckewelder and Ettwein, and approved by the assistants, were read to the whole congregation and by them accepted. These rules compose the first act of Ohio legislation, a civil and religious obligation voluntarily assumed by the converted children of the forest They read as follows:

9. We will be obedient to our teachers and to the helpers (national assistants) who are appointed to see that good order be kept, both in and out of the town.

12. A man shall have only one wife ; love her and provide for her and the children. Likewise a woman shall have but one husband, and be obedient unto him ; she shall also take care of the children, and be cleanly in all things.

18. We will not permit any rum, or spirituous liquors, to be brought into our towns. If strangers or traders happen to bring any, the helpers (national assistants) are to take it into their possession, and take care not to deliver it to them until they set off again.

14. None of the inhabitants shall run in debt with traders, nor receive goods on commission for traders, without the consent of the national assistants.

17. If the stewards or helpers apply to the inhabitants for assistance, in doing work for the benefit of the place, such as building meeting , and school houses, clearing and fencing lands, etc., they are to be obeyed.

The above rules were made and adopted at a time when there was a profound peace ; when, however, six years afterward, during the Revolutionary war, individuals of the Delaware nation took up the hatchet to join in the conflict, the national assistants proposed and insisted on having the following additional rules added, namely :

20. Whosoever purchases goods or articles of warriors, knowing at the time that such have been stolen or plundered, must leave us. We look upon this as giving encouragement to murder and theft

No person was allowed to live in the society without first having promised to conform to the foregoing rules. When any person violated the rules, he or she was first admonished, and in case that proved ineffectual, the offender was expelled. Other rules were adopted for daily meetings, for government of schools, for attention to visitors, and for rendering assistance to the sick, needy and distressed, fo that the poorest person in the society was dressed and as well provided for as the most wealthy.

Schonbrunn was situated on the east side of the river, and had two streets laid out in the form of a T. At the middle of the transverse street, and opposite the main street, which ran east and west, stood the church. Adjoining it on the right hand was Zeisberger' s house; on the left hand the missionary Youngman's. On either side of these were the houses of the native assistants. The chapel was of squared timber, 30x40 feet, shingle roofed, with cupola and bell. It was dedicated September 19, 1772. A schoolhouse stood at the northwest corner of the main street. The streets were broad and cleanly kept, and the village was enclosed with fences to exclude cattle. Before a year closed, it contained more than sixty houses, built of squared timber, besides a number of huts and lodges.

A native assistant, Joshua, arrived at Schonbrunn with a party of Mohicans from the mission on Beaver River, Pen n. , September 18, 1772, and on the 21th laid out a village called Upper Town, on the west side of the river about four miles above Schonbrunn, near the site of Canal Dover. Netawotwes, however, insisted that the new village should be located nearer the Delaware capital, and accordingly Upper Town was abandoned, and October 9 Joshua began to build Gnadenhutten (Tents of Grace), at the inclosed lot of ground in the southeastern part of present Gnadenhutten, Clay Township. It received its name from a former mission on the Lehigh, in Pennsylvania. The first service was held here October 17 by Zeisberger, who was Superintendent of all the missions. In April, 1773, the last remaining mission in Pennsylvania (Friedensstadt), on the Beaver, and its members were transferred to Schonbrunn and Gnadenhutten, in twro parties, one by land, the other, in charge of Heckewelder, in tw'enty-two canoes, loaded with baggage, Indian com, etc., down Big Beaver, then down the Ohio to the mouth of the Muskingum, thence up that river nearly two hundred miles to Schonbrunn. In August, 1773, another missionary, John Jacob Schmick, and his wife, arrived. There were now at Schonbrunn, Zeisberger, Heckewelder, and Youngman and his wife; and at Gnadenhutten, Schmick and John Roth, and their wives. Rev. John Roth had reached Gnadenhutten from the Beaver Mission, with his wife and child, April 24, 1773.

The missions prospered. Many Indians visited the villages and were astonished to see so many of their brothers living happily together, engaged in tilling the soil. To all who came, the Gospel was preached, and many joined the congregat ion, among the number a celebrated chief (Echpalawahund), whose defection from Gekelemukpechunk, and determination to live thenceforth among the Christians, created much confusion among the Delawares, and a party arose among them demanding that the missionaries be banished from the country, as disturbers of the peace and hostile to their customs and sacrifices ; but more tolerant opinions prevailed. Zeisberger labored among surrounding tribes with fair success, and added constantly to the numerical strength of the missions.

Dunmore's war, in 1774, produced annoyance and trouble at Schonbrunn and Gnadenhutten. When the news arrived that Dunmore's command was marching to the Muskingum against the Shawnees and Mingoes, and that these warlike tribes were congregating to the west of the missions ; apprehensions of danger were felt, and Roth with his family returned to Bethlehem by the advice of Zeisberger. The other missionaries resolved to remain. In the meantime, false rumors arrived that the Americans intended to destroy the Delawares as well. Through the influence of White Eyes, the greatest Delaware war-chief, the nation had declared for peace. The young braves, notwithstanding, were anxious for war. They gave credence to rumors of approaching disaster, and became inimical to the missions. The Shawnees taunted them of being Christians. The hot-headed braves returned a reply that they were not and would never become Christians, and that the missionaries bad come to their country masked. Young, reckless warriors flocked to Sehonbrunn ; treated the municipal regulations of that orderly village with contempt, and behaved in a most insolent and insulting manner. White Eyes had gone with Lord Dunmore on his expedition, acting as arbitrator with the Shawanees, and was unremitting in his endeavors to secure peace. On his return, he expressed great indignation at the treatment to which the missionaries had been subjected, and through his influence the Delaware council agreed that the Moravians should have full liberty to preach the Gospel at any place within the limits of their territory, and that the believing Indians and their teachers should thenceforth enjoy the same rights and privileges possessed by the other Indians. The Christian Indians were then given full possession of all that country lying between Tuscarawas (Bolivar) and the great bend below Newcomerstown, a distance of more than thirty miles on the river, and corresponding closely with that part of the river now included in Tuscarawas County. Gekelemukpechunk, or Newcomerstown, was abandoned, to give effect to this grant, and the new Delaware capital established at Goschachgunk (Coshocton).

Under these auspicious circumstances, the year 1775 commenced and proved a season of external repose and internal prosperity to the mission. This rest favored the visits of strangers, who came in such numbers that the chapel at Schonbrunn, with a capacity of about five hundred, was too small to accommodate all. At the close of this year, the number of Christian Indians amounted to 414. All were in the enjoyment of the comforts, almost the luxuries, of civilization, and the lives of the converts were exemplary. The children were zealously taught in the schools, into which Zeisberger had introduced a spelling book published in the Delaware language.

During the first five weeks of the year 1770, there were eighteen baptisms at Schonbrunn, and others at GnadenhutteD. A general revival began among the children, and a project was formed to build a third town. Netawotwes had asked that it be located near his new capital, Goschachgunk. His request was granted, and April 12, 1776, Lichtenau was founded, on the Muskingum, about two miles below the present Coshocton, in Coshocton County, by the removal there of eight families, in all thirty-five persons. Zeisberger and Heckewelder accompanied them. It progressed rapidly. A grandson of Chief Netawotwes and his family of six children were the first converts.

The Beginning Of The End

The troublesome times of the Revolutionary war were now fast approaching, and the tranquillity of the missions was replaced by difficulties and dangers which nothing could avert, and which, before the struggle for independence had ended, involved the peaceful villages in ruin and destruction. Situated so near the center of the Delaware nation, and composed almost entirely of converts from it, whatever affected the one in matters of war or peace necessarily influenced the other. It was doubtless largely the influence of the Moravians and their friends that for three years deterred the Delawares from taking the war-path. This was a period of constant tumult and excitement, and when at last the Delawares impatiently broke from all restraint, and took up arms against the colonies, the missions were left alone, their quiet, orderly demeanor the object of suspicion and hatred from all sides, culminating finally in annihilation.

Netawotwes and the other chiefs favored peace, uader the influences wrought upon them by the missions. Netawotwes had become their firm friend through association. White Eyes was unwaveringly the advocate of the Christians, and many other influential and warlike chiefs had been won to the cause of peace by the gentle influence of the Gospel. Guided by these leaders, the Delawares did everything in their power to prevent the surrounding nations from going to war, though not always with success, so subtle and cunning were the British emissaries in instilling passion and hatred in the Indian mind. It has been computed that the Indians of New Yorh, Ohio and the lakes could muster at the beginning of the Revolution ten thousand warriors, and had all these tribes engaged offensively against the colonists at the opening of the struggle, the calamity would have been fearful. While Samuel Kirkland secured the neutrality of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, so that the Iroquois were divided, the labors of the Moravian teachers in the Tuscarawas Valley at this critical period prevented a general combination of the Western Indians until 1780, a date when the French alliance and the increase of population on the southern bank of the Ohio concurred to arrest its most disastrous consequences.

Zeisberger, in his manuscript history of the Indians, says: "If the Dela awares had taken part against the Americans in the present war, America would have made terrible experiences; for the neutrality of the Delawares kept all the many nations that are their grandchildren neutral, too. except the Shawnees, who are no longer in close union with their grandfathers." Gen. Richard Butler thus testified to Heckewelder: " Had the chiefs of the

Delaware nation, together with the Christian Indians, pursued a different course than that which they adopted, all joined the enemy 'and taken up the hatchet against the American people, it would have cost the United States much blood and treasure to have withstood them and checked their progress, besides weakening our already feeble armies on the seaboard, by draining them of troops for the W estern service, and this might have proved fatal to the cause."

War preparations were made on all sides, and a lowering cloud hung over the missions. The missionaries were advised by the Government Agent to take refuge at Pittsburgh, but they chose rather to suffer whatever might befall them than desert a people committed to their care, and who now, they thought, were most in need of advice and consolation. The number of missionaries was increased in November, 1776, by the arrival of William Edwards, an Englishman, who became Zeisberger's associate at Lichteoau. Heckewelder had joined Youngman at Schonbrunn, and Schmick remained alone at Gnadenhutten. All the American traders of respectability quitted the country in 1770. On the 12th of November, this year, the Christian In dians were surprised to see Matthew Elliot, a well-known trader, enter their town on his way to the Shawanese country. He continued his course the next morning, but the same day was captured by six Sandusky Indians, his merchandise confiscated, and his life spared at the intercession of two Moravian Indians who had followed him.

Internal dissensions arose. In the fall of 1776, the Muncey tribe on the Walhonding began to secretly inveigle their countrymen among the converts into a plot both against the Delaware council and the mission. Newallike was the first to apostatize, and he in turn lent his influence to win over others. By the end of the year, a rebellious party existed that defied the authority of Youngman, and was fast relapsing into heathenism. In February, 1777, Newallike openly renounced the church, and betook himself to the Walhonding. The disaffected soon after held a secret conclave, at which they agreed to disown Christianity, forsake Schonbrunn, and join the Wyandots. But gaining strength, they became emboldened, and concocted a scheme to seize the teachers, remove them forcibly to Pittsburgh, and return to the faith and practice of their fathers. The machinations of the Munceys was fostered by jealousies and envy among the missionaries. Zeisberger says: "Schonbrunn was neglected. There was a want of harmony among the missionaries ; they were jealous one of the other, and the Indians were left as sheep without a shepherd." Zeisberger had hitherto been kept in ignorance of these troubles, but now his measures were prompt and authoritative. Supported by his colleagues, he announced that the mission must be removed to Lichtenau. The faithful part of the membership assented, and some of the faction repented and joined them; the others refused obedience. Before the settlement could be broken up, and after Zeisberger had returned to Lichtenau, a false report was spread that the Mingoes were on their way to murder the missionaries. Youngman and his wife, accompanied by Richard Conner, a whit* ranger, who, with his wife had joined the mission two years previous, fled to Lichtenau; Heckewelder to Gnadenhntten. Thereupon the conspirators took possession of the town. On the return of Zeisberger, order was restored to some extent; a short religious service was held early in the morning of April 19, the chapel was razed to the ground, and the next day the converts left their pleasant town, beautiful spring and fair fields, and sorrowfully took their way to Lichtenau, Schonbrunn remaining in the possession of the Munceys. Heckewelder returned to Bethlehem. Youngman and Schmick also soon after returned to Pennsylvania, leaving Zeisberger and Edwards in sole charge of the two missions.

Thenceforth the efforts of the Wyandots and Shawnees to involve the Delawares at Goshachgunk in the warfare against the colonies were incessant. In July, 1777, an embassy of twenty Wyandots arrived and thrice offered the war-belt, which was as often declined. Early in August, Zeisberger and Edwards were alarmed at the intelligence that 200 warriors, led by Pomoacan, the Half King of Upper Sandusky, were on their way to Lichtenau. After mature deliberation, they resolved to show no signs of fear, but gain their friendship if possible by giving a kind reception. A choice feast was prepared and forwarded by Christian Indians to the Half King and his band at Goshachgunk, where they arrived August 8. The ovation was well received, and in a speech Isaac Glickhican, a converted chief, won their friendship for the two missionaries. The effect of the proceedings, however, was watched with the gravest apprehensions by the friends of the missions, and it was arranged that should the Half King reply in angry tones a messenger should be at once dispatched with all speed to Lichtenau, two miles below, that the Christians might take instant flight by boat. The joy was great that the affair took a favorable turn, and Half King with eighty-two warriors visited Lichtenau, where they were welcomed by Zeisberger and Edwards. The Kalf King then sent messengers to the English Governor at Detroit, and to the chiefs of the Huron country, that he had made a covenant of friendship with the believing Indians and had acknowledged the white brethren to be their fathers and would ever own them as such. It was two weeks before Lichtenau was relieved of the presence of these warriors. After their friendship was obtained, Edwards hastened back to Gnadenhutten and took charge of that forsaken station. Zeisberger remained at Lichtenau, and scarcely a week passed that a war party did not visit him and his station. He was kindly treated by them, but was obliged to fur nish them with food. To all the Gospel was proclaimed. Painted braves with nodding plumes often filled the chapel at Lichtenau. Some new converts were obtained, and the majority of the apostate Munceys returned to the flock.

The hospitality which the missionaries were obliged to bestow upon visiting war parties was not without its danger, for it aroused Ihe suspicions of the Americans that they were friendly to the British cause. Nor was the position of the Delawares any better. The colonists had not requested them to take up arms in their behalf, only to remain neutral; but as a neutral nation they could not prevent the visits of war parties from the neighboring tribes, and to refuse them food, when present, would have been tbe unpardonable sin in Indian manners and customs. For thus harboring the hostile warriors, the Delawares incurred the hatred of the frontier settlers, whose passions were excited by border outrages. In the early autumn of 1777, the Delawares, alarmed by a false report that an American army was marching against them, deserted their villages and took refuge in the forests. Their fears were allayed, however, by letters from Gens. Hand and Morgan, assuring them of the unwavering friendship of the Americans. In October, 1777, a party of freebooters from the Ohio settlements, in defiance of the commander's endeavors to restrain them, crossed the Ohio with intentions to destroy the peaceable Delaware settlements on the Muskingum. They were met and totally defeated by Half King and his warriors. This affair, occurring so soon after the peace messages, created consternation among the Delawares, and Capt. Pipe's party could scarcely be restrained from taking the war-path. At one time it seemed that the nation would declare for war, but Zeisberger promptly interposed and threatened that the whole body of Christian Indians would leave the country the very day the Delawares took up the hatchet. Alarmed at this, Gelelemend and White Eyes convened the council and neutrality was re affirmed.

In the spring of 1778, complications increased at the Delaware capital. News was received that the British Governor at Detroit was determined to enforce all the Indians, including the Christians, to turn out and fight the Americans. Soon after, Simon Girty, Matthew Elliot and Alexander McKee, three renegades, deserted the American cause and passed from Fort Pitt down the Muskingum to Goschachgiink, where they were followed by twenty soldier deserters also, who spread terror at the Delaware Indian capital, and at the Moravian mission, Lichtenau, near by. They represented Washing! on as having been killed, the army dispersed, and the Americans coming West to kill all the Indians, Capt. Pipe called the Delawares to the council house, and in a violent speech urged the Indians to take up the hatchet against the colonies. Even the Indian converts at the mission Lichtenau were aroused, and many clamored for war. Capt. White Eyes replied to Pipe, and pronounced all these stories lies, at the same time asking the Indians to not take the war-p%th for ten days, and if word did not come in that time showing that these renegades were liars, he would go to war with his nation and be the first to fall. His eloquence stayed the torrent of Indian wrath let loose by Pipe, and all agreed to wait the time asked.

In the meantime, the Moravians at Bethlehem, Penn., having heard nothing from the Tuscarawas missions for six months, dispatched Heckewelder with his servant for information to Fort Pitt, with instructions to proceed to Lichtenau if the journey could be performed with safety. They arrived at Fort Pitt jaded and worn, but learning the reports that had come up from the valley, at once started ondiorseback through the forests, infested with marauding bands of savages, with peace messages and letters from Gen. Hand, commander at Fort Pitt, to the Delawares, assuring them that all the stories were false, etc. He and John Martin reached Gnadenhutten at midnight of the second day, and learning there that the ten days would be up on the morrow, again mounted, without rest or sleep, and rode into Goshocking the next morning at 10 o'clock. The Delawares were painted and ready for the war-path. His old friends, and even White Eyes, refused to shake hands with him. Seeing the crisis, he stood up in his saddle, his hair flapping in the wind, and waved the peace letters over his head, telling the Indians that all those stories were lies; that instead of Washington being killed, the American Army had captured Burgoyne's British Army, and that instead of coming West to kill the Indians, the Americans were their true friends, and wanted them not to take any part in the war. White Eyes then spoke, and calmed the Delawares, who put off* their war plumes, except Pipe and his Muncey band, and thus was peace restored and Zeisberger and his mission saved for the time from destruction.

In consequence of the disturbances caused by the war, and the refractory spirit of some of the young people, the Gnadonhutten Indians were, in April, 1778, brought to Lichtenau, where the entire body of converts was now concentrated under the care of Zeisberger, Edwards and Heckewelder. Zeisberger regained his influence in the Indian council, and caused a deputation to be sent to Pittsburgh in response to Gen. Hand's dispatches In a letter to the board, written about this time, he said that the three united churches hoped to be able to hold out until the end of the war. If, however, this should prove impossible, he would put himself at their head and lead them to the South country far beyond the reach of danger.

The Delawares having again, in 1778, refused to take up the hatchet at the solicitation of Gov. Hamilton at Detroit, that official "hair buyer" devised an expedition against Goschachgunk and Lichtenau, consisting of Indians and a few British soldiers, with instructions to bring back, without fail, the heads or scalps of White Eyes, Gelelemend and Zeisberger. After the day of marching was fixed, the two Captains who were to command the expedition l*>th died, and the Indians, regarding the event a bad omen, refused to proceed. Hamilton then incited the Wyandots, Mingoes and seceding Munceys to attack the Delawares. They refused, but began to frequent and intrigue at Goschachgunk, and thus won many to the British side. White Eyes had died while on his way with the American army to Fort Laurens, and by his death the greatest friend to the Americans among the Delawares was lost.

The location of the mission at Lichtenau now became very undesirable. Within the last year, the warriors from Sandusky made their principal warpath pass through all the Delaware towns, ending at Lichtenau, and in the event of a pursuit of the Indians, the whites would be led straight into the mission village, and its inhabitants would probably suffer in consequence. Moreover, Goschachgunk, close by, was now almost constantly infested with painted braves ho sought to molest their peace-loving neighbors by robberies, drunkenness in their village, and other outrages. The mission had grown large and possessed considerable stock, which could not now find past ure without going a great distance. It was again resolved to divide the mission. Accordingly, April 0, 1779, Edwards, with a part of the converts re- occupied Gnadenhutten. The houses, buildings and fences were found to be just as they were when the town was evacuated the year before. Heckewelder remained in charge of those who staid at Lichtenau.

Zeisberger, with, a third portion of the congregation, mostly those who had come from Schonbrunn, proceeded farther up the Tuscarawas to build a town near the site of Schonbrunn, which had been destroyed in the course of the war. He encamped amid its ruins for eight months, while New Schonbrunn was in process of construction a mile or more farther up the river. The new village was situated on the west bank of the Tuscarawas, about a quarter of a mile south of Lockport, and one and a quarter miles south of ftew Phi! adelphia. In constructing the Ohio Canal, a portion of its site was dug away. ZeiBberger s colony moved into Now Schonbrunn in December, 1779.

Zeisberger became the object of hatred of many savages, who desired the destruction of the missions, and on several occasions narrowly escaped death. He passed much time in visiting the other stations, and in July, 1779, while at Lichtenau, he learned that Girty was on his trail, with orders to either bring him or his scalp to Detroit. His friends sought to detain him, but he resolved to proceed to Schonbrunn. Heckewelder then persuaded him to take a guard of Indians. The horses not being found, he proceeded alone, calling back that the brethren should follow him when ready. A short distance from Lichtenau the trail forked, one branch leading to a salt-lick. Lost in meditation, be took this branch, and did not discover his mistake till he had advanced a considerable distance, lietraciug his steps, he reached the forks just as his escort came up. If he had not missed the road, he would have been at the mercy of his enemies. For suddenly at the foot of a small hill Simon Girty and his band stood before them " That's tKe man," cried Girty to the Indian Captain, pointing out Zeisberger. "Now do what you have been told to do." But at that instant two athletic young hunters sprang through the bushes, placed themselves in front of Zeisberger, drew their tomahawks, and b^gan deliberately to load their rifles. The Wyandot Captain recognized among Zeisberger's escort the great Glickhican, and, shaking his head, and motioning to bis men, he disappeared with them in the forest, Girty following. Not long after this an Indian, noted for his enmity to the Gospel, visited Schonbrunn, and sought an interview with Zeisberger. After the usual salutations of friendship were interchanged, the Indian suddenly drew his tomahawk, and savagely exclaimed, "You are about to see your grandfathers," lifted his arm to striko a fatal blow, when Boaz, a convert, who had been watching him, sprang forward and wrenched the weapon from his grasp.

Heckewelder, too, was several times waylaid by an Indian while passing from one station to another. On one occasion the would-be assassin lay behind a log beside the path, and had leveled his rifle, when discovered and thwarted by Christian Indians; at another time, he had concealed himself in a tree near the path Heckewelder was to pass. The same Indian made an attempt to break into his house and murder him, but was discovered by people without, and prevented from executing his design. Again, in 1781, Heckewelder was near being shot in his house by a Muncey Indian, while about to repair to the chapel for services. The sexton, an aged Indian named Tobias, who had come to call his teacher, arrived in time to save his life.

As Goschackguuk was constantly becoming more friendly to the cause of England, it was resolved to abandon Lichtenau and build a new town on the Tuscarawas. On the 3d day of March, 1780, the last service was held at Lichtenau. The chapel was then demolished that it might not be applied to heathenish purposes, and the converts proceeded by land and water up the river into what is now Salem Township, Tuscarawas County, and there on the site of an old Delaware village founded the town of Salem. It was situated one and a half miles southwest of Port Washington, on a beautiful plain, just opposite three bold hill-tops, and between the present track of the Pan Handle Railroad and the Tuscarawas River. With the assistance of the other two towns, Gnadenhutten and New Schonbrunn, a chapel, 36x40 feet, was built of hewed timber, and dedicated May 22, 1780.

During all the troubles that had befallen the Christian Indians thus far from the commencement of the war, converts had been constantly added to the missions, and the need of additional laborers Was now realized, particularly in instructing the children. In the summer of 1780, the venerable veteran missionary, Adam Grube, left Bethlehem to pay an official visit to the valley, and Rev. Gottlob Sonseman and his wife and Miss Sarah Ohneberg accompanied him. Several national assistants or Indian teachers escorted them through the forests, and while on the way three American scouts fired upon the party, fortunately without wounding any one. A bullet however passed through the sleeve of one of the Indians. Grube spent six weeks at the missions. While there, he united in marriage, Rev. John Heckeweldef and Miss Ohneberg, doubtless the first wedding of a white couple in the present State of Ohio. Michael Young arrived during the autumn of 1780. Heckewelder remained pastor at Salem; Young became the assistant of Edwards at Gnadenhutten; and Senseman was stationed at New Schonbrunn, while Zeisberger was superintendent of the entire mission.

In the meantime, Capt. Pipe had gained the ascendency at Goshachgunk. Gelelemend and those of his councilors who still sided with the Americans, about thirty in number, retired to the site of the old capital, Gekelemukpechunk. The majority of the Delawares remaining at Goshachgunk, yielded to the persuasions of the British Indians in 1780, and joined them. Capt. Pipe and his party, now bent on war, withdrew to Upper Sandusky. The defection of the Delawares becoming known, Col. Brodhead in the spring of 1781, organized an expedition of about 300 men, and marched rapidly from Wheeling to Goshachgunk, surprising that village, April 19, killing fifteen warriors and capturing twenty. Among the latter were five Christian Indians from Salem. They were released, but on their way home were fired upon by a band of soldiers, and one of their number was wounded. The other prisoners were killed.

low Salem, and while there addressed a note to Heckewelder, requesting a supply of provisions and a visit to his camp. Heckewelder complied and was informed by the Colonel that his troops should not molest the Moravians, " as these Indians had conducted themselves from the commencement of the war in a manner that did them honor. " While he was yet speaking, an officer hastily entered, to inform him that a body of militia M were preparing to break off, for the purpose of destroying the Moravian settlements up the river, and he feared they could not be restrained from so doing." Col. Brodhead at once took measures to prevent this outrage, but it was with great difficulty that he, assisted by Col. David Shepherd, of Wheeling, could restrain the men from carrying their murderous design into execution. Col. Brodhead afterward proposed to the missionaries that they and the Christian Indians should accompany him to Pittsburgh, an invitation which was not accepted. Gelelemend and his band, however, were glad to take advantage of a similar offer, and put themselves under the protection of the United States. The entire valley of the Tuscarawas was now without any Indian inhabitants, except in the three mission towns, and these were left without friends between enemies, and with a very uncertain fate before them.

Carried Into Captivity

A few days after the departure of Col. Broadhead, two Christian Indians, while looking for strayed horses, about twelve miles below Salem, fell in with a party of eighty Delawares, who took them prisoners, saying they intended them no harm, but did not want their presence in the neighborhood known. They advanced toward Gnadenhutten, and early the next morning sarrounded the town and demanded the delivery to them of Gelelemend and other peace 'ehiefs, whom they said they must have, dead or alive. Being informed that the chiefs had already gone to Pittsburgh for safety, they instituted a thorough search and finally became satisfied that they had been told the truth. They then demanded a conference of the principal men of the three towns, and, the National assistants having convened at Gnadenhutten. Pachgantschililas, the head war-chief of the Delawares, addressed them, and sought to induce them to remove to the Miami Country, as a place of safety from the Americans. The Christians replied declining the offer, expressing no fear of the whites. The war-chief then requested that each individual member of the missions be permitted to exercise his own will, either to go or stay. This was granted, and one old Indian, Joseph Pepee, and his wife accepted the offer to remove. The Delawares then visited Salem, where they were generously entertained. The warriors deported themselves decorously, not giving the accustomed yell when approaching the village. When they arrived at the center of the village, opposite the chapel and the residence of Heckewelder, Pachgantschililas ordered a halt, and pronounced a warm eulogy on the believing Indians. He dismissed his warriors to the Sugar Grove where a feast had been prepared for them, while the chief himself, accompanied by two Shawnees and two Delaware war-captains, repaired to the house of Heckewelder, whom he recognized as having seen at Tuscarawas in 1762, and complimented. He repeated hia friendly assurances, and soon after departed with his warriors, first declaring to the inhabitants assembled in the street that u if at any time they should hear it said that Pacbgantschililas was an enemy to the believing [Christian] Indians, they should consider such words as lies." Zeisberger had gone to Bethlehem in the spring of 1781, and did not return till after the departure of this war party. Rev. John Youagman and his wife returned with him, and resumed their labors among the Indians of the valley. There were now Bir missionaries on the Tuscarawas - Zeisberger and Youngman at New Schonbrunn; Senseman and Edwards at Gnadenhutten; Hecke welder and Young at Salem. While they ministered to the spiritual wants of the people, their wives taught the women and children. Peace reigned in the three missions till the storm burst that swept them from the valley. It had been gathering from the commencement of the war.

To the Muncey tribe of Delawares, with Capt. Pipe at his head, the missions were an object of hatred, and several times the lives of the missionaries were attempted by warriors from this tribe. The three renegades, Elliott, McKee and Girty, hated the Moravians with equal intensity, and since their first visit to Gashachgunk, three years before, they were constant in their efforts to accomplish the ruin of the missions. They represented to Col. DePeyster, successor of Hamilton as Governor of Detroit, that the missionaries were partisans and spies of Congress, and that their influence was extremely prejudicial to the British interest. At length that officer was induced to insist upon the removal of the missions farther west, and to arrange for an expedition to effect this result. Through McKee, as agent of Indian affairs, he proposed to the Six Nations, assembled in general council at Niagara, to make an expedition against the Christian villages. Unwilling to do so themselves, the gen-' eral council sent a message to the Ottawas and Chippewas to this purport: "We herewith make you a present of the Christian Indians on the Muskingum [Tuscarawas] to make broth of," signifying "we wish you to put these people to death." But these two nations, who were related to the Delawares, declined, saying that their grandfather (the Delawares) had done them no injury. The same message was then sent to Half King, chief of the Wyandots or Hurons. He was equally disinclined to assume the task, for he had already avowed himself the friend and champion of the Muskingum mission. He would not accept the message in the form it was sent, but finally suffered himself to be persuaded by Capi Pipe, Elliott and others to put himself at the head of the expedition, provided Capt. Pipe and his Munceys would act in concert with him. A body of about 300 warriors, consisting of Wyandots, under Half King and Kuhn, Delawares under Pipe and Wingemund, and other nations, with Elliott, whose rank in the British service was Captain, and several attendants, left Sandusky under the British flag. The object of the march was known only to the leaders.

On the 6th, the people of Salem were apprised of the arrival of this formidable host by two runners from the Half King, and on the day following, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the expedition reached Salem. Assurances were given by Half King and Elliott that no injury of any kind was designed Alexander McCormick, the color-bearer of the band, secured a secret interview with Heckewelder, and informed him that the expedition was for the purpose of removing the Indians and either killing or capturing the missionaries, and that Elliott was the instigator and leader of the expedition. McCormick begged him to accede to whatever demands were made as his only hope of safety. This information was at once sent to Zeisberger, at New Schonbrunn. Elliott and others in the meantime acted the hypocrite with consummate skill, and made every protestation of friendship and good feeling. A conference was arranged for at Gnadenhutten, and on the 11th the warriors marched from Salem to that village and encamped to the west of it. For more than a week they passed their time here, eating, drinking and sleeping, while the head men were deliberating on the best manner of carrying their designs into execution. On the 20th, a conference was called for the next day, when Half King delivered the following speech:

M Cousins ! Ye believing Indians of Gnadenhutten, Schonbrunn and Salem : I am much concerned on your account, perceiving that you live in a dangerous spot. Two powerful, angry and merciless gods stand ready, opening their jaws wide against each other ; you are setting down between both, and thus in danger of being devoured and ground to powder by the teeth of either the one or the other or of both. It is, therefore, not advisable for you to stay here any longer. Consider your young people, your wives and your children, and preserve their lives, for here they must all perish. I therefore take you by the hand, lift you up and place you in or near my dwelling, where you will be safe and dwell in peace Do not stand looking at your plantations and houses, but arise and follow me. Take also your teachers with you, and worship God in the place to which 1 shall lead you, as you have been accustomed to do. You shall likewise find provisions, and our father beyond the lake [the Governor of Detroit] will care for you. This is my message, and I am come purposely to deliver it."

44 Uncle, and ye captains of the Delaware^ and Munceys, our friends and countrymen : Ye Shawnees, our nephews, and all ye other people here assembled : We have heard your words, but have not seen the danger so great that we might not stay here. We keep peace with all men and have nothing to do with the war, nor do we wish or desire anything but to be permitted to enjoy rest and peace. You see yourselves that we cannot rise immediately and go with you, for we are too' heavy [have too much immovable property and crops ungathered], and time is required to prepare for it But we will keep and remember your words and let you, Uncle, know our answer next winter, after the harvest ; upon this you may rely."

The Half King and the greater part of the warriors appeared satisfied with this answer. They declared that it would be wrong to compel their cousins to remove from a favorite spot where they were dwelling in contentment and happiness, especially as they themselves had been treated with so much kindness and hospitality since they arrived. To still further show their disapprobation of the project, some of the warriors drew up and discharged th eir pieces at the British flag. This was then conveyed to Detroit by McCormick. Capt. Elliott continued to urge Pipe and the Half King to resort to severe measures. He told them that the English Governor at Detroit would be greatly dissatisfied if they returned without the missionaries. Two Moravian Indians, who had been dispatched to Pittsburgh with intelligence of the extremity of the mission, were captured on their return, and Elliott exaggerated their journey into a proof of complicity of the Moravians with the Americans. Nearly another week was spent in fruitless deliberation in the Indian camp, and on the 25th of August, Half King, at a second conference with the Moravians and their assistants, more strenuously urged their consent to removal. The Christians returned a mild but firm reply, that to leave at that time would reduce them to misery. Their large crops were ripening, and to deprive them and their families of these necessaries of life appeared ungenerous. Half King listened to the answer in silence, and it was believed by Heckewelder that had he and Capt. Pipe been at liberty to act according to their inclinations, they would have withdrawn their men.

Elliott, however, busily continued his machinations against the missionaries. He pretended to be apprehensive of an armed force of Americans coming upon them unawares; he induced the rabble in his train to commit outrages by shooting fowls, hogs and even cattle, and he prevailed on the chiefs to seek by stratagem to divide the Christians. Accordingly the most artful of the chiefs visited the most timid of their Christian brothers and impressed them with the belief that, if they remained here longer, they would be murdered. They then gave enchanting descriptions of the Miami country, so that many were ready to take a speedy departure, if the missionaries would but consent. The Moravian ministers thus appeared to be the greatest obstacle. " If you go home without these ministers," said Elliott to his Indian allies, M expect no favor from your English father; if you fail to seize them, I will leave this place and report your faithlessness. Then you will not have a father, but a powerful enemy at Detroit; and, the English and Americans both against you, what awaits your tribes but destruction ?" He pretended to make ready for an instant departure, and Half King in alarm promised immediate compliance with his wishes.

Council after council was then held to decide the fate of the missionaries. It was proposed to kill them at once, and a sorcerer, present, was consulted. He opposed the plan as unwise, for the national assistants in that event would immediately take their places. The national assistants, it was then proposed, should be included under the death sentence. The sorcerer contended strongly against this design, and it, too, was abandoned. Finally it was concluded to carry the missionaries and their families prisoners to Detroit. A third conference was called September 2, at which Zeisberger, Senseman, Heckewelder and Edwards appeared. For the last time Half King demanded an immediate answer whether they would go with him, and received the reply that they must abide by the answer given him at the last conference. A Secret conference of the savages was held, extending far into the night, when the proposal of murdering the ministers was again made and rejected, and that of taking them prisoners adopted. The missionaries had been informed the next morning of the result, says Heckewelder, through a trusty person, who* had been admitted to the council, and though aware of their speedy seizure, would not omit the regular morning service. At 8 o'clock on the morning of September 3, the chapel bell pealed its final notes of invitation, and a throng of people flocked to the sanctuary. Besides the members of the congregation, many savages attended, and listened with the closest attention to an eloquent and powerful discourse delivered by Zeisberger. He was greatly affected, and preached on the great love of God through afflictions and tribulations, closing with an appeal to his congregation to make no resistance to whatever the enemies about them might do that day.

About 1 o'clock in the afternoon of September 3, as Zeisberger, Heckewelder and Senseman were walking back of the mission garden, three Wyandots rushed upon them, took them prisoners, and marched them to Captain Elliott's tent, about one hundred yards distant. On the way, an " ugly looking " Wyandot aimed several blows with his tomahawk at the head of Senseman, but they were avoided. Elliott placed them in the charge of the Wyandots, who stripped them of the greater part of their clothing, their watches, buckles, sleeve buttons, etc. Edwards, whom the savages had not taken, soon approached and gave himself up. They were closely confined in miserable huts, and toward evening they were supplied with blankets and victuals by the Christian Indian wumen.

A band of thirty armed Wyandots set out for Salem in the afternoon. Young, seeing them approach, barricaded the house containing himself, Mrs. Heckewelder and her child, but the savages soon broke it open with their war hatchets. On entering, one Indian aimed a blow at Young's head, but it was parried by Kuhn, the chief. Young, Mrs. Heckewelder and child were then placed in the street while the Indians plundered the house. They returned to Gnadenhutten with Young, leaving Mrs. Heckewelder and her child with the Indian women of Salem, on their promise to bring them to Gnadenhutten the next day.

Two Wyandots on the afternoon of the 3d, accompanied by a squaw, also departed for New Schonbrunn. They arrived late at night, and informed Mrs. Youngman and Mrs. Zeisberger that a large force would soon arrive, take them prisoners and rob them of their property; that if they would do as they required their effects would be preserved. Regarding them as friends, they induced Mrs. Zeisberger to assist in packing her own linen, but soon they threw off the mask, robbed the house, destroyed what they could not use, forced Mrs. Senseman to arise, though it was but the fourth day after her confinement, and dragged her with Mrs. Zeisberger and Mrs. Youngman through a pelting rain to a canoe, where Younginan was already secured, his house having been previously plundered. The young men could scarcely be restrained by the National assistants from rescuing them, but remembering Zeisberger's instructions, no resistance was offered. The prisoners all embarked, and were taken that night down the river as far as the mouth of Stillwater Creek, where they encamped; the prisoners were scantily dressed, had nothing but the ground to lie on, and scarcely anything with which to cover themselves. Early the next morning, they continued down the river to Gnadenhutten. The Wyandots spent the day in pillaging and dividing the spoils, and strutted about the camp dressed in whatever garments fell to their lot. In this the Delawares took no part.

A young Indian squaw, a relative of Isaac Glickhican, witnessing the outrages perpetrated upon the missionaries, secretly mounted Capt. Pipe's horse, the fleetest one, and rode with all speed toward Pittsburgh, to obtain assistance if possible. The loss and her absence were soon noticed, and a band started in hot pursuit, but too late to overtake her. They caught sight of her, but she was better mounted and escaped. The commandant at Fort Pitt at first determined to send a large force to the rescue, but it became apparent that it would arrive too late if sent, and the project was abandoned. In the meantime intense indignation raged against the missionaries, who were suspected of sending for aid. It was foon learned that the escaped woman was a relative of Isaac Glickhican, and toward that converted chieftain the rage of the savages was then directed. Twelve warriors were dispatched to Salem to bring him, dead or alive, to Gnadenhutten. They surrounded hip house, fearing to enter, and awaited his appearing. Glickhican, seeing them, stepped out, exclaiming, 44 Friends, by your maneuvers I conclude you are come for me. If so, why do you hesitate? Obey your orders; I am ready to submit. You appear to dread Glickhican as formerly known to you. There was a time when I would have scorned to have been assailed in the manner you contemplate. But I am no longer Glickhican; I am Isaac now, a believer in the true and living God, and for whose sake I am willing to suffer anything, even death." He submitted to be bound and taken to the camp. A general uproar ensued, many savages loudly demanding his death. Half King interposed and granted him a regular trial, which resulted in establishing his innocence.

In a few days the missionaries were set at liberty, by promising to go with their captors to Sandusky, and to advise the Christian Indians to follow them. The Christian Indians, anticipating this event, had secretly buried many heavy articles, such as plow-shares, harrow teeth, hoes, saws, and pewter and kitchen articles, in the woods. The savages afterward searched for these, and discovered most of them. On the 10th, the Indians resumed their outrages. Yelling and shrieking, they threw down the fences of the corn-fields, turned their horses in, killed hogs and poultry, and in short did everything they thought would injure the inhabitants. The Christian Indians, preferring instant emigration to witnessing this destruction of their property, announced their readiness to advance at once.

Accordingly, on Monday morning, September 11, 1781, the whole body of Christian Indians, with the missionaries and their familios, left Salem, closely guarded by some Delaware and Wyandot warriors. They traveled in two divisions, the one in canoes on the Tuscarawas, the other on land driving the cattle, of which there was a large herd. Never did the Christian Indians leave a country with deeper regret. They were now obliged to forsake three beautiful settlements, Gnadenhutten, Salem and Schonbrunn, and the greatest part of their possessions in them. They had already lost about two hundred head of horned cattle and four hundred hogs. They were leaving behind rich plantations, with five thousand bushels of unharvested corn, large quantities of it in store, gardens stocked with an abundance of vegetables, all the heavy articles of furniture and implements of husbandry, and pleasant and commodious homes. According to a very moderate calculation, their loss was computed at $12,000. What gave them greater pain was the total loss by fire of all books and writings for the instruction of their youth. To the missionaries, particularly, the journey was a sad one. They were leaving the scene of more than eight years' industry, and of a Christian community whose prosperity was never equaled in Indian history. " It was not," says De Schweinitz, M the loss of earthly goods that caused Zeisberger the bitterest pang as he looked back for the last time upon the settlements which his faith and energy had called into exisience. Nor was it the mere removal from the Tuscarawas that bowed him down. It was rather the conviction that a fatal blow had been given to his work; that the prestige of the mission was gone; that the independence of the Christian Indians had been destroyed; that under the most favorable circumstances their influence in the West would decline, and they would themselves suffer spiritual harm."

Slowly they traveled down the Tuscarawas. On the third day they reached Goshackgunk, where a halt was ordered for the purpose of shooting a tamed buffalo, belonging to one of the party, and supposed to be feeding in the ~ woods close by. Here Elliott ieft the Indians for the Scioto, to meet McKee, greatly to the relief of the Moravians, for he had been the instigator of ail their evils. The journey was continued slowly up the Walhonding to the junction of Mohican and Vernon Rivers, thence up the latter to Gookosing, whence they proceeded overland to the Sandusky River, arriving, according to Heckewelder, on the 11th of October. On the way, the missionaries were obliged to submit to many indignities from the savages, and after their destination was reached. Half King and his party, who had the Christians in charge, left them abruptly, with their horses heavily laden with plunder. The Indians had gradually stolen nearly everything from both ministers aud converts, leaving them only utensils for making maple sugar. The distress was general, and the missionaries and their families were obliged to subsist on alms gathered in the congregation. They commenced building huts for shelter, and suffered greatly from the pinching cold. Their clothing and blankets were insufficient, and of food there was scarcely enough to satisfy the worst cravings of hunger.

Under these circumstances, a party was sent back to the Tuscarawas to gather a portion of the corn still standing in the fields. Schebosh, a native assistant, was placed in charge of the expedition. While engaged in the work of preparing the corn forth© return, the party was surprised on the Tuscarawas by a band of Americans, commanded by Capt. David Williamson. Schebosh and six converts were captured and taken as prisoners to Pittsburgh. The object of Williamson's expedition to the Tuscarawas, in the autumn of 1781, was to remove the Moravian Indians to Pittsburgh, under the^belief that they had not kept faith with them, as against the hostile Sandusky savages ; but they found themselves anticipated in the inglorious achievement of breaking up the settlements, by the British Capt Elliott and his band of savages. The converts, after a brief imprisonment at Pittsburgh, were released by the Commandant, Gen. Irvine, and returned to their brethren at Sandusky, except Schebosh, who proceeded to Bethlehem.

In October, 1781, a message was received by the missionaries, requiring them to appear before the British commander at Detroit. On the 25th, Zeisberger, Heckewelder, Senseman and Edwards, with several assistants, set out, and, after enduring hardships and dangers for nine days, over an almost impassable road, they reached Detroit. Gov. De Peyster informed them of the charge against them, that of carrying on a correspondence with theTAmericans prejudicial to the English interest Capt. Pipe, their principal accuser, on the day of trial, November 9, asserted that the letters were written by the missionaries at the urgent request of the Delaware chiefs of Goshachgunk, and that the ministers were innocent of any evil design against the English. He advised that they be permitted to return to their congregations. After putting a few questions, which were satisfactorily answered by the missionaries, Gov. De Peyster acquitted them, and permitted them to return to Upper Sandusky. Here, as the winter advanced, the unfortunate Indians were often on the verge of starvation. The want of even the bare necessaries of life was in striking contrast with the peace and plenty that had reigned in the Tuscarawas Yalley. Instead of fertile bottom lands, rich in pastures, the desolate scope of prairie land about them was covered with only the scantiest vegetation, and the cattle began to perish of hunger. Food of all kinds was scarce, and corn sold for $8 a bushel. The famine was daily increasing, and at last provisions could not be purchased at any price. In several instances, suckling babes perished for want of nourishment. The missionaries had reduced their daily allowance to a pint of Indian corn per day, and even this supply would soon be exhausted. The children cried for victuals, and in this dire extremity the only hope of relief was in procuring corn from the unharvested fields on the Tuscarawas. The project was submitted to Half King, and received no opposition from him. It was resolved that a large party should proceed to their former towns, leave their families some distance behind them, gather and carry the corn to the place the women and children would remain, and there bury it. They could then procure it from time to time as their needs would require. This plan was adopted from the snpposi- tion that bands of Americans might frequent the old towns, looking for warriors harboring in the vicinity. For the capture of Schebosh and his party by the settlers a few months previous warned them to avoid the risk of a second captivity. Had this arrangement been carried out, the terrible sequel of the journey might have been avoided, at least in part ; but on the way they met some of the converts, who had been captured at Schonbrunn, returning from Pittsburgh. These assured them there was no danger of molestation from the American side, and encouraged them to go direct to the towns - advice which was followed. Having made all necessary preparations, this illfated expedition, of about one hundred and fifty men, women and children, two thirds of whom were destined never to return, set out from Sandusky in February, 1782, in several divisions, each division intending to work upon the corn which they had raised.

The Massacre At Gnadenhutten

The return of the Christian Indians to the Tuscarawas Valley was soon known on the frontier, and a force of about 160 men was collected in Western Pennsylvania to march against them. The causes which led to the expedition were the continued Indian depredations on the settlements along the Ohio. On the 10th of February, 1782, the family of William Wallace, consisting of bis wife and five children, was cruelly murdered, and John Carpenter was at the same time carried into captivity. The early period of the season when this outrage was committed induced many to believe it was either the work of the Christian Indians, or that the real perpetrators had received aid and comfort from them. In either case, they determined to hold the Moravian Indians responsible, and for this purpose a raid against them was organized. It rendezvoused at Mingo Bottom three miles below Steubenville. It was a volunteer corps and Col. David Williamson was placed in command. Most of the men were mounted and had provided themselves with arms, ammunition and provisions. On the 4th of March, 1782, they left the Ohio, marched rapidly through the wilderness and at the close of the second day's journey had reached the Tuscarawas.