Notes
1. Samuel Urlsperger, ed., Ausführliche Nachricht von den Saltzburgischen Emigranten die sich in America niedergelassen haben.
2. Franckesche Stiftung—Archiv der Ostindischen Missionsbibliothek, Abtheilung 5A–D.
3. For sojourn of Moravians in Georgia, see Adelaide L. Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740. The term Moravian is misleading, since only a few of the sect actually came from Moravia. They claimed to be true Lutherans, yet they also claimed descent from the Bohemian Utraquists.
4. In this regard he at least writes better than Col. William Stephens, if we may judge by the syntax of note 204.
5. As good Lutherans, the Salzburgers served God both by working (laborare) and by praying (orare); but their detractors in Savannah said they spent their time in praying and eating.
6. When the Earl of Egmont tried to justify the Trustees’ policies, almost the only success he could cite in the colony was that of the Salzburgers (C. L. Ver Steeg, ed., A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia, pp. 4, 130, 160, 175, 345). The Malcontents, on the other hand, argued that the Salzburgers could not be held up as examples, since they “are yearly supported from Germany and England” (ibid., p. 136) and “they have been hitherto liberally supported both from Germany and England, and their rights and privileges have been much more extensive than any others in the colony” (ibid., p. 145).
7. See entry for 23 Sept. in George Fenwick Jones and Renate Wilson, trs. and eds., Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants, IV, 167.
8. “Advice came this day, that one Hughes, a Smith, settled at Abercorn, was newly gone off without the least previous Notice of his Intention, for Carolina, with his family.” William Stephens, Stephens Journal (Allen D. Candler, ed., Colonial Records of Georgia, IV, 78).
9. Peter Rose. See Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 69.
10. See Jones and Wilson, trs. and eds., Detailed Reports, IV, 119. Entry for 2829 June.
11. W. V. Davis, ed., George Whitefield Journals, 153—54.
12. These Germans, who were indentured for a period of service to pay for their passage, had arrived on 20 Dec. 1737; and some twenty were put under Mr. Bradley to work for the Trustees. Stephens’ Journal, 60. Entry 31 Dec. 1737. See also Candler, Colonial Records, XXII, pt. 2, p. 21.
13. This was Anna Dorothea Helfenstein, widow of Johann Jacob Helfenstein, a Swiss tanner who arrived with the third transport. The Earl of Egmont reported Helfenstein as still alive on 13 March 1739 (E. Merton Coulter and Albert B. Saye, eds., A List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 22), but Boltzius reports his death on 23 Oct. 1736 (George Fenwick Jones and Marie Hahn, trs. and eds., Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants, III, 232). Concerning his son Friedrich, P. A. Strobel (The Salzburgers and their Descendants, 117) says, “If the tradition in reference to him is correct, he was a lineal descendant of the Count of Helfenstein, who, with his wife (a daughter of the Emperor Maximilian) and their youngest daughter. . . .” Since Strobel was writing in the antebellum South, when illustrious ancestry was attributed to all of the planter class (to which the contemporary Helvenstons belonged) it was reasonable for him to mention this rather unlikely genealogy. On the other hand, it is surprising that it was quoted as “probable” more than a half century later by Albert Bernhardt Faust (The German Element in the United States, I, 67).
14. This was probably her daughter Maria Frederica, who later married Thilo. The other daughter was Maria Christina. (Coulter and Saye, A List, 23.)
15. “She” apparently refers to the mother. Like many eighteenth-century writers, Boltzius was sometimes vague in his use of pronouns.
16. It is surprising that she says “both,” since she had four sons: Friedrich, Johann Jacob, Jeremias, and Johannes. (Ibid., 23). Perhaps she is referring to the two living at home. See ibid., entry for 10 Jan.
17. Boltzius may have been misinformed and meant Capt. Hewitt, who brought the Germans on 20 Dec. 1737, according to Stephens’ Journal, 54. Verelst also stated that several German families had left “last Saturday” on the Three Sisters, Capt. Hewitt (Verelst to William Bradley, 10 Oct. 1737, Candler, Colonial Records, XXIX, 579). Of course, Thomson could have been in port too, since he next arrived in Savannah on 15 Sept. 1738, which allowed quite enough time for a round trip. (Stephens’ Journal, 212. Entry 15 Oct. 1738).
18. This surveyor, whom Boltzius calls Ross, was really Hugh Rose. “Read a Petition of Mr. Hugh Rose Surveyor That having been Appointed by Gen. Oglethorpe to be Surveyor of Ebenezer. . . .” (Candler, Colonial Records, II, 444).
19. For a brief but excellent account of the Ebenezer orphanage, see Lothar L. Tresp, “The Salzburger Orphanage at Ebenezer in Colonial Georgia,” in Americana-Austriaca, Beiträge zur Amerikakunde 3 (1974), 190-234.
20. Egmont lists Johann Peter Amrsdorf [sic!] as still living on 13 March 1738. The widow’s name is not given (Coulter and Saye, A List, 2).
21. “Capt. Daubuz in the Georgia Pink, arrived at Tybee laden with Provisions from Ireland” (Stephens’ Journal, 66. Entry 12 Jan.).
22. Boltzius’ faith in the Lord was justified. In answer to his petition for aid, Harman Verelst answered on 3 March 1739 that “the Trustees . . . have been pleased to direct that 40 £ should be paid into your Hands to be applied towards to Maintenance of your Saltzburgh Widows and Orphans.” (Candler, Colonial Records, XXX (MS), 51).
23. Apparently Mrs. Pichler. See Stephens’ Journal, 66, entry for 12 Jan.
24. To understand contemporary medical theory, we might see what the surveyor William Gerard De Brahm had to say about bozoardic powder: “The Operation of the Bozoardic is nearly thus: the tartar Vitriol dissolves the Phleme concreted from acids, sulphurics and Water; the Conchae absorbe the Acid, and constitute a sal cathardic, which leads the retained Secretion to Excretion. The tartar Vitriol likewise as a diuretic proceeds in the Lymphe and massam sanguinis, where it dissolves what is coagulated and promotes Secretion, the Niter as an antinephritium cools and lays itself in the Rain to give easy Passage to the secreted Salts. Antim, diaphor by gentle friction on the Stomach causes a perspiration of the Zinabarum is sublimed by the volatil sal comphori in the sinus cerebi, where its terra sulphurea contracts & strengthens their Dilatation” (Louis De Vorsey, Jr., ed., De Brahm’s Report. . . , 86).
25. Sammlung Auserlesener Materien zum Bau des Reiches Gottes (Leipzig: Samuel Benjamin Walther, 1731 ff.). This collection consists of several contributions (Beyträge). See note 70.
26. Andere nötige Bequemlichkeit, a more delicate way of expressing the term s. h. Abtritt of 9 Jan.
27. Eins ist Noth, ach Herr! dies Eine, hymn by J. H. Schröder.
28. Habe Danck für deine Liebe, verse from Seelen-Bräutigam, Jesu, Gotteslamm, hymn by A. Drese.
29. Bürgerliche Gerechtigkeit, “civil righteousness” or “natural honesty,” the sin of pride that makes man feel competent to achieve salvation on his own merits and without divine aid.
30. This means to stop vacillating. It is an allusion to Luther’s translation of 1 Kings 18:21, wie lange hincket ihr auf beiden Seiten, which the King James Bible renders less picturesquely as “How long halt ye between two opinions?”.
31. Sey Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gott, hymn by J. J. Schütz.
32. See note 29.
33. David Zuebli, father of Johann Joachim Zubly, subsequently leader of the Georgia Dissidents and delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (Robert L. Meriweather, The Expansion of South Carolina, 40, note 19).
34. Fällt die Sünd’ ins Meer hinein, / Muss sie wie ein Nebel schwinden, / Wer will meine Sünde finden? / Nein sie soll vergessen seyn, / Jetzo, ja auf ewig hin, / Weil ich gantz in Jesu bin. From an unidentified hymn.
35. Sanftleben did bring his sister, along with a shoemaker and four marriageable women, on 27 June 1739. In a letter of 11 Feb. 1738 to Robert Trevor, the British minister at the Hague, Benjamin Martyn gave their names as “George Sanftle Ben, John Caspar Ulick, Gertraud Lacknerin, Elizabeth Wassernaennim, Margaretta Eggerin, Margaretta Berenbergerin and her sister.” Candler, Colonial Records, XXX (un-printed), 40.
36. Quite obviously Mrs. Helfenstein, since they were cronies.
37. “She” refers not to the widow, but to Mrs. Rheinlaender, whose husband had gone north. See note 15.
38. At the time and in the area the word “Frenchman” usually referred to French-speaking Swiss.
39. “In the Evening Mr. Causton told me, he expected a man from among the Saltzburghers at Ebenezer to-morrow, who was going for London, and thence to Germany, on some affairs of that Settlement, whose Name was George St. Leaver” (Stephens’ Journal, 96-97. Entry 1 March 1738).
40. Quite obviously the tedious Mrs. Schweighofer.
41. Entbinde mich, mein Gott, von allen meinen Banden, hymn by L. Gedicke.
42. Gecreutzigter, mein Hertze sucht, hymn by J. E. Schmidt.
43. Jesus ist das schönste Licht (hymn by C. F. Richter); Es ist vollbracht, vergiss ja nicht (J. E. Schmidt); Brich durch, mein angefochtenes Hertz (J. H. Böhmer); Zu dir, Herr Jesu, komme ich (J. A. Freylinghausen); Mein Gott, du weisst am allerbesten, (I. Clauder); Wenn dein hertzliebster Sohn, o Gott (J. Hermann).
44. Both the Lutheran and the Roman Catholic Bibles number the commandments differently from the King James version. For them, the second commandment is to remember the Sabbath and the third is to honor father and mother. Through some clerical rationalization, the term “father and mother” included one’s spiritual father, namely the clergy.
45. No doubt an indentured servant.
46. In Leviticus 19:3. See note 44.
47. The widow Ihler. See entry for 16 March.
48. Probably Samuel Montaigut, who maintained a store in Purysburg with Charles Pury until 1739 (Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 38).
49. verbis et factis.
50. Col. Stephens also commented on the abrupt change in weather on 7 March (Stephens’ Journal, 98).
51. Only the grace of God, not human nature, can achieve salvation. See note 29.
52. August Hermann Francke, Lehre vom Anfang Christlichen Lebens. A devotional tractate.
53. One could best depart downstream from Purysburg at high tide to profit from both the river current and the ebb tide.
54. She is referring to Luther’s catechism, either the Grosse Katechismus or the Kleine Katechismus.
55. See note 27.
56. Capt. Roger Lacy and Lt. Richard Kent. See Stephens’ Journal, 178. Entry 1 Aug.
57. It is to be remembered that the word epilepsy was applied to any sickness causing convulsions or paroxysms. Capt. Lacy died of “epileptick Fits” on 3 Aug. (Ibid., 179).
58. die vor den Riss treten, an unclear idiom that may mean “to step into the breach” or “to step up to the abyss.”
59. August Hermann Francke, Kösteritzisches Denkmal oder Ermahnungsrede (Halle: Waisenhaus, 1726). Devotional tractate.
60. The Schmidts, like the Grimmigers, were among the religious exiles from Upper Austria (the province immediately east of Salzburg), who found refuge at Regensburg (Ratisbon) until being brought to Georgia with the third transport. They were treated the same as the Salzburgers.
61. See note 52.
62. So bin ich nun nicht mehr ein fremder Gast, hymn by J. E. Schmidt.
63. See note 42.
64. Lass meine Seel ein Bienelein auf deinen Rosen-Wunden seyn, apparently from a hymn.
65. August Hermann Francke, Nöthige Prüfung sein Selbst vor dem Gebrauch des heiligen Abendmahls. Devotional tractate.
66. See note 30.
67. See note 65.
68. Henry Bishop, son of a London grocer.
69. John 5:46 & 39.
70. Der IX. Beytrag zum Bau des Reiches Gottes. See note 25.
71. Es kostet viel ein Christ zu seyn, unidentified hymn. Doch ist es wohl der Mühe wert.
72. August Hermann Francke, Vorbereitung aufs Oster-Fest.
73. This sentence makes no sense in Urlsperger’s edition, which has wie instead of wir.
74. At Ockstead, now called Causton’s Bluff, situated near Thunderbolt. “Towards Noon I rode out, by Invitation from Mr. Causton, to his Plantation, which he has named Ocstead; where I din’d with him and his Family, and Mr. Anderson: I found he had built a very handsome House, fit for any Gentleman to live in, laid out by a pleasant Garden, cut a fine vista thro’ the Wood, to a large Opening, and was going on with great improvements, both for Pleasure and Profit. (Stephens’ Journal, 13. Entry 5 Nov. 1737).
75. Two centuries later the German exile Carl Zuckmayer had the same difficulty until his Vermont neighbors taught him to soak his seeds in tar before planting them.
76. The creek was still low when Col. Stephens described the mill on 27 June (Ibid., 161-62).
77. It is interesting to note that the settlers in Georgia already applied the word trout to the large-mouth black bass, as their descendants still do. Since carp were introduced to the United States only much later (from Germany), Boltzius must be referring to catfish, even though he should have known such fish in Germany, where they are called Wels.
78. Christ seems to have had consumption already before leaving Frankfurt. In his case, Georgia was perhaps healthier than Germany.
79. Urlsperger naturally deleted this aspersion on the morality of the people of Memmingen, the town in South Germany at which the first Salzburgers were recruited for Georgia.
80. Previously, Boltzius said the child was seven.
81. Weg mein Hertz mit den Gedancken, hymn by Paul Gerhard.
82. Paul Anton, Evangelisches Haus-Gespräch von der Erlösung. Halle, probably 3rd ed. of 1730.
83. It is not clear why Boltzius chose Matthew 2, which tells the stories of the Three Kings, the Massacre of the Innocents, and the Flight to Egypt.
84. See note 25.
85. See note 44.
86. She was most likely French Swiss, like most of the inhabitants of Purysburg. It is regrettable that Boltzius gave so few proper names.
87. Boltzius never mentions a dissolute character named Edward Dyson, chaplain to Oglethorpe’s regiment, who held divine services from Whitefield’s departure through 9 April (Stephens’ Journal, 198. Entry 10 Sept. 1738).
88. See note 8.
89. Heimsucht. This ailment, usually called Heimweh, affected the Swiss mercenaries so severely that yodelling was forbidden in the French army lest it cause desertion.
90. This was John Regnier, an indentured Swiss who joined the Herrnhuters after they were established in Savannah (Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 80). “The name of the nurse (Krankenwärter) is not given, but he was probably John Regnier, who acted as physician, not only for the Moravians, but for many of their poor neighbors” (Ibid., 129). John Wesley reported that John Reinier had been robbed by the ship’s captain and had been forced to sell himself for seven years. See Faust, German Element, I, 68.
91. Apparently the fifth chapter of Numbers.
92. Thou shalt not steal. See note 44.
93. fremde Sünde (peccata aliena), causing or conniving at other people’s sins.
94. As we shall see, his name was Kikar.
95. See note 90.
96. One cannot always determine the sex of Boltzius’ confessees. In this case the person is a “member” (Glied, neuter) of the congregation, then a “soul” (Seele, fern.). It was most likely a woman, since more women than men confided in Boltzius.
97. See note 96. This time the word used is Person, which is feminine even when it refers to a male subject.
98. The widow Ihler.
99. See note 90.
100. “A preliminary or elementary course or treatise,” referring here, perhaps, to the first part of St. Paul’s admonition.
101. Urlsperger’s edition erroneously dates this entry as 25 April.
102. Rein ab und Christo an, so ist die Sache gethan. Unidentified verse. Theologically this means about the same as Moral reicht nicht weit; zu Jesu hin, der gibt Gerechtigkeit und Stärcke” (Cited by Boltzius in his letter of 15 Feb. 1738. See Urlsperger, Ausführliche Nachricht, Dritte Continuation, 2039).
103. This must have been a brother of the widow Ihler.
104. Urlsperger’s edition erroneously gives this as Acts 7:57.
105. Jesu du Trost der Seelen, hymn by P. J. Spener.
106. Thou shalt not steal. See note 44.
107. Boltzius often used the word äusserlich to mean “of the world” rather than “of the spirit.”
108. In goods or money.
109. Indolence (Trägheit) is the sin of accedia, failure to pray diligently.
110. More from the New than from the Old Testament, more concerning inner conversion and love for Jesus than outward obedience and fear of punishment. See note 29.
111. Certainly not wild cats, which are predators, but probably raccoons and fox squirrels.
112. Ach ein Wort von grosser Treue, hymn by J. H. Schröder.
113. See note 59.
114. Henri François Chifelle. Boltzius may have been too hard on this easy-going clergyman, for his parishioners in Savannah defended him and he was awarded 20 £ Sterling for serving them for five years, on 10 June 1743 (Candler, Colonial Records, XXIV, 31, 32).
115. At Frederica, Fort St. George, Fort St. Andrews, and Fort Argyle.
116. Kikar.
117. Urlsperger’s edition has Beym Beschluss instead of Beim Besuch.
118. Col. Stephens often complained of their work (for example on 3 April); yet he and the Trustees still continued to buy them (Stephens’ Journal, 117. Entry 3 April 1738).
119. “Sunday, May 7 . . . After this, I took a boat with my friend Habersham, and arrived safe at Savannah, at about seven in the evening, having a most pleasani passage” (Davis, Whitefield Journals, 144).
120. James Habersham, see note 119.
121. Wesley had offended many, including Boltzius, by his strict adherence to the principle that a priest could function only if ordained with the “laying on of hands” in unbroken succession from Christ and the apostles.
122. Volmar (Vollmar), a carpenter from Wittenberg, came from London with the Herrnhuters, deserted them and joined von Reck, then deserted Ebenezer. See Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 97, 102, 139; Jones and Hahn, Detailed Reports, III, 60, 88, 223, 243, 255. Egmont gives his first name as Michael and calls him a Moravian because he arrived with them (Coulter and Saye, A List, 54).
123. His surviving children were Johann Simon, Johann Paul, Johanna Margareta, Johanna Agnes, and Frederica (Ibid., 37).
124. This was one of the Malcontents’ most justifiable complaints. Ver Steeg (True and Historical Narrative, 47) claims that, in Oglethorpe’s distribution of land, “No regard was had to the quality of the ground in the divisions, so that some were altogether pine barren, and some swamp and morass, far surpassing the strength and ability of the planter.”
125. Masturbation, incorrectly subsumed under the heading of onanism, was considered a heinous sin, called die rote Sünde (the red sin) in German.
126. Although never named, these two families are surely the Kiefers and the Metzschers.
127. The name appears as Zoberbiller, Zoberbühler, Zuberbühler, Zauberbühler, Zouberbühler, etc. This was the father of Bartholomäus Zouberbuhler, still in Europe but later the head of the Anglican Church in Georgia. See Candler, Colonial Records, XXXIII (MS), 318, 321, 333.
128. Sebastian Zoberbiller, leader of the New Windsor settlement although only eighteen years of age. He later brought settlers to Maine and became a magistrate in Nova Scotia (Faust, German Elements, I, 249-50).
129. Hallelujah, Lob, Preiss und Ehre, unidentified hymn.
130. This must be an error for Savannah, since the boy was apprenticed there.
131. The word Bier in such contexts usually designated some nonalcoholic beverage such as spruce or sassafrass beer.
132. Brünnlein. This image is more picturesque than the “river” in the King James version.
133. Boltzius kept the English word yard, which Urlsperger explained in a footnote as an Ell of three feet.
134. The word Heft has numerous meanings, but in this sartorial context it probably means “fastener.”
135. Joseph Barker (Stephens’ Journal, 160. Entry 25 June).
136. Apparently she is referring to the next sentence in Revelations 22:17, which reads “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
137. Cadetten-Prediger. This could mean junior or assistant preacher, but here it most probably refers to the chaplain of the cadets at the St. Petersburg military academy, many of whom would have been Lutherans from the Baltic states.
138. See note 57.
139. Luther has Du bringest die Lügner um (Psalms 5:7), King James has “Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing” (Psalms 5:6).
140. Ey mein Hertz sey unverzagt, kennst du Gottes Liebe nicht?, hymn by J. G. Wolf.
141. Matth. 22:4. Luther has Kommet denn es ist alles bereit (Come, for all is ready). The King James version says: “I have prepared my dinner.”
142. The Halle scribe wrote “nine,” an error for “four.” See entry for 12 May.
143. He was Reformed.
144. The Halle manuscript has “40th.”
145. See notes 13 and 16.
146. For Boltzius “ignorant” most often meant “ignorant in theological matters.”
147. Typical Pietistic rhetoric, perhaps suggested by the title of Friedrich Eberhard Collin’s tractate Das gewaltige Eindringen ins Reich Gottes (Frankfurt/Main, 1722).
148. This Theobald Kieffer is not to be confused with the Theobald Keiffer whom Egmont lists as a Palatine trust servant, formerly a butcher, who arrived 20 Dec. 1737 with a large family. (Coulter and Saye, A List, 27.) See George F. Jones, “Two Salzburger Letters,” Georgia Historical Quarterly 42 (1978), 52.
149. Wo ist mein Schäflein, das ich liebe, hymn by J. P. von Schutt, whom Boltzius calls Fräulein von Schuttin; Wo ist der schönste, den ich liebe, hymn by J. Scheffler.
150. It is claimed in Ver Stegg, True and Historical Narrative, 145, that this mill had cost the public 1500 £ sterling. The MS general index to the Colonial Records, 453, lists Parker’s Mill under the heading Parker, Henry. By coincidence, the mill appears only on documents signed by Henry Parker (Candler, Colonial Records, VI, 186, 191, 251, 446).
151. Benjamin Martyn, secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
152. “Saturday Proceeded up the River to Ebenezer, where we arrived about Noon. In the Evening walked over all the Plantations, which consisted partly of two-Acre Lots, and partly of Land lying in Common, which they had cultivated, and for this Year appropriated to themselves, enclosed mostly under one Fence, their proper lots not being run out till this last Spring, and then not perfected; lying moreover almost wholly on the Pine-Barren, where they apprehended it would be lost Labour, and therefore would wait in Hopes of better Land being assigned them farther down the River: What they had planted, appeared done exceedingly well; but by reason of the Difference of Seed (as every where else in the Province) great part of it was in no wise equal to that which was planted with better” (Stephens’ Journal, 160. Entry 24 June).
153. Mein Vater, zeuge mich, hymn by C. A. Bernstein. The opening verse may have been inspired by 1 Corinthians 4:15.
154. Cf. Job 14:2, “He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down.”
155. For their account of Old Ebenezer, see Stephens’ Journal, 160-61, entries for 25-27 June.
156. Boltzius used the English word township, which Urlsperger clarified by inserting (Stadtfluhre)
157. Boltzius had written Nachkommende (latecomers), which Urlsperger changed to Nachkommen (descendants).
158. No doubt mostly raccoons, but also possums.
159. Most Purysburgers were of the Reformed faith.
160. See note 153.
161. Dir sey die Ehr, dass alles wohl gelungen. Apparently a hymn.
162. See note 60.
163. See note 131.
164. Boltzius had written Küche (kitchen), which Urlsperger mistook for Kirche (church).
165. Boltzius did not know, or suppressed the fact, that an Englishman at Old Ebenezer named Sommers had smallpox, which he had caught in South Carolina (Ibid., 161. Entry for 26 June). This may have been Joseph Sommers, who prospered and received grants for 200 and 300 acres in the District of Ogeechee on 30 Sept. 1757 and, having ten Negroes, received 200 more on 1 May 1759 (Candler, Colonial Records, VIII, 38, 216).
166. See note 31.
167. See Whitefield’s account of this ceremony, which is quoted in the introduction to this volume.
168. Honor thy father and mother (and the clergy!). See note 44.
169. Although Boltzius has failed to make it clear, he is talking about the Germans in Savannah. Not realizing this, Urlsperger deleted the most damaging sentence in order to protect the Salzburgers.
170. See note 60.
171. See Stephens’ Journal, 200. Entry 15 Sept.
172. Die Inspirirten, a religious sect in southwest Germany.
173. In Savannah he would have been flogged or hanged. See entry 29 July above with regard to hanging for shooting cattle.
174. Boltzius must have meant the clockmaker Mueller. See entry 18 Aug.
175. Kikar.
176. Either Cooper or Smithard. See ibid., entry 25 June. Verelst gives their names as Richard Cooper and James Smither. (Verelst to Oglethorpe, 17 June 1736. Candler, Colonial Records, XXIX, 281).
177. Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not commit adultery. See note 44.
178. See note 147.
179. See note 25.
180. See note 25.
181. Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, Buss-Predigt vom Rath Gottes über einen Sünder und Gottlosen.
182. Hetherington, Elgar, and Bishop had shot the pigs. Hetherington and Bishop broke out of jail with a certain Wright, who had committed misdemeanors in the Indian Nations (Stephens’ Journal, 12, 13, 171-73, 175-76. Entry 25 July).
183. Thou shalt not steal. See note 44.
184. Stephens in his Journal, 181, mentions this man on 9 Aug. as “one of our principal licensed Traders,” but he gives neither name or nationality. In view of his calling Sanftleben “St. Leaver” (note 39), it may have helped but little if he had tried to give the name. Perhaps he was Lodowick Grant, “A Trader in the Cherokee nation” (Coulter and Saye, A List, 76).
185. Boltzius must have heard but not seen these names, which he writes phonetically as Criks, Tzschirkisaas, and Tscherrikies.
186. Boltzius was fond of the word asotisch, meaning “sinful.”
187. This was probably Noble Jones, since Ross was from Purysburg.
188. This is Ross, who had surveyed the outlying lands.
189. This religious obstacle must have been overcome, because Thilo became engaged to Frederica Helfenstein on 17 July 1739.
190. “She” is apparently the mother, see note 15.
191. She is listed (Coulter and Saye, A List, 83) as Maria Frederica. See note 189.
192. The Halle scribe seems to have suppressed this word, which was actually quite harmless. See note 131.
193. Wo ist mein Schäflein, hymn by J. P. von Schutt (See note 149); Mein Vater zeuge mich, hymn by C. A. Bernstein (See note 153); Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen, hymn by W. C. Dressler.
194. Hier legt mein Sinn sich vor dir nieder, hymn by C. F. Richter.
195. Zerfliess, mein Geist, in Jesu Blut und Wunden, hymn by P. Lackmann.
196. Dir meiner Augen-Licht, hymn by G. Kehlius; Maria hat das gute Theil erwehlet, hymn by C. F. Richter; Jesu, Herr der Herrlichkeit, hymn by J. J. Winkler.
197. Erwach o Mensch, erwach, steh, hymn by B. Crasselius; Mitten wir im Leben sind mit dem Tod, hymn by Martin Luther; Weltlich Ehr und zeitlich Gut, hymn by M. Weisse.
198. He is probably speaking metaphorically of spiritual medicine. The “physician” is, of course, Jesus. See entry for 24 August in this volume.
199. See note 194.
200. See note 126.
201. This is the “fiery serpent” that Moses set on a pole in Numbers 21:8. Luther translated it as a “brazen serpent” (eherne Schlange) and referred it to John 3:14, which states that Christ will be raised (erhöht) as the serpent was raised by Moses. Therefore Boltzius calls it die erhöhete Schlange.
202. This alludes to his being reborn in Jesus.
203. Noble Jones.
204. “Friday. Two German Servants, under Mr. Bradley’s Direction in the Trust’s Service, rambling out Yesterday with a Gun to look after Venison; one of them, by the Gun’s going off through Defect of the Lock, as he had it on his Shoulder, shot his Comrade dead, who was behind him: Whereupon a Jury was summoned under the Direction of the Recorder, who acted as Coroner, to enquire into the Cause, & c. and the Inquest gave in their Verdict accidental Death” (Stephens’ Journal, 177. Entry 12 July). “Saturday. What only was remarkable this Day, was another unhappy Accident that befel a German who was going to work at Highgate; where standing by as they were felling a Tree, which he was not aware of; in falling, it crushed him to Death; leaving a widow and several Children at Savannah” (Ibid., 183. Entry 12 Aug.).
205. Luther’s dogma that a Christian must always bow to temporal authority had its roots in the quietistic convictions of medieval German mystics like Johannes Tauler (1300-1361), who preached that it was useless for those seeking salvation to attempt any influence on external matters, i.e., the governing political forces. In Luther’s case, it sought to quell the tide of discontent and rebellion that his teachings about the damnation of Rome and the empire had triggered among the people, and it was the tragedy of orthodox Lutheranism that it could not and did not come to terms with political authority except in terms of a complete abdication of influence on government. This tradition may be at the root of the inability of the German middle and professional class to effectively oppose Hitler and his radical reformers of the German body politic, who themselves had many of the antirationalist and antihumanist traits of the German and Austrian peasant movements. It is interesting to speculate how Boltzius and his group would have reacted to the events of 1933.
206. Garrulousness.
207. This was Friedrich. The thrashing must have been salutary, for he became a respectable citizen.
208. Oeconomicus. The housemaster or manager, in this case Kalcher.
209. German settlers were noted for choosing the densest, preferably oak, forests, as was noted in 1789 by Dr. Benjamin Rush, the “Tacitus” of the Pennsylvania Germans. (Faust, German Element, I, 132).
210. Carl Heinrich Bogatzky, Güldenes-Kästlein der Kinder Gottes. Halle, 17??.
211. No doubt from David Tannenberger. Rheinlaender had placed his son with him for a short while (Jones and Hahn, Detailed Reports, III, 243; Jones and Wilson, ibid., IV, 14; Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 156).
212. Clearly an error for “her.”
213. They were German Pietist missionaries who were sent out from Halle just as Boltzius and Gronau had been. Their reports are found in Der Königlichen Dänischen Missionarien aus Ost-Indien eingesandte Ausführliche Berichten (Halle: Waisenhaus, 1735 ff.).
214. The Rev. John McLeod. “Friday, August 11. Went in the morning to, and returned in the evening from the Darien, a settlement about twenty miles off from Frederica, whither I went to see Mr. MacLeod, a worthy minister of the Scotch Church” (Davis, Whitefield Journals, 156).
215. James Habersham. See note 119.
216. Ricebirds (dolichonyx oryzivorous). The bobolink, a songbird in the North but a vermin in the ricefields.
217. The corn imported from Pennsylvania.
218. It being Sunday.
219. It would appear that the Salzburgers’ cattle were not yet branded, even though Boltzius had requested a brand already on 26 October 1736 (Jones and Hahn, Detailed Reports, III, 233). By 3 June 1755 the Salzburgers had individual brands, which have been recorded in the Cattle Brand Book (MS Records of the Register of Records and Secretary; Marks and Brands, 1755-1778, in Georgia Dept. of Archives and History).
220. See note 52.
221. See note 147.
222. Boltzius writes “hearts and kidneys” (Hertzen und Nieren). From Psalms 7:9, which the King James version gives as “heart and reins.”
223. From Holy Communion, which was tantamount to being ostracized in a theocracy like Ebenezer.
224. See note 30.
225. gesetzlich. She followed the law but not the spirit of the law. See note 110.
226. A reference to 1 Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpeh and Shem, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
227. See note 30.
228. For Rott’s sad fate, see index of Jones and Hahn, Detailed Reports, III, 345.
229. Galatians 6:10.
230. Boltzius wrote Eindruck (impression), which Urlsperger corrected to Ausdruck (expression).
231. Meine Tage gehen geschwinde, . . .fleust dahin als wie ein Fluss.
232. The Halle manuscript says 200 £.
233. Little did Boltzius imagine that this problem would be solved a half century later only a few miles from Ebenezer when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.
234. The German word for cotton is Baumwolle, literally “tree-wool,” which suggests that the Germans first knew it as the product of a tree rather than of a plant.
235. In Pietistic terms this means that she let this benefaction convince her of God’s love for her.
236. This would appear to be Johann Friedrich Holzendorf. See Jones, Detailed Reports, I, 64. It is stated in Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 39, that he had moved to Charleston by 1737.
237. August Hermann Francke, Epistl. Predigten.
238. Boltzius meant to write Giessendanner. Johann Ulrich Giessendanner was at Orangeburg in South Carolina. He soon died and was succeeded by his nephew Johann, who foiled Bartholomew Zouberbuhler’s attempt to oust him (Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 47; Faust, German Element, I, 218-21). See Zouberbuhler’s excuse in his petition of 1 Nov. 1745 in Candler, Colonial Records, I, 478.
239. The Apostles’ Creed.
240. See note 52.
241. This was the unsuitable Pennsylvania corn. See note 217.
242. “In der Ordnung des Heils im güldenem a b c unter den ersten Worten: Aufmerksam auf das Wort Christi.”
243. Ringe recht, wenn Gottes Gnade dich nun ziehet und bekehrt, hymn by J. J. Winkler.
244. Correctly “Abercorn.” The “H” in Habercorn was through confusion with Haber (oats) and Korn (corn).
245. von der Bischöflichen Kirche. Whitefield, like Wesley, was an Anglican.
246. To be sure, given the poor soil and the depressed state of the economy, the indentured servants could not earn their keep any better than the freeholders could.
247. Thomas Jones (Sarah B. Gober Temple and Kenneth Coleman, Georgia Journeys, 103).
248. Thomas Causton had held a thankless job, being accountable for the stores in the storehouse while Oglethorpe played the magnanimous benefactor. However, he does seem to have profited from it. See note 74.
249. dem Herrn D. Watts und anderen einiges Glaucoma vorgemacht. This was no doubt Isaac Watts, a man active in religious circles in London.
250. Benjamin Sheftal. “Wednesday. More Complaint from Mr. Bradley, who brought with him one Sheftal (a Jew, that had been appointed Interpreter betwixt him and his Germans)” (Stephens’ Journal, 95. Entry 1 March 1738).
251. Metzscher (Metscher, Metzger). His son’s name was Johann Jacob (Jones, Detailed Reports, II, 166).
252. Meine Seele ist still zu Gott, hymn by J. C. Schade.
253. Boltzius was mistaken. Oglethorpe did not arrive until 10 Oct. (Stephens’ Journal, 212).
254. This is a good illustration of Boltzius’ mercantilistic economic views, for he wished to keep money circulating in Ebenezer at all costs.
255. Most of the Salzburg exiles had been invited by the Great Elector to settle in East Prussia.
256. Auf hinauf zu deiner Freude, hymn by J. H. Schroder or J. C. Schade.
257. Probably the Isaac Watts of note 249.
258. See note 31.
259. Boltzius is quoting Isaiah 45:11, which Luther renders as Weiset meine Kinder, das Werck meiner Hände zu mir. The King James version differs greatly: “Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.”
260. The word Anfechtung denoted doubts sown by Satan to make one lose faith.
261. See note 141.
262. The Halle scribe wrote dimmittieren, which Urlsperger changed to admittieren. Oglethorpe probably wished to cashier the soldier only after his future was assured.
263. Boltzius meant Abraham Grüning (Griening) and his Scots bride.
264. The Highlanders of Darien insisted upon their Gaelic language for both prayer and battle. McLeod preached in Gaelic; and, when Oglethorpe wished to win the Scots over to his side, he sent Lt. George Dunbar “who speaks the Highland language, and has a very fluent and artful way of talking” (Ver Steeg, True and Historical Narrative, 98).
265. “People” (man) seems to be an early reference to the “Malcontents,” a group of disaffected, mostly Lowland Scots, settlers.
266. Psalms 119:92. The King James version has “Unless thy law had been my delight, I should have perished in mine affliction.”
267. See note 176.
268. It seems strange that Urlsperger would have added this insignificant sentence.
269. This was a mill for stamping rice, not grinding it.
270. Here, as so often, Boltzius is referring to spiritual, not physical, affliction. See note 198.
271. These were German indentured servants brought by Capt. William Thomson on the Two Brothers on 15 Oct. (Stephens’ Journal, 212). According to Verelst, he was bringing them “at his own Risque” (Verelst to Oglethorpe, 4 Aug. 1738 [Candler, Colonial Records, XXIX, 579]).
272. Kunigunde Kustobader. Egmont gives the name as Knowart and the age as 54 (Coulter and Saye, A List, 27).
273. Es gehe wie es gehe, mein Vater in der Höhe weiss alien Sachen Rath und Tath. This sounds like a hymn.
274. The Two Brothers.
275. Boltzius describes this situation better than Col. Stephens does (Stephens’ Journal, 215-18. Entries 23-25 Oct. 1738).
276. See note 248.
277. Solomon Adde (aged 30) was accompanied by his wife Margareta (32) and his son John (3) (Coulter and Saye, A List, 1).
278. William Norris arrived with Capt. Thomson on the Two Brothers on 15 October (Stephens’ Journal, 212).
279. Boltzius must have been prejudiced by Habersham, who compared Norris unfavorably with the more eloquent Whitefield (Ibid., 219). “That a difference had arisen between Mr. Habersham, the schoolmaster, and our new minister, Mr. Norris, wherein Habersham was to blame, he endeavouring to hurt Mr. Norris’s character, in favor of Mr. Whitefield, who is to return” (Diary of the First Earl of Egmont [London, 1923], III, 4. Entry for 31 Jan. 1739).
280. “Them” refers not to the belongings, but to the unmentioned occupants of the boat. See note 15.
281. Kleid. Boltzius wore the same black gown as the Anglicans did.
282. Boltzius fails to mention that one of the homeowners was the French baker, Gilbert Beque, who accompanied the first transport from Rotterdam to Savannah. See Jones, Detailed Reports, I, 47; Stephens’ Journal, 214.
283. The word Boden can mean either “floor” or “attic” (Dachboden). Because of the use of the word Boden in the entry for 7 Dec., it would seem to refer to the attic.
284. Perhaps an allusion to Luke 7:41-43.
285. When referring to a living person, “Prof. Francke” is Gotthilf August, whereas the “late Prof. Francke” is his father, August Hermann.
286. It seems incredible that the surveyor could not provide himself with fresh game, which he must have confronted constantly in making his way through the woods.
287. Aber Gottes Güte währet immer und in Ewigkeit. Vieh und Menschen er ernähret zur erwünschten Jahres-Zeit. Alies hat sein Gnad dargereicht früh und spat. Apparently from a hymn.
288. Boltzius gives the word Stüber as a translation of “pence.”
289. Samuel Laue had consecrated Boltzius in Wernigerode on his way to Georgia (Jones, Detailed Reports, 27).
290. See note 25.
291. William Norris.
292. James Habersham.
293. See note 205.
294. Wer noch vieles anders hat, wie kan er das vertreten. Unidentified verse.
295. Christian Scriver, Seelen-Schatz (Leipzig, 1687 ff.).
296. Boltzius wrote 600, which he must have meant. Despite the usual 50 acre maximum for freeholders, gentlemen with servants were granted up to 500 acres.
297. The Reformed, who comprised the majority of Germans in Savannah, ordinarily attended the Lutheran services, because ties of language were stronger than those of dogma. Chifelle was Reformed, but his German was inadequate.
298. William Norris.
299. This was John. The older boy was Hans Georg, aged 12; and the mother was Anna, aged 30 (Coulter and Saye, A List, 49).
300. der alles fein thut zu seiner Zeit. This saying, so dear to Boltzius, is from Ecclesiastes 3:11, which the King James version renders less happily as “He hath made everything beautiful in his time.”
301. der keinen zu schanden werden lässt, der sein harret. Psalms 25:3, rendered by the King James version as “Let none that wait on thee be ashamed.”
302. This letter, dated 25 Nov. 1738, appears in Urlsperger’s Ausführliche Nachricht, Dritte Continuation, 2047-53.
303. According to Egmont’s list of early settlers, the Salzburgers eventually received the entire family of the indentured Palatine farmer Philip Gephart, aged 45, including his wife Martha (43), daughters Magdalena (19), Maria Catherina (17), Elizabeth (14), and Eva (10), and sons Philip (6) and Hans-Georg (2) (Coulter and Saye, A List, 18). A letter by Conrad Held, who writes the name as Gebhard, states that originally only three girls went to Ebenezer, the father (and presumably the wife and three younger children) having been sent to Frederica. See Ausführliche Nachricht, Vierte Continuation (Halle, 1740), 2291. Egmont’s list states that Conrad Held (written Heldt), aged 52, with his family consisting of his wife Elisabeth (53), son Hans Michael (23), and daughter Elisabeth (17) were employed in the Public Garden under Joseph Fitzwalter in January 1738/39; and Held’s letter states that, after three months, he and his wife were brought to the orphanage in Ebenezer, where his son served a pious Salzburger and his daughter served one of the ministers (Coulter and Saye, A List, 22).
304. This paragraph, which is a single sentence in the original, is a splendid example of the rambling and asyntactical style that Boltzius affected when in a religious transport.
305. Solomon Adde. See note 277.
306. Apparently Johann Anastasias Freylinghausen, Ordnung des Heyls, 3rd ed. (Halle, 1725).
307. See note 242.
308. See note 283.
309. When Jesus healed a blind man and his disciples asked whether it was he or his parents who had sinned, Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” As we shall see, God’s works were soon made manifest in this Zant.
310. Peter Böhler, who later became a famous missionary (Fries, Moravians in Georgia, 201-20).
311. “This man” refers to Kiefer, not to Böhler, for whom he has no love.
312. Graf (Count) von Zinzendorf.
313. See note 30.
314. Urlsperger misdated this entry as 11 Dec.
315. This appears to have been John Robinson, who must have returned after being dismissed as incorrigible and sent to Frederica on 5 May 1736 (Jones and Wilson, Detailed Reports, III, 126; Urlsperger, Ausführliche Nachricht, Vierte Continuation, 2310).
316. Christ-Bescherung.
317. Since the Halle manuscript reaches only through 14 Dec., we can only surmise the names hidden behind N and NN. In this case it is clearly Mrs. Rheinlaender.
318. Boltzius wrote this epithet of the Lord as El Schadai and also as El Schaddai (entry for 20 Dec.).
319. This was Thomas Christie, who, however, did not actually depart until 8 March 1740 (Stephens’ Journal, 530). For his career, see Temple and Coleman, Georgia Journeys, 145-60.
320. Grimmiger had stolen three pounds from Pletter. See entries for 7 July ff. and note 44 in the present work.
321. Jean Vat, leader of the second Salzburger transport.
322. It is to be remembered that “Dutch” always meant “High Dutch” or German.
323. From Candler, Colonial Records, XXII, pt. 1, 296-98. This second letter is found ibid., 342-50; the third, ibid., 356-59.
324. Abercorn Creek. The “H” was probably added through contamination with Haber (oats) and Korn (corn).
325. Gertraud Lackner, sister of Martin Lackner, already in Ebenezer. This poor woman, who seems to be the only one in the long list who accepted the invitation, arrived with Sanftleben and soon died of a painful and loathsome disease, as will be reported in the next volume of these Reports.
326. Sanftleben did bring four eligible women, including his sister, and all but Gertraud Lackner soon married.
327. George Kogler.
328. Hans Michael Muggitzer.
329. Hans and Carl Floerl.
330. Veit Landfelder.
331. Veit Lemmenhofer.
332. Christian Hesler.