The Life of Early Moravian Christians 4/4

On November 18,1755, the congregation elders requested that George and Susanne leave Nazareth and join the Indian Mission near Lehighton, PA. They honored the request and Susanne served as the cook for the group of fifteen plus an infant. 

Life was to change dramatically six days after their arrival. The missionaries were finishing their evening meal and at once the settlement’s dogs began barking. This was clear warning of approaching strangers. Soon the Moravian missionaries heard voices and footsteps outside. One of the missionaries, Martin Nitschmann, opened the door and was shot dead on the spot. A volley of musket balls were fired into the dwelling, killing or grazing four more men. 

The remaining missionaries ran up the stairs to the attic. One woman, Susanna Nitschman, was shot on the stairs. She fell backwards and was captured by the attackers. 

The rest of the group barricaded themselves in the attic with furniture. Not able to get past the barricade the assailants fired their guns into the floor of the attic and up at the roof. Their final act was to set the house on fire. Only five missionaries survived that night. Susanna Nitschman died several months later, still in captivity. 

Susanne and George both jumped out windows separately and made it to safety. However neither knew if the other had survived until a chance meeting the next day. The attackers, twelve Shawnee Indians, proceeded to raid the food, butchered sixty cattle and set all the buildings on fire in the settlement.

After escaping the fire, Susanne Partsch ran toward the Lehigh river. She hid herself in a hollow tree until the next morning. She came upon George who had just returned from warning the inhabitants of another settlement. Adapted from Lehigh Valley History. 

Heroic Moravian Christians ....

Susanna Louisa (Eller) Partsh was born in 1722 - John George Partsch, who she married in Germany in1743, was born in 1719. Both were early Moravians. 

George and Susanna had four children in 12 years. 

George died in 1765 at the age of 46 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 

Susanna died in 1795 also in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at the age of 73.