Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727-1801
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge History of Religion History 2000 Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727-1801 Elisabeth W. Sommer Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Sommer, Elisabeth W., "Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727-1801" (2000). History of Religion. 5. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_history_of_religion/5 SERVING Two MASTERS Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727-1801 Elisabeth W. Sommer THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2000 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508<n>4008 04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sommer, Elisabeth Watkins, 1958- Serving two masters : Moravian Brethren in Germany and North Carolina, 1727-1801 / Elisabeth Watkins Sommer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8131-2139-6 (alk. paper) 1. Moravians—North Carolina—Salem—History—18th century. 2. Moravians—Germany—History—18th century. 3. Salem (N.C.)—Church history—18th century. I. Title. BX8568.S25S65 1999 284'.67585—dc21 99-28731 In Memoriam Elisabeth Miiller Sommer 1893-1990 and Rebecca Bullock Watkins 1910-1991 To the new generation Caleb Sebastian Otto Petersen March 3, 1995 Maximillian Donald Sommer Petersen December 13, 1996 and Annelise Thomas Hornack January 7, 1999 Contents List of Illustrations viii Preface: Searching for the American Freedom ix Introduction: In the Beginning 1 1. Forming the Ideal: The Development of the Ortsgemeine 10 2. Order in the Wilderness: The Planting of the Ideal 33 3. Battling Chaos: Discipline and Declension in the Ortsgemeine 59 4. Gambling with God: Revelation, Reason, and the Use of the Lot 86 5. Testing Authority and Defining Freedom: A Tale of Two Continents 110 6. Hands across the Water: The Challenges of a Transatlantic Relationship 140 g of the Ideal 171 Notes 175 Bibliography 213 Index 223 Illustrations Herrnhut in the late eighteenth century 11 Salem in 1788 33 1773 map of Wachovia 37 Salem town plan of 1785 38 Preface SEARCHING FOR THE AMERICAN FREEDOM The story told in these pages began as a search for the meaning of Ameri- can freedom in the eyes of the German Pietist group known as the Moravian Brethren in America and as the Unity of the Brethren in Europe. It became a story of change and resistance to change on two continents. One historian has referred to the eighteenth century as a "crucible" for many "passages to moder- nity."1 It was a transitional period for the attitude toward marriage and family relations, the triumph of reason over revelation, the spread of political con- sciousness, and the accompanying appearance of politically driven revolution. The latter developments and their impact are reflected in the quotation given above. The Brethren found themselves in the midst of their own inner transi- tion, as their second generation grew to adulthood, and the transition of the world around them. The generational conflict became an integral part of a cultural conflict that pitted those who had chosen the life of piety against those who were born into it. The fact that the membership of the Brethren ranged in social status from artisans to nobles gives added dimension to their "culture wars." It also allows for a fascinating view of the social dynamics of eighteenth- century Germany and America during a period of political and social upheaval on both continents. It became clear in the course of the search for "American freedom" that, like a Russian nesting doll, the issue of the definition of American freedom lay within other issues. The hunt itself originated with my earlier examination of the relationship between the Moravian settlement in Salem, North Carolina, and the central ruling body of the Brethren, the Unity Elders Conference, based in Germany. My focus in that study was on what happened when a group with a unified ideal for living as a godly community and a governmental system forged and based in Germany faced the challenge of the American Revo- Preface lution, which resulted in a new nation. This study involved looking at the development of the Brethren's peculiar settlement towns {Ortsgemeinen), which, in turn, allowed for an intimate view of the impact of the Pietist movement on social organization. The nature of the Brethren made their story particularly intriguing: although they formed protective religious settlements, they did not withdraw from the world. In fact, many of their leaders were familiar with and at home in the royal courts of Europe. The fact that the German settlements were concentrated in eastern Germany, where the manorial system was gener- ally strong, rather than in the southwest, where peasants had a greater measure of independence, added to the comparative interest. What became known as the Unity of the Brethren originated with a group of Protestant exiles from Bohemia and Moravia who, in 1722, settled on the east Saxon estate of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Five years later, under the guidance of Count Zinzendorf, they drew up a set of village statutes by which they sought to order the external and internal affairs of their settle- ment according to Christ's precepts. In this manner, they hoped to guard its character as a community "built by the living God and a work of His almighty hand" (the Brotherly Union and Agreement). The result was to combine au- thority over spiritual life with authority over economic and family life. Their entire community rested on a Biblical basis and required a strong common faith as well as a subordination of individual interests to the needs of the Breth- ren as a whole. As the number of people attracted to life with the Brethren rose in the late 1730s and the 1740s, they founded other communities in Germany and, eventually, in America. The two largest of those communities in America were Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Salem, North Carolina. Although the American settlements possessed their own local governing bodies, their decisions were subject to the approval of the central ruling body, which was based in Saxony during most of the period under study. This governmental structure that the Brethren brought with them makes them unique among the various sects that spread to America. I chose Salem as my particular focus because its first thirty years of existence as a full-fledged town took place during the Revolution and during the early period of the forming of a constitution. It literally grew up with the new nation. The exploration of the struggle to maintain unity under divisive and difficult circumstances remains a part of the current story, but it has been linked to other issues. The study of Salem's first thirty years reveals the use of what its local leaders termed "the American freedom" as a weapon on the part of some of the Brethren (especially the American-born) against the authority of the Unity Elders Conference. This use of the term raised the question of exactly Preface XI how the leadership and the "private" Brethren might have defined "American freedom." To answer this question, I wanted to see whether the behavior of the Salem Brethren was distinct from that of their German counterparts. This led to the larger issue of the challenge that eighteenth-century developments posed to the Brethren's Pietist worldview, as it became evident that the leadership in Salem and in Germany faced similar difficulties. Because the dynamics of change were similar in the German and in the American Ortsgemeinen, this study reveals much about Germany and about America. In particular, it gives an intimate look at the complex cultural world that surrounded the Brethren in Saxony and in Silesia, and at the impact of revolution and reaction in that world. The American Brethren were distinct, however, when it came to the issue of authority and methods of defying it. The Brethren in North Carolina, particularly the youth, were more openly defiant; they generally opposed church control over practical, versus spiritual, concerns such as economic regulations and marriage, although the latter was a "hot" issue on both sides of the Atlantic. In the post-Revolutionary period, they called on "the American freedom" to justify resistance to the authority of the Salem Elders Conference and to the town ordinances over economic life. Those who did this associated this freedom primarily with individual control over profes- sions and property, "the American freedom." This association contrasts with the more general and often negative references to freedom on the part of the German-based leadership. Looking at the dynamics of American defiance helps one to understand the impact of the American Revolution on a non-Anglo-American group. It also gives insight into the process of shifting identity as the American Brethren moved toward an articulation of themselves as a distinctly American branch within the Unity.