Notes

Items marked with an asterisk were contributed by Urlsperger, the remainder by the present editor.

Preface

1.*  The complete title of the book is this: Complete History of the Emigration of those Lutherans who were expelled from the Archbishopric of Saltzburg, most of whom went to Prussia. It contains an exact description of the Archbishopric of Saltzburg as well as of the Kingdom of Prussia, pertinent earlier and contemporary history, accurate maps, and a preface by his Honor Johann Lorentz Mosheim, Abbot of Marienthal and Michaelstein, published by Gerhard Gottlieb Guenther Goecking. Printed in Frankfurt and Leipzig by Christian Ulrich Wagener, 1734.

Part I

1.  Whereas the regular members of the S.P.C.K. were members of the Anglican Church, certain prominent Protestant ministers on the Continent, particularly Lutherans, were invited to be corresponding members.

2.  These are listed in Jones, ed., Henry Newman’s Salzburger Letterbooks, 17-28.

3.*  These conditions contained the following points;

1. The Honorable Royal Commissioners charged with the establishment of the new colony of Georgia shall bear all costs covering passage and every other need of the Protestant emigrants from the starting point to the port of embarkation and from there to Georgia in America.

2. Upon their arrival in Georgia these Protestant emigrants shall receive free maintenance until they have harvested their first crop, or until they are able to maintain themselves from their own land. Futhermore, they shall be given sufficient seeds of various kinds to plant the land which they prepare during the first year, as well as livestock and various tools and equipment necessary for farming and building houses.

3. At the beginning each head of a household shall be assigned as much land as is required for the comfortable support of his family, which is at least fifty acres, which land shall be given to him to be his own, and hereditary, without being subject to servitude. When his children grow up and marry they likewise receive a tract of land. For the first ten years he shall not have to pay any taxes at all. After expiration of the same he shall make a small token payment for one hundred acres, namely ten shillings (which is four gulden twenty kreuzer). In everything else he shall enjoy all of the privileges, rights, and freedom which are enjoyed by the subjects of His Royal Majesty of England. Those born in Georgia shall be regarded the same as if born in Great Britain, in which kingdom the laws of the land grant everyone for his person complete protection from persecution and violence as well as from disturbance by military and civil servants.

4. On their part, the Protestant emigrants who have decided to go to Georgia shall comply with the orders and instructions which the honorable commissioners may find it necessary to issue from time to time, partly to assure that everyone may keep his possessions undisturbed, and partly for the peace and prosperity of the whole community. Upon their arrival in Georgia, they shall assist each other with the preparation of the land, the building of their houses, and other things which may be necessary for their mutual protection.

5. The oft-mentioned commissioners shall provide for the hiring and payment of one or more pious and skilled pastors who shall preach the word of God to the emigrants according to their own belief and in their own language and shall give them the holy sacraments as instituted by Christ. They shall also provide for one or more catechists or schoolmasters who can teach the children all that is necessary. And they shall be protected in the free exercise of their religion, according to the Augsburg Confession and other official books of the Lutheran church in which they believe, and also in the complete enjoyment of all the secular and spiritual rights which the free subjects of the king of England possess.

6. This is by no means intended to incite or proselyte foreign subjects in a manner forbidden by the Peace of Westphalia; rather, its charitable provisions apply only to those who have emigrated already because of their religion or those who will emigrate in accordance with the peace terms, thus showing their desire for temporal and eternal well-being.

7. Although it had been decided in the beginning to put the three hundred emigrants who wanted to go to Georgia on two ships in Rotterdam so that each would carry one hundred and fifty persons, it was found better later on to limit the first transport to seventy persons and to count three children between two and fifteen as two adults and a mother with her child under two as one adult.

8. As soon as it is definitely known in London that such a transport has been assembled, preparations shall be made there to have a ship ready for their embarkation at Rotterdam. Futhermore, emigrants who register as colonists singly or in groups shall be maintained at the expense of the honorable commissioners until a transport has been assembled.

9. Also, on their journey to Rotterdam they shall not only be accompanied by a competent and conscientious commissioner but also receive expense money such as was received by the emigrants from Dürnberg and Berchtesgaden.

10. At last, care shall be taken that at the time of the transport there shall be no lack of well qualified pastors and catechists who are to leave with the transport, or of all that is necessary for free passage through the countries which they have to travel.

4.*  Footnote: Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America is the name of a new company in London which, in June 1732, received a charter or solemn letter, more than just a patent, from His Majesty the King of Great Britain, which was later confirmed by parliament, in which it was charged with helping not only the poor in England, but also those Protestants expelled and persecuted for religious reasons in other countries if they wanted to go to Georgia in America in order to settle there. In order to achieve this end his Royal Majesty of Great Britain assigned to the Company, which at this time consists of the following persons; John Lord Percival, George Lord Carpenter, Edward Digby, Esquire, James Oglethorpe, Esquire, George Heathcote, Esquire, Thomas Towet, Esquire, Robert More, Esquire, Robert Hucks, Esquire, Roger Holland, Esquire, William Soper, Esquire, Francis Eyles, Esquire, John Laroche, Esquire, James Vernon, Esquire, William Belitha, Esquire, further, from the Clergy of the English Church, the Mssrs. Stephan Hales, John Burton, Richard Bundy, at present Lord Bishop of Gloucester, Arthur Bedford, Smith, and the Mssrs. Adam Anderson and Captain Thomas Coram—a certain tract of land in America, situated between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, about seventy English miles wide, and extending in depth far beyond the mountains. This land, taken from South Carolina, shall be given the name of Georgia and shall be made into a province to which Protestant inhabitants shall be sent, and it shall be governed, according to their own discretion, by specially appointed officials who have been found to be faithful and competent.

As councilors of the Company, the fifteen gentlemen named above were empowered to do anything necessary until March 1733. They accepted many substantial persons as members of this Company, from whose ranks nine more were selected as councilors who met at least once a week to tend to its affairs. They did so without realizing the least benefit from it, but did everything for the good of the poor and the expelled who wanted to settle in this province. Therefore, they were named Trustees, meaning Fidei Commissarii, to whom the land was entrusted for the sole benefit of the poor. The royal charter gives the above-mentioned Trustees permission to gather voluntary collections for their project in all England, which sums are to be expended solely for the benefit of this colony. As can be seen from the above-mentioned names, this company of the Trustees of Georgia consists of many Peers of Great Britain as well as bishops of the English Church and members of the lower house of parliament, all of them rich people of the kingdom and highly regarded in spiritual, worldly, and other respects. Their credit was so good that parliament gave the Company last year ten thousand pounds sterling in order to put the colony in good order.

5.*  Footnote: The entire PATENT reads as follows:

Omnibus, ad quos hae praesentes litterae peruenrint, curatores coloniae Georgianae in America salutem plurimam dicunt. Cum Serenissimo & Potentissimo Magnae Brittanniae Regi, Georgio II, nihil magis in votis sit, quam ut inopiae & miseriis pauperum succurrat, tam inter subditos suos, quam inter extraneos, qui e patria sua religionis causa exsulare coguntur; Maiestas sua Britannica eum in finem coloniam instituit, sub ipsius auspiciis in terras suae ditionis in America sitas deducendam, eiusque curam & administrationem nobis per litteras suas Patentes, Regio suo Magnae Britanniae sigillo munitas, commisit. Nos itaque Regia hac auctoritate instructi & communiti dictae coloniae curatores, de humanitate & pietatis vere christianae zelo reverendi admodum, doctique Viri Samuelis Urlspergeri, Ecclesiae Sanctae Annae apud Augustanos Rectoris dignissimi, certiores facti, ipsum plena potestate muniendum esse iudicavimus, sicut per praesentes hasce litteras rite munimus, ut exsules quoscumque, sive emigrantes e patria sua professionis evangelicae causa, qui sese coloniae supra dictae aggregare voluerint, & in Americam proficisci, tamquam colonos admittat, & cum illis de conditionibus, quae aptae & consentaneae fuerint, transigat secundum formam, quam super hac re praescribere aequum esse duximus, quaequae hisce nostris litteris adiunctae sunt; promittentes, quidquid per dictum Dominum Urlspergerum cum praefatis exsulibus sive emigrantibus transactum & conuentum fuerit, id nobis ratum, gratum acceptumque fore. In cuius rei fidem his litteris nostris, per mandatum nostrum a Secretario nostro subscriptis, sigillum nostrum commune affigi curavimus, quae dabantur duodecimo die mensis Septembris anno Domini millesimo septingentesimo tricesimo tertio, Regnique Maiestatis Britannicae suae septimo.

By order of the said Trustees
(L.S.)
Beni. Martyn, Secretarius

To all those who read this the Trustees (Commissioners) of the Georgian Colony in America extend their greetings. As his Royal Majesty of Great Britain George II wishes nothing more than to be of aid in the distress and the misery of the poor among his own subjects as well as among foreigners who are being expelled from their fatherland because of their religion; His Majesty of Great Britain has ordered a colony to be established in his name in the lands belonging to his empire in America, and has commissioned us, by means of a patent, under his Royal Great Britannic seal, with its care and administration. Therefore, having been empowered by royal decree as commissioners for the above-mentioned colony, and having received reliable reports on the kindness, zeal, and the true Christian faith of the very reverend and learned Mr. Samuel Urlsperger, Senior of the Church of St. Anne in Augsburg, we have found it wise to give the same full power to act; thus we empower him by means of this letter to accept as colonists each and every refugee, or those who must leave their homeland because of their belief in the Protestant Religion and would like to join the said colony and leave for America. He shall inform them of all the conditions connected with the enterprise, in accordance with everything that we have found it wise to decree, which is enclosed in this letter. We also promise that everything which may be decided and agreed upon between Mr. Urlsperger and the above-mentioned refugees or Emigrants will be acceptable and binding for us. To attest this, we have ordered our Secretary to sign this letter of ours and to affix thereto our common seal. Given on the twelfth of September, Anno Domini 1733, and in the Seventh Year of the Reign of His Great Britannic Majesty.

By order of the said Trustees Benjamin Martin, Secretary

6.  A reference to the settlement of New Berne, N.C.

7.  Some three hundred Saltzburgers from Dürnberg were settled in Cadzand in the Netherlands, where they were exploited by the inhabitants. Many died, others returned to Germany. This is well documented in Jones, ed., Newman’s Saltzburger Letterbooks.

8.  The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) permitted religious non-conformists to emigrate if their religion was not tolerated.

9.  Who complained to Moses during their forty years in the wilderness.

10.  Johann Arndt: Vom wahren Christentum was the most popular Pietistic tract of the time.

11.  Elsewhere, von Reck gave his name as Philipp Georg Friedrich.

12.  Johann Martin Boltzius and Israel Christian Gronau.

13.  Bartholomeus Rieser and his family.

14.* It is hoped that the kind reader will not object if, for better proof, we present a few items. For instance, those coming from Lindau were equipped with the following recommendations:

“The Grace and the Peace of God, our Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Power of the Holy Ghost be with the Christian reader now and in eternity. Amen. As our very blessed Saviour has commanded us in Math. 16; 3, to discern the signs of the times with great care and to judge them with religious prudence, thus we have good reason to consider the present times as the true spring of the approaching summer and the approaching time of the harvest. The thornbushes are growing mightily but the figtrees are also sprouting with strength. And especially when we observe with enlightened eyes the great upheaval of minds in the Archbishopric of Saltzburg, we must confess: God has marked out times with very wondrous miracles and shows us that everything which our disbelief considers impossible is possible to Him. Our own place was privileged by the Lord to see His miracles with our own eyes; and, right from the beginning, to give shelter to more than one hundred of the chosen strangers who left there for the sake of Jesus and in true denial of themselves and of everything they possessed. In the course of time, nearly half of them moved, partly to Prussia and partly to Holland and the remainder received a gracious invitation from England from the praiseworthy Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to settle in the blessed land of New Georgia in America. Since there is no doubt that said Society will bring this precious and important undertaking to its desired end with fulfillment of the promised and highly favorable conditions and moved only by true love for God and their expelled Christian brethren, a number of the Saltzburger emigants still remaining with us decided to follow this path, fully trusting in the omnipresent care of God and having recognized and felt God’s finger through fervent appeals to His name. They were:

From the Saltzburger jurisdiction of Werffen: Simon Steiner, until recently a bleacher-assistant here, 36 years old.

From the jurisdiction of Ratstatt: George Kogler, journeyman carpenter’s apprentice, 26 years old. Ruprecht Steiner, farmhand, 27 years old. Gabriel Maurer, mason’s apprentice, 26 years old.

From the jurisdiction of Lichtenstein-Salfeld: Stephan Rothenberger, mason’s apprentice, 23 years 6 months old. Nicolaus Riedelsperger, dairyman at the hospital farm here, 45 years old.

Matthias Burgsteiner, daylaborer, 39 years old.

Adam Riedelsperger, farmhand, 33 years old.

Hanns Madreuter, daylaborer, 38 years old.

Maria Hierlin, servant, 23 years old.

Catharina Piederlin, servant, 23 years old.

Maria Riedelsperger, who has been in my own service, 32 years old.

I can give all of these the sincere recommendation (having known and tested them in daily contact, and having frequently joined with them before God in prayer and other holy exercises and especially during my Sunday home services) that they not only brought with them from their land a good foundation of the knowledge and righteous thinking that is in Jesus Christ, but also have increased therein during the three half years they have been with us by eagerly seeking the pure milk of the Holy Gospel, and have made a good beginning toward reaching manhood in the Christian sense. During all this time nothing disagreeable was seen or heard of them. Instead, the fruit of a living faith showed itself in them, as it did with their remaining brethren, for the edification of all and for the shame of the unfaithful. Their devotion, patience, moderation, frugality, industriousness, and other Christian virtues, especially their rather uncommon and exemplary brotherly love and peacefulness which they showed among each other, as they lived partly in common households and partly scattered among different employers, caused the high and the low to bid them farewell from here with many tears and good wishes. Therefore I gladly recommend them to the love and kind acceptance of all Protestant brethren and especially to the faithful servants of the Gospel. Foremost, I commend them to God and the Grace of His Word, who hath the power to edify them still further and to give His heritage to all who are blessed. May the Lord, who holdeth in His hand the earth and the sea, accompany them with His angels on all their journeys over water and land. May He rule and keep them in all goodness, through His spirit, and let them be a light for the poor heathens in the midst of an ignorant and uncivilized race. May He guard and care for their body and soul. May He bless their going out and coming in from now unto eternity. Amen.

Lindau on Lake Constance, Sept. 15, 1734
T. M. Bonaventura Resch            
Protestant minister and consistorial assessor.”

Concerning the same, the said minister further wrote to me:

“There are especially some among them whom I hate to see leaving because of their daily growth in the knowledge and fear of the Lord and who, because of their fine example, were considered the salt of the earth among their countrymen and in part even by the local residents. But I believe that God has a holy purpose for which He is sending them to other parts.” (Would it not be such a holy purpose, which God saw in advance, that they should go with a heathen king and his people to India where they will make their light to shine among them?) “They are worthy of the recommendation which I have given them, especially S.St., who has passed through many serious stages in his struggle for pennance and faith. R.St. is a most pious and well grounded Christian. A.R. also has good knowledge and is very able in worldly matters and has an excellent mind. S.R., the mason, and G.K., the carpenter, are both excellent workers. G.M. is a very honest soul. N.R. is an exceptionally skillful man in husbandry. All of the others have left good reputations behind them. May the Lord now help His flock everywhere, and bless His inheritance; may He tend and uplift them eternally, etc. Additional recommendations may be omitted.

15* A certain pastor who had helped two good Saltzburgers on their way when they passed through his home hurrying after the transport, reported, among other things, the following circumstances connected therewith: “I have noticed with sadness, especially in the person of N., that ever since they arrived among our people they have been surprised and disgusted with their un-Christian behavior. They are traveling a long way because, as they say, they want to be together with their countrymen. But some, as was especially noticeable in the case of N., are very happy because, at the same time, they hope to be subject to fewer temptations.”

16.  Josef Schaitberger, a Saltzburger exile living at Nürnberg since 1685, who exhorted his co-religionists with religious tracts. Author of the “Exiles’ Song” (Exulantenlied).

17.  Von Reck seems to have been unaware of the hardships and sickness suffered by the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer after his departure.

18* Georgius secundus, Dei gratia, Magnae Britanniae, Franciae & Hiberniae Rex, fidei Defensor, Dux Brunsuicensis & Luneburgensis, Sacri Romani Imperii Archi-Thesaurarius & Princeps Elector, etc. Omnibus & singulis, ad quos präsentes hae litterae pervenerint, salutem. Quum Nobis significatum sit, Dominum Joannem de Vat quinquaginta aut plures Archi-Episcopatus Salisburgensis olim incolas, viros, feminas, infantesque, ab Augusta Vindelicorum in Angliam brevi deducturum; quumque a Nobis humillime petitum fuerit, ut dicto Joanni de Vat, cum comitatu supra memorato, litteras Nostras salvi conductus concedere velimus: idcirco Nos omnes & Singulos, Reges ac Principes, cuiuscumque dignitatis aut ordinis, status Ordinesque, Amicos Nostros & Foederatos, Classium Exerci tuumque Ductores, urbium ac arcium Praefectos, reliquosque in universum Officiales & Ministros Eorum quoscumque (Id quod subditis Nostris, quorum ullo modo intererit, firmiter iniungimus) rogandos duximus, ut praefato Ioanni de Vat cum comitatu supra dicto & sarcinis eorum quibuscumque non solum liberam & securam eundi, transeundi, commorandique potestatem faciant, verum & omnibus humanitatis officiis eosdem excipiant, adiuuentque, & eisdem, si opus fuerit, novas insuper vaivi conductus litteras concedant. Id quod Nos pari vel alio officioum genere, servata cuiuscumque status & dignitatis ratione grate agnoscemus. Daban tur in Palatio Nostro apud Kensington 12 mo die mensis Augusti, anno Domini 1734, Regnique Nostri octavo.

Ad mandatum       
Sereniss. Domini Regis

Pass for Mr. de Vat & a number of Saltzburgers.

Harrington.         

We, George the second, by God’s Grace king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lueneburg, First Chancellor of the Exchequer and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, etc., extend our greetings to all and everyone who is handed this, our writ. Whereas we have been informed that Herr Johann von Vat will soon lead fifty or more former residents of the archbishopric of Saltzburg, men, women, and children, from Augsburg to England; and whereas we have been requested most humbly to issue a pass for the said Johann von Vat and said Transport: We have decided to ask each and every king, princes and states, our friends and allies, the commanders of fleet and armies, as well as the commandants of cities and castles, whatever rank or office they may hold, and on the whole each and every official and servant, (and our subjects who may be concerned with this in any way we have explicitly ordered) to grant said Johann von Vat and said transport not only free passage and a safe stay for themselves and their entire baggage, but also to receive them gladly and without reluctance, to give them further assistance, and to provide them with new passes if necessary. Such we shall grant, willingly and with thanks, in similar and other cases, to everyone according to his rank and office. Executed at our castle in Kensington on the 12th of August Anno Domini 1734, and the eighth year of our reign.

By order
of his Royal Majesty

Pass for Mr. de Vat and a number of Saltzburgers.

Harrington.         

19.  Heinrich Walther Gerdes, who anglicized his name as Henry Walter Guerdes.

20.  Butjenter. He anglicized his name to Henry Alard Butienter.

21.  The name of this ship was soon changed to the Prince of Wales.

22.  Now remembered as Tomochichi.

23.  Daniel Weisiger (Wisiger, Weisinger). He later bought lands in western Virginia with allegedly misappropriated funds.

24.  Oglethorpe (and because of him, von Reck) had written extravagantly of the natural virtus of the “noble savage.”

25.  Urlsperger consistently uses this spelling, as did Oglethorpe.

26.  This excellent engraving, based on an English original, was etched by Johann Jacob Kleinschmidt.

27* I.e. Christian Religion (Oglethorpe had used the term “English Learning”).

28* Which he handed to His Majesty as a present together with other curios.

29.  Apparently an error for Dec. 27. See following letter by Capt. Dunbar.

30.  Mary Musgrove, an Indian “princess,” married at this time to John Musgrove, a South Carolina trader.

31.  Both agriculture and potash production soon failed at Thunderbolt.

32.  This must have been stationed at the head of Green Island Sound, perhaps at Beaulieu.

PART II

1.  Phillip Jacob Spener, a leading Pietist.

2.  Probably some of those en route to Prussia, but possibly some en route to Hanover.

3*  In another report the two pastors make mention of the following event, namely, that in Rotterdam they met a certain learned man by the name of Costerus who had been in America many years ago, who was an excellent linguist and of great experience and insight. He told them “how, not long ago, a Greek priest had visited him who reported that most of the Jews in the Orient were fairly well convinced of the truth of the Christian religion; that many had applied to Greek teachers in order to accept it. This caused the Turkish Emperor to start a great persecution; and it appears that, if God would give the Turkish Empire another blow, the conversion of the Jews there would make great progress.”

4*  This reads as follows: The Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America extend their greetings to all those who may be presented with this. Whereas the most reverend Mr. John Martin Boltzius, a minister of the gospel devoted to the Augsburg Confession, has decided to go to the land of Georgia after having received official call, in order to perform to the best of his ability the duties of the office of Lutheran Pastor, in the German language for the instruction and benefit of the Protestant Saltzburgers and other Germans who are now going, or will go in the future, to settle in said province of Georgia and who subscribe to the Augsburg Confession: Be it known herewith that we, the Trustees, have authorized and empowered said Mr. John Martin Boltzius in due form, and do continue to authorize and empower him to carry on, in the German language, all those religious and ecclesiastical affairs which are necessary for the better establishment and propagation of the Christian religion in said colony and for the execution of all the other good purposes connected therewith, to be done in the German language and in accordance with the Augsburg Confession and the content of our Royal charter. In witness whereof said Trustees have attached hereto their common seal. Executed on November 21st, in the seventh year of the reign of our most gracious Sovereign and Lord, George II, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord and Saviour one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three.

5*  The following extract of a letter from Dover, which has already been made public through print in London, gives several examples of this. “During the time when I and my traveling companions were delayed here by adverse winds, we were pleased no little to find in the harbour a ship loaded with Saltzburgers which had arrived from Rotterdam on her way to Georgia. They came ashore here last week and were immediately invited to a good meal by one of the Trustees from London. I believe that everyone, including myself, was greatly pleased to observe the good conduct of these people. The ship lay at the pier, and after they all had stepped ashore they went on foot, two by two, to the place of their repast. They were led by their commissioner, and the two pastors, who were going to Georgia with them, brought up the rear. On their way they sang German hymns. These were heard, and their noon meal was watched, by a great number of persons of rank. The contentedness and calmness of the Saltzburgers in the face of their trials, and the joyful gratitude which they showed for what they received was to be seen so clearly that everyone present was deeply moved by them. I must confess that it is a special honor for Protestant countries, and particularly for Great Britain, that their territories and lands have become a refuge for those people of whom it can be said in all truth that they have left everything for the right of free confession of the pure Gospel.

“Moreover, we hear that the Saltzburger emigrants hold public prayers every morning and evening and conduct themselves in a very pious and commendable way. They always pray to God for their benefactors, and they show the greatest gratitude for the good deeds that are being done for them, etc. Concerning the expenses for the maintenance of these people in Augsburg and for their trip from there to Rotterdam, which are not small, we have been assured that the Society pays them from funds which it receives for the Saltzburgers. In addition, from such collections it has established a permanent fund of two thousand pounds sterling in South Sea Annuities, which is more than 17000 gulden, the interest of which is paid yearly by the Bank of England, to provide salaries for two pastors for these people until the colony will be in a position to care for them without difficulty. Their present pastors, Mr. Boltzius and Mr. Gronau, are reported to be Godfearing and intelligent men; and their commissioner or leader, Baron von Reck, a young nobleman from Germany, shows virtuous conduct in his stay with them here. It is evident that he has good qualities and feels very much concern for the welfare of these people. That is why he is going to Georgia with them, in order to see how they will be established there.”

6.  By adapting the Lutheran services in the colonies to conform more closely to those of the English Church, the authorities were, perhaps unintentionally, making it easier for the Lutheran colonists to be proselytized into the Anglican and later Episcopal Church.

7.  As soon as they reached England, the Saltzburgers adopted the old (Julian) calendar used by the British, instead of the newer Gregorian calendar already in use on the Continent.

8.  Being educated in Pietistic schools, Boltzius understood such words primarily in their transferred and spiritual sense. For his Alpine congregation, a word like erbauen would have the concrete meaning of “to construct”, but for him it would mean “to edify”.

9.  Jean Pur[r]y of Neuchâtel. He died soon after establishing the town of Purysburg[h], which lingered until the Revolution.

10.  Boltzius’ memory seems to have failed him here. He seems to be quoting from Psalm 100, yet the words: Bezahlet die gelobte Pflicht are not found therein. Possibly he was thinking of the verse: danket ihm, lobet seinen Namen!

11.  The German word Person, although feminine, may refer to a male. Nevertheless, since more women than men came to Boltzius for such guidance, we will use feminine pronouns in such cases.

12.  These were for the Trustee’s Garden, or experimental stations.

13.  Probably an error for south-southwest.

14.  Probably Captain Fry, against whom were many complaints in the unexpurgated reports sent by the pastors.

15.  See note 11 above.

16.  Boltzius does not make himself clear here. Perhaps he means that one sail must be kept hoisted during the storm to keep the ship headed the right way.

17.  This helps explain why Boltzius wrote his journal so edifyingly as he did!

18.  He is referring to the Seventh Commandment, according to the English Bible.

19.  Like many other Germans in South Carolina, Timothy was mistakenly called a French Huguenot.

20* Footnote: In his diary Baron von Reck gives the following account of this town and of the province of Carolina: Charleston is a nice city and seaport, it has flourishing trade, is built on flat land, has wide streets and good houses, some of which are built of brick but most of them of wood. White bread is very expensive here since there is no white flour available except that which the upper classes have on their plantations for their own use and which is very good, or that which is brought here from the northern colonies or from England. The rice here is very good and inexpensive. It is easier to see five Negroes here than one white person. In addition, nearly 3000 new ones are brought here annually, so that there are some 30,000 Negroes in this province who, with their children, children’s children, and all descendants are slaves forever. And since they are being treated very badly they are nursing a secret hatred and are waiting only for an opportune moment to revolt against their masters, as they have done recently on the islands of St. Thomas and St. Jonas, which belong to the Danes and Swedes.

21* From the diary of Herr von Reck which was transmitted to the Society in the French langauge: The 7th of March, 1734. Mr. Oglethorpe showed me a map of Georgia and gave me freedom to choose a region for the Saltzburgers, either close to the sea or further inland. I accepted this favor and chose a location 21 miles from the city of Savannah, and 30 miles from the sea, where there are rivers, small hills, clear streams, cold springs, and much grass.

22* Mr. Quincy was sent to Savannah at the expense of the great Society de propaganda fide.

23* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 13th of March. Today I visited the Indians and their king Tomo Chachi. I got some raisins, which they like so much, and had them distributed. Upon our return from the Indians, who have pitched their tents only a hundred paces from the town, we held our prayer meeting. When we asked what had been especially noteworthy on this day, one of the Saltzburgers answered that the verse from John 3:16, For God so loved the world, has become alive and understandable for him only today after he had seen the Indians.

24.  Most of these were Sephardim from Portugal, but the Sheftals and Minis families were Ashkenazim.

25* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 14th of March. Mr. Oglethorpe had given orders to get three horses ready for my service so that I could survey the land and inspect the place where the Saltzburgers were to settle. Thus I rode off this morning at 9 o’clock with a constable and an escort. But, after having covered one or two miles, we came to a very dense forest in which we found many deep streams and swamps, some of which we could cross only under great difficulty and danger. When we encountered more and more of them that were even more dangerous and more difficult to cross, we returned to the city today.

26.  Such condescending views toward “primitive” languages, which held until the twentieth century, help explain why it was so difficult for the missionaries to learn the Indian languages.

27* From the diary of Herr von Reck: The 15th of March. Today I received the list of provisions and tools for the Saltzburgers. Mr. Oglethorpe and Mr. Jenys, speaker of the Assembly of Carolina, arrived yesterday in Savannah, from Charleston. Because of his love for our Saltzburgers, the former had postponed his trip to England and was determined to see them well established before his departure. When I told him that flood and rain had prevented me from crossing the forest by land, he declared himself willing to go with me himself, to show me the region, and to see which place I would choose. Mr. Jenys asked to accompany him and I considered it an honor to be a member of this party. Mr. Oglethorpe sent a message to the Indian king, asking him to give us two Indians who could hunt for us on the way. Not only did the king grant this, but his highest warchief, Tuskenovi, came himself with other Indians to keep us company because of his special fondness and love for Mr. Oglethorpe. We got into a boat, and after having gone six miles up the Savannah river, we came to a place where a man by the name of Musgrove was building a house.

28* From the diary of Herr von Reck: The 16th of March. After having had a good rest in a tent which we had pitched last night in the shade of a tree on the riverbank, I accompanied Mr. Oglethorpe on horseback; but the Mr. Speaker and the rest traveled by water. If one should ask how it is possible to travel through a land covered with forests in which there are to be found many rivers and swamps everywhere, let it be known that, since the colonists settled in Georgia, paths have been marked by peeling some bark off certain trees which show where to go and where to cross the rivers. We had hardly waded through a swamp covered with cane when we arrived at a river which had very high banks and no ford. The Indians jumped in and led our horses across swimming; but we crawled over on a tree that had been felled and put across the river in place of a bridge. After riding a few miles and crossing another river in the process, we were overtaken by nightfall. We camped on a little hill, built a fire around us, and all of us ate an Indian rooster [turkey] that the Indian hunters had brought to us for supper.

29.  Like nearly all babies born in the first few years at Ebenezer, this one soon died.

30* From the diary of Baron von Reck: “The 17th of March. We continued our journey at the break of day and, at 9 o’clock, arrived at the place where the Saltzburgers were to settle.

31.  I.e. not Yiddish or Jewish-German.

32.  This appears to be one of the many cases in which Urlsperger bowdlerized his text by omitting an unpleasant detail so as not to offend or frighten his readers. He failed to do this in the entry for March 25 for fear of losing the story of the Indian’s compassion.

33.  In the King James version, this is Joel 2:32.

34* This is the common punishment for adultery among the Indians. After having been thoroughly examined about his misdeed, and having been found guilty, the white man was punished very severely. The Indians showed great satisfaction over this.

35* From the diary of Baron von Reck: “The 27th of March. This evening I went with Mr. [Noble] Jones, a chief overseer, from Savannah to Abercorn in a small boat, in order to clean out the river Ebenezer. There was thunder and lightning and the wind blew so strongly against us that we could get no further than Musgrove’s land. There we bedded down on the bare ground, under the open sky, and warmed our stiff limbs by an open fire. For it is just as cold at night as it is hot during the day.”

36* From the diary of Baron von Reck: “The 28th of March. After breakfast we continued our journey and arrived at Abercorn in the afternoon. At five o’clock we came upon a small river which we followed upstream until nine o’clock, when we found at last that it lost itself in the trees and swamps. Because all the surroundings were swampy we had to turn back. The moon was bright, and in the same night we came to another river which flowed more toward the west, was broad, and a strong current, and was lined with forests on both banks. Finally we reached a small rise of dry land where we disembarked, cut down some cane, made a fire, and bedded down around it. God gave us a pleasant rest.

37* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 29th of March. Today we continued to go up the river, although not without great difficulty and hard work.

38* From the diary of Baron von Reck: “The 30th of March. Toward evening we came out of this river which empties into the Savannah about 8 English miles above Purrysburg. Thus our work had been in vain; and, since we had missed Ebenezer Creek, we had failed to reach our objective. We returned the same night to Abercorn, where we had previously had our camp.”

39* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 4th of April. When I reached Ebenezer I could not help but praise the industriousness and the untiring and constant labor of the nine Saltzburgers who had preceded us there and whose enterprise had been blessed by God. They had built two good shelters, covered with treebark, one of which is 40 feet long. And they had cut down a great many trees so that the air could circulate more freely in the forest.

40* The oxen were sent by Captain Mackpherson on orders from the Trustees to provide fresh meat for the Saltzburgers.

41* Mr. Oglethorpe sent the horses by land from Charleston, as a gift to the Trustees from His Excellency, Governor Johnson.

42* Palachocolas is the name of a small fort or fortress which was built about twenty miles above Ebenezer, on the Savannah River.

43* His name is Mr. Augustine, a nobleman from Wales who settled at Westbrook after Mr. Oglethorpe’s arrival in Georgia. He has built a house approximately 8 miles from Ebenezer.

44* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 19th of April. Today the Saltzburgers completed the important and necessary work of building a road for vehicles. The Englishmen were very much surprised at the fact that they had accomplished it in such a short time, and had built seven bridges over various rivers and cleared bushes and trees out of the way from Abercorn to Ebenezer, which are twelve miles apart.

We found a strong white horse in front of my tent. Since we needed it and did not know where it came from or to whom it belonged, we took it for our use and thanked God for this gift.

45.  The beer, which was boiled, was more healthy than the water, which was not.

46* Several French families have settled in Abercorn.

47* From the diary of Baron von Reck: The 22nd of April. Today we found another horse in the forest which helped us a great deal. We also found some good sweet honey in a hollow tree, which refreshed us very much. Parrots and quail often furnish excellent meals for us.

48.  Because Boltzius wrote this word as Rattelsnaiks, we may be sure he learned the word from a Cockney speaker, who pronounced it snikes.

49.  45 years old!

50.  This apocryphal work is not in the King James version. In the Standard Revised version the passage is rendered as “Draw near to me and lodge in my school.”

51.  August Hermann Francke, pietist professor at the University of Halle and founder of the Orphanage at which Boltzius and Gronau studied and taught. He was the father of Gotthilf August Francke, one of the three “Reverend Fathers” of the Georgia Saltzburgers.

52.  Moshammer had married Maria Kroeer, the aunt of Catherine and Gertrude Kroeer, who later married Gronau and Boltzius.

53.  He was a Bavarian.

54.  Corruption of the Spanish word piragua, of Cariban and Arawakan origin.

55.  Four of these died during the week before the Rheinländers left Charleston.

Part III.

1.  The following sociological observations were very astute for a 23-year-old German aristocrat.

2.  This is an early illustration of the practice of letting slaves hire themselves out.

3.  Since slavery had no basis in English law, in the West Indies the institution was adapting itself to Spanish attitudes, one of which was the ancient Roman Catholic view that enslavement of heathens was permissable. If it is wrong to keep Christians in slavery, then it is inexpedient to allow slaves to be converted.

4.  As it probably would have, had he remained in Ebenezer. Notwithstanding this warning, von Reck returned home with enthusiastic reports of the salubrious climate of Georgia.

5.  Von Reck’s phonetic spelling Delloway gives a clue as to the way that Delaware was then pronounced.

6.  The city of Wilmington.

7.  But apparently it never arrived.

8.  Von Reck appears not to have observed that this was still the Delaware.

9.  As a true aristocrat, von Reck fails to mention his footman, Christian Schweikert, who joined him at Würzburg and accompanied him to Georgia and then to Boston.

10.  Von Reck made several such errors.

11.  Von Reck drew no distinction between the various Calvinistic creeds.

12.  The German word Hospital can mean either hospital or old people’s home.

13.  These never arrived.

14.  Some Saltzburgers from Tirnberg (Dürnberg) had been invited by the States General to settle in Cadzand, but conditions there were so unhealthy and their treatment so harsh that many died and others fled back to Germany.

Part IV

1*  Above all, the uncommon faith and zeal which the good Mr. John Oglethorpe has shown for the good of the whole colony and particularly for our dear Saltzburgers deserves to be recorded for the memory of future generations. As is well known and as it has been stated above on page 00 note 00, this gentleman is an honorable member of the English Parliament and is one of the Commissioners appointed to administer the Colony of Georgia. On the 21st of November 1732 he voluntarily went to Georgia on a ship laden with many artisans and a large quantity of building materials and all the tools necessary to build, according to his instructions, cities and villages, churches and schools and everything else that was necessary so that arriving colonists, especially Protestant Emigrants, might find better accommodations there.

His ship made the voyage safely in seven weeks and would have arrived even sooner if they had not chosen a longer route in order to avoid the cold north wind. Of the families that went along only two small children died during the entire voyage. One of these was only one and one half years old, and both of them had been very sick when they were taken aboard; others, however, who had been feeling just as weak at the beginning of the voyage, recovered completely as a result of the treatment they received. From our preliminary report, from page 00, and from the diaries our kind reader must have learned already of the Christian love and zeal and of the efforts which Mr. Oglethorpe made in behalf of our colonists. These amply justify the charter given to this gentleman by the governor of South Carolina, Robert Johnston [Johnson], who wrote about Mr. Oglethorpe as follows in a letter of the 10th of February, 1733: “He is a man who always makes every effort in a very noble manner, to serve the poor and to free them from their misery. In this he has been so successful that one must be fully convinced that this enterprise under his direction will succeed also.”

The surrounding provinces which have been settled already, and particularly their most distinguished inhabitants, have shown themselves eager to further Mr. Oglethorpe’s cause as much as possible. This is shown in a letter which the said Governor Johnston wrote from Charleston on the 12th of February 1733, to the secretary of the Georgia Company in London. It states: … “the general assembly of the council has decided to give Mr. Oglethorpe, at the expense of the province, a large number of animals and a goodly quantity of rice as well as other things for his newly arrived colonists; they will provide boats to transport the people, their goods and provisions from Port Royal to the place where the colonists wish to settle; they further put at his service and under his command 5 aviso boats and 25 men who are permanently employed to keep watchful eye on the movement of the Indians in the land.” The governor added that he had also “asked Colonel Bull to give his compliments to Mr. Oglethorpe and to offer him his assistance and help, the former being a gentleman of great character and no little experience in the affairs of the province and the nature of the land; a man who is very useful in a new colony and one who also has a good knowledge of the life and customs of the Indians.”

2*  The part of the description which we have specifically in mind goes as follows: Of the many means which can be used to help people in distress the best are those which not only take care of their immediate need but also provide for their future happiness. With this in mind, His Royal Majesty of Great Britain, George the Second, has given a large tract of land situated in Carolina in America, which is to be called Georgia in the future, for the use and livelihood of the poor of the royal British Empire, and also for those foreign Protestants who have had to leave their country because of their religion, or who have permission to emigrate. The administration of this land has been given over to certain persons of rank and other noblemen. They will give their time and effort to the execution of this good project without any recompense.

Carolina (of which the land of Georgia is a part) produces various food items, such as deer, hares, and domestic animals, different kinds of fowl, the best of fruit, Indian corn, rice, and various European grains. The climate in that district or region is known to be very good, and people are living there who can teach the new arrivals the best time and manner in which the very fertile land should be worked. It is situated approximately 32 degrees north. The air is always clear, mild, and healthy. In relation to the colonies which we now have in Carolina, Georgia lies toward the south. It is separated from them by the Savannah River, which forms the northern boundary of Georgia. Toward the south, the Altamaha River forms the boundary. Both rivers are large and navigable and they flow into the sea about 70 miles apart. From the coast this territory extends inland to the Appalachian Mountains, about 300 miles. It widens as it approaches said mountains from which the rivers come. At present the country is grown up in oaks, firs, cypresses, beeches, poplars, cedars, chestnuts, walnuts, laurel, apple, peach, mulberry, and many other fruit-bearing trees; in addition it has grapevines which grow exceedingly well there. As it is a very pleasant as well as a fertile land, it could be converted into one of the best foreign colonies in a very short time if a sufficient number of workers were employed etc.

In order that the inhabitants of Georgia may be of greater assistance and use to each other, arrangements will be made that they will not have to live far apart but rather in towns. Each town will have one hundred families. Each person’s land will be divided into three parts, one to be for a house and courtyard in the city, one close to the city for use as a garden, and the third one a little further away for farming and stock raising. The colonists shall give each other assistance and help with the building of the houses and the clearing of the land.

At present the inhabitants of this land do not have to worry about enemies, for there are very few Indian families within 400 miles and these live in complete peace with the English nation. Port Royal, where His Majesty’s warships are stationed, is only 30 English miles away, and Charleston, a great market-city, only 120 English miles. If, contrary to every expectation, the land should be invaded by an enemy, it could always receive support from Port Royal, or from the Bahamas where a strong garrison and several warships are permanently stationed. On land it could be supported by the militia from South Carolina.

Whereas the very praiseworthy Lord Trustees have made the well-being of the colony, the support and protection of the inhabitants of Georgia, and particularly their freedom of conscience and freedom of worship their foremost aim; and whereas they will encourage the furtherance of virtue and the fear of God but will restrain mischief, vice, and godlessness: they will become in a few years and remain at all times a flourishing, happy, and free people, etc.

3*  The readers who understand French may read about additional advantages of this land in Mr. Pury’s little tract: Short Description of the Present Status of South Carolina, which was published in 1733 in Neuchâtel. Said Mr. Pury was in the country himself in 1730 and 1731. After having investigated everything he came back, wrote said tract, and then went there again with a number of families.

4.  It is to be remembered that, at this time, the Jews of Central Europe still had no right to own land, bear arms, or participate in government.

5.  Both Josephs Town and Abercorn were soon depopulated through death and desertion.

6.  As the Diary so sadly reveals, it was deep only in spots and almost dry during late summer.

7.  The roebucks, small dear, chamois, and wild goats probably refer to the Virginia deer of both sexes at their various stages of growth. The wild cows are probably those that the settlers released to roam in the swamps.

8.  As was so well proved in the case of General Braddock some twenty years later.

9*  In Carolina, which borders our province, people buy Negroes who are frequently brought from Africa to Charleston and offered for sale there. They must do all the work. But that is not the case in our province. Not only are all the people there too poor to buy slaves, but no one is allowed to do it because they live too close to the Spaniards with whom the Africans, who are unfaithful and malicious by nature, could easily come to a secret understanding and cause much damage.

10.  The close similarities between the barbarians of Georgia and those of the Germania may have been due in part to the fact that they lived in similar cultural states. Or else von Reck may have interpreted Oglethorpe’s accounts in the light of his previous study of Tacitus, or possibly Oglethorpe himself had been influenced by the Roman historian.

11.  Von Reck does not seem to have understood the practice of scalping. The first Saltzburger to be scalped was Gabriel Bach, who was killed by the Spanish Indians.

12* This is the wife of Mr. Musgrove, who went to England last year as interpreter for the Indian king. But Mrs. Musgrove is the daughter of an Englishman and an Indian woman.

Part V

1.  Both Boltzius and Gronau had studied as well as taught at the Waysenhaus.

2.  Abbot Joachim Justus Breithaupt. See Gronau’s letter of 6 May 1734, below.

3.  Upon reaching Dover, the Saltzburgers adopted the old (Julian) calendar, which differed twelve days from the new (Gregorian) calendar then in use in Germany.

4.  Boltzius’ home-town, Forst, lay in precisely the opposite direction from his westward route.

5.  Rieser had dropped out of the 1st transport in Augsburg when his son broke his leg, but he and his family joined the 2nd transport.

6.  Capt. Coram was much impressed by this ceremony and by von Reck’s behavior during it (see Letterbooks, pp 408-409).

7.  Waldensian refugees from Piedmont.

8.  The first chalice had been bequeathed by a dying youth in Germany. Pastor Boltzius decided to accept both chalices, knowing that his congregation would eventually establish separate churches.

9.  Geschwandel (also called Geschwändel, Geschwandtner, Schwandel) seems to have been the natural leader of the first transport.

10.  German, in the sense that its classes were in the vernacular, as opposed to the Latin School.

11.  This letter, the English original of which appears in the Henry Newman Letterbooks (pp. 461-62), shows how quickly Boltzius mastered the English language. It also shows how carefully it was translated into German, and then back again into English.

12.  Whereas everyone, even the peasants, were encouraged to learn to read in Lutheran countries so that they could read and defend the Gospels, reading was discouraged in Catholic countries. This was particularly true in Salzburg, where the archbishop wished to protect his people from the heretical and subversive ideas being disseminated in Protestant writings. The Letterbooks attest his great efforts to prohibit the importation of foreign books into Salzburg.

13.  This wish was never granted, partly because, after the first few months, Indians seldom visited Ebenezer.

14.  This shows that Boltzius was aware that his reports were to serve propagandistic purpose.

15.  Dr. Johann Heinrich Callenberg was then making great efforts to proselyte Jews to Christianity, for which purpose he published much conversional literature in Yiddish. Boltzius tried hard to convert the Sheftals, but he failed in this; and nearly a century elapsed before any of the Sheftal descendants married into the Saltzburger community.

16.  He is referring to the Sephardic Jews of Portugal, who had survived the Inquisition only by learning to conceal their Jewish religion.

17.  This seems to be an allusion to the captain of the Purysburg, whose “barbarous” treatment of the Saltzburgers consisted mainly in requiring the two pastors to live below decks with their flock, rather than in the Great Cabin. Whether his change of heart was due to Divine intervention, or to the strong remonstrances of Henry Newman to the ship owner, is a moot question.

18.  Mischke was probably dead before the greetings arrived.

19.  The members of the 1st transport were quartered for some time at the garden of Johann Caspar Schauer, a distiller and medicine manufacturer of Augsburg.

20.  Hueber and his wife were the old couple that Boltzius visited at Abercorn on his way to and from Charleston. They both died shortly after this letter was written, and their children were the first orphans in the orphanage of Ebenezer, which appears to have been America’s earliest.

21.  Hanns Moshammer married Maria Kräuer (Kräher, Kröher), the sister of Barbara Kräher Rohrmoser, whose daughters, Gertraud and Catherina, married Boltzius and Gronau.

22.  She never regained her health, but died soon after becoming Boltzius’ mother-in-law.

23.  Allusion to the patience of the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness.