State

В у CHESTER НА VIS Frontier Dangers Forced Settlers to Seek a Town Lite History of Moravians VII 1 1 is possible, had it not been for the Indian troubles, that the Moravians might have developed a way of life in Wachovia quite different from that in Hcrmhut or in the Pennsylvania towns. The original plan was to es¬ tablish families on adjoining farms rather than in a village. Moreover, it was at first intended that the oecono- mie — the common household economy — would be relaxed just as quickly as those farms could be set¬ tled and the families were able to care for their own needs. But the Indian troubles compelled the Moravians to live close to one an¬ other in a village for mutual protec¬ tion; and those same Indian troubles caused the Brethren to continue their communal economy far longer than they had at first intended. By 1759, when Bethabara was badly overcrowded by refugees, it was pro¬ posed to build a second town nearby. Bishop Spangenbcrg. who was visiting Wachovia at the time, selected the site in the Black Walnut Bottoms about three miles from Bethabara. Here, in the summer of 1759, eight Moravian couples and eight couples of "the So¬ ciety" (not members of the Moravian Church, but persons who wished to share the Moravian way of life) built the farming village of Bcthania. By 1 759 the Moravians enjoyed cer¬ tain special privileges. Ten years be¬ fore, the British Parliament specifi¬ cally recognized the Moravians as an ancient and honorable Episcopal Church. The Moravians were one of the few churches to receive such spe¬ cial treatment. With this arrangement the Mora¬ vians were able to continue their peculiarly dedicated lives within the framework at the Anglican Church. In the new land of North Carolina they continued to observe their ancient cus¬ toms. Their first Children’s Christmas Service (held for the children of neigh¬ bors, many of whom had never attended a Christmas Service) was cele¬ brated inside the stockade at Betha- bara. In 1762 they held their first Candlelight Love Feast. On March Г6, 1758, they held their first Faster Sunrise Service on the ИшЬегц (Ma- nakes Hill) beside the tiny grave of Anna Maria Opiz. On that morning "The congregation was awakened early with music," and "as they sang the sun broke through a bank of clouds, throwing its clear beams upon the scene.” There were the reading meetings in which the congregation gathered at the Gemieindehaus to hear the news from Hcrmhut. the foreign missions and from the Pennsylvania towns. Each day the daily text was read at the evening Sings/unde. During the worst of the Indian troubles the Hourly Intercession was revived and selected Brothers and Sisters, hour by hour, prayed throughout the day and night. As the villages grew and the choirs were established the numbers of love feasts increased. At one time the entire congregation would assemble for a love feast. At another time it would be the Single Sisters or the Single Brothers and, at still another, the Single Sisters who were spinners would have a love feast of their own. When Bethabara and Bcthania were young, the days, each one recorded in the diaries, were filled with the record of small triumphs and family sorrows. In February, 1754, the diarist re¬ ported that a brother had fashioned a trumpet from the limb of a tree. "No trumpet in Bethlehem," he boasted, "has a better tone." Only a month before, the diary re¬ ported that the small cabin at Betha¬ bara had caught on fire; that Brother Petersen had been hurt while felling a tree for "the visitors" house and that Dr. Kalberlahn had scalded his fool. Occasionally the rise and fall of this pattern of events and accidents was broken by tragedy. Then the men took their horns from their cases and sped a departing spirit on its way. Disease was the most serious prob¬ lem in Wachovia. Each fall there was an outbreak of fever. The “bloody flux" was common and sometimes fa¬ tal. The first three Moravian children bom in Wachovia died in their first year. But, despite such setbacks, the com¬ munity continued to expand. Trade was established with the eastern towns, first with Charlestown and later with Cross Creek, the place we now call Fayetteville. And the craftsmen of Bethabara — the tanner, potter, joiner, cooper, gunsmith, distiller, storekeeper and the others — attracted visitors from throughout the area. This very prosperity, however, was a source of trouble. On the one hand it aroused jealousy among some of the neighbors. There were those who had said that the Mo¬ ravians spread smallpox by inocula¬ tion. Customs such as the Easter Sunrise Service were regarded with sus¬ picion by the neighbors of these seem¬ ingly strange people. There was, on the other hand, a growing restlessness among the Breth¬ ren. In some instances a Brother failed to keep his human nature fully in step is THE STATE. JULY B. 1961