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The name Moravian identifies the fact that this historic church had its origin in ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic. The foremost of Czech reformers, John Hus (1369-1415) was a professor of philosophy and rector of the University in Prague. The Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Hus preached, became a rallying place for the Czech reformation. Gaining support from students and the common people, he led a protest movement against many practices of the Roman Catholic clergy and hierarchy. Hus was accused of heresy, underwent a long trial at the Council of Constance, and was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. The reformation spirit did not die with John Hus. The Moravian Church, or Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren), as it has been officially known since 1457, arose as followers of Hus gathered in the village of Kunvald, about 100 miles east of Prague, in eastern Bohemia, and organized the church. This was sixty years before Martin Luther began his reformation and a hundred years before the establishment of the Church of England (Anglican). By 1467 the Moravian Church had established its own ministry, and in the years that followed three orders of the ministry were defined: deacon, presbyter, and bishop. After an unsuccessful attempt to establish a Moravian settlement in Georgia (1735-1740), the Moravians settled in Pennsylvania on the estate of George Whitefield. Moravian settlers purchased five hundred acres to establish the settlement of Bethlehem in 1741. Soon they bought the five thousand acres of the Barony of Nazareth from Whitefield's manager, and the two communities of Bethlehem and Nazareth became closely linked in their agricultural and industrial economy. Other settlement congregations were established in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. All were considered frontier centers for the spread of the gospel, particularly in mission to the Native Americans. Bishop Augustus Spangenberg led a party to survey a 100,000 acre tract of land in North Carolina, which came to be known as Wachau after an Austrian estate of Count Zinzendorf. The name, later anglicized to Wachovia, became the center of growth for the church in that region. Bethabara, Bethania, and Salem (now Winston-Salem) were the first Moravian settlements in North Carolina in the early 1750s. The first settlers arrived in November, 1753, a group of eleven single men selected to provide the necessary skills for establishing a new community. Four others accompanied them on the journey but returned to Pennsylvania soon after. Additional settlers arrived beginning in 1754 and 1755, including the first women. The first community established was Bethabara, initially a stockaded fort protecting the neighboring farms. Never much more than a farming community in the early days, it is now within the city limits of Winston-Salem, on the northwest side of the city center. In 1759, the site was selected for a second village, Bethania, about three miles northwest of Bethabara. The first houses were built in the summer of that year, just before an epidemic of typhus broke out that killed ten of the settlers. Bethania had its own church, still an active congregation, and supported the surrounding farms with basic goods and services. Families particularly associated with Bethania in the early days include Binkley, Conrad, Grabs, Hauser, Spainhour, Strub, Transou, and Volck. There was a strong need, however, for a larger, central town. After several years of planning and construction, beginning in 1765, Salem came fully into being from 1766 to 1772. Most of the Bethabara residents moved there. Although individuals could own private property, the church leadership provided strict control over who could live there, and on how each person served the community. New residents were attracted to Salem from all of the surrounding communities, as well as from Pennsylvania and even Europe. Thus the family names associated with Salem do not follow geographic divisions to the extent that they do in the other communities. Salem was the commercial center for a wide area, selling goods to many outsiders and providing lodging to travelers. The First Company of 1753 A year after purchase of the Wachovia Tract, a group of fifteen men came south to begin the first settlement. Their journey began on October 8, 1753, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the trip overland through Pennsylvania, Maryland, and down the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is described in fascinating detail in the Moravian Records. The road was poor, food was scarce, and river crossings with their loaded wagons were very difficult. By early November the weather was cold and rainy or even snowy, and near the end they were delayed for two days, unable to cross the flooded Dan River just south of the Virginia-North Carolina border. They finally reached their destination on the evening of November 17, taking shelter in a deserted cabin and celebrating their arrival with a Lovefeast (a shared simple meal with singing and prayer, a Moravian tradition). The wolves howled loudly outside. The members of this group were carefully selected to provide the necessary combination of skills to create a new community from the wilderness. Eleven, all single men, were to be the permanent settlers, and four returned to Pennsylvania. Most had previously been residents of the Moravian agricultural center at Christiansbrunn, near Nazareth, PA. Johannes Beroth Arrivals in 1754 Johannes Lischer had returned to Pennsylvania in 1753, but came back in April of 1754, accompanied by Jacob Friis. Peter Boehler and Andreas Höger were visitors who arrived in September of 1754, but did not remain in NC. A second group of single men arrived on October 26, 1754: Andreas Betz 1755, Single Men and Married Couples The year 1755 saw substantial growth in the little Bethabara community, with several parties of new settlers reaching Wachovia, including the first women, who arrived with their husbands on November 4th of that year. William Angel Settlers of 1756-1758 Single persons and married couples continued to arrive from 1756-1758: Nicholas Anspach Several of the single brethren made a trip back to Pennsylvania in 1758 to marry, and returned with their brides in May of 1759. Tragedy struck several of these couples, however, with a typhus epidemic that began in July of that year and killed ten persons. Most of the other settlers also contracted the disease, but survived. The new women settlers included: Anna Catharina Antes, wife of Hans Martin Kalberlahn Also arriving in 1759 were the following: Johannes Bürstler Groups of settlers continued to arrive in the early 1760s. A large party, including the Transou family, came in June of 1762. On July 18th of that year the first wedding was held in Wachovia. Seven couples were married: the newly-arrived Elisabeth Holder married William Angel, Maria Leibert married Gottlieb Fockel, Felicitas Grosch married Erhard Heckedorn, and Anna Elisabeth Witke married Matthaeus Krause; three widows of the community married again, Anna Catharina Antes Kalberlahn to Christian Gottlieb Reuter; Barbara Steiner Lick to George Holder, and Rosina Kaske Biefel to Gottlieb Ludolph Bachhof. The 1760-1765 settlers: Lorenz Bagge Arrivals in 1766-1770 The year 1766 was noteworthy for the arrival of two groups of young people who walked all the way from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. On October 11th, a company of eight boys, all about 12-13 years old, arrived with five adult men. The church diary records that "they arrived about five o'clock, and were greeted with trumpets." On November 1st, a party of sixteen single women and older girls arrived with a married couple, Richard and Sarah Utley, and Anna Maria Schropp, wife of Mattheaus Schropp, who had come in July of that year. Their journey took 29 and a half days. In 1981, a Salem college professor, Dudley Shearburn, repeated this trek, taking as nearly as possible the same route down the valley of Virginia. Her account of her trip is published in Three Forks of Muddy Creek, vol. 8. The company of single women and their escorts: Catharina Beroth Arrivals in 1767-1771 Traugott Bagge and wife Rahel Families from Other Settlements: The following are families who came independently to North
Carolina, settled in Rowan County, and later affiliated with
the Moravians. The Moravian Records list individuals from these
families as "receptions into Wachovia congregations from
among neighbors." Maria Fiscus Friedrich and Anna Barbara (Frey) Boeckel The Broad Bay, or Friedland Society Most of these settlers came in 1769-1770 from Broad Bay, Maine, and signed a "Brotherly Agreement" as a community in 1771. Peter Fiedler William Angel was English, born at Hanixerton, Wiltshire, in 1729. He came to America in 1754, and to Wachovia in 1755. He married Elizabeth Holder in July of 1762, in the first wedding in Wachovia, in which seven couples took vows. Her relation, if any, to the family of George, Charles, and Joseph Holder, is unknown; born in 1738, she is too old to be the daughter of any of these, and she is not listed among their siblings in baptismal records. She died in Bethabara in 1764, and William returned to Bethlehem, PA, where he died of Smallpox in 1767. Nicholas Anspach, recorded as "moved away", no further information Anna Catharina Antes (1728-1816) was the daughter of Henry Antes, a prominent Pennsylvania farmer and member of the German Reformed Church who was a leader of the ecumenical church movement of the 1740s. Anna Catharina married the doctor Hans Martin Kalberlahn in Pennsylvania in 1758, and came to Salem in May of 1759. Kalberlahn died in the typhus epidemic later that summer. She married Christian Gottlieb Reuter (1717-1777) in 1762, then Johann Heintzmann (1723-1783), minister of the Friedland congregation, and finally Johann Jacob Ernst (1730-1802). She survived until 1816 herself. A diary that she kept over the years was preserved, and was expanded into a book, "The Road to Salem," published in 1944, by Dr. Adelaide Fries, the Salem archivist. Rosina Arndt came in 1755 with her husband Christian Künast. Gottfried Aust (1722-1788) was the community potter, arriving
in 1755 and living initially in Bethabara, later in Salem. He
married three times, first to Felicitas Grosch (the widow Heckedorn)
(1736-1777), mother of his son Johann Gottfried (1766-1787);
second to Christiana Orchard, widow of William Dixon; and third
to Maria, surname unknown, whom he went to Pennsylvania to marry
in 1780. In May of 1788, he and Maria traveled to Philadelphia,
to seek treatment for a cancerous sore on his face, and he died
in Lititz, PA in September of that year. Lorenz Bagge arrived in 1764, and was recalled to Pennsylvania in 1784. He married the widow Maria Fockel in 1779. Traugott Bagge arrived in 1768 with his wife Rahel. She died in Salem in 1799, he the next year. Johann Georg Baumgarten, born 1722, arrived in 1755 and died in Salem in 1779. Johann Friedrich Beck arrived in 1766, returned to PA and died in Bethlehem in 1788. Johann Valentine Beck arrived in 1764. He married Anna Leinbach, and died in Bethania in 1791. Andreas Betz was born in 1727 in the Palatinate. He arrived in Octoberof 1754, part of the second party of permanent settlers. He was the gunsmith in Bethabara until 1767, when he married a woman named ?? Bunner near Salisbury, NC, without permission of the Moravian leadership, and was dismissed from the membership. He is reported to have "made no trouble and made a full settlement." Nathaniel Bibighaus arrived in 1764, and died in Bethabara in 1770. Henrich Biefel, b. 1711, arrived with his wife Rosina Kaske Biefel in 1755. He died of typhus in 1759. Elisabeth Biehler arrived in 1766, and became the second wife of George Holder. She died in Bethabara in 1815. Catharina Binder, married Christian Seidel, but died in the 1759 typhus epidemic only a month after her arrival in NC. John Birkhead, born 1739, was an Englishman from Huddersfield, Yorkshire, trained in a cloth factory, and was recruited in 1766 to be one of the first residents of the new town of Salem. He died in June of 1771, and was the first person to be buried in the Salem graveyard. Johann David Bischoff, born in 1704, married Anna Maria Pech in Herrnhaag, Germany, in 1752, and came to NC in 1756. He died in Bethania in 1763. Johann Georg Biwighaus arrived in 1766 as a 12 year old apprentice. He married Christina Dixon, and died in Salem in 1806. His name appears in some records as Bibighaus, Biewighaus(en) or other variants. Magdalena Blar came in 1768 and died in Salem in 1814. Abraham Bloese arrived in 1764, died the same year in Bethabara. Anna Blum (1732-1817) married settlers of 1753, and came to NC on his return in 1757. They eventually returned to Bethlehem, PA, but several of their children remained in NC. Jacob Blum (1739-1802) is mentioned frequently in the early Moravian records in NC. He arrived in 1758, but appears to have traveled a great deal on behalf of the settlement. He married Anna Maria Born, who came in 1764. They had at least one son, Ludwig, who became a hat maker in Salem. Johann Heinrich Blum arrived in 1766, and returned to Bethlehem in 1775. Christina Barbara Böhner was born in Heilbronn, Wurttemburg, in 1722, and married Matthaeus Krause in the "Great Wedding" of 1743. She died in Bethabara in 1761. Jacob Bonn (1733-1781) was a physician who arrived in 1758, and initially served to substitute when the first doctor, Hans Martin Kalberlahn, was absent. When Kalberlahn died in 1759, Bonn took over as doctor in Bethabara, and later in Salem. He married Anna Maria Brendel, one of a party of single women who arrived in 1766. Anna Maria Born, arrived in 1764 and married Jacob Blum, She died in Bethabara in 1778. Magdalena Born, wife of Peter Sehnert, arrived in 1764. Anna Maria Brendel arrived in 1766, coming specifically to marry the doctor Jacob Bonn. She died in Salem in 1815. Andreas Broesing (1742-1827) arrived in 1770 and lived in Salem. He married Anna Johanna Steup. Johannes Bürstler (1732-1790) came in 1759 but later returned to Bethlehem. He married first Eva Roth, and second Anna Maria Plattenberger. Neither wife seems to have had an association with the NC settlement. Juliana Carmel arrived in 1768 and married Jacob Ernst. She died in 1785 in Bethabara. Rudolph Christ arrived in 1764. He was a master potter in Salem. He married Elisabeth Oesterlein in 1780. He died in Salem in 1833. Hans Christian Christensen was born in 1716 in Mamleo, near Hadersleben, Schleswig-Holstein. He came in 1754 and returned to Bethlehem in 1756. Johann Elisabeth Colver arrived in 1766, and died in Salem in 1797. She did not marry, and was a leader of the Single Sisters. Johann Andreas Cremser arrived in 1766, died in Salem in 1786. Johann Deling arrived 1766, but went back to PA in 1768. The sisters Christina and Elisabeth Dixon arrived from Pennsylvania in 1771. Christina (1756-1835) married George Biwighaus, and Elisabeth (1759-1805) married Martin Schneider, who was minister of the Friedberg congregation for many years. After her mother's death in 1805, Martin and Elisabeth's daughter Caritas Schneider was given into the care of Christina and George Biwighaus. William Dixon (1716-1764) and his wife Christiana Orchard Dixon arrived in 1760 from Bethlehem, to be the store keepers. William Edwards came in 1760 and left before 1771. Barbara Eirich, wife of Adam Kremer, came in May, 1759, and died in Bethania in 1782. Enert Enerson arrived in 1764, and died in Bethabara in 1777. Marie Enerson arrived in 1771 and married Johann Peter Yarrell. She died in 1804. Maria Elisabeth Engel arrived in 1766, and married Gottfried Praezel, his second wife. She died in Salem in 1821. Jacob Ernst arrived in 1765, and died in Salem in 1802. He was the fourth husband of Anna Catharina Antes. Johannes Ettwein (1721-1802) was a church deacon and later bishop who came to Wachovia in 1758. He married Johanna Maria Kymbel in 1746, but she did not come to North Carolina until October of 1759. They eventually returned to Bethlehem, PA. A street in Bethlehem is named for him. Elisabeth Everitt came to NC in 1768 and married Johann Jacob Kapp. She died in Bethabara in 1782. Sarah Faber is listed on page 494 of the Moravian records as a member of the Friedberg Society in 1771. We have no other information on her as yet. Henrich Feldhausen, born in German Holstein and age 38 when he came as one of the first settlers in 1753, appears to have been a jack of all trades, as the Moravian Records describe him as "shoe-maker, carpenter, mill-wright, cooper, sieve-maker, turner, and also Pennsylvania farmer." By 1763, he had returned to Pennsylvania. Peter Fiedler (1749-1829) was one of the signers of the Brotherly Agreement that formed the Friedland Society in 1771. He married Elizabeth Kröhn, daughter of Johann Peter Kröhn. Maria Fiscus joined the Bethania congregation in 1762. She married 1) George Baumgarten, and 2) Johann Peter Schryer or Schreier. She died in Salem in 1786. Johannes Flex arrived in 1766. He came as apprentice weaver, and eventually took over as master weaver in 1781, when Gottfried Praezel moved to other duties, but he was dismissed from the congregation in 1783 because he refused to follow an "orderly way of life". Gottlieb Fockel, born 1724, arrived in 1755, and died in Bethabara in 1778. His widow Maria married the widower Lorenz Bagge in 1779. Gottlieb and Maria were the parents of Samuel Fockel who married Elisabeth Beroth. The modern spelling of this surname is Fogle. Jacob Friis (1708-1793), of Odense, Denmark, came in 1754. He eventually returned to Pennsylvania, where he served in the military hospital at Bethlehem during the Revolution. He died in Bethlehem in 1793. He did not marry. Petrus Glotz arrived in 1769 and died in Salem in 1771. George Göpfert, a 1755 arrival, was born in 1729 and died in Salem in 1798. Anna Johanna Graff (1753-1827) arrived in 1771. She married Johann Friedrich Kuschke. Johann Michael Graff and his wife Gertraud Jacke were among a large group who arrived in June of 1762. They were to be the leaders of the married couples. He was a Moravian minister, consecrated as a bishop of the church in 1773. Andreas Gros was born in 1713, came to NC in 1755, and died in Bethabara in 1768. Felicitas Grosch (1736-1777) came in June 1762, and in July of that year married Erhard Heckedorn, who died in 1763. Her second husband was Gottfried Aust. Bernard Adam Grube, born 1715 in Walschleben, near Erfurt, Germany, and educated at the University of Jena, came with the first party of settlers in 1753. He was the pastor, leader of the group, and "upon occasion cook and gardener." He was later recalled to Bethlehem, where he became a missionary to the Delaware Indians. He died there in 1808. Anna Helena Gründling was the wife of Christoph Schmid, and came with him to NC in 1758, one of the first party of married couples to arrive. She died in Bethabara in 1790. George Hahns and his wife Margaretha Barbara (Betz) were among the settlers who came from Broad Bay, Maine, in November of 1769. He initially settled on the South Fork, and was listed as a member of the Friedberg Society in 1771, but later moved to the Friedland community, home of the other Broad Bay families, and died there in 1788. Margaretha died the next year, in 1789. Anna Maria Hammer arrived with her husband Carl Opitz on November 4, 1755. After his death she married Johann Christoph Kirschner. She died in Bethania in 1804. George Hartman settled on Eberts Creek about nine miles south of Winston-Salem near the Davidson County line. He and his wife Maria Hoefly Hartman were among the original members of the South Fork or Friedberg Society in 1771. Erhard Heckedorn, born 1726, married Felicitas Grosch in 1762. He died in Bethabara in 1763. Johanna Magdalena Heckedorn married George Schmid, who had originally come in 1754. He appears to have returned to Pennsylvania for the marriage, and then came back to NC with his bride in 1756. Magdalena died in Salem in 1778. Christian Renatus Heckewalder arrived in 1766. He was a storekeeper, and made frequent trips to Cross Creek, NC (now Fayetteville) and to Charles Town, SC to buy goods and supplies for the community. In 1780, he became the teacher of the older boys. He seems to have left the community sometime in the 1780s. Christian Henrich was a minister and became pastor of the new settlement in 1755. He and his wife Anna Roberts Henrich moved to Jamaica as missionaries in 1756. Johann Heinrich Herbst (1727-1821) came to Wachovia in 1762 to be the master of the tannery. He married Maria Magdalena Natterman, probably late in 1771. Magdalena Hirt arrived in 1766, and married Johannes Mücke in 1774. She died in Bethabara in 1801. Gottlob Hoffman, who came in 1755, moved to Lititz, PA in 1764. Thomas Hofmann was born in 1719 and came to Bethlehem from Marienborn in 1750. He lived in NC from 1756 until 1764, then returned to Pennsylvania and died in Bethlehem in 1770. He did not marry. Elisabeth Holder married William Angel in July of 1762, in the first wedding in Wachovia, in which seven couples took vows. Her relation if any to the family of George, Charles, and Joseph Holder, is unknown; born in 1738, she is too old to be the daughter of any of these, and she is not listed among their siblings in baptismal records. She died in Bethabara in 1764, and William returned to Bethlehem, PA, where he died of Smallpox in 1767. Maria Magdalena Höpfner arrived in 1766, age 15, and became the wife of Ludwig Meinung in 1772. She died in Salem in 1803. James Hurst arrived 1766, and died in Salem in 1794. Erich Ingebretsen, 31, born near Röras, Norway, was mill-wright and carpenter with the first group of settlers in 1753. He died in the typhus epidemic of 1759 in Bethabara. Elisabeth Jacke came in 1768, and married Johann Ranke. She died in Bethabara in 1782. Gertraud Jacke, wife of Johann Michael Graff, came with her husband in 1762. Abraham Jorde arrived in 1769, and died in Bethabara in 1770. Maria Christina Jorde arrived in 1766, at 13, the youngest of the party of single women and girls who walked to NC from Pennsylvania. In 1781, she married Carl Gottlieb Opitz, son of Carl and Anna Maria Opitz. She died in Salem in 1838. Hans Martin Kalberlahn, 31, born in Norway, was a surgeon who came with the first group of settlers in 1753. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1758, where he married Anna Catharina Antes, and brought her back to NC in 1759, but died of typhus himself soon thereafter. Jacob Kapp was born in Minckenstein, Switzerland, in 1729. He was one of the single men who arrived in 1754, and is listed as a turner and miller. His first wife was Margaretha Schor, who died in 1777. In 1779, he married Elisabeth Everitt, a single woman who had arrived in 1768. She died in 1782, and he married the single sister Louise Doll in 1783. He died in 1807 in Bethabara. Nathaniel Kaske arrived in 1764, died in Bethabara in 1767. Rosina Kaske came in 1755 with her first husband Henrich Biefel, who died in 1759. She then married Ludwig Gottlieb Bachhof, who died in 1776, and third, George Schmid. She died in Salem in 1781. Johann Christoph Kirschner (1717-1787), who arrived in 1755, married Anna Maria Hammer Opitz as her second husband. Johann Klein arrived on March 12, 1770. He drowned in August of the same year on a journey to Cross Creek (Fayetteville), NC, and his body was returned to Salem for burial in 1772. Reinhard Peter Kockmann arrived in 1771, and returned to Pennsylvania in 1775. Adam Koffler arrived November 1762. Anna Maria Kraus arrived in 1766, at age 47 the leader of the party of Single Sisters and Older Girls who walked all the way from Bethlehem. She did not marry, but continued to serve as a leader of the Single Sisters until 1786, when she retired due to "age and weakness." She died in Salem in 1798. Maria Elisabeth Kraus arrived in 1766, age 14, one of the party of girls who walked from Pennsylvania. She married Peter Goetje, a shoemaker and Moravian minister, in 1785. He became minister to the Friedland settlement, but died only a year later. Maria Elisabeth died young also, at age 35. Matthaeus Krause was born in 1720 in Roscnitz, Liegnitz, Silesia, and married Barbara Böhner on May 24, 1743, in the Great Wedding at Herrnhaag. They immigrated as part of the "Second Sea Congregation" on the "Little Strength," arriving in Philadelphia on 26 Nov 1743. They settled initially in Nazareth, PA, and moved to Wachovia in November of 1755, leaving their three oldest children behind in the nursery at Nazareth. Their daughter, Anna Johanna (born May 1756), was the first child born to the Wachovia settlers. Barbara died in September of 1761, and, Matthaeus married Elisabeth Schmid, the widow of Matthaeus Witke of Bethlehem, in July of 1762, but he died in October of the same year. Adam Kremer or Cramer (1719-1789) came in 1755 and settled in Bethania. He married Barbara Eirich in Pennsylvania in 1759 and returned with her to NC. She died in Bethania in 1782. Johann Peter Kröhn (1722-1798) and his wife Elisabeth Fischel (1724-1776) came from Broad Bay, Maine in November of1769. After living temporarily in Salem, they moved to the new Friedland settlement in March of 1771. The surname is sometimes given as Grün, and later became Green. Christoph Kühnast arrived in 1755 with his wife Rosina Arndt, and died in Bethabara in 1799 at the age of 84. Johann Friedrich Küntzel and his family came from Broad Bay, Maine in 1770, and settled in the new Friedland community. Their daughter Anna Maria married Michael Vogler. Johanna Maria Kymbel was the wife of Rev. Johannes Ettwein. He came in 1758, she joined him in 1759. Jacob Lauer and Anders Lauer were among the signers of the Brotherly Agreement that formed the Friedland Society in 1771. They appear to have left the community within a few years. Maria Leibert, who arrived in June of 1762, married Gottlieb Fockel on July 18th of that year. Elisabeth Leinbach Ranke, who arrived in 1759, appears to have been the wife of (George) Michael Ranke, who had first come in 1755 and had returned to Pennsylvania to marry. She is incorrectly identified in the Moravian Records Volmune 1, page 487, as the wife of John Ranke, a different person. Henrich Lentzner came to NC in 1758 and died the next year in Bethabara. Martin Lick (Lück) (1726-1760) came with his wife, Barbara Steiner, and their baby daughter Magdalena (1756-1835) in 1757. A second child, Martin, was born in 1759 in Bethabara. Magdalena Lick married Johannes Reuz; Martin Jr. married Christina Hauser Johannes Lischer came with the first party of settlers in 1753 and was selected to be the future messenger between NC and PA, was to "study the road, the country, etc." He is last mentioned in the Records in 1758, and appears to have settled permanently in Pennsylvania thereafter. He is probably the John Lisher who married Maria Catharina Loesch, sister of Jacob and Hermannus. Jacob Lung, born in Hedelfing, Wurttemburg, in 1713, came with the first group of settlers in 1753, and was described as "gardener, washer, and skillful in many things not mentioned. A man whom all animals love." He died in Bethabara in 1778. Frederic William Marshall and his wife Elisabeth arrived in February of 1768. He was the business manager for the Wachovia settlement, and his name appears on many deeds and legal records. Johann Samuel Mau arrived in 1766, and returned to PA in 1774. Juliana Mauersberg (1717-1807) was born at Panten, Silesia, and married the Rev. Abraham von Gammern in Europe in 1751. They came to America in 1761, and moved shortly thereafter to NC, arriving in June of 1762. He died in 1765, and she returned to Bethlehem in 1768, where she became Deaconess of the Widows' Choir. She died in 1807 at ninety years old. Carl Ludwig Meinung (1743-1817) arrived in 1771 and married Maria Magdalena Höpfner. Christopher Merkley, one of the first party of settlers in 1753, was 39, born in Nuremberg district, Wurttemburg, Germany, a baker and farmer. He died in Salem in 1798. Salome Meurer arrived in 1766. She married first Toego (Tycho) Nissen, with whom she had four children. In 1796, she married Abraham Hessler, the minister at Bethabara. After Hessler died in 1800, she moved back to Salem and became a teacher in the Little Girls School and later a supervisor of the Widows House. She died in Salem in 1821. Jacob and Catharina Meyer arrived in June of 1767, the only new arrivals that year. Stephan Meyer arrived in 1755 and died in Bethabara in 1762. Johann Matthaeus (Matthew) Miksch and his wife Henrietta arrived in 1764. He died in Salem in 1810. Johannes Miller arrived in 1764, and returned to PA in 1775. Joseph Miller came in 1755 and settled on a farm; the list of early settlers doesn't give his death date. Was he the Joseph Miller who married Sarah Hauser? Ludwig Möller arrived in 1764, moved away about 1775. Peter Mücke arrived in 1764, died in Bethabara in 1807. John Mueller and wife Maria Magdalena Faber were among the 1771 members of the Friedberg Society. Johann Ulrich Muschbach arrived in 1770 and returned to Pennsylvania in 1772. Anna Münster came in 1768 and died in Salem in 1777. Melchior Münster, who came in 1755, was born in 1729, and died in Bethabara in 1762. Johannes Nagel was born in 1715 in Menchinin, Wurttemberg, came to NC in 1754, and died of typhus in Bethabara in 1759. Maria Magdalena Natterman came in 1766, and married Johann Heinrich Herbst. She died in Salem in 1819. Maria (Catherina?) Elisabeth Neumann married Johannes Beroth in Pennsylvania in 1758, and came with him to NC in May of 1759. Johannes Nilson arrived in 1764. Jonas Nilson (1712-1779) and his wife Rosina Gruner (1713-1775) arrived in 1758 and settled in Bethabara. Tycho or Toego Nissen (1730-1789) arrived in 1770, and married Maria Salome Meurer. Michael Odenwald came in 1759 and left before 1771. Elisabeth Oesterlein arrived in 1766, at age 17. In 1772, she became the first teacher of the Little Girls' School in Salem. She married Rudolph Christ in 1780, and became the mother of six children, all of whom died in early childhood. She died herself in Salem in 1802. Matthaeus Oesterlein arrived in 1766, died in Bethabara in 1798. Carl Opitz (1719-1763) came with his wife Anna Maria (Hammer) in 1755. Christiana Orchard (1733-1779) came with her husband William Dixon in 1760. She married the widower Gottfried Aust in March, 1779, but died of Smallpox in August of the same year. Elisabeth Palmer arrived in 1762, married Hans Petersen, but died in 1764. Anna Maria Pech was born in 1720 at Mocker, Upper Silesia. In 1752, she married David Bischoff, and came to America the same year. After his death in 1763, she moved to Bethlehem, PA, where she died in 1778. Henrietta Petermann, wife of Johann Matthaeus Miksch, arrived with her husband in 1764, died in Salem in 1811. Hans Petersen, born in Danish Holstein, was 28 when he came to Wachovia in 1753, a tailor and woodcutter. He married Elizabeth Palmer in 1762 shortly after her arrival from Pennsylvania, but died the next year. Niels Petersen (1717-1804) of Danish Holstein, was a brewer who arrived in 1766 to be one of the first residents of Salem. Christian Pfeiffer came in 1755 and died in Bethabara in 1772. Gottfried Praezel (1739-1788) of Ebersdorf, near Lobau, Germany, was a weaver who arrived in 1766. His first wife was Elisabeth Nilson, his second Maria Elisabeth Engel. Johann Friedrich Priem arrived in 1766, and died in Salem in 1799. Anna Maria Quest arrived in 1768 and died in Salem in 1798. Johannes Ranke was born in 1737 in Erlin Town, PA, came to NC in 1754, and died near Bethabara in 1798. Michael Ranke came in 1755 and died in Bethania in 1813. He would appear to be the Georg Michael Ranke who married Elisabeth Leinbach in 1758. Both are buried at Bethania. Melchior Rasp was born in Salzburg in 1715, came to NC in 1755, and died in Salem in 1785. He was a master mason. Matthaeus Reitz arrived in 1764, and left in 1771. Johann Georg Renner was born in 1714, came to NC in 1755, and died in Bethabara in 1800. Christian Gottlieb Reuter (1717-1777) was the second husband of Anna Catharina Antes, widow of Hans Martin Kalberlahn. He came to Wachovia in 1758, and married her in 1762. Johann Richter was born in 1716, came to NC in 1755, and died in Bethabara in 1780. Jacob Ried (Reed) (1735-1819) and his wife Elisabeth Barbara (1741-1829) arrived from Broad Bay Maine with their family on December 31, 1770. He was one of the signers of the Brotherly Agreement that formed the Friedland Society in 1771. Most of their children died young. Jacob Rogers and his wife Mary Parson Rogers were an English couple who came in 1758. Mary was the first victim of the 1759 typhus epidemic in Bethabara. Jacob returned to England in 1762. Johann Michael Sauter came to NC in 1755 and died in Bethabara in 1765. Jeremiah Schaaf was born in 1719 and died in Salem in 1800. In 1786, he was listed as "room supervisor and washer" in the Single Brothers House. Johann Friedrich Schaub, born 1717, came to NC in 1755 with his wife Maria Schumacher Schaub. He died in 1801. Philip Nicholas and Catharina (Beck) Schauss joined the Bethania congregation in 1764, and are listed as "moved away, 1772." They appeared in fact to have stayed in the area, but terminated their church membership. Philip, who died in 1810, is buried at Dobbs Parish cemetery, adjacent to Bethabara. Philip was born in Albisheim, Pfalz, Germany, in 1728. They had eleven children and many descendants. The name became Shouse in later generations. Mary Kaye Shouse is working on documenting this family. Berhnard Christoph Schille arrived in 1766, died in Salem in 1781. Christoph Schmid, born 1715, died in Bethabara 1799. Anna Elisabeth Schmid Witke, the widow of Matthaeus Witke of Bethlehem, arrived in June of 1762. She married Matthaeus Kraus in July of that year. George Schmid, born in 1719 in Kirchenberg, Wurttemberg, arrived in North Carolina in 1754. He returned to Pennsylvania to marry Magdalena Heckedorn, returning with her in September of 1756. After her death, he married Rosina Kaske, her third husband. He died in Salem in 1790. Jens Schmid (1731-1799) a Dane from Seeland, had been trained as an anchor-smith. He arrived in 1766, one of the newcomers from Europe who were to build the new town of Salem. Maria Schneider arrived in 1766, and in 1774 married Jacob Beroth, his second wife. They had nine children. She died in Salem in 1801. Johann Martin Schneider (1756-1806) arrived in 1769. He was a Moravian minister, and served for many years as pastor of the Friedberg congregation. He married Elisabeth Dixon, who died in 1805. In September of 1806 he married Anna Williard, but died only two months later himself. Melchior Schneider was one of the signers of the Brotherly Agreement that formed the Friedland Society in 1771. Daniel and Susanna Maria Schnepf arrived in 1766, died in Salem in 1795 and 1789 respectively. Johann Gottlieb Schober (1756-1838) arrived in 1769. He married Maria Magadalena Transou (1758-1835). Heinrich (1735-1819) and Barbara (1737-1810) Schor lived near Bethania, and joined the congregation there in 1760. Margaretha Schor joined the Bethania congregation in 1762, and married Jacob Kapp. She died in Bethabara in 1777. Matthaeus and Anna Maria Schropp arrived in 1766. He died in Bethabara in 1767, and she returned to Bethlehem the next year. Maria Schumacher, wife of Johann Friedrich Schaub, died in Bethabara in 1783. Anna Dorothea Schütz arrived in 1766, and married Johann Heinrich Stohr. She died in Bethabara in 1816. Maria Catharina Sehnert, born 1758, arrived in 1771. She was head teacher for the Little Girls School for a number of years, but in 1791, she married Abraham Steiner. She died in Salem in 1829. Peter Sehnert Sr. and Jr. both arrived in 1764, although in different traveling parties. Peter Sr. died in Bethania in 1782, Peter Jr. left in 1771. Were they father and son? Christian Seidel was born in 1718. He was a minister, and was sent to NC in 1756 as the pastor to replace Christian Henrich, who had been called to the mission in Jamaica. In 1758, he and several other single men went to Pennsylvania to be married. He returned to NC with his bride, Catharina Binder, on May 30, 1759, but both died that same summer in the typhus epidemic that ravaged Bethabara. Johann August Shubert came in 1760 and returned to Pennsylvania in 1765. Adam Soelle (1700-1767) or Sell came from a Mennonite family who were early settlers in Germantown, PA. By 1744 he was living with his wife Sarah at Conewago, York County, PA. They are believed to be the parents of Aaltje Soelle who married Christopher Elrod. Adam joined the Moravian congregation at Bethania in 1764, but subsequently moved to Maryland, where he died in 1767. So far as we can determine this family was not related to that of George Soelle, the Moravian minister and missionary. George Soelle was a Danish-born minister and missionary who spent much of the 1760s with the settlers of Broad Bay Maine, and encouraged them to move to NC. He came to Wachovia himself in 1770, and died in Salem in 1773. Thomas Spisike arrived in 1771. In 1786, he was listed as a Single Brother, and master tailor. He died in Salem in 1787. Barbara Steiner (1723-1765), came with her first husband, Martin Lick, in 1757; he died in 1760, and she married George Holder in 1762 as her second husband, but died herself only three years later, in 1765. Jacob Steiner was a miller, born in Pennsylvania in 1734, who arrived in 1755, and died in Salem in 1801. His wife was Catharina Beroth, who came to Wachovia in 1766. Johannes Steinmann arrived in 1769, and died in Bethabara in 1775. Anna Johanna Steup arrived in 1771. She married Andreas Broesing. She died in Salem in 1834. Franz Steup arrived 1766, and died in Bethabara in 1782. Heinrich Stöhr arrived in 1771, and died in Bethabara
in 1812. He is probably the father of Johanna Elisabeth Stöhr
who married Thomas Butner. Samuel Stotz (1752-1820) arrived in 1769. In 1786, he was listed among the single brothers of Salem, as the business manager. Abraham Strauss died in Bethabara in 1762. Rudolph Straehle arrived in 1764, eventually returned to Bethlehem, and died there in 1785. Paul Tiersch, a Moravian minister, and his wife Polly (born Maria Price) arrived in 1771, the leaders of a party of young women and girls. He died in Salem in 1774, and Polly returned to Bethlehem, where she married Immanuel Nitschmann, and died in 1783. Christian Triebel was born in 1714, came to Wachovia in 1755, and died in Salem in 1798. Richard and Sarah Utley arrived in 1766 as escorts of the party of single women and girls who walked from Bethlehem. He was an English minister. Both died in Salem, in 1775 and 1791 respectively. Jacobus van der Merk, born in 1728 in Sopus, NY, arrived in NC in 1754, and died in Bethabara in 1773. Johann Peter Volz (Voltz, Foltz) and his wife Eva Elisabeth Jacke, from Gundershofen, Alsace, came to America in 1750 with two children and settled at Heidelberg, PA, joining the Moravian church there in 1752. They came to North Carolina in 1767 in company with the Greter family and settled in the South Fork area, where they were among the original members of the Friedberg Society. Abraham von Gammern, born in Neusalz, Germany, and his wife Juliana (Mauersberg) came in 1762. He died in Bethabara in 1765. Johann Heinrich Walther, born 1728, arrived in 1769, having come directly from Europe. In 1778, he had been in charge of the Single Brethren's garden, but took over at that time as assistant to Br. Meyer in the tavern. He moved back into the Single Brothers house in 1780 and was put in charge of maintenance of the local roads. He left for Pennsylvania in 1782. Matthias Wesner (Weesner, Wiesner, various other spellings) and his wife Anna Barbara Giesy were among the 1771 members of the Friedberg Society. Anna Elisabeth Werner arrived in 1766 at age 15. She worked for the administrator of Wachovia, Frederick William Marshall, and his wife, and did not marry. She died in Salem in 1818. George Wiliard was one of the signers of the Brotherly Agreement
that formed the Friedland Society in 1771. Samuel Wutke, who arrived in 1755, was another victim of the 1759 typhus epidemic. Michael Zigler or Ziegler arrived in 1764, and was one of the men chosen to build the new town of Salem in 1766. He moved to South Carolina in 1768, leaving the Moravian church altogether. Heinrich Zillmann arrived 1763, died in Salem during 1787. Gerhard and Margaretha Zynn joined the Bethabara congregation in 1762. He died there in 1765, she in 1773. All of this prepared by Elizabeth H. Harris, 1997 |
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© 2007 - J.D. Lewis - PO Box 1188 - Little River, SC 29566 - All Rights Reserved