Borders Done Well

The 18th century Moravians of Pennsylvania and North Carolina accomplished a noble goal. That being the maintenance of their spiritual, ethnic, artistic, and intellectual boundaries, borders - without alienating themselves from communities outside the Moravian orbit.  

Men Only

As the Bethlehem, PA, Moravians pondered establishing the Wachovia (their 100,000 acres in NC) they recognized the dangers of clearing a wilderness. For that reason they did not wish women to be involved in phase one. They sought men that were experienced in wilderness living.

This meant that the Wachovia's population was entirely male from 1773 -1775. *

*Thorp, Moravian Community

Recovering the Moravian past is key to the Moravian future.

The Gemeinhaus at Bethabara

Bethlehem and Salem were notable congregation towns. The practice of life in general and the faith in the congregational towns was parochial, stringent, and well documented. Both Bethlehem and (Old) Salem are living history experiences.  Thus most people today think of the Moravians of old in those terms.

The reality is that in the Wachovia (the 100,000 acres of Moravian land in North Carolina) 50 percent of the Moravian population lived outside the congregational towns. The largest settlement of Moravians up to the War Between The States was not Salem but Friedberg, NC. 

Why Move The Family To Live Among The 18th Century Moravians?

Why would a New England family uproot in the middle of the 18th century to live near a congregation of the Moravians in North Carolina? 

In 1767 the parents of Catharine Rominger moved to the Wachovia, i.e. the 100,000 acres in North Carolina purchased by the Moravians. It is recorded why they moved: 

"they were ... "desirous of seeking the salvation of their souls and mindful of the everlasting happiness of their children." 

That among other things is loud testimony of the impact the early Moravians made for Christ and His Kingdom. 

A New Life for the Moravians in North Carolina

On October 8, 1753, twelve men left the Moravian congregation town of Bethlehem, PA to establish a foothold in the Carolinas The average age of the twelve men was 33 years of age. 

They arrived in the Wachovia, the 100,000 acres the Moravians owned in NC on November 17, 1753. After cutting a path of two and one half miles they settled in an abandoned cabin. Within hours of their arrival they held a simple Moravian lovefeast to give thanks to the Lord for their safe arrival. 

A hymn compose for the occasion, by one of the brethren, was sung:

We hold arrival lovefeast here,

In Carolina land,

A company of Brethren true,

A little pilgrim band,

Called by the Lord to be of those

Who through the whole wide world do go,

To bear Him witness everywhere,

And naught but Jesus know. 

The Moravians from ancient times to the present have a “Watchword” or devotional Bible text for every day of the year. The texts are drawn, even in the 21st century, by lot every year. The text for the day of their arrival was Revelation. 2:13, which appropriately reads: “I know where thou dwellest.”

Indeed He knows where you and I dwell. What good news!

Historic Bethabara - The first Moravian settlement in N.C.

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 of 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.

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.