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Chapter 9
Escape or Co-suffer
"Captive-town" some later called it. David Zeisberger merely referred to it as the mission on the Sandusky. His move to this place was indeed more of a capture than a mission venture, but a missionary at heart will turn even a capture into a mission.
David was now entering his 7th decade of existence. Newly married, 39 he and his converts had been forcibly removed from the prospering villages they had founded on the Tuscarawas. With British encouragement from Detroit, warriors from northwest Ohio had gone to the Christian villages, and after trying to persuade the brethren to abandon their homes, finally felt compelled to force them to do so. It was autumn, just before the corn harvest. 5000 bushels of corn in the several hundred acres under cultivation were in the fields surrounding the Christian towns, as well as pumpkins and other fruits. It has been estimated that they were forced to abandon $20,900.00 worth of household goods, livestock and crops-about $350,000.00 in current value.
Rather unceremoniously, 40 David and his fellow helpers were forced to abandon practically all and begin a 20-day trek northwest. David wrote in his journal:
"And thus we turned our backs upon our homesteads and places where we had enjoyed so much good and blessed from the hands of the Savior. Before us we could see nothing wherein to rejoice, nothing but need, misery, and danger."
This was in spite of the fact that the brethren fed whosoever visited their communities, regardless of their political persuasion. Even the "captors" were fed well. David wrote:
"We had to give them provisions, slaughter swine and cattle for them, and this we did still cheerfully, if only they had left us longer in peace."
The last public service at the Gnadenhutten chapel, 41 given by David, was on the theme of Divine Love. "We will quietly await whatever He permits. We will not defend our lives by force of arms, for that would be putting ourselves on a level with the heathen, and we are children of God."
Every heart present was touched. Tears trickled down cheeks. The unconverted pagans in their midst sat with heads bowed. John Heckewelder wrote that he had never witnessed another scene like it and that it seemed that Jesus Himself were visibly present. But the "captors" were persistent: The missionaries must abandon the villages.
Finally, seeing there was little other alternative to the demands, the believers packed what little they could take along and left, escorted by the Loyalist Indians.
The 20-day voyage included the births of two babies, and the death of a two-year-old, as well as the sinking of two canoes about which David noted that "the brethren lost all they had, for they sank to the bottom." Whether he referred to himself or not, it is not known, but many of his own possessions were in one of the lost canoes. Towards the end of the trip, the "captives" were driven "on like cattle, without having the least compassion for children and sisters, for they left them no time to give the children drink once."
Arriving at their new "homeland", David noted that "the Wyandot 42 left us and went ten miles to their homes after they had abandoned us in the wilderness, where there was no food to be found and no game to hunt, and many among our brethren had nothing left to eat, but lived upon what those, who yet had something, divided among them."
Three hundred persons abandoned in a wilderness with winter fast approaching... His new wife would write about those days saying, "Many times the Indians shared their last morsel with me, for many times I spent eight days in succession without any food of my own." David himself noted that they were forced to eat dead cows and horses. Some corn was available for purchase, but the price eventually rose to $8.00/bushel! 43 And besides, a summons for the white missionaries to appear in Detroit shortly arrived. The British commander was worried that the missionaries had taken sides with the Colonies and demanded to talk with them about "meddling with Public Matters."
So the men began their journey. Much of the route was swampland-so mucky that Heckewelder wrote that the horses sank "belly deep into the mire, which frequently obliged us to cut strong poles to prize them out again."
Standing before the highest British official at Detroit, 44 Arent De Peyster, David was absolved of any traitordom against the British Empire. In fact, the commander offered them aid and gave his blessing upon his work. At one point, De Peyster even offered the missionaries a free return trip to the colonies to escape the hard times his converts were passing. Bethlehem was flourishing by this time, becoming an industrial town ... There was plenty of food there ... Comfortable houses ... Lots of fellowship with other believers ... David chose to return to his "beloved brown brethren." He wrote:
"There could be no question whether we should accept the commandment's offer, for it was our duty and necessity to venture everything for our Indian Church."
Chapter10
Bitterness or Forgiveness
It would hardly seem proper to write a biography about David Zeisberger and not include the story of Gnadenhutten. This tragedy is perhaps the best-known incident of the Moravian missions to the Ohio Valley Indians. Sad day it was!
The story of the Gnadenhutten actually began when the first Europeans "discovered" North America. Christopher Columbus did not discover America-Asian peoples had already discovered and settled here some centuries before, if not a millennium or two!
But Europeans tend to think of themselves as a bit more advanced than their brothers are. To them, America was essentially free for the taking. The more conscientious of them paid, albeit sparingly (in general), the Asians for the land they claimed, but others simply moved in and declared it their own.
Initially the Asian peoples-mistakenly called Indians-did not make much of a fuss. There was lots and lots of land, and the white-skinned settlers were relatively few. Furthermore, many of them were religious dissidents, conscientious and agreeable neighbors.
But soon the number of settlers swelled. No longer were they seen by the Asian peoples as curious friends who had strange customs and inventions-now they came by hordes. It appeared to some as nothing less than an invasion, ruining prime hunting lands.
From the very coasts of the Atlantic, the Asians soon found themselves pushed inland. Treaties and land sales were frequent-often involving rum or whiskey. The white men would get the Indians drunk and then strike a deal with them while the latter remained intoxicated. After sobering up, the Indians would find they had sold land at crazy low prices.
Or, there was outright treachery. The famed "Walking Purchase" is a good example. The Indians agreed to sell the white men a tract of land, the width of which would be the distance that a man could walk in 1-1/2 days. 45 The price finalized, the white men hired two of their fastest runners to take off. Eighteen hours later, the winner collapsed about 45 miles from the starting point. The Indians felt cheated. They had expected it to be about 30 miles. "You should have leisurely walked along," they said. After all, it was supposed to have been a 1-1/2 day "walking purchase," not a 1-1/2 day "running purchase."
But the white men held their ground. The Indians moved further west.
Atrocities were committed by both sides. Murders, scalpings, and kidnappings were a continual scene on the frontiers of the white settlement. Frustrated government officials were almost helpless to stop the white advance. They, the governments of the colonies, made treaties with the Indians, with full intentions of keeping them. But independent-minded settlers pushed past the lines drawn on the maps. If the government complained, the settlers threatened to rebel.
Finally, in our story, the Ohio River was chosen as the boundary. To the west was Indian land, to the east, white man land. Disgruntled people on both sides moved back and forth, killing, abducting, and destroying. Revenge revenged revenge.
In the time of Gnadenhutten on the Tuscarawas, 46 another factor was involved. The white men were fighting among themselves. The British were trying to put down a rebellion in the colonies that they had started. Gnadenhutten lay smack in the middle of the western front. Northwest was Detroit, held by the British. Southeast was Fort Pitt, held by the colonies. More than literally being between the two enemies, David and his converts were also "in the way" symbolically: they refused to take sides. David wrote:
"We do not want to have anything to do with the affairs of state, that is not our business. We are glad if only we can live unmolested and be at peace with everybody."
However, Detroit at last ordered the removal of the Moravian missionaries. The above narrative of "Captive Town" relates this story in brief. It was winter now. Food was scarce. In their abandoned villages along the Tuscarawas-about 100 miles away-were hundreds, if not thousands, of bushels of corn, buried in the snow.
Securing permission from their captors, about ninety Christian Indians, using horses, went to fetch some of it. For several days they gathered and bagged the much-needed food. On the morrow, they would return.
Unbeknownst to them, another scene was unfolding. Some claim it was a conspiracy to get rid of the Christian Indians. After all, non-resistant people are a kind of thorn in the flesh to both sides in the midst of a war-at least in the eyes of some.
While the peaceful brethren harvested the corn, an Indian war party crossed the Ohio River and raided a few settlements in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Killing a few and taking a few captives along, the war party recrossed the Ohio and headed for Gnadenhutten. Along the way, they found that Mrs. Wallace and her 2-1/2 year-old son were too bothersome, so they killed them both and hung them up in trees along the way, knowing that a rescue party would likely be on their tail.
Arriving at Gnadenhutten, they informed the Christian Indians of their deeds. Appalled, the brethren reproved them and urged them on. Before leaving, the warriors sold a dress to one of the young girls. Realizing their danger, the brethren held a council as to what they should do. Naively, they decided to stay and finish the harvest, trusting that the rescuers would respect their claims to Christianity-after all, they were personal friends with some of the people at Fort Pitt.
The "rescuers," more correctly the "revengers," arrived at Gnadenhutten not many days later. The colonists appeared friendy at first, even offering to take them to Fort Pitt for protection, so much so that the believing Indians were sucked into the net. After gathering most of them into the village from the fields, the accusations started to fly.
"You are warriors, and we know that you are thieves. Look at all the metal pots, the tools, and the white men's clothing among you. You stole that from our frontier settlements."
Vainly, the brethren proclaimed their innocence, explaining that they had bought such items from traders. Isaac Glikhikan, converted Delaware captain and respected leader among the brethren explained: "We do not go to war anymore. We are followers of the Son of God and do no men harm." But there stood the young Indian girl, wearing the dress of the woman that had been impaled on the tree a few days earlier-the blood of its former owner still on it.
A few of the settlers believed the Indians. In fact, many of them may have. But the white man's goods in the village, the bloody dress, and the recent funeral services in their settlement stirred up emotions in the group that Colonel David Williamson could hardly squelch.
A vote was decided-those that wanted to spare the Christian Indians could step forward. Eighteen of the approximately 200 settlers did so and went away from the scene, "calling upon the Almighty to witness that they washed their hands of the crime about to be perpetuated."
The brethren were permitted to spend one night in prayer and praise. In the morning, the slaughter began. With a cooper's mallet, one of the colonists began smashing the heads of the Indians. After doing fourteen, he handed it to one of the others saying, "My arm fails me; go on in the same way; I think I have done pretty well."
The older Indians were also scalped. But even after being knocked in the head and scalped, one of the young boys, Thomas, awoke from his daze and escaped.
47 With another escapee, they made their way back to David Zeisberger and the others encamped on the Sandusky River. "The blood flowed in streams!" Thomas would remember.
One of the militiamen who opposed the killing of the Moravian Indians was Obadiah Holmes, Jr. Among his observations of the incident was that "one Nathan Rollins & brother had had a father & uncle killed took the lead in murdering the Indians, ...& Nathan Rollins had tomahawked nineteen of the poor Moravians, & after it was over he sat down & cried, & said it was no satisfaction for the loss of his father & uncle after all."
Burial site of the 96 non-resistant Christian Indians at Gnaddenhutten, Ohio.
David was shocked to hear the news. Approximately one-third of his congregation had been murdered by people whom he considered friends. Furthermore, although he probably did not ever know it, Simon Girty, a loyalist with whom he later had a good relationship, seems to have gone along with the war-party that had raided the settlements. Disguising himself so as not to be recognized, Simon went up and down the east bank of the Ohio River and urged the settlers to destroy the Indians camped at Gnadenhutten, blaming them for the raids. Some say the whole affair was a plan to eliminate the Christian Indians.
Friends turned foe. Foe and betrayer later turned friend. Unspeakable atrocities. Cold-blooded murders. David walked in the middle of it all. Although he seems to have leaned somewhat toward the Colonist cause during the war, he never openly took sides. In fact, he had open communication with both sides, and both sides openly supported his work among the Indians, sending him supplies on occasion.
But the best part of the story is! David Zeisberger never got bitter about any of it!
Like Thomas at Gnaddenhutten, Robert McGee was scalped (by the Sioux Chief Little turtle in 1864) and survived. It is hard to imagine!!
Chapter 11
Retirement in Fair Fields or Hard Work?
David was now in his 77th year. It was high time, according to human reasoning, that the old man take it easy. He now lived in Upper Canada. 48 Around him laid a prosperous Christian Indian village that he had helped to organize. Sure, it was cold; so cold that the ink froze to the pens and the morning found ice on the blankets-from their own breath freezing. After leaving Captive Town, he and his converts had lived in various communities in Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario. Now he was comfortably settled in a bountiful community, his faithful wife by his side. A nice chapel, two schools, almost fifty other homes, a carpenter shop, storehouses, and barns besides. The Great Northwestern Fur Company was purchasing about 2000 bushels of corn each year from the believers, close to 5000 pounds of maple sugar was processed yearly, the community's baskets and mats were in demand, and they supplied hand-made canoes to all the neighboring towns. Cattle thrived, fences surrounded 300 cultivated acres, fruit trees budded, clover bloomed-the community name was nothing less than Fairfield.
But ...
The American Congress had granted the Moravian Church three 4000-acre plots of land, surveyed and with a title, in the Tuscarawas valley as a goodwill gesture for the Gnadenhutten murders that had occurred there some years before.
Should the brethren go back?
The above map shows some of the areas (blue dots with a dab of red in the middle) where David Zeisberger would have ministered at. Most of them would have had a Christian Indian village at some point.
It was like the reviving of an old racehorse. The mention of returning to their old home had the same effect upon many of the converted Indians. Finally, it was decided that David and several Indian families, seven in number, would return as a kernel to revive the mission on the Tuscarawas. Joyfully selling their possessions, the Indian brethren did not count it loss that they were giving up established homes for overgrown wilderness. David's example had taught them well. He would write:
"Our Indians are accustomed to leave all when called upon, and they do it cheerfully."
So David, 77 years of age, packed his bags once more. He rented a U-haul truck and loaded up for the six-hour drive to the Tuscarawas.
No. He loaded a canoe and set out on the journey that would take fifty-one days. For the 13>th time he would start a Christian Indian village. Arriving at the site, he would write:
"Our land here has acquired such a wild appearance since we left in the year 1781, 49 that we can hardly know it again."
Missionary blood still flowed in David Zeisberger's veins.
David spent ten more years at his last settlement, Goshen, dying there on November 20, 1808. Some of his last words were, "The Savior is near, perhaps He will soon come and take me to Himself."
During his long life, he wrote "A Delaware Indian and English Spelling-book," with an appendix containing the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, some Scripture passages and a Litany; "A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Christian Indians," translated from the English and German Moravian Hymn-books, and including the Easter, Baptismal and Burial Litanies; a volume of "Sermons to Children," translated from the German; a translation of Spangenberg's "Bodily Care of Children"; "A Harmony of the Four Gospels," translated from the Harmony prepared by Samuel Leiberkuhn; and a grammatical treatise on the Delaware conjugations. He also prepared a lexicon, in seven volumes, of the German and Onondaga languages, an Onondaga Grammar, a Delaware Grammar, a German-Delaware Dictionary, and other works of a similar nature. All this besides voluminous diaries and journals.
He was so acquainted with Indian culture that he could give speeches and sermons in their language and in their bombastic, symbol-filled style. He mastered Delaware, Onondaga, and Mohawk (as well as German, Latin, Dutch and English) and could understand several other sub-dialects. He understood wampum belts. 50 He understood tribal customs and inter-family relations-so much so that he wrote a "History of the North American Indians" which is still read today.
He was familiar with their "world-view," and knew about their sacrifices of dogs, gorging themselves with pig meat, and baking themselves in ovens in an attempt to please the gods. He also knew, very, very well, the weakness that the red man had towards alcohol.
In his last days, many of the converts at Goshen were yielding to this temptation. So weakened in body that he could not hear well or write, he was forced to publicly reprove them for getting drunk-only half the congregation had showed up for Easter services, the rest were getting drunk in the woods. He was compelled to warn them:
"... There is a house here in which the following persons [he named them] are living, who have given themselves up to every kind of vice. They act like wild beasts, and not like men. They do not belong to our people; and yet they want to be masters in this town ... I will add a few words for their special benefit, and in the way of warning for all ... The Bible contains not only sweet promises, but also fearful denunciations upon the children of darkness, and says, particularly, that neither drunkards, nor fornicators, nor murderers, nor evil-doers of any kind will inherit the kingdom of God, but will, unless they repent, be cast ... into hell-fire, where they will be tormented forever and ever, without the possibility of escape, or hope of salvation. I wish you to hear this, once more ... so that, on the Day of Judgment, you may not bring forward as excuse for you wickedness that I and your teachers did not tell you the consequences if you persist in your present course."
Such a sermon is not the kind that a preacher desires to be his last sermon. But for David it was. Furthermore, he was facing depression, as in his eyes his life's work was a failure. The converts gathered around him now numbered only a score or so, and many of these were falling away. The old glory days of revival had passed. As well, reports came in of other Moravian mission ventures that claimed thousands upon thousands of conversions: from the West Indies, Surinam, Greenland, and Labrador and from South Africa. So in spite of his knowing human nature, he was a discouraged man going to his grave.
He also knew the fickleness of the white man. He would sigh about his fellow missionaries in his last days, noting that the searching out of new mission fields among the Indians had almost ceased to be and that the young missionaries who did arrive on the field now had to come with loaded-down pack-horses, whereas he had went out with little more than a strong faith in God.
And then there was the Moravian Brethren storekeeper in nearby Gnadenhutten-now resettled by white "brethren"-who sold alcoholic beverages on the very grounds where such drinks had been banned before. In fact, even the Ohio legislature forbid the selling of the "fire-water" on the missions grounds, with the exception of the one store-owner who had a license-a member of the Moravian Brotherhood! 51
But should David be discouraged as he lay dying? He knew he would be buried in "God's Acre," where many other believers-most of them Indians-had already been placed. There were those in that plot in whom he could have confidence that they also would gather around the throne, rejoicing at the final trumpet. He had preached to Mahicans, Wampanoags, Nanticokes, Shawnee, Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Unamis, Unalachtgos, Monseys, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senacas: from Massachusetts to Michigan. Furthermore, native brethren had carried the message further on, until it was said that Indians beyond the Mississippi River had heard the message of salvation.
Thousands of Indians had been baptized. The missionaries generally withheld adult baptism until there were evident signs of a change in heart. It is true, many apostatized; many were scattered abroad into the wilds when the villages were ransacked; many had simply gone to their final reward. David lay dying among the second and third generations of Christian Indians.
He had seen their fathers acknowledge women as equal beings and perform labors generally left for the females in their society. He had seen them lay aside their feathers, paint, and ornaments and begin to dress very plainly, clean and neat, as he himself was known to dress. They stayed home and raised families instead of going off on extended hunts leaving the women and children to fend for themselves. The planted and worked hard instead of lolling in the sun. They had rejected the war hatchet.
And David could not know, except by faith, that there would be some Indians who would continue in the faith, passing the torch to the next generation. This did occur, for a great-grandson of Gelelemend 52 (converted chief of the Unami Delaware), John Kilbuck by name, would become a missionary to the Alaskan Eskimos, dying there in 1922. Up into the 20>th century, there would be a little band of "praying Indians" on the reservations of Kansas and Oklahoma, where the white men would eventually push the few remaining Delaware.
So lived David Zeisberger. Bishop Ettwein would say of him: "If only our little 53 David could be at more places, or if we had more such Davids!"
David never would allow his name to be put on a salary list, to become a "hireling" as he would call it. Not that he felt doing so was always wrong. But for him, just seeing a soul come to the Lamb for cleansing was enough reward for him.
From the east coast, the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) were pushed to Kansas. This 1867 photo shows a Lenni Lenape farm on a reservation there. For many years after their settlement there, there was a small band known as the "Praying Indians," product of the Moravian mission efforts.
Chapter 12
And Us! Readers or Heeders?
Somebody call 911!! Bethlehem is in distress!
While doing the research for this book, I visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania two times. Walking on the very grounds where David Zeisberger had trod, I noted, among other things, how that paganism has taken over-right in Bethlehem itself.
Entering a bookstore that boasted a sign that read "MORAVIAN BOOKSTORE-1745"-within a hundred yards of where David had slept many times in the still-standing single-brothers house-I looked for some old books on Moravian Church history. Among its thousands of titles-mostly non-religious, but some promoting philosophy and other religions-I finally found a few Bibles near a corner.
Outside, on the nearby park-grounds that contain some of the original buildings of the Moravian settlers, lay a man, not Indian, dressed in nothing more (literally) than a modern loin-cloth-a pair of shorts. At a nearby musuem, the sight of a young girl with a pierced nose-no, she was not a Nez Perce (French for "pierced nose") Indian-who "guarded" the pretty paintings in an air-conditioned room struck me as an example of modern laziness.
In an earlier visit, leaving the Moravian College library, I noted the young lady standing near the entrance door, dressed in the attire of a harlot and smoking the Indian's gift to the white man-tobacco. How Bethlehem needs missionaries, I thought!
Yea, how all of North America needs missionaries!
Two hundred years have elapsed since David Zeisberger passed to his eternal reward. North America has changed drastically since then-David Zeisberger would in no ways recognize Bethlehem nor the Ohio Valley. From an estimated 3 million souls at the coming of the Europeans, the North American population has exploded 100 times, to approximately 300 million.
300,000,000 eternal souls; and a good part of them are as pagan as the party-loving Indians that David walked among. Sure, some things have changed; but there are striking similarities. No longer do rum-traders roam the woods looking to sell their goods in isolated Indian villages. Now it is cocaine and meth dealers who stalk and seduce America's youth to destroy their souls. No longer does someone beat a deerskin drum to get the passions of the youth aroused to dance and fornicate; now North America's youth download rap music from the Internet to play on their iPod®.
No longer is North America a primitive wilderness of vines, huge trees, and swamps. Now it is a tangled mess of endless pavement and high-rise apartments-the "concrete jungle."
No longer are there herb-doctor shamans who preach that there are three ways to heaven, one for the black man, one for the brown man, and one for the white man. Now there are about 300 million ways: every man has his own way and one is not supposed to "bother" others with his opinion.
But God saved and delivered hundreds of North American heathen using men like David Zeisberger. To God be the Glory! Should you try to give undue glory to David Zeisberger, and were he to find it out, he (if he could) might well run you out of town like he did whiskey-traders that came to ply their wares in his villages.
To God only be the glory for souls saved!
Yet, God uses men-men like David Zeisberger who consistently choose the spiritual over the natural-in the work of saving heathen.
And America desperately needs missionaries to preach the Lamb among its millions of pagans that roam its concrete jungles.
"If only our little David could be at more places, or if we had more such Davids!"
AMEN!!
The missionaries called dugout canoes, a common mode of travel for them, "Seelen Verkaufer" (seller of souls), as they were known to be dangerous, and not a few men had lost their lives using these crafts.
Bibliography
De Schweintz, Edmund, Life and Times of David Zeisberger- The Western Pioneer and Apostle of the Indians, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott and Co.
Gray, Elma E., Wilderness Christians, Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University Press, 1956.
Gray, Lesley R., Editor, From Fairfield to Schonbrunn-1798
Hamilton, J. Taylor, and Hamilton, Kenneth G., History of the Moravian Church, The Renewed Unitas Fratrum 1722-1957, Bethlehem, PA and Winston-Salem, N.C., Interprovincial Board of Christian Education-Moravian Church in America, 1967.
Hoover, Peter, The Secret of the Strength, Shippensburg, PA.
Hoover, Peter, Behold the Lamb, Unpublished manuscript.
Hutton, J.E., A History of the Moravian Church, 2>nd ed., 1909. (www.ccel.org/h/hutton/moravian/)
1762 Brotherly Agreement, Translated and digitized by the Bethlehem Digital History project, http://bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/regulations/ brotherly_agreement/batranslation.html.
Omstead, Earl P., Blackcoats among the Delaware, Kent, Ohio, Kent State University Press, 1991.
Omstead, Earl P., David Zeisberger, A Life among the Indians, Kent, Ohio, Kent State University Press, 1997.
Massacre of the Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten, March 6, 1782, www.rootsweb.com/~indian/gnaden.htm
Rice, William, David Zeisberger and His Brown Brethren, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Moravian Book Concern, 1908.
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Footnotes
39 He was 60 years of age when he entered into marriage (June 4, 1781, at Lititz, Penn.) with Susan Lecron, 37 years of age, on his last trip to the east. His friends pressured him to get a wife to "take care of him" as he was so involved in his work that he "forgot" to take good care of himself at times! Almost 10 years earlier, one of his co-missionaries had written: "If Brother David does not live with a married couple who can care for him for a time again, he will not be able to hold out long." Leaving Lititz a few days after her wedding, Susan spent the next 27 years in the woods, without one single furlough, before returning to civilization. God bless missionary wives!!
40 David and the other male missionaries were stripped almost naked and put to shame before all the Indians for three days. One of the white men in the group of "captors" did give David some clothes after a while-a woman's nightgown.
41 The nearby Schonbrunn chapel was said to be able to hold about 500 persons, and at times was overfilled with listening natives.
42 That is, the last of their "captors."
43 This would be the equivalent of over $130.00 in current value. And corn today can be bought for about $3.00-6.00 per bushel!
44 David's description of this town is striking: "! the place here is like Sodom." "A sink of iniquity, a wicked and accursed place." While the French had a church and an old priest who read mass, "the English and Protestants have neither church nor preacher, and wish for neither." One of the missionaries noted that the inhabitants of Detroit had abandoned the use of "breeches" and wore loinclothes like the Indians. They also noted that this was normal conduct for all the outposts in the area.
45 A common measurement to the Indians, who knew practically nothing of European surveying.
46 There were at least two other Moravian Indian communities that were given the same name.
47 Thomas lived quite a number of years after his ghastly experience, suffering thenceforward from "fits". One day while traveling alone in a canoe, he drowned, evidently from one of his seizures, as he was known to be an excellent swimmer. Imagine going through life after having been, quite literally, scalped!!!
48 Southern Ontario. We in the USA usually think of "upper" as meaning north. Thus it strikes us as strange that the southernmost part of Canada be called "Upper Canada". But if you start at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and head upstream, southern Ontario suddenly becomes "Upper Canada"!
49 17 years had passed !
50 Wampum strings or belts were a symbol of authority. Each sub-tribe had to pay a "tax" of so many wampum per year. When gathered together for tribal councils, a man had to present wampum for each statement that he wanted to officially put authority to. If he only had a few wampum belts, he could make only a few authoritative statements. If he had many, he could talk a long time.
51 It is to be remembered, though, that total abstinence was almost unheard of in those days.
52 David Zeisberger's testimony of this man is as follows: "Ah, how has this man, the great chief of Goshachgunk (where David had his encounter with Wangomen) changed! How now is he become so meek that he comes like any other sinner, weeps and begs for grace at the Saviour's feet !"
53 Remember, David barely passed the 5-foot mark in physical stature.