Notes
Notes for the Year 1751 
JANUARY 1751
1. Friesel is usually rendered as “the purples” or “military fever,” but it is possible that the ailment in question was das rote Friesel, or scarlet fever.
2. A medication made at Halle containing gold dust. See Renate Wilson, “The Halle Orphanage Medications in Georgia,” forthcoming.
3. Being from Appenzell, Krüsy had been Reformed (Zwinglian) until becoming Lutheran at Ebenezer.
4. Boltzius’ older son, who had died in 1750.
5. The local government in the District of Northern Georgia was a Council, which consisted of a President and five Assistants.
6. Ortmann seems to have exaggerated the demise of Vernonburg, which continued for some years more. He had been dismissed from Ebenezer for defying Boltzius by signing a petition to permit slavery.
7. Unfamiliar with Welsh, the typesetters at Halle could not believe that a name could begin with double “1” and therefore chose a “C,” which looks similar in German script. This was Samuel Lloyd.
8. Paroxysms of fever.
9. Another brother, Nikolaus, returned with him from Germany.
10. Pastor Conrad Daniel Kleinknecht of Leipheim had recruited colonists for Urlsperger. See Feb., note 3.
11. James 5:15.
12. Proverbs 3:33.
13. Ambrosius Wirth, Beicht- und Abendmahlbüchlein.
14. Isaiah 45:15.
15. Psalms 68:19.
16. Boltzius consistently used the word Wildkatzen for raccoons.
17. Acute fever.
18. Habakkuk 2:3.
19. Der HERR hat geredt, er wolle im dunckelen wohnen, unidentified.
20. Galatians 6:9.
21. Mrs. Maurer.
22. Formula Concordiae or Concordienbüchlein; Libri symbolici, the Lutheran articles of faith.
23. “Regarding doctrine and practice.”
24. Johannes Tauler, a medieval mystic.
25. A mystical medieval treatise sometimes attributed to a certain Frankfurter and translated by Luther.
26. Wesley’s words, which were incredibly mangled by the Halle typesetters, have been reconstructed against the modernized version in The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, ed. F. W. MacDonald. New York 1907, pp. 315-316. Boltzius and Wesley had first been friends, but they broke up when Wesley endorsed the dogma of predestination.
27. Johannes Arndt, VierBücher von Wahrem Christenthum. Halle, 1699, many printings.
28. “Deep silence.”
29. Boltzius uses the word “English” in the sense of “Anglican,” since Zouberbuhler was a Swiss from Appenzell.
30. Among the Pietists, the word Sicherheit meant a false assurance of salvation through good works rather than through a rebirth in Jesus.
FEBRUARY 1751
1. Genesis 32:11
2. See note 1, above.
3. These Swiss colonists never appear in the Georgia records. The last transport from the Territory of Ulm was the third Swabian tranport, which arrived in 1752.
4. aus dem geistlichen Blumengärtlein, unidentified.
5. This voluminous and informative response has been translated as “Johann Martin Bolzius Answers a Questionnaire On Carolina and Georgia,” trans. Klaus G. Loewald, et al. William and Mary Quarterly, third series, Vols. 14 & 15. The benefactor may have been Graf Schonfeld.
6. Eitel Gnade uns itzt blüht, probably from a hymn.
7. Boltzius may have thought that this venomous attack against the Moravians was necessary to persuade orthodox benefactors that he and his flock had not been contaminated by the Moravians during their brief sojourn in Georgia.
8. Boltzius uses the odd legal Latin term verbotenus.
9. Count Ludwig Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, the leader of the Moravians.
10. The word assecla is very derogatory, meaning not only “follower” but also “sycophant.”
11. Johannes Arndt, Passions- und Osterpredigten.
12. This was Johannes Tobler of New Windsor, a former governor of Appenzell.
13. One of these recommendations, from James Habersham, is preserved in the Public Record Office (Reference 5 / 643).
14. Boltzius used the older spelling Bryar Creek. The third Swabian transport was supposed to settle there, but they found it too remote.
15. Following Roman Catholic and Lutheran usage, Boltzius calls this the Fifth Commandment. By disobeying her minister, her spiritual father, she was disobeying the injunction to honor father and mother.
16. Boltzius must mean the regular gospel for the day.
17. Hosea 13:9.
18. The swindler Friedrich Curtius.
MARCH 1751
1. Mark 16:16.
2. Boltzius uses the word “other” oddly. He means that he came with another man, who was older.
3. Until now, the title Herr von N. has mainly referred to Chretien de Münch of Augsburg. However, in the entry for 19 March we learn that this petitioner was from Halle.
4. This favorite verse of Boltzius sounds somewhat better in Luther’s translation Er kan ueberschwenglich thun über alles, das wir bitten oder verstehen (Ephesians 3:20).
5. For the Pietists, “honest” (ehrlich) meant “holding to Pietist principles.”
6. For the Pietists, “temptation” (Anfechtungen) meant “temptation to doubt that Christ, through His merits, can save even the worst sinner.”
7. Leiden ist itzt mein Gewinst. Das ist itzt des Vaters Wille; den verehr ich sanft und stille: Leiden ist mein Gottesdienst. From a hymn.
8. Der zur Zeit des Ungewitters betende Christ nach Massgab des beliebten Wetterbüchleins des seligen M. Bonifacci Stölzlins.
9. See Jan., note 27.
10. Allusion to Ephesians 3:20.
11. Since many of these friends are clerics, they can use the reports of the Salzburgers in collecting funds for their help.
12. Just as bekehrt meant “converted,” or “turned towards God,” verkehrt meant “perverted” or “turned from God.”
13. See note 6, above.
14. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), a missionary society in London that helped the Georgia Salzburgers.
15. Boltzius frequently failed to number the first of two items. Here he appears to have failed to number the first two items, unless Urlsperger has made a deletion.
16. Wenn Truebsal da ist, so denke der Barmherzigkeit. The King James version has “In wrath remember mercy.”
17. Luther’s translation renders this as Gott erfülle.., whereas the King James Bible makes it a fact, “But my God shall supply . . .”.
18. Seine Strafen, seine Schläge, ob sie mir gleich bitter seynd, dennoch wenn ichs recht erwäge, sind es Zeichen, dass mein Freund, der mich liebet, mein gedenke. Apparently from a hymn.
19. See Feb., note 5.
20. Isaiah 45:22; Acts 2:21.
21. Wäsche. Apparently the worms are stored all winter in the linens to keep them dry and warm.
22. Gottes Brünnlein hat Wassers die Fülle. The King James version renders this quite differently (Psalms 65:10).
23. These were Matthias and Elisabetha Zettler.
24. It is not clear to whom the pronouns in this passage refer.
25. See Jan., note 13.
26. D. Antonius = Dr. Paul Anton, professor at Halle. Des Hern Sen. Fresenii Pastoralsammlungen, unidentified.
27. See Jan., note 27.
APRIL 1751
1. He, surely the young Johann Adam Treutlen, is referring to Josuah 7:13, “There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.”
2. John 19:30; Luke 23:43.
3. Isaiah 43:24, 25.
4. Luke 23:34.
5. See Jan., note 22.
6. Bichler’s second wife was Margaretha, the daughter of Theobald Kieffer, Sr., of Purysburg.
7. du bist mir stets in den Augen, du ligst mir in meinem Schoos, wie die Kindlein, die noch saugen: meine Treu zu dir is gross, usf. Unidentified.
8. The authorities in Savannah wished to keep a monopoly on the spinning off, or reeling, even though the Salzburgers, with their new machines and greater industry, could do it better. This was a good example of the mercantilism that so hindered progress in Georgia. The Salzburgers were to deliver the raw material, the cocoons, cheaply so that the people in Savannah could do the more profitable processing.
9. 1 Corinthians 11:28.
10. For “Low Sunday,” Boltzius has Quasimodogeniti from quasi modo geneti infantes (as newborn babes). These are words from the introit for Low Sunday.
11. This is Boltzius’ first mention of the considerable silk business being conducted by his wife and her sister, Mrs. Lemcke.
12. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in London.
13. George Whitefield’s orphanage, Bethesda, just south of Savannah.
14. The text says Einwohnung but surely means Einweihung.
15. See Jan., note 13.
16. Der Herr ist noch, und nimmer nicht, von seinem Volk geschieden …So kommet vor seinem Angesicht mit Jauchzen-vollen Springen, etc., from a hymn.
17. A cry of joy.
MAY 1751
1. Boltzius is referring to the Palatines who came in 1749 and the Swabians who came in 1750.
2. See Jan., note 13.
3. Obviously Bichler. See entry for 9 April.
4. Later, under the name Wertsch, he became one of Ebenezer’s two leading citizens.
5. Sicher was a Pietist term meaning falsely assured of salvation because of good behavior and good works instead of through the Merits of Christ. See Jan., note 39.
6. Senior Urlsperger.
7. See Jan., note 30.
JUNE 1751
1. An error for June.
2. See March, note 2.
3. “Do not come near me” or “Do not touch me.”
4. As we shall see, Boltzius later corrects this error.
5. It is now agreed that the deer, particularly the does, do kill rattlesnakes with their hooves to protect their fawns.
6. The blacksnake, a type of constrictor, is long and thin; yet it can swallow a rattlesnake much thicker than itself.
7. Rattlesnake meat is now a gourmet item.
8. Since there are no dangerous vipers in Northern Europe, many of these superstitions must have been brought from Africa by the slaves.
9. The regular reports being sent by the Lutheran missionaries in India.
10. Boltzius says Epilepsien, which then referred to any sort of paroxysm. Because most pregnant women had malaria, brain damage was common in colonial Georgia.
11. “The last colonists” now meant the first Swabian transport of 1750.
12. The militia at Savannah, which drew from Acton and Vernonburg as well as from Goshen, was predominantly German-speaking.
13. 1 Peter 5:7.
14. Perhaps Boltzius is using the word wälsch in the sense of “Italian,” which would suggest that maize was introduced first to Italy. The word wälsch was also used of the American turkey.
15. For Boltzius’ use of “other,” see March, note 2.
16. Boltzius uses the word Handlung, which all scholars have interpreted as “medical practice,” but here, as elsewhere, he surely means “merchandising.” Mr. Mayer was a merchant as well as a surgeon, and the youth, Johann Adam Treutlen, became a merchant, not a surgeon.
17. No doubt Frederica.
18. Luke 14:22.
19. For use of “other,” see March, note 2.
20. John 6:37.
21. Philippians 1:21.
22. Boltzius uses the word Machtspruch (“Power-verse”), or verse that gives spiritual strength. Two other favorite terms are Kernspruch for a pithy maxim and Hauptspruch for a chief verse.
23. 1 Timothy 1:15.
24. The “he” must refer to her husband.
25. Gern wollt die Welt auch selig seyn, wenn nur nicht wär, etc., etc. From a hymn.
26. Psalms 65:10. The King James Bible renders this very differently.
27. See Feb., note 7.
28. The “art of dying well,” the ars bene moriendi (i.e., dying after having lived righteously), was a favorite theme in medieval devotional works.
29. Matthew 19:14.
30. Psalms 91:15.
31. in der ersten Sammlung der geistlichen Gedichte, unidentified, possibly by Bogatzky. See July, note 16.
32. The type-setters rendered this as wegen der vielen wilden Katzen (Kackuus, Passoms, und Tieger oder Luechse genannt). Boltzius generally called racoons “wild cats.” The spelling “passom” would be good German phonetics. The Georgians usually used the word “tiger” for the cougar and the word “wild cat” for the North American lynx.
33. This must have been Johann Paul Francke of Purysburg, who had attended school at Ebenezer.
JULY 1751
1. The first Swabian transport of 1750.
2. Even this appears to have been an exaggeration.
3. Boltzius had never seen sugar-maple trees, which do not grow on the coast of Georgia.
4. Psalms 37:37 in the Luther translation. The King James version gives something entirely different.
5. Psalms 27:4.
6. Urlsperger’s Ausführliche Nachrichten, the original of the Detailed Reports.
7. Psalms 55:22. Verse 23 in Luther’s translation.
8. The Kindermörderin, or unwed mother who kills her child, was a favorite theme in an age that dealt so harshly with fallen women. Goethe’s Gretchen was only one of many such desperate women.
9. For the nature of Urlsperger’s speech, see entry for 20 Aug.
10. Eines ungenannten Schreibers aus Berlin an seinen Freund von den letzten erbaulichen Stunden ihres gemeinschaftlichen Freundes, gedruckt 1751.
11. Kern- und Machtspruch, see June, note 22.
12. Die Schatz-Kästlein der Kinder Gottes, a popular devotional work by Heinrich von Bogatzky.
13. In addition to founding the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in 1698, Thomas Bray also founded the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts in 1701 to support the Church and clergy in the British colonies.
14. Boltzius had frequently requested to be relieved of his secular duties, which so greatly interferred with his ministry. Ludwig Mayer was now supposed to be the justiciar, or manager, of the community; but people still turned to Boltzius.
15. This means that people have been praying for them.
16. Geistliche Gedichte by an imperial count, foreword by Dr. Sigismund Jacob Baumgarten. See June, note 31.
17. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, Geistreiches Gesangbuch, Halle 1714.
18. See note above.
19. Ich kriech, mein Erlöser! dir zun Füssen, richt mich durch Gnade wieder auf; und darf ich deine Wunden küssen, so wird der Sünden Meng und Hauf, ob sie gleich noch so blutroth ist, doch so weiss wie Schnee und Wolle werden; verstoss nur nicht mich Asch und Erden, der du der Sünder Heiland bist. 6. Es ist noch Raum in deinen Wunden, für mich, der ich beladen bin, etc.
20. This work, which Boltzius calls here a songbooklet (Gesangbüchlein), would appear to be the same as the book of poems (Gedichte) mentioned in the entry for 23 July.
21. aus dem wernigerodischen Gesangbüchlein. This appears to be the same as the book described in the previous note.
22. Since no death was reported a week earlier, this suggests that Boltzius, or more probably Urlsperger, sometimes suppressed such reports.
23. Psalms 42:1-2.
24. This bride, who may have been one of the Gephart girls, must not have lived long, for Martin married Ursula Schweighofer in 1754.
25. See Jan., note 13.
AUGUST 1751
1. The text reads “Foygrapes,” which must be an error, but that still does not explain Boltzius’ parenthetical remark.
2. “adjusting to the nature of” the climate.
3. Abraham deLion, a Portuguese Jew, who had arrived during the first summer of the colony.
4. At his estate at Bewlie (now written Beaulieu), ten miles south of Savannah.
5. Boltzius uses the word Alleen, by which he seems to mean “arbors.”
6. The planters called this the “stretch flow.”
7. In Germany most vineyards are on mountain slopes, with the result that the word for vineyard is Weinberg, or “vine mountain.” Vines are mostly on slopes for two reasons. Vines can grow well on steep and rocky slopes where grains cannot be planted; and grapes growing on the south slopes receive the rays of the sun at a better angle than on flat ground.
8. Another example of the Pietists’ use of shame and encouragement.
9. This is an allusion to the hymn Gott wills machen, dass die Sachen by Johann Daniel Herrnschmidt.
10. See July, note 17.
11. It is not clear whether the melody to the second hymn is the same as to the first.
12. See note June, note 22.
13. For the first several years the people at Ebenezer rowed on the left or main channel of the Savannah River, even against very swift currents. Later they discovered that Abercorn Creek (the Mill River or right channel of the Savannah River) was very sluggish because its northern end, where it flowed from the main channel, was almost wholly silted up.
14. See July, note 14.
15. This must be a typographical error for Italy.
16. He was converted from Judaism.
17. Dr. Johannes Heinrich Callenberg was then proselytizing among the Jews.
18. See entry for 17 July.
19. See July, note 12.
20. Joshua 1:5. The following passage is made up of Biblical verses or parahrases.
21. Allusion to Luke 7:37-50.
22. In her grief this woman had gnawed her forearm almost to the bone after losing her many children in her flight from the Spanish invasion of 1742.
23. See entry for Aug. 4 explaining the subscribed verses.
24. This was another case of pica, a sickness associated with dietary deficiency (and perhaps hookworms), not by eating inedibles.
25. At this point Urlsperger inserts a footnote stating that this and similar speeches can be had in print under the title Ein zweyfaches Neues vom Jahre; oder zwo in einem evangelischen Oberkirchenconvent zu Augsburg den 20. Jan. 1751, und den 10. Jan. 1752, gehaltene Reden von Sam. Urlsperger des Ev. Min. Sen. und Past. bey St. Anna, Augsburg gedruckt und zu finden in der Maschenbaurishen Buchdruckerey.
26. Mein Vater, du hast mich erwählt noch vor dem Anfang meiner Tage, etc.
27. See Jan., note 13.
OCTOBER 1751
1. Urlsperger appears to have deleted the entries for September and most of October.
2. Ecclesiastes 12:13.
3. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, Evangelienpostill.
4. The text reads Kroberger. See entry for 5 Nov.
5. These were the second Swabian transport.
6. This was Johann Gerhard Wilhelm von Brahm, an artillery captain.
7. The Swabian transports were recruited for Urlsperger by the Lutheran pastors in the Territory of Ulm.
8. They were still on shipboard at the mouth of the Savannah River.
9. David Kraft of Regensburg, who was to manage von Muench’s interests in Ebenezer, soon died.
10. Abercorn Island in the Savannah River.
11. The land across Ebenezer Creek had been reserved for the Uchee Indians by treaty, but they were now nearly extinct and the survivors had moved up the river.
12. Exodus 20 (Remember the Sabbath).
13. The King James version (Psalms 68:19) differs somewhat in wording.
14. John McClelland.
NOVEMBER 1751
1. Samuel Leberecht and Christina Elisabetha had died the previous year.
2. A prescription or instruction.
3. “The great works of God.”
4. Because Boltzius uses the word Untertanen (subject), he must have been referring to one of the Salzburgers’ “noble benefactors.”
5. Boltzius numbers this as the second commandment, following Lutheran and Roman Catholic usage. See Feb., note 15.
6. See June, note 17.
7. Boltzius fails to mention that this is the chest from Halle.
8. Samuel Urlsperger, Schriftmaessiger Unterricht fuer Kranke und Sterbende.
9. Exodus 15:16. The King James version reads, “I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
10. Man harre nur, selbst im Gedränge wird deine Macht gewiss noch offenbar. Je grösser oft das Elend pflegt zu seyn, je mehr und eher bricht die Hülf herein. From a hymn.
11. See June, note 12.
12. Jeremiah 17:14.
13. See Oct., note 13.
14. Das Jesulein soll doch mein Trost, mein Heyland seyn und bleiben, etc. A hymn.
15. 1 Timothy 4:8.
16. Hosea 13:9.
17. Der Kranken Gesundheit und der Sterbenden Leben.
18. The Salzburgers had recently purchased the Trustees’ cattle ranch.
19. See note 8 above.
20. Johann Tobler, a former governor of Appenzell.
21. Being Swiss, Tobler used the ancient word Herbstmonat, which had been coined for Charlemagne and had long since died out in most dialects.
22. Johann Ulrich Neidlinger.
23. This would appear to be an ironic allusion to their having tried to run away.
24. Boltzius did not live to see the handsome brick church, which was built several years after his death.
DECEMBER 1751
1. See Jan., note 13.
2. In the Palatine transport of 1749 there had been several young journeymen who did not at first conform to Ebenezer standards until chastened by fever.
3. Most of these were indentured and were to be redeemed in 1752.
4. Von Muench, the Augsburg banker and benefactor, appears to have been behind a scheme to import rare woods from Ebenezer.
5. aus dem nimischen Gebieth.
6. While the authorities could censure all printed reports encouraging emigration, they found difficulty in preventing favorable letters, which, as in this case, were copied and distributed. The Schubdrein girl probably memorized the letter so that she could share the content without having the letter found on her. This was Anna Margaretha, who married one of the Freyermuths.
7. The Trustees had granted each family a small lot in town, a two-acre garden on the edge of town, and a plantation at some distance. Being farmers, the Salzburgers preferred to move out to their plantations in order to protect their crops and beasts from both two- and four-footed marauders. Even the tradesmen, such as smiths and carpenters, also preferred to move to the plantations. Consequently, the lots in town and the gardens surrounding it soon reverted to wilderness, thus depriving Ebenezer of any semblance of a city.
8. Boltzius’ suggestion is justified by the recent discovery of radon.
9. The Halle typesetters set this as Buten instead of as Guten.
10. Boltzius is referring to the tythingmen.
11. 2 Timothy 4:18.
12. Die Bretter sind aus Lorrelpappelholz, Cedern, Lorbeer, wilden Kirsch- und Maulbeerbaum, Sassafrass und Possimento-oder hiesigen Misspelbaum, desgleichen einige Stuecken von Livoak, hiesige Hagebuchen, Hundsholz, und Furledbay, welches das haerteste.
13. Macht- und Kernspruch, one of Boltzius’ favorite Pietistic expressions. See June, note 22.
14. Romans 8:31-32.
15. Matthew 8:3.
16. See note 14.
17. Romans 5:10-11; 10:12.
18. Tractat von der Freyheit der Gläubigen vom Gesetze. This appears to be a title.
19. Boltzius is arguing that “legalistic” people, those who fear the law more than they trust Christ’s mercy, spoil Christianity for other people.
20. With the exception of Luther, all these were Pietist authors often quoted by Boltzius in his journal.
21. Romans 2:4.