Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2017 "Our Own Flesh and Blood?": Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country. Jennifer L. Miller Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Miller, Jennifer L., ""Our Own Flesh and Blood?": Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth- Century Ohio Country." (2017). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8183. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8183 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Our Own Flesh and Blood?”: Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country Jennifer L. Miller Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences At West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Tyler Boulware, Ph.D., chair Melissa Bingmann, Ph.D. Joseph Hodge, Ph.D. Brian Luskey, Ph.D. Rachel Wheeler, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2017 Keywords: Moravians, Delaware Indians, Ohio Country, Pennsylvania, Seven Years’ War, American Revolution, Bethlehem, Gnadenhütten, Schoenbrunn Copyright 2017 Jennifer L. Miller ABSTRACT “Our Own Flesh and Blood?”: Delaware Indians and Moravians in the Eighteenth-Century Ohio Country Jennifer L. Miller Between 1740 and 1790, Moravians and Delaware Indians fostered a spiritual and political alliance even as they endured a series of internal divisions and external threats. Although the relationship withstood the Seven Years’ War, the American Revolution splintered both groups and estranged them from their neighbors. When the Revolution ushered in a radical new democracy that undermined the authority of eastern leaders, the Moravians proved powerless to control white settlers who enforced their own vision of justice against Native peoples. The Moravian-Delaware partnership unraveled as the dramatic upheaval of the American Revolution fundamentally reshaped the political landscape and rendered the alliance futile. The Moravian-Delaware partnership is a striking example of intercultural cooperation during a period of intense conflict and change in the mid-Atlantic borderlands. Native peoples were drawn to the Moravians for a variety of reasons, including the role of women in the church, the Brethren’s unique theology, and their overlapping spiritual practices, as scholars have noted. Equally significant, as my research suggests, was the alliance that the Moravians offered in an era plagued by political and cultural upheaval. Prior to the American Revolution, Pennsylvania’s unique political dynamics allowed the Moravians to garner a degree of political influence that eluded them in other colonies and convinced Delaware leaders that the Brethren could be a valuable political ally in their quest to secure a homeland and protect their people. Despite the Moravians’ marginal social position, they successfully developed connections within both Pennsylvania’s Quaker and Proprietary factions. Moravian office-holders including William Edmonds, Timothy Horsfield, and William Henry cultivated associations with prominent leaders such as Governor Robert Morris and Benjamin Franklin and used their influence to address the concerns of those living in and around Moravian communities. The Gnadenhütten Massacre of 1782 highlighted the racial violence that characterized much of the bloodshed in the west during the American Revolution as well as the breakdown of political authority in the outer edges of the state. I argue that it also offers a striking example of how Delaware men combined Native and Moravian understandings of manhood and demonstrates the extent to which some Indians adopted a distinctly Moravian model of masculinity. The massacre offered horrific proof that the Moravians could not protect the Delaware or their land from attack. But their failure was not a reflection of the Indians’ misjudgment in cultivating an alliance with the Moravian church or the Brethren’s unwillingness to use their political connections for the benefit of their Native friends. In spite of the Moravians’ tenuous social position in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania, they proved to be savvy political actors and valuable allies to Native peoples until the American Revolution undermined their carefully established political connections and limited their ability to defend the mission communities. Dedication To Weldon iii Acknowledgements Composing these few short paragraphs is one of the more difficult tasks I’ve tackled in the course of writing this dissertation. My words cannot adequately convey my deep appreciation and gratitude to those who have offered their support and guidance as I struggled to transform a collection of thoughts and ideas into a coherent piece of scholarship. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, whose careful reading and probing questions forced me to think more deeply about the significance of my research and articulate my conclusions more clearly. My adviser, Dr. Tyler Boulware, reviewed several iterations of this work and never failed to offer insightful comments and suggestions; his perceptive critiques will undoubtedly shape the next stages of this project. Dr. Melissa Bingmann introduced me to the field of public history and her enthusiasm and encouragement inspired the epilogue to a study that would have otherwise ended in the early nineteenth century. Dr. Brian Luskey encouraged my ideas from the beginning and has provided advice on teaching, writing, and thinking like a historian. Dr. Joseph Hodge and Dr. Rachel Wheeler offered excellent recommendations for improving my dissertation’s clarity and overarching argument. Although not a member of my dissertation committee, Dr. Kimberly Welch has served as an invaluable mentor. Her interest in my development as a scholar provided opportunities I had never considered and I cannot thank her enough. I am grateful for the financial support that this project has received over the past six years. The Office of Graduate Education and Life at West Virginia University funded the earliest stages of my research through the Provost Graduate Fellowship. West Virginia University’s Humanities Summer Fellowship allowed me to gain hands-on experience in the field of public history by supporting my work at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. The William D. Barnes Award in West Virginia or Regional History, the Department of History Dissertation Research Fellowship, and an Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Travel Award funded my year at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The West Virginia University Foundation’s Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship relieved me of teaching duties and provided financial resources for an additional semester of research. As the project neared completion, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Regional Scholarship Award provided for final research trips to the American Philosophical Society, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and Moravian Archives; a Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Illinois Fellowship allowed me to spend an additional four weeks at the Newberry Library. The Newberry Library welcomed me first as a graduate scholar-in-residence and later as a short-term fellow. There is no question that my time at the Newberry enriched my work and resulted in a much stronger dissertation. Although the collections at the Newberry played a significant role in this, it was the dynamic intellectual community that proved truly invaluable. This project benefited immensely from feedback I received when presenting portions of my work at the Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle American Indian Seminar Series and the Newberry Library’s Colloquium, while the Newberry’s Fellows Seminar Series provided an opportunity to engage with new research in fields beyond my own. My sincerest thanks to Linford Fisher, Rowena McClinton, and Daniel Usner, who took time from their busy research schedules to share advice over coffee. iv Writing can be a lonely endeavor, and I am thankful for the friends and colleagues who provided much-needed conversation and encouragement along the way. My fellow classmates Cassie Auble, Karina Garcia Esposito, Christine Grant, Megan McGee, and Lindsey McNellis supplied advice and laughter. Ben Scharff served as a debate partner for a variety of topics in eighteenth-century history and current politics during our weekly carpool from Pittsburgh to Morgantown. Although not historians, Susan Burnett Holtzman and Bianca Crowley offered valuable perspectives on school, career, and life when I needed them most. This project would not have been possible without the support I received from my family. I entered WVU’s doctoral program in the fall semester of 2011. Six years, five apartments, four