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Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection

Fall 1974 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 24, No. 1 Albert F. Jordan

Theodore W. Jentsch

Carol Shiels Roark

Suzanne Cox

Louis Winkler

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Recommended Citation Jordan, Albert F.; Jentsch, Theodore W.; Roark, Carol Shiels; Cox, Suzanne; and Winkler, Louis, "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 24, No. 1" (1974). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 61. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/61

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AUTUMN 1974 Contributors STATEMENT OF OWNERSI-UP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF to this Issue CONGRESS OF AUGUST 12,1970 (Section 3685, Title 39, Un ited States Code)

Of P e nn sy l ~an i a Folkli fe, published 5 times yearl y at ALBERT F. JORDAN, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was Lancaster, Pa., for October 1, 1974. trained as an engineer and was employed by Bethlehem Steel until retirement several years ago. Since then he has 1. The names and addresses of publisher, editor, busi­ ness manager are: Publisher - Pennsylv ania Folklife been engaged in volunteer work at the Moravian Archives Society, Lancaster, Pa., Editor - Dr. Don Yoder, Philadel­ in Bethlehem, translating the letters of Peter Boehler and re­ phia, Pa., Business Manager - Mark R. Eaby, Jr., Lancaster, searching the life of Bishop Spangenberg. His article in this Pa. issue contributes solidly to our knowledge of German 2. The owner is: Pennsylvania Folkli fe Society, Box building procedures in colonial Pennsylvania. 1053 or 3 Central Pl aza, Lancaster, Pa. 17602 and Ursinus Coll ege, Collegeville, Pa. 19426.

CAROL ROARK, Paoli, Pennsylvania, is a native of New 3. The known bondholders, mortgagees and other Jersey and a graduate of Westminster College, New Wilming­ security hold ers owning or holding o ne percent or more ton, Pennsylvania, with an M.A. in Folklore and Folklife of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been a teacher are: None in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at present is in­ 4. Extent and Nature of Circulation volved in architectural preservation efforts in Chester Average No. County, working as a consultant with the Yellow Springs Copies Each Single Issue Foundation. Issue During Nearest To Preceding Filing Date 12 Months DR. THEODORE W. JENTSCH, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, is a member of the Sociology Department at Kutztown A. Total No. Copies Printed 4 2,600 2,300 State College, and an ordained minister in the United Church B. Paid Circulation 1. Dealers and ca rriers, street of Christ. His paper in this issue is a chapter from his vendors and coun ter sales 27,200 50 doctoral dissertation on the community structure of the 2. Mail Su bscriptions 11,4 00 1,800 Old Order Mennonites of the Kutztown-Fleetwood area. C. Total Paid Circulation 38,600 1,850 The dissertation entitled "Mennonite Americans: A Study D. Free Distribution By Mail, of a Religious Sub cui ture from a Sociological Perspective", Carrier or Other Means was done in the Department of Sociology at the University 1. Samples, complimentary, of South Africa. other free copies 2,000 50 2. Copies distribu ted to news agents, but not so ld None None DR. LOUIS WINKLER, State College, Pennsylvania, is a member of the Department of Astronomy at the Pennsyl­ E. Total Distribu tion 4 0,600 1,900 vania State University. His article on the astronomical re­ F. Office Use, Left-over, searches of Pastor Johann Friederich Schmidt in this issue Un accounted, Spoiled 400 is the latest in his series on Pennsylvania German astronomy after Printing 2,000 and astrology. G. Total 42,600 ---~

SUZANNE COX, Washington, D.C., is on the staff of the I certify that the statements made by me above are Division of Performing Arts, Smithsonian Institution, in­ correct and complete. volved with the development of the Festival of American (signed) MARK R. EABY, JR. Folklife. Her paper in this issue was prepared for Professor Business Manager Dell Hymes in connection with her studies in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. EDITOR : Dr. D on Yoder FALL 1974, VOL. XXIV, NO.1 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Dr. M ac E. Barrick LeR oy Gensler Dr. H enry Glassie Dr. J ohn A. H ostetler D avid J. Hufford Contents Dr. Phil Jack D r. Hilda A. Kring Dr. M aurice A. M ook Dr. Earl F. Robacker 2 Some Early Moravian Builders in America Dr. Alta Schrock ALBERT F. JORDAN FOLK FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: M ark R. Eaby, Jr. FOLK FESTI VA L PUBLIC RELATIONS: 18 Old Order Mennonite Family Life in the East Peg Zecher Penn Valley SUBSCRIPTIONS : THEODORE W. JENTSCH D oris E. Stief PENNSYLVANIA FOLKLIFE, Autumn 1974, Vol. 24, No.1, pub­ 28 Historic Yellow Springs: lished five times a year by the Pen.l­ The Restoration of an American Spa sylvania Folklife Society, Inc., Lan­ CAROL SmELS ROARK caster, Pennsylva nia. $1.50 for sing le copie s; Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. $1.00 for Folk 39 The Use of Speech at Two Auctions Festival Supplement. Yearly sub­ scription $6.00. SUZANNE COX MSS AND PHOTOGRAPHS: The Editor will be glad to consider MSS and photographs sent with a 45 Pennsylvania German Astronomy and Astrology view to publication. When unsuit­ IX: Johann Friederich Schmid t able, and if accompanied by return LOu\S WINKLER postage, every care will be exercised towad their return, although no responsibility for their safety is as­ sumed. COVER: Widows' House, Bethlehem, as constructed. 1767. Editorial correspondence: Dr. Don Yoder, L ogan Hall, Photo circa 1890. Standing. Box 13 , University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19174. Folk Festival correspondence: College Blvd. and Vine, Folk-Cultural Questionnaire No. 36: Kutztown, Pennsylvania J 9530. Courtship and Marriage Folk Festival public relations : Peg Zecher, 717 N. Swarthmore Ave., (Inside back cover) Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1908l. Subscription, business correspondence: Box 1053, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Contributors to this Issue Contents copyrighted. (Inside front cover) Entered as second class matter at Lancaster, Pa. Illustrations by courtesy of the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem. Not to be reproduced without permission of the Archives.

A rtist's rendition of the first house in Bethlehem. Build­ ing no longer remains. Some Early Moravian Builders In America

By ALBERT F. JORDAN

Often a talented person leaves his mark in history, of a log house about eight weeks later and which is but to succeeding generations his memory is dim or known to-day as the Gray Cottage.' These men had his identity may even be lost. When this happens, built similar shelters in Georgia,' and their skill may such a person's life work becomes a monument of a have been acquired of necessity. The school house was period in history without the refl ection of personal located and laid out by men Whitefield commissioned genius. The Moravians who were involved in con­ for this purpose (other than Mora vians ) . The building structing the buildings during their early settlement was to be of stone, but weather conditions caused in America may easily be pl ~l.C ed in this category. It suspension of the work, and it was not completed until is here purposed to bring some of these men back to 1744.· mind for a new generation and an age that is suddenly The Mor,avians then arranged for the purchase of concerned with historic values. a piece of land about ten miles from Whitefield's Of the Moravian Brethren who founded Bethlehem, property, on which they later established their settle­ Pennsylvania, the nucleus consisted of those who ac­ ment named Bethlehem. There they built their first companied Peter Boehl er from Georgia in April 1740. house of logs, according to early records, a portion These, while awaiting further instructions from Europe, being reserved for a nimals. It seems quite likely that agreed to construct a building for George Whitefield, the sequence of their construction matched that on the as a school house, on a piece of land which he had Whitefield property: a· rough shelter first, then the log recently purchased in Pennsylvania and later called Nazareth. When they first arrived on the Whitefield '], H . Miller reports (Memoir Box 4, 1782 ) the recoll ections land, they camped under an oak tree which they cut of Anton Seiffert and Peter Boehler. T he Bethlehem Diary, M ay 3, 1755, gives the same sequence of construction in a down the following morning, stripped the trunk of its recoll ection by Boehler, but wi th a possi ble difference in time bark, split the larger sections so they could use them interval. 'Adelaide L. Fries, M oravians in Georgia (R aleigh, N.C " to build a frame which they then covered with the 1905 ), pp. 67, 69, 79. This states that a rough shelter was bark. This served as their first shelter. Then followed buil t, then a building 20' x 10' foll owed by one 34' x 18'. 'Boehler's letter to Zinzendorf, dated Dec. 16/2 7, 1743, in construction of a stable intended for the animals but Library of Congress R ep. 14A o. 27 ; also referred to in into which the brethren moved until the completion Transactions of the M oravian Society, XXII, pt. 11 p, 133. 2 house usually thought of as the first house: but intended eventually for the animals only, then the Gemeinhaus, often called the large house. This, generally speaking, would also have matched the order of construction in Georgia. The log house on the Whitefield property was made of squared logs with the timbers dove-tailed at the corners with great skill.' The Gemeinhaus in Bethlehem was built in similar fashion though its dimensions were much larger and by the middle of September, 1742, an extension to it was already underway. However, an addition of fifty-seven people in June, 1742, pro­ vided sufficient manpower for this undertaking. The early Moravians placed much more importance on their The Whitefield House, Nazareth. Begun 1740. Shown circa 1900, before addition was built. spiritual relationship and congregation regulations than on physical skills, but it is fitting to mention some of these people with (heir trades. Among the early Mor­ construction, with the inn mentioned specifically as avian Brethren these names appear : G::Jtt hard Demuth, having shaped logs. This inn was usually referred to cabinet maker; George Waschke, carpenter; Michael as the inn or tavern across the Lehigh, though a record Haberland, carpenter; George H aberland, mason; Frie­ of 1755 names Gottfried Grabs as the inn keeper in drich Riedel, mason; A nton Seiffert, carpenter; David the Stern.' It later became known as the Crown Inn Z eisberger, carpenter; George N eisser, wheelwright; and remained m service until 1858 when it was torn John Boehner, carpenter ; David Nitschmann, Sr., wheel­ down. wright, carpenter; Andrew Schober, mason ; Carl Schul­ HENRY ANTES ze, mason; and T obias Hirte, carpenter. These are H enry Antes early became a friend and supporter just a few of those with building trades who came of the Moravian cause. H e belonged to a group that had to the M oravian settlements in the early years and banded together in an effort to improve the religious contributed their skills in the construction of the condition of the German-speaking people in Eastern buildings. Others, whose abilities are more distinc­ Pennsylvania. Spangenberg, the earl y leader of the tive, will appear in the narrative associated with Moravians in Bethlehem, became acquainted with Antes their chief accomplishments. These were men of vari­ because their interest in this respect was similar. When ous abilities, true pioneers moved by religious zeal. Peter Boehler made his exploratory visit to George By May, 1755, when the cornerstone for ZinzendorPs Whitefi eld's property, Antes accompanied him. When house in Nazareth was laid, there were 1,034 Moravians Boehler showed interest in acquiring a piece of land for in America. the M oravians, Antes directed him to Nathaniel Irish Peter Boehler reported to Count Zinzendorf in 1743, who was a land agent for William Allen. When the that "over this summer we built a nice mill, a good purchase was fully arranged, Antes agreed to have the milk house, a cabinet making building, an inn of shaped title placed in his name. In later years the Moravian logs two stories high, forty feet long and twenty-six feet vessel Irene was also registered in Antes' name. Antes wide, a large horse stable for twenty-four horses, also was a millwright and for more than seven years the a large hall for the inn. In Bethlehem, the tannery early Moravians reaped the benefit of his skill. With and forge shop were built; in Nazareth the large house help from his son Philip, he supervised the building of is under roof and a large barn has been built."· The the first mill in Bethlehem (1743) on the Monocacy large house in Nazareth referred to here was the build­ Creek, just down hill from the early building occupied ing which the brethren started to build for George by the Brethren." This is the mill to which Boehler Whitefield in 1740. This building was of stone, but all referred in his letter to Zinzendorf. Gotthard Demuth the other buildings mentioned were probably of log from Germantown assisted with this construction." In May 1747 a combination saw mill and grist mill were 'L evering suggests that the Brethren stayed with friends begun under Antes' supervision, at the settlement across the Lehigh River during the construction of the 40' x 20' log "First House." But this would have required crossing 'The corner stone for Nazareth Hall contains a list of all the river twice daily and therefore a temporary hut is more the Moravians in America at that time and some of their likely. The ferry was not launched until March 1743. occupations. This list is recorded in the Bethlehem Diary. 'For this type of construction as practiced by the Swedes, .8J. Mortimer Levering, A History of Bethlehem, Pennsylva­ Finns and Germans, see C. A. Weslager, The Log Cabin in nza, 1741-1892 (Bethlehem: Times Publishing Co., 1903 ), America from Pioneer Days to the Present (New Brunswick, pp. 161, 195, 196, 250, 253, 256 . . J. : Rutgers University Press, 1969 ), pp. 340ff. 'For further reference to Demuth and mill construction see "Boehler's letter to Zinzendorf, dated Nov. 1, 1743, in the The Bethlehem Diary! vol. I, 1742-1744, translated and edited Library of Congress Rep. HA No. 27. by Kenneth G. Hamilton, pp. 146, 151 , 199.

3 (Gnadenhutten ) which the Mora vians established for It should here be pointed out that Antes' influence the Indians on the upper Lehigh River. In November in the earl y building construction of the Moravians 1747 a saw and grist mill were begun at Christian is emphasized when one recognizes that the brick arch Spring. Three years later (1750) Antes built the largest over window and door openings, which is character­ mill at Friedensthal. This had two water wheels and istic of these early stone buildings, also appears on the two sets of stones. Antes moved to Bethlehem in 1745 H enry Antes house in Frederick Township, built in and remained an active member of the congregation 1735 . But there a re other examples of this detail of until September 5, 1750, when he returned to his farm construction in Eastern Pennsylvania for this period property in Frederick Township, Philadelphia (now and one may not associate its origin mainly with those Montgomery) County. who came from the Palatinate. " Antes' construction ability was not limited to mill The second single brethren's house, the largest build­ building. One may safely assume that his advice was ing undertaken up to that time, was intended to house sought for every major construction project from the the single brethren and the older boys. The Single very beginning of the Moravian settlements until he Brethren's Diary tells us that on December 8/19, 1747, decided to return to his former home. "The plan of the future single brethren's house was After the log house, sometimes called the large house shown. This is the fourth plan and they can be com­ or the Gemeinhaus, was completed, stone construction plimented that they are making an effort to consider took over in the form of the first single brethren's house it and think about it. They are then to take their (50 ft. x 30 ft. ). The location was determined as early objections to the Bau-Meist er [master builder or ar­ as July 7, 1742. The corner stone was not laid until chitect]." No record has been found which designates August 9, 1744, and the dedication took place on De­ who the draftsman was. The cornerstone was laid cember 6, 1744. When a construction project was con­ 27 March/ 7 April 1748 and the dedication took place sidered, one of the brethren might be designated to November 5/16, 1748. This cornerstone contained a make a plan. This plan would then be considered in lead box in which was placed the names of the 57 confp.rence and altered or even remade several times single brethren, 22 boys, also 33 boys who were can­ until it satisfied all members. It is not clear whether didates for the house. This document names H enrich the Lot'° was always used to determine a final deci­ Antes as (( V orsteher and Bau Directoris." Though Antes sion. Several of the brethren might be designated to did not become a resident of Bethlehem until June, supervise the construction. It is generally believed that 1745, some of his activity was prior to that date as has this single brethren's house established the pattern of already been mentioned. Because he was not a resident architecture for the early Moravian buildings which of Bethlehem at the time the first single brethren's were of stone ma-sonry. The early records do not state house was built may be the reason his name was not who made the plan or supervised the construction, included in the cornerstone for that structure, but it however, the procedur:e used with regard to the second seems logical that both brethren's houses, as well as single brethren's house suggests that a similar proce­ the Whitefield house, were built with his advice. A dure might have applied to the earlier house. "The Lot see Gillian Lindt Gollin, M oravians in T wo "Richard S. M ontgomery, "Houses of the Oley Valley," Worlds ( e~ York: Columbia 'University Press, 1967 ), pp. Pennsylvania Folklife, VI: 3, shows the early German influence 50ff. in the house of the first known settler in O ley, dated 1732 . , I.. ~. lrlL _-" ItT / ~ / t ·

Gemeinhaus in Beth­ lehem, built 174l. I Disposition of rooms [J l..J . __ is shown. Present ,,:"~i-. use: museum. 4 drawing" showing the south elevation and an end view build in the air (and consider everything carefull y) of the second single brethren's house bears the name before one builds in the ground.'''' T his does not mean of Gottlieb Robins. This gives us its size as follows: that plans were always put on paper ; it is probable "83 feet by 50 feet broad, 33 [feet] to the fi rst eves, that many structu res built in the early period were built 9 [feet] to the second, 10 [feet] to the top." T his draw­ by the master workmen without reference to drawings. ing bears no date. The name of Robins appears in So it is not su rprising that pl ans of this early inn have the Single Brethren's Diary for the fi rst time in July 25 , not come to light. 1747, when he and fou r other brethren "wrote for Com­ The Whitefiel d house (56 feet x 35 feet ), which munion." Under date of September 30, 1747, the D iary was begun in 1740, had only progressed partway when records that the Helper's Conference had named Robins the unfavorable weather put an end to the masonry as fu ture baker in Bethlehem. With O kely he helped work. Late in 1743, a large number of M oravian col­ to rig the I rene prior to its first voyage and then re­ onists were scheduled to arrive in Bethlehem. T h is turned to Bethlehem. His name remains in the Beth­ addition to their ranks would have taxed the facil ities . lehem records until September 14, 1749, when he and T herefore, work was again begun on the Whitefi eld Peter Drews went to the Irene to help get it ready for house in order to accommodate the expected arrivals. another voyage." Though he was not a member of the I t is to be noted that Whitefi eld had sold the property first crew of the Irene, it is li kely that he was a mem­ to the Moravians. Favorable weather permitted the ber on other voyages." At this point one can only work to progress with the help of four men from Ger­ specul ate whether he learned to draw or paint from mantown. Though the work was begun in September Nicolas Garrison, Jr., who was an artist as well as a it was possible to get the building under roof before seaman. It is prob.able that Robins had been a Quaker. bad weather set in. The group arrived on December (His sister, Esther, was married to one of the Brethren, 5, and several succeeding days. Carpenters and cabinet Christopher Frolich.) makers, possibly as many as 15 or 16 in number, im­ medi ately went to Nazareth to lay the fl oors and make the windows and doors. Soon after the beginning of the year 1744 the brothers and sisters moved in. Though Antes inspected the house during its construction, much of the responsibility was in the hands of Anton Seiffert as master carpenter, and also of the mas ter mason.'· On September 5, 1750, H enry Antes moved back to his farm property in Frederick T ownship, as stated earlier. Living in Bethlehem was no longer acceptable to him, but he remained a friend of the M oravians until his death in 1755. H owever, he returned to the Beth­ lehem area in the spring of 1751 to see how the various mills were operating and to advise on some of the con­ struction that was underway or just being planned. And when Spangenberg went to North Carolina in August 1752, Antes went wi th him. In J anuary 1754 Christiansbrunn (Christian Spring), near Nazareth. Shown Spangenberg invited Antes to return to Bethlehem, but circa I 760. All buildings demolished. without success." J. C . CHRISTE NSEN With Antes no 'longer guiding the important con­ The inn which Boehler mentions in his letter to Zin­ struction of the Brethren, it was necessary to send zendorf (1743 ), stating that it was built of shaped logs, brethren from Europe with the needed talents. Certainly was a very urgently needed building because of the a mill builder would be near the top of the list of constant flow of visitors. But every structure built by those requested. In 1751, the Irene brought Johann the Moravians had careful planning. "One must first Christopher Christensen to America. He arrived in Bethlehem September 28. Christensen was born Febru­ "This drawing is in H errnhut, Germany, b ut the Moravian ary 7, 1716, in Schleswig-Holstein, and was a Lutheran. Archi ves in Bethlehem has a photograph of it. The size (83' x 50') is confirmed in the Single Brethren's Diary under date of J anuary 10, 1748. " Bethlehem H elper's Conference, 1746-1749, under date "Single Brethren's Diary, July 22 / August 2, 1748. The December 8/ 19, 1747, item 6. Irene left on its first voyage September 8, 17 48. Obviously, "The name of Anton [S eiffert] as master carpenter is given Robins was not a member of the crew on the first voyage as in The Bethlehem Diary, p. 165. Who the master mason was has been suggested. is not disclosed. " See also D aniel Benham, M emoirs of James Hutton, (Lon­ " Letter written by Spangenberg in Lancaster J anuary 22 , don, 1856 ) , p. 168 for teference to Robins in 1744. 1754. '

5 GnadenthaZ (GracedaZe) and Christiansbrunn, near Nazareth. 1756. All buildings demolished.

As a young man he had avoided service In the militia assigned, in 1761, to again take over building of by getting employment in a mill in nearby Hadersleben. the water works and which I completed in June This mill served the king, and those who were employed 1762." . In 1764 I rebuilt the oil mill [actually begun there were free from conscription. Christensen's brother March 7, 1765] which had burned down on No­ wa~ working there at the time. In 1744 he accompanied vember 18, 1763. From May 1770 until March a woman to the Brethren's settlement in Herrnhut and 1771 , I built the mill at Hope, New Jersey. joined the congregation there in September of that But first he rebuilt tht; old mill which was on the year. In December, 1744, he and thirteen other breth­ property at Hope when it was acquired by the Brethren ren went to Neusaltz to help build that new settlement. (1769). He stayed there five years helping with the carpenter Christensen died on September 15, 1776. He had work. He was recalled to Herrnhut and then, in 1751, gone to Litiz to rebuild the mill which had burned came to America, arriving in Bethlehem in September down. The year before, he had contracted a cold due of that year. His experience as a carpenter is obvious, to exposure, and though he had several relapses, he but his training in mill building is less clear. Some of was able to complete the rebuilding of the Litiz mill his accomplishments. ,. in Arrierica can be taken from his before the end came. memOIr: In his memoir, Christensen certainly included what My first work in this country was in the mill at might be considered his major projects. But he also Friedensthal- to make a new mill run; and this built other mills which should not be overlooked. The was the beginning of my future mill building work. After this I built the first oil mill along with a Single Brethren's Diary gives this information: tan-bark and hemp mill. Then I made the begin­ November 2, 1767, Christensen, Leinbach and ning with the water works, which at that time was Rauschenberger finished a hemp mill in not a success because the pipes were not strong Maguntsche [Macungie]. enough. In [October] 1754, I was sent to Carolina December 16, 1767, Christensen built a mill for and built the grist and saw mill at Bethabara. Henry Funk in Allentown. I returned to Bethlehem in the fall of 1756. In March 9, 1769, Arbo and Christensen signed a February 1757 I went to Litiz with three helpers contract with Jacob Arndt to build a mill to build the mill there. Uohn Sebastian Graff in Easton. directed the general construction, but the wood October 24, 1771, Christensen and Aeshly went to work waited for Christensen.] By November 11, work for Mr. Heller for several weeks we got the first mill run finished and by November [in Hellertown]. of the following year [1758] the whole mill was "'The Bethlehem Diaconate Conference minutes (O ctober finished, namely the grist mill and the saw mill. 1761 ) indicate that Christensen had urged that the new water After various repair jobs on our mills, I was works be built. But it was agreed that Br. Marschall should first confer with Christensen and perhaps with Hoeger before '·Christensen's Memoir in the Single Brethren's Diary. anything was decided.

6 April 10, 1774, Christensen was working on a mill decided to learn mill building. He was married May for Patton near Reading. 31, 1781." May 16, 1774, Christensen, David Bischof and The pump of the first water works was tested on H agen went to Arti Latemore to build June 21 , 1754. The Bethlehem diary contains this him a saw mill. October 4, 1774, Christensen began a grist mill entry: "This evening, near 7 o'clock, we had the for Sebastian Levant. pleasure of seeing the water from our spring squirting While in North Carolina, Christensen not only built as high as a house on the Platz in Bethlehem where the mill at Bethabara, but he assisted in the construction it was tried for the first time." Since the Platz was of the single brethren's house at that place'" and in close to the site of the water distribution tower one constructing palisades as protection against the Indians. can consider this to have been a fair test. At the time However, the mill construction was his primary work. of this test, John David Bischoff would have been five About the time Christensen was instructed to return years of age and any information he might have furn­ to Bethl ehem, the Brethren appointed a mill inspector ished regarding this first pump could well be open to (Oct. 13, 1756 ). They may have felt the need for question. At the time the second water works was in such a person because Christensen was to be away operation (July 1762), he would have been only thir­ from Bethlehem for a time and was to be occupied teen years of age and, therefore, any reliable informa­ with building the mill at Litiz. Though the reason is tion regarding this early project probably came from not clear, the fact is of interest: "Br. Abr. Andres will other sources. become our inspector of mills and no one will improve It has also been thought that John Bohner, a mis­ or change anything without his advance knowledge." Zl sionary on the island of St. Thomas, made a model As time goes on, the status of Christensen as a mill of a pump for Chistensen to follow." But since Bohner builder becomes clearer. In the diary for the oil mill did not arrive in Bethlehem from St. Thomas until construction ( Dec. 20, 1764) we find that Christensen August 7, 1754 (about a month and a half after the was named "the mill builder in the single brethren's testing of the pump), he could not have assisted Christ­ economy.'''' H e had, however, been on a salary since ensen with the first design. The early pumps ( 1754 and April 12, 1762. 1761 ) were powered by undershot water-wheels with Though Christensen infers in his memoir that the water from the Monocacy Creek. The first pump prob­ first water works was not a success, and in spite of the ably had two cylinders of wood. Though the kind of fact that constant repairs were needed in the distribu­ wood used for this purpose is not mentioned in the tion system and eventually the whole works had to be records, it is not unreasonable to assume that one of rebuilt, the over-all concept was sound. Prior to the the common hard woods in the area was used. Robert central water system, the water needed by the various Rau reports that lignum vitae wood was used for the living units and industrial units was carried from the cylinders. This wood is native to the Caribbean Islands large spring near the Monocacy Creek either by men and it may have been used for a later replacement, or with the help of animals. Henry Antes had been possibly on Bohner's recommendation. The pump for asked to consider means for improving on this means the second water works ( 1761-1762) to which Christ­ of distribution, but it is not known whether he did ensen refers, was made with three cylinders of cast iron. anything in this matter. The bored wooden pipes were unable to sustain the A :ather complete study of the early water works water pressure, and critical sections were later replaced and its distribution system was made in the 19th Cen­ with lead pipes, but eventually with cast iron pipes. tury by Robert Rau," giving credit for important data The first pump was enclosed with a frame building to Gilbert Bischoff, a descendant of John David Bisch­ 18 ft. x 14 ft. which was appraised at £40 for tax pur­ off who was apprenticed to Christensen. Some infor­ poses in 1758.'" The second pump was enclosed with mation regarding Bischoff should be of interest. John a stone building two stories high, 30 ft. x 22 ft. The David Bischoff was born April 27, 1749. He was raised General Diacony Ledger 1762-1771, shows a cost in the children's institutions in Bethlehem and Christian of £522-16-7Y2 as of May 31, 1765, for the water Spring, later coming to Bethlehem to learn the trade works, including the building exclusive of the tile roof. of wagon builder. After finishing this apprenticeship, Christensen also made small hand pumps to be used he served for' several years in the grist mill and then to bring water from outdoor tanks or wells to the "'Adelaide L. Fries, Records of the M oravians in North kitchens or other places where water was needed. A Carolina, Publication of the N. C. Historical Commission, vol. I, 1752-1771 , p. 130. record for May 1764, lists pump work for the tannery, 21 Diaconate Conference minutes, 1758-1771. sister's wash house, for soap making, for the house in ""From this date [December 10, 1764] Br. H . Christoph Christensen is the mill builder in the S. Brr. economy and has Easton, the Sun Inn, for Hartman, Verdriess, Arbo, worked on the plan of the oil mill until the 15th." "Memoir of John David Bischoff. " Robert Rau, Historical Sketch of the Bethlehem Water "Levering, A History of Bethlehem, Pa., p. 289. W orks, (Bethlehem, 1877 ); Rau's original draft of this work "'See Specifications for Buildings, with the Extracts of Beth­ is on loan to the Archives. lehem Accounts, 1747-1765.

7 there is evidence that he made drawings for the oil mill in Bethlehem and for the miII at H ope, New J ersey." On April 20, 1754, those people who had made the recent journey from Europe on the irene, arrived in Bethlehem. Among the passengers was August Gottlieb Spangenberg. H e was in charge of the M oravian ac­ ti vities in America and was returning after having gone to Europe to report on the recently acquired land in North Carolina. It is thought that he brought with him the pl ans for a building in which the Moravian leader and patron, Count Zinzendorf, might live if Gemeinhaus interior, circa 1900. his banishment would bring him to America. These plans were m ~ d e by Friedrich Wilhelm von M arschalL" and Funck." The Sun Inn had a well and likewise The building was intended for azareth. MarschaII the house in Easton. A gift of 30 shillings was made had been in charge of the reconstruction of Lindsey to Christensen and a gift of 15 shillings was made to H ouse, Zinzendorf's headquarters in Chelsea, England. Demuth, his assistant, for their accomplishment in He did not come to America until 1761. But the con­ producing running water." They had both been paid struction of Zinze ndorf's house, subsequently caII ed day wages, but Christensci1 was recommended to be Nazareth H all , foIIowed other plans and the building special water works inspector (July 21, 1762 ) at £ 10 was indeed much larger than the original plans in­ per year." The ledger for this period does not record dicated. (The Archives in Bethlehem recently acquired this amount so it may be that the suggestion was not photographs of the actual plans that were u ed. ) It acceptable. However, the ledger discloses that Christ­ was the largest building (98 ft. x 46 ft.) undertaken ensen received a salary on the b.asis of £40 per year by the M oravians in that period. It is quite likely that during the period April 12, 1762 to May 12, 1763, and the final pl.ans were made by the Moravian architect, on the basis of £50 per year from May 12, 1763. Sigismund von Gersdorf. H e had been the architect Under date of November 2, 1756, Spangenberg made for the alterations to Lindsey House. N azareth H all him a gift of £ 10 "in consideration of his hard labor was simil ar in size and appearance to Lichtenburg, the in building a grist and saw mill in Wachovia." On temporary residence of Zinzendorf in H errnhaag, which January 29, 1759, he "received a gratuity of £5 for was built in 1748." It was customary for a master building the mill in Litiz." builder or achitect, or an engineer, to conceive the gen­ Though Christensen has many projects to his credit, eral pl an, but to leave the detai ls of construction to the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem has only the plans the artisans. Therefore much of the construction detail for the mill at Litiz. But it has photographs of plans was left to T obias Hirte, the master carpenter, and to of the Bethlehem oil mill, and of the second water Carl Schulze, the master mason. Two different sites works with a description of the latter. These photo­ were staked out for this building, but the decision for graphs came from the Moravian Archives in H errnhut, the "upper place" was later confirmed by the Lot." The Germany.'· On April 12, 1774, the governor of St. Croix Nazareth diary (Dec. 12, 1754) contains this entry: visited Bethlehem, and at that time Christensen made "Br. Nathanael, Gottlieb Bezold and H eckewaelder went him a present of the pla ns and description of the water to the site where the Jiinger-Haus is to stand and ac­ works." Thus, the authentic record was lost to Beth­ tuaIIy staked it out together." The corner stone was lehem. The water pump drawings (from which the placed on M ay 3, 1755, at a ceremony that began with photographs were made) were made about five years trumpets waking the Brethren, foIIowed by the morn­ after the pump was put into operation. It is possible ing blessing,'" The building progressed in stages; the that these drawings were made by Johann Arbo, the haII was dedicated November 13, 1756. Horsefield warden of the Single Brethren in Bethlehem. came to look at this building on September 24, 1755, Christensen made a model of a threshing machine. and gave a lovefeast to the workers. It was found that If the Brethren approved this, he expected to begin "Diary of the oil mill construction, and the Bethlehem Dia­ its construction. One can well speculate whether Christ­ conate Conference minutes, 1758-1771. ensen foIIowed models in his mill construction, but " Spangenberg records Box II, folder III, August 9, 1753. The writing on the drawing in the Archives is not that of " Haupt Buch of Christoph Christensen, mill builder, M ay M arschall and therefore may be a copy. 1, 1762 to M ay 28, 1764. " Wolf M arx, Die Saalkirche der Deutschen Brudergemeine "General Diacony Ledge r, 1762-1771 , p. 160. im 18 Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 19 31), Plate VI. " Bethlehem Diaconate Conference minutes, 1758-1771. " Nazareth Diary for January 8, 1755. '·Photographs by Harry Rinker, etc. ""For a full report of the celebration, see the Nazareth Diary " Single Brethren's Diary for April 12 , 1774. for this period. 8 the work involved brethren "from six different nations: ing which was to house this new mission. ) H e got English, French, Germans, D anes, Bohemians, and one back to London and worked on the remodeling of from Guinea. They were also from twenty-four differ­ Lindsey H ouse. From there he was sent to America and ent countries and provinces."" It was customary to reached Bethlehem September 14, 1753." Golkowsky name one or more brethren to supervise construction learned surveying and bookkeeping and did work in work. The Nazareth H all construction was under the those areas in later years, but there is little doubt that su pervision of Gottlieb Bezold and Nathanael [Seidel].'" he was sent to America because of his knowledge of H owever, by J anuary 3, 1757, the interior work had building construction. (There is evidence of consider­ not been completed. The Congregation Conference able surveying by Golkowsky. ) The Archives in Beth­ decided it should be completed with all "application." lehem contain early original building plans, but none Br. Gottlieb was designated to continue the supervision. of them carries the name of the person who made them. Plans of settlements sometimes have the makers' names. G. W. GOLKOWSKY Golkowsky's hand-writing was precise and neat, and On September 14, 1753, a man with trammg as a from its characteristics one may conclude that the fol­ carpenter arrived in Bethlehem. His name was George lowing building plans were made by him : a rifle barrel Wenzelaus Golkowsky (also spelled Golkovsky or Gol­ shop, a house for the saw miller, a barn, two fl oor kowvsky) . H e was born February 23, 1725, the son of plans for a possible brethren's house, an addition to a Polish offi cer. At the age of five his mother a rranged a fulling mill, and a boys' institution. But there may for him and his brother and sister, who were older have been many more buildings which Golkowsky plan­ than he, to leave home secretly and go to an area ned until his death in 1813 though the evidence is where they would be safe from Catholic influence. lacking. Eventuall y, he got under the tutorship of one of the ANDREAS HOEGER Brethren from the Moravian settlement of H errnhut. Another of the Brethren, Andreas H oeger, arrived in In 1740 he became apprenticed to learn cabinet work Bethlehem April 20, 1754. H e had journeyed from or carpentry. Five years later he went to the new settle­ Europe on the Irene with Spangenberg, being one of ment of Neusalz to help with the construction. In 1750 six single brethren. H e is variously designated as ar­ he was sent to England to work on some of the con­ chitect, master builder, surveyor, and building inspec­ struction work in Fulneck and Chelsea and then be­ tor; a "Return of the United Brethren of Bethlehem came part of the ill fated mission to Labrador in which T ownship," dated D ecember 9, 1756, lists the name the captain and six others were murdered. (At the of Andreas Hoeger, "wholly employed as chief school time of the murders, Golkowsky was erecting the build- master."'"

"Nazareth Diary for this date. " Golkowsky's Memoir (Box 1, 181 3). " Bethlehem Diary, December 7, 1754. '·Nazareth Records: Publica (Taxes, Services, etc.) .

I

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9 The Moravian Brethren had expanded their activ­ Itles: new settlements were being established, new building facilities were needed and old ones needed ex­ pansion. A man of Hoeger's qualifications was certain­ ly needed. Andreas Hoeger was born in Nurnberg, August 14, 1714, a member of the Lutheran faith. It has been recorded that he joined the Moravian Breth­ ren at H errnhaag, Germany, in May 1742. Informa­ tion regarding his early training and activities until he appeared in Bethlehem (1754) is not readily avail­ able. However, the records of the General Synod held by the Brethren in Marienborn in 1744, include the name of Andreas Hoeger and indicate the place where he had served; as Nurnberg, Neusalz, H errnhaag, Mari­ enborn and Amsterdam. The records of the General Synod held in Zeyst in 1746, have Hoeger designated as "virtuoso." At an earlier synod (Hirschberg, 1743 ), he was designated as Henrich Muller's coll eague, which, along with other evidence, suggests that he might have been on Zinzendorf's staff or in his circle of advisors. But everyone of the Brethren who came to America in this period came to fill a defi nite need, and this can also be said of Andreas H oeger. His first assignment after coming to Bethlehem, as recorded in the Single Brethren's Diary (May 23, 1754), was to go to Gnadenhutten and layout that Indian settlement on the upper Lehigh River; he returned the following day. After that (June 19, 1754), the con­ ference in Nazareth decided that he should "make a plan for a new house in the new settlement (Dorf). H e must see the old plan and revise it. H e should make the plan for the whole settlement, approximately like Lincoln's Inn Fields, but not so large." This prob­ ably referred to a development around the new Zin­ zendorf house in Nazareth and suggests that Hoeger knew the Lincoln Inn area in London. We do not know what Hoeger developed, but Zinzendorf did not make Nazareth Hall his residence and the new settle­ ment did not take form at this time. One of the reasons for Hoeger's coming to America is soon apparent. In August 1754, he accompanied Peter Boehler to the newly acquired property in North Carolina." His purpose was to layout this large pro­ perty, mainly into plots of 2,000 acres, retaining a large portion for the congregation. This took many days and required assistance from some of the brethren. He then made a map of the total plot of approximately 100,000 acres, leaving for Bethlehem November 18, 1754." Jonas Paulus Weiss, who carried some of the financial respon­ sibility for the Brethren, had discussed this project with Hoeger before he came to America. In a letter, dated November 7, 1754, he states "If Hoeger goes with

"Single Brethren's Diary for August 21, 1754. Christensen. Lititz, Pennsylvania, mill. 1757. No " Publication of the N. C. Historical Commission, vol. I, longer standing. p. 107. 10 J

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Hoeger. Saw and Flour Mill. 1757. Not standing.

Boehler to measure off the lots, he is to think of the was named to go to Warwick-the location of the future things I asked him to remember.'''' Litiz- with several brethren who would then make Though Hoeger's name is only mentioned indirectly recommendations. The following month he went with in connection with the proposed house for Zinzendorf, Gottlieb [Pezold] and Joseph to layout the new cem­ soon after his return from North Carolina he was with etery in Nazareth, which was then dedicated on Feb­ Lawatsch, Gottlieb and Johannes Bonn looking for a ruary 14, 1756.'· Carl Schulze, the master mason, was suitable place to quarry stone for that building and to consult with Hoeger about the dam for the new saw also looking at the building site by the "Cnadenthaler mill." Wiese."" Among the 1,034 names placed in the corner The Moravian Brethren were not always efficient in stone, there was also Andreas Hoeger, a single brother, the use of individual talents, and the year 1756 shows but no specific occupation was given. Hoeger's time divided between supervising the young Though Hoeger must have come to America well boys who were learning to copy records that were later recommended, the Brethren seemed to be overly cau­ to be sent to other congregations, and advising the tious. "Brother Hoeger who has excellent gifts in Brethren regarding Warwick, studying the new store this area was considered for building inspector under project and laying out roads. He offered to teach Lawatsch, only he has first to get acquainted with the drafting to the children. We find that he actually practice here in this country and what we favor. He instructed or tutored James Noble for about two years has foundation for it, only the brethren think he does for which he received a gratuity of £10 from the trustees not understand mill building."" In January 1756 he of the Thomas Noble Estate, in recognition of this serVIce. "Wachovia Records, Box II, Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pa. "Nazareth Diary for December 18, 1754. "Bethlehem Conference, 1755-56 (November 3, 1755). From this quotation one can infer that construction practice in '·Single Brethren's Diary for this date. America was different 'from that in Europe. "Bethlehem Conference,1755-1756 (February 17, 1756).

11 P. C. G. R EUTER after he got to North Carolina his intention was to On December 16, 1756, Philipp Christian Gottlieb make a book of maps of the M oravian towns there, R euter arrived in Bethlehem. H e was born in Michel­ suggesting that Golkowsky do similarly of the Moravian stadt, Germany, on September 5, 1717:' His father, settl ements in Pennsylvania using the same scale ( 1 a surgeon, lost his wealth, after which he moved from inch = 200 feet).'" But on August 19, 1755, it had been place to place in an effort to support his family. As decided to build an inn on the Bethlehem side of the a young boy of fifteen years, R euter was apprenticed Lehigh Rive r. The need for this had been apparent to a surveyor and showed especial aptitude for this for some time. R euter seems to have made the first work . His first contact with the M oravian Brethren plans for this inn (1757 ) and they were then considered came through H errnhaag, but he was active in several in conference. These plans are presently in the Ar­ other Moravian settlements before coming to Beth­ chives and show changes suggested by various brethren. lehem. Reuter was a most valuable addition to the The final drawing fo r the new inn was made by H oeger community. It was probably because of his surveying ( 1758) . This is the drawing which, in modern times, knowledge that it was intended he go to Wachovia, hung in the Sun Inn and bore the label of "original." in North Carolina, but the Indian unrest kept him in Projects sometimes moved slowly; however, on J anuary the Bethlehem area until June, 1758, at which time 21 , 1757, it was decided that "next week, if the weather he left for North Carolina. Reuter had done extensive is good, the Fremden L ogie is to be staked off so the surveying in Europe and had been building inspector haulers can take the stones to the right place."" As in the Moravian settlement of Niesky in Germany questions developed regarding the inn, they were re­ ( 1752 ). In the Bethlehem area his work was mainly ferred to Hoeger who quickly demonstrated his abili ty surveying. The maps that he made show great skill in architectural matters. Once the Brethren were sat­ in this fi eld, and the detail regarding plant growth isfied that Hoeger was skilled in building matters, the must have been of great value to these early settlers. conference concluded, "He is to be used in our build- H e taught Golkowsky the technique of surveying" and

" M emoir of R euter. SORinker film o. 18 (February 27, 1761 ). " Golkowsky's letter to his brother-in-law in Barby, Novem­ " Bethlehem Conference Minutes: Diener Conference for ber 5, 17 57. (Nazareth Box: Letters, 1752-1784 ). this da te.

Reuter. Drawing of Kassler house, Lititz, 175 7. House ap­

#"f parently not con­ ,.\ structed exactly as ; this plan.

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Hoeger. Map of Lititz, undated. With drawing offacade and floor plan of a one-story house. ing work.'''' And he became a member of the building a typical house for that town, a proposed widows' committee (Handwerker Conference) . house in Bethlehem (1760), a house in Easton (48 ft. It is here to be noted that Reuter was not generally x 30 ft.) (1760), several plans for a fulling mill involved in building design. However, the plans for and white tannery, a plan for a Gem ein-Haus in Litiz the mill at Litiz (dated May 27, 1757), which Christ­ ( 1762), and several small house plans (one of these ensen built, show some of the characteristics of Reuter's may have been for Geitner). He made an early plan work. We also find that Reuter made plans for a horse for Salisbury, later called Emmaus, and staked out some stable, but the Brethren thought Lawatsch's plans were of the lots with the help of Golkowsky. Hoeger had nicer looking and could be built more cheaply." Reuter useful suggestions for the water works, proposing the was also assigned the task of making a plan for a tan­ use of brass cylinders and cast iron pipe."" In May nery incorporating the thoughts of Brother Geitner, the 1760, the Diacony Conference requested that he make tanner, but such a plan is not presently at hand." a "new plan for a water works." Though he proposed The year 1757 and several succeeding years, were the use of cast iron pipes and discussed this matter busy years for the Brethren who were involved in con­ with several iron makers, he seems to have been unable struction. As an illustration of the extent of this work, to bring them into use at that time. It should be noted we find that Hoeger designed the machinery for a saw that Hoeger and Christensen were always consulted and flour mill (1757)," a proposed Gemein-Haus in when improvements in the water system were needed. Bethlehem (1758), possibly the single sister's house in (The Sun Inn was built in this period.) Litiz (1758), he made a plan of the town of Litiz and That the skill of the Brethren in the early construc­ tion may have been inadequate is suggested by the "Economic Conference, Congregation Conference, October problems that developed with leaking roofs and un­ 6, 1757. "Gemein Conference minutes, February 7, 1757. safe chimneys. When the Saal in the house for Zin­ " Minutes of the Economic Conference, Congregation Con­ zendorf in Nazareth was dedicated (November 13, ference, July 6, 1757. "'This is the only drawing by Hoeger that is definitely iden­ 1756), a fire was kept burning in the fireplace all day. tified as his work. Spangenberg wrote on the back of the draw­ ing that it was Hoeger's, giving the date, 1757. "Church Council minutes, November 28, 1757.

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Hoeger. Drawing for Widows' House in Bethlehem, 1760. Not constructed. 14 The following morning it was discovered that a beam ensen, and for the Brethren it carried the signature of which ran close by was badly charred. It was soon Andreas Weber and Johannes Arbo." Thought was decided that all the fireplaces in the building were given to Hoeger's future: It was considered whether unsafe and they were ordered closed and tile stoves des­ he should assist Okely with legal documents ; whether ignated to be the source of heat. Hoeger was always he should move to Nazareth to teach the boys in the a member of the committees that investigated trouble­ school. It has already been noted that Hoeger tutored some chimneys. When a fire ordinance was needed, J ames Noble for about two years. It was finally de­ Hoeger was asked to draft it and then became a mem­ cided to make him Building Inspector. All construction ber of the committee to study it. Regarding the roofs, was subject to his inspection. If an individual had the Gemein Saal and single sisters' house had been orig­ permission to build a house for himself, he could count inally covered with tiles, but the construction was not on having to meet the requirements of Hoeger's inspec­ strong enough for the roof load, which resulted in a tion. An exception appears: Br. Thomas Fisher wanted leaking roof in both cases. Hoeger was asked to look to build a house himself without Br. Hoeger's inspection, into this problem, but eventually the tiles were replaced and the answer was, "We have nothing against either."" by wood shingles. H e also supervised the saw mill output and the brick Though Hoeger's superior knowledge of building and tile output. His records covered what was pro­ planning and construction was generally accepted, one duced and for whom. The accounts under his name instance of friction appears in the records. On July 7, covered lumber, what would to-day be called mill 1758, a committee (Bechtel, Weber, Schropp) called work, shingles, bricks and tiles, nails, locks and other Hoeger ar..d Schober before them to question them hardware, lime and hog's bristles. His salary was £40 regarding their dispute over construction-Schober was per year (beginning April 12, 1762, when the free the master-mason. The two brethren were questioned enterprise system began)."' Under the "Economy" the separately and two witnesses were also questioned. Brethren received no pay, however, in recognition of Schober claimed that Hoeger's lines were faulty, that special services, gifts to brethern were sometimes ap­ an error in angle resulted in as much as a six-inch proved. In addition to the gift for tutoring J ames Noble error. Hoeger claimed that %- or 7li- inch error was (February 23, 1757 ), Hoeger was granted a gift of £5 not important, but that Schober was intent on "pros­ by order of the general de.acons on April 10, 1757, and tituting" him and was looking for all sorts of op­ another £5 March 21 , 1759. On July 31, 1760, he portunities to do so. Hoeger was reported to have received a gift of £10."' No reason was given for the used harsh language, accusing Schober of showing no gifts granted by the general deacons. He received his sign of brotherliness and saying that it was hard to salary in installments. The increments varied in amounts work with such a person with whom one could not and usually represented a month or six weeks salary. talk." After several days had passed, it was decided Out of this he paid for his room a nd board to the that the two brethren should remain in their offices, Single Brethren's account, paid his allotted amount to but they were to reconcile their differences. It was the town treasury (Burge rliche Casse), and paid the also concluded that Schober had indeed been the one Province Tax. H e made liberal payments for benev­ in error. (The date of this controversy suggests that olences (Mitleidenheit) and when an Indian was on it might have involved the Sun Inn.) trial in Easton, he contributed for his defense. Because Hoeger worked in so very many areas the Hoeger was mainly involved with building and settle­ Brethren thought it appropriate that he be married. ment planning. But he was also consulted about the The records indicate that his marriage to specific sisters new bridge over the Monocacy and he probably de­ was considered three times over the years. But marriage veloped the rope system by means of which the ferry did not result; the reason is not clear!· moved across the Lehigh River using the flow of the The communal system among the Brethren in Amer­ stream as its source of power. His design of the mill ica was coming to an end. Each brother was asked machinery which is on file in the Archives, is a measure to sign a "Revers". This was a document in which a of his skill in this area. But when one considers the brother acknowledged that he was at liberty to earn number of buildings that came into existence in the his own living, that nothing was owed to him for work growing Moravian communities in Pennsylvania, all performed under the "Economy" and that any claims of which had to be maintained, one gets a better under­ which the Brethren might have on an individual were standing of the scope of the work placed on. the Build­ hereby terminated. Hoeger signed such a document ing Inspector. In 1758, the number of buildings was on February 27, 1762, likewise Golkowsky and Christ- as follows: Bethlehem 76, Nazareth 17, Gnadenhutten " Single Brethren's Diary; also Individual Agreements. " Economy Period Memoranda, July 7, 1758. " Bethlehem Diacony Conference minutes, December 29 "On Augu.t 31, 1757, to C. or P. (in Europe) whichever 17fi2. ' came over first; on May 7, 1759, to Betty Sommers ; on Novem­ ·'General Ledger "D," p. 52. ber 17, 1761 to Sister ·Brownfield. ·'Ibid.

15 13, Friedensthal 5, Rose 5, Christian Spring 16."" This As mentioned earlier, he made the first plans for the number must have been increased by the time Hoeger building intended for Zinzendorf in Nazareth. Mars­ took over the inspection. chall came to America to be Vorsteher (superintend­ ent) of the Brethren's congregation, taking the place F. W. VON MARSCHALL of Lawatsch, and S enior Civilis. His importance was On October 23, 1761, there was another important quickly accepted and his arrival was even a nticipated. addition to the Moravian talent in America. This was While Christensen was urging the construction of the the arriva l of Friedrich Wilhelm von Marschall. H e was new water works, the Congregation Conference sug­ born in Dresden on February 5, 1721. His father was gested, "Perhaps we should wait with the whole con­ George Rudolph Marschall von H errn Gosserstaedt. struction of the water works until Br. Marschall come, His parents expected his future to be in court or mil­ because he is a mechanic and presumably has more itary service and his training was in that direction. At insight in this matter than we do. But the matter is age 17 he went to the university in Leipzig which his too urgent ... " (May 28, 1761 ). Later in the year brother already a ttended. It was in Leipzig that he (October 17q1 ) "Christensen again urged the building came into relationship with the Moravians. He later of the waterworks. The conference thinks M arschall went to H errnhut, and to H errnhaag where he assisted should first confer with him and Hoeger about it" with the tutoring of Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf. (Diacony Conference Minutes 1758- 1771 ). When the H e also assisted with the building construction at Herrn­ construction of a congregation house in Litiz was being haag. H e became a member of Zinzendorf's staff, re­ considered, Hoeger was instructed to make such a cording the minutes of the various conferences. M ars­ plan subject to Marschall's inspection (December 14, chall attended to the alterations of Lindsey House 1761 ).'" Hoeger and Marschall were often members in London and when Peter Boehler left England for of the same committees and it soon becomes evident America in 1753, he took Boehl er's place in London." that Hoeger was subordinate to Marschall in the area of construction. 63Bethlehem Accounts, 1747-1765 ; Building Specifications, 1758. Hoeger's name suddenly is lacking in the records "'von MarschaJl's Memoir. and we finally find this entry in the Single Brethren's Diary: On September 17, 1764, the brethren were in­ formed that Andr. Hoeger, who journeyed from here on the 4th of this month with the announced intention of looking for a tile man [Ziegler], reported to Br. Arbo in a letter without date or place, that he would not come here aga~n, and sought him to change into money the thmgs he left behind, without reporting further as to why he had left or where he intended to go. For the present, it has not been possible to determine his location and activities subsequent to this announce­ ment. The account book entered his last salary incre­ ment to September 5, 1764. On that date Johannes Becker began the entries in the building material records. H e entered the statement on September 17, 1764, "I, Johannes Becker, took over the care of the building materials." And he also took over the office of building inspector. In this abrupt manner Hoeger's service to the Moravian Brethren in America over a period ex­ ceeding ten years, came to an end. We can only sepculate as to why Hoeger left. On October 9, 1764, Marschall left for North Carolina to look for a suitable location for the new settlement of Salem on the Wachovia land, and did not return to Bethlehem again until March 13, 1765. The following year (1766) he went to Europe, arriving in Zeyst December 22, 1766, and from there he went to Herrn­ hut. H e returned again to Wachovia in February 1768.

Hoeger. House in Easton, ca. 1760. Not standing. ""Elders' Conference, 1753-1764. 16 FORMS OF CONSTR UCTION for the tannery. The brick and tile plant records show It may be of interest to point out some of the forms (February 18, 1763 ) that 2,509 Aat tiles and 30 hollow of construction that were used by the Brethren. The tiles were made for the water works. The Brethren list of buildings referred to earlier ( 1758 ), indicates seemed to have difficulty finding suitable tile makers, that the buildings were stone, frame (Bindwerk), or which may be a reason for the incomplete records in log. The first buildings were of log construction, but this area. Peter Boehler wrote to Spangenberg (July as the settlement progressed, the buildings that were 23, 1761), "The til e plant must be well manned, for to have a long useful life, were built of stone. The we need very many tiles for the horse stable, Geitner's end use may have determined a more permanent or house, the nail forge, etc. If it were possible, some help fire-resistant material, that is, for the smithy, pottery, might be given in the azareth til e plant, or H. Muller water works and tannery. Later, as private houses were from Gnadenthal might be able to help here in the tile built, some of these were built of stone, possibly indica­ plant for a couple of months. There are only a couple ting a personal preference. But it is also probabl e that of months time in which to make tiles." avail able artisans or material determined the type of It is not the purpose of this writing to reach further construction. into the details of the buiding construction since other The roof material was usually shingles, mainly of authors have worked in this area, but to bring to the pine, oak or cedar. The cedar shingles were bought front the names of some of the men who were important in Philadelphia, the other material was prepared by in the construction of this period. the brethren. The name pine probably applied to all co nifers. In time, Aat tile was used on the roofs with rounded ones for the ridge. Experimental use of roof slates (1757 ) is indicated, but there is no evidence of extensive use of slate in this early period. Robert Rau reports the use of shingles as a replacement for the thatched roof of the horse stable, bu t thatch was not commonly used by the Brethren. In what may be Arbo's writing, we find this information: Cedar shingles were 18 inches long and 6 inches wide, oak shingles were 3 inches wide and lasted only a third as long as cedar. The second single brethrens' house probably had pine 1'1 g I OJ 1] DJ 9 0 a shingles." The oil mill had white pine shingles and some of the horse chestnut. azareth H all had oak shingles." The Saal and the single sisters' house had tile roofs that I jB·lJ 0 ~D 0 were a constant source of trouble. On March 15, 1756, the report was that "The tile roofs are to be removed from the sisters' house and Gemein Saal and replaced - ' with shingles. Some of the tiles can be used for the saw mill which is built strong enough so it can take the 10ad." GS The change in the roof of the sisters' house was made by the end of March. But regarding the Saal, we read at a later date: "The tile of the Saal are to be replaced with shingles. The til es can be used on the tannery."·' There is little doubt that the Sun L. Inn was among those buildings having a til e roof," .'1,,,1 .fa/I " ;'~ as well as the houses for Okely, Fisher, the nail smith's .t~ Jv.ul fl«OOf; .tt..,t house and the smith shop. The records of the building u U I ! inspector (March 21 , 1765 ) show 8,600 tiles in stock \\..{ J debited to the "Saal Inventar." From this record it is obvious that the tiles from the Saal were not used

" Single Brethren's Diary for October 24, 1747. ·'Bethlehem Conference, 1755-1756 (July 14, 1755). GS Helper's Conference, 1755-1761 and 1767. " Diacony Conference minutes, under date January 22, 1761 (Book 1758-1771). lOFor a study of tile roofs in early Pennsylvania, see Penn­ sylvania Folklife, XII: 2 (Summer 1961 ), "Steep R oofs and Nazareth Hall, facade and ground floor. Building construct­ Red Tiles" by Robert C . Bucher. ed 1755. Standing, but altered.

17 OLD ORDER MENNONITE FAMILY LIFE IN THE EAST PENN VALLEY

By THEODORE W. JENTSCH

1. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE behind her. The extra girl in the center of the circle I t all begins around the age of sixteen when the calls several numbers. The girls must now attempt to girl's increasing physical maturity signals the time to exchange places whil e the boys standing behind them relinquish the pig-tails of her childhood and pin her try to prevent this. hair up in a soft bun and begin wearing the black "Grab the Cup" is a game which occasionall y gets bonnet. For the boy it marks the time when he has rather rough. All participants are seated in a circle evidenced enough reliability and judgment to have his around a cup which has been placed on the fl oor. own buggy. Now the Saturday night singings become Numbers are assigned and when too or more numbers an all -important part in the lives of the young people are call ed these participants must try to "grab the cup" of the community. and bring it back to the chair while the other perso n From eight to twelve in the evening the teenagers or persons try to wrestle the cup away. meet in one of the homes of the community, alternating There is no set pattern to the number of singings meeting places at the invitation of the families involved. per month or to how they are spaced over the months The first two hours, with parents and younger children during the winter. Occasionall y the Saturday night of the host family present, are spent in si nging hymns, pattern is altered by holding a weekday singing to gospel songs, and popular folk ditties. This singing is accommodate visitors from other communities. Some­ done a cappell a, in four parts, the parts being given time during each singing a simple treat is shared ; via pitch pipe in the hands of the most proficient potato chips, hard candy, orange drink, perhaps cup­ singer. Great pride is taken in proper intonation and cakes and coffee. phrasing, good balance of voices and pleasing tonal Summer singings are held in the schoolhouse, on quality. alternate Saturday nights, from the closing of classes The singing completed, parents and younger children in spring to the resumption of classes in the fall. These retire and the teenagers are left to their games. These singings are identical in format to those held in the games are of two kinds, (1) that which is known in homes except that the two-hour singing period is also the outside world as square dancing and (2) a variety an instruction period during which an adult gives the of chair games. Note that the square dancing is never teenagers assistance in note reading and attaining pro­ referred to as "dancing" but always as "games." (The per pitch. word dancing smacks too much of that worldly, in­ Singings lead to dating which usuall y begins at seven­ timate, cheek-to-cheek activity engaged in by members teen or eighteen years of age. The initial date is most of the surrounding culture. ) Instructions for the squares often requested, at a singing, through an intermediary. are called out and musical accompaniment is provided Boy A asks boy B to ask girl whether or not boy A can by a mou th organ (harmonica) . call on her. D ating invariably consists of the boy calling Chair games take several forms, all requiring stren­ on the girl in her home on a Sunday night from seven uous physical activity. A simple form is a circle of until midnight. Going to a singing is not considered a chairs, one less than the people participating, with each date nor does the boy call for his girl friend to take participant assigned a number. The person without a her to the singing. Transportation to the singings is chair takes his or her place in the center of the circle always primarily a matter of convenience with near and calls out several numbers. This is the signal for neighbors going together whether or not they are dating. the holders of those numbers to exchange places and The dating couple meets every Sunday night, the the person originally in the center of the circle attempt­ boy calling on the girl in her home. H e enters the ing to occupy one of those places. One person is al­ front (the parlor) door which in the ordinary routine ways left with no place to sit and becomes the one to of daily life is never used. H e sees the parents during call the next set of numbers and try to occupy a vacated these visits only if they happen to be in sight when he chair. pulls up in his buggy. The parents do not make a A variation of this game has the girls only seated in special point of greeting him when he arrives and they a circle, each girl assigned a number which, at the are already in bed when he leaves. beginning of the game is unknown to the boy standing The girl greets the boy at the door. They sit in the

18 parlor, talk, play games such as checkers or Parcheesie, accumulating items for a number of years. Somewhere sing some hymns or folk songs. During the evening the between the ages of fifteen and seventeen every girl couple may be subject to an activity called "scouting." receives a hope chest from her parents. These chests are Scouting is carried on by boys of dating age but who never purchased new at a furniture store but are either do not have a girl friend. As many as seven or eight, homemade by a member of the family or acquired at sometimes ten or twelve, of these boys "scout" the an auction sale. The chief purpose of the hope chest house where a date is in progress, peer in the windows, is to serve as a repository for the many quilts given and finall y pound on the parlor door demanding admit­ to the girl by her mother and sisters. Every gi rl can tance and a treat. If the door is not opened the expect to amass a supply of from six to nine of these couple can expect some harassment. Ordinarily the boys hand-stitched covers painstakingly assembled into many are admitted. They sit for a while with the daters, intricate designs from hundreds of swatches of colored enjoy a snack and then go their way on another scout­ cloth. Some gi rls receive even more. One of my in­ ing expedition. At best scouting provides date-less boys formants expects eight from her mother alone. This the opportunity of learning "how nice it is to have a mother has set as her goal eight quilts for each of her nice girl friend.'" At worst scouting provides a vehicle five daughters. These forty quilts not only represent for some institutionalized rowdyism. many hundreds of hours of work for this mother but It is to be noted that dating always begins after the also afford the opportunity for sociability with other person has started going to singings. It is also to be women in the community as quilting is a major form noted that one does not date several boys friends or girl of social activity for the Mennonites. The girl uses the fri ends at the same time. Dating is always "going chest to store, in addition to quilts, sheets, towels, pil­ steady. " The fi eld has been carefully surveyed at the lowcases and small personal items such as mirror and singings, the choice narrowed down. The dating period comb dresser sets . is one in which the couple earnestl y explores their Two or three weeks before the wedding the intentions compatibility. There seems to be little stigma attached of the couple are "published" at a Sunday service. Two to a dating couple deciding that they are not meant for such announcements are required, at least one in the each other, and thus beginning to date other partners. home community of each of the parties involved. The This is, however, an exceptional situation. The singings announcement consists simply of the information that, offer ample opportunity for preliminary appraisal. Once "[ ] the son of [ ] and [ ] the one begins dating this is a rather sure sign that there daughter of [ ] intend to marry." There is no are serious intentions. There seems to be little overt request for prayers on their behalf nor is information parental influence in these matters. In response to this sought concerning possible impediments to the mar­ investigator's question about parental guidance in the riage. "If anything would be wrong we know about choice of marriage partners one informant responded, it soon enough and they would never get to this stage.'" "We don't have much to say about that. We leave it The couple does not attend the service the Sundays of to a higher hand.''' the publishing. They, in fact, do not attend a Sunday There is no formal engagement period and, with service again until after the wedding. These Sunday the ban on jewelry, no engagement ring. When the mornings the young man visits his bride-to-be in her decision is made to marry (20 or 21 is the usual marry­ home while the rest of her family is attending the ser­ ing age )' the young man presents his intended with a vice. This is probably the first time in a long courtship wooden shelf clock that chimes the hours. This is that the couple is truly alone with each other. usually given on Christmas or Easter or, if it occurs The announcement of intention to marry is the signal at an appropriate time of the year, the girl's birthday. to extend invitations; to members of the immediate The time of year is important as the wedding season community by word of mouth and to relatives and ordinarily covers the late fall months, October and friends in more distant communities by means of hand­ November, and December' and the wedding takes place written postcards. It is at the time of invitation that within six months to a year of the presentation of the gift receivers, seaters, attendants, cooks and servers are clock. asked to perform their specific duties at the forthcoming Throughout their dating period the couple has been wedding. together only at the girl's home or at the singings. By nine o'clock the morning of the wedding, always Now, closer to the time of the wedding, the pair may a Tuesday or a Thursday in the bride's home, the guests go shopping for household needs or attend auction sales have arrived. It is not unusual to have 150 people to secure needed furniture. attending a wedding. More often there are close to In anticipation of her wedding the girl has been 200 and never less than 100. The cooks have already been hard at work for some hours and the time has 'Informant V. 'Informant AA. come to seat the people. In the days preceeding the 'See Table 5. 'See Appendix F. ' Informant G.

19 wedding the furniture has been moved to the barn and approximation as worked out between the bishop and benches have been borrowed from the neighbors to the author.) accommodate the crowd. "Do you believe that your marriage is a holy thing, The unmarried young people along with recently and have you asked in prayer that this marriage married and ye t childless couples have been, si nce their is the Lord's will?" Both answer, "Yes." The groom is asked if he is free to marry. He arrival, visiting upstairs with the bride and groom-to­ says, "Yes. " The bride is asked if she is free to be. They have brought their gifts, practical items for marry. She says, "Yes." household use, and handed them to the gift receivers The groom is asked, "Are you willing to receive to be placed on display on a bed, table and dresser ---- as yo ur bride and our sister in faith as in one of the bedrooms. There are always two gift your wife? Will you love her, support her, care for her through time of illness or in need or what­ receivers, either a boy and a girl or two girls, who ever the good Lord will permit to come over her? have been asked to serve in this capacity at the time WiII you take upon yourself the greater respon­ of their invitation. sibility in all things ? Will you be an example in Just prior to the seating, two couples, who have also Christi.an living and will you not leave her until death part you?" The grooms answe rs, "Yes ." been selected at the time of their invitation, serve the The bride is asked a sim il ar series of questions guests cooki es and wine that have been provided by with, however, these significant differences : she the bride's family. Because of the large number of is asked to assume the lesser share of responsibility guests the wine glasses necessary to serve them are and in place of the phrase, "Will you be an borrowed from members of the community. example of Christian li ving . . . " she is asked "Will you be obedient to your husband .... " Th ~ The young people are called downstairs and seated bride answers, "Yes." in the largest room in the house, most often the kitchen, where the ceremony itself takes place. Dating couples The bishop then proclaims "The Lord has heard," sit together. Then the younger and older married tells the couple tu join their right hands, holds their couples are seated in the remaining rooms. Young hands in his and says, "The God of Abraham, Isaac children attending are distributed among older siblings and Jacob be with you, bring you together and bestow and parents as convenient. Sea ting is direc ted by two upon you His blessings. Go henceforth as husband and men usually from the bride's family. wife. Fear God and keep His commandments and God Three of the twenty-six available stanzas of the hym n will b e with you to lead you and guide you safely "Schicket Euch, ihr Lieben Giiste, zu des Lammes through this life to eternity." Then with a few personal Hochzeits Fest" (Prepare Yourselves, dear Guests, for words wishing the newlyweds God's blessings the bishop the Lamb's Wedding Feast) are lined out by one of asks them to be seated. the ministers or deacons present during which the bride The ministers and deacon then offer their testimonies supporting what has been said and done and addin: and groom and two couples who serve as attendants b come downstairs and are seated in front of the young their seal of approval. The people then kneel for an people. audible prayer .and the Lord's Prayer spoken by the There follows at least two hours of sermons by the bishop. bishop and minister or ministers invited to attend. The Another lined hymn, three stanzas of "Gnad, Fried sermons are based on verses of Scripture relating to und Reichen Segen" (Grace, Peace and Rich Blessings) marriage with special emphasis on the marital state concludes this portion of the day's activities. During as a reflection of Christ's relationship to His church: this hymn the newlyweds go upstairs and the young people follow them to add their congratulations. "Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife as Christ It is at their wedding that both bride and groom is the head of the church. . . . As the church is first wear the clothing which is from that time on the subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in mark of their new status. For the bride a light grey everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your dress and apron are worn for the first time. This grey wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Him­ dress does not become her sole uniform during her self up for her. . .. '" married life. Other colors are permitted, sometimes Practical advice is given concerning the ingredients of the Christian married life and warning is issued against rather vivid greens and blues, occasionally even a quiet print, but grey is the official mark of the married divorce. The couple is urged to undertake their new life together with the willingness to act in all things woman. However, for the groom the suit he wears at his wedding becomes his new and only style. Especially as the Holy Spirit leads them. tailored in Lancaster County, the black coat with no Now the couple stands before the bishop who asks collar, no outside pockets, no lapels, provided with them a series of questions. (The reader must under­ six buttons down the front is worn only by married stand that the entire preceedings are in the Pennsylvania men and coupled with a round, wide-brimmed black German dialect and that what follows is the English hat easily identifies his status. "Ephesians 5: 22-25. Tables and benches are now placed in the rooms 20 and the feast begins. The large number of people in It has exerted its power over her, symbolic of the house­ attendance requires a number of sittings at each table keeping functions that are now the major part of the with twelve teenaged girls setting the various tables, bride's life. Of more recent origin is the whisking of passing and filling dishes and cleaning off for the next the bride into a bedroom by her female friends to be sitting. These girls and the cooks eat at the last sitting. stood on her head. This fate may also await some of The first sitting is reserved for the newlyweds, the the more unwary older dating gi rls who happen on the bishop and his wife, and the members of the immediate scene. According to my informants the significance families of bride and groom. At the end of one table behind this seeming horseplay is the shaking of all sit the newlyweds. Bishop and wife sit at the other those old frivolous girlish concerns out of the new end with parents and grandparents and other close bride's head to make room for the more serious matters relatives occupying the remaining places. At all tables which must now take precedence. Sexual connotations at this and subsequent sittings married couples sit seem to be ruled out as I am informed that during this along one side of the table facing young peopl e sitting upside-down episode skirts are held tightly to legs thus across from them. Seating is also arranged to attempt preventing any untoward exposure. to have a minister or deacon at each general sitting The day following the wedding the newlyweds share although the great number of people involved often the chores of returning borrowed dishes, glasses, utensils makes this impossible. and benches to the neighbors and replacing the fur­ A typical menu would include a roast meat or several niture that had been removed from the house. There roast meats such as turkey, duck, goose, ham and meat is no honeymoon in the modern sense of taking a trip loaf; mashed potatoes and noodles; a vegetable or several somewhere to be alone, separated from family and vegetables such as peas, corn and beans ; pickles, chow fri ends. chow and potato salad ; bread, butter, jellies, cheese, The period between the wedding and occupying their pretzels and coffee; milk pudding, fruit tapioca, both own home in the spring is spent living and working chocolate and white cake and fruit salad. By two or on the farm of the bride's paren ts. This interim period three o'clock the meal has been served and the after­ is, however, the time for a special and important ac­ noon activities begin. tivity; visiting at the farms of relatives. In the case of nearby relatives the visit may simply be for a Saturday Everyone is seated as for the morning service, that or Sunday evening meal. The visit to a more distant is, separated according to age and marital status with place may be overnight or even for a weekend. The the newlyweds, however, remaining as before with the newly married couple can expect to receive more gifts you ng people. An hour is spent in singing both tradi­ during these visits such as bolts of cloth and kitchen tional German hymns and more evangelistic English utensils or other practical items. hymns. Following this period of singing the parents Courtship and marriage customs within the com­ and younger children start home leaving unmarried munity serve as a powerful force negating any possible young people and recently married and, therefore, yet trend, such as that current in the outside world, toward childless couples behind for a few more hours of visiting the nuclear family system. Activities ranging from including a supper of cold meat and pickles and perhaps dating to nuptial night are carried on not independent a warm vegetable, bread, coffee and dessert. By ten from but firmly enmeshed within the existing kinship o'clock these guests have .also left and the newlyweds system. Religious values have strong impact in mould­ retire to the room set aside as theirs until they move ing the new family unit. God's will is paramount, into their own home in the spring of the year. including the injunction that the male be dominant In addition to the day full of sermons, singing, feast­ in decision making and that his wife be obedient to ing and visiting the newlyweds have had to submit to him. Such conformity is a major dimension in the over some pranks of long-standing custom among the M en­ all pattern of social stability evidenced by the East nonites. Sometime during the day the groom must look Penn Valley community. forward to being captured by his unmarried male friends and, after a brief struggle. being thrown over 2. THE HOME a fence to the married men waiting to catch him on If religion is the core value around which the life the other side. The bride may be tricked into stepping of the East Penn Valley community revolves, the home over a broom hidden in some unusual place or thrust is the central location in which this value is worked out. into her path. Both these customs seem to be symbolic Birth, dating, marriage, social activities, death and of the change of status from the single to the married funeral occur within its confines. The home is in some state with their attendant responsibilities. No longer way directly associated with all the important events may the groom be associated with the unmarried males in the lives of the people of the community. They spend in his social activities. He has attended his last singing. most of their time at home. The men, being farmers, He is now "over the fence" sharing the life of the work within sight of the house and eat three meals a married men. The bride has been tricked by the broom. day in the kitchen surrounded by family. The woman's

21 work is in and around the house. Children are home work, a knitted afghan or embroidered cover. A sofa, at night, not at youth meetings or public affairs. "This a few chairs, table and sideboard are the usual furn­ is a great strength for us and we would not have it ishings. any other way.'" The implications of this for social Father and mother sleep in a double bed in their own stability are manifest. "We keep our children home bedroom shared, however, with the newest baby. The so they won't be spoiled by the outside world. We try rest of the bedrooms are crowded with sometimes five to keep them as much as possible from mischief and or six in each, boys in one and girls in another. The being ruined by worldly things."· space problem is compounded when newlyweds occupy Of wooden or stone structure, the M ennonite farm­ a room in the bride's home for several months following house i~ one of several buildings in the farm complex the wedding. which includes barn, tobacco shed and other outbuild­ In none of the homes visited during this investigation ings. There are no bells or knockers at the door. has the writer seen furniture that he would classify as Members of the community need not seek formal entry new. Home furnishings are generally handed down and there are enough children and dogs to herald the within the family or purchased at auction sales and approach of other visitors. the Mennonites are very alert to bargains attainable The focal point of family activity is the kitchen, at such sales: often the largest room in the house: a coal stove for warmth, an easy chair or sofa for relaxation between 3. FAMILY LIFE chores, sink, cabinets ar.d working area for food prep­ At their wedding the groom promises to assume the aration, a large table with long benches to accommodate "greater share of the responsibility in all thin?:s" and the family at mealtime and multitudinous hooks for the bride promises obedience to her husband. This set hats and outerwear. Central heating is not common of obligations establishes the rhythm of family life although on the increase through the installation of among the Mennonites. Patriarchal in nature, the role furnace and ductwork. The kitchen stove and parlor of the husband/ father is to make the family's major space heater are the major sources of heat in most decisions. H e approves and disapproves, suggests, directs homes. and, when necessary, disciplines. Conspicuous on the walls of the kitchen are the Children are ordinarily obedient and a word or number of calendars, far exceeding necessity. It is gesture is usually enough to elicit a proper response. not unusual to have eight or ten calendars, each with This· writer has never observed a disciplinary measure its vivid and colorful picture of an animal or a pastoral involving force such as striking or pulling or pushing. scene. When this writer questioned the utility of such My informants do reveal that a recalcitrant child may an abundance of calendars in the homes of the com­ be spanked. But a spanking is never a beating. There munity the responses were, "Everybody likes to have appears to be no child abuse in the community. This their home a little bit brightened up and I guess a would be a violation of the essentially nonviolent pos­ calendar would be an easy way to do this," and, "You ture of the group. To this observer child rearing get them for nothing, I guess."· practices seem very permissive with few "noes" being Framed pictures are rarely seen. Photographs of spoken. Children at play are not interfered with family and friends are nonexistent because of the ban by their parents. Younger children snuggle in their on picture-taking. Religious mottos are very much in fathers' arms and are treated with great tenderness evidence. Walls may also sometimes be adorned with by parents and older siblings alike. hand-written witticisms or moralistic sayings such as : The naive observer might interpret the father's deci­ "We have a house full of willing people. Some sion making function as prideful or selfish and the are willing to work and the rest are willing to let acquiescence of the rest of the family to him as them." leading to sullenness an::l hostility. The writer does not view family life among the Mennonites in this light. "It is better to think a good thought about a bad man than to think a bad thought about a good The father has not chosen to be dominant. The man." leadership role had been thrust upon him by tradition A number of potted plants and a clock complete the and Scripture. He exercises his leadership to accom­ decor of most kitchens. plish what is best for his family within the framework The parlor, mostly unheated and behind closed of the community's value system. The behavior he doors, is rarely used, being reserved for only special expects from his family reflects the basic values of the occasions such as dating, weddings, funerals, or special community as a whole. The father takes seriously the entertaining. A few prized possessions may be on dis­ scriptural injunction to "Train up a child in the way play: the family Bible with the family record, needle he should go (so that) when he is old he will not depart from it."'· He believes with Paul that " 'Informant UA. "Informant V. "Iniormants U and UX. '·Proverbs 22: 6. 22 the head of every man is Christ and the head of a meals, of fried corn mush with syrup, eggs, several woman is her husband. . . ."11 Both wife's and chil­ varieties of cold cereal and a hot cereal served with dren's response to him is also generated by Scripture sugar and milk. Meat is seldom served at breakfast. and the tradition based on it. It is God pleasing for Both noon and evening meals are hot meals with meat wife to be subject to husband and child to be obedient or fowl, vegetables, potato and/or noodles, cheese, to parent as commanded in Scripture." pretzels, cake or cookies, milk pudding or tapioca. For the wife this arrangement provides a security Fruit is not deemed an important part of the diet. and well-being available in no other way. Rather than Very often a soup is the first dish. rebel under what might seem to some observers to A single plate is used, most often a large soup dish, be an extreme form of paternalism Mennonite children and all food is eaten from this one plate. After the seem to find a satisfaction in this kind of family life soup and main portion of the meal is eaten the dessert that makes them reject the independence-oriented value is served on the same plate. There is no wasted food. of the outside world. Mennonite children are not One eats everything put on the plate to make room "chafing at the bit" to leave the family and strike for what comes next. out on their own. Mealtime is a time of good fellowship and lively This study again reveals striking evidence of a cul­ conversation. It is .a time spent in the bosom of the ture trait reinforcing and sustaining stability as over family, not in the company of strangers and thus ex­ against change. The Mennonite child is subject to a posed to alien values. homogeneity of cultural conditioning. The sentiments, beliefs, attitudes and values transmitted to him through 4. RECREATION the family as the earliest and chief agent of the com­ Leisure-time activities among the Mennonites of the munity offer only a narrow range in terms of choice. East Penn Valley are essentially group oriented. Writ­ Subsequent socializing experiences within peer group ing a poem or drawing a picture on a scrapbook page and school support rather than contradict the influence is not primarily intended to express one's own artistic of the family. The Mennonite child is largely spared bent but is, rather, for the benefit of the sick member the conflicting socializing experiences of the outside of the community to whom the accumulated pages will world in which divergent choices are offered and the be presented. Even reading, which one might view as freedom to choose is advocated. basically an individual activity is not done curled up Multiple choices and the individuality that such in some private corner alone with one's dreams. The choices make possible are not part of the Mennonite kitchen is the reading room and the reader is sur­ state of mind. Obedience is the prime requisite: obe­ rounded by family. dience first to God and obedience to the church com­ By far the most important, and from the sociological munity as the true stage upon which God's will is point of view the most significant, leisure-time activity worked out and obedience to parents as God's chosen is "visiting" a pattern of social interaction which con­ representatives. tributes heavily to the maintenance of strong kinship Parents are concerned about shaping their children's ties so essential to the cohesion of the community and thinking and actions so that they correspond with the hence its survival. Parents attempt to visit their chil­ "right way." Styles of hair and garment, mode of dren, children their parents, siblings their siblings as travel, use of the dialect~all are constant reminders often as possible. Sunday afternoon is the most frequent of the Mennonite way of life. So strong is this social­ visiting time. As many as a dozen or more families ization process in personality development that it is gather for an afternoon meal. The men and children typical for the older M ennonite to reject items of the are served first after which the men retire to the porch outside culture with which he comes into contact; for in summer, the parlor or other room in winter, while example, my informant who had absolutely no desire the women take to the kitchen for their meal and an to own a radio even though she had been exposed to afternoon of "women talk." The chief topic of conversa­ radio during the months she worked in a local factory tion among the men is farming and the many facets and another informant who found one of the most of this way of life: equipment, plowing, planting, har­ distressing aspects about his confinement in the hospital vesting, yield; the barn that needs repair, the advantages with a broken leg to be the television in the room or disadvantages of tomatoes as over against tobacco which his roommate watched regularly.13 as a cash crop, how to raise pigs more profitably. Mealtime is family time. And members of the family, Teenaged youth often leave these visits to their elders hard working as they are, develop hearty appetites. and younger brothers and sisters while they are off on A typical breakfast consists, in addition to the bread someone else's farm engaged in an afternoon of singing (often home baked), butter and coffee served at all or spirited softball, the boys playing the game under the admiring scrutiny of the girls. Occasionally teen­ 111 Corinthians 11: 3. 1.2Ephesians 5: 22 and 6: l. aged boys, never the girls, will swim in an abandoned 13lnfonnants K and Q . quarry that exists within the confines of the community.

23 The chief source of yea r-round recreation for the teen­ reach of the trailing team since no more than six points agers are the singings which are described in detail can be scored by any team in an inning. A tie score earlier in this chapter. at the end of the third inning requires a fourth inning, The men and women of the community find quiltings and so forth, until one team wins . and attendance at household auctions or farm sales There are no umpires to determine whether or not satisfying leisure-time activities. a man has been hit, the honesty of the players being A typical quilting begi ns at about seven in the eve­ relied upon, and the players trusting the judgment of ning with six or seven women seated at the frame with the spectators in the event of a close play. My in­ need le and thread and their husbands off in the kitchen formants indicate that the game is played for the sake soon to be engrossed in a discussion of religion, farm­ of the game and that arguments as to whether a man ing, or the high cost of living including what is deemed has been hit or not simply do not occur or in the excessive taxation to support people in the outside event of a question, the word of the spectator with world "too lazy to work." At about nine o'clock re­ the clearest path of vision is decisive. An informant freshments are served ; cookies, cupcakes, coffee and also reveals that games played at a farm sale between orange drink for the children who might have been rival Amish a nd Mennonite teams that have met at brought along and by 9: 30 the group disperses. previous sales may draw considerable men away from Some quiltings are "ladies only" affairs. Father gets the sale itself. his "time out with the boys" at farm sales where he The men and older boys of the community also enjoy can often purehase used equipment he needs at very hunting, for the most part small game such as rabbit, good prices. Farm sales are also often the occasion pheasant and squirrel. Occasionally several men will for a highly organized group activity, the only such be driven by a H orning Mennonite neighbor to one activity that approaches that of a spectator sport, of the wilder parts of the state for a day of deer "corner ball." hunting. None of the community members fish al­ Requiring great agility and speed by the two teams though several creeks and streams flow through the of six men each, the game is played in an area ap­ area. proximately 25 feet square, the corners of which are Ice skating is a favorite sport for the whole family marked by 2" by 4" planks laid flat on the ground. and frozen fi elds and streams are quickly the scene of One team is ".at corner" and the other team is "in much activity especially as the winter season affords mush." Four men of the team at corner station them­ more available free time. The young people do not selves behind the planks at the corners. Two men from play football or basketball. Some older youth enjoy the team in mush enter the square. A handmade ball horseback riding. about three inches in diameter, fashioned from a hard Indoor activities involve checkers, Parcheesie, marble center (perhaps a metal nut), wound around with games and other commercially secured items such as bailing twine, wrapped in cloth (perhaps the toe pull toys and dolls for the younger children. Card portion of an old sock ), covered finally with a loosely­ games such as pinochle, bridge or poker are prohibited stitched piece of leather, is thrown from corner to .and chess is not played. Toy guns are not among the corner at least three times before it is aimed at the children's playthings. Many of the farmyards of the men in the square. The qall may be thrown b.ack and community have a little complex of miniature build­ forth ten or twenty times very quickly to scatter and ings: barn, house, silo, windmill, at which young chil­ confuse the men in mush, but it must be exchanged dren at play begin to become socialized into their at least three times before it is "hot" and therefore expected roles. able to be .aimed at the men in mush. If a man in Members of the community do not attend movies, mush is hit by a deliberately aimed ball he is "out." listen to the radio, or watch television. Nor do they The team at corner thus scores .a point and the team make use of other forms of commercial entertainment in mush must send in a man to replace the man hit. such as bowling alleys, sporting events, or carnivals. If the deliberately aimed ball misses, the thrower must Older girls of the community do some crocheting leave his corner to be replaced by another of his team's and knitting and much embroidery of aprons, pillow six members. tops, towels and furniture scarves. Hobbies purely for Through this process of elimination the number of hobby's sake are unknown. One yeung woman has eligible men on each side is depleted. When all men begun upholstering, self-taught, out of personal interest on a side have been used the sides change places; the and possible profit. Several others have begun paint­ team in mush now becoming the team at corner and ing scenes on dishes and offering them for sale. Another thus able to gain points. When each team has been at young woman does needlework on buggy blankets in corner an "inning" is completed. Normally three inn­ intricate and colorful designs both for fun and profit. ings constitute a game unless after two innings one There are no collectors of stamps, seashells, or rocks. team is more than six points ahead, thus being out of In summary it is to be noted that recreation in the 24 East Pelln Valley community is group-oriented rather terminal illnesses are brought home to be cared for. than engaged in primarily for personal benefi t, reward, People with chronic illnesses are also cared for at or satisfaction. Thus even recreation is a continuity­ home. The family is the context for birth, sickness maintaining device rather than a source of personal and death. Minimal use of the world is the norm in pride of attainment which might lead to a feeling of this as in other aspects of the community's life. This individuality possibly destructive of group cohesion. lesser reliance on technology is, within Nisbet's frame­ work, a force impeding social change. For, according 5. SICKNESS AND D EATH to Nisbet, reliance on a broad technological base en­ One of the practical skills the Mennonite woman courages innovation which in turn enhances the envi- must learn is the care of the sick. The medical prac­ titioner is called upon only as a last resort, when it ronment for and promotes change." is evident that home treatment and home remedies Death, while surely bringing sadness, does not result are not proving effective. Every home has its well­ in despair. Nor is it se::: n as a destroyer, something to worn medical book, a supply of patent or homemade be feared. It is, rather, interpreted as God's final medicines and some knowledge of their application. decision for the individual, the end of a pilgrim journey Home remedies, passed on from generation to gen­ and the entrance into that "land of pure delight," eration, provide much of the health care in the com­ that "place of flowing fountains fi lled with everlasting munity; a honey, lemon, and ginger mixture for coughs love" so often anticipated in the si ngings. Members of plain black licorice for sore throat, lard for burn;, ~ the community have a great source of comfort in sor­ poultice of beet greens for abscesses, a dab of cow row as they turn to their faith in time of bereavement. manure for an infected cut, a tea made from peach There appears to be no doubt that God has called leaves for nervousness. Sometimes the remedies are a the deceased person home, that the deceased is better bit more complicated. For boils a mixture of linseed off and that one day there will be a reunion. There oil, beeswax, camphor, and red lead makes a fine seems to be little remorse or bitterness even at the drawing agent although my informant acknowledged death of a young person. Death is always viewed as that many could not stand the mixture on their skin. God's wise decision and to be possessive in this regard Fevers can be broken by wrapping the patient in a would be to deny God His prerogative of granting the blanket, placing his feet in a bucket or tub with a deceased the peace and joy of heaven which is the ginger and water mixture and gradually adding hotter ultimate goal of all believers. The length of the span and hotter water until "they work up a good sweat."" of earthly life is of little consequence in the long-range Patent medicines, herb teas and ointments are often divine plan. So goes the reasoning of the Mennonite ordered through mail order catalogs or purchased from mind. a traveling "health man" who operates a stand each At death the body is handed over to a local mortician week at one of the local farmers' markets. for embalming. The corpse is then wrapped in a white It is not to be implied that members of the com­ shroud provided by a member of the community: for munity do not rely at all on modern medical science. the male a shirt-like garment, for the female a dress­ It is, however, true that many of the ailments, pains like garment with a cape, and for the woman, in death and problems brought immediately to the doctor by as in life, the prayer cap. No suit or dress is worn a resident of the outside culture are left, by members beneath this shroud. of the East Penn Valley community, to a natural heal­ The body is placed in a coffin quite unlike the casket ing process. God knows. God will provide. All is in used in the surrounding culture. Sometimes handmade, His hands. or manufactured at a Lancaster Country sawmill, the One area in which medical aid is always sought is coffin is of ancient European design with a hinged top in child-bearing. Although the overwhelming majority that when opened reveals only that portion of the body of births occur at home a physician is always in at­ from head to chest. The shape would best be des­ tendance. Of course, this requires finding a doctor cribed as elongated hexagonal with the widest span who is still willing to make home deliveries. This will at the chest, tapering off toward each end. There are become an increasingly difficult search. Most of these no handles. The coffin is supplied with a flat white home deliveries are attended by a single Kutztown pillow and simple white cloth lining. The exterior is practitioner. There is also a lone physician in the stained a dark brown. neighboring town of Fleetwood who will still take care The day before the funeral the coffin is brought to of a home birth. the house, opened, and placed on wooden saw horses Other hospitalization is reserved for extreme illness in the room in which the service will be conducted. or emergency cases: a serious accident, fractures, There are no flowers. Bishop, minister, friends, neigh­ suspected cancer, or miscarriage. The length of hospital bors come to offer condolences, make arrangements for stay is kept to the absolute minimum. Persons with " See above, p . 21 and Robert A. Nisbet's The Social Bond "Informant V. (New York, 1970) , p. 378f.

25 the service the next day (such as which texts and hymns The graveside service, conducted by the second of are to be used ) and make last minu te preparations for the four ministers, begins immediately with a short the meal which will be served following the interment (fifteen to twenty minute) sermon. No cripture text and services at the church. is read at this time but the ermon always includes By one o'clock in the afternoon of the day of the a hymn read by the preacher. As this hymn is being funeral those who will be attending the services in the read some of the verses may be ung spontaneously by home (usually only close relatives) have gathered and the mourners. It is during this time that the grave is had their buggies arra nged in a circle around the house closed by the janitor of the meetinghou e a nd a helper by neighbor boys. The service in the home is very chosen by him, using shovels, without any attempt to simple and conducted by only one of the four min­ muffle the sound of earth clods striking wood. isters who will ultimately be participating in the day's The people now enter the meetinghouse for another activities.'· A Scripture· text, chosen by the family, is hour and a half or two hours of services conducted by read by the minister. R e then preaches a short sermon, the remaining two ministers. (It is to be noted that on from fifteen to thirty minutes in length, governed chief­ occasion five ministers may be invited to participate ly by the distance from house to cemetery. Following in a funeral. In this case there will be three instead the sermon the minister reads a hymn chosen, most of the two sermons as indicated in the description that often, by the family. All kneel for audible prayer. The fo llows. ) A sermon is preached during which a hymn people are then seated for the reading of the obituary: is read by the preacher. A second sermon is preached, name of deceased, dates of birth and death, exact age this on a text chosen by the family. The congregation in years, months and days. The minister announces kneels for an audible prayer and the Lord's Prayer and (and this is the exact wording used at every funeral), stands for the blessing as at a Sunday morning service. "We now turn the proceedings over to the undertaker." The obituary is then read in exactly the same form as The reader is to understand, of course, that all portions it had been read earlier in the day at the house. Follow­ of the funera l service are conducted in the dialect, ing the reading of the obituary one of the ministers except for an occasional text read in English during expresses the thanks of the family for a ll the help the services conducted in the church house. extended by the members of the community during The coffin is closed, the pall bearers summoned the time of illness and death. A statement is also made (usually four men chosen by the family) and the concerning the willingness on the part of the family body carried to the enclosed, curtain-sided, horse­ to return these kindnesses in like circumstances. This drawn hearse which is the property of the community overt offer is an interesting example, to this writer, and stored, between funerals, on the farm of one of of George Romans' propositions concerning the relation­ its members. ship between reciprocity in interpersonal affairs and The hearse proceeds to the cemetery with the bug­ social control." A hymn is then read, some of the gies of those who a ttended the service in the house verses sung spontaneously and led by the men seated in procession behind it. The cemetery occupies a at the singing table. The congregation is dismissed portion of the property on which the church house as on Sundays with a word of comfort and courage. stands. At the cemetery the coffin is again placed on The immediate family, along with special friends, saw horses and opened for the benefit of those who close neighbors, other relatives and people who have did not come to the house. The entire assemblage come long distances for the funeral return to the views the body, filing past on both sides of the coffin, men and boys on one side, women and girls on the house for a meal which has been prepared by neighbor other. After the family has made its final viewing the women: potatoes, cold meat, vegetables, bread, butter, coffin is closed. buns, cheese, pretzels, fruit and sometimes cake. There The pall bearers carry the coffin to the grave which are no specified seating arrangements for this meal. has been dug, by hand, by neighbors. It is lowered As soon as possible a simple headstone is placed at into the grave on canvas straps provided by the under­ the grave. Oblong, with rounded top, the hea dstone taker. The grave has already had placed in it the has no ornamentation and has inscribed on it only the rough wooden box in which the coffin was transported name of the deceased, the dates of birth and death and from its place of manufacture. The usual concrete sometimes the names of parents. vault insisted upon by members of the outside society Obituary and memorial poems written by family and and required by commercial cemeteries is not utilized friends become an important source of comfort in the by the Mennonites. This wooden box has a cover days following the death and funeral. These are very which is now put in place by the pall bearers. detailed works, almost resembling folk ballads typical '"For simplicity's sake I will refer to all the clergy as of the early Western United States frontier culture. "ministers" although one of the fo ur is usually the bishop if he is not out of the community at the time . . All ministers "For the development of this idea see George R omans, participate by invitation. The Human Group (New York, 1950 ), Ch. 11. 26 They tell of circumstances leading to the death, perhaps God watched him as he suffered, some details of the deceased's life and a lways some And knew he had his share. sentiments of hope and comfort. These poems are He gently closed his weary eyes, And took him in His care. given to the closest surviving relative to be kept in a notebook or family Bible and frequently referred to as Leaving the cares of earth far behind, evidence of the mutual concern that unites the mem­ Forsaking forever the region of time, His life days are ended, long had it been. bers of the community. The writer of such a poem The Master was calling, his soul fled to Him. may choose to publish it in the Budget as a sign of THE SISTERS love for the deceased and as evidence of the faith of the writer, sending it along with the obituary notice A memorial poem for parents deceased in 1963 and or, in its memorial form, to be printed on the an­ 1967. niversary of a death. Every issue of the Budget con­ Eight years have passed tains several of these poems, a few examples of which, Since we have seen father last. It brings back many memories gleaned from recent issues follow and thus conclude Of the good old days that have been passed. this chapter. An obituary poem for an infant daughter: 'Twas hard to see him leave this world, As mother and I beside his bed did stand. Dear baby how can 'Twas on a cold December morn, We miss you so much, When J esus called him away from us all. Longing to see you, Once more to touch. It was in July, in the year 1967, When mother to the hospital did go, Our home seems so lonely, With breathing so hard she was afraid With the crib you don't use. she might suffocate. But J esus wanted you, too, But God called her away so peacefully and calm. How could we refuse? It makes my heart ache to think of the days Our wondering thoughts were, As a boy beside the old stove I did lay. "Are you alright?" So warm and contented, she made us all then, But you were our Angel As about her work, a pleasure she did go. In heaven that night. Many a tear I know they must have shed, So baby, we know, To teach their children the right way to go. Though longing for you, How glad I am, I came to their side, You're cared for much better Hoping to meet them in H eaven some day. Than we could do. A SON AND F AMILY

Often we can't see An obituary poem for a 47-year-old woman, preceded The why of God's way. But precious little ones in death by her parents and one son; survived by her Are buds in His bouquet. husband, six sons, three daughters, two brothers and five sisters. 'Tis sad, and yet glad, Lord, heal our sorrow. Quick and sudden came the call, Give us patience and guidance, Her sudden going shocked us all, For each tomorrow. A sudden change so quickly fell, Without a chance to say farewell. No worries for their souls, For in heaven they' ll stay. It was on a Tuesday morning, Lord, help us to live, They came and told us mother had died. So we'll meet them someday. So I hurried and got ready, THE FAMILY To be at her side.

An obituary poem for an 84-year-old man, preceded When we came to her bed, in death by his parents, one brother and five sisters Father, brothers and sisters, and survived by two brothers and four sisters'. This man Sat there crying and weeping, was a bachelor, living alone. His life style was most And mother was peacefully sleeping. atypical but the obituary poem is not. It was on a cold and stormy day, 'Twas the thirteenth' day of July, As we followed mother to the graveyard We were not there to say "Good Bye." Not far away. By himself he lived but not alone, But we hopt': to meet her there someday. When God called him to His Throne. Why, in her bloom of years did He take her so? That morn a niece came to his door, And sadden so many hearts. But her call was answered no more. But as we know, "Thy will be done." On his rocking chair he sat, For God decided this part. On the table lay his hat. A DAUGHTER AND FAMILY

27 HISTORIC YELLOW SPRINGS: The Restoration Of An American Spa

By CAROL SHIELS ROARK

An artist's rendition of the present Yellow Springs grounds.

I n Fontem Flavulum, Pikelianum, Pennsylvanorum. meadowgrass, and hill, and the excellence of the waters Quaereret si quis, socios, arnicos at Yellow Springs to restore the body and keep ill fates Unde sanaret vacuos salute; Flavulos [ontes adeant salubres away. Three mineral springs, one of iron, one of sul­ Fontis ad undas.' phur, and one of magnesium, plus two springs of pure Yellow Springs, Pik land, Pennsylvania. drinking water, still emerge, as they did long ago, If anyon hould a k, omrad s, friends from the ground in a rural setting in the northern part Where he could h al tho e without h alth; of Chester County, Pennsylvani a.' Buildings erected to They should go to the whol some yellow springs house the springs and to lodge the many visitors to To the waters of the pring, the springs still stand much as they did in the mid- In "The 8th hour, 1st. of Sept., A.D. 1810, in the 1800's. This property reflects a significant phase of home of J. Boni, Horseman.'" James Ross wrote the the social and medical life, as well as the history, of above poem in Latin for hi friend, Ashb I Green.' the United States from colonial times to the Civil War. Mr. Ross wrote on to extol the beauty of woodland, Realizing the importance of this tract, in February of

'American Republican, July 25, 1826. 'The name Yellow Springs was officially changed to Chester 'Ibid. Springs, April 5, 1827, because of Yellow Springs, Huntingdon 'Ashbel Green was to become the eighth president of the County, Pa. Unofficially, the name Yellow Springs is still College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1812. commonly used. 28 this year, the Yellow Spri ngs Foundation, a non-profit Y ELLOW SPRI GS BE F ORE THE REVOLU TION organization, purchased the 145-acre area with a thrce­ 1722- 1775 fold purpose in m ind. T he Foundation plans to pre­ The American colonist brought with him a long serve the architectural heritage, to maintain the open history of the use of waters and so it is quite natural space, and to encou rage the study and enjoyment of that, seeking out health and pleasure, he should find history, art, and nature a t the Yell ow Springs p ro perty. the mineral waters in the colonies and construct resorts Yellow Springs represents an early Ameri can inter­ around them. Beginning in the early 1700's sp rings pretation of the interest m an has always shown in the became popular in Virginia, in the Boston area, and use of mineral waters fo r body care and the many in the Philadel phia area. Yellow prings were known ways m an has devised to make the "taking of the as early as 1722 as shown by this letter of inquiry waters" a pleasurable experience. Early Egy ptians made printed in the American W eekly M ercury of Phil­ baths a part of their medical arts. The Greeks used adelphia: the waters of thermal spri ngs as mcdications, built A Letter came to us last Post, d ated from H em ­ gymnasiums around the waters, and dedicated the stead H arbour Long Island, requesting a particular whole to H ercules, the god of strength. It was the Account of the ew Bath or M ineral Water found in the Great V all ey about 30 Miles Westward of Romans who introduced the building of vast edifi ces this City, fo r the Satisfaction of the Publick in of pleasure about mineral springs and, in the Greek general, and of several Gentlemen in particular fashion, the buildings were often dedicated to Gods who are inelined to come to it from those Parts such as Minerva. As the Romans conquered Europe, for Relief; though we have by us several I nstances they sought out and established baths such as Aix in of remark abl e Cures done by the said Water, we are obliged to defer answering the Gentleman's Savoy and Bath in England. Cha rlemagne had con­ Letter till another Paper, when we hope to give structed a place for his famil y to bathe at the m ineral a true and demonstrative Account of its Virtues waters of Aix Ie Chapelle. In 1326 the Belgium town and Cu res.' of Spa was founded by Collin Ie Loup who was re­ By 1750 roads into the springs were being constructed. portedly cured by the chalybeate or iron springs there. The fi rst record of a building to serve those who came It is from the town Spa that the word spa derived its to the springs is the following petition presented to meaning : " a town, locali ty or resort possessing a the Court of Quarter Sessions, County of Chester, mineral spring or springs; a watering place of this August 28, 1750, for a house of entertainment. It kind.''' Dr. Edmund D ean, an English physician, wrote reads in part: Spadacrene Anglica or the English S paw in 1626: Spas T he Petition of Robert Prichard Humbly Sheweth fl ourished on the continent and especially in England That Your Petitioner is in Possession of a Farm from the 1600's on as medical, social, and spiritual in the T ownship of Pikeland in the Said County on which is that M edicinal W ater Call ed the resorts. Yellow Spring U nto which there is Frequently a 'The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford, 1933), XII, 495. Great Concourse of People on Account of H ealth 'Archaic spellings of spa include spa u, spaw, and spawe. and .also many others Travviling about their O c­ casions on a Publick Road Laid out and Opened ear the Same and Also another R oad is Ordered to be Laid from Uwchlan which may Cross the above Said R oad near Said Spring All which O c­ currences R ender it N ecessary to Procure Accom­ Maps of area and Yellow Springs (Chester Springs). modations for Such as have Occasion to Come to the Said Place. . ."

OlDUIiCIOlIIOI,IU . The petition was "allowed" to Robert Prichard. On the last Tuesday of August, 1762, James M artin peti­

\ .... .~ ... , . ',' tioned the Court of Quarter Sessions, Chester, in part .. " .... ~ ~ ..... , "" . ". as follows: That Your Petitioner has Lately Purchased the Right of a Plantation in the T ownship aforesaid

:~';.'""'''''':':~'-'';:: Commonly known by the name of the Yellow ::;.- Springs and where A Publick house of Entertain­ . . ... ment has been kept for several Years Past to the Satisfaction and Ease of the neighbours in Gen­ ~...... I, OlDllIll 'DU:~I~~:"~III!~![~: · ~ , eral as .a V ast Concourse of People Dayly frequent 'OlDIU S IUllAl U OUIl O the said Springs for their H ealth from Philadelphia and a ll Parts of this Country as well as from the West Indies and other for enparts :' 'American Weekly Mercury, May 31 , 1722. "Chester County Historical Society. 'Chester County Historical Society. 29 The Revolutionary War Hos­ pital which burned in 1902. Yellow Springs Foundation.

H owever, if the inn was a pleasure to many people, letter told of H annah's reaction to bathing at Yell ow it was an annoyance to the Society of Friends in near­ Springs: by U wchl an. The minutes of their meeting on Augu t I have been in the springs several times and feel 8, 1765 include this statement: very comfortabl y after I come out. It made me We believe some amongs t us are desirous to avoid very sick the first morning I went in ... and the Excess on a ll Occasions, and that our M oderation water being so cold it proved too strong for me may be co nspicuous in all our Conduct but some and I sunk down to the bottom and the first I felt late Instances manifest that all are not so careful was my head against the gravel .. . H ad it not as they ought to be herein . - and further, the been for a resolute young woman bin with me, I Yell ow Spring being a Place of promiscuous resort, believe I should without doubt drowned, but she and at this time of yea r, in particul ar is made a had the presance of mind and ran down the steps Place of Diversion, we fear some Friends Children and pull ed me out .. ." not belonging to our Meeting, as well .as some Another visitor in 1770 wrote of the taste of mineral that do, are suffered to go there without any real waters: "That night we got to the Yellow Springs. We Necessity, which may be very hurtful to them in brought some of the water away with us, but Sall y a religious sense, we desire the same may become the Concern of the Quarterl y Meeting.'o complains that it makes her eyes smart, so that I believ'e She will not use it a ny more."" One Quaker lady from Philadelphia took pleasure in The interest in mineral waters as treatment of Yellow Springs. Elizabeth Drinker wrote in her Jour­ diseases by col onial physicians is seen in this address nal on August 23, 1771: "Forded Schuylkill, then went read by Dr. Benj amin Rush to the American Philosoph­ to ye Yellow Springs; dined there, and took a wa lk ical Society on June 18, 1773, in Philadelphia. Colonial to a spring in the meadow. H .D ., H.S. and myself took American society, according to Dr. Rush, was now a duck in the Bath.'»' more complex and so were their diseases: Tavern, medicinal spring, or promiscuous resort, The different stages of society, like the different Yellow Springs was now a colonial spa of note. The ages of the human body, have their peculiar dis­ baths were described in an advertisement when the eases. In the infancy of all societies, diseases are Yel low Springs Plantation is again for sale, by Public simple and few in number, but in proportion as they advance in arts and opulance, which always Venue, at the London Coffee-House in Philadelphia on bring along with the refinements of luxury, dis­ March 21, 1770: eases multiply, and are complicated in such a There are three bathing springs, which can be manner, as to require more powerful aids than the emptied or fill ed in a very little time, by opening simple preparations of pl ants and metals. These or shu tting a sluice ; two of them are inclosed by aids have been sought for from a variety of sources, a good new frame house, 35 feet front, and 16 feet but from none oftener than mineral waters. These deep. Each bath has .a drawing-room, and one a waters, which have flowed for many years, un­ fire place in it; the buildings are neat, and make noticed by our ancestors, have, of late, attracted an elegant appearance, having glass windows front the attention of the public, and have now become and back, and walks, with rows of shady trees, up a very important part of the materia medica." to the dwelling house." After writing of the uses of mineral water as a cure Mineral waters were taken externally or internally. for various diseases, Dr. Rush analyzed the content Reactions to each of these processes are taken from letters. The first letter, written in August, 1767, is I3 Jgho Kornblueh and George Morris Piersol, "The Van­ ishing Spas of Pennsylvania (An Historical Review) ," Tran­ from Hannah S. Skelton to Dr. John Morgan and the sactions and Studies of the College of Physicians of PhiLadel­ phia (August 1953), p. 70, from the Chester County His­ torical Society. IOFriends Historical Library, Swarthmore College. "Dickinson Family, Logan Papers, Vol. VIII, p. 68, His­ "Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 1759-1807, torical Society of Pennsylvania. Henry D . Biddle, ed. (Philadelphia, 1889 ) , p. 30. "Benjamin Rush, Experiments and Observations on the "Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser, Vol. IV, M ineraL Waters of PhiLadeLphia, A bing ton, and BristoL in the No.7, March 5-12,1770. Province of PennsyLvania (Philadelphia, 1773), p. 5.

30 of several local springs and he concluded his paper cents.'''' On June 12, 1778, Rev. Sproat wrote : "R ode with a warning : 6 or 7 miles to the Yellow Springs, lit at Dr. K ennedy' , After all that has been said upon this subject, we poor gentleman very sick . . . after dinner preached must acknowledge that mineral water , like most in the H ospital[;] tis ew a nd Ai ry, but not finished. of our medicines, are only substitutes for temper­ Smoked a pipe, took a little, and then preached to ance and exercise in chronic disease. An angel must descend from heaven, and trouble these another number in an adjacent Barn. 1-.1any sick here.'''' chalybeate pools, before we can expect any extra­ On June 17, 1778, Dr. K ennedy died of a putrid fever ordinary effects from their use alone.'o contracted while he was attending the troops. Many In 1774 Yellow Springs was purchased by a local of the soldier patients also died at Yellow Springs and physician, Dr. Samuel K ennedy. In attempting to lease are buried in unmarked graves around the hospital the property, D r. K ennedy wrote of the number of building. Dr. Bodo Otto took over the hospital and people who traveled to Yellow Springs: "The advan­ ran it until it was closed in September, 1781. tage of these Baths is well known to the public, an incontestable proof of which is the great concourse of Y ELLOW SPRINGS, 1783 - 1830 people-from four to six-hundred persons have con­ Alexander McCarraher reopened the Inn at Yellow vened there on one day-in the summer season."" Springs in 1783. In an advertisement in 1785 the inn­ Yellow Springs held a prominent place in the social keeper wrote: and medical life of colonial Pennsylvania. The subscriber begs leave to inform the public, that he has repaired the Baths and Bathing-Houses,

THE REVO L UTIONARY W AR and put them into compleat order, for the recep­ tion of those who may chuse to visit them for the Dr. Rush related the interest in mineral water to benefit of their health. the society of the time. Now, Yell ow Springs was The many cures that have been perfonned by again to refl ect the American society, this time the these waters, as can be attested by a number of Revolutionary War. In mid-January, 1776, Dr. K en­ perso ns in Philadelphia, the West Indies and else­ where, render it needl ess to say any thing in their nedy, owner of the property, was commissioned Surgeon praise, especiall y as they are so universally known. of the Fourth Pennsylvani a Battalion, commanded by The waters .are a very strong chalybeate; per­ Anthony Wayne. Parts of the Yellow Springs property haps the most so of any ever discovered on the were loaned by Dr. K ennedy to the Continental Con­ con tinen t.'· gress for official hospital use. In mid-September of The enthusiams of the innkeeper are first brought 1777 the tavern was the center of an encampment under close scientific scrutiny by a shemist, M., who which included the commander in chief of the Con­ was on a mineralogical tour through the United States tinental Army, George Washington. In D ecember of in 1806. M. conducted a series of nine experiments 1777 a military hospital was established at Yellow on the mineral waters of Yellow Springs. The chemist Springs and in 1778 an additional building was com­ concluded from his work: pleted. This building was the only official hospital From the above experiment it will appear, that constructed during the war. The R ev. James Sproat, this water is of that class which are called simple a Presbyterian army chaplain, noted in his Journal on carbonated chalybeates ; that is, a water in which a small quantity of iron is held in solution by the Sunday, April 26, 1778: "This hospital seems to be carbonic acid gas. In other respects it will also very neat and the sick comfortably provided for- tho appear, that it is nearly perfectly pure, containing Wickedness I understand prevails among the Con vales- scarcely any other foreign ingredients."

'OI bid., p . 30. I t is doubtful whether this analysis has any effect "Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 2355, February 9, 1774. at all upon those people going to Yellow Springs. Far more likely to be read was a description of the Yellow Springs found in a series on American Scenery in The The present ruins of the Revolutionary War Hospital and an Port Folio in 1810. The writer began: "Of the various area of the burial grounds. Yellow Springs Foundation. watering places and rural retreats which invite the languid, the listless, or the laborious citizen to invig­ orate his system, to relax from the fatigues of business, or to r estore his declining health, none certainly com- 18J ames Sproat, J ou rnal, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. "Ibid. '·Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, July 13, 1785. ''''Mineralogical and Chemical Account of the Yellow Springs, in the County of Chester in Pennsylvania Com­ municated to the Editor, by a Gentleman now on a Mineral­ ogical Tour th~ough the United States," Benjamin Smith Barton, ed., ThIrd Supplement to the Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal (Philadelphia, 1809), p. 214.

31 /1 II, /1 ~ I the "Yell ow Springs" in The T ownship of Pike­ I' I land lately owned and kept by Frederick H allman lately deceased-That the License for said H ouse l~~==-= ___---;' is nearly expired- he therefore prays you r Honor to grant her a renewal thcreof- And she wi ll pray &c The petition was "allowed" and Margaret H olman was to run her inn as competition to Colonel Bones during a grand era of Yellow Springs. The competition between Colonel Bones ari d Mrs. Holman expressed itself in new buildings in Yellow Springs. First, on July 2, 1823, in a Phihdelphia newspaper, Mr. Bones advertised hi new additions: An additional Chalybeate Bath for the exclusive use of the ladies is in preparation, and an easy Map of "The Town of Bath". Ch ester County Historical and convenient road has been cut from his house Society. to the hill in the rear, where Summer Houses and Benches are placed, and a fine view is had of the beautifu ll y romantic cou ntry in front." Six days later, July 8, 182 3, Mrs. Holman placed bines so many advantages as this delightful spot."" her advertisement in the same paper: The Port Folio writer suggested that the resort is still Mrs. H olm an, of the Yellow Springs H otel, has in a crude state: "The farm in which they (waters) erected a large three story I-louse, containing 20 rise, having never yet been in the possession of a person rooms, which is completely finished and furnished of taste and fortune, is still in a rude, unimproved with new furniture, and now open for company. state.'''' The principal lodging on the grounds The It is connected with her former buildings, by a Port Folio article noted: "was erected for and occupied Piazza, but is in other respects separate, and is entirely free from all culinary and family concerns. as a military hospital during the revolutionary war ; it The flattering encouragement which she received has since been plastered and rendered a comfortable last season, she trusts will be extended to her in dwelling.'''' future: and she is particul arl y grateful to those Colonel J ames Bones, the proprietor of Yellow friends of delicate health and retired habits, who have heretofore endured the noise of the youthful Springs after 1806, may not have been a man of taste and gay rather than withdraw their patronage and fortune, but J ames Bones was an enterprising from her. For su h her new building is particul arl y individual. In 1814 he changed the name of Yellow calcul ated; and she can now promise the most quiet Springs to "The Town of Bath," undoubtedly with the accommodations to those who may perfer them, fame of its English namesake firmly in mind. H e with liberty to partake more or less of the amuse­ ment of the place." divided the town into one hundred lots and put the The clientele at Yellow Springs were also enthusias­ lots up for sale at two hundred and fifty doll ars tic. The following is taken from a letter written at apiece. Streets were laid out and named for famous Yellow Springs on July 14, 1824: people such as Washington, Jefferson, Montgomery, and She has an excellent dining and ball room, capable Wayne. The Old Ycllow Spring Bath Lot was reserved of .accommodating more than a hundred persons. for the use of all purchasers. L ess than half of the lots The company at her house is generall y li vely and were sold and on April 15, 1815, the Yellow Springs respectable, and dances are frequent; at least two Tavern was put up for sale by Colonel Bones. The or three times a week. Mrs. HOLMAN has exerted herself to provide town of Bath never left the plan on paper and in time every comfort and convenience for her visiters. many of the lot owners sold their land. About 1820 The sleeping rooms are generall y and a dressing Colonel Bones was to reopen a tavern in Yell ow Springs. room for the ladies exclusively has been attached A new innkeeper, M aTga ret H olman," petitioned to the bath thus rendering that separate and select, which was before common and unpleasant to the the Court of General Q uarter Sessions, County of better part of creation. . . . Che ter, on April 30, 1821 , to run an inn that had In a word no place in this country possesses in belonged to her husband. H er petition read : itself more attractions or advantages, as a resort That she continues to occupy that old Established for the invalid or ,devotee to pleasure, than the H ouse of Entertainment- Known by the name of Yellow Springs: and I am gratified to find that it is steadily growing in public favor, and that its ""American Scenery-For the Port Folio---Description of society is improving with its populari ty." the Yellow Springs," The Port Folio, Vol. LV, No. 1, July 1810 ( Philadelphia, 1810), p. 44. "Chester County Historical Society. " Ibid., p. 45 "National Gazette and Literary Register, July 2, 1823. "Ibid., p. 46. " Ibid., July 8, 1823. " The name is also spelled Hallman and Halman. Holman '·American Republican, July 28, 1824, extracted from will be used in this paper. Poulson's American Daily Advert iser.

32 The hard work of the innkeepers was paying off and every accommodation desirable. From the abund­ in 1825 a social note in a West Chester paper reported : ance of the present harvest, she has reason to ex­ "Col. BONES' and M rs. HOLMAN'S spacious and pect that the celebrations will be numerously at­ tended, and is making preparations accordingly, comfortable mansions are full . . . and the keepers of The days of celebration are, as heretofore, the last these rival Mansions are unremittingly assiduous to Saturday in J uly, and 2d, and 3d Saturdays in please. ",. August.'· Transportation to Yellow Springs during this period T here were also more strenuous activities. Alexander was usually accomplished by horseback or by coach. McCarraher, innkeeper, wrote: "Those who could Several coach lines ran from Philadelphia and from wish to exercise themselves on horseback may be fur­ Norristown to Yellow Springs during the summer season. nished with horses; there is also excellent fis hing and The trip from Philadelphia took one day in "The fowling for those who may chuse to amuse themselves Yellow Springs Stage" with the passengers stopping in that way.'''' to dine as advertised: "Passengers will dine at Wm. Spa life did not neglect the mind. A newspaper, The Rogers' Boarding School-Inn, Kimberton."" The stage Literary Casket and General I ntelligencer, was estab­ advertisement concluded: "Careful drivers and ex­ lished in Yellow Springs in M arch, 1829. The paper cellent horses with changes on the road every ten miles, was, according to the banner : "A Family Newspaper are provided, and every attention will be given to Devoted to Literature, Agriculture, Mechanic Arts, In­ accommodate passengers. All baggage at the risk of ternal Improvements and the Intellectual and M oral owners.'''' Improvement of Society Generally." The paper ad­ Another method of transportation from Philadelphia vertised a reading room: was by packet boat from the Fair Mount Water Works The Editors of the Literary Casket, in order on the Schuylkill to Norristown and then by stage to to accommodate the literary visitors at this place, have opened a Reading Room at their Office. Yellow Springs. The Packet Comet a dvertised: They receive a large number of newspapers, from . . . the Packet Comet, has been repaired and various parts of the United States, the use of refitted in a superior manner, with accommodation which is r espectfully offered to their Reading Room and beauty united, offering at once entertainment subscribers. Reading hours, from nine o'clock, and comfort to the inland voyagers, that patronize A.M. until fi ve o'clock, P.M.- No subscription her zealous proprietor, The cabins have been al­ received for a less term than one week. T erms tered so that the ladies' and gentlemen's apart­ fifty cents in advance." ' ments are entirely separated from each other . . . Unfortunately, the newspaper had a short life span The bar is well furnished with choice liquors." at Yellow Springs and it was moved to West Chester When the guests at Yellow Springs were not drinking in February, 1830. the mineral waters or bathing in the mineral waters, Shopping could be done at Yellow Springs. Abraham what was provided for their pleasure? First to be Olwine advertised some of the goods for sale at his thought of are the obvious joys of the table. Colonel Yellow Springs Store : "GROCERIES and LIQUORS Bones wrote : "- the subscriber pledges himself to the of the best quality, and very low-Hardware and public, that he will at all times be supplied with choice Cutlery, Liverpool, Glass, China, Tin and Cedar liquors of a ll kinds, and the best necessaries of life, ware . . . Ready made Clothing, &c. Sole and Upper which the markets and the country afford:"" Mrs. Leather, Calf Skin, M orocco, Sheep and Lining Skins, Holman advertised: "She has laid in a stock of good &c.'''' Mr. Olwine provided for those who did not Wines and other liquors, and will at all times have a have cash: "Country Produce and old Iron Castings supply of the delicacies of the season . .. Waiters will taken in exchange for Goods.'''· After numerous tes­ be obtained from Philadelphia.'''' It appears that the timonials printed in the Literary Casket for Columbian seeker of pleasure rather than the seeker of health was Syrup, N. Siegfried wrote : "The above Medicine for appealed to in the dining rooms. sale by N. SIEGFRIED, Yellow Springs. where nu­ Holidays and special days were celebrated at Yellow merous highly respectable certificates of cures may be Springs. "Yellow Springs Harvest Celebrations" is the seen. Price Three Dollars per bottle."" title of this advertisement which read: Finally, the pleasure of being seen and of seeing Mrs. Halman respectfully informs those who wish to partake in the usual harvest celebrations, was enjoyed at Yellow Springs. A local poet, Polydore, that she has employed the best musicians, and wrote: intends procuring the best liquors, &c. that she Pray tell us now, old Mr. Polydore, is determined nothing shall be wanting to render What led you to the Yellow Springs that day? '·Village R ecord, July 3, 1825. " American Republican, July 27 1819. " Saturday Evening Post, June 25, 1825. " P ~nns y I vanza. P acket and Daily, Advertiser, July 13, 1785. " Ibid. LIterary Casket and General Intelligencer July 21 1829 " Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, June 1, 1827. " Ibid., June 30, 1829. " . "Central Aurora Adl,l ertiser, August 23, 1806. "Ibid. "'Village Record, May 23, 1823. "Ibid.

33 Packet Boat' In terse I'll tell you (for it is my way,) A transportation ad­ I left my room, and passing through the entry, COMET, vertisement from Set ou t determined to the Springs to stray; 0[: :-;OHP.1STOW:->, The Norristown And came, (pray ladies, pardon my effrontery) Herald and Weekly To see if girls were prettier in the country." W~- · ~·: :u--=r~~ Advertiser, July 5, ------.; . -~-:..:..~~-::- - - 1826. Montgomery YELLOW SPRINGS, And N o1'l'istowfl ~ nu Y cllow County Historical 1830 - 1860 Hpl'jn~s 8tagc. Society. Medical science in the United States remained in­ terested in the use of mineral waters. A physician, ~d)·eGaD John Bell , compiled a volume in 1831 which traced TH ,:: rHiulic Are rr~ r ~ctf,l1l y iufortnC'ci th:\t the history of the use of mineral waters, told how to the .. hove lin.- h :" curnm l!'n c t:11 i: ", rllllle- fur use the waters, and then presented a guide to the Ihe ~u mm cr Sea-Oj"" , ~l8rlint.: Wilh lilt> llolt fro m ..... ir ~l ")Unt \\ ~It'r \ \'tllk .. , on Ihe ~ .~, various watering places available in the United States. 'ide 01 'he: H""cr Schuylkill. ,"very Tur"'d..t~, '['11"':-1)')' 811 .1 Sllltlnllty. wt hAil p "t 6 o'clor ir His warnings on the use of the Yellow Springs are of n tllC: mnrlling, "~ltI ;t l nY ... :at ~Ir" ' Vt:bh'/i;, ~ I~n uf \\''lihin~tllll . =""r l ... 1,, '" n. :.tlll f) 'cluck . interest: wh" r ~ the pa, .. , n~cr5 ..nil c1ln ... ; ~otld SIR).;'"" . c are lul ".,<1 (\hli~ilJg' ,l;-i'·Cf 8. "iii CI' IJ" t"y thtm The Yellow Springs, from their readiness of to .\Ir!l llulm.lIl· ~, Yellow Sprilli)5, Chc,\r r access by the inhabitants of Philadelphia, are cn'IIII Y; rel 'llfling'. \oI. illlt·I\' e .\Ir", II III OIan\' , much resorted to in the summer months .... The rvely )1{)I fl l), \\ '<: unl! ~ d Iy and Fri·'", f At ~ O'clf,c k 10 the morninj.:, dint" a t !\h~ . \\·cl,)b'!'I. vulgar and prevalent notions about the tonic power ~urrl~h)\\n, anti then Ihe bOI\ or qt a. r,c, .!t msy he n.lost cllnvcnient to tta: paj,eng(r ~ . of the cold bath-a desire to try novel impres­ .. ill c!lnvc) t hem 10 PbiJadc1pllla. sions- indolence-and imitation, have severally Tile Bu .. ' \\ ai, h'a't" Nurri~lu"'n c\"t~ry S)it· I1roay aflcrnlluo. : I ~ 2 II'clor k. , and::ll (lwe ,,' I 'tm: SIAMESE TWINS induced many visitors to bathe in the water of "air \1 1,unt 'Vater '\ ' udt~ alou'clork the slIlme ! Arri yeo here on SUllday, and- iDlen the Yellow Spring. The results are often such as ~'· en i n!;' . might have been expected; relapse and aggravation U II Slintlay!I', the n oat '" ill !II lart from Fair ffiaini ng.nntil Tblll"!e, :. H ... " John Bell, On Baths and Mineral Waters ( Philadelphia, 1836. Chester County Historical 'romtro . ~~u..''''_.t> .. d r.o ... · 1831 ), pp. 473-474. iO.Ch.! ·...... Dlii«. Society. (Original in Chester ~ AI Pboe';i.I.Yilr~; Btt •. CO ..... r'. Jl:.,1 "The Reading Railroad went directly to Yellow Springs ,\l" nrl.! .ad ·r.... "~;;(h ; ~t .noJ S . ~J. starting about 1842. County Historical Society, enter­ 11S!r1 ' HUlir--.rrhm Z tQ.,4" 10 ;tu. al'tt! " Amer'ican Republican, August 18, 1835. tainment file) _ru! from ? l U 9 In- lh~ f'VeOII.....

34 Yellow Springs and both a bath house and a residence are named in honor of Miss Lind." Mrs. Holman became the owner of the entire Yellow Springs property by 1838. She continued to improve the premises as told in this letter by a visitor from Phil­ adelphia : " (Mrs. H olman) will have completed, by the first of June, one of the handsomeest and most extensive bathing establishments probably in the U . States. The building, the plan of which was furnished by Mr. Hugh Walters," of this city, is 85 feet in length by 25 :eet deep, divided into separate apartments, com­ prising shower, warm, moderate a nd cold baths."'· All of the visitors were not complimentary to the resort. One wonders if the area had indeed deteri­ Victorian gazebo surrounding the yellow or iron spring. orated by the writing of this letter on J uly 6, 1843, Yellow Springs Foundation. or if the writer, English actress, Fanny Kemble, was accustomed to grander surroundings. Miss Kemble wrote : Your maturer reflection considering how much I have at stake by having made very extensive im­ Before me stretches "3.S far as it can about a provements to this place which have cost a >'ast quarter of an acre of degraded uneven ground, amount of money; and furthermore as temperance enclosed in a dilapidated whitewashed wooden people rarely ever patronise watering-places and paling, and clothed, except in several mangy bare since the anti license law does not include all patches, with rank weedy grass, untended unwhole­ watering-places of this country; I should think some shrubs, and untidy neglected trees.. .. Be­ there might be reason to exempt this place from hind me is a whitewashed room about fifteen feet the restriction of the present law at least for the by twelve, containing a rickety, black horse-hair three months of the bathing season." sofa, all worn and tom into prickly ridges; . . . Briefly I am sitting on the piazza (so-called ) of The old hospital building was refurbished to serve one of a group of tumble down lodging-houses patients. What kind of treatment did the Spa offer. and hotels, which, embosomed in a beautiful val­ to the patient? One patient, John Knight, wrote to ley in Pennsylvania, and having in the midst of his wife from Yellow Springs on July 19, 1847: them an exquisite spring of mineral wa ter, rejoice in the title of the "Yellow Springs."'· As usual I was "packed" in wet sheets e.arly this morning for about two hours, when I perspired However, Miss Kemble did enjoy the bath: "Into freely, under the warm influences of sundry blank­ this lucid liquid gem I gave my chickens and myself, ets comforts and a feather bed,-all pressed and overhead, three breathless dips.'''· "Chester County Historical Society. Yellow Springs entered a new era on January 25, 1845, when Margaret Holman sold all of her holdings to Dr. George Lingen, late of Philadelphia, for $22,030. Two partners, Captain Henry Neef and Dr. Charles F. Hoffendahl, soon joined Dr. Lingen in this enter­ prise. As seen in the broadside, the plan was to run part of the establishment year round for patients to receive homeopathic or hydropathic treatment and retain the other part of the establishment as a resort. First, Dr. Lingen ran into difficulty from his more conservative neighbors when he tried to obtain a liquor license. Shades of the Quakers of U wchlan are seen in this letter from Dr. Lingen to his lawyer, William Darlington, written on March 24, 1846:

"Only a ticket to a concert given by Jenny Lind in May, 1854, verifies this as fact at this time. "This bath house is traditionally believed to have been designed by Thomas Hugh Walter, prominent Philadelphia architect. There is nothing in the Walter's papers to verify this as fact and it is now believed that Mr. Hugh Walter is another individual. ··Register and Examiner, April 23, 1839. ··Frances Ann Kemble, Records of Later Life (New York, 1882), p. 389. The present interior of the Jenny Lind Bathhouse. Yellow "'Ibid., p. 390. Springs Foundation.

35 Mrs. Neef became the new hostess and it is written : "that the place has never looked more inviting than at this moment. Mrs. Neef, backed by a score of able bodied men and women, has completely renovated the buildings and improved the grounds."'" A letter writer from Yellow Springs in 1855 stated: It may astonish some who believe in the absolute perfection of Saratoga and Newport, but we think it is a remark that experience will prove to be true, viz: that there is not on the American con­

*<.krlh~ .., tinent a watering place where pleasure is so closely .. "'-.,I>.-"".f<'''.. 11~;::.:t,.. : connected with the health-giving appliances and "'''''ilt where the visitor can more truly enjoy himself than at the Yellow Springs."

'£81£ Watering Phll::e ""ill N' ""'.)I!) In t('(':(in ,·i:-.illlrc( !:Ilia tloe Fiflct!totb Q(' bIn!, In~:, TIll' Propru:-to:, H owever, the days of Yellow Springs as a spa were AA~jng: added (L !.pndou, dinitlg r(IOm, ~UH ) othe~ cnliltt;ctJ I:Iwl i'lll n,wll,i." &'lilt,h,hmln1, t~, "lW (n­ fast drawing . to close as was spa life In other areas I.~rft l ab (t\}.*de:nceo.l gtntle:mnll n.s ,slJprrint''I'.<1I tltJ amI "ecureJ Ute strl'icc, of ch, IA"t (;tw.)'s, Oonlt·dinn('r'l atI,t St::n

TIn.. , I,'ac!.!, ~) l(1n!.; l'I'I.·hnd",J fer lb CL£llrl~te: :n..lh~, ural'il('nl.-d b fl,,> I"m' of nlrtJlIit; Di<)ll.':Ol'il ', \\'3..<; FRO'M THE CIVIL WAR TO THE PRESENT, selcctN bJ Gel4era.i WtcdU~tCIl It'! an MI!I)' StatiCln, jOt it, teaItLfu.b.~, (lll.lltt·:UI~y. w~1 t«tJO!t"iUl U!lt!.ld~ caJ ~YJUH·.tAAli. ft ~'> Or.. J.iU~i'tI ·d il.tenliolll after th~ UI:ll Ill' S\;ll''''.:l~kr k1 appr{)priltt~ rflft Of the 1860-1974

.£$ lab!is.1.I1:.~.ul (witirh will II(' I}Jtf'tl ,bring th: wllt>k )~r) (I) l'tlbCUtli .lrtllt'r HvuleO;tatlUc ()I' U ~'Jro?Q.thi e tr",tJotnt, tLe I arid), d \lab ~ b.-i,.g t'1!lincD1.l, UlhIJ!!.l,-J to tl~ LIb r ijj,'l'~' B~t'1 tdng a 'P

I ' I" ': ~ )0. ''-...... l~" .. /. /

~~'~.' ..,.r , ,~, " , ~.",..~ "r . -,;t ~ ' . "1 ' r to ,t-:~~ . 0' !' '1' ! '. A drawing of Yellow ' ...1.. I '.:.. _.~; -~ Springs published in

·.It . SCou~ty H(is';''ho~C~l oClety. ~ I IS IS ~ . :f-~~~~i!ii!!~i!illiil~~iliiii~~~iiil~E!i!Ii~iI~~~~~ from187~ a series Ch~taof illu­ strations in Pennsy­ vania's Soldiers' Or­ phans Schools)

37 The Yellow Springs Hotel as it appears today. Yellow Springs Foundation.

Nessel, M., Physician of the Spaw in Germany. A Treatise Waters: with the Method of Examining Any Other Mineral­ Concerning the Medicinal Spaw Waters. London: J. Downing, Water. London : Printed for the Author, 17 34. 1715. Shelton, F. H ., "Springs and Spas of Old-Time Philadel­ Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933, uhia." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, p. 495. Vol. XLVII, No.3, (1923), pp. 196-237. Paul, James, L . Pennsylvania's Soldiers' Orphan Schools. Sigerist, Henry E. "American Spas in Historical Perspec­ Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, 1876. tive." Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. XI, (1942), Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser, Vol. IV, 133-147. No.7, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M arch 5-March 12 , 1770. "Toward a Renaissance of the American Spa." Pennsylvania Cazette, No. 2355, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ciba Symposia, Vol. VIII, ( 1946), 32 7-336. February 9, 1774. Sproat, Rev. James, D .D. Journal. Historical Society of Permsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, July 13, 1785. Thompson, Wilmer, W . Chester County and Its Pe ople. Phoenixville Messenger, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, March Chicago and New York: The Union History Co., 1898, pp. 25, 1882. 924-926. Pinkowski, Edward. Chester County Place Names. Phil­ Village Record. West Chester, Pennsylvania, August 28, adelphia: Sunshine Press, 1955, p. 41. 1822 ; May 23, 1823; July 3, 1825. Poulso n's American Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, Penn­ Walton, George, M.D. Mineral Springs of the United sylvania, June 1, 1827. States and Canada with Analysis and Notes on the Prominent Records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue RC58, 1789, Spas of Europe and a List of Sea-Side Resort s. New York: Direct Tax Assessment Lists for Chester County and Birming­ D. Appleton and Co., 1874. ham, Radnor and Thornbury, Delaware County Pennsylvania, Watson, J. F. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in C.S.A., The National Archives. the Olden Times, Vol. II, Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1868, p. Register and Examiner, West Chester, Pennsylvania, April 463. 23, 1839 ; June 24, 1854. , Weiss, Harry B., and Howard R. Kemble. The Creat Reniers, Perceval. The Springs of Virginia, Life, Love and American Water Cure Craze. Trenton, New Jersey: The Death at the Waters, 1775-1900. Chapel Hill: The Univer­ Past Times Press, 1967, pp. 199-201. sity of North Carolina Press, 1961. . They Took to the Waters, The Forgotten Mineral Rush, Benjamin. Experiments and Observations on the Spring Resorts of New Jersey and Nearby Pennsylvania and Mineral Waters of Philadelphia, Abington, and Bristol in the Delaware. Trenton, New Jersey: The Past Times Press, 1962. Province of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia : James Humphrey, Wiley, Samuel T. Biographical and Cyclopedia of Chester 1773. County. Philadelphia: Gresham Publishing Co., 1893, pp. Saturday Evening Post, June 25, 1825. 138, 152. Shaw, Peter, Physician at Scarborough. An Enquiry into Yellow Springs, Chester County Pennsylvania. The Yellow the Contents, Virtues, and Uses, of the Scarborough Spaw Springs Association, 1968. 38 THE USE OF SPEECH AT TWO AUCTIONS By SUZANNE COX

Popular characterizations of national, ethnic, and occupational groups depend in large part on the fact that speech habits vary immensely from social group to social group. The casual observer at a weekly market in rural Pennsylvania would readily notice what to him might be peculiarities of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, and he would probably be abl e to describe these distinctive characteristics without much trouble. But if he were asked to comment on the importance of speech in social interaction among these farmers of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, he would find it difficult to generalize from seemingly contradictory instances of behavior. An auction of livestock, and an auction of miscellaneous used items, housewares, hardware, and vegetables are the two main foci of activity in the market grounds. In the livestock barn, spectators Livestock drivers draw close to the auctioneer for a private sit in silence, absorbed in the fast-moving transactions conference on the price at which bidding should be opened. taking place in the central ring; bidders indicate their Bidders and spectators have no part in the exchange. interest with unobtrusive gestures; the auctioneer im­ personally records bids and announces sales in a steady, In the first context, an outsider gets the impression that unvaried verbal stream. Next door, the mood is entirely people are taciturn. At the housewares, hardw.are, and different. Attention is divided between spontaneous vegetable auction, on the other hand, he immedi ately conversations with people in neighboring seats, and notices a tendency to openly express humor and social joking exchanges with the auctioneer and his helpers. relationships through verbal channels. Any generalized stereotype of this community's social use of speech would fail to recognize the variation that follows from differences of social context. This is an attempt to describe differences in the use of speech within a specific group of Pennsylvania farm­ ing people, and to relate the observed differences in speaking to the social context of use. The group studied is made up of regular participants in two auctions held at the Green Dragon, a weekly country fair and farmers' market that takes place a few miles from Ephrata, Penn­ sylvania. Most of the people at the market raise field corn, fruit, vegetables, dairy cattle, pigs, and chickens on small farms within fifty miles of the market grounds. Substantial parts of their products other than milk are for personal consumption, but the Green Dragon is an important outlet for small surpluses of fruits and veg­ etables, baked goods, and home crafts. More import­ antly, dairy cattle are bought and sold at the market During the auction of household and miscellaneous items, in limited numbers. The Green Dragon is the place the auctioneer directly accepts a bid from the back row, while one helper listens to the humorous dialogue, and two where farmers of the area go to exchange one or two other helpers cooperafe in selecting the next item for sale. cows from their herds for others in order to improve

39 their breeding stock. The weekly market is a recreation­ patterned according to context, however, is taken for al event, as well as an economic one. Visiting and granted and u ed as a basis for relating speech to the exchange of news go on along with buying and seIling kind of personal interaction that is dominant in a at open stands, and i ~ the covered market building. specific context. Categories of context like tho e sug­ Both sexes, and all except for the very oldest and very gested in the articles mentioned above are used here youngest members of the population are represented. as common terms in which to describe the personal Most of the people present are from farming families interaction and u es of speech that were observed at of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction. There are smaIl the two auctions. The heuristic divi ions used here are numbers of Amish and Mennonites, and also a few setting, pattern of participant interaction, ra.nge of tourists whose chief interest is local color. The tourists topic, and use of speech. The se ond way in which buy produce from vendors, but they do not participa te this paper differs from the rule-oriented studies is in in the auctions. The crowd at the Green Dragon is the unit of observation and description. A desire to in some ways a heterogeneous one. Grounds for defin­ state structural regularities within a ystem of speaking ing it as a single, integral group appropriate as a con­ requires that the unit of study be one in which every text for the study of the uses of speech to carry out a instance of speech activity can be identified, and every social activity are given in the following section on aspect of context clearly delimited. Concepts such as method. "speech event" and "encounter'" set these requirements. METHOD Because this paper deals with general differences in ways Study of linguistic behavior in terms of social pat­ of speaking and social context that distinguish two terns of use has been called "the ethnography of speak­ speech situations from each other, and not with pre- ing'" This approach has stressed the writing of rules dictive rules within a single speech situation, a broader for the use of speech within bounded communication concept than speech event is called for. Speech situa­ units that Hymes calIs "speech events." These discrete tion, as used by H ymes: will serve to describe the exchanges betwen two or more people can be described auctions as units of sociolinguistic description. The in terms of the component factors of the speaking con­ speech situation studied include non-verbal as well as text-Ervin-Tripp uses setting, participants, topic, func­ verbal exchanges, and have more than one exchange tion, and form.' Rules of speaking are then structured between individuals or groups of individuals taking relationships among the components. Changes in one place simultaneously. or more of the components are observed to cause The method of comparing the speech behavior ex­ changes in one or more of the others. The analogy hibited at the two auctions has been adopted in hopes of a phonemic sys tem' is applicable: the occurrence that the presence of differences in both ways of speak­ of any given phoneme (s) defin es an environment that ing and social patterning is a convincing argument for in turn determines which other phonemes may occur. the close {n terrelationship of speech and social matrix. In the same article mentioned above, Ervin-Tripp makes Differences are shown to exist in spite of great outward the point that alternations of speech event components similarity in the situations' settings, participant, and can be .assigned specific determinants only when all structures. One similarity between the two auctions components but the one in ques tion are held constant. is that the people attending both, except for a smaIl She also recognizes that this presents a major difficulty number of visitors who remain in the background, m ethnographic studies of naturally-occurring speech: belong to a single speech community in terms of ... the drawback of such studies is that normally common locality and primary interaction.' Since the there is so much variation at once that we can find descriptive information about distributions same people return week after week, everyo ne knows but little definitive knowledge of which of the everyo ne else by sight, with few exception. The pres­ co-varying features may be effective: ence of several groups (Old Order Amish, M en­ This paper departs in two major ways from the nonites, non-sectarian Pennsylvania Dutch ) whose cul­ method of studying speech events outlined by Hymes tural orientations may differ to a greater or lesser and Ervin-Tripp. First, the emphasis is not on sorting extent did not affect the patterns observed. Another out causal relationships among the co-varying compon­ similarity is that both auctions are recreational situa­ ents of context, so the difficulty mentioned by Ervin­ tions for members of both sexes, and all age groups. Tripp is avoided. The basic principle that speech is Because they are scheduled alternately, it is possible 'DeJl Hymes, "The Ethnography of Speaking," in Joshua to attend both, and about three-quarters of the people A. Fishman (ed.), Readings in the Sociology of Language (The do. Certain structural aspects of the auction situations Hague, Netherlands, 1968 ). 'Susan Ervin-Tripp, "An Analysis of the Interaction of are also similar. In both cases, the auctioneer (who Language, T opic, and Listeners," in John J. Gumperz and DeJl Hymes (eds.), The Ethnography of Communication 'Erving Coffman, Encounters (New York, 1961). (Washington, D .C., 1964 ) . "Hymes, "The Ethnography of Speaking." 'Hymes, "The Ethnography of Speaking." 'John Cumperz, "Types of Linguistic Communities," An­ 'Ervin-Tripp, p. 207 . thropological Linguistics, IV: I (1962). 40 is the same individual in both cases ) is spatially distant ring, other than that from an outside loading platform, from the rest of the participants, uses a microphone, is past rows of tethered cows. The dirt floor of the and interacts with two other Green D ragon employees. ring is surrounded on three sides by wooden bleachers. This comparison of the way speech is used in two seem­ P eo ~l e enter and leave the three-sided room through ingly similar activities within a designated social group the open end, and animals are usually brought in and is evidence that the form and importance of speech out through roped-off aisles on this same side of the vary from context to context within speech commun­ auction room. Except for some faded farm calendars ities. dated 1967 and 1970, the room is without decoration. This paper is based on observations carried out The li vestock barn is not heated. When asked what during visits to the Green Dragon on four successive happens in the barn, people say something like "Some Fridays. The first time, I arrived in mid-afternoon [people] buy cows, some go to watch." and stayed until the evening odds-and-ends auction Participant I nteraction w.as over at eight P.M. My second visit lasted from The participants in the livestock auction are 1) the nine A.M. to eight P.M.; my third, from ten A.M . to auctioneer, 2) the drivers (my term) , 3) the bidders, nine P.M. The last time, I stayed only for the morning and 4 ) the spectators. The auctioneer is a man of about livestock auction. This period of fi eld study included thirty-five years of age. H e has attended auctions at approximately sixteen hours of auction observation the Green Dragon since childhood, and been employed divided equally between the livestock barn and the as auctioneer by the management for three years. A building where the miscellaneous items' auction takes dairy farmer himself, he occasionall y attends livestock place. The most useful fi eld method proved to be auctions at another market forty miles away that is listening and watching from different va nta~e points held on a different day of the week. Driver is a con­ within the spatial setting of each auction. In the odds­ venient term I have chosen to describe a man employed and-ends auction, people spoke to me readily, d rawing by the Green D ragon to drive stock in and out of the me into the characteristic pattern of verbal exchange ring, and, I suspect, to drive the price as high as pos­ by my second visit. This siutation was an excell ent sible. There are two men so employed at the livestock one for asking questions about the auctioning of live­ auction, and both of them were usually in the ring at stock that could not comfortably be asked during auc­ the same time. Indirect inquiry revealed that one of tions in the livestock barn. Three people served as the two holds a similar position at another weekly farm informants outside the context of the auction situation: auction, and works as a caretaker on a farm not far Mr. John Fischer, the auctioneer; Mrs. Mary Gl ass­ from the Green Dragon. The other is both a farmer meier, the cashier in the manager's offi ce; and Mr. and a general repairman, as well as a driver. Both Claude Oldt, an elderly farmer and personal acquaint­ men attend at least one of the miscellaneous items ance. All questioning was done through casual con­ auctions each market day. Bidders are those people versation. No special inventory of direct questions was who consistently sit in the first two rows of the bleach­ used, because although the extent to which speech is ers, and who frequently bid. At any one time, be­ used in each context, by whom, and to whom are tween ten and twenty bidders may be present. Of this matters of common knowledge, the few direct questions number, the maximum number of women ever ob­ on the subject I posed early in the study evoked answers served was three. Bidders come and go while the like "We just talk to visit and such," and "No, we don't auction is in progress, but not so much as the specta­ talk too much, we just look." Conversations with the tors. The spectators occupy the top several rows of individuals mentioned above provided data mainly on seats. M en, women, and children are, on the average, products, prices, and peoples' frequency of attendance. evenly represented here. There is a somewhat more Patterns of speaking, and the associated social contexts marked moving in and out of the auction room among were determined mostly by observation and participa­ this group. The total number of spectators ranges tion during the speech situations themselves . from twenty (usually in mid-morning) to one hundred and fifty or so in the mid-.afternoon. These numbers DESCRIPTION OF A SPEECH SITUATION: refl ect the fact that there are fewer people at the THE LIVESTOC K AUCTION market in the morning, and that many of the people Setting who are present are busy buying fresh produce from The livestock barn is the largest structure at the vendors. Green Dragon, and it is located exactly in the center One way of relating speaking to social context is to of the market grounds. Here auctions take place twice identify participants as senders and receivers of mes­ on market days from ten A.M. to noon, and again from sages in the speech situation.8 The auctioneer's intricate two to four P.M . Most of the space inside the barn verbal call lets everyone in the room know when each is taken up by stalls and pens where animals to be auctioned are displayed. The only access to the auction 8Ervin-Tripp.

41 successive five-dollar raise in the price IS met by a or to stop bidding, to the driver standing nearest him. bidder. When the price offered comes close enough Individual bidding simultaneou lyon the same animal to the owner's expectations (which have been com­ do not look at each other, but outwardly confine their municated in advance only to the drivers ), the drivers attention to the auction ring. signal the auctioneer with a cryptic "All right" or Spectators are informed of the course of events by "That's good" and the end of bidding is announced the auctioneer's call, and by observable me sages be­ with a bang of the gavel. Although the auctioneer tween bidders and drivers, and between drivers and sends messages in these ways to everyone present, the auctioneer. They do not send messages that func­ he receives messages only from the drivers. These are tion in the auction activity. Like the bidders, they intermediaries between bidders and potential bidders, refrain almost completely from conversation among and the auctioneer. After driving each new cow themselves, listening and watching the progress of the into the ring, the drivers perform a few standardized auction with great attention. Children under the age acts intended to demonstrate the fine qualities of the of abou t fourteen sometimes represent an exception anim al. They press their hands against the cows' sides by talking together and ignoring the auction. If they and squeeze the udders, sending a stream of milk onto make any distracting noise, however, an adult sitting the fl oor of the ring. Then, speaking over the auc­ close by effectively silences them, for the time being, tioneer's call, they encourage bids from people seated with a low word or two. On two occasions, spectators in the lower two rows. T o indicate that he will pay were observed to leave the auction room proper before the price being droned at that moment by the auc­ entering into personal conve rsation. It is important to tioneer, a bidder signals a driver with an unobtrusive note that the auctioneer's and drivers' speech, although grsture. The driver announces to the auctioneer that clearly audible in all parts of the room, is not loud a bid has been made by shouting, or gesturing with enough to make conversation within the room im­ the bamboo pole he carries. The auctioneer raises by possible. five dollars the price that figures so importantly in Range of T opic his verbal spiel. Occasionally, a driver exchanges a All communciation, both verbal and non-verbal, is few words with a person who is considering making a concerned with the buying and selling of dairy cattle, bid. H e stands at the edge of the ring, directly in a commodity of considerable economic importance to fre nt of, and only a few inches away from the potential individual dairy farmers, and to the community as a bidder. The conversation that ensues is inaudible to whole. The auctioneer's call deals almost entirely with everyone else. Whether the driver is supplying ad­ price. During the period of observation, cows sold for ditional information about the animal, or identifying between four hundred, and six hundred dollars. The the owner, or telling the bidder the owner's asking price drivers' speech concerns the cattle's positive qualities could not be determined. At the end of the conference, and the need for a buyer willing to pay a fair price. the driver mayor may not indicate to the auctioneer Bidders express desire to buy or not to buy. Spectators, that the individual has bid. expressing by their presence an interest in the livestock and the means by which it changes hands, introduce Bidders sit alone, spacing themselves three or more no subjects unrelated to the auctioning activity itself. feet apart. Conversation between bidders is extremely rare. When someone does address a comment to his Use of Speech in the Livestock Auction neighbor, the reply is always a nod, a shrug, or a In this situation, communication between participants monosyllable. Bidders entering the auction room to­ makes minimal use of speech. The auctioneer's incessant gether do not sit together, even when the nearest verbal stream does not really supply any information empty space could accommodate more than one person. necessary to the interaction among bidders, or between The only observed exception to this seating pattern bidders and drivers. When a driver announces that is made by Amish bidders, who often sit in twos or a bid has been made, everyone receives the message. threes, leaving a little less space between themselves The auctioneer's speech serves only as a narrow record than the general rule dictates. Amish bidders do inter­ of price. The position of the auctioneer on the periph­ act individually with the drivers in making bids. Bids ery of the central interacting space is consistent with are made with undemonstrative hand or facial gestures. the limited importance of his speech to the auction A refusal to renew a bid, however, is usually made process. Bidding, an important element of interaction, with a more readily perceptible shake of the head. is done without any speech at all. Both the auctioneer's Only in instances of conference with a driver is speech and the drivers' speech exhibit what, by Bernstein's def­ used at all in bidding. Bidders' interaction with each inition, is a "restricted code"." Their speech is marked other takes the form of competitive bidding on the "Basil Bernstein , "Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Their Social Origins and Some Consequences," in John J. Gumperz same animal. This interaction is indirect, since each and Dell Hymes (eds.), The Ethnography of Communication bidder communicates his wish to pay five dollars more, (Washington, D.C., 1964) .

42 by a narrowed range of syntactic alternatives and a people sit or stand wherever they can find room. The number of lexical items much smaller than that used ratio of women to men to children at the daytime in normal speech. The auctioneer's call is the rapid auction is about 3: 2: 1. In the evening, these three repetition of a small number of expressions having to groups are about evenly represented. The total number do with the price of the cow on the floor. Drivers have of people present ranges anywhere from fifty to two­ set phrases that they use over and over to praise an hundred, there being fewer present in the daytime than animal, and other unvarying expressions intended to in the evening. draw bids ("H ey, look at this girl, she'll give more Interaction among participants occurs along the fol ­ than you can carry," "Here's a milk cow, fine girl," lowing lines: The auctioneer is more involved in the and "Aren't no more cows with any milk for that total interaction pattern than he is at the livestock price" ) . Several expressions like these are used thirty auction. All of the chairs in the room face the plat­ or forty times in a single two-hour session. Finally, any form, from which the auctioneer speaks directly to speech other than the auctioneer's call , the drivers' individuals in the audience, to the helpers, and to the ritualized verbal expressions, and occasional whispered assembled group as a whole. H e may be interrupted conferences between drivers and bidders is considered by questions or comments from the floor. Both men and in appropriate in this situation. women initiate direct verbal exchange with the auc­ tioneer, but children usuall y do not. The helpers often assume the auctioneer's duties from the floor in front DESCRIPTION O F A SPEECH SITUATION: THE AUCTION of the platform if the auctioneer is engaged in conver­ OF MISCELLANEOUS, USED ITEMS, ETC. sation with someone in the audience for more than Setting a minute or two. Like the auctioneer, they often ex­ The auction of miscellaneous items takes place in change comments with individuals in the audience. A a converted garage to one side of the livestock barn. potential buyer may by-pass the helpers by coming to This structure is several times smaller than the barn. the front to inspect an item; buyers sometimes come Auctions go on here from noon to two P.M., and from to the front to claim their purchases, rather than wait six to eight P : M. on market days. The single, large for the helper to distribute them. Interaction between room is crowded with wooden chairs placed in orderly participants in the form of competition for a single rows facing the auctioneer's platform, which occupies item was not observed to occur. The first person to the wall away from the doors. The platform is built express a desire for an item is usually allowed to buy like a narrow stage running across the entire width it unchallenge.d. Spontaneous conversation occurs be­ of the room. The area along the side walls is occupied tween people in neighboring seats, whether or not they by booths offering for sale a range of items that in­ are acquainted. At times, a conversation on a topic cludes hand-sewn quilts, knitted goods, china figurines, unrelated to the auctioning process may spread to in­ used and new books, and hardware. An oil-burning clude helpers, auctioneer, and a number of individuals stove heats the room in cold weather. More than just in various parts of the room. In summary, the network auctioning occurs in this setting. When people at the of message sending and receiving is more complex Green Dragon are asked what goes on in this building, here than in the livestock auction. Although the auc­ they usually mention the auction, the assorted vendors' tioneer dominates the situation by describing objests stands, and the chairs and stove ("It's a good, warm to the group, by soliciting and receiving bids, and by place to sit and rest," and "They sell all kinds of old his role as a target figure for remarks from the crowd, stuff-auction, too" ) . anyone present may be a sender or receiver with re­ Participant Interaction spect to anyone else. There are also more numerous This auction has a cast of participants analogous fo ci of interaction occ~rring simultaneously in this to that described for the livestock auction. The same setting than in the livestock auction room. People auctioneer presides. There are two helpers (my term), buying and selling at the booths along the wall are an elderly couple paid by the Green Dragon to inspect part of the auction audience, laughing at remarks made all merchandise offered for auction, to place merchan­ to or by the auctioneer, and initiating conversation with dise on the auctioneer's platform for his attention, to 2ny of the other auction participants. deliver items to buyers in the audience, and to collect money. The helpers have worked for the market in Range of Topic this capacity for fifteen years. There is no spatial or The items being sold by auction are a central topic role separation of bidders and spectators within the for discussion. Because the range of items presented audience. Bidding is done by nearly everyone at one for sale at anyone auction is enormous, the auctioneer's time or another, either in earnest, or in jest. Although statem~nt s about the condition or possible use of the people sit with friends and neighbors when seats are objects cover a lot of territory. One salient characteris­ plentiful, the auction is almost always crowded, and tic of this auction that extends the range of topic sig-

43 nificantly is the emphasis on humor. Recurrent themes behavior accompany differences in the scope and struc­ of the auctioneer's jokes are that an owner offering a ture of social activity. In the livestock auction, the shabby item for sale is "moneygrubbing" (the owner coincidence of a setting with a narrowly-defined func­ is not usually identified ) , and that the audience is stingy tion, proscribed lines of communication, and limited for not bidding higher on an item. Remarks about an topic make interaction possible with minimal exploita­ item's dilapidated condition are very common on every­ tion of the denotative and productive properties of one's part. Fruit and vegetables are repeatedly described speech. Interaction in the other situation, where these as "ready for the pigs." Price is a major subject of components of context are less narrow.ly defined, IS conversation, but joking about an object's not being more verbal. worth a certain price, and about reluctance to pay is A consideration of the function of the auctions in more important than establishing the price itself. The a social context wider than that of the weekly market audience makes a great many playfully insulting re­ may explain the speech differences further. The live­ marks about the auctioneer's habit of tasting :m y fruits stock auction has real economic importance to the or vegetables that come across tne platform. The auc­ farming community. Spending or collecting fi ve hun­ tioneer intersperses his calling for bids with greetings dred dollars for a cow is considered serious business. and personal comments directed at friends or regular Humor, and the exchange of per onal information, auction attenders. Conversations among members of which in the other auction are topics of verbal ex­ the audience may center on products bought or needed, pression, are absent. One reason bidders avoid speech or on personal subjects unrelated to the auction. In and use almost imperceptible gestures may be a desire these ways, the range of topic in a speech siutation to conceal their intentions from competing bidders. formally defined as one of economic exchange is ex­ Although the auction of assorted a nd sundry objects panded to include personality traits of individuals is also a place of economic exchange, the limited value known to the group, local news, gossip, fa mily affairs, of the items bought and sold makes the items themselves ad infinitum. a less serious, and less central concern. H ere some Use of Speech zn the Miscellaneous, individuals may compete with the auctioneer in making Used Items Auction jokes, but there is no economically important competi­ Speech is the main channel of social interaction at tion. A latent, that is, unrecognized, unintended func­ this auction. Bids are requested, offered, and received tion of this auction may be the reinforcing or widening by the use of questions and answers between partic­ of social relationships; social interaction (visiting, ex­ ipants. The stereotyped auctioneer's call, with its limited changing news, joking) may be the most positively content, and narrow, repetitive structure is used only valued end in this situation. In this light, an un­ momentarily when an item is introduced, and a min­ restricted speech code and an extensive use of speech imum price is suggested. Its intended effects in this make sense in that they intensify and expand interaction. situation appear to be getting the crowd's attention, The ways of speaking described here can not be lending a dramatic element to the auctioneer's per­ assigned distinct causes, because speech is itself an formance, and entertaining. Humor, one of the partic­ element of social context, complexly interrelated with ipants' major concerns, is expressed verbally through other such elements. The natural speech activity has insults, narrated incidents, and puns. Some particular­ thus not been reduced to rules, but the appropriateness of speech and its importance to the social activity going ly l a r~e eggs presented for auction elicited the following exchange. on in each situation have been established here. This "You have some big eggs there, John"-from a paper has tried to illustrate the interdependence of middle-aged woman in the audience. speaking and the context of use within a specific speech "Duck eggs!"-from a young man about twenty community. years of age. BIBLIOGRAPHY "I'll duck you in the water!"-from the auctioneer. Bernstein, Bas il. " Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Theil' Social Origins and Some Consequences" in John J. Gumperz Laughter from the audience and the helpers. a nd Dell H ymes (eds. ), The Ethnography of Communication. The use of speech is not restricted to interaction be- Washington, D .C.: American Anthropological Association, tween auctioneer and audience or helpers, but occurs 1964. Ervin-Tripp, Susan. "An Analysis of the Interaction of throughout the room in personal conversations, and m Language, Topic, and Listeners" in John J. Gumperz and buying and selling at the vending booths as well. Dell H ymes (eds.), The Ethnography of Communication. Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association, 1964. CONCLUSION Goffman, Erving. Encounters. ew York: The Bobbs-Mer- rill Co., Inc., 1961 . This description of two speech situations within a Gumperz, J ohn. "Types of Linguistic Communities." An­ speech community defined as those individuals who thropological Linguistics, 1962, IV: I. H ymes, Dell. "The Ethnography of Speaking," in J oshua regularly attend the weekly Green Dragon market A. Fishman (ed. ), Readings in the S ociology of Language. points out that, in each case, differences in speaking The Hague, Netherlands: M outon and Co., Printers, 1968.

44 Pennsylvania German Astronomy and Astrology IX: Johann Friederich Schmidt

By LOUIS WINKLER

INTRODUCTION In all of these accounts the astronomical contributions While Johann Friederich Schmidt was quite prom­ of Schmidt are only touched upon lightly. inent in his time, this writer has only located three Schmidt was born on September 1, 1746, in Central accounts of Schmidt's life. These include a sketch by Germany in the village of Frose in Sachsen-Anhalt. Zentler,' another by Mayer: and a bi.ography by Nolan.' His father, Johann Gottfried Schmidt, was a farmer 'Conrad Zen ti er, "Kurze Anzeige der L ebensumstande and architect who had a liking for mathematics. The und seligen Abschieds des Herrn Pastor J ohann Friedrich son was educated at the Lutheran Seminary at Halle Schmidt's," Evangelisches Magazin, II, 181 3, i-viii. 'Philip F. Mayer, in Annals of the American Pulpit, IX until 1759 and then at the University of H alle. As a (New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1969), student at the university he ranked highest in his classes, 45-47. ']. Bennett Nolan, The Smith Fam'ily of Pennsylvania: Joh­ and studied mathematics and astronomy. Upon re­ ann Friederich Schmidt, 1746-1812, which was published by ceiving his academic and theological certificates (Fig­ the family in 1932 at the R eading Eagle Press. ures 1 and 2, respectively) in 1765 he stayed on at H alle as an instructor until 1768. After his scholastic career at H alle he sailed for America to arrive in Philadelphia in the spring of 1769. He resided until 1785 in Germantown, where he devoted a great deal of his time to the Lutheran Church. In 1785 he moved to Philadelphia where he rose in the church hierarchy. Once in Philadelphia it appears that he became interested in almanac calculations and renewed his interests in academic matters which In­ cluded perhaps the instruction of astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. Pastor Schmidt's primary contribution to society was as a Lutheran clergyman as well as the propagator of the Smith family which had no small part in the development of Pennsylvania. However, the Pastor's astronomical contributions as a member of the Penn­ syvania community appear to be rather unique and quite sophisticated.

ACADEMIC WORK The only known extant work of Schmidt's is his primer' of 1792, printed by Michael Billmeyer of Germantown. In spite of the lack of the existence of any other of Schmidt's works it is nevertheless possible to make a number of interesting conclusions regarding the nature of his work. When Schmidt died on May Johann Friederich Schmidt (1746-1812). The engraving appeared in the Evangelisches Magazin, I (1812). It was 16, 1812, he left behind a number of astronomical from a painting, now lost, by the Philadelphia artist Johann 'Entitled, Ein wohl eingerichtetes deutsches ABC Buch­ Eckstein, and engraved by the artist himself stabir-und Lesebuch zum Gebrauch deutscher Schulen.

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Figure 1. Schmidt's academic certificate of 1765. Courtesy F,igure 2. Schmidt's theological certificate from the Univer­ Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphiiz. Slty of Halle, Courtesy Lutheran Theological Seminary Philadelphiiz. '

items. His will' included the provlSIon: "and I wish that my astronomical books, my written tables and 7. Eine Tabelle und R egeln, um die A scension, die Mittags hohe, und Descension die S onne, calculations and globes may remain in the families of des M ondes, der Planet en und fixirten Sterne my children as they may be of some use for one or fiir 40 Grade norderlicher Breite zu finden. another of my grandchildren." 8. Eine leichte Art, Sonn-und-M ond-Finsternisse Schmidt's biographer, J. Bennett Nolan, a descend­ zu berechnen. ant, suggested that these same books and tables were 9. Tabelle, die Bewegung d er Sonne zu finden, in Minuten. still within the family in R eading." However, this Tabelle, die Bewegung der Sonne zu finden, writer is only able to find a listing of his astronomical in Stunden. manuscripts which are as follows:' Tabelle, die Bewegung des Mondes, in Minuten. 1. Tabellen der schiefen Ascension in rechter Tabelle, die Bewegung des M ondes, in Stunden. Z eit fiir die nordliche Breite von 32°42'. 10. Tabellen der schiefen A scensi'm und Descension N. B. Diese Tabellen Konnen ebenfalls zur fiir den 40sten Grad nordlicher Breite, von 0 schiefen Descension gebraucht werden. bis 7 Grade auf der nordlichen u. siidlichen 2. R egeln zur Calender Berechnung. Breite der Sonne, des M ondes und der Planeten, 3. Bem erkungen tJber M eyers Sonnen-Tab ellen. und wie diese Tabellen zu gebrauchen. 4. Ditto iiber M eyers M ond-Tabellen. 11. Eine Tabelle der geraden A scension der Mit­ 5. Art, Zu irgend einer Z eit, des M ondes Breite tagshohe fiir jed en Grad, in gleichem V erhalt­ ?u finren. nis mit der Hohe des 90stens Grades und mit 6. Art, auf eine Kurze W eise die geocentric Lan{!,e dem 90sten Grade in der Ecliptik, fiir 40 und geocentrische Breite der Planeten ] upit'er Grade nordlicher Breite. Diese Tabelle ist von und V enus zu finden. grossem Nutzen, um des Mondes Parallaxin in 'Nolan, 101. Lange und Breite zu finden, die Sonnen-Fin­ "Ibid. st ernisse zu berechnen, und wie sie zu gebrau­ 'Zentler, vii and viii. chen. 46 12. Eine Tabelle von der Breite des Mondes und petence is verified by the fact that the University of seines Abnehmens in Finsternissen. Pennsylvania awarded him an honorary M. A. in 1789 13. Eine T abelle der stiindlichen Bewegungen, der H alb-Durchmesser, und der H orizantal Paral­ for his astronomical work, and also honored him for laxinen der S anne und des M andes. his linguistic achievements. Further, a recommendation 14. Tabelle der Entfernung, ader Bewegung des by Schmidt a ppears in a computational text'· by Carl Mondes, von der wahren Conjunction bis zur Kessler in 1807 and published by Johann Ritter at grossesten V erfinsterung. Reading, as well as in his own text (see Figure 3). 15. T abellen um die geocentrische hange eines jeden Planeten zu fin den; nebst manchen andern It was not unusual for the University of Pennsylvania astrorwmisc hen Tabellen u V ersuchen. to employ Lutheran clergymen on the faculty at that All fifteen of these manuscripts deal with celestial time since both Pastors Kunze and H elmuth, who were mechanics which was in the forefront of the fi eld of intimate friends of Schmidt's, were members. Associa­ astronomy during the 18th and 19th Centuries. In tions between the University of Pennsylvania and Pastor order to obtain a feeling for the nature and complexity Schmidt even extended to their utilizing one another's of these celestial mechanical computations the reader facilities. On a number of occasions the University might examine the two extant works· of John Chris­ used the Zion Church and St. Michael's, where Schmidt topher Kunze, who was also a Lutheran clergyman l·Anfangsgrilnde der Rechenkunst, zum Gebrauch der D eut­ and intimate friend of Pastor Schmidt. K unze's works schen Schulen in den Vereinigten Staaten von America und were read to the American Philosophical Society and besonders in Pennsylvania. published in 1806 and concerned eclipses. Zentler' the publisher of the Evangelisches M agazin, makes a comment about manuscript No. 10 : "Diese Tabell en wurden von dem seligen Manne mit grosser Miihe und zum Erstaunen der Astronomer ausberech­ t sn orbcric!) r. XIII net." H e is referring to the complex mathematical ex­ pressions of celestial mechanics used fo r the computa­ l ~ir , ~I C tllltrrid)mt-rnm, 1II'('f11 OI C" .zd)lIl~ lI d) qm.lll J tions to describe the nonuniform and irregular motions t-lIrd)~eirl ) m 1I11 ~ illi b ~1 :1I1llld) Der ~~1Ci!I!1lh), ~,,\j c,; NI" of the sun, moon and planets. ~ !1 rj"nttel1 !;C11tid)clI :J 1l})Cl1 b l'~il' n ~m ' m'lI il"l) i,'\\ 11 r.':1. Pastor Schmidt's astronomical contributions appear 'lSir n'iiTen lt i(!) t, l' ~ rrn'., ~ ('~ITcr{ ::; ~'l' n Nr ')In ,'11" to be unique and highly technical even when compared 1)eutfclJ lo utJ fd~lt ben .\\il1Dcrn !l'lll e III ~ I e ,i? :lll ll c ~{~ e. to the work of such people as E. L. Walz, C. F. Egel­ 11m It'erNu,

mann, and David Rittenhouse. The astronomical work lliii r 1t'llllic!)Cll L ,,~cr oen gci.'llltm L'C!ttid)CIl S\ lI\ bem of these Pennsylvania German community members have r-leie(; I1lbrnb(,lIlbc (. (ij iL'lcr, b"13 fir h lC!' CIIlC il' Ici(bl e, been discussed in Articles I, VII and VIII respectively grilubl ill)c un" id)[' llc ~ 11l\ t'flfuug erl,h,llen, II)rr :lJl uller. of this series. Schmidt's work appears to be much more fprocl)e ;u lenten , mathematical and specialized than Walz's descriptive \lB ir n' ill1 fcl)en bCII £el)r crn ililL'lct', b"ij .sir nao) %l( CI ' astronomy text. While Egelmann's almanac work was lung blciel; lO lIcI) ~ \)011 nUll ,11\ [eio)ter IInl) tlfrglll't;Jlf\' ,1Ll perhaps as technical as Schmidt's it did not include as i~ren II)IICII Untergebellen INrDen ar~clten tOIlIlC";

many topics. The great contributions of Rittenhouse Wir 1I>t'll1icl)tII ~Cl\

construction, observations, and a few original, theoret­ Uc~r igen ~ \\l oUe ber S?(!rr ieillfn ~egm ,'lIr ~ic(, Ullter. ical papers. \1tl)metl lcgm III1D (hftntlll~ unO ~jl'tlicll~fet! Ollci,) III cr. 1 While there is no record of Schmidt being on the vurd) flel) IIllter lIl/fcrn t")cuti(Qm j))/ilbrllDtrn Nr:'rcilm faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, considerable i'llTm IIItl ;jrill Iltlim;; .i~C I I'lIIN " tr lllCll . circumstantial evidence exists for this. In this writer's 3Ul1 .pcinricl) ~l)tijlian S;ldmulf>,. opinion the manuscripts of the list were sufficiently ,Sol)'ll1n ~ricDtlcf) ec!\miN. sophisticated to serve as lecture notes at the university ,5 0 I) (W IJ S.;lCrl\lllll c;mlllfl)IlU[). level during Schmidt's time. Schmidt's scholarly com-

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·Entitled, "A new method of calculating all the lunar and solar eclipses and new and full moons, from the creation of the world, grounded upon Scripture chronology," and "A Table of a new construction for calculating the great eclipse expected to happen on the 16 th of June, 1806." Both pub­ lished in New York by T . and J. Swords. Figure 3. Page from Schmidt's copy book with recommen­ 'Op. cit., vii. dation. Courtesy of American AntiqUilrian Society.

47 preached, for commencement purposes. When the Zion church burned down in 1795, Schmidt used the facilitie­ of the University to meet his congregation. ALMANACS Unfortunately Schmidt's name has not been fo und by this writer on almanacs published during Schmidt's life in America. H owever there is evidence that he made calculations for a number of almanacs. In Moye r's letter" of 1852 he wrote that "for many years, he (Schmidt) made all Astronomical calcul ations for the German Almanacs that were published in Phil­ adelphia." In eight letters" written by Schmidt to his oldest son Frederick from 1799-1807 numerous ref­ erences are made to almanac printers with which the father dealt. From Schmidt's numerous references to calculations sent in the mail or unpaid services for cal­ Figure 4. Spangler's pocket almanac of 1778, with nota­ culations and Drake's" listings it is reasonable to beli eve tions. From the Nolan biography. that Schmidt at least made computations for the fol­ lowing almanacs : N euer H auswirthschafts Calender for 1799-1801, 1803, and 1808 ;; V ereinigten Staaten Calender and Americanischer Stadt und Land Calender, varIous letters, Jungmann of Reading was delinquent for 1800; N eue Allge mein-Niitzliche V olks-Calender in his payment for calculations received in 1799, 1801, for 1802 ; Gemeiniizige Americanische Calender for and 1802, wnile Hutter of Lancaster: requested calcula­ 1803 and 1806 ; and the N eue Americanische Land­ tions but never picked them up. In Schmidt's letter wirthsc hafts Calender for 1806, 1808 and 1811. Of of October 28, 1799, he indicated that he received these almanacs only the V ereinigten Staat en Calender "nautical almanacs" up to 1803. This statement of and Americanischer Stadt und Land Calender were Schmidt's is consistent with the assertion made by this published in Philadelphia. All the others were published writer in Article VII of this series that early American in Reading except for the N eue Americanische Land­ almanac calculators employed the Brit.ish Nautical Al­ wirthschafts Calender which was published in Lancaster. manac to make their computations. It is interesting to note that some or all of each of the previously mentioned manuscripts had computations One of the more remarkable items in the general which relate to almanacs. This is particularl y evident fi eld of a lmana.:s is found in an almaliac of the Smith from the title of manuscript 2. If these manuscripts family. This item is the hand written entry of George could be recovered they probably would contain in­ Spangler (alias George Lamb, alias George Leaf) re­ valuable information regarding specific methods used garding his trial, conviction and execution dates as a by early American almanac calculators. Among Sch­ traitor (see Figure 4). The entry" reads midt's letters" however there are some valuable bits Tried by a genl. Court martial August 1d. Con­ of information regarding the intimate aspects of al­ demned the 4th. Informed the of Execution- 6th and to Dye the on Friday the 14th. God have manac calculations. In his January 15, 1800, letter mercy on me I humbly pray. Schmidt indicated that "printers" assured him that they Spangler was a Tory and was executed as a traitor in were not giving his calculations to anybody. Schmidt 1778. Spangler's daughter, Catherine Leaf, married indicated that the cost for a. set of calculations was Schmidt's oldest son, Frederick. $12 for the years 1806, 1808 and 1811. Nolan'"' suggests The format of the almanac shows that it is of the that Schmidt was motivated to make almanac calcula­ pocket type. An examination of the month of Septem­ tions to supplement his meager ministerial stipend. ber in 1778 of the Gregorian calender verifies the year Among the eight printers" mentioned by Schmidt in his of the calender as 1778. While Drake'· lists five pocket "0p. cit., 46. almanacs published for 1778 in Pennsylvania, only "Translated letters in the possession of the Lutheran The­ ological Seminary at Philadelphia date

Marriage, as one of the so-called "rites of passage" that so, what did it consist of? Was it a visit to relatives who most individuals are involved with in moving through life, lived at a clistance from home? is universally honored in every society by ritual and cere­ 6. Wedding Symbols. Today married couples often wear mony. The purpose of this questionnaire is to elicit infor­ wedding rings as symbols of their union. Was this univer­ mation on how courtship and marriage were carried on and sally the custom in the past? The plain sects, for example, celebrated in the various Pennsylvania ethnic and religious do not use wedding rings. Were wedding certificates always groups. made out by the pastor and given to the couple? Were 1. Courtship Practices. At what age was courtship ex­ wedding photographs taken in earlier days as today? In pected to begin? How was it carried on? How did courting what sense was the family Bible a wedding symbol? couples meet in the first place, i.e. , what insititutions were 7. Dowry. In earlier days a dowry was part of the wed­ available in the community where young people could meet ding settlement between the two families which were united and get to know one another? How was engagement arranged through the ceremony. This was the portion of the house­ in earlier days? Was there an engagement ring? hold goods and moneys which the bride brought from her 2. Bundling. In the histories of Pennsylvania we hear side of the transaction in to the new household. What do you much of the earlier practice of bundling, in which the court­ know of the practice? What was a "dower chest" and what ing couple retired to the girl's bedroom for courting. This was its connection with the wedding? What is the Pennsyl­ appears to have been a universal custom among the Pennsyl­ vania German term for dowry? vania Germans (not just the Amish, about whose bundling 8. The New Home. What arrangements were made for practices so much has been written). Will readers be specific the young married couple by the parents? Where did the on what they know on bundling from their own families. couple live until they could manage a farm of their own? Just what was the practice? What were the limits imposed? Who usually inherited the family farm, the oldest or the We know of course that bundling was an accepted practice youngest son? in many peasant cultures of Europe, and in Pennsylvania it had its good reasons for ex"isting. The kitchen was usually 9. Deviation from Marriage. How common in your the only heated room of the farmhouse, the entire family opinion was illegitimacy among Pennsylvania's ethnic was gathered there in the evening, and privacy was impos­ and religious groups? How was it dealt with in the com­ sible. The custom was of course permitted by the parents munity? What happened in the community when a marriage and community and controlled by the parents' knowledge went to pieces, when marriage vows were broken by hus­ and consent. band or wife? How common was separation? Lastly, what proportion of the community did not get married, and what 3. Wedding Ceremony. Will readers describe the wedding was the function of bachelors and old maids in the rural ceremonies they participated in or heard about from earlier world of Pennsylvania? generations of their families. Where was the wedding held - church, home, or elsewhere? What times were weddings 10. Lore and Dialectology of Courtship and Marriage. usually scheduled - morning, noon, afternoon? What times Will readers share with us any rhymes, verses, songs, jokes of year were favorites for weddings? What sort of wedding or tales that they recall from the past dealing with courtship reception or wedding meal was involved? How were people and marriage. Will speakers of the Pennsylvania German invited to the wedding? What taboos existed before the dialect, or other non-English languages in Pennsylvania, list actual wedding ceremony on the separation of the bride and terms used by their communities for all the terms we have groom? mentioned. 4. Wedding Costume. Were special costumes worn for the wedding ceremony, as today? If so, what was done with Send your replies to: the bride's wedding dress after the wedding? Was it worn Dr. Don Yoder during her lifetime? Logan Hall Box 13 5. Honeymoon. Was the "honeymoon" or wedding trip University of Pennsylvania a usual part of a Pennsylvania wedding in earlier times? If Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19174 JUNE 28, 29, 30· JULY 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 1975

An invitation to become a subscriber to the Society's periodical PENNSYLVANIA FOLKLlFE, now in its twenty-third year, published five times annually, in Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer, plus a colorful Folk Festival supplement. Each issue appears in a colored cover, with 48 pages of text, and is profusely illustrated. Subjects covered include: architecture, cookery, costume, customs of the year, folk art and antiques, folk dancing, folk medicine, folk literature, folk religion, folk speech, home-making lore, recrea­ tion, superstitions, traditional farm and craft practices, transporta­ tion lore and numerous others. The purpose of the Pennsylvania Folklife Society, a non-profit corporation, is three-fold : collecting and displaying the lore of the Dutch Country and Pennsylvania; studying and archiving it; and making it available to the publi<;.