Moravians and
the Revolution
By CHESTER DAVIS
No. 1 1 in a Series
As war came closer the Moravians
were in an impossible position. They
refused to take an oath of allegiance
and they would not bear arms. More
than that, they continued to pay rents
on the Wachovia lands to the English
even after others ignored all obliga¬
tions to Britain.
They did their best to straddle this
prickly fence. In 1775 they said “ . . .
that they wished to remain true to the
King; that they desired all good for
the Province of North Carolina and
would continue to do their best for it
according to their ability." At about
this same period they observed "...
we . . . live in the houses of peace.”
But that was wishful thinking.
When they supplied the Continental
troops they aggravated the Loyalists.
When they refused to shoulder arms,
take an oath of allegiance or openly
denounce the King their rebellious
neighbors cocked their eyebrows and
recalled that the peace-loving Brethren
had shouldered guns during the lime
of the Indian Wars. From that bit of
fact they jumped off to all types of
unfounded rumors.
The Moravians, they said, had well-
stocked stores because they continued
to trade with the English. (So the Mo¬
ravians. who stocked their stores from
their own craft shops, reduced the
goods displayed on their shelves.) It
was reported that the Brethren had
large supplies of powder and many
guns hidden and that they secretly
supplied the Indians with both. (The
Moravians in this period took care not
to display weapons and the little pow¬
der and lead they possessed were, in¬
deed. well hidden.)
One of the touchy points was the
new paper currency. "The better class
of people." the Moravians said, "had
no fondness (or it." That is under¬
standable. By 1781 North Carolina
paper money was worth one eighth
cent on the dollar,
to
The Moravians were reluctant to
accept this money — some of them,
like Brother Fockcl, the storekeeper
in Bcthubara, actually refused to take
it — but the law was plain. It said,
"Who-so-cver will not accept it, or ac¬
cepts it only at lower rates, or even
speaks slightingly of it. shall be con¬
sidered an enemy of the country. . . .”
The Moravians, making the un¬
happy best of a bad situation, reluc¬
tantly accepted the paper money and
then put it back into circulation with
calculated, if unseemly, haste. Except,
on occasion, to say that they had no
change for so large a bill the Moravians
abided by the law.
As a result, they rarely saw hard
money. Salem became the dumping
place for the paper money. To make
matters even worse, a goodly share of
the money paid them was counterfeit.
But that was one of their lesser
problems.
When the soldiers of Pulaski’s Le¬
gion marched through Salem they left
smallpox behind them. Neighbors said
they would burn Salem to the ground
if the Moravians "spread the disease
by inoculation." The result was forty-
three cases of smallpox and three
deaths.
.As the war advanced, attempts were
made to confiscate the Moravian
lands. Under the law persons who re¬
fused to swear an oath of allegiance
were considered Loyalists and their
lands were taken from them.
On December 20. 1778, the Salem
diarist reports. "Mr. Shepperd was
here; the Senator hinted that our lands
would be taken from us and that wc
would be driven away." Other men
went beyond hints. They flatly said
the Moravians were to lose their lands.
Some of them went so far as to lay
claims to certain of the Moravian
towns.
But. once again, the passive resist¬
ance of the Brethren wore away hate.
The one phrase in the oath of alle¬
giance which offended the Moravians
was amended and the Brethren were
permitted to make an affirmation
rather than swear an oath. That small
bit of editing probably saved the Mora¬
vian towns.
Amidst all the scowls and threats
there were occasional flashes of bru¬
tal violence. In 1779, for example,
four men terrorized the village. They
beat Brother George Frey until he was
senseless and they knocked down
Brother Hcinzemann and then
stomped, beat, gouged and toma¬
hawked him. There were cases where
Brothers were stopped in the streets
and had their coats stolen off their
backs.
In 1780-81. as the center of the war
swung into the South, conditions grew
even worse.
First. Salem became a base for the
Continental troops fighting Cornwallis
in South Carolina. The prisoners taken
at Kings Mountain were kept at Salem
for a time and the village served as a
powder depot and hospital for Con¬
tinental troops.
As Cornwallis came north the
American troops withdrew. But the
militia, which was many times as dan¬
gerous. washed across Wachovia and
those undisciplined men stole every¬
thing that wasn't nailed down or too
heavy to carry. Their thefts ranged
from the eggs taken from beneath a
setting goose to livestock, potables and
the like.
On February 9, 1781, Cornwallis
marched through Wachovia. Except
for the camp followers (who stole the
wash off the Single Brothers' line),
his men maintained good order.
With Cornwallis gone the milita re¬
turned and threatened to burn the
"Tory center." On February 17.
Brother Bagge twice had a cocked
pistol held at his chest while milita
men mouthed threats.
After the British defeat at Guilford
Courthouse on March 15, 1781. an¬
other wave of militia washed through
the Moravian towns. For the Mora¬
vians, those from Wilkes County were
the worst. "Some of them." the Mora¬
vians said, "were little better than ban¬
dits."
On July 4. 1783, the Moravians
welcomed peace and the Psalm of the
day was:
"Peace is with us! Peace is with us!
People of the Lord."
THE STATE. SEPTEMBER 16. 1961
