Giant Lily Pads in Salem, NC

Check out this 1892 Photo from Salem, NC. Have you ever seen such lily pads? No, honest they are lily pads behind the home of Dr. Henry T. Bahnson of Salem, NC, who grew these pads - on purpose. The Doctor's Home is open and freshly renovated. It features 18th and 19th medical practice - it is remarkable. It is open free to the public, owing to a grant, on the Sundays of 2018. The Doctor's Home is on Church Street north of Home Moravian Church.  Photo: Wake Forest University 

The Early Moravians and Pressure

The Moravians of old inspire me. One of the inspirations of the early Moravian Church was their commitment to unity. The former Moravians, considered the needs of the community paramount - even over the individual.  They were in that regard quite different from both contemporary church and secular society. 

Salem, NC, Postal Service

The first post office was opened in Salem in 1792, and Gottlieb Schober was appointed Postmaster. Mail was delivered by horseman.

August 20, 1792 - "For the first time we had the pleasure of receiving letters from Europe and Pennsylvania by the post-rider who will now come every fourteen days."

Historic Photo

President Washington Visits Salem, NC - June 1791

The tavern President Washington visited is the dark and closest image on the left behind the sign over the walkway. The tavern stands much unchanged and may be visited.

_________

"It is easy to imagine that Washington’s visit to Salem in June of 1791, while it was certainly the occasion of much enthusiasm was also the cause of a bit of anxiety. Throughout the south Washington’s tour was a celebration of the Revolution. He was hailed as the Father of his Country. Speeches and toasts memorialized his service in the war against Britain. Many of those who greeted and entertained him had been his fellow soldiers in that war. Salem was something of an exception.

The Moravians of Salem and the surrounding countryside — the old tract of Wachovia — had, at the time of the American Revolution, a tradition of pacifism going back more than three hundred years. When hostilities began between the British government and its colonial opponents the Moravians asked to be left alone. The official diary of the Moravian settlements records simply, “It does not accord with our character as Brethren to mix in such political affairs, we are children of peace.” To patriots or loyalists, who were sacrificing much for their cause, this was hard to accept. The Moravian settlements were persecuted by both sides as they tried to maintain their religious commitment.

Whatever concern there may have been, the meeting between the President and the Moravians went smoothly and pleasantly. We are fortunate to have several accounts of Washington’s visit to Salem, the most important ones being the diary of the President himself and the official diary of the Moravian community. Washington was impressed with the neat orderly appearance of the town as well as with the demeanor of its inhabitants. He considered it a well governed, hard-working community. The people of Salem were impressed with Washington’s simple, friendly manner, particularly with children." -- Text from the North Carolina Miscellany.

The Salem Enslaved Population

The 18th century Moravians purchased 100,000 acres of land in North Carolina and named it the Wachovia.  

By 1800 Blacks numbered about 10% of the workforce in Wachovia.  

By 1860 Black people, both enslaved and free, comprised 22% of the Salem, NC, population.

Home - Discipline - and the Church

The Moravians of old did not recognize a dividing life between secular and sacred. The two were woven together into a coherent whole - a theocracy. 

This conditioned how the home was viewed. In short, the home must function as a small church. Given that outlook the tasks of the home were no more or less important than were the prayers. 

The Moravian's expected that the homes of the members would be faithful to strict standards of conduct. 

It is true that a household, or an individual thereof, would stumble. In the midst of such "stumbling" by the children the church held the parents accountable. 

There is an interesting example of accountability I would like to share. It involves the Frey family of Friedberg, N.C.  Heinrich, the son of the family, confessed to his pastor that he, Heinrich, was making no progress in the faith. Brother Soelle, the pastor, admonished Heinrich but he saved his most pointed criticism for the parents. Brother Soelle recorded in his diary: "I believe that were the parents more on fire with the love for Jesus the children would gain some profit there by and be won." April 20, 1771

Day is done

Rare moments of socialization at an 18th century tavern. This is an interior short from the 1784 tavern in Old Salem, NC - a living history museum. 

Heart Religion and the Missionary Effort

To understand the Moravians of old one must have some acquaintance with Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) - the greatest patron of Moravians in the 18th century. 

The Count propagated “heart religion”, where religion was a matter of feeling rather than of reasoning. In this regard Jesus was at the center of everything. “The Savior is our God,” he was fond of saying. 

Zinzendorf sought to carry the Gospel message of Christ’s salvation to the ends of the earth. He wished to reach not just the “heathen” but also the Christian. 

Colonial nighttime essentials

Nighttime essentials at a tavern: soap, his and her toothbrushes and a bit of light. This hands-on display is at the 1784 tavern in Old Salem, NC., a Moravian living history museum. 

Slavery and the Moravian Church

Moravian involvement with slavery in North Carolina began in 1769.

It began when a given African man asked the Moravian Church in North Carolina to buy him. They did. Not only so but they offered him responsibility, education, and membership in the Moravian Church. He even was permitted to purchase his freedom.

There are buildings in Old Salem standing today which were places where slaves resided or worked such as the Single Brothers House, Miksh House, Volger House, and Salem Tavern. 

Salem is also remarkable for schools and other institutions that featured integrated settings. God’s Acre, the cemetery, in the 1770’s buried enslaved Moravians with Moravians of European descent and Salem Academy and College admitted its first African American female in 1785. This is extraordinary for the South. 

As the decades wore on into the 19th century the relationship between slaves and the church became more and more similar to their non-Moravian neighbors. Alas.

To the credit of the Moravian Church an apology has been offered for the Church’s role in slavery in 2006. Daniel Crews the Moravian archivist said: “The acceptance of slavery and the adoption of more ‘American’ ideas about African Americans is the low point in the story of the Moravians in the South.” 

Moravian Church Children's Choir, Kyela, Tanzania

"And Jesus called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me" 

Matthew 18:2-5

Moravians have a strong presence in Tanzania with 500,000 members, 494 pastors, and 404 congregations.

The Moravian Watchword for Today - April 10th

The Daily Watchword from the Moravian Church is an enormous encouragement. Consider:

"Since my mother bore me you have been my God." Psalm 22:10

A watercolor streetscape in Old Salem, NC

Moravian Sister walks past the T. Bagge store

Recognized as Salem's first stone building, the T. Bagge store was built in 1775.  The structure is built of rough stone and covered with stucco and scored to resemble stone blocks. 

Check out the old photo below. The sister above is walking past the left door on the photo below. 

The T. Bagge store in antiquity.