December 31, 1785

Moving from one year to the next was an opportunity for the Moravian communities to stop and consider the goodness of the Lord. Thus December 31st, new year's eve, was a unique day on the Moravian calendar. Consider the following notation in the Bethabara Diary on the last day of 1785.

"When the changing year was announced by the trombonists we fell on our knees and thanked our dear Lord for all the mercy and goodness vouchsafed us during the year just passed. Then the daily text was read ... and the service closed with the Old Testament benediction."

Change

In 1781 the Moravians received a letter from the Elders conference in Europe. It was addressed to all Moravians around the world. 

The Elders called for selfless dedication of all members, and reminded them that they belong not to themselves, but to God. The Elders also warned against fancy clothes and furniture - and allowing their children to marry outside the church.

This shows that it was not only the American Moravians that were questioning earlier values and attitudes. Indeed these issues would perplex both European and American Moravians well into the next century.

Smallpox

The Moravians in 1781 were not only harassed by nearby warfare and passing troops, but the Moravian communities suffered an outbreak of smallpox.

Friedberg fared the worst with 96 cases reported. Two families in Friedland and Bethania caught the disease. Fortunately Bethabara and Salem inoculated against it, and largely escaped its effects.

Good works by the Moravians

1781 were days of darkness and terror for Moravian towns in North Carolina. In that year American army and militia units repeatedly passed through Salem committing the familiar excesses and seizures of property and supplies.

The British and American armies collided at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse (in present day Greensboro) on 15 March 1781. 

Following the relatively short but important battle the Moravians were called to send rags to be used as bandages for the wounded of both the British and American armies. Their friend, the American Major John Armstrong, was concerned to hear reports that the Moravians were aiding the British. As he heard more on their good deeds he approved this act of compassion and was relieved to learn that all they had done was sent bandages.

The Moravians in Salem received several Virginia soldiers wounded in the fighting in Guilford County. Brother Peter gave this summary account:

"The good care taken of them and the sympathy shown, and the successful, even remarkable service given to them by Brother Bonn, Salem's physician, together with the good treatment given to troops quartered in Salem, in January, finally, through God's leading, gave us a good reputation with the officers of the Continental Army, which counteracted the prejudice against us..."

In 1781 a number of Virginia soldiers wrote letters of appreciation for the ministrations of Salem and it's physician Brother Bonn.

Brandy and Bro C.F.

Brandy shall be kept away from Brother C. F., who does not know how to use it in moderation, and who must therefore remain away from the Lord Supper. November 2, 1785 - Minutes from Salem Board.

Boys - hunting and guns

The Salem Gunsmith

A desire to shoot his increasingly among us. If a master deliberately gives his journeyman time off for hunting he is doing him a real injury, for we have seen that gradually a man grows eager for hunting and neglects his regular work, and is difficult to bring him back to orderly ways. 

Masters must not put muskets into the hands of their boys nor go hunting with them, because of evil results. August 4, 1785 - Minutes of the Salem Board. 

Boys and Jew's Harps

"The boys in Behabara have procured Jew's Harps, which they are playing on the streets. There shall be a conference with their parents concerning their duty of looking after their children and preventing such unseemly things and other disorders which may lead to more serious results." July 13, 17

American freedom perceived as a danger to the Moravians in 1785

"In the congregation a spirit has become evident which seeks to have American freedom. This should be taken up by the congregational council and thoroughly investigated, so that so dangerous a thing maybe put away from us. July 6 1785 - Minutes of the Salem Board."

Gottlob Krause

The grave of Christina Krause, the mother of Gottlob Krause.
She is buried at God's Acre - Bethabara, NC

"Gottlob Krause has said that he is thinking of giving up his work as a mason, He would like to know whether there was a chance for him to establish a pottery and Bethabara. 

He shall be advised to stick to his present employment, since he has put so much into his brick-yard, and can certainly do better with that than by starting a pottery in Bethabara. - June 15, 1785" -- from the Minutes of the Salem Board. 

Johann Gottlob Krause (September 18, 1760-November 4, 1802) was the master mason during the construction of the first major brick buildings in the Moravian community of Salem. Representing the first generation of native North Carolina Moravian artisans, in the post-Revolutionary era Krause introduced construction techniques that blended Germanic forms with decorative brickwork adapted from English traditions, and thus shaped the architectural character of this unique community.

Krause was born in 1760 in Bethabara, a frontier village settled in the 1750s in North Carolina’s Wachovia Tract by Moravian pioneers sent from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was orphaned by the age of two. He died in 1802.

Baptism of Negro child

For the first time in Bethabra a Negro child has been born whose father has not been baptized. Decided that it may be baptized if the father asks it. May 18, 1785- Minutes of the Salem Board. 

The slippery horse thief

Today a well-known horse thief, with three horses, was arrested in our woods, and the next day was taken as a prisoner toward Richmond. 

Beyond Bethania he was was turned over to a man to be taken on, but he struck the man from his horse and escaped. (a week or two later he was seen on some of the farms near us, and that night our stable was entered, and the above mentioned three horses were taken out. Finally the thief was recaptured, but again manage to escape. For sometime horse stealing has been general in this neighborhood, and it seems difficult to put a stop to it.) -- September 18, 1785 - source - The Salem Congregation Diary.