Migration and Faith: The Migrations of the Schwenkfelders from Germany to America – Risks and Opportunities [1 ed.] 9783666564352, 9783525564356

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Horst Weigelt

Migration and Faith The Migrations of the Schwenkfelders from Germany to America – Risks and Opportunities

Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte Edited by Volker Henning Drecoll and Volker Leppin

Volume 110

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Horst Weigelt

Migration and Faith The Migrations of the Schwenkfelders from Germany to America – Risks and Opportunities

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

With 22 Illustrations Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data available online: http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISSN 0532-2154 ISBN 978-3-666-56435-2 You can find alternative editions of this book and additional material on our Website: www.v-r.de © 2017, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Theaterstraße 13, D-37073 Göttingen/ Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht LLC, Bristol, CT, U. S. A. www.v-r.de All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. Typesetting by textformart, Göttingen

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1. Guiding Cognitive Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2. Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3. Text Style, Footnotes, List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Text Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, and List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I.

17 18

Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from Middle of 16th to Beginning of 18th Century . . . . . . . . . . . 19 1. Schwenkfelders until End of Thirty Years War . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Residences, Living and Economic Conditions, Theology and Religious Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Criticism of Church and Ecclesiastical Doctrines . . . . . . . . 1.3 Disciplinary and Punitive Measures by Governmental and Ecclesiastical Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Schwenkfelders from Second Half of 17th to Beginning of 18th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Between Religious Isolation and Openness . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Procedures of Governmental and Ecclesiastical Authorities . . 2.3 Establishment of a Jesuit Mission for Catholicization . . . . . .

II.

16 16 17

20 20 23 24 26 26 33 35

Schwenkfelders’ Search for Asylum in Germany and the Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

III. Flight of Schwenkfelders from Silesia to Upper Lusatia in Electorate of Saxony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 1. Asylum in the Trade Town of Görlitz and Vicinity . . . . . . . . . . 54 2. Sojourn on Zinzendorf ’s Estates in Herrnhut and Berthelsdorf . . . 60

6

Contents

IV. Expulsion of Schwenkfelders from Upper Lusatia —  Decree by Elector Frederick August II of Saxony . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 V.

Schwenkfelders’ Various Endeavors for an Asylum in Europe or America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

VI. Schwenkfelder Migrations from Saxony to Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . 81 1. Organization and Route of the Main Emigration and Events during the Transatlantic Passage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 2. Smaller Emigration Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 VII. Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania — From Immigration to Beginning of the Revolutionary War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 1. Settlement and Economic Circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 1.1 Scattered Settlements Northwest of Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . 97 1.2 Economic and Labor Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 2. Religious Life — From Privacy to Communality . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Religious Life during the Early Settlement Years . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Spangenberg’s and Zinzendorf ’s Attempts at Influencing Schwenkfelders’ Religious Life . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Emergence of the Society of Schwenkfelders —  Gradual Formation of Organizations and Institutions . . . . . .

102 102 108 114

3. Social and Political Engagement during French and Indian War . . 123 VIII. Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia under Prussian Sovereignty . . . . . . . . 133 1. Guarantees for Individual Freedom of Faith and Conscience —  Edicts of King Frederick II of Prussia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 2. Religious and Social Life of a Shrinking Minority . . . . . . . . . . . 136 3. Extinguishment of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia . . . . . . . . . . . 144 IX. Migration and Faith. Risks and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 1. Giving up Schwenkfelder Faith — Betrayal and Abandonment . . . 148 1.1 Betrayal — Breach of Fidelity and Apostasy . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 1.2 Abandonment — Forsaking and Jettisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 2. Alterations of Faith — Modification, Change, and Realignment . . . 2.1 Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Realignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

151 153 156 165

Contents

3. Deepening and Strengthening Faith and Piety . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Reasons and Impulses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 Encounters with Beliefs of other Denominations and Christian Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.2 Scattered Settlements and Conditions of Life in a Multicultural Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.3 Social and Political Challenges during the French and Indian War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Realization in Everyday Life — Charitable and Social Commitment, Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7 176 176 177 179 179 181

Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Summary in German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Summary in Polish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices . . 199 1. List of Archival Materials in Archives and Libraries . . . . . . . . . 199 2. Bibliography Primary and Secondary Literature . . . . . . . . . . . 201 3. List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 4. Index of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 5. Index of Bible Passages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 6. Index of Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 7. Index of Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Foreword This monograph, Migration and Faith — The Migrations of the Schwenkfelders from Europe to America, is the product of decades of study of the left wing of the Reformation, especially mystical Spiritualism. A leading representative of this complex movement who made significant contributions to the modern epoch was the mystical Spiritualist Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig (1489–1561), a Silesian nobleman. While his numerous followers came together in small “reading circles” throughout many territories of the Holy Roman Empire, they formed sizeable and permanent, although very loosely organized communities in County Glatz and principally in Silesia (in the Duchy Liegnitz and the Principalities Schweidnitz-Jauer). At the beginning of the eighteenth century, during the Counter-Reformation, some one hundred Schwenkfelders secretly left Silesia in family units or small groups and emigrated to America. Here in 1909 they formed in Pennsylvania, — after a long and complex process — The Schwenkfelder Church, a small American Church, which developed remarkable ecclesiastical, educational, charitable, social, and cultural activities. This monograph, for the very first time, presents a detailed examination of the relevance of these migrations to the faith and practice of piety of the Schwenkfelder immigrant generation. Did these migrations involve primarily risks or did they open up multiple opportunities for deepening and strengthening their faith and piety? In the most recent past, global migrations have brought an intense focus on this guiding cognitive interest, especially since such migrations continue to be frequently the result of religious principles. This monograph was made possible by the generous support by libraries and archives, both domestic and foreign. As representatives of these libraries I would like to mention the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin — Preußischer Kulturbesitz; all of them were most helpful in securing secondary literature and accessing the rarest documents. In regard to archives I am especially grateful to the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and to David Luz, the Executive Director. With gracious generosity he and his staff placed their rich archival collections of Schwenkfeldiana at my disposal during visits to the Heritage Center as well as providing very congenial and pleasant working conditions. In the Netherlands I received cordial support from the Stadsarchief Amsterdam; in Poland from the Archiwum Państwowe [Księstwo Legnickie] Wrocław and from the Bibliotheka Unversytecka Wrocław; in Germany from the Geheimen Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, from the Sächsische Hauptstaats­archiv Dresden, from the Stadtarchiv/Ratsarchiv Görlitz, and from the Unitätsarchiv Herrnhut. I received especially valuable support and constant assistance with my research and with the composition of this monograph by Allen Viehmeyer, Ph. D., Associate

10

Foreword

Director of Research at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. He assisted me not only by constantly retrieving relevant materials as well as photos in the Heritage Center collections suitable for reproduction, but he also translated my original German text into English. He produced the digital document and helped with proofreading and compiling the indices. For that I owe him manifold thanks and I want to express my great appreciation for all he has done. The translation of the summary into Polish was kindly prepared by Dr. Józef Zaprucki, Assistant Professor in Germanic Philology at the Karkonosze College in Jelenia Góra, Poland. For the acceptance of this monograph into the series “Forschungen zur Kirchenund Dogmengeschichte” I wish to thank the series editor, namely, Professor Dr. Volker Leppin, who guided this publication in word and in deed. My thanks also goes to the publishing house Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht for the thoughtful support of its Managing Director Jörg Persch and Editor Christoph Spill. Publication of the book was made possible by officials of the Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, by the Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Bayern, and by the Verein für bayerische Kirchengeschichte. Munich, February 2017

Horst Weigelt

Introduction

The Reformation was, as is known, accompanied by strong side flows which were of great relevance for the origin of the modern era. Of these, Anabaptism and Spiritualism acquired great significance. Several of these Anabaptist groups and communities, which arose in sixteenth century Europe, exist to this day — of course modified — as Protestant Churches such as the Mennonite Church, Brethren in Christ Church, and Beachy Amish Mennonite Church. In contrast to them, only one of the multifarious groups and communities of the Spiritualists developed later into a Church. This is The Schwenkfelder Church which was formed — after a very long and complex process — in 1909 and incorporated in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the same year. The birthplace of this small American Church was ultimately the so-called “Liegnitzer Bruderschaft”,  a group of followers and sympathizers which had clustered around the Silesian spiritualist Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig at the ducal seat in Liegnitz since about 1522. Here this nobleman had been a courtier and an intimate advisor of Duke Frederick II of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau, the most powerful prince of Silesia and a staunch advocate of the Reformation. Since the second third of the sixteenth century there were many Schwenckfeld devotees and sympathizers not only in Silesia,  a constituent part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy since 1526, but also in numerous territories of the Holy Roman Empire, especially in the southwestern territories of the German Empire. Nevertheless, these followers of Caspar Schwenckfeld formed sizeable and permanent communities just in Silesia. These were, however, only very loosely organized and hardly at all institutionalized; they persisted there for nearly three hundred years, i. e., until the 1820s.

1. Guiding Cognitive Interest The history of the Schwenkfelders in Silesia — living almost exclusively there in the southwestern border area of the Duchy of Liegnitz and the abutting border area of the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer since around the middle of the sixteenth century — was characterized for the most part by suppression and persecution. Governments and ecclesiastical authorities persecuted the Schwenkfelders because of their religious deviance and massive criticism of the Church with disciplinary and punitive actions, including prohibitions of conventicles in their homes, interrogations, fines, forced labor, arrests, imprisonments, and penal servitude on galleys. These multifarious punitive actions reached their peak at the time of the Jesuit Mission which had been established by the order of Emperor Charles VI to convert the Schwenkfelders to Catholicism in 1719. When the mission’s measures of force,

12

Introduction

especially fines and incarcerations, became increasingly harsh and more arbitrary, and all of the Schwenkfelders’ endeavors at the Imperial Court in Vienna to gain toleration or at least approved emigration had failed at the end of July 1725, they decided to leave their homeland for the sake of their belief. In 1726 and subsequent years several hundred of them left Silesia secretly in family units or small groups. Abandoning all of their possessions, they fled to Upper Lusatia, about a day’s trek away. Upper Lusatia belonged to the Lutheran Electorate of Saxony as a garnishment since 1635. Here, under certain conditions, they received temporary asylum in the trading town of Görlitz and vicinity; more­over, especially in Berthelsdorf und Herrnhut, estates of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. However, they stayed for the most part only a short time in Herrnhut, which was founded 1722 by German speaking religious exiles from Moravia. But just eight years later Elector Frederick August II of Saxony decreed the expulsion of the Schwenkfelders because they were not among the religious parties recognized in the Treaty of Westphalia. Consequently, in 1734 and during the following years, more than two hundred of them emigrated in a total of six emigrations to America. Here in colonial Pennsylvania, where William Penn started his “Holy Experiment” in 1681, they hoped — rightly so — to be able to live their faith unhindered and openly. During their eight year sojourn in Upper Lusatia and then in their new homeland in Pennsylvania, the Schwenkfelders encountered members of other denominations, Christian communities, and loners in day-to-day life. They became acquainted with other faiths and forms of piety. Of course that was not so much the case in Upper Lusatia. However, in multireligious and multicultural as well as multiethnic colonial Pennsylvania they were confronted with other religious orientations at every turn. Here, moreover, they were challenged by other social, political, and cultural circumstances and had to come to grips with them. The relevance of the migrations of the Schwenkfelders for their faith has already been implicitly or explicitly pointed out several times in publications about the history of the Schwenkfelders. However, in this monograph, for the very first time, the relevance which these multifaceted migrations had on the faith and practice of piety of the first Schwenkfelder immigrant generation will be investigated in detail. Did their migrations, so to speak, implicate primarily risks and dangers, and were betrayal and abandonment, breach of fidelity and forsaking of the faith the result? Did the migrations enable alterations, i. e., modifications, changes, and transformations of their faith? Or did the migrations open up multiple opportunities for deepening and strengthening their faith? Therefore, this monograph intentionally focuses attention on the opportunities for and the risks to S­ chwenkfelder faith and piety, which arose from their manifold migrations. In the course of this study the overarching research issue should also reflect whether the migrations of the Schwenkfelders share certain common characteristics with other religious migrations. Reflecting this guiding cognitive interest, the monograph is divided into nine chapters.

Outline

13

2. Outline Before investigating the migrations of the Schwenkfelders, it is necessary to sketch their situation in Silesia before the flight from their homeland at the beginning of the eighteenth century in the first chapter. Of course, this general overview can only provide a broad outline. Just the Schwenkfelders’ religious deviance and their criticism of the Church will be presented in greater detail. Their divergences from some ecclesiastical doctrines and their attacks on the Church were namely the reasons why governments and ecclesiastical authorities took actions against them with manifold punitive measures. In this connection, the Jesuit mission — established in 1719 for the catholicization of the Schwenkfelders — will be presented in detail. The harsh missionary strategies of the Jesuit priests were, namely, the immediate cause why the Schwenkfelders, at the end of 1725 or at the beginning of 1726, saw no other possibility than fleeing from their homeland for the sake of their faith. The second chapter will describe how the Schwenkfelders — under increasing pressures from the Jesuits priests and Emperor Charles VI’s final rejection of both tolerance and legal emigration — searched for a place of asylum since the end of 1725. Through delegates and written inquiries they put out feelers in sundry places in the German Empire and in the Netherlands, especially in those territories and towns where, at that time, several denominations existed side by side or where other religious refugees had already found asylum. Why and how the fleeing S­ chwenkfelders finally found temporary asylum in nearby Upper Lusatia and directed their footsteps toward Görlitz and vicinity and, particularly, toward the estates of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf will be the major focus of this chapter. In the third chapter the circumstances under which the Schwenkfelders’ flight from Silesia to the Electorate of Saxony took place and how their sojourn in Upper Lusatia developed will be discussed. Their residence in Görlitz and vicinity, where they were tolerated by Elector Frederick August I until further orders, and their stay on Zinzendorf ’s estates where most of them received asylum, took shape very differently. Therefore their sojourn in the trade city of Görlitz with its self-assured council and predominant, orthodox Lutheran ministry will be described first. Then their stay on Zinzendorf ’s estates in Herrnhut und especially Berthelsdorf will be depicted. In this stretched-out ribbon village, namely, they could not only hold their own conventicles and earn their livelihoods by pursuing various activities, but also rent and build their own houses with gardens and small acreages. In this connection the major question is: How did the relationship between the Schwenkfelders and the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine take shape? Did the Christocentric piety, intensive communal living, and simplicity of lifestyle of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine somehow influence the Schwenkfelders’ faith and practice of piety? On April 4, 1733, Elector Frederick August II of Saxony the only legitimate son and successor of Frederick August I, decreed unexpectedly that the Schwenkfelders residing on Zinzendorf ’s estates had to leave Saxony within one year’s time. The few

14

Introduction

Schwenkfelders in Görlitz and its environs were at first not affected by this emigration order; they did not receive it until two years later. Fearing that the exodus of the Schwenkfelders would cause unrest among the general populace, they were ordered to leave the Electorate in small groups. The reasons for and the implementation of this migration order will be investigated in the fourth chapter. After receiving the migration order, the Schwenkfelders — surprisingly — undertook nothing to obtain a withdrawal or delay of it. On contrary, they enquired immediately by letter and in person, about a new asylum in Europe or America. These diverse endeavors to find a country where they could live their faith freely, settle together in one area, and attain their economic livelihood, is the topic of the fifth chapter. In this connection two questions need to be asked: Why did the Schwenkfelders contact especially the Mennonites in the Netherlands for support? Why and at what time did they decide on colonial Pennsylvania as their new asylum? The sixth chapter presents preeminently the five-month-long main emigration trek of approximately two hundred Schwenkfelders to America in the year 1734. In four stages, they travelled first from Herrnhut in Upper Lusatia in small groups to Pirna southwest of Dresden. Then they sailed from there in two boats on the Elbe to Altona and from there in a convoy of three Dutch ships to Haarlem. Finally, they crossed the Atlantic on the English sailing vessel St Andrew from Rotterdam to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, one of the important immigrant harbors at that time. Based upon contemporary sources, the organization, route, and the events of this transatlantic passage will be described. In this case it will be necessary to investigate more closely the religious advice and financial support that some very wealthy Mennonites in Altona and in Haarlem granted to the Silesian refugees. In addition to the representation of this main emigration trek of the Schwenkfelders, a brief overview will be given of their five other, significantly smaller, emigrations to America, which took place between 1731 and 1737. Chapter seven presents how the settlement and economic situation of the Schwenk­ felder immigrants, their religious life, and their social and political engagement in multireligious and multicultural colonial Pennsylvania took shape. First the living conditions of the Schwenkfelder immigrants will be sketched, namely, their dispersed settlement and mainly agriculturally-oriented economy. Then, attention will be directed to their religious life, which, in the new homeland, passed through a very tension-filled development from predominant privacy to communality, i. e., to organizations and institutions. Of course, the reasons and the progress of this organizational and institutional development — meeting of the first General Conference (1763), foundation of the Society of Schwenkfelders (1782), and incorporation of the Schwenkfelder Church (1909) — can only be outlined within the frame of this study. Lastly, the social and political circumstances will need to be described, with which the Schwenkfelder settlers were confronted, especially in the course of the Colonial Wars, but particularly during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). How did they react to these new and huge challenges in their everyday life? What changes did their former mostly undifferentiated understanding of government undergo?

Outline

15

Between 1731 and 1737, about 200 Schwenkfelders emigrated indeed to America, but an even greater number of them had remained in Upper Lusatia and primarily in their Silesian homeland. Here their situation had changed fundamentally when Silesia came under Prussian sovereignty in 1740. Soon after his occupation of S­ ilesia King Frederick II guaranteed the Schwenkfelders by edicts individual freedom of religion and privileges such as the restitution of their houses, freedom to settle anywhere in Prussian territories, and tax privileges. The history of these Schwenk­ felders, sketched in the eighth chapter, was characterized — in spite of favorable religio-political conditions as well as spiritual and financial support by their follow believers in America — by  a nearly continuous religious, social, and numerical decline. A key issue in this context will be: Did there exist at last a causal connection between the migrations of about two hundred energetic Schwenkfelders to America and the decline of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia and its extinction during first third of the nineteenth century? The study on the Schwenkfelders who emigrated from Silesia via Upper Lusatia to America makes it evident, that their migrations had great relevance for their traditional faith and piety. Through the multiple encounters with other denominations and Christian communities as well as religious loners they became acquainted not only with other beliefs and forms of piety but also other lifestyles in regard to daily life. Moreover, they were confronted with completely different social and political circumstances. Of course, that happened to individual Schwenkfelders in varying ways and intensity. First and foremost, these encounters and confrontations had very different effects on their traditional faith and piety. They ranged from betrayal or abandonment of their religious convictions to alterations (modifications, changes, or even revisions) of their traditional faith, to strengthening and deepening their faith and piety. Now, in the ninth chapter, these diverse possibilities will be taken up again with another methodical approach and investigated in greater detail on the basis of some selected biographies and historical data — all treated very briefly in this monograph. The fact that migrations always involve risks but also opportunities for faith and piety will in this way be explained in more detail and illustrated paradigmatically. In the short epilogue, that will conclude this study the theme of migration and faith will be mentioned briefly under cultural, historical, and theological points of view. This complex theme is, as generally known, at present of more enormous currency and greater relevance than ever.

16

Introduction

3. Text Style, Footnotes, List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 3.1 Text Style This monograph contains numerous quotations from printed books and manuscript sources. In the latter case those are mostly Schwenkfeldiana from different American and European archives and libraries. Quotations from printed English-language literature follow the spelling and punctuation of the source. All quotations from printed books in German or Latin, for which there is until now no English translation, are translated; their punctuation is adjusted to the current American standard. Occasionally an English translation is followed by the complete or partial original German or Latin citation between parentheses. All quotations from English-language manuscripts are strictly literal; however, the punctuation is — for the sake of readability — in line with current standards. All quotations from German and Latin manuscripts are translated into English if there is otherwise no extant English translation. All emphases in quotations from printed books and manuscripts — for example the use of different font styles or letters in different sizes and underlines — are not distinguished. Common or unambiguous abbreviations in manuscripts are expanded tacitly in accordance with present-day orthography and grammar. However, all abbreviations in printed books are retained. References to Bible passages or verses found in printed or manuscript sources appear in square brackets. The citations are taken principally from the King James Version of 1611 (1987 printing). Absolutely necessary explanations of words or terms as well as historical events within  a quotation follow likewise in square brackets. All of these explanations are kept as short as possible and without any reference to literature. Three periods within square brackets signify omissions in the quoted printed or written text. The spelling of names (first and last names) of Schwenkfelders from Silesia who did not emigrate to America but remained in Europe are, without exception, given in their German spelling. However, the spelling of the names of all Schwenkfelders who did emigrate to America are consistently given in their anglicized form. However, when these anglicized names are first mentioned, the German spelling of the first and — if necessary — last name will be given between parentheses. The spelling of historical place names in Europe and America are given in their present-day form. The spelling of the collective term for the followers and sympathizers of Caspar Schwenckfeld is — as normally spelled in English-speaking countries — Schwenkfelder, not Schwenckfelder or Schwenckfeldianer.

Text Style

17

Printed English, German, or Latin book titles mentioned in this monograph —  as a rule according to the first edition — are, aside from a few reasonable exceptions, in the form of short titles. If English-language translations of these non-English-­ language books have also appeared in print, then the titles of these translations appear between parentheses in the short title form. All emphases in printed book titles are disregarded.

3.2 Footnotes In order to keep the notes as succinct as possible, the bibliographical entries for printed sources (short titles) are kept very brief. The titles of manuscript sources are likewise given in shortened form; however, their provenances are in somewhat more detail. The citation of letters is standardized as follows: first and last name of the author, first and last name of the addressee, date, provenance specification, resp., reference in printed books. Usually, there is no indication whether the letter is an original or a copy. Explanations and bibliographical references to persons and historical events are given — as a rule — only when these are necessary for the understanding of the history of the Schwenkfelders and especially for their migrations. References had to be minimized due to space limitations; important, additional references are pointed out. These references to persons or historical events are usually listed where these persons or events are treated in the most detail; otherwise the reader will be directed to these footnotes.

3.3 List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, and List of Illustrations In the list of archival materials all American and European archives and libraries from which manuscript sources were used and cited are listed. However, exact shelf numbers are given only for larger archival collections. The bibliography of primary and secondary literature contains all of the cited and mentioned printed books as well as some general literature. There are numerous illustrations, which are to elucidate important persons, buildings, documents, and historical events. As  a rule, these are contemporary artworks, images, and photographic material. Moreover, these illustrations should help to visualize persons, buildings, documents, and historical events which are presented in the monograph. The list of illustrations contains information about the provenance of these items.

18

Introduction

3.4 Indices Included in this monograph are four indices: abbreviations, biblical passages, persons, and places. Persons with anglicized names are listed in the index under their anglicized name. However, the original German name is also in the index, which is always cross-referenced to the anglicized name. Silesian place names in the index (as in the text) are — in accordance with common practice in historical studies — under the former German appellation. However, their current Polish place names are likewise noted in the index. These are always cross-referenced to the former German place names.

I. Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from Middle of 16th to Beginning of 18th Century

After Schwenckfeld’s death in Ulm in 1561 there were many devotees and sympathizers of his teachings which were decisively determined by Spiritualism. These people were located in numerous territories of the German Empire as well as in Silesia and in Glatz County. Nevertheless, these so-called Schwenkfelders or Schwenk­ feldians banded together in larger, permanent communities only in Silesia since about the middle of the sixteenth century.1 They were, however, not tightly organized or even institutionalized. Belonging to Bo­hemia since the eleventh century, Silesia had come under the dominion of King Ferdinand I of Austria in 1526 after the death of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, but it did not belong directly to the imperial federation. Schwenkfelder communities evolved in the southwestern border area of the Duchy of Liegnitz and the abutting border area of the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer. They were secluded from political, social, and cultural events. Although without  a firm organizational structure, they persisted Ill. 1 Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig in Silesia for nearly two hundred years. (1489–1561)

1 Schwenkfeldianism in Glatz County and especially in the southwestern territories of the German Empire was doubtlessly of great significance. Nevertheless, their conventicles in these areas were not only significantly less in number, but they were also of no duration. For more information about Schwenkfeldianism in Glatz County, see Weigelt: Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 106–19. Cf. Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 97–103; Weigelt, Tradition, 181–94. For more information about Schwenkfeldianism in the southwestern territories of the German Empire, see Gritsche, Via Media; McLaughlin, “Schwenckfeld and the Schwenkfelders”; Mielke, Kirche, vol. 1; Mielke, “Schwenkfeldertum”; Weber, Schwenckfeld; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 66–105.

20

Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

1. Schwenkfelders until End of Thirty Years War 1.1 Residences, Living and Economic Conditions, Theology and Religious Life In the ribbon villages situated between the cities of Goldberg, Löwenberg, and H ­ aynau, belonging partially to the Duchy of Liegnitz and partially to the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer, the Schwenkfelders at that time made up possibly as much as ten percent of the population.2 In the Duchy of Liegnitz they lived mainly in the villages of Armenruh, Laubgrund, Hockenau, and Harpersdorf; in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer they resided primarily in Zobten, Langneundorf, Radmannsdorf, Siebeneichen, Höfel, Lauterseiffen, and Deutmannsdorf. The village with the highest percentage of Schwenckfeld followers was undoubtedly Harpersdorf near Goldberg. This extremely long stretched-out ribbon village, nestled in  a broad valley between the Spitzberg and the Gröditzberg, consisted of Ober- and Niederharpersdorf as well as the Kammergut, i. e., the State Domain, in which  a variety of ownership and legal relationships prevailed.

Ill. 2 Rural dwelling places of the Schwenkfelders in Silesia 2 An overview of the history of Schwenkfeldianism in this region of Silesia from the middle of the sixteenth century to the end of the Thirty Years War can be found in Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 120–28 (Lit.). Cf. Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 104–11; Weigelt, Tradition, 195–215.

Schwenkfelders until End of Thirty Years War

21

The Schwenkfelders living in this area were primarily cottagers (Häusler) or small farmers (Gärtner). The agriculture pursued in their home gardens or on their tiny acreage probably hardly met their own needs. These men and women earned their livelihood for the most part by spinning flax and producing linen; therefore, it was essentially  a home-based family business. They sold their homemade goods either directly or through dealers at the markets in the surrounding towns, especially Goldberg. A number of these small farmers and cottagers pursued a secondary occupation as cobbler, tailor, carpenter, and mason. From time to time these cottagers and small farmers worked as day laborers in the service of their noble landlords. In addition, however, there were Schwenkfelders who were mainly artisans. The number of farmers who could live from agriculture was evidently meager; in most cases they were dependent on some additional source of income. In the second half of the seventeenth century there were several folk practitioners of medicine (Laboranten) who had acquired astonishing knowledge in the field of plants — primarily herbalism — and were gladly consulted as physicians. Already in the sixteenth century the educational level of the Schwenkfelders was remarkably high. As a rule they could read and write. In the seventeenth century several were able to acquire Latin, Greek, and even Hebrew, more or less teaching themselves. This language acquisition served, however, exclusively for religious purposes. They wanted to read the Old and New Testament writings and the Vulgate in the original. By the second half of the sixteenth century the Schwenkfelders, in general, had received the difficult spiritual theology of Caspar Schwenckfeld only in part. His Christology, appearing to be Eutychian, and his doctrine of the Last Supper had, at best, limited or selective acceptance.3 However, they always upheld Schwenckfeld’s teaching that eternal salvation could not be achieved through the word or sacrament as  a means of grace, i. e., media salutis. Rather, it was bestowed from God to men directly by the spirit-inspired inner word. This word, no longer connected as closely to the Christological concept of the deified humanity of Christ as it was for Schwenckfeld, had to be perceived in the heart and then made real in daily life. Theology was — the longer it prevailed, the stronger it became — focused on the origin and actualization of the New Man, i. e., on rebirth and sanctification. The evolution of the New Man, understood indeed as  a process, manifests itself in  a rigorous rejection of the world and in striving for moral perfection. Of course, the Schwenkfelders were careful not to lapse into Perfectionism, although they came close to that on occasion. The Schwenkfelders practiced this worldly asceticism, avoided or loathed entertainment and social life of every sort in the villages. They led an extremely indus 3 For Caspar Schwenckfeld’s Christological concept, see especially McLaughlin, Schwenckfeld, 100; Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 86–91; Weigelt, Tradition, 159–68.

22

Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

trious and abstemious life. If nothing else, they were appreciated and protected by not a few of their noble landlords on account of their zeal in work and service. Without their open or secretive protection, the Schwenkfelder communities in this region would certainly not have been able to develop so robustly and last so long. The rearing of Schwenkfelder children was strict even for that time. As often as possible they prevented their children from having contact with the village youth so that they could not romp around or scuffle on the streets. The Schwenkfelders gathered more or less regularly in loose conventicles in their homes to study the Bible together, to sing, and to pray as well as to read certain devotional books, especially those which, in their opinion, concurred with Schwenckfeld’s writings. Those were particularly the books of homilies by the theologian Johann Sigismund Werner who belonged to Schwenckfeld’s narrow circle of friends in Silesia;4 by the Zobten pastor Michael Hiller whose sermons were enthusiastically attended by Schwenkfelders in the vicinity,5 and by the Langenbielau Pastor Erasmus Weichenhan who was regarded as an avid proponent of the Schwenkfeldian doctrine.6 Corporate and private singing was especially practiced by them. Until the end of the seventeenth century they apparently used almost exclusively songs from the hymnals of the Bohemian Brethren.7 Schwenkfelders attended Lutheran church services only sporadically. Because of their spiritualistic understanding of the sacrament, they participated in the celebration of communion only on the rarest of occasions. However, compliant with the prevailing law, they permitted their children, as a rule, to be baptized by the local minister, although they were generally critical of the practice of infant baptism. From time to time they took their children outside of their villages for baptism by those Lutheran ministers who enjoyed their personal trust. So, in spite of their religious deviance and massive criticism of the Church, the Schwenkfelders were considered to be members of the Lutheran Church.

4 On Johann Sigismund Werner, see Herzig, “Werner”. Werner’s “Postilla” in CS, vol. 15, (395) 407–1031. For the different editions of this postil in the sixteenth century, see VD 16, W 2060–2063. 5 On Michael Hiller, see Grünewald, Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Goldberg, 39. Cf. Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 104–6; Weigelt, Tradition, 195–99. Hiller’s “Postilla und Auslegung der Evangelia durchs gantze Jahr” was not printed. Several manuscript copies are located at the SLHC. 6 On Erasmus Weichenhan, see Grünewald, Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Schönau, 12; Schultze, Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Schweidnitz-Reichenbach, 7. Cf. Weigelt, Schwenk­ felders in Silesia, 110; Weigelt, Tradition, 212–13. Weichenhan’s “Postilla” was published in 1672 by Martin John Jr under the pseudonym Matthias Israel in Sulzbach in the printing house of Abraham Lichtenthaler. For the various editions of Weichenhan’s “Postil”, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 137–38. 7 Cf. Evers, Lied, 25, 157.

Schwenkfelders until End of Thirty Years War

23

1.2 Criticism of Church and Ecclesiastical Doctrines In accord with their spiritual theology, Schwenkfelders opposed mainly the doctrine of Lutheran orthodoxy that eternal salvation is offered and received only through the external word and the sacraments. They aimed many criticisms at the institution of the Lutheran Church. Lutheran ministers came particularly into their sights. Schwenkfelders castigated their lifestyle with sharp words and denounced their convivialities with fiddle playing and card games. They branded their homey feasts as “gorging” and “boozing”.8 During the last two decades of the sixteenth century the Schwenkfelders’ criticism of the Church took on, in part, apocalyptic forms. Moreover, they declaimed their eschatological prophecies occasionally in ecstasy. To what extent their leaders in the early 1590s sympathized and cooperated or were even identical with the so-called Peasant Preachers, who at that time were active in this area, is disputed.9 An anonymous writer, for example, was able to report the following about  a gathering of allegedly more than two thousand men and women in Hartliebsdorf near Löwenberg: they “performed strange ceremonies [symbolic actions] with gestures and with their hands; prophets among them revealed that the nobles and their ministers could be seen in Hell coupled together like dogs.”10 They prophesized that, “Although Judgment Day was supposed to have already come three weeks ago, but had been postponed for a little while, it would take place in less than a week.” At that time Martin John Sr11 and the shepherd Antonius Oelsner12 from Kammerswaldau were especially passionate critics of the doctrine and institution of the Lutheran Church. As the result of  a revelation experience around 1580 the latter had given up his job and from that time on moved around as  a bustling itinerant preacher. He preached in homes and barns, in fields and woods about the approaching apocalyptic tribulations and the imminent dawning of Judgment Day.

8 Martin John Sr to Herzog [Friedrich IV] of Liegnitz, n.d., SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–3, 393–96, here 394. 9 For the so-called Peasant-Preachers, see Koffmane, Wiedertäufer, 48–55; Thebesius, Liegnitzische Jahr-Bücher, vol. 3, 246; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 126. 10 Henel von Hennenfeld, Silesiographia, 291–92. 11 On Martin John Sr, see Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 110; Weigelt, Tradition, 212–13. 12 On Antonius Oelsner, see Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 106–10; Weigelt, Tradition, 202–6, 208–11.

24

Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

1.3 Disciplinary and Punitive Measures by Governmental and Ecclesiastical Authorities Lutheran ministers felt challenged by Schwenkfelder religious deviance and criticisms of the Church. Therefore they attacked the Schwenkfelders in their sermons and polemicized against them about their occasional services, particularly those for funerals. They tried to provoke their aristocratic patrons and territorial lords into taking disciplinary and punitive actions. However, only a few of their noble landlords took action against their Schwenkfelder subjects. Among them was Sigismund von Mauschwitz, the owner of Armenruh between 1570 and 1597.13 Most of the nobility of that region extended their hands protectively over the Schwenkfelders. Indeed, these noble landlords valued the Schwenkfelder work ethic and modesty or even sympathized secretly with their spiritual theology. More severe for the Schwenkfelders were the measures taken against them by authorities at the state level. An anti-Schwenkfelder mandate issued by the Breslau Bishop Andreas von Jerin as the Vicegerent in Silesia on October 21, 1590, proved to be especially sharp and momentous.14 This decree forbade Schwenkfelders from holding conventicles and required them not only to attend the Lutheran worship service but also to receive the sacraments. When the Schwenkfelders did not comply with these directives, Duke Frederick IV of Liegnitz and the Vicegerent of the Principality Schweidnitz-Jauer Matthias von Logau took action against them in both principalities by imprisoning and expelling them in addition to confiscating their assets and books. The Duke and the Vicegerent were supported in their actions by several noble landlords in these territories. Initially twenty-eight Schwenkfelders were tossed into the dungeons of the Gröditzburg — a fortress located between Goldberg and Löwenberg and in possession of the dukes of Liegnitz since 1473 — and then in August 1595 transferred to Vienna where they were sentenced to serve as rowers on galleys. In the Turkish war they were deployed on the Danube as rowers and as human shields during attacks. Only three of these men survived. Among them was Antonius Oelsner, who — according to Schwenkfelder tradition — after his release is supposed to have been killed by “infamous boys” at the instigation of Catholic priests.15 Around 1600 the persecutions faded or even ceased. Several Schwenkfelders who had taken a tough stance had meanwhile died, and moderate proponents, such as the well-educated and multilingual Nikolaus Tatzke (Tetschke, Detschke) from Mittelwalde in County Glatz, had acquired influence.16 Likewise, the influential noble 13 On Sigismund von Mauschwitz Sr, see Sinapius, Des Schlesischen Adels, 803. 14 Jerin’s “Mandat” is printed as Regest in Walther, Silesia diplomatica, vol. 1, 94, 146. 15 John Jr, “Bericht von den Schwenkfeldern”, n.d., SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–3, 1221–35, here 1223. 16 On Nikolaus Tatzke (Tetschke, Detschke), see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 116, 122, 127.

Schwenkfelders until End of Thirty Years War

25

landlord of Armenruh and Oberharpersdorf, Sigismund von Mauschwitz, — unlike his father — advocated for them with strong arguments.17 During the Thirty Years War Schwenkfelder communities experienced, for political reasons, a period of relative calm. In regard to action against the — in the eyes of the Habsburgs — heretical Schwenkfelders, the Silesian princes and territorial estates had to fear attracting the attention of King Ferdinand II, the Supreme Liege Lord of Silesia, giving him  a pretext to attack them. Therefore they were authoritatively well advised to practice restraint.18 The noble landlords together with their patronage priests, in whose villages deviant Schwenkfelders lived, had more than enough economic and existential worries. After the termination of the Great War, i. e., the Thirty Years War, the Schwenk­ felders were again hard pressed in the Duchy of Liegnitz soon after the ascent of Duke Christian IV, who governed from 1651 to 1663. In order to consolidate Lutheran Church matters,  a general visitation was conducted between 1651 and 1657.19 By means of this action the authorities in the nearly exclusive Lutheran Principality of Liegnitz wanted to arm themselves better against the looming Habsburg Counter-Reformation plans, because Silesia was allocated in the Peace of Westphalia to the House of Habsburg.20 In connection with the church visitations or in their aftermath, there occurred prohibitions of conventicles, interrogations, arrests, forced labor, and imprisonments. Above all, the leading spokesmen of the Schwenkfelders were struck by punitive measures, especially Balthasar Jäckel21 and Georg Heydrich. At that time these two men radicalized the criticism of infant baptism — always latent among the Schwenkfelders — and urged their fellow believers to have their children no longer baptized. By doing this they literally provoked a reaction by the Lutheran clergy.22 In the Principality of Liegnitz, at the end of 1658 or the beginning of 1659, a period of calm dawned for the Schwenkfelders and lasted for several decades. They ceased this sharp criticism of the practice of baptism. Many of them actually drew somewhat closer to the Lutheran Church and participated somewhat in the village community with its festivities and amusements.

17 On Sigismund von Mauschwitz Sr, see Sinapius, Des Schlesischen Adels, 803. 18 This restraint was necessary because the Silesian princes and territorial estates had supported the rebellion of the Bohemian estates. 19 For the general visitation between 1651 and 1657, see Eberlein (ed.), General-Kirchenvisi­ tation, 64–65, 108–9; Velsen, Gegenreformation, 17. 20 Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugense, Article V § 41. In Oschmann (ed.), Friedensverträge, vol. 1, part 1, 121. 21 On Balthasar Jäckel, see Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 112–15; Weigelt, Tradition, 217–19, 222–24, 226. 22 On Georg Heydrich, see Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 112–13; Weigelt, Tradition, 217–18.

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Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

2. Schwenkfelders from Second Half of 17th to Beginning of 18th Century Until the middle of the seventeenth century Schwenkfelders, as noted previously, had been resolute in remaining strictly within the limits of their characteristic theology. Therefore, they avoided not only personal contact with followers of other religious traditions, but they were also very guarded against the reading of outside publications and devotional books. That changed in the second half of the seventeenth century, certainly not fundamentally, but yet perceptibly. At least that was the case with a certain group of Schwenkfelders.

2.1 Between Religious Isolation and Openness Clearly, after the Thirty Years War, the Schwenkfelders continued to hold firm, for the most part, to their past religious isolation by accepting only their own traditions.23 Their meditating and seeking were oriented toward their Schwenkfelder theology and religious practice as well as retaining their traditional, simple, frugal, and disciplined way of life. Since the second half of the seventeenth century there had been, moreover, a small, but influential number of Schwenkfelders who made contact with other religious groups and communities. These contacts included spiritualists, Anabaptists, Quakers, and, foremost, pietists. Of course, these connections were of very different degrees of intensity and duration. Their relationships with pietists were especially intense and firm. During the Thirty Years War the Spiritualist and Apocalypticist Ludwig Friedrich Gifftheil visited the Schwenkfelders twice.24 In 1626 he had travelled to Silesia to warn the two Piast Dukes Johann Christian of Brieg and Georg Rudolf of Liegnitz and Wohlau to support in some way the counter-reformatory plans of Emperor Ferdinand II. The elder of the two brothers, Christian, had converted to Calvinism in 1614. Rudolf, an important patron of music and literature, did not convert until 1616, but then reconverted to Lutheranism in 1621. In the very small village of Feldhäuser, not too far from Harpersdorf, a meeting took place between Gifftheil and the Schwenkfelders. During their discussions Gifftheil had the impression that as far as belief was concerned he concurred with them fully. Therefore, he simply considered it necessary to advise them that in future tribulations, when “the cross came”, they should not act like a pile of leaves being blown about by storm winds.25 23 An overview of the history of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from the end of the Thirty Years War until the beginning of the eighteenth century can be found in Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 111–22; Weigelt, Tradition, 215–39; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 129–46 (Lit.). 24 For Gifftheil’s visit to the Schwenkfelders cf. Weigelt, “Gifftheil”. 25 John Jr, “Bericht von den Schwenkfeldern”, n.d., SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–3, 1221–35, here 1223.

Schwenkfelders from Second Half of 17th to Beginning of 18th Century

27

In fall 1658 the Hutterite Baptist leader Christoph Baumhauer visited the Schwenk­ felders.26 At that time he was  a preacher in the Bruderhof or Haushabe, i. e., the Hutterite colony Freischütz (Slovak — Sobotište, Hungarian — O.-Szombat) near the Moravian border. With this Anabaptist emissary, who was on  a mission trip to East Prussia, they discussed and read the writings that he carried with him in his baggage. Doing this, the Schwenkfelders felt they could detect that “in many essential points” they were “not dissimilar” and in regard to Christ’s “regulation and institution of baptism and communion they were of one mind.”27 In the following years some Schwenkfelders engaged in a short-lived correspondence with Andreas Ehrenpreis28 who was the head of the Hutterite communities in Slovakia from 1639 to his death in 1662.29 Apparently these loose connections to the Hutterite Anabaptists seem to have never been completely broken off, for the Schwenkfelder Balthasar Hoffmann,30 traveling from Vienna, visited the Bruderhof Großschüt­ zen (Slovk — Vełké Leváre, Hungarian — Nagylévárd) in 1721. This Schwenkfelder envoy stayed at the imperial court for quite some time in an attempt to secure tolerance for his religiously persecuted fellow believers in Silesia.31 Not always without tension and occasionally terminating abruptly, several Schwenkfelders engaged in correspondence with notable spiritualists, e.g. Christian Hoburg, Paul Felgenhauer, Johann Georg Gichtel, and Friedrich Breckling, from the end of the 1660s.32 Generally these correspondences were carried on sporadically; the most extensive one was with Christian Hoburg. Initially the Schwenkfelders acquired a better understanding of early Quakerism principally from Hilarius Prache.33 He was born in Teutschel near Liegnitz in 1614, the son of a pastor. After studying theology he was at first a tutor in the homes of nobles and beginning in 1651  a pastor in Diersdorf. From 1662 to 1669 he was active as pastor and dean in Goldberg. Prache, who knew Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, was influenced early on by the Kabbalah — he translated the “Bakkascha” by the Spanish Rabbi Jedaja Happenini into Latin — and also by Valentin Weigel, and Jacob Boehme.34 Later, however, he 26 For contacts between Baumhauer and Schwenkfelders cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 139 (Lit.). 27 Balthasar Jäckel to the elders of the Hutterite brethren in Großschützen, October 19, 1658, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 141–46. 28 On Andreas Ehrenpreis, cf. Harrison, “Ehrenpreis”, 1997. 29 For the correspondence between Ehrenpreis and the Schwenkfelders, cf. Harrison, “Ehrenpreis”, 1997, 35–36; Weigelt, Tradition, 233. 30 On Balthasar Hoffmann, cf. p. 43 n 122. 31 For the Schwenkfelder delegation to the Imperial Court in Vienna, cf. p. 43–4. 32 For the correspondence between spiritualists and Schwenkfelders, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 139–41. 33 On Hilarius Prache, see Grünewald, Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Goldberg, 12. For contacts between Prache and Schwenkfelders, cf. Hessayon, “Boehme”, 209; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 105; Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker connection”, 114–15. 34 In regard to Prache’s knowledge of the Kabbala, cf. Hilarius Prache to Abraham von Franckenberg, March 15, 1653, in Franckenberg, Briefwechsel, 270–71.

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Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

regretted very much his pursuit of Boehme’s works because in doing so his conversion to Quakerism was delayed.35 He personally became acquainted with several Quaker envoys in Silesia, engaged them in correspondence and read their writings.36 Moreover, he had all sorts of connections with Schwenkfelders living near Goldberg. He stayed for some time with the two most important Schwenkfelder personages, Georg Hauptmann37 in Lauterseiffen and Martin John Jr38 in Laub­grund, before he migrated to London in June 1676 with his wife Barbara and Johann Georg Matern,39 a teacher in Goldberg who had married their daughter Rosina. In London Prache and Matern along with their families joined the Quakers. Prache, who died by 1669, worked as a translator in the Quaker print shop in Cambridge. Matern became a teacher in the town of Waltham Abbey in County Essex and then, until his death in 1680, in Edmonton in the former County Middle­ sex he taught languages to children from Quaker families and other “necessary Sciences appertaining to this outward Life”,40 enjoying great respect.41 Prache and Matern maintained a sporadic exchange of letters with Martin John.42 This correspondence dealt notably with the increasing criticism by the early Quakers of some teachings of Boehme. Martin John, however, rebuffed this criticism as unjustified.43 After the deaths of Hilarius Prache and Johann Georg Matern, Barbara Prache and her daughter Rosina Matern, whose second marriage was to the London resident John Bringhurst, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1694 where they belonged to the local Quaker community. Schwenkfelder contacts with pietists were very numerous and of various intensities.44 At the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century Schwenkfelders had multifarious relationships with representatives and followers of Spener-Halle Pietism. Around 1690 they sent two envoys to Philipp Jacob Spener in Dresden. One of them was probably Georg Hauptmann. Their discussions apparently revolved mainly around their criticism of the Lutheran Church and especially its officials. Apparently Spener expressed some sympathy with their criticism on the preaching and pastoral care of the ministers. However, he would 35 In regard to Prache’s knowledge of the Kabbala, cf. Hilarius Prache to Abraham von Franckenberg, March 15, 1653, in Franckenberg, Briefwechsel, 270–71. 36 Cf. Johann Georg Matern to Jan Claus, May 3, 1776, in Fell-Smith, Crisp, 15–17. 37 On Georg Hauptmann, cf. 31 n 65. 38 On Martin John Jr, cf. 32 n 67. 39 On Johann Georg Matern, cf. “Testimony”, 1–10. 40 “Testimony”, 6. 41 For Matern’s activities as  a teacher, see the obituaries of the school administration, colleagues, the pupils, and his wife in “Testimony”, 11–32. 42 On their correspondence see “Brieffe” and “Letters”. 43 Cf. Martin John Jr to Johann Georg Matern, April 18, 1776, in Fell-Smith, Crisp, 38. 44 For contacts between Schwenkfelders and pietists, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 141–46.

Schwenkfelders from Second Half of 17th to Beginning of 18th Century

29

have in no way approved of their separation from the Church. On the other hand, he expressed in a letter his hope that the Schwenkfelders would collectively or individually move away from their straying and separating ways to us when some improvements take place in our Lutheran Church and some preachers begin to apply themselves more seriously to the work of the Lord in their congregations, so that they [sc. the Schwenkfelders] see robust preaching and a strengthening of Church discipline.45

It is quite possible that Schwenkfelders had merely an indirect relationship with August Hermann Francke. The earliest contact was possibly Achatius Friedrich Roscius who was born in Lübben in Lower Lusatia.46 Originally he wanted to be a preacher to the Schwenkfelders, but they prudently rejected him for several reasons. In 1694 he went to Halle where he studied theology and possibly did some tutoring at the Francke Foundations. In his correspondence with Schwenkfelders he conveyed various greetings to and from Francke.47 On the other hand, the Schwenkfelders had personal and to some extent quite intimate connections with several followers or sympathizers of Halle Pietism who were preachers near their dwelling places. That was especially true in the case of the hymn writer and prolific author Johann Christoph Schwedler, the strident theologian Daniel Schneider, and the “visionary” Johann Sturm. Beginning in 1698 Schwedler48 was an assistant pastor and from 1701 until his death in 1730 a pastor at the Border Church (Grenzkirche) of Niederwiesa, located near Greiffenberg on the other side of the Queis in Electoral Saxony. The distance to Harpersdorf, the center of Silesian Schwenkfeldianism, was no more than  a day’s march. Schwedler, who had met Francke in Leipzig in 1696 during his study years and later was  a correspondent, advocated an ethical rigorism. All social amusements and merrymaking were the devil’s work in his opinion. Schwenkfelders trusted him, occasionally attended his services and sometimes allowed him to perform baptisms and marriages. Schwedler’s hope that the Schwenkfelders could be led back to the Lutheran Church was not fulfilled. That was the reason why his relationship to them was subsequently somewhat more distant. Born in Breslau, Daniel Schneider49 was pastor at the Parish Church in Goldberg from 1696 until his spectacular removal from office in 1704 (or at the end of 1703). Schwenkfelders from surrounding villages came to hear his sermons, in which he 45 Philipp Jakob Spener to N. N., 1690, in Spener, Bedencken, vol. 1, 314–15, here 315. 46 On Achatius Friedrich Roscius, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 142–43. 47 Cf. e.g., Achatius Roscius to Martin John Jr, n.d. [after April 29, 1695], SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–1, 799–806, here 803–4. 48 On Johann Christoph Schwedler, see Brümmer, “Schwedler”. For contacts between Schwedler and Schwenkfelders, cf. Meyer, “Pietismus”, 12–4; Otto, Lexikon, vol. 3, 248–56; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 142–44. 49 On Daniel Schneider, see Grünewald: Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Goldberg, 13. For the relationship of Schwenkfelders to Schneider, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 144–45.

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insisted upon a real justification by the blood of Christ, and he even had discussions with them.50 The discharge of his office, his style of piety and not least his support of the Schwenkfelders provoked suspicion and dissent among the rigid Lutheran-­ minded assistant pastors and teachers as well as parts of the Lutheran population. Rumors were spread that he not only sympathized with the Schwenkfelders, but was himself secretly a Schwenkfelder.51 There is, however, absolutely no doubt that he was not a Schwenkfelder. Even his acceptance among the Schwenkfelders was not unanimous, which is demonstrated by the critical “Bedencken” from 1702 written by an unnamed Schwenkfelder with an accompanying circular letter to all brothers in faith in Harpersdorf.52 In his concerns the writer, with the aid of Schneider’s published sermons, criticizes this preacher because he “extols the Word and Sacrament all too highly” and deprecates his fellow believers’ attendance at sermons. In Goldberg rancorous disputes and scandalous street fights took place. These events were discussed in depth in publications and journals and disseminated as effective publicity.53 In the extensive publication of his defense issued in 1708, Schneider, who at this time as a pastor in Laubach, explained that he merely wanted to lead the Schwenkfelders back to the Lutheran Church. That is to say, he was convinced that Schwenckfeld and Luther agreed in “almost all points”.54 Therefore, attention must only be brought to “the powerful teachings of Luther about a true faith that renews the whole person through love.” Then, doubtlessly, “Many, if not all, Schwenkfelders would gladly profess to our congregation and through their otherwise reasonably good life and keen study of scripture could be edifying among us.” Of course, these endeavors must be carried out “gently.” Nothing can be accomplished with force in regards to questions of faith, something which Luther had already pointed out in his treatise “Von weltlicher Obrigkeit” (“On Temporal Authority”) in 1523. Schwenkfelders also had contact with the pietist pastor Johann Sturm who was born in Naumburg on the Queis in 1679.55 First, he was  a pastor in Adelsdorf between 1705 (1709) and 1723 (1726) and then at Holy Trinity — a Refuge Church (Zufluchtskirche) — in Probsthain, until his death on May 15, 1727.56 Both towns are located near Goldberg, i. e., in the heart of the area inhabited by ­Schwenkfelders. Pastor Sturm, who was vigorously attacked by the Jesuit priest Regent,57 emphasized 50 See Schneider, Prüfung, 173–74. 51 Schneider, Prüfung, “Vorbericht” (unpag.). 52 The “Bedencken” with the attached circular letter by the unknown Schwenkfelder was published in Schneider, Prüfung, 11–5; the following quotation ibid. 53 For instance “Kurtzer Bericht”. Additional bibliographical references regarding the controversy around Schneider can be found in Weigelt, Tradition, 232 n 252. 54 Schneider, Prüfung, “Vorbericht” (unpag.); the following quotation ibid. 55 On Johann Sturm see Grünewald: Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Goldberg, 34. For contacts between Schwenkfelders and Sturm, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 145. 56 The numerous Refuge Churches were intended for the pastoral care of Protestant inhabitants in the Catholic Principality Schweidnitz-Jauer. 57 On Karl Xaver Regent, see p. 38 n 94.

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the true renewal of man through the new birth. In that process he became “divinedthrough-and-through, Christed-through-and-through, and spirited-through-andthrough.”58 After his death in 1727 — August Hermann Francke and Gottfried Edelmann died in the same year — Schwedler published  a small book of essays in memory of these three witnesses of Jesus Christ with the title: “Dreier Zeugen Jesu […] Zeugniß der Wahrheit.” In this book Schwedler commented metaphorically that Sturm had been in his own “eyes a pitiful worm, yet a powerful storm against Satan and his followers.”59 The Schwenkfelders became acquainted with Radical Pietism first and foremost in the person of Johann Wilhelm Petersen.60 That happened in 1707/08 during his trip through Silesia. He had discussions with Martin John and Georg Hauptmann, during which doctrinal differences between the two became very clear. Yet he declared these differences to be ultimately irrelevant by noting that he and his followers still had beliefs, which may not survive divine censorship. Tolerandi sunt, non persequendi [Other views of faith must be tolerated, not persecuted]. On that day [sc. Judgment Day] an entirely different court than we imagine will be held.61

Subsequently the Schwenkfelders met Johann Friedrich Rock in 1723, doubtless the most important representative of the Inspirationalists.62 At that time Rock was on  a major missionary trip through Silesia.63 He was accompanied by two other Inspirationalists, Caspar Löw and the hosier Gottfried Neumann. The two Schwenkfelders who not only had but also encouraged contacts with other devotional movements were Georg Hauptmann and especially Martin John Jr. The spiritualist Breckling had good reason to list both men in his “Catalogus testium veritatis post Lutherum”.64 Hauptmann,65 who was born in Lauterseiffen in 1635 and died there in 1722, was professionally a practitioner of medicine. In his 1718 confession “Gründliches und eigentliches Bekäntniß” he wrote after his name “Laborant und Medicin erfah­rener 58 Zimmermann, Schwenckfelder, 184 n 13; cf. ibid., 113. 59 Schwedler, Zeugniß, 11. 60 For contacts between Schwenkfelders and Johann Wilhelm Petersen, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 145. 61 Petersen, Lebens-Beschreibung, 321–22. Where Petersen took this demand for tolerance towards dissidents is unknown; cf. Senensis, opera, vol. 4, 163. 62 For the contact between Schwenkfelders and Johann Friedrich Rock, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 145. 63 For Rock’s trip to Silesia, see Rock, Reise-Beschreibung, 24–63. 64 Condensed and ed., Breckling’s “Catalogus testium veritatis” is published in Arnold, Fortsetzung […] der unparteyischen Kirchen- und Ketzer-Historie, 760–79; Georg Hauptmann and Martin John Jr are mentioned ibid., 776. 65 On Georg Hauptmann, see Berky, Wagner, passim; Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192); Hensel: Kirchen-Geschichte, 408–9; Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 32–33; Liefmann, Dissertatio, B 4v–C 1r; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, passim.

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in Physicis” [i. e., practitioner and medical expert in natural science]”.66 Hauptmann, who left several unpublished tracts, seems to have esteemed Boehme’s writings, especially his “Aurora” (“Aurora”). At the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century he was, as will soon be even clearer, the actual spiritus rector, i. e., the guiding spirit of all Schwenkfelders, especially those who lived in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer. In contrast to Hauptmann, Martin John67 was not only open to other religious orientations and forms of piety, but he sought them and grappled intensively with them. Born in Mittelwalde in County Glatz in 1624, he came to the area of Harpersdorf when he was just four years old, to where his father Georg and his mother had fled in 1628 from the threat of the Counter-Reformation. On account of his criticism of the Lutheran Church and his conducting of conventicles, John, who had lived in Hockenau before moving to Laubgrund, spent nine months in prison in 1658. Like Georg Hauptmann, John practiced natural medicine ever since he had suffered a severe accident and was no longer able to exercise his profession as a carpenter. Thanks to his extensive medical and botanical knowledge he was “very prosperous with his cures and known far and wide.”68 Representative of his medical interests is his 1684 publication “Bienen-Büchel”. This little book in no way deals with the care of bees, but foremost with the “use of honey and wax” for all sorts of disorders and ailments. Several recipes by John survive, which await closer historical medical investigation. He engaged himself not only with Schwenckfeld’s works, but he read other theosophical, spiritual, and pietistic writings as well. In fall 1669 he undertook with his fiancée Ursula Geißler (Gaißler) a trip of several months through the German Empire and beyond to the Netherlands. During this trip he visited  a succession of spiritualists, i. e., in Bamberg the physician Georg Gellmann; in Latum near Arnheim the preacher Christian Hoburg, with whom he had corresponded since the beginning of 1668 and who performed his marriage to Ursula; in Amsterdam Johann Georg Gichtel who probably introduced him to Friedrich Breckling, Johann Amos Comenius, and the millenarian Petrus Serrarius, among others. It is almost certain that he met some Quakers as well on this trip. These personal encounters led to considerable correspondence. John’s manifold relationships to spiritual loners and groups as well as his literary occupation with Boehme’s, Petersen’s, and Leade’s works, among others, caused, however, apprehension among most Schwenkfelders and brought him painful isolation.69

66 Hauptmann’s credo “Gründliches und eigentliches Bekäntniß” is published inter alia in Hensel: Kirchen-Geschichte, 679–81; his occupation title ibid., 681. 67 On Martin John Jr, see especially Weigelt, “John” (Lit.). 68 “Brieffe”, 432–46, here 445. 69 See G. W. [Georg Weiss] an N. N. [Abraham Wagner?], July 9, 1732, SLHC Pennsburg, VA 3–12, 509–22, here 520–21.

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Several essays and tracts stem from his pen. Of these, his “Kurtzer Bericht von den Schwenkfeldern” is especially important.70 This short report on the Schwenkfelders is very valuable. It is the first self-portrayal of Schwenkfeldianism. As editor he published the “Postilla” by Erasmus Weichenhan under the pseudonym Matthias Israel. It was printed in 1672 in Sulzbach, east of Nuremberg, in the publishing and printing house of Abraham Lichtenthaler and became the most beloved Schwenkfelder devotional book well into the nineteenth century.71 Moreover, several hymns are attributed to John; however, they had been merely collected by him. He became familiar with them for the most part during his trip to the Empire as well as through his correspondents. It was not until after his death that they found entry into the extensive hymn collections of the Silesian Schwenkfelders.72 At the turn of the eighteenth century the Schwenkfelders no longer constituted a more or less hermetically closed religious society; they had many, many outside contacts. That is the main reason why Schwenkfeldianism attracted attention at that time in several monographs and journal articles. Noteworthy is the “Dissertatio historica de fanaticis Silesiorum” by Gottlieb Liefmann; likewise, Samuel Zelenka’s thesis defense “Schvengfeldismum in Pietismo renatum” which took place in Wittenberg under the chairmanship of Valentin Ernst Löscher. Of the journals, the most widely circulated one was the “Unschuldigen Nachrichten von alten und neuen theologischen Sachen”. This journal published several keenly followed articles covering the scandalous conflicts in Goldberg between several stringently orthodox Lutherans and the disputatious pietist pastor Daniel Schneider with his Schwenkfelder constituency.73

2.2 Procedures of Governmental and Ecclesiastical Authorities During the time the Schwenkfelders had multiple contacts with other faith communities and pietist movements, they continued their criticism of the institution and doctrine of the Lutheran Church, even though their attacks were seemingly more moderate. Due to their religious deviance and criticism of the Church they were subject to manifold disciplinary measures by authorities who proceeded against them with fines and imprisonments. These punishments varied greatly with respect to their severity and duration, locality and time. These authoritative procedures affected almost exclusively the Schwenkfelders who resided in the Piast Duchies Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau. In the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer persecutions became much less frequent. First, the number of Schwenkfelders had become negligible as a result of rigorous 70 John’s depiction of the history of Schwenkfeldianism, in SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–3, 1221–35. 71 For Weichenhan’s postil, which was revised and reprinted twice (1791 in Germantown and 1842 in Allentown), cf. p. 22. 72 See Evers, Lied, 181–95. 73 Cf. p. 30.

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Counter-Reformation measures. Secondly, the Catholic administrative offices and authorities entrusted with the implementation of re-catholicization had their hands so full that they could not deal with the Schwenkfelders, too. The predominantly Lutheran population, who had been robbed of their pastors and teachers, fought spiritually and denominationally for their own survival and so were incapable of giving spiritual counsel to their deviant fellow villagers. In the Piast Duchies Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau there was an epoch-making change of sovereignty in 1675. In this particular year Duke Georg Wilhelm I of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau, the only son and heir of Duke Christian, died unexpectedly at the age of fifteen. With his death the male line of the last Silesian branch of the family came to an end. The Piast principalities fell to Habsburg as vacant fiefs. The nearly exclusive Lutheran territories were henceforth administered by a Landeshauptmann, i. e., a governor, installed by the emperor as a vicegerent who resided at the castle in Liegnitz. The denominational status of the subjects there should not be affected according to a resolution74 by Emperor Leopold I dated July 15, 1676, yet the Habsburgs soon made their Counter-Reformation plans visible in these principalities. Vacant pastorates remained unfilled for quite some time or permanently and numerous Lutheran churches were confiscated. At the beginning of September 1699 Emperor Leopold I transferred the former Reformed palace chapel St John the Baptist in Liegnitz to the Jesuits who had already had a small base in the Bischofshof, i. e., the episcopal courtyard — located in the immediate vicinity of St Mary’s church — since 1689. In 1706 a Jesuit college was built to the side of the palace chapel. The anti-Schwenkfelder measures, which had been taken up again in this time of turmoil in the Principality of Liegnitz, often emanated from the local Lutheran pastors. They cajoled their noble landlords and state authorities several times to use such procedures that would finally lead to disciplining their parishioners and bringing them back to participating in church life. In the second decade of the eighteenth century Johann Samuel Neander, born in 1680 in Frankfurt on the Oder, distinguished himself especially in these activities.75 From 1709 until his death in 1759 this most energetic and impulsive theologian was the pastor of the Refuge Church in Harpersdorf.76 He was supported by assistant pastor Hermann Gottfried Kühn who had begun his service in Harpersdorf in the same year as Neander and died there in 1750. Neander, probably in accord with his fellow pastors in the vicinity, beseeched the royal government in Liegnitz to help enforce his ius parochiale, i. e., his rights over his recalcitrant and deviant Schwenkfelder parishioners. Neander was very 74 This resolution is published in Lucae, Fürsten-Krone, 1995–97. 75 On Johann Samuel Neander, see Grünewald: Predigergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Goldberg, 20.  Cf. Goldmann, Kirchengemeinde Harpersdorf, vol. 1, 34–36; Kluge, Jubelpriester, 123–28; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 148. 76 In the Harpersdorf Refuge Church at times more than 90 Protestant congregations received pastoral care.

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much concerned that dominance over the parishioners be asserted vigorously by the authorities so that they would have their children baptized and the mothers of newborns blessed. By doing that, he hoped to speed up the reintegration of the Schwenkfelders into the Lutheran Church and bring this effort to a conclusion. This expectation was not unfounded since  a rather large number of them had drawn near the Lutheran Church again or had even joined it in recent years.

2.3 Establishment of a Jesuit Mission for Catholicization In 1717 the Episcopal Ordinariate in Breslau received a notification with remarks that Schwenkfeldianism was rampantly spreading anew “among the common people” especially among the “peasants”; its followers attend “no church” and respect “no clergy”, since they harbor the “preposterous opinion” that “every man is his own priest.” They also had other “very nonsensical opinions”.77 Due to this information the Episcopal Ordinariate sent  a circular letter on May 21, 1717, to the parishes in question to make further inquiries. Based on the information received, which will not be further discussed here, the Episcopal Ordinariate communicated the course of events to the Königliches Oberamt, i. e., the royal district office, in Breslau which was responsible for all political and legal affairs in Silesia, on August 3, 1717. It declared that the Schwenkfelders did not belong to the religious groups given toleration by the Treaty of Westphalia and were therefore to be “eradicated” if “they do not convert to Catholicism.”78 After checking with several ecclesiastical and secular authorities, the Königliches Oberamt made an initial report to Emperor Charles VI on February 7, 1718. In agreement with the vicariate general, it recommended expelling the “ringleaders” of the Schwenkfelders from the territory and threatening the same punishment to the rest of the followers should they “insist on retaining their heresy and defiance.”79 By February 22 the Emperor agreed that the Schwenkfelders should be brought to acceptance of the Catholic faith. On the other hand, he made no reference whatsoever to the recommendation of banishing the leading representatives of the Schwenkfelders immediately and threatening the rest likewise with expulsion. Incidentally, similar suggestions were passed over in silence during the following years in Vienna. Evidently  a conversion of the Schwenkfelders to Catholicism was the only consideration for the strictly Catholic Emperor. Just  a few weeks before his death on February 19, 1740, Charles VI 77 Attachment to the letter Generalvikariat (Episcopal Ordinariate)  Breslau to [Christoph Meyer], May 21, 1717, AP Wrocław, Księstwo Legnickie, 418 (Rep. 28, Fürstentum Liegnitz, X, 5, b); the following quotation ibid. 78 Generalvikariat (Episcopal Ordinariate) Breslau to Köngliches Oberamt Breslau, August 3, 1717, in Regent, Beilage 1722, Article 1, 21–22. Cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 149. 79 Regest Königliches Oberamt Breslau to Emperor Charles VI, February 7, 1718, AA Wrocław, Harpersdorf, 5 (Index in die Berichte zum Königlichen Oberamt und finaliter an Königliche Majestät), unpag. [3–4]. Cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 149.

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issued a decree that all Schwenkfelders who were not willing to accept the Catholic or Lutheran faith had to leave the country within a year.80 According to the imperial directive of February 22, 1718, the Königliches Oberamt instructed the Königliche Regierung, i. e., the royal administrative office, in Liegnitz and the Königliche Amt, i. e., the royal office, in Jauer to summon the Schwenkfelders for interrogation. The questioning of the Schwenkfelders from the Duchy of Liegnitz took place on May 19 in Liegnitz and proceeded in a very amicable manner. The Schwenkfelders living in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer, however, were not interrogated until October and November in Jauer. The Schwenk­ felders were required to present their writings as well as their confession of faith. The Schwenkfelders from the Duchy of Liegnitz produced it the following week.81 It was signed by nine Schwenkfelders among whom was George (Georg) Weiss, who was to play a key role later in Pennsylvania during the first phase of settlement.82 Born 1687 in Harpersdorf in humble circumstances as the eldest son of the hymn writer Caspar Weiss, George Weiss learned the weaver’s trade and married Anna Meschter83 in 1715. Teaching himself, he acquired knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In his youth he assisted his father in the collecting and copying of hymns. He was, at that time, “probably the best informed Schwenkfelder on Scripture and Schwenckfeld doctrine.”84 In all probability he was the lead writer in drafting the confession. However, the Schwenkfelders did not send their confession of faith, the composition of which Weiss doubtlessly headed, to just the Regierung in Liegnitz, but to the Amt in Jauer as well as to the Böhmische Hofkanzlei, i. e., the Bohemian court chancery, the highest administrative authority. This six-part confession, named “Bekäntniß”, — in keeping with its spiritualistic formulation — is focused theologically on soteriology and anthropology. The understanding of authority is laid out in the sixth section in striking detail.85 Civil obedience towards magistrates is  a divine “order” for their punishment of evil doers and their protection of the pious. Christians are obligated to support authority by assuming administrative offices, to obey them “in all appropriate things of this life and not go against our conscience,” and — according to 1 Tim 2:1 — to do intercession for them. At the same time the Schwenkfelders did not neglect to point out their constant obedience to authorities and to the House of Habsburg, wishing “much happiness and victory to the end of the world.” The confession of faith of May 25, 1718, was greatly venerated by the 80 See p. 50. 81 The confession of the Schwenkfelders living in the Duchy of Liegnitz (“Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß”) is published in Jan, Methodus (Anhang), 7–11 (Beilage 1). For the confession, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 150–51; for additional printings of this confession, see ibid., 150 n 12. 82 On George Weiss, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 856–57 (E 50); Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”; Schultz, Course, 127–32; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, passim. 83 On Anna Meschter, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 70, 856–57 (E 50). 84 Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 6. 85 “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß” in Jan, Methodus, 15–17; the following quotations ibid., 16.

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Schwenkfelders both then and later. That is why it was printed in Jauer at Heinrich Christoph Müller’s printing shop in 1772.86 A reprint appeared in Milford Square, Pennsylvania at D. G. Stauffer’s printery in 1886.87 About six months later the senior leader of the Schwenkfelders in the Principality Schweidnitz-Jauer, 84-year-old Georg Hauptmann from Lauterseiffen, submitted his “Gründliches und eigentliches Bekäntniß”.88 In this confession of faith both Spiritualism and several elements characteristic of Schwenckfeld’s Christology and doctrine of the sacraments stand out much more explicitly than in the confession, “Bekäntniß,” of the Schwenkfelders from the Duchy of Liegnitz. Actually it is Hauptmann’s private confession, as the signature indicates: “Georg Haubtmann, aged 84, a chymist and medically experienced practitioner in natural science.”89 Based on both of the proffered confessions of faith and the submitted writings as well as the statements made during interrogation, the Königliches Oberamt issued a revised report to Emperor Charles VI on December 22, 1718. In addition to the recommendation of an Episcopal Ordinariate this report proposed that a religious order be entrusted with the missionization of the Schwenkfelders. After the Emperor’s request had been clarified, viz. that the Societas Jesu — as recommended by the Episcopal Ordinariate in agreement with the Königliches Oberamt — should be charged with the responsibility and “instructions” had been drawn up, the Jesuit mission was established by an imperial degree of September 16, 1719.90 According to the instructions91 the Jesuit mission should exist only “ad tempus”, i. e., “as long as it is found to be necessary and useful.” The actual cause for the establishment of the Jesuit mission92 was the “notification” that the Episcopal Ordinariate had received in 1717. Of course, as mentioned, the authorities had been repeatedly made aware of the religious deviance of the Schwenkfelders by multiple reports from Lutheran pastors and probably as well by observations made in books and journals. On the Feast of St Thomas, December 21, 1719, the Jesuit priests Johann Milan and Karl Xaver Regent arrived in Harpersdorf. The villagers, almost exclusively Lutheran, gave them an exceedingly cold reception, which the priests actually felt

86 Schwenckfelder Glaubens-Bekänntniß 1772. 87 Schwenkfelder Glaubens-Bekenntniß 1886. 88 The confession of Hauptmann, who lived in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer (“Günd­ liches und eigentliches Bekäntniß”), is published in Jan, Methodus (Anhang), 17–41 (Beilage 2). For additional printings of Hauptman’s confession, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 151 n 16. 89 See p. 36. 90 This imperial degree is published in Jan, Methodus (Anhang), 42 (Beilage 3). For additional printings of this degree, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 153 n 23. 91 This instruction is published in Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 43–44 (Anhang 2); the following quotation ibid., 44. 92 For the Jesuit mission, see Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 146–69. Cf. Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 122–32; Weigelt, Tradition, 239–65.

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physically right away as they searched arduously for quarters in the farmhouses. Born in 1662 in Hirschberg, Milan,93 initially a cleric to dockworkers on the Sea of Azov and then a priest to the Kalmyks, was to missionize the Schwenkfelders from Harpersdorf living in the Duchy of Liegnitz. His 30-year-old confrater Regent,94 who was born in Frankenstein and had found lodgings in Lauterseiffen, was supposed to look after the Schwenkfelders in the Principality of Jauer-Schweidnitz. Of the two priests, Regent was without a doubt the leading figure. He was better educated, highly musical, a more talented writer, and more energetic. At first the two priests performed their missionary work with great complaisance. According to their instructions they invited the adult men — women and children were initially exempted — eagerly for conversations on various theological topics. As soon as they took up their work, the two Jesuits engaged themselves literarily in the theology of the Schwenkfelders. They went back to the confessions of faith submitted in 1718 and then studied the works of Schwenckfeld as well as other Schwenkfelder writings intensively. In the following years several controversial theological books as well as devotional writings by Milan and especially by Regent appeared in print. Only a few of their publications will be mentioned here. By 1720 Milan had published his work: “Fünff kurtze und gründliche / auß allgemeinen […] Lehr-Sätzen gezogene Beweißthümer: Daß niemand bey gutem Gewissen der Schwenckfeldischen Sect beypflichten / Oder Mit gesunder Vernunfft in selbiger verbleiben könne”.95 As the title programmatically indicates, he intended to present in this work by means of generally recognized Christian “doctrines” that no one with “good conscience” or a “healthy sense” could be a follower of the Schwenkfelder sect. Eternal salvation could be found only in the Catholic Church. Therefore, at the beginning of March 1720 he declared in a brief polemic pamphlet96 to the Schwenkfelders, to which he applied his signature and set into circulation, that not a “single Lutheran servant of the Word” is in a position “to show them the way to eternal bliss.”97 Not one of the “Lutheran servants of the Word” could prove, namely, that he had “the true Word of God, without which there was no hope for salvation.” Indeed, he, i. e., Milan, too, would become a “Lutheran”, if one of “the servants of the Word,” i. e., one of the Lutheran theologians, would prove to him “in writing” that he had “the true Word of God.” This provoking and provocative polemic pamphlet that was supposed to keep the Schwenkfelders from approaching or turning to the Lutheran Church soon became public and unleashed a ferocious 93 On Johann Milan, see Florovskij, “Jesuit”; Joecher, Gelehrten-Lexiko 1813, 1725–1726; Sommervogel (ed.), Bibliothèque, vol. 5, 1089–91. 94 On Karl Xaver Regent, see Duhr, Jesuiten, vol. 4, part 1, 446–49; Hoffmann, Friedrich II., 4; Hoffmann, “Regent”; Reusch, “Regent”; Sommervogel (ed.), Bibliothèque, vol. 6, 1584–86. 95 On this writing by Milan, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 157–58 n 42. 96 This “Zettul” is published in Jan, Methodus, 17; the following quotations ibid. For additional printings of this slip of paper, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 158 n 43. 97 With the term “servant of the Word” Milan apostrophized the Lutheran pastors and expressed his disparagement.

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literary feud.98 Johann Wilhelm Jan,  a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, took up the challenge. In quick succession papers and counter-papers appeared between 1721 and 1726. In his controversial papers Jan endeavored to provide the proof that the Catholic Church could not be in possession of the Truth, since its understanding of the Scriptures is deficient or even wrong. Regent’s publications surpassed those by Milan not only far more in number, but they were theologically more profound and stylistically more skillful. Between 1722 and 1724 Regent published in Neisse his voluminous five volume work rich in resources: “Zusatz derer übrigen Irrthümer welche die […] Schwenckfelder in denen […] Glaubens-Bekandtnüssen arglistig verschwiegen”.99 With reference to Schwenckfeld’s works and other Schwenkfelder papers he attempted to prove that the Schwenkfelders in the two submitted confessions of faith had veiled, even hidden the heterodox, indeed heretical elements of their doctrine, particularly in Christology and ecclesiology. Doing that, Regent had astutely discerned differences between Schwenckfeld’s theology and the theology of the Schwenkfelders which focused on piety, but he had not perceived that these characteristic themes in Schwenckfeld’s theology had long been marginalized by them in general. In order to put an introduction to the Catholic doctrine of faith into the hands of already converted Schwenkfelders or those contemplating conversion to Catholicism, Regent published in 1723 the booklet: “Der Neu-bekehrte Catholische Christ”.100 The Schwenkfelders replied to this with a now lost contentious paper “Glaubens-Bekandtnuß der Neu-bekehrten,” which quite possibly was produced by Georg Hauptmann who was 87 years old at that time. In that publication the converted Schwenkfelders who had abandoned their faith and with it their religious and social identity, were made out to be a deputed, cheated, and conned people. The Catholic Church was accused of nineteen “fraudulent errors” so that additional conversion-ready souls would be deterred “from acceptance of the only saving faith.”101 From Regent’s pen stem several other religious tracts. A smaller devotional book with the title “Exempel der Schlesier, oder Vorstellung der […] Tugenden, welche […] S. Hedwig […] heylsam geübet” appeared in 1723. It dealt, for example, with the “most distinguished Christian virtues” which St Hedwig, the daughter of Count Berthold IV of Andechs and wife of Duke Henry I of Silesia, had “practiced wholesomely during her life time” and had “left as a legacy for imitation.”102 Contrary to the expressed instructions of the authorities “to perform without fail” all “assistance” and every “support” for the Jesuit priests Milan and Regent in their “spiritual tasks,” several Lutheran landlords and local pastors attempted to subvert the 98 For the literary feud between Milan and Jan, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 158. 99 For this controversial publication by Regent, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 159. 100 For this publication by Regent and the Schwenkfelders’ retort, cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 159–60. 101 Regent, Ablehnung, 5. 102 The quotations are found in the title of Regent’s devotional book Exempel.

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Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia from 16th to 18th Century

conversion efforts of the Jesuits from the beginning.103 Especially zealous were Christoph Friedrich von Braun,104 landlord of Harpersdorf; Ernst Konrad von Braun,105 proprietor of Armenruh; and Otto Conrad von Hohberg106 who owned Zobten and other villages. Among the pastors Johann Samuel Neander and his assistant pastor Kühn in Harpersdorf were particularly involved. Landlords and pastors were anxious to motivate their Schwenkfelder subjects, i. e., parishioners, with promises and threats to attend Lutheran worship services and most of all to participate in communion so as to prove their membership in the Lutheran Church. Occasionally force was used. Johann Gottfried Firdig, Otto Conrad von Hohberg’s estate manager, supposedly drove the Schwenkfelders in Zobten like “beasts to church” with “kurbashes”, i. e., thong whips, while “in his haste almost trampling the children with his horse.”107 These anti-Jesuit actions by individual landlords zealous for the Protestant faith and, foremost, by the energetic pastor Neander in Harpersdorf soon brought forth successes. Within a week after the arrival of the Jesuit missionaries, i. e., the end of December 1719, about 70 Schwenkfelders in Harpersdorf attended Neander’s worship service. The two priests felt these events to be  a repudiation of their missionary efforts and they resorted to countermeasures. In order to prevent the Schwenkfelders from generally participating in communion, the Lutheran pastors in the Duchy of Liegnitz were officially forbidden by circular letters in February and March 1720 to offer the sacraments to them.108 However, they did not strictly follow this order, which is why the prohibition had to be repeatedly inculcated. A corresponding decree for the Principality Schweidnitz-Jaur was, unnecessary. After the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 in the course of the systematically and ruthlessly implemented Counter-Reformation of 1653 and 1654, all 556 Protestant churches in that principality had been confiscated and all Lutheran preachers and teachers had been expelled from the territory. In this Habsburg principality only the three Peace Churches in Jauer, Schweidnitz, and Glogau were available in the future solely for the Lutheran population. After intervention and pressure by King Charles XII of Sweden came an additional six newly constructed Churches of Grace (Gnadenkirchen) in Hirschberg, Landeshut, Teschen, Militisch, Freystadt, and Sagan, thanks to the Treaty of Altranstädt. Moreover, in accordance with the Treaty of Altranstädt, 125 Protestant churches were returned and the forcefully disbanded consistories were reconstructed in the former Piast Principalities of Lieg­nitz, Brieg, and Wohlau. Not until the spring of 1721 were the Schwenkfelders 103 Königliches Oberamt Breslau to Königliche Ämter Liegnitz et al., October 9, 1719, in Hensel, Kirchen-Geschichte, 677–78, here 678. 104 On Christoph Friedrich von Braun, cf. Sinapius, Des Schlesischen Adels, 312. 105 On Ernst Konrad von Braun, cf. Sinapius, Des Schlesischen Adels, 312. 106 On Otto Conrad von Hohberg, cf. Sinapius, Des Schlesischen Adels, 113. 107 Schneider, Materialien. Collectaneum no. 25 b, SB Berlin, Ms. Germ. Quart 861. 108 These circular letters (February 24 and March 2, 1720) are published in Jan, Methodus (Anhang), 46–48 (Beilage 5). For additional printings of these circular letters, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 155 n 33.

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in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer expressly forbidden by the authorities to attend Lutheran worship services outside of the principality and were obliged to participate in the activities organized by the Jesuit priests.109 As late as the beginning of 1721 the Jesuits gradually stepped up their course of action for converting the Schwenk­ felders. Not just the men, but the women and children, too, were required from now on to participate in the weekly Sunday instruction. Each week 20 to 40 Schwenkfelders were invited by a notification.110 Whoever was absent without excuse, which happened frequently, had to pay  a fine. Later non-participation was punished by drastically increasing fines: Twofold or 24 Reichstaler for the second occurrence; threefold or 36 for Ill. 3 The Catholic chapel in Harpersdorf (1732) on the property of Schwenkfelder the third occurrence; fourfold or 48 for Melchior Meschter fourth occurrence, etc. Then on November 5, 1722, the Lutheran pastors in the Duchy of Liegnitz were forbidden by rescript from the Königliches Oberamt in Breslau to perform any kind of occasional services for the Schwenkfelders since they belonged to “a religion not tolerated in the country” according to the terms of the Treaty of Westphalia.111 However, this decree, too, was followed sporadically, and so it was necessary to impose and inculcate the order several times. To avoid the baptism of their infants henceforth by Catholic priests, the Schwenk­ felders hid them as long as possible or had them baptized secretly by Lutheran pastors outside of the territory, preferably by the pietist pastor Schwedler in Niederwiesa. Eventually there were forced baptisms such as the very first baptism performed by Jesuit priest Milan after the Jesuits’ mission station had received the

109 See regest of the Protocol of the Königliches Amt Jauer, May 16, 1721, in Jan, Verum Dei verbum, vol. 1, 47–53 (Beilage 7). 110 On these pieces of paper the Schwenkfelders had to affirm with their signatures that they had received the invitation. 111 Königliches Oberamt Breslau to Königliche Regierung Liegnitz, November 5, 1722, SLHC Pennsburg, VN 73–11, 52–56, here 54. The Königliches Oberamt Breslau, in obedience to this command, complied with  a recommendation of the Generalvikariat (Episcopal Ordinariate) Breslau dated September 4, 1722.

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long desired jurisdiction and administration of the parish in March 1725.112 That only happened after overcoming great opposition, since the Catholic priests in the surrounding villages were, understandably, not ready to surrender their parish rights to the Jesuit mission without further ado. On September 15, 1725, the Jesuit priest Milan baptized the son of the Schwenkfelder Georg Mentzel. At lightning speed he had the three week old infant brought “with the help of dragoons” to the mission house in Langneundorf where he baptized him.113 The child received the name Johann Christoph. Since the father and the grandfather of the child, Georg and Christoph Mentzel, had stubbornly resisted the baptism by the priest at first, they were taken to the prison in Liegnitz after the ceremony. Similar forced baptisms of Schwenkfelder children occasionally took place. According to the rescript mentioned above, deceased Schwenkfelders were no longer permitted to be buried in the consecrated village church cemeteries as they were previously. Instead, their corpses had to be buried like suicides or criminals on the communal cattle paths located outside of the villages.114 A decree dated April 16, 1723, set forth the following requirements for a Schwenkfelder burial: The Schw[enkfelders] are to be buried on the cattle path without any accompaniment — whether Schwenkfelder or Lutheran. Two Schwenkfelders from among the villagers are to be determined by the landlords to act as gravediggers. They have to bring the corpse without the help of horses, to the appointed secular location for burial there.115

These decrees, too, were circumvented time and again.116 The Schwenkfelders occasionally buried their infants deceased after birth secretly in their gardens and barns; yet — after intervention — Schwenkfelder children under twelve years of age “could again be buried honorably in the Lutheran church cemetery.117 As a consequence of the decree on marriage prohibition the Schwenkfelders who wanted to marry were forced either to remain single or to marry secretly. Clandestine marriages (Matrimonia clandestina), i. e., marriages without the wedding rite in a Nuptial Mass, were, however, legally prohibited since the Council of Trent due to the Decree “Tametsi” (1563). That is why Schwenkfelders went with their betrothed repeatedly out of the country, for example to Niederwiesa in Saxony or to Züllichau in Mark Brandenburg to be married in those places by Lutheran pastors.

112 For the endeavors of the Jesuit priests to receive the jurisdiction and administration of the parish, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 160–61. 113 Schneider, Materialien. Collectaneum no. 25 b, SB Berlin, Ms. Germ. Quart 861, 56. 114 The agricultural term “Viehtrift”, i. e., cattle path, refers to the path, on which the cattle were driven from the barn to the pasture. Occasionally, however, the term “Viehtrift” can also refer to the pasture ground. 115 Schneider, Materialien. Collectaneum no. 25 b, SB Berlin, Ms. Germ. Quart 861, 45. 116 Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 32 n 40. 117 Hensel, Kirchen-Geschichte, 683.

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If they returned to their homeland, they were to be punished by imprisonment and coerced “with force to accept Catholicism.”118 Schwenkfelders who violated one or another directive were punished. The punishments consisted not only of fines but incarcerations. When four Schwenkfelder women who lived on the Kammergut possessed by Liegnitz near Upper Harpersdorf refused to attend the Catholic mass in November 1722, they were taken into custody at the directive of the Regierung in Liegnitz. These women, one of whom was just sixteen years old and sick, had to kneel for four days and nights in bitter cold on the bare ground near a pillar in front of the Harpersdorf church.119 From time to time there were also mass arrests. Twice in Liegnitz and Jauer 60 or 70 Schwenkfelders were thrown into prison. The Schwenkfelders in no way simply accepted these manifold repressive measures unquestioningly. Rather, they made a passive stand occasionally. They were supported by the Lutheran villagers who followed these events with great, secretive glee. On account of the worsening conversion measures the Schwenkfelders sent  a three man delegation to the Imperial Court in Vienna by May 5, 1721.120 This delegation consisted of the 70-year-old Christoph Hoffmann121 and his 34-year-old son Balthasar122 as well as Balthasar Hoffrichter.123 Christoph Hoffmann from Harpersdorf was highly respected by the Schwenkfelders. His son Balthasar had learned the weaver’s trade and acquired early in life an astounding knowledge of the ancient languages. In contrast to the two Hoffmanns, Balthasar Hoffrichter, however, returned to his home village after just a short time and later converted to Catholicism together with his family. At the imperial court these delegates were to bring complaints about merciless procedures of the Jesuits and to plead for religious tolerance through enigmatic procedures. From time to time they simply requested to be permitted, at least, to receive the occasional services again from their local Lutheran pastors and not from the Catholic priests. With their petitions and audiences they were only able to achieve, incidentally, an easing of the rigorous measures during the summer months of 1721. In total they submitted seventeen petitions.124 Their last submission, in which they humbly requested a most gracious

118 Hensel, Kirchen-Geschichte, 683. 119 Schwenkfelders in Silesia to [Mennonites in Amsterdam], December 3, 1725, GA Amsterdam, GA 1120–1042. 120 For this Schwenkfelder delegation, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 156, 162. 121 On Christoph Hoffmann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1180 (E 106). 122 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1180–83 (E 106–2); Evers, Lied, 221–28; Gerhard, “Hoffmann”; Schultz, Course, 132–37; Viehmeyer, “Hymnology”. 123 On Balthasar Hoffrichter, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 11, 1181. 124 To date, the original petitions have not been found. However, extensively corrected drafts of three petitions presented by the Schwenkfelder Delegation to Emperor Charles VI as well as one to his wife, the Empress Elisabeth Christine are located in SLHC Pennsburg, VC 4–19, 195–99 ­(Christopher and Balthasar Hoffmann and Balthasar Hoffrichter to Emperor Charles VI, n.d. [1721]); 200–2 (Christoph and Balthasar Hoffmann and Balthasar Hoffrichter to Duchess

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imperial final resolution, took place on July 28, 1725.125 At this time the request for tolerance was definitively rejected and further petitions were absolutely forbidden. On July 30, 1725, Emperor Charles VI issued  a mandate126 to the Oberamt in Breslau, in which the measures taken by the Jesuit mission up to that time were expressly sanctioned. The authorities and officials in Silesia were empathetically ordered to continue to accord the Jesuit priests every sort of protection and support.

­Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, n.d. [1721]); 203–6 (N. N. [Schwenkfelder delegation] to Emperor Charles VI, n.d. [1722]); 207–13 (Christoph and Balthasar Hoffmann to Emperor Charles VI, n.d.). Elisabeth Christine, a Lutheran Protestant Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from the House of Welf was tutored in Catholicism by her future mother-in-law Eleonor, the spouse of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, and converted — prior to her marriage with Charles (1708) — to Catholicism in 1707; however it was later rumored that she was a crypto-Protestant. Perhaps that is the reason why the Schwenkfelders addressed a petition to her. I would like to thank Allen Viehmeyer for bringing these drafts to my attention. 125 [Schultz, et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 60–61. 126 Emperor Charles VI to Königliches Oberamt Breslau, July 30, 1725, SLHC Pennsburg, VN 73–6,19–24; ed. in Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 43–4.

II. Schwenkfelders’ Search for Asylum in Germany and the Netherlands

When the Jesuits took up harsher measures of force for the catholicizing of Schwenk­felders in Silesia at the end of 1720, the Schwenkfelders probably already suspected that they would have to leave their homeland for the sake of their belief.1 For that reason they began to look around for a possible asylum in those countries or territories where at that time diverse denominations existed side by side or where other religious refugees had already found acceptance. Probably still in the same year, but possibly not until 1721, they sent two delegates to the Mennonites in Danzig and vicinity.2 They were supposed to inquire there about  a possible asylum. Unfortunately nothing more is known about this exploratory trip. Due evidently to an inquiry by Schwenkfelders the Prussian government offered them admission to Brandenburg in 1724.3 They would be settled in the vicinity of Berlin, which was sparsely settled at that time. They were also presented the prospect of several concessions. It was hoped that the spinning industry and the production of linen would gain momentum as the result of their arrival. Commercial interests led to this offer, not religious or humanitarian principles. The invitation was repeated twice. It was connected with the request of King Frederick William I even before providing  a report on their circumstances and activities. According to their attestation they remitted the report; however, they were unable to decide whether to accept the invitation for grievous reasons. Although nothing was mentioned, it could well have been the fear of being unable to escape military recruitment and impressment in Prussia. At that time Schwenkfelders declined military service. Nevertheless, Tobias Hauptmann,4 a son of their esteemed leader Georg Hauptmann,5 became a soldier in 1723. Late in the summer of 1725 the expulsion decree of Emperor Charles VI that had been issued in July was delivered to the appropriate authorities in Silesia.6 Now the 1 For the Schwenkfelders’ manifold efforts to find asylum in the German Empire and in the Netherlands, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 163–65. 2 For the journey by two Schwenkfelders to Danzig, see Schwenkfelder [Adam Wiegner] to [Mennonites in Amsterdam], October 16, 1725, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. For the Mennonite community in Danzig, cf. Mannhard, Mennonitengemeinde. 3 See Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens (Mennonite in Amsterdam)], December 3, 1725, and March 16, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 4 On Tobias Hauptmann, cf. Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 20. Tobias Hauptmann did not emigrate; he died in Harpersdorf in 1734. 5 On Georg Hauptmann, see p. 31 n 65. 6 For this decree by Emperor Charles VI, see p. 43–4.

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Schwenkfelders must have realized that no further possibility existed other than to flee secretly from their homeland, leaving behind all of their property. Nevertheless, they undertook one last attempt. With the aid of foreign mediation they wanted to try to achieve religious tolerance for themselves as a community or at least permission for a legal emigration — with the sale of their property. That is to say, they had learned that the Dutch Mennonites several year ago — 1714 — had interceded successfully with The States General of the Netherlands as well as the English Crown on behalf of the Anabaptists being persecuted in the Canton of Bern.7 Therefore, Adam Wiegner,8 a gardener and merchant in Harpersdorf, appealed in the name of all Schwenkfelders to the Mennonites in Amsterdam in  a very lengthy letter addressed to Daniel Hoovens.9 First of all, he referred to their successful mediation for the Bernese Anabaptists. Then he commented in detail on the history of the Schwenkfelders, the persecution they had endured and sufferings, particularly since the establishment of the Jesuit mission, and about their years-long efforts for religious tolerance at the Imperial Court in Vienna. Then came the request that the Amsterdam Mennonites might beseech The States General of the Netherlands and possibly the English Crown, also, to intervene at the Imperial Court in Vienna. The Mennonites should request that they be granted tolerance or be allowed to emigrate legally after the sale of their real estate and household goods. At the end Wiegner emphasized that they were appealing to the Mennonites because of all the Christian denominations they were the closest in belief to them and that people knew about their selfless intervention for those in need of help. In order to emphasize their closeness to the Mennonites, their previous contacts with Hutterites in Hungary and with Mennonites in East Prussia were pointed out in a postscript. First of all, it was observed that one of their delegates in Vienna, Balthasar Hoffmann,10 recently travelled to visit the Hutterites in Großschützen (Vel’ké Leváre). At this Bruderhof he learned about their persecution by Jesuits for several weeks and about their merciful liberation. Secondly, he mentioned the visit of two Schwenkfelders with the Mennonites in Danzig in 1720/1721. This information was given probably because people in the Danzig Mennonite community, which had arisen in the sixteenth century principally by the immigration of Dutch Mennonites, currently still had familial connections in the Netherlands.11 When no reply had been received from the Netherlands after several weeks, the Schwenkfelders appealed once again through Wiegner to the Mennonites

7 For the support by the Mennonites in the Netherlands of the New Baptist (i. e., Tunker, Dunker) Christian Lieb, who — together with other Swiss Baptists — was sentenced in Bern in 1714 to galley service, cf. Schneider, “Radikaler Pietismus”, 138–39, 183. 8 On Adam Wiegner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1176 (E 76). 9 Schwenkfelder [Adam Wiegner] to [Mennonites in Amsterdam], October 16, 1725, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 10 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 11 Cf. Mannhard, Mennonitengemeinde, 36–47, 80–120.

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in Amsterdam on December 3, 1725.12 They repeated their concerns: would they beseech The States General of the Netherlands to intervene for their legal emigration? On the other hand, they did not renew their previous request that this should be used for their religious tolerance. Obviously they had given up hope in the meantime that such a request would be granted to them. Thereupon they inquired whether they could not find asylum and economic opportunities in the Netherlands. Their request was urgent since their situation was deteriorating from day to day. They were being robbed financially of all the possibilities for embarking upon a migration by the Ill. 4 Adam Wiegner’s letter of enormous fines being imposed upon inquiry to the Mennonites in Amsterdam them by the Jesuits. So that the people about a possible asylum for the in the Netherlands could form an image ­Schwenkfelders (1726) of the Schwenkfelders, they emphasized first of all their absolute and unwavering loyalty to every secular authority. Then they described their previous types of employment in great detail. Among them were farmers, especially craftsmen and merchants, who earned their livelihood for the most part — either full-time or part-time — by spinning and in the linen industry. Their wives, without exception, were engaged in spinning and weaving. Was there, they wanted to know, a demand for these sorts of business in the Nether­lands and were there markets for selling wool and linen products. To emphasize their general reputation in spinning and linen production, they noted that they had been invited several times to immigrate to Brandenburg to promote these types of trades there. Again, the next several weeks brought no reply. In the meantime the Amsterdam Mennonites were discussing both of the Schwenkfelder letters. During these discussions in a community meeting they came unanimously to the conviction that the Schwenkfelders, as they wrote to the Mennonites in Haarlem, were no “brothers in faith.”13 Therefore, and due to other reasons, they “neither could nor would like” to take up their “affair”. In the meantime the Jesuit priests were taking more and more repressive actions against the Schwenkfelders. They now, therefore, inquired of the pietistically inclined 12 Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens (Mennonite in Amsterdam)], December 3, 1725, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 13 Bartholomäus van Leuvenig et al. Mennonites to Cornelius van Puten (Mennonite in Haarlem), January 29, 1729, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042; the following quotation ibid.

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pastor Johann Christoph Schwedler14 in the Saxon border town Niederwiesa, where they could find a hiding place for a while.15 As mentioned above, they had a most trusted relationship with him. Again and again they had attended his worship services and had their marriages conducted by him and their children baptized. As a result Schwedler appealed to his colleague Melchior Scheffer (Schäffer)16 who was similarly disposed to Halle and who had been pastor at the Trinity Church in Görlitz since 1712. He should set up an asylum for the Schwenkfelders with the Görlitz municipal authorities. Scheffer had not only contact with Halle, but he was also closely connected with Zinzendorf. Nevertheless, he was in no way uncritical of Zinzendorf ’s theology and enterprises. Thereupon the Schwenkfelders inquired in a letter of December 19, 1725,17 of Imperial Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and Pottendorf, whether they could obtain refuge on his estates in Upper Lusatia during the winter months.18 Zinzendorf had already intervened for them in an audience with Emperor Charles VI in Brandeis. Actually Zinzendorf had traveled to this hunting lodge near Prague to obtain there the retrieval of the imperial fief Unterbürg near Nuremberg, once a family possession.19 He had learned details of the Schwenkfelder tribulations and persecutions when he spent some time visiting Baron Otto Conrad von Hohberg in Zobten at the end of August 1723.20 Zinzendorf was related to Hohberg’s second wife, Charlotte Sophie née Gersdorff, on his mother’s side.21 Meanwhile, however, the pressure caused by the actions of the Jesuits to convert the Schwenkfelders to Catholicism had become so severe that the first Schwenk­ felders felt compelled to escape from their homeland secretly in the night of February 14 to 15, 1726.22 They had to leave behind everything that they owned. Sale of these goods had been denied them by the authorities for  a long time in order to prevent their flight or to make it very difficult. These first migrants were followed in the next few weeks and months by others. Even after 1726 until the end of the Jesuit mission in 1740 Schwenkfelders took flight again and again from 14 On Johann Christoph Schwedler, see p. 29 n 48. 15 Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior] d. i. Gründlich historischer Bericht, was es mit denen Schwenckfeldern in Ober-Lausitz besonders in Görlitz gehabt”, UB Wrocław, Akc. 1947/70, 155. 16 On Melchior Scheffer (Schäffer), see Lier, “Schäfer”; Meyer, “Pietismus”, 14–19; Otto, Lexikon, vol. 3, 131–34. 17 Schwenkfelders to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, December 19, 1725; partially in Spangenberg, Zinzendorf, vol. 2, 326–27. 18 At that time the Schwenkfelders had not planned to stay for an extended period of time or permanently on Zinzendorf ’s estates. 19 See Meyer, “Zinzendorf und der Katholizismus”, LXXXVI–LXXXIX. 20 On Otto Conrad von Hohberg, see p. 40 n 106. 21 Zinzendorf ’s mother Charlotte Justine von Zinzendorf née von Gersdorff, married to her first husband Georg Ludwig von Zinzendorf, and Charlotte Sophie von Hohberg née von Gersdorff were sisters. 22 Individual Schwenkfelders had, however, already left Silesia before the middle of January 1726.

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Silesia. For example, the esteemed Melchior Wagner23 and his wife Anna née Jäckel who cultivated  a peasant property did not abandon their homeland until January 29, 1736, with their three children Abraham, Susanna, and Melchior. They moved — after a short stay in Berthelsdorf — to Görlitz where asylum was granted to them until their mandated emigration to America. In total probably about 300 Schwenkfelders fled from Silesia. According to the statements of the well-informed Schwenkfelder Adam Wiegner the total number of Schwenkfelders in Silesia in 1726 was by and large “95 families, all together 519 people.”24 According to that more than half of the Schwenkfelders had fled secretly out of Silesia. According to the local and regional history studies conducted for years by August Friedrich Heinrich Schneider, teacher at the Königliche Realschule in Berlin, the total number of Schwenkfelders at the time of the Jesuit mission in this region amounted to approximately 1200 to 1500.25 According to that over two-thirds of the Schwenkfelders remained in their Silesian homeland. This discrepancy in the numerical data can be traced back principally to the fact that Schneider had furthermore included those Schwenkfelders who under pressure of the circumstances during the Jesuit mission had joined the Lutheran Church again or had conformed to it outwardly. It seems, too, that Schneider often included Lutherans who in some way sympathized with the Schwenkfelders. Wiegner, on the other hand, noted emphatically in his numerical data that during the Jesuit mission “a rather larger portion” of the Schwenkfelders had become “Lutheran”.26 Thereby the “little pile” of those who had firmly decided to “endure true and constant to the revealed truth, had grown very small.” Wiegner’s numerical data on the number of authentic Schwenkfelders at that time is certainly accurate, especially when the total number of converts after the end of the Jesuit mission in 1740 is taken into consideration.27 The Schwenkfelders left behind in Silesia were still subjected to the Jesuits’ radical measures of catholicization, which became more and more repressive, arbitrary, and bizarre in the ensuing years.28 There were confiscations of property, arrests, imprisonments, child abductions, and forced baptisms. But so, too, the resistance of the Schwenkfelders — often secretly or openly approved and supported — with clandestine joy — by the local Lutheran village population — became more desperate, embittered, and aggressive. Now some Schwenkfelders no longer 23 On Melchior Wagner and his family, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192). 24 Schwenkfelder [Adam Wiegner] to [Mennonites in Amsterdam], April 3, 1726, GA Amster­ dam, PA 1120–1042. 25 See Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 3; cf. ibid., 37 n 64. 26 Schwenkfelder [Adam Wiegner] to [Mennonites in Amsterdam], April 3, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042; the following quotation ibid. 27 See p. 133–34. 28 For the circumstances of the Schwenkfelders who had remained in Silesia — after the flight of about 300 of their fellow believers to the Upper Lusatia — until the occupation of Silesia by King Frederick II of Prussia, see Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 16–26; Weigelt, Schwenkfelders in Silesia, 132–34; Weigelt, Tradition, 260–65; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 165–69. Cf. p. 49–51.

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shied away from taking action against the Jesuit priest Regent29 even with brute force. Thus on February 9, 1736, “three stout birch clubs were beat on the back of the i[mperial] missionary who was bullied in  a most unchristian way.”30 The beating was precipitated by the fact that Regent had appeared together with three bailiffs in Langneundorf at the home of Widow Barbara Beyer in order to keep her son-in-law Jeremias Wiegner from fleeing Silesia. It soon came to a serious brawl between the two parties — Regent’s and Wiegner’s — since the Schwenkfelder David Hübner “had sharpened the chaff knives” and “many people armed with muskets, pistols and flax and threshing flails” had rushed up.31 Over the years the Jesuit mission was admittedly able to record a not insignificant number of conversions,32 but altogether the expectations were in no way met, especially considering that several hundred of them had fled to Saxony. Frustration and resignation spread like a growing cancer within the Jesuit priests.33 Emperor Charles VI, too, was deeply disappointed and indignant about the inadequate achievement of the Jesuit mission. On February 19, 1740 — a few months before his death — he imposed impatiently in  a decree — the exact wording of which is no longer available — that the Jesuit mission be finally brought to an end.34 All Schwenkfelders who were not ready to accept Catholicism or verifiably ready to become Lutherans should leave the country within a year. The possibility of joining the Lutherans was expressly conceded only to those Schwenkfelders residing in the Duchy of Liegnitz — “out of pure clemency.”35 By contrast, those Schwenkfelders still living in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer were given alternatives: either conversion to Catholicism or emigration. In the latter case all their worldly goods were to be confiscated and either were to go to their own “children who were Catholic” or directed “to other purposes.”36

29 On Karl Xaver Regent, see p. 38 n 94. 30 Quoted in Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 22. 31 For the Schwenkfelders who took part in the brawl, see Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 38 n 66. 32 According to the official information of the Jesuit priest Karl Xaver Regent, the total number of “newly converted” Schwenkfelders (from the Principalities of Liegnitz and Schweidnitz-Jauer) and therefore belonging to the “mission” was 324 persons in 1732. In addition there were 366 Catholics who had recently moved into the houses or apartments of Schwenkfelders who had fled. The “mission” had, therefore, 690 members of the congregation in that year. Cf. Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 20. 33 On October 16, 1739 Karl Xaver Regent, in whose hands the leadership of the “mission” had been placed after the resignation from office and departure of Johann Milan in spring 1728, wrote to the Königliches Oberamt Breslau, “I am exhausted and request that I be relieved from the mission; I could be relocated to Liegnitz or Neisse [i. e., in the local Jesuit colleges]”; quoted in Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 26. 34 For this decree, see Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 26. 35 See Königliches Oberamt Breslau to die Königliche Regierung Liegnitz, March 14, 1740, AP Wrocław, Księstwo Legnickie, 418 (Rep. 28, Fürstentum Liegnitz, X, 5, b). 36 Königliches Oberamt Breslau to Königliches Amt Jauer, March 14, 1740, SLHC Pennsburg, VN 73–10, 561–68, hier 563.

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This radical change in Emperor Charles VI’s policy on religion toward the Schwenkfelders can be traced back, on the one hand, to his dissatisfaction with the scant progress of the Jesuit mission; on the other hand, the results of an investigative commission that the Emperor had appointed in May 1738 contributed to a revision of the policy on religion.37 This commission was charged with clarifying the rancor­ ous and awkward quarrels which had arisen after the death of the Schwenkfelder Georg Merckel from Langneundorf on March 11, 1737. Namely, he had been buried three days after his death in the local cattle path (Viehweg) at the behest of the landlord of the village and with the consent of provost Johann Friedrich Anders in Zobten, even though he had solemnly received absolution by the Jesuit priest Regent on his death bed. He had returned, therefore, to the bosom of the Catholic Church. The Königliche Oberamt in Breslau forwarded Charles VI’s ordinance on the expulsion of the Schwenkfelders immediately to the Amt in Jauer and to the Regie­ rung in Liegnitz. But this order had hardly any impact because Emperor Charles VI, the last Habsburger, died suddenly on October 20, 1740, at the age of 55. In the middle of December King Frederick II of Prussia marched into Silesia with two well-equipped and drilled army corps and by the end of January 1741 virtually the whole country was occupied by Prussian troops. King Frederick II suspended the ordered “extirpation” and assured the Schwenkfelders remaining in Silesia of their individual freedom of faith and conscience.38

37 For the appointment and the result of this investigative commission, see Schneider, “Jesu­ iten-­Mission”, 24–25. 38 For this decree by King Frederick II of Prussia, see p. 134–35.

III. Flight of Schwenkfelders from Silesia to Upper Lusatia in Electorate of Saxony

Beginning in the middle of February 1726, several hundred Schwenkfelders fled as families or in smaller groups from their Silesian homeland.1 Usually in the dark of night, they trekked to Upper Lusatia, about ten hours away on foot. In 1635 this Margraviate along with Lower Lusatia had been given to the Electorate of Saxony in the Peace of Prague as a garnishment. Besides an administration that was by and large independent, it was able to preserve  a rather extensive amount of liberty in questions of faith. The nobles and civil councils in Upper Lusatia remained relatively independent of the Oberkonsistorium, the Supreme Consistory, in Dresden in regard to church affairs. That was true especially for the self-assured council of the city of Görlitz,  a member of the Lusatian League — a historical alliance of six towns in the Bohemian, later Saxon, region of Upper Lusatia — since 1346. The Görlitz civil council placed great value on its complete authority in church affairs.2 Of course, it was no longer able to wield this authority without restrictions in the eighteenth century. The civil council abstained, above all, from directly opposing any church orders by the Elector who was also the Summus episcopus, the head of the Lutheran Church in Saxony.3 They did not want to strain or especially jeopardize their relations in any way with the Court in Dresden on account of church affairs. The first contact by the Schwenkfelder migrants on their way to Upper Lusatia was the Saxon border town of Niederwiesa near Greiffenberg, located about six hours east of Görlitz. As a rule they stopped off here for a few days at pastor Schwedler’s pietistic orphanage.4 A smaller number of them went on then from here to Görlitz. In the meantime the Görlitz civil council had issued, due to the intervention of the pietistic pastor Melchior Scheffer5 from the Trinity Church, “to these miserable people” for “a short time” a residency permit for Görlitz and Hennersdorf, a village located a few miles north of Görlitz.6 However, most of the Schwenkfelders directed their footsteps toward Herrnhut, to Count Zinzendorf. As is well known, the Count had decided affirmatively on Christmas Day to 1 For the flight of several hundred Schwenkfelders from Silesia and their asylum since the beginning of 1726 in Upper Lusatia, which belonged to the Electorate of Saxony, Germany, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 180–88. 2 Zobel, “Görlitz”, 173. 3 Cf. Zobel, “Görlitz”, 185–87. 4 On Johann Christoph Schwedler, see p. 29 n 48. 5 On Melchior Scheffer (Schäffer), see p. 48 n 16. 6 Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 195.

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their written appeal of December 19, 1725, for asylum. Already on December 28 a delegation had arrived at his manor house in order to discuss details.7

1. Asylum in the Trade Town of Görlitz and Vicinity The Schwenkfelders’ intention to request asylum in Görlitz was motivated, if for no other reason, by the fact that Schwenkfeldianism had an element of a tradition in that city. Since the second third of the sixteenth century, Schwenkfeldianism was well rooted in some families in the upper ranks of society.8 During the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, too, this center attracted a succession of devotees and sympathizers. The earliest notable representative of Schwenkfeldianism in Görlitz was probably Sebastian Schütze Sr,9 a well-to-do merchant born in Nuremberg, the largest city in Franconia. In 1507 he was married to Dorothea Emmerich,  a daughter of the very affluent Georg Emmerich, owner of Leopoldshain and Hennersdorf. According to tradition he was supposedly acquainted with Schwenckfeld and held devotions at home. He attended worship services regularly and had his children baptized. However, he did not participate in communion due to his spiritual understanding of the sacrament. He and his large family led a Christian lifestyle, such that they “were loved, praised, and honored by all reasonable people, both high born and low.”10 Another respected devotee or sympathizer of Schwenckfeld at that time was the merchant and councilor Johannes Hoffmann,11 who was married to Ursula, a daughter of Schütze. When she died on October 15, 1560, the Geistliches Ministerium, an association of clergy, whose Concionator primarius, i. e., head preacher, at that time was Caspar Wirthwein, refused  a Christian funeral because she had not partaken of communion for several years. After massive intervention by the Görlitz civil council a Christian funeral was finally allowed to take place. Contrary to the explicit request of the civil council, however, the first preacher at the morning service in the Church of Our Lady on the following day did not abstain from fiercely condemning the life of the deceased woman. He announced that the preachers in Görlitz “would henceforth not give such persons who disdained the most worthy 7 For the Schwenkfelders’ desire for asylum on Zinzendorf ’s estates and their discussions with the Count, see p. 48. 8 The history of Schwenkfeldianism in Görlitz during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is in urgent need of intensive research. 9 On Sebastian Schütz Sr, see Jecht, Görlitz, 401. 10 See Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 155–158; quotations ibid., 156 and 158. 11 On Johannes Hoffmann and for his conflict with the Geistliches Ministerium, see Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 158–68; quotations ibid., 162 and 165.

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sacraments and did not conduct him or herself like other Christian people any accompaniment to the grave.” After the burial of Ursula Hoffmann the civil council emphatically asked the Schwenkfelders to abandon their religious deviance and partake again of the sacrament; otherwise they would face expulsion. Subsequently several of them resumed celebrating communion; however Johannes Hoffmann was not among them. Nevertheless, the civil council permitted him to continue “sitting in his chair [sc. seat in the magistrate]” and so he remained  a member of the civil council. When he died on April 6, 1567, the clergy in Görlitz declined participation in the funeral, even though the civil council had unequivocally advocated for it. Only assistant pastor Caspar Maschke, who had been a very close acquaintance with the deceased, joined the funeral procession and preached the funeral sermon on Psalm 103. After Hoffmann’s death the civil council threatened Schwenckfeld’s devotees and sympathizers again with expulsion from the city.12 These quarrels were repeated in the middle of July 1575 at the death of Georg Hoffmann, a son of Johannes Hoffmann.13 He had been a teacher at the prestigious Gymnasium Augustum. The association of clergy also refused to give him a ­Christian funeral due to his disdain for the sacraments. Not a single preacher participated in his funeral service, yet the entire civil council did so demonstratively. The civil council was only able to arrange for the church bells to be rung until the funeral procession had reached the Church of Our Lady, where the burial took place. Instead of the funeral sermon there was an hour of singing hymns of comfort and eternity. This behavior of the Görlitz clergy caused Hoffmann’s brother-in-law Michael Ender von Sercha, a grandson of Sebastian Schütze Sr to raise complaints with Emperor Maximilian II. The tolerant monarch, who felt a certain sympathy for Schwenkfeldianism, is supposed to have then directed the civil council to scold the preachers for “their improprieties.” In the future they should refrain from those sorts of actions; otherwise, he would proceed against them “severely”. As Lutheran orthodoxy gradually grew stronger in Görlitz after the 1570s, the local clergy mounted an increasingly determined front against Schwenckfeld’s devotees and sympathizers. Now the clergy was even able to push the civil council to more severe measures against the Schwenkfelders. The civil council threatened the Schwenkfelders authoritarily with expulsion and forbade the sale of Schwenckfeld’s publications. Yet in Görlitz and vicinity even in the last decades of the sixteenth century and during the seventeenth century Schwenckfeld’s influence had in no way completely fizzled out.14 For example, Bartholomäus Scultetus, the famous mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer, had sympathy for Schwenkfeldianism. Scultetus, who 12 See Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 169. 13 On Georg Hoffmann and the quarrels with the Geistliches Ministerium on account of his burial, see Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 170–72; quotations ibid., 172. 14 Cf. Voigt, “Böhme”, 257–58.

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lived from 1568 to 1614 in his hometown of Görlitz, served in several high offices there as councilor, city judge, and for multiple terms as mayor. However, particularly notable are the connections which Jacob Boehme, the mystic, theosophist, and philosopher, had to Schwenkfeldianism in Görlitz. He probably first became acquainted with Schwenckfeld’s ideas in 1592 and 1593 during his two-years-long travel through Upper Lusatia, Lower Silesia, and Bohemia. In his most informative autobiographical 12th circular letter of May 1622 (1621) to Caspar Lindner, a customs collector in Beuthen in Upper Silesia, Boehme discusses Schwenckfeld’s teachings in detail.15 In Boehme’s circle of friends and patrons, too, there were Schwenckfeld sympathizers such as Karl Ender von Sercha, a brother of Michael Ender.16 This well-educated, widely traveled, and respected patron of Boehme lived as a lord of the manor in Leopoldshain, a village located directly east of Görlitz’s gates. Moreover, it was he who in 1612 or 1613 made  a copy of Boehme’s important manuscript “Aurora” (“Aurora”), put it into circulation, and thus contributed to its wide distribution. Even in the eighteenth century several citizens in Görlitz can be identified who at least sympathized with the Schwenkfelders, e.g., Christian Hänisch,17 a merchant and linen wholesaler who died in 1734. He became  a warm-hearted aide and adviser to the Schwenkfelders emigrating from Silesia. Therefore, it was in no way by sheer chance that  a number of Schwenkfelder migrants had sought refuge in Görlitz and vicinity in 1726 as well as in the following years. On February 21, 1726, the first sixteen refugees of Schwenkfelder faith arrived in Görlitz. Several others joined them over the next few years. All told, at least eight Schwenkfelder families sought refuge in Görlitz. Among the first immigrants were the merchant Adam Wiegner18 and his wife Susanna née Heydrick with their four children as well as the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner (Hübner)19 and his wife Maria née Wiegner with their children. Wiegner came from Harpersdorf and Heebner from the little village Hockenau located not far away. Born in Laub­ grund in 1688, Heebner had been living with his great uncle Martin John Jr since the age of twelve, who introduced him to pharmacology and the practice of medicine. As a “disciple” Melchior also supported his great uncle with his correspondence and with his acquisition of books. Heebner was a sharp critic of the Lutheran Church, whose unconverted pastors he fiercely attacked. As a great connoisseur of spiritualistic and Boehmist writings, he esteemed above all the works of Jane Leade, 15 Böhme, Theosophische Send-Briefe, 54–5; Böhme, Sendbriefe, 186. 16 On Ender von Sercha and his connection to Boehme, cf. Jecht, “Böhme”, 232–33. 17 The wholesale merchant Christian Hänisch was born in Marklissa am Queis in 1677. In 1690 he became an apprentice in a business in Görlitz. He established his own linen business in 1704 and acquired great wealth. He was a juryman (Ratsschöffe) of the Görlitz civil council and a trustee of the orphanage and poorhouse. He died in Görlitz in 1734. For a portrait of Hänisch, see Jecht, Görlitz, 615. 18 On Adam Wiegner, see p. 46 n 8. 19 On Melchior Heebner (Hübner), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 220 (E 17). Cf. Wagner, “Leben und Sterben des seeligen Melchior Hübners”, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 3–51.

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whose doctrine of apokatastasis, i. e., the restitution of all things and the salvation of all creatures, he praised, as is to be presented later. All these Schwenkfelders who fled to the city of Görlitz and Hennersdorf received temporary asylum from the civil council under the condition that they live a reclusive and peaceful life. As a precaution the Görlitz council inquired on February 23 of its territorial lord, Elector Frederick August I of Saxony how they should treat the refugees who had already arrived as well as how they should deal with the migrants still to be expected from Silesia.20 Nine weeks later they received the reply that the asylum seekers could be tolerated until further notice.21 However, they were forbidden any sort of public exercise of their belief as well as the acquisition of real estate. The Schwenkfelders were imposed upon by the Görlitz council — perhaps at the direction of the Saxon government or by the Supreme Consistory in Dresden — to submit their confession of faith, so that a better k­ nowledge of their belief was possible. The confession, which was submitted by them immediately, is essentially identical to the “Kurtz und Einfältige Bekäntniß”22 that the Schwenkfelders had written in 1718 for the investigative commission of the Regierung in Liegnitz.23 In mid-April 1726 the above mentioned Görlitz merchant and senator Christian Hänisch informed his business acquaintance Isaac Crajesteijn in Haarlem about the Schwenkfelder migrants and their economic situation.24 He requested support so that their livelihood would be secure and their acquisition of land would be financially possible. The drive to collect money initiated by Crajesteijn was joined not only by the Mennonites in Haarlem, but by other Mennonite communities in the Netherlands, especially those in Amsterdam.25 The far greater part of the relief funds that were transferred to Görlitz in the ensuing months, however, came doubtlessly from Haarlem. The merchant Cornelius van Putten,  a native of Haarlem, became an enthusiastic collector. The major donor was the banking family Buyssant in Haarlem. The money transferred to Görlitz amounted to 6,000 guilders and was to be used for supporting needy Schwenkfelders. Meanwhile the Schwenkfelders who had immigrated to Görlitz attempted at last to establish contact with the Mennonites in Amsterdam by letter. As mentioned above, they had turned to these Mennonites for help prior to their flight from 20 See Magistrat von Görlitz to Kurfürst Friedrich August I von Sachsen, February 23, 1726, Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Geheime Canzlei-Acten, Loc. 5861, Bd. I, fol. 11r–13r. Excerpts from the letter are printed in [Jähne], Erinnerung, 27–28. 21 See Regest Gottlob Friedrich von Gersdorf to the Magistrat von Görlittz, May 2, 1726, Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Geheime Canzlei-Acten, Loc. 5861, Bd. I, fol. 15r. 22 This confession can be found in Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 196–208, 331–45; printed in Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 137–47. 23 For the “Kurtz und einfältige Bekäntniß”, which the Schwenkfelders from the Duchy of Liegnitz presented in 1718, see p. 36. 24 See [Christian Hänisch] to Isaac Crajesteijn, April 15, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 25 For the solicitation efforts of Dutch Mennonites for the Silesian emigrants in Upper Lusatia, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 182.

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Silesia.26 On March 16, 1726, Adam Wiegner to whom the correspondence was again entrusted, urgently requested in a letter an answer to their still outstanding request.27 The renewed inquiry for a place of refuge was first and foremost grounded in the fact that merely  a temporary residence in Görlitz and vicinity had been granted to the Schwenkfelder migrants. They were also forbidden to hold devotional gatherings, which was a part of their religious identity. In his letter Wiegner did not leave unmentioned the fact that the Schwenkfelders had meanwhile already received some offers of accommodation. King Frederick William I in Prussia, for example, would gladly accommodate them in Brandenburg as spinners and linen weavers. They would be settled in Berlin or its environs to promote the linen and silk industries. Several other concessions had been promised, too. Nevertheless, they turned down the invitation, extended twice, to settle in Prussia for significant reasons — probably for the most part out of fear of recruitment. In March 1726 the Schwenkfelders finally received a reply from the Mennonites in Amsterdam dated January 29, 1726. It concerned the request that had been directed to them prior to their flight from Silesia. In this letter, which is not extant, but whose content can be reconstructed, the Schwenkfelders were advised against seeking asylum in the Netherlands. Instead, financial support was promised and Hamburg or Altona were named as potential places of refuge. Notably the indication of Altona opened prospects. Located northwest of Hamburg, Altona along with the County of Pinneberg, had belonged to the Danish fief of Holstein since 1460 and possessed extensive trading privileges. In this city religious freedom prevailed. An edict by the Danish King Frederick IV dated March 15, 1716, guaranteed, “complete freedom to all and every person who comes to reside in our city Altona, no matter what his faith — even Greek Orthodox — excepting only the Socinians.”28 In their letter the Amsterdam Mennonites, however, tactfully but unequivocally expressed the fact that they in no way fully agreed with them in questions of faith. In their return letter of April 3, 1726, the Schwenkfelders had to admit that the answer from those in Amsterdam had caused not  a little sadness.29 It was their conviction that “the Dutch Republic” was almost the only country that guaranteed religious refugees complete freedom of religion and conscience. In other countries, where only  a single “religion flourished and dominated,” it was very difficult for them, the fleeing Schwenkfelders, to obtain asylum “because the religious zeal of the clergy to persecute them incited all of the authorities to tyranny and harshness.” That’s why they had requested help from them. Also henceforth because they were known for their charity and because “no denomination was closer to them than the Mennonites.” So that those in the Netherlands could satisfy themselves that this 26 Cf. p. 48–9. 27 Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens (Mennonite in Amsterdam)], March 16, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 28 Bolten, Kirchen-Nachrichten, 185. 29 Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens et al. (Mennonites in Amsterdam)], April 3, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042; the following quotations ibid.

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was indeed the case, they enclosed in their letter at this time “a short but thorough extract” of their “faith and doctrine.”30 In the summer of 1726 an intense craving arose among some Schwenkfelders in Görlitz — as, for example, in the case of the previously mentioned Melchior Heebner — to emigrate to Pennsylvania. Adam Wiegner opposed this idea vehemently from the beginning. He considered this proposal to be the biggest folly in the world, especially since so much kindness had been shown to them in Upper Lusatia. Because he was looking for support, he again turned to the Mennonites in the Netherlands on December 12, 1726, this time, however, not to those in Amsterdam, but to those in Haarlem.31 These Mennonites had in the meantime proven to be their great benefactors. Without telling his fellow believers, he urgently requested the Mennonites to warn against emigrating to Pennsylvania. In their reply dated April 1, 1727, the Mennonites complied with Wiegner’s request.32 Without reservation they affirmed that freedom of religion did exist in Pennsylvania and that a good climate prevailed. Yet they intimated that it would be very difficult for the Schwenkfelders to achieve economic prosperity there. And in Pennsylvania a quite large contiguous area for  a cohesive settlement would no longer be available. Furthermore, the future political development in this English colony was anything but certain. Finally, consideration had to be given to the fact that passage on a ship is dangerous and costly. Therefore, they had to warn them strongly against emigration. On the other hand, the Mennonites in Haarlem expressed their willingness to continue to support the Schwenkfelders in Upper Lusatia financially. They also expressed the hope that one day, however, the opportunity to acquire goods and acreage would be possible so that they could live all together. Thus, the migration plans for Pennsylvania were halted for a time. According to contemporary evidence the Schwenkfelders who had emigrated to Görlitz and vicinity led an industrious and secluded life. They were involved principally in spinning and dealing in flax. The merchants in Görlitz welcomed these activities, since they hoped that the local economy would be boosted that way. The economic situation of the Schwenkfelder Melchior Heebner, who lived in the suburb near the Reichenbacher Gate, seems to have been an exception. During the next few years he farmed some land and practiced now and then as a practitioner of medicine. His medical skills had been known especially in Görlitz. The Schwenkfelders were welcomed by the civil council and by many respected residents of the city. In contrast it seems, at least in the beginning, that there were certain reservations about them among those in the lower social classes. In a letter 30 In this instance it is clearly the matter of an excerpt from the “Kurtz und einfältige Bekänt­ niß”; cf. p. 57 n 23. 31 Adam Wiegner to [Mennonites in Haarlem], September 12, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 32 Ameldonck Leew et al. [Mennonites in Haarlem] to Adam Wiegner, April 1, 1727, in Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 219–27, 379–92; excerpts printed in Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 59–62.

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to the Mennonites in Haarlem, Wiegner reported that in the summer of 1726 several youths had pelted Schwenkfelder women with feces.33 When the civil council was informed of it, a threat was issued to all residents of that particular street where the excesses had taken place that future assaults on the Silesians would be punished by a fine of ten Reichstaler. Whoever was witness to such assaults, but did not report them, would be punished by the same fine. The orthodox Lutheran clergymen in Görlitz, especially those from St Peter and Paul Church, had an aversion to the Schwenkfelders. First and foremost were Johann Daniel Geissler and Johann Adam Schön at St Peter’s and Paul’s who attacked the Schwenkfelders from time to time in their sermons. In 1727 Geissler is said to have apostrophized them in an afternoon sermon as “damned devil’s tail.”34 As  a result they no longer went to this late-Gothic, five-aisle hall church, even though they had previously attended the sermons diligently. From then on they stuck more or less exclusively to pastor Scheffer in the Trinity Church. A scandal broke out then in fall of 1727 on the occasion of the funeral of Adam Wiegner’s son who had just turned 20 years old.35 At the instigation of the clergy this funeral took place without the tolling of church bells, without the school choir and without the participation of a pastor. Ostentatiously, however, a large number of scholars and non-scholars, upper class people and common people accompanied the corpse in  a procession from the death house on Büttnergasse as far as the cemetery of the burial church St Nicolai. At the graveside the municipal messenger intoned the two hymns of eternity: “Lord Jesus Christ, True Man and God”, written by Paul Eber in 1562 and “O Jesus Christ, my Life, my Light”, poetized by Martin Behm in 1610. The mourners sang all of the stanzas of these funeral hymns to the end. Nothing is known of other incidences, which probably can be ascribed to the tempering influence of the civil council.

2. Sojourn on Zinzendorf ’s Estates in Herrnhut and Berthelsdorf The Schwenkfelders’ sojourn on the estates of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf turned out to be significantly different than in Görlitz and vicinity.36 The first migrants probably arrived in February 1726. Most of them received quarters for the time being in the community called Herrnhut, founded in 1722. The name 33 For the attacks on Schwenkfelders and the protective measures of the Görlitz civil council, see Adam Wiegner to [Mennonites in Haarlem], September 12, 1726, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 34 Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 228. 35 For the burial of Wiegner’s son see Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 228; the following quotation ibid. The first name of Adam Wiegner’s son could not be ascertained. 36 It was mainly a matter of Herrnhut where, as a rule, the Schwenkfelders remained, however, for a short time and the large village Upper Berthelsdorf.

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Herrn Hut means the Lord’s watchful care. This small, recently erected village was located outside of Zinzendorf ’s manor Middle Berthelsdorf below the Hutberg, a hill between Herrnhut and Upper Berthelsdorf. Soon afterwards Zinzendorf made it possible for many of them to have a settlement in Upper Berthelsdorf, which was very nearby. In 1726 this stretched-out ribbon village came into the possession of his uncle Gottlob Friedrich von Gersdorff,  a son of his grandmother Henriette Katharina von Gersdorff, née Baroness von Friesen. He purchased this village on April 10, 1727, and united it with the manor Middle Berthelsdorf, which he had already purchased in May 1722 from his grandmother. Between 1726 and 1733 the Schwenkfelder emigrants rented or built their own homes in Upper Berthelsdorf. There were at least ten houses. They erected these in half-timber style, a construction style that was characteristic for architecture in the Bober-Katzbach Mountains. The Schwenkfelder houses were clearly distinct from the so-called Umgebindehäuser. The Umgebindehaus combines log house, with timber-framing and stone construction, separating living area from roof or upper story and roof. Among the houses built by the Schwenkfelders is the so-called “community house” or “prayer house”, which is now known as the “Schwenckfeld-­ Haus.”37 This single story building is 47’6” by 19’9” or 14.5 by 6 meters and has a ridge height of 21’4” or 6.5 meters. With no cellar, this house consisted originally of a single room that was possibly divided by a partition, a stone, or a wooden wall. Later, before 1905, this room was then divided by the construction of a stone wall so that there were two living quarters with separate entrances. It is clear that the Schwenkfelder migrants did not build the “community house” or “prayer house” as a meeting place. It was built rather as the residence or farmhouse of a Schwenkfelder family whose name, however, is not known. The term “prayer house”, long anchored solidly in local tradition, could imply that people met regularly or sporadically for “visits”, devotional practices, and discussions in this house. A decisive factor for this could have been the central location of this building in Upper Berthelsdorf, but certainly not its room capacity, which in the other houses was occasionally significantly greater. It is also possible that the owner of this Schwenkfelder house was an authority, whose home was therefore a preferable place to gather. In 1734 at the time of the Schwenkfelders’ emigration to America no buyer was found for this house and so it was turned over to the owner of Upper Berthelsdorf at that time who was Zinzendorf ’s wife Erdmuthe Dorothea née Countess Reuß zu Ebersdorf. In 1792 Elisabeth von Watteville née Countess von Zinzendorf, the owner of Berthelsdorf from 1789 to 1807, sold it to the two brothers Johann Gottfried and Johann Gottlieb Müller, whose descendants owned the house into the twentieth century.38 37 I could look at some of these Schwenkfelder houses in Oberberthelsdorf again and again. I am most grateful to the Eberhard Winter, the architect and consulting engineer who is in charge of the restauration of the building, for value information about the “Schwenckfeld-Haus”. 38 For the owners of the “Schwenckfeld-Haus”, see Elmer E. S. Johnson, Diary 1905 (July 21), SLHC Pennsburg, Johnson Archive, unpag.

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Ill. 5 The “Schwenkfelder House”, now called “Schwenckfeld-Haus”, in Berthelsdorf

As a rule, the Schwenkfelders earned their livelihoods by pursuing various activities involving craftsmanship, especially weaving and spinning. On the side most of them cultivated gardens and small acreages. The local village population respected them due to their work ethic, their honesty, modesty, and humility. At least Zinzendorf could report: For the society they are competent people, they work untiringly; they carry on commerce vigorously and prosperously. They are continuously active and skillful, prudent estate managers and peasants, people who pay on time, inexpensive merchants and very flawless spinners. In regard to morals they are good theoreticians and practitioners. They serve everyone and never allow someone to scrounge off them. At first glance they consistently lead a quiet, secluded, respectable, chaste, humble, unaffected life.39

Just as in their Silesian homeland the Schwenkfelders held their own conventicles in Upper Berthelsdorf where they sang, prayed, and read the Bible and devotional books. Yet these “visits” (“Besuche”) — as the meetings were generally called — took place apparently at first only sporadically.40 It was not until the final years of their stay that they met regularly on Sunday evening. In any case their gatherings cannot be compared in the slightest with the numerous, manifold, and regular events of 39 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff (letter fragment), n.d. [August 1732], UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 2. a, Nr. 40. 40 For the meaning and use of the word “Besuch” by the Schwenkfelders, see p. 115.

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the community in Herrnhut, especially after1727. “About the pitiful state” of the Schwenkfelder community and its “improvement”, Christopher Wiegner,41 who had multiple close contacts with Zinzendorf, talked at length in January 1733 to George Weiss42 and Balthasar Hoffmann,43 two authorities of the Schwenkfelders. The person who in these years had energetically taken on the religious life of the Schwenkfelders was George Weiss, who had fled with his wife Anna née Meschter from Harpersdorf to Herrnhut at the beginning of May 1726. Here they lived for the next few years.44 Weiss, who was best acquainted with Schwenkfelder tradition, took on the role of spiritual adviser — orally and in writing — and led the devotional meetings. He instructed children in the Schwenkfelder faith. He gave individual adolescents, such as Christopher Schultz, instruction in Latin. In 1732 he gave an account of his activities among his fellow believers in his statement “Beweg-­ Ursachen: Warum ich mich in disz mein biszheriges fürnehmen eingelassen habe”.45 In this account he gave, as the most important reason for his advisory activities his observation, that the “true orthodox and theological doctrine” — which, at the time of the Reformation, God had revealed through his “faithful witnesses and followers of the glory of Jesus Christ” — was, these days, not only “rejected”, “scorned”, and “maligned” by all of the so-called Christianity. Rather, he had, as he wrote, detected among “our own [sc. the Schwenkfelders],” likewise, little “passion” and “joy” in striving for these things. People aspired only to earthly things and lived to “please the world”. Therefore he felt he had to intervene so that the “inexpressible grace of God” would be manifested “in their doctrine and life” and not given to them in vain. He was called upon by others to assume these advisory activities due to his God-given gifts. Moreover, his good health as well as his familial and professional situation permitted him to take it on. He and his wife were now childless and he did not work any longer — as he did earlier in Silesia — as a linen weaver, but as a simple spinner in his “Stübchen”, i. e., in  a small retirement quarters. God had “given him perhaps one of the most leisurely professions.” However, he did not want to exercise his advisory activities “as  a teacher (“Lehrer”), overseer (“Aufseher”), or leader (“Vorsteher”)” who “served  a congregation with proper doctrine and oversight.” He would simply like to be an adviser. Everyone should examine whether his instruction concurred with the Holy Scripture, the Apostles’ Creed, and the “pure theological doctrine”. In addition to the Holy Scripture Weiss established the Credo and the “pure theological doctrine” as  a standard. With “pure theological doctrine” or “true orthodox and theological doctrine” he meant, no doubt, Caspar Schwenckfeld’s teachings without actually saying so. 41 On Christoph Wiegner, see p. 74 n 11. 42 On George (Georg) Weiss, see p. 36 n 82. 43 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 44 Wiegner, Diary, 44 (January 25, 1733). 45 Weiss, “Beweg-Ursachen: Warum ich mich in diß mein bißheriges Fürnehmen eingelassen habe Anno 1732, dem 30. November”, SLHC Pennsburg, VB 4–9, 339–48.

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The relationship of the Schwenkfelders to the Lutheran pastor at that time in Upper Berthelsdorf, Johann Andreas Rothe,46 who was open to Pietism and who was respected by Zinzendorf, was reserved or even distant. They had him celebrate their baptisms, marriages, and funerals and paid him the fees due for these services. However, they attended his worship service in general only occasionally. They did not participate at all in communion services according to the so-called “Stillstand”, the suspension of the Supper, recommended by Schwenckfeld in the spring of 1526.47 An exception was those Schwenkfelders, who in the meantime — out of conviction or accommodation or on account of their Lutheran spouse — drew near to the Lutheran Church again or had joined the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, later the Herrnhut Moravian Church. The number of those who had been received into the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine seems, however, to have been very small. Delving into this number is, however, difficult because not everyone who received the right to live in the village of Herrnhut and resided there, either for a long time or forever, belonged to the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine there. A case in point is, for example, Christoph Hoffmann,48 who at one time was the head of the three man delegation at the Imperial Court in Vienna.49 He came to Herrnhut in 1726. In spring 1728 he — as a foreigner — was called by lot to be an Ober Ältester, a head elder, for all non-Moravians in the village of Herrnhut.50 He had secular responsibilities for supervision and administration of the non-Moravians, including the Schwenkfelders living in Herrnhut at that time. He was assisted in these responsibilities by George Weiss in regard to important matters, who was chosen as an Ältester, an elder, at the same time, but without the lot.51 Note that at that time the head elder or regular elder had to have his place of residence in the village of Herrnhut, of course, but did not have to be  a member of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. In October 1728 Christoph Hoffmann and George Weiss resigned from their offices. Christoph Hoffmann was 84 years old when he died on October 14, 1735.52 August Gottlieb Spangenberg, later organizer and bishop of the Moravian Brethren, claimed in his biography of Zinzendorf published from 1772 to 1774, 46 On Johann Andreas Rothe, see Lier, “Rothe”; Meyer, “Rothe”. 47 For the temporary suspension of the Lord’s Supper recommended by Schwenckfeld in 1526, see Weigelt, Tradition, 74–77. 48 On Christoph Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 121. 49 For the Schwenkfelder delegation at the Imperial Court in Vienna, cf. p. 43–4. 50 For Christoph Hoffmann’s call by a drawing of lots to be the head elder from among the “foreigners” in spring 1728, see Wollstadt, Dienen, 149 and 365 (Beilage 2). 51 For the call of George Weiss to be an elder in spring 1728, see Wollstadt, Dienen, 149 and 365. (Beilage 2). 52 Christoph Hoffmann was buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Berthelsdorf on October 16, 1735 (19th Sunday after Trinity); the funeral sermon was presented by the Lutheran pastor Johann Andreas Rothe. An abstract of this funeral sermon (“Immanuel. Ein kurtzer Auszug, auß des liben alten Vatters Christoph Hoffmanns Leichen=Predigt.”) is to be found in SLHC Pennsburg, Funeral Sermons Box, VS 20.

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that the Count had at that time not contemplated “making” the Schwenkfelders who had found asylum on his estates “Lutheran.” Instead he wanted “very much to bring them as poor sinners to Jesus Christ.”53 Spangenberg’s account, however, becomes doubtful when one considers Zinzendorf ’s later conduct towards the Schwenkfelders during his stay in Pennsylvania from the end of 1741 until New Year’s Day 1743.54 Had Zinzendorf not hoped for the integration of the Schwenkfelders into the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine or even possibly pursued it? In any case, the Schwenkfelders already suspected this during their sojourn on Zinzendorf ’s estates. This mistrust was stoked and fueled above all by the relationship between Christopher Wiegner and Zinzendorf, which was growing ever closer.55 The Schwenkfelders — it can be stated in summary — were able to live in Upper Lusatia more or less undisturbed in their faith and practice of piety until late in the summer of 1731. Nevertheless, they were consistently under the — actual or imagined — pressure of expectation of the Lutheran clergy and Zinzendorf to turn to the Lutheran Church or the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. These relatively quiet years ended — as shown — in August 1731 when they once again came under the scrutiny of Imperial and Electoral politics.56

53 Spangenberg, Zinzendorf, vol. 2, 325. 54 For the tense relationship between the Schwenkfelders and Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzen­ dorf during his sojourn in America from the end of 1741 until the beginning of 1743, see p. 110–14. 55 For the relationship between Christopher Wiegner and Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, see 76–7. 56 In regard to the cause and reason for the governmental authorities’ renewed attention on Schwenkfelders, see p. 67–8.

IV. Expulsion of Schwenkfelders from Upper Lusatia — Decree by Elector Frederick August II of Saxony

Since the end of the 1720s the Imperial Court in Vienna had been notified from several sides that subjects from Habsburg territories were staying in Upper Lusatia, mainly on Zinzendorf ’s estates. In this matter the Jesuit priest Karl Xaver Regent,1 who saw his reputation as a successful missionary damaged due to the escape of a hundred some Schwenkfelders, distinguished himself as a denouncer and schemer. In several publications he pointed out the illegal presence of Silesian Schwenkfelders and other religious groups in Saxon Upper Lusatia.2 He harshly attacked Zinzendorf as well as the pietistic pastors Melchior Scheffer3 in Görlitz and Johann Christoph Schwedler4 in Niederwiesa. He charged that the count and the two pastors were spreading heretical teachings and conjured up the danger of an encroachment on their heretical views on Habsburg and other territories of the German Empire. On the other hand, he emphasized that the reception of Habsburg subjects in Upper Lusatia violated the law in Habsburg territories and in the Electorate of Saxony. Regent made these serious allegations mainly in his book entitled “Unpartheyische Nachricht Von der in Laußnitz überhandnehmenden, und hieraus in die benachbarte Länder, insonderheit in Schlesien einreissenden Neuen Sect der so genannten Schefferianer Und Zinzendorffianer”. In this book — written in Langneundorf and published in Breslau in 1729 — Regent noted in regard to the Schwenkfelders that many of them had “escaped” without permission from Silesia to the Electorate of Saxony.5 For the most part they found accommodation on Zinzendorf ’s estates. Although they do not go to communion there, they “are married and buried without hesitation” if they simply participate in Herrnhut Brüdergemeine meetings, such as the Lovefeast. Zinzendorf ’s cunning baiting of Habsburg subjects onto his estates blatantly violates the laws and promotes the spread of heretical views. In this book Regent also insinuated that Zinzendorf liked to attract wealthy Habsburg subjects — by that he meant last but not least some Schwenkfelders. By that very fact Zinzendorf not only violated the law, but also the ninth and tenth commandments: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house [Ex  20:17] (much less thy supreme Imperial Majesty’s house), nor his manservant, nor his cattle, nor any thing that is his.” Although the book’s title asserts that this report about the spread of the new

1 On Karl Xaver Regent, see p. 38 n 94. 2 For these publications, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 188–89 n 39. 3 On Melchior Scheffer (Schäffer), see p. 48 n 16. 4 On Johann Christoph Schwedler, see p. 29 n 48. 5 Regent, Nachricht, 105; the following quotations ibid., 105, 108.

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sect of Scheffer and Zinzendorf is impartial, the book is actually most partial. This polemical book unleashed a fierce literary controversy. When Regent published his writings, he undoubtedly assumed that his allegations and accusations would be vigorously promoted by his long-time acquaintanceship with Jesuit Vitus Georg Tönnemann,6 the confessor to and personal adviser of Emperor Charles VI. However, he was either insufficiently aware of or had underestimated the intensity of the multiple contacts between Zinzendorf and Tönnemann.7 At the beginning of August 1731 Emperor Charles VI had his Envoy at the Court in Dresden, Leopold Count von Waldstein, protest to Elector Frederick August I of Saxony that Zinzendorf had illegally taken in Habsburg subjects on his estates.8 His accommodation of further Imperial subjects is to be prohibited immediately and the expulsion of those asylum seekers already residing there should ensue forthwith. Frederick August I of Saxony — after his secret conversion to Catholicism in 1697 also King of Poland — delivered the Imperial demand to the Geheimen Konsilium, the Advisory Board, in Dresden whose assignment was, as known, to advise the Elector comprehensively and to head the oversight of the entire public administration. This supreme central authority recommended to the Elector that he immediately forbid Zinzendorf any further elicitation of subjects from Habsburg territories.9 On the other hand, the expulsion of the migrants already located on his estates should be stayed until inquiries could be made about what sort of people they actually were. As a result Amtshauptmann, the senior civil servant, in the County of Görlitz, Georg Ernst von Gersdorff, in his capacity as Landesbestallter, i. e., as representative of the Landesältesten, the territorial elders, in Upper Lusatia, was asked to make the relevant inquiries. However, since he thought that such investigations, in the public interest, should be undertaken discreetly on site, he personally was assigned to do that on November 8, 1731.10 These investigations, which took place in Herrnhut and probably in Berthelsdorf, too, between January 19 and 22, 1732, were in fact carried out tactfully and inconspicuously.11 Gersdorff, accompanied only by the keeper of the minutes, Heinrich Gottlob Modrach, participated in a few events of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine and had private discussions with Zinzendorf as well as with several spokespersons of this 6 On Vitus Georg Tönnemann, see Korting, Tönnemann. 7 For the contacts between Vitus Georg Tönnemann and Zinzendorf, see Korting, Tönnemann, 151–64. 8 For the protest of Emperor Charles VI, see [Kaiser Karl VI.] to [Leopold von Waldheim], n.d. [before August 15, 1731], Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 3r–v; partially printed in Körner, Staatsregierung, 16. 9 Geheimes Konsilium to Kurfürst Friedrich August I. von Sachsen, August 16, 1731, Sächsi­ sches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 5r–6v. Cf. Körner, Staatsregierung, 17. 10 See Geheimes Konsilium to Georg Ernst von Gersdorff, November 8, 1731, Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 17r–v. Cf. Körner, Staatsregierung, 17. 11 For these investigations, see Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 189–90.

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community. Of the Schwenkfelders, whose presence he actually first noticed seemingly during his inspection,12 he questioned apparently Balthasar Hoffmann13 exclusively. He found out that among the Schwenkfelders Hoffmann was best able to answer questions and provide information. Hoffmann, born in Harpersdorf in 1687 as the son of Christoph Hoffmann14 and his wife Ursula née Anders, was a weaver by profession and had taught himself an amazing amount of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He had been one of the Schwenkfelder delegates at the Imperial Court in Vienna. In America he was to become the second “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders in 1740. Therefore, Gersdorff asked Hoffmann about the flight of the Schwenkfelders from Silesia. Zinzendorf reported to him in detail that the Schwenkfelders had their children baptized in the Berthelsdorf church by the Lutheran pastor Johann Andreas Rothe;15 they themselves, however, could not be moved to accept one of the legally recognized religious denominations in the Holy Roman Empire. He tolerated them on his estates in the same way that the civil council in Görlitz did with the Schwenkfelders there.16 This attempt to justify his behavior, however, did not correspond completely to the facts. First, Zinzendorf had not informed the Court in Dresden about his acceptance of Schwenkfelder migrants from Silesia as the civil council in Görlitz had done. Secondly, he had neither forbidden the Schwenkfelders the acquisition of property nor barred their religious gatherings. On March 15, 1732, senior civil servant Georg Ernst von Gersdorff reported his investigations to the Saxon Elector in a lengthy account, in which there is but only a single comment in regard to the Schwenkfelders.17 It is merely noted that they could “probably still be persuaded” to send their children to a school.18 Otherwise reference was made to the minutes which accompanied the report. Those minutes are no longer extant. Upon the instructions of the Elector on April 29, 1732, the Gersdorff report was forwarded for advisory opinion to the Supreme Consistory in Dresden, i. e., to the ecclesiastical central authority, who, among other duties, was responsible for doctrine of faith. A little later the Oberamtshauptmann of Upper Lusatia in Bautzen, Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, a cousin of Zinzendorf, was charged by 12 Initially Georg Ernst von Gersdorff deliberately overlooked the Schwenkfelders possibly out of consideration for Zinzendorf, to whom he was related. However, he may have passed over the Schwenkfelders simply because he had already become acquainted with them as migrants in Görlitz. 13 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 14 On Christoph Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 121. 15 On Johann Andreas Rothe, see p. 64 n 46. 16 For the conditions that had been imposed on the Schwenkfelders who fled to Görlitz and environs, see p. 57. 17 Georg Ernst von Gersdorff to Kurfürst Friedrich August I. von Sachsen, March 15, 1732, Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Acten des Oberkonsistoriums, Loc. 1892, fol. 3r–12r; printed in Körner, Staatsregierung, 85–91. The following quotation ibid., fol. 12r resp. 91. 18 School supervision at that time was, as is generally known, in the hands of the Lutheran church.

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the Geheimen Konsilium with obtaining “a reliable yet cautious inquiry” about the Schwenkfelders.19 He should determine the locations where they were staying in Upper Lusatia, when they had been received, and how large their number was. Notably, however, Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, who was incidentally well disposed toward the Brüdergemeine in Herrnhut, was already at this time highly dubious whether the Schwenkfelders would be allowed to stay on Zinzendorf ’s estates permanently. By February 28, 1732, he had confidentially informed his cousin Zinzendorf that he was doubtful whether they would be able “to maintain” themselves there.20 Four weeks later he already had confidential information about the terms and conditions of their expulsion. This would, so he had written to Zinzendorf, probably occur “very gradually in secret”, i. e., without causing a sensation and in small groups departing at different time intervals.21 Nonetheless the Oberamtshauptmann Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff summoned, according to orders, not only the Görlitz civil council but also Count Zinzendorf to submit the requested reports within two weeks. The Görlitz civil council transferred this assignment by Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff to its earlier mayor Christoph Büttner. His investigations,22 undertaken on June 18, 1732, revealed that in the city of Görlitz itself just three Schwenkfelder families were still present: Susanna Wiegner,23 widow of Adam Wiegner, with her two children Rosina and Christopher, the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner24 with his wife and their children, and the family of David and Judith Seibt25 with their children. Just Melchior Krause,26  a tailor, still lived with his family in Hennersdorf. The rest of the Schwenkfelders had moved meanwhile to Berthelsdorf. Büttner noted emphatically that all of the Schwenkfelders led a quiet and moral life in Görlitz; no one raised any complaints about them. In order to produce the report requested by the Oberamtshauptmann, Zinzen­ dorf handed over to the Schwenkfelders who were living on his estates in Berthels­ dorf and Herrnhut  a list of thirteen questions.27 Accordingly they were to give information especially about their exact number, about the tribulations and persecutions they suffered in their Silesian homeland, their contact with Prussia, and 19 Geheimes Konsilium to Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, June 3, 1732, StadtA Görlitz, Regal 3, Fach 24 (Vogthof). Cf. Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 65. 20 Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, February 28, 1732, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 20. b, Nr. 18. 21 Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, March 27, 1732, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 20. b, Nr. 19. 22 For the results of Büttner’s research, see Knauth, “Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup[erior]” (see p. 48 n 15), 235. Cf. Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 65. 23 On Susanna Wiegner and her children, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 220 (E 17). 24 On Melchior Heebner, see p. 56 n 19. 25 On David und Judith Seibt, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 886 (E 59). 26 On Melchior Krause, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1564 (E 202). 27 Zinzendorf, “Verordnung an die in Herrnhut und Berthelsdorf wohnenden Schwenckfelder”, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 5, Nr. 6.

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relationship with the Mennonites in the Netherlands as well as the number of those of them who in the meantime had returned to the Lutheran Church or converted to Catholicism. Supported by their data, Zinzendorf then remitted the requested report28 to the Oberamtshauptmann. In this account he expressed himself very sympathetically and full of hope about the Schwenkfelders. He marginalized and minimized their religious deviance and criticism of the Church. He paid high praise to their lifestyle, their social conduct, and to their piety. In regard to their doctrine of faith he conceded that he could not approve of everything. However, he immediately pointed out that already approximately 20 families and as many single individuals would now join the Lutheran Church again. Finishing, he noted that the acceptance of the Schwenkfelders in Upper Lusatia was very beneficial for the local economy. The Görlitz civil council, however, could substantiate that better than he could. For the sake of commerce and the prosperity of the country the Schwenkfelders should therefore be granted continuing residency. This reference to the economic value, which the Electorate of Saxony would gain by means of the Schwenkfelders, was made after thorough consideration. Zinzendorf was aware that the Dresden Court was extremely interested in an increase of its economic power. For economic reasons, according to Zinzendorf ’s considerations, the emigrated Schwenkfelders would be most likely granted a continuing sojourn. Even before Oberamtshauptmann Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff ’s final report,29 which was dated December 19, 1732 — but is no longer traceable — reached Dresden, the Supreme Consistory had already presented the Elector its legal reservations against a permit for continuing residency on November 14.30 They would, namely, belong to none of the denominations, which, according to the articles of the Peace of Westphalia, were the only ones recognized in the Holy Roman Empire. In the meantime the Schwenkfelders, whose expulsion loomed ever more clearly, had taken a vow of loyalty to Zinzendorf as landlord. Evidently that happened on Zinzendorf ’s initiative with a vague hope that their expulsion could still be averted by that. In any case he informed his cousin Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff about the avowed “pledge of loyalty” on January 26, 1733.31 At the same time he pointed out that the Schwenkfelders had requested only freedom of conscience and religion. He did not mention, however, that they desired not only private, but also public freedom of religion and conscience. That was, however, the real legal problem, around which everything revolved. 28 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff (letter fragment), n.d. [August 1732], UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 2. a, Nr. 40; a passage from this letter fragment in Nr. 25. 29 For the final report, see Körner, Staatsregierung, 22–23. 30 Oberkonsistorium to Kurfürst Friedrich August I. von Sachsen, November 14, 1732, Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 61r–65v and Acten des Oberkonsistoriums, Loc. 1892, fol. 13r–15r. 31 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, January 26, 1733, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 3, Nr. 10.

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Expulsion of Schwenkfelders from Upper Lusatia

Elector Frederick August I of Saxony —  the Strong — died on February 1, 1733, and his son succeeded him as Frederick August II. As early as April 4, 1733, the latter commanded that the Schwenkfelders residing on Zinzendorf ’s estates in Upper Lusatia move on.32 Within  a year they were to leave the Electorate of Saxony in small groups. The prohibition of emigrating as  a single group was intended to avoid any excitement among the general populace as well as  a great amount of publicity over the expulsion from the country. Their expatriation was certainly covered by Imperial law, but no longer corresponded to the realIll. 6 Expulsion of the Schwenkfelders ity of life for people in the mid-eightofficially ordered by Elector Friedrich eenth century. August II (1733) The relatively few Schwenkfelders who still resided at this time in Görlitz and Hennersdorf were not affected by this expatriation order. Although they knew that some of them — against the urgent advice of their benefactor Christian Hänisch33 — decided to emigrate as well. These were Susanna Wiegner, widow of Adam Wiegner,34 with her two adult children and the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner with his family.35 Above all Heebner had seriously pressed for an emigration as soon as possible. He wanted, at long last, to be free of the tyranny of the Lutheran clergy and to enjoy freedom of religion and conscience. Two years later the civil council in Görlitz received the order36 by Elector Frederick August II dated May 30, 1736, which denied the Schwenkfelders living in the city and its environs any further residence there. The mayor and council of Görlitz intervened. Just like Zinzendorf they pointed out the economic advantage, which the presence of the Schwenkfelder asylum seekers would bring to Upper Lusatia. This plea, however, fell on deaf ears and was rejected.

32 Kurfürst Friedrich August I. von Sachsen to Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, March 15, 1732, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 2. a, Nr. 46 and R. 5. A. 5, Nr. 18; Sächsisches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 82r–v. Printed in Zinzendorf, Büdingische Sammlung, 12–13. 33 On Christian Hänisch, see p. 56 n 17. 34 On Adam Wiegner, see p. 46 n 8. 35 Both families belonged to the third and main migration (1734); see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 36–37. 36 Kurfürst Friedrich August II. von Sachsen to Magistrat von Görlitz, May 30, 1736, Sächsi­ sches HStA Dresden, Acten der geh. Canzlei, Loc. 5854, fol. 106r–v.

V. Schwenkfelders’ Various Endeavors for an Asylum in Europe or America

After the announcement of the decree of Elector Frederick August II on April 4, 1733,1 neither Zinzendorf nor the Schwenkfelders undertook anything to obtain a withdrawal or delay of the ordered expulsion. What were the reasons for this passive behavior? On April 10, 1733, Zinzendorf had been advised in a personal cover letter by Oberamtshauptmann Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff, his cousin, to follow the Elector’s orders strictly.2 Due to this advice he had evidently realized that there was no longer any room to negotiate. The Schwenkfelders for their part, however, most certainly refrained from a petition because they had never felt quite comfortable on Zinzendorf ’s estates. They suspected or surmised that the Count ultimately intended to lead them back to the Lutheran Church or rather to integrate them into the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine.3 That is the main reason why they had inquired here and there about  a new asylum quite soon after their flight from Silesia not only by letter but also in person. Thus in October 1730 George (Georg) Schultz4 had traveled to Weißenberg south of Frankfurt on the Oder in the Brandenburg territory.5 Furthermore, the Schwenkfelders had looked around for another refuge in the County of Issenburg-Büdingen and in the Principality of Anhalt-Köthen.6 After receiving the expulsion order, the Schwenkfelders turned their eyes toward the Netherlands. On April 19, 1733, they sent George Hübner7 there as an emissary. He did not return from this journey, however, until almost exactly a year later — on April 18, 1734.8 At that time the decision of his fellow believers about their future migration destination had already been made. Meanwhile Zinzendorf, too, had been thinking about  a future asylum for the Schwenkfelders. Indeed, after their pledge of loyalty,9 he considered them to be 1 For the expulsion of the Schwenkfelders ordered by the Elector Frederick August II, see p. 72. 2 Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, April 10, 1733, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 4, Nr. 14 and R. 5. A. 5, Nr. 17. 3 For the Schwenkfelders’ suspicions, see p. 64–5. 4 On George Schultz (brother of David Schultz) see p. 116 n 102. 5 See Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 11: “1730, on October 3, [my brother] George traveled to Weissenberg and returned again on December 7”. 6 Cf. Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 29–30. 7 On George Heebner (Georg Hübner), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 220–225 (E 17–1a and b). 8 See Wiegner, Diary, 47 (April 19, 1733) and 78 (April 18, 1734). 9 For the loyalty oath which the Schwenkfelders pledged to Zinzendorf on January 26, 1733, see p. 71.

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his subjects, as it were, for whom he was responsible. For example, he discussed this matter with Johann Georg von Hertel, the court-master of the pietistic Count ­Ludwig Friedrich zu Castell-Remlingen on June 9, 1733, in Herrnhut.10 Participants in this meeting, besides August Gottlieb Spangenberg, were several Schwenkfelders, specifically Christopher (Christoph) Wiegner,11 Balthasar Hoffmann,12 George Weiss,13 Melchior Kribel (Kriebel),14 Gregorius Meschter (Meister),15 and Balthasar Yeakel (Jäckel)16. Ludwig Friedrich zu Castell-Remlingen, called Lutz,  a cousin of Zinzendorf, was busy at that time settling pietistic groups and loners on his little village Rehweiler in the Franconian region. This “small allod”17 — with a very modest manor — located in the Steigerwald region on the road between Abtswind and Geiselwind, was to become a pietistic community like a miniature Herrnhut.18 How were the Schwenkfelders with their business and economic structure going to make a living in this remote and economically depressed Steigerwald area? Evidently the Count, who was naïve about economic and financial matters, had not asked himself this question. Determined, Zinzendorf then pursued the much more realistic plan of sending the Schwenkfelders to America as settlers in the English Colony of Georgia. Before long Moravians and other emigrants staying in the Herrnhut community were to set out for that location. The Schwenkfelders were in agreement with that migration destination since  a few of their Dutch friends had strongly recommended this colony due to the benefits granted to settlers there for their settlement. They informed Zinzendorf that they were ready to accept “in the name of God” this new asylum that “comes, so to speak, without request, as an act of God.”19 Nevertheless, they imposed the following conditions: A settlement where all can live together in one area, unhindered exercise of their Schwenkfelder faith, and freedom of trade. Under these provisos Zinzendorf was to negotiate the terms of transportation with the English envoy in Copenhagen. The Schwenkfelders gave Count Zinzendorf this power to negotiate additionally in writing as a “declaration”.20 It was signed “in the name of all” by four leading Schwenkfelders. Among the signatories were George 10 For this conference, see Wiegner, Diary, 40 (June 8, 1733). 11 On Christopher (Christoph) Wiegner, see Berky, Wagner, 48–50, 60, 74; Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1176–77 (E 76); Wiegner, Diary, viii–xxxiii (Peter C. Erb, introduction). 12 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 13 On George Weiss, see p. 36 n 82. 14 On Melchior Kribel (Kriebel), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 348 (E 25). 15 On Gregorius Meschter (Meister), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 566 (E 43). 16 On Balthsar Yeakel (Jäckel), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 344 (E 22). 17 For the Allod, i. e., the freehold estate of Count Ludwig Friedrich zu Castell-Remlingen, see Weigelt, Beziehungen, 22. 18 For the project of Ludwig Friedrich zu Castell-Remlingen, see Weigelt, Beziehungen, 21–5. 19 Schwenkfelder to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, n.d. [after October 23, 1733], UA Herrnhut, R. 5.  A. 5, Nr.  20 and R. 14.  A. 2.  2. a; English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 7–18, here 11. 20 “Erklärung der Schwenckfelder”, UA Herrnhut, R. 5. A. 5, Nr. 21 and R. 14. A. 2. 2. a; English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 12.

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Weiss and Balthasar Hoffmann, who later became the first two “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders who emigrated to America. At the beginning of January 1734, however, Zinzendorf received from the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America simply the assurance that he would receive for himself 500 acres of land and for each “vassal” he “brought along” 50 acres at no cost.21 It is uncertain whether the other desires of the Schwenkfelders were rejected or ignored by the Trustees. It is possible that Zinzendorf had not even brought up the other demands of the Schwenkfelders during his negotiations. During the initial months of the year 1734 the Schwenkfelders made the decision, however, not to emigrate to Georgia, but to Pennsylvania. It was precisely during their stay in Saxony that they made this change of migration destination and not during their emigration in the Netherlands, as is occasionally claimed.22 What were the reasons, however, for the new destination? First of all, as is known, not all demands which the Schwenkfelders had attached to their emigration to Georgia had been fulfilled. The Georgia Trustees under the leadership of James Edward Oglethorpe, philanthropist and founder of the Georgia Colony, had simply promised settlement land at no cost. This was to be granted to them as “vassals” of Zinzendorf. However, the Schwenkfelders, as will become clear, absolutely did not see themselves that way at all. Secondly, the Schwenkfelders had meanwhile received encouraging letters from some of their fellow believers who had already emigrated to Pennsylvania on their own initiative some time ago. In their letters to Silesia the circumstances in Pennsylvania were happily and promisingly presented in every aspect. Above all, it was probably the reports that they had received from George (Georg) Schultz,23 which influenced or strengthened the Schwenkfelders in their decision to emigrate to Pennsylvania. Born 1711 in Harpersdorf, Schultz was 20 years old when he emigrated alone to America as the first Schwenkfelder. He had set out on April 20, 1731 together with some pietists from Reichenbach, who, as religious refugees, had found asylum on Zinzendorf ’s estates in Herrnhut. On October 14 this group of emigrants reached Philadelphia on board the ship Snow Lowther, after traveling via Pirna, Altona, and Rotterdam.24 George’s parents George (Georg) and Anna Schultz née Hübner25 as well as his twin brother David26 had followed him two years later along with eight other Schwenkfelders.27 This little group left Berthelsdorf on April 19, 1733, traveled from Pirna down the Elbe on two ships to Altona and from there to Haarlem. There 21 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Johann Georg Hertel, January 6, 1734, UA Herrnhut, R. 20. C. 11, Nr. 89. b. 22 For example, Levering, Bethlehem, 32. 23 On George (Georg) Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 88–91 (E 7–1). 24 For the migration of George (Georg) Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 88–91 (E 7–1). 25 On George (Georg) Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 88 (E 7). 26 On David Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 92–96 (E 7–3a and b). 27 For this second migration, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 34–36.

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they boarded the English ship Pennsylvania Merchant that was under the command of Captain John Stedman. Some 200 emigrants from the Palatinate were also on board.28 This journey, lasting 23 weeks, ended on September 18, 1733, likewise in Philadelphia. A diary of this trip, called “Reise Beschreibung der Schwenkfelder,”29 was kept by David Schultz, who celebrated his sixteenth birthday during the voyage. A third reason for the quick change in emigration destination was that the Schwenk­felders — unlike earlier — were now being encouraged by their Mennonite friends in the Netherlands to emigrate to Pennsylvania and were receiving pledges of support.30 Fourth and finally, the Schwenkfelders hoped that by selecting Pennsylvania as the emigration destination they would evade Zinzendorf ’s influence. As already mentioned, they harbored suspicions that Zinzendorf wanted ultimately to lead them to the Lutheran Church or the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine.31 The desire to free themselves from Zinzendorf ’s clutches — alongside the positive reports of their fellow believers from Pennsylvania — might have been decisive in the end for the new emigration destination. Apparently Zinzendorf did not raise any objections to Pennsylvania as the new Schwenkfelder emigration goal. However, he wanted to send  a “commissioner”32 with them. To be sure, this plan already existed at the time when he wanted to settle the Schwenkfelders in Georgia. Whatever assignments he had in mind precisely for this commissioner do not emerge unambiguously from the records and are interpreted differently in the research. At the end of 1733 Zinzendorf was considering using 21-year-old Christopher Wiegner,33 son of the Schwenkfelder Adam Wiegner34 as the commissioner. Christopher, born in Upper Harpersdorf in 1712, grew up in the Schwenkfelder tradition. In Görlitz, to where his parents had fled with their four children in 1726 and where his father had died in August 1731, he sought and soon found — casual or fleeting — contact with pietists, with Moravian exiles, and other religious refugees as well as with members of the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine. At this time he was, as his diary shows, plagued by terrifying fears that he could belong to the people destined by God for eternal damnation. On October 22, 1727, he was released from this agonizing despair by a religious experience difficult to explain the certainty that he belonged to God’s chosen, i. e., to those elected for salvation. In his diary he noted: 28 See Scherer, “Saling”, 139. 29 Schultz’s “Reise Beschreibung der Schwenkfelder” in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 19–37. Cf. the account of the voyage by the Dunker Johannes Naas ibid., 268–273 (Appendix III). 30 Cf. p. 75. 31 For example, see Balthasar Hoffmann to his Kinder [children], March 1750, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Schultz Box 2, VS 4–59, [1–40], here [12–13]; Viehmeyer (ed. and transl.), Tumultuous Years, 29–69, here 46. Cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 34–35. This writing is  a report (“Bericht”) that Hoffmann wrote — in the literary form of a letter — for his children. 32 Wiegner, Diary, 62–63 (December 29, 1733), here 63; cf. ibid., xxxi (Peter C. Erb, introduction). 33 On Christopher Wiegner, see p. 74 n 11. 34 On Adam Wiegner, see p. 46 n 8.

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It was clear as daylight that I had been called and that through all this direction I should be assiduous before the Lord; this continually brought more assurance to my soul. I knew that God was concerned about me and that for my part, I should stir up thanks and obedience to stronger love.35

Wiegner’s relationship to the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine soon became closer and closer. Indeed it became so firmly established that in 1733 Zinzendorf sent him to Count Heinrich XXIX zu Reuß-Ebersdorf in Thuringia to rearrange and strengthen the muddled religious life of the brothers and sisters of the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine who worked there in the Ebersdorf castle as attendants. At that time, these Herrnhuters still lived inside of the congregation of the Lutheran castle church, which was shaped by Halle pietism. Zinzendorf felt closely connected to Ebersdorf because he had been married to Erdmuthe Dorothea née Countess Reuß zu Ebersdorf since 1722. Dorothea Erdmuthe was a daughter of Heinrich XXIX’s father Heinrich X, Count of Reuß-Ebersdorf and his wife Erdmuthe Benigna, Countess of Solms-Laubach. However, Wiegner’s mission was only moderately successful. With his hectic and very emotional activities he contributed little to the consolidation of religious life in Ebersdorf castle. Wiegner’s close relationship to Zinzendorf and the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, however, resulted in the fact that his fellow Schwenkfelder believers approached him with a certain skepticism, indeed, eyed him even with distrust. To many Schwenkfelders he seemed to be a loose cannon. It was at the end of March or perhaps not until April 1734 when Zinzendorf requested — in addition to Wiegner — August Gottlieb Spangenberg to be prepared to accompany the Schwenkfelders to America.36 This news reached Spangenberg from Stralsund, for where the Count had set off in mid-March. Zinzendorf ’s vacillation on the question of the retinue for the Schwenkfelders seems strange. Did he begin to have doubts whether Wiegner was up to the responsibility intended for him as “commissioner”? Or did he simply want both Wiegner and Spangenberg to accompany the Schwenkfelders to Pennsylvania? Without requesting or waiting for additional information from Zinzendorf, Wiegner and Spangenberg agreed on April 30, 1734, to accompany the Schwenk­ felders together to Pennsylvania “in the name of the Lord.”37 However, it did not come to this, as will be presented later. 35 Wiegner, Diary, 18–19 (October 22, 1727), here 18. The diary of Wiegner translated and edited by Peter C. Erb is based on a copy located in SLHC Pennsburg (Christopher Wiegner Box, VD 5–86: “Dem Christopher Wigner seine Führung vom Jahr 1718 bisz 1739. Anno 1732 den 26. October”). The original manuscript is in the Joseph Downs Collection, Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. Two copies of the diary are found in the SLHC Pennsburg whose stemma cannot be discussed here. In his introduction to the diary Peter C. Erb, unfortunately, takes up neither the transmission history of Wiegner’s diary nor the text forming the basis of his edition, as is absolutely necessary in the case of such editions. 36 Cf. Risler, Spangenberg, 94–95. 37 Wiegner, Diary, 78–79 (April 30, 1734), here 79.

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Before the Schwenkfelders set off on the migration to America, they held a large meeting on April 13, 1734. At that meeting George Weiss read a paper that he had previously composed.38 In the first part of his speech Weiss gave his fellow believers an overview of the history of Christianity and their, i. e., the Schwenkfelders’, own history. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ a visible “Community and Church” — with  a ministry and an administration of the sacraments as well as  a church discipline — came into existence through the “ministry” of the Apostles.39 This Community and Church was characterized by “unity”. Its members were namely “one soul and one heart [Acts 4:32]”; they had one and the same “will, mind, and purpose.”40 However, Satan fought against this Community and Church with all the force possible, so that “in a few short years the true and vibrant Christianity became simply  a hypocritical and feigned Christianity, essentially an Anti- or Contra-Christianity.”41 This situation lasted — despite occasional witnesses to the truth — for more than 1000 years until the Reformation. Then God awoke men who uncovered the corruption within Christianity and pointed out exactly how the Christian Church — according to the Holy Scriptures — “was to be molded, in the eyes of God.”42 Again, however, Satan knew how to defy this plan: The erection of a true Church did not come to pass. “About 60 years ago [i. e., about 1674] even a certain person” from the “Lutheran Church” — here Weiss alluded undoubtedly to Philipp Jacob Spener, known as the “Father of Pietism”, whose “Pia desideria or Earnest Desire for a Reform of the True Evangelical Church” was published in 1675 — in the end could not change anything about that.43 According to Weiss the Schwenkfelders, too, had been caught in the undertow of the general corruption of Christianity, although some of them had braced themselves against it. That is why God finally used the Jesuit mission as  a “rod” of his “anger [Isa 10:5]”, in order to punish the Schwenkfelders and bring them to penitence and conversion.44 In this way “a number of good hearted people” were somewhat shaken awake. The majority of the Schwenkfelders, however, persisted 38 In regard to the mentioned Schwenkfelder “meeting”, “gathering”, resp. “Versamlung” [sic] and the “paper”, “essay”, resp. “Aufsatz” read by Weiss on April 13, 1734, see Wiegner, Diary, 77; Wiegner, “Dem Christopher Wigner [sic] seine Führung vom Jahr 1718 bisz 1739. Anno 1732 den 26. October”, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Wiegner Box, VD 5–86, 86. In regard to the mentioned “paper”, “essay”, resp. “Aufsatz” read by Weiss, see [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten etlicher redlicher Schwenkfelder bey ihrem Abzuge nach Pensylvanien”, SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 3 Box, VS 2–52. However, this archival document in SLHC Pennsburg is an imperfect, typed copy taken from Zinzendorf, Freywillige Nachlese, 484–510; all citations in the following material come from this printed version. To what extent the “Kurtze[s] Gutachten” is identical with the “paper”, “essay” resp. “Aufsatz” read by Weiss cannot be determined, because Weiss’s manuscript is no longer extant. Nevertheless, it is very likely the case due to the theology, terminology, and style. 39 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 485. 40 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 486. 41 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 486. 42 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 487. 43 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 488. 44 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 491.

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in their “error, godlessness, and wickedness”.45 Therefore, the wrath of God allowed the Jesuit mission to tighten its repressive measures, and the Schwenkfelders had to abandon “their possessions during the night with great danger.”46 In Upper Lusatia where they found “protection” they continued their “confusion, discord, coldness of the heart, and profligacy.”47 “Only very recently did they begin to start devotional gatherings again on Sundays such that “the entire Sunday could be spent in praise of God and very pleasing self-edification”.48 In the second part of his speech Weiss expressed his hope that in their future place of refuge49 will occur among the Schwenkfelders the “erection of a community in the manner, form, and authority of the apostles”.50 Namely, up until that time that had not been the case among the Schwenkfelders, as the “evidence teacheth”.51 However, the erection of such a Community or Church is “completely and utterly the work of the Lord and not the work of men.”52 So that such a community can emerge it is first of all necessary to teach the Christian faith, manage meetings, regulate baptism and likewise communion as well as form a structured way of C ­ hristian living, for example, rules of marriage, “so that one might be  a good example to others”.53 Therefore, Weiss called on his fellow believers, in their future asylum on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean — where “more freedom of conscience is said to exist than in Europe”54 — to create the general framework and condition so that God will erect a Community and Church like that in the Apostolic Age of the history of Christianity. Wiegner made the following entry in his diary about this speech on April 13, 1734: “It was a large gathering, at which G[eorge] W[eiss] read aloud an essay about their previous and current state of affairs, which was worded very critically.”55 With this stirring speech Weiss wanted to shake up his fellow believers and create enthusiasm in them for a new religious beginning in their new asylum location. Here — so he hoped — God will finally erect a community among the Schwenkfelders “in the 45 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 492. 46 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 493. 47 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 493. 48 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 494. 49 In the “Kurtzes Gutachten” the colony Pennsylvania is not mentioned specifically by name as the emigration country. The mention of Pennsylvania in the title of the article (“Kurtzes Gut­achen etlicher redlicher Schwenckfelder, bey ihrem Abzuge nach Pensylvanien”) doubtlessly originated with the editor of the Freywillige Nachrichten. In the “Kurtzes Gutachten” the emigration country is paraphrased as a place where more freedom of conscience existed than in Europe”, 497. 50 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 497. 51 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 496. 52 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 498. 53 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 499–500. 54 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 497. 55 Wiegner, Diary, 77 (April 13, 1734). Cf. Wiegner, “Dem Christopher Wigner [sic] seine Führung vom Jahr 1718 bisz 1739. Anno 1732 den 26. October”, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Wiegner Box, VD 5–86, 86: “There was  a large meeting at which G. W. [George Weiss] read  a sharply worded paper about their [i. e., the Schwenkfelders’] previous and present condition.”

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manner, form, and authority of the Apostels”.56 A detailed discussion of Weiss’s idealized understanding of the early church will be given later.57 Between April 20 and 28, 1734, about 180 Schwenkfelders set off on the emigration to America.58 Between 1735 and 1737 they were followed by another 36 in three additional emigrant groups.59 In no way did all of the Schwenkfelders who had found refuge in Upper Lusatia emigrate to America at that time. The approximate number of those who remained in Upper Lusatia can be determined only by meticulous local history and genealogical research. Certain is the fact that these remaining Schwenkfelders lived especially in Berthelsdorf. Most of them were old, sick, and frail people, i. e., essentially men and women who were incapable of such long and grueling travel. Besides, there were Schwenkfelders who had entered into marriage with local Lutherans — for example the two daughters of the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner60 — or who in the meantime had turned to the Lutheran Church for various reasons. The asylum of the Schwenkfelders who had fled from Silesia in 1726 to Upper Lusatia and then set off for America had lasted therefore in the Electorate of Saxony just eight years. In spite of this relatively short period of time it was more than a mere episode for the Schwenkfelder migrants. Due to their flight from Silesia they were, in Upper Lusatia, first of all, brought out of their previously protracted religious isolation as well as their extensive withdrawal from the public life of the society — at least partially. In Görlitz and vicinity as well as especially on Zinzendorf ’s estates they met exiled Bohemians and Moravians, pietists and spiritualists of various sorts as well as devotees of Jacob Boehme everywhere. Through these experiences they were basically confronted by other religious beliefs and forms of piety. They were inevitably induced to explain themselves somehow to persons of other beliefs. Secondly, during their sojourn in Upper Lusatia the Schwenkfelders had the painful experience of being unable to obtain legal recognition in any of the German territories despite manifold endeavors. Therefore, in the end, they felt obliged to emigrate to Pennsylvania. In this area of North America, which was conveyed in 1681 by King Charles II to William Penn whom the King named as Governor, religious freedom was guaranteed to all immigrants, except atheists. Here, according to Penn’s “Holy Experiment”,61 freedom of religion was to be realized. Therefore the Schwenkfelders could justifiably assume that in Pennsylvania they would no longer be subjected to discriminations or persecutions, but that they would be free to bear witness to their Schwenkfelder faith and live openly according to it.

56 [Weiss (et al.?)], “Kurtzes Gutachten”, 497. 57 See p. 106–7. 58 On the third and main migration of 1734, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 36–37. 59 On the final three Schwenkfelder migrations, see p. 92–3. 60 On Melchior and Maria née Wiegner Heebner’s two daughters Eva and Maria, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 220 (E-17). 61 See p. 190 n 6.

VI. Schwenkfelder Migrations from Saxony to Pennsylvania

In the spring of 1734 one hundred seventy-eight Schwenkfelders decided to migrate to Pennsylvania.1 They formed the only numerically quite large emigration to America. Their migration can truly be described as a trek.

1. Organization and Route of the Main Emigration and Events during the Transatlantic Passage The Schwenkfelders who were ready for migration came predominately from Berthelsdorf and vicinity; their number from Görlitz was, on the other hand, very small. Altogether the migrants had only 24 different surnames. They were related in many cases by blood or by marriage. In most cases it was a matter of migrant family units. Yet not all family members were always able and willing to bring themselves to emigrate. For example, the very elderly Christoph Hoffmann,2 who together with his son Balthasar3 belonged to the Schwenkfelder delegation at the Imperial Court in Vienna,4 remained in Upper Lusatia. He died there as early as October 14, 1735, at the age of 84. On the other hand, his wife Ursula née Anders5 joined the emigrant trek with her two sons Balthasar and George6 and their families. Yet there is a certain tragedy here because during the passage Ursula Hoffmann became seriously ill in Altona, and five days after her arrival in Philadelphia she died on September 27, 1734. Between April 20 and 28, 1734, forty-eight Schwenkfelder families, i. e., 177 persons — Christopher Wiegner7 joined them later in Rotterdam — left what had been their refuge up to then in Upper Lusatia. At  a general meeting during the

1 The most important source for the third and main migration of the Schwenkfelders in 1734 is the report of the journey by Christopher Schultz in [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 450–61 (“Reise-Beschreibung von Altona bis Pensylvanien”); cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 321–39 (“An account of the voyage of the Silesian emigrants from Altona to Pennsylvania”). For this journey, see also “Extract-Schreiben”, 703–6. Cf. especially Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 36–7; Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 36–42; Weigelt, “Emigration”. 2 On Christopher Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 121. 3 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 4 For the Schwenkfelder delegation at the Imperial Court in Vienna, cf. p. 43–4. 5 On Ursula Hoffmann née Anders, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1180 (E 106). 6 On George Hoffmann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1180 (E 106–1). 7 On Christopher Wiegner, see p. 74 n 11.

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previous week they had been prepared spiritually by George Weiss8 for the journey and their new refuge.9 In accordance with the Electoral decree of expulsion10 they started off in separate groups; each of which consisted of six or seven, however, mostly eight people. Before the Schwenkfelders set off, they turned to Zinzendorf with the request that they would like to journey in small groups only as far as Pirna, a small town located on the Elbe southeast of Dresden. From there, however, all of them wanted very much to continue their journey as a single group by boat on the Elbe to Altona.11 By choosing this means of transportation they would, so they thought, “cause no particular sensation” with their collective departure and thus completely satisfy the Electoral order that everything should proceed secretly. Since Zinzendorf was away at that time, his wife, Erdmuthe Dorothea, turned to Privy Councilor von Gersdorff with the request that he speak with the Elector on behalf of the wish of the Schwenkfelders, her “previous subjects,” or advise her how she should conduct herself in regard to their petition. In addition, she requested that he intercede so that the migrants could obtain a pass or so that she herself could receive permission to issue them such a permit so that “when they pass through foreign countries, they are not stopped repeatedly and their journey is not impeded.” As soon as all the Schwenkfelders who had decided to emigrate had reached Pirna on April 28 they loaded their baggage. In the afternoon of April 29 they sailed down the Elbe on two large boats and reached Dresden in the evening. Here they spent their first night on board the two boats. On April 30 they passed under the bridges on the Elbe from Dresden down to the small town of Strehla. From there they sailed during the day past Mühlberg, Belgern, and Torgau to Dommitzsch, which is located on the western side of the Elbe. On May 2 they passed Pretzsch and stopped a mile beyond Wittenberg. They passed the towns of Coswig and Roßlau on May 3 on the way to Dessau and on the next day they went as far as the vicinity of Barby. They did not start out the next day until about noon; therefore, they got only a little beyond Schönebeck. On the following day they sailed on the Elbe through to Magdeburg with its dangerous navigation under bridges and got as far as the area of the fishing village Kehnert. Here the Schwenkfelders obtained bread for the remainder of their river trip. They reached Bittkau on May 7 and on the next day Tangermünde where they spent the night. After they passed Arneburg on May 9 they anchored a mile below Sandau. The boats’ cargo, millstones from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, was unloaded. On May 11 the boats sailed past Schnacken 8 On George Weiss, see p. 36 n 82. 9 For the speech by George Weiss in regard to the impending Schwenkfelder migration from Saxony, Germany to America on April 13, 1734, see p. 78–80. 10 For the expulsion of the Schwenkfelders on April 4, 1773, ordered by the Elector Frederick August II of Saxony, Germany, see p. 72. 11 See Erdmuthe Dorothea von Zinzendorf to Privy Counselor [Friedrich Caspar von Gersdorff], n.d. [before April 20, 1734], UA Herrnhut, R. 5.  A. 2.  a, Nr.  57; English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 12.

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Ill. 7 Route of the Schwenkfelders’ main migration trek (1734) from Saxony to the Netherlands

burg and anchored near Lenzen. On May 12 they reached Hitzacker and on the next day the city of Boizenburg. On May 14 they went only as far as Lauenburg on the right bank of the Elbe where millstones again were unloaded. On May 15 and 16 they continued down the Elbe, but did not reach Hamburg until evening due to bad wind conditions. The next morning the boats reached the Altona harbor, the goal of the Schwenkfelders’ river trip. Between the Schwenkfelders and the owners of the boats as well as the crew, there was an amicable understanding. During the entire trip on the Elbe they were able to prepare themselves a warm meal at any time. Fresh drinking water was available at no cost. Twice each day they could take shore leave for their “diversion” and so escape the narrow confinement on the two boats for a time.12 During the eighteenday-long river trip some Schwenkfelders became ill, among them George Weiss. When the Schwenkfelders went on land in the city of Altona, which belonged to Denmark at that time, in the forenoon on May 17, they were most cordially and hospitably received by the prosperous and esteemed merchant Hinrich van der Smissen,13 whose ancestors had come from Brabant. In Altona, after Copenhagen 12 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 451; the quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 322. Here and in the following, the translation of the quotations from Christopher Schultz’ report on the journey is, in general, loosely in the style of the English edition of the Erläuterung, i. e. the Vindication. 13 On Hinrich van der Smissen, see Dollinger, Mennoniten, 158, 163; Münte, Smissen, 9–13; Rauert & Kümpers-Greve, Smissen, passim, esp., 47–52.

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the most important city in the Kingdom of Denmark, Hinrich van der Smissen belonged to the Mennonite congregation14 and owned one of the largest mercantile houses as well as numerous properties and parcels of land.15 A similarly generous reception by Hinrich van der Smissen had, incidentally, already been experienced by those thirteen Silesian emigrants who had made a stop in Altona in May 1733 on their passage to America.16 Van der Smissen, who had resided once in Haarlem for many years, was well informed about the situation of the persecuted Schwenkfelders since at least 1727.17 It is very probable that he was advisedly referred to them by the Haarlem Mennonites. During their eleven day stay in Altona the 178 Schwenkfelders received accommodations at no cost in a building furnished especially for that purpose. They were “provided gratuitously with good food.”18 Since they had to leave not only their Silesian homeland, but also their Upper Lusatian refuge, they were honored and celebrated in Altona like heroes of faith. On May 29 the Schwenkfelders sailed in a convoy of three rather small Dutch boats from Altona to Haarlem. On account of the differing amounts of freight and mainly as the result of  a stormy sea, the boats, however, became separated just beyond Glückstadt in the Lower Elbe area. After the slowest sailing ship had left Cuxhaven behind, it sailed past the island Neuwerk and the East Frisian island Borkum and then took  a course through the Wadden Sea and present-day Lake Ijssel — a shallow artificial lake — to Amsterdam.19 It anchored in Amsterdam’s harbor on June 4 alongside “a great number of large ships.”20 It stayed here for thirty hours because the captain, it was said, had allegedly gone into the city briefly for just “3 hours.” When on the evening of June 4 the boat had gone only as far as the nearby fishing village of Spaarndam, but then could not sail any further due to calm, some Schwenkfelders set out spontaneously on foot the next morning on an overland route to Haarlem. There they especially wanted to relieve their fellow believers, who had sailed ahead on the aforementioned two other boats, as quickly as possible from their fears and concerns. Now as their Mennonite friends and benefactors here found out about their unpleasant situation, they immediately ordered two boats to pick up the migrants stranded on the ship. They even hurried toward them — as they had done previously in the case of the other two emigrant ships — with their wives and many other people a quarter of the way, i. e., approximately three miles, because 14 For the history of the Mennonites in Altona, see Dollinger, Mennoniten, 134–91. 15 Cf. Münte, Smissen. 16 See Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 25–6 (May 8–9, 1733). For the second Schwenkfelder migration in 1733, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 34–6. 17 Cf. Münte, Smissen, 159. 18 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 451; quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 322. 19 The details about the route and events of the voyage from Altona to Haarlem are known only about this ship where Christopher Schultz was a passenger. 20 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 452; this quotation and the following ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 322.

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they wanted to know as soon as possible how the emigrants had fared.21 During the nine-day-long passage from Altona to Haarlem almost all of the Schwenkfelders were seasick to some degree for a few days. In Haarlem a very cordial reception was prepared for them by their Mennonite friends, especially the wealthy banker Wilhelm Buyssant and his sons Abraham, Jan, and Isaac and their families.22 The small group of Schwenkfelders, who had passed by Haarlem the previous year on their emigration, had also been hospitably entertained by the Buyssant family.23 All of the Schwenkfelders were accommodated in an imposing building. Guards shielded them day and night from unwelcome or obtrusive visitors. They were entertained exuberantly. They received meat and fish as well as various vegetables. The beverages were beer, coffee, and tea. Their children were presented several times a day with “all kinds of baked gingerbread and such.”24 Without a doubt the migrants had never seen such delicious foods and treats on their tables in their Silesian homeland. The Haarlem banker’s family Buyssant then, first of all, assumed all expenses for all of the Schwenkfelders for the passage to America. The cost for each adult was 30 Reichsthaler; children under fifteen years of age were half of the adult fare. There was no charge for transportation of children less than four years, but they received neither an individual bed nor food. On top of that the banking family Buyssant determined that the support funds, which they had transferred some years ago to the Schwenkfelders who had fled to Upper Lusatia, but which as yet had not been fully expended, should be used in America for those Schwenkfelders who became needy.25 The migrants attempted in vain to reject this generous support. They pointed out forcefully that several of them were financially very capable of paying their own transportation costs since they had been permitted to sell the houses they built in Upper Lusatia. As a result the banking family simply consented that those Schwenkfelders who were economically prosperous after their settlement in Pennsylvania would give the total cost of the trip to the needy brethren in faith. Secondly, the Haarlem banking family entered into a transportation contract with John Stedman,26 the captain of the ship St Andrew, who was to take the Schwenk­ felders to America. This contract regulated, in addition to the transportation costs, especially their accommodation on the ship and their provisions during the crossing. On June 19, after a two-week sojourn in Haarlem, the Schwenkfelders continued their journey to Rotterdam on the Meuse,  a major river rising in France and 21 See [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 453. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 323. 22 The relationship between the banker family Buyssant and the Schwenkfelders is in need of further research. Cf. Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 32–3. 23 See [Schultz et. al.], Erläuterung 1771, 452–3. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 322–3. 24 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 452; the quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 323. 25 Cf. Schultz, “Charity Fund”. 26 For John Stedman as ship captain, agent, and owner, see Wokeck, Trade, passim.

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draining into the North Sea. In the eighteenth century this Dutch city held the most important harbor of debarkation for German-speaking migrants to America. Here the Schwenkfelders boarded the St Andrew on June 21. This English sailing vessel was under the command of the experienced transatlantic Captain John Stedman, a British Scotsman. Besides the Schwenkfelders there were more than 60 Palatinates aboard this ship. The Palatinates were quartered separately in the forward part of the ship. Staying in the bow, as is well known, can be very exhausting in heavy seas on account of the plunging of the ship into the waves and its pitching. The Schwenkfelders were therefore significantly better situated on the St Andrew than the Palatinates. Their fellow passengers were certainly migrants from the Electoral Palatinate, a territory that was severely fragmented. Of course, at that time the term Palatinate was used as a generic term for emigrants from the entire German-speaking area.27 With a total of approximately 300 passengers and St Andrew’s crew the sailing ship was occupied down to the last seat. However, the St Andrew did not put out to sea immediately, but rather lay at anchor for another week in the Rotterdam harbor. On June 25 Christopher Wiegner suddenly appeared at the last moment. He did not, however, come alone, but rather accompanied by the two Herrnhuters, the shoemaker Christoph Baus28 and the trained mason Georg Bönisch.29 The wife of the latter had remained behind with their child in Saxony so that her husband could devoted himself entirely and unhindered to the Kingdom of God. Wiegner and his two traveling companions, who had set out from Herrnhut on May 26, had turned their footsteps first of all via Pirna, Lichtenstein, Greiz, and Schleiz to Eberdorf, a center of Pietism. From here they set out again on June 3 to travel partially on foot and partially by boat via Erfurt, Wanfried, and Minden to Bremen. From here they traveled by a sailing ship to Amsterdam and then by foot to Haarlem. They finally reached Rotterdam by a small boat. The Schwenkfelders — waiting impatiently for days on board the St Andrew for the weighing of the anchor — as well as the Mennonites in Haarlem were very irritated and consternated by the surfacing of the two Herrnhuters Baus and Bönisch in Christopher Wiegner’s entourage. Wiegner was, however, also irritated and agitated. He had firmly expected to find Spangenberg already present in Rotterdam. Spangenberg had planned to set off from Herrnhut somewhat later and take  a different travel route to the Netherlands.30 Together they intended — as shown — to accompany the Schwenkfelders from there to Pennsylvania. Wistfully Wiegner kept an eye out the next three days for Spangenberg. His hope that Spangenberg could still arrive at the very last moment was not fulfilled. In the end he had to undertake 27 Cf. Trautz, Auswanderung, 5, 7. 28 No further biographical information about Christoph Baus is known. 29 On Georg Bönisch, see Moeschler, Herrnhuter Familien, 18–9. 30 On Spangenberg’s and Wiegner’s various travel plans, see Wiegner, Diary, 78–9 (May 12, 1734), here 79.

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Ill. 8 Passenger list of the English sailing vessel St Andrew (1734)

the trip without him, accompanied by Baus and Bönisch. Their traveling along on the St Andrew was, incidentally, very uncertain initially due to lack of space. Likewise Wiegner was able to raise the money for their fare only with much effort and in a roundabout way. Under the firing of cannons, the St Andrew weighed anchor on June 28 in the Rotterdam harbor. Due to several navigational problems — the existence of sandbanks and mainly on account of the well-known and feared unfavorable wind

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conditions in the Dutch coastal waters and in the English Channel — the sailing vessel did not reach Plymouth until July 18. In this harbor city, located on the southwest coast of England, from where in 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers set out on the aging Mayflower for America, an unknown, well-to-do woman gave the migrants on the ship 125 shillings as a gift; i. e., each passenger received four and a half stivers.31 After the loading of provisions and fresh water, the passage across the Atlantic, at that time still very difficult and dangerous, began on July 28 in Plymouth. During the next four months the Schwenkfelders experienced not only severe storms but also calms such that they repeatedly did not make headway for some days. During the crossing all of the migrants on the ship had a relatively large variety of food. On Sundays they received beef, Mondays rice and syrup, Tuesdays pork and peas, Wednesdays flour-based, i. e., meatless, dishes, Thursdays pork and barley, which the Schwenkfelders, however, would have gladly traded for flour-based dishes. On Fridays and Saturdays there were dried cod and peas as well as coffee with syrup for sweetening. Each passenger received a tankard of beer and another of water; a tankard was about the equivalent of a liter. But when the beer began to run short on the fourteenth day everyone had to be content with two tankards of water, which was “very foul smelling and disgusting to drink.”32 When it was used to make coffee, its putrid taste could be “altered” somewhat by a coffee additive. When it was simply heated in the preparation of food or beverage, it did not lose its putrid taste. Seasickness and other afflictions arose. During the voyage across the Atlantic eight Schwenkfelders including five children died. Their bodies were sewn shut in sacks that had been weighted with sand and given over to the ocean. Only the body of Maria Schubert née Teichmann33 was fastened to a board and “sank into the deep ocean.”34 She injured herself on the deck and died on August 22.  Her demise occurred four days after the death of her eight-week-old son,35 to whom she had given birth on the crossing to Plymouth. He had not yet been baptized and therefore had not yet received  a first name. She left behind her husband, David Schubert,36 and two children, Susanna and David, four and two years old. It was appropriately noted that “David Schubert had probably more anguish and sorrow than any of the other immigrant Schwenkfelders.”37 The burial at sea took place not 31 Stuiver, a pre-decimal coin, used in the Netherland until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Twenty stuivers equaled one guilder. 32 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 457; quotation and the following quotations ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 327. 33 Maria Schubert née Teichmann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1152 (E 75a). 34 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 457; quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 326. 35 On this infant of David and Maria Schubert, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1152 (E 75a). 36 On David Schubert, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1152 (E75 a, b). 37 Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1152.

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only for Balthasar Hübner,38 the not quite eighteen-month-old child of David and Maria Heebner (Hübner),39 but generally in the case of all the Schwenkfelders who died at sea, while singing the familiar “Ach wie elend ist unsre Zeit” (“How wretched is this life, alas!”).40 This hymn of three stanzas, based on Psalm 90 and printed originally in Nuremberg in 1566, was composed by the Lutheran hymnist Johannes Gigas, a significant theologian and pedagogue of the Reformation epoch. The relationship between the ship’s crew and the Schwenkfelders seems to have been good. Above all, the Schwenkfelders were full of praise for the captain’s fatherly care. In the “Reise-Beschreibung” it says that on Sundays he handed over some of “his meal” to the gravely ill passengers and also provided medications for them from time to time.41 On September 5, when  a terrible heat wave prevailed the whole day, he had a special ration of water distributed to the thirsty migrants toward evening. On September 21 the ship reached New Castle on the Delaware River, about 31 miles from Philadelphia. The captain went on land and returned from the city with a sack of apples to the joy of the Schwenkfelders. On September 22 they reached Philadelphia, at that time the gateway per se to Pennsylvania. A salute was fired and anchor was dropped at Fishbourne’s Wharf, in the vicinity of Walnut Street and Delaware Avenue today. George Schultz42 and the organ builder Johann Gottlob Klemm,43 probably  a disciple of Gottfried Silbermann, the most famous German builder of organs in the baroque period, came on board. The latter had joined the Herrnhut Brüdergemeine by 1726 and sympathized soon thereafter with the Schwenkfelders, too, who had fled from Silesia to Upper Lusatia. In 1733 he had emigrated with some of them to Pennsylvania. Schultz, who, as mentioned, had emigrated in 1731 as the first Schwenkfelder to America and now lived as a merchant in Philadelphia, liberally gave the newly arrived migrants apples as presents and provided them with “fresh beer.”44 The reception in Philadelphia, which was overflowing with migrants from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, religions, and abilities, turned out much differently than the welcome which they had experienced in Altona or Haarlem. The hard reality of a migrant’s existence in the New World began to catch up with them. On September 23 the Schwenkfelders disembarked. All men over the age of sixteen had to appear in the courthouse on the corner of Second Street and Market Street before the Deputy Governor and other officials. Solemnly they had 38 On Balthasar Hübner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 270 (E 21). 39 On David Heebner (Hübner) and Maria née Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 270 (E 21). 40 See Wackernagel, Kirchenlied, vol. 4, 181. Cf. Evers, Lied, 39, 254. 41 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 457; quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 327. 42 On George Schultz, see p. 75 n 23. 43 On Johann Gottlob Klemm, see Brunner, Ingenious business, especially 60–7; Korndörfer, “Orgel”, 26; Owen, “Klemm”. 44 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 457; quotation ibd. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 329.

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III. 9 Disembarkation of the Schwenkfelders from the sailing ship St Andrew in ­Philadelphia (1734)

to promise fidelity and obedience to King George II of England and his successors as well as to the proprietor of the province with respect to the laws of England and Pennsylvania. Due to their religious convictions they were, to their great relief, excused from the obligation of making the solemn promise with  a three-finger salute, i. e., from swearing an oath. They simply had to affirm it by a handshake. On September 24 they held a worship service under the direction of George Weiss whose wife Anna45 had died on September 22 and was buried in Philadelphia’s Pilgrim Cemetery the following day. In the service they thanked God for their deliverance from all the persecutions and for their protection during the voyage to America. This day, September 24, has been solemnly celebrated by the Schwenk­ felders every year since that time as  a “Gedaechtnisz-Tag”. This memorial day is now called Day of Remembrance. In the first settler generation George Weiss was responsible for carrying out the “Gedaechtnisz-Tag” from 1734 to 1739, Balthasar Hoffmann from 1740 to 1763, and Christopher Schultz46 from 1764 to 1787. Just as at the arrival of the first group of migrants in 1734 every “Gedaechtnisz-Tag” participant today is served bread or rolls with thickened, spiced applesauce — now called apple butter — at  a common meal. By means of the annually celebrated “Gedaechtnisz-Tag” they established  a culture of remembrance and generated  a 45 On Anna Schultz née Meschter (Meister), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 856–7 (E 50). 46 On Christopher Schultz, see p. 116 n 98.

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collective memory.47 The “Gedaechtnisz-Tag” contributed significantly to the formation of their Schwenkfelder identity. The speeches held on these memorial days, the hymns sung, and the prayers prayed were, as a rule, preserved in writing. Unfortunately, however, those of the first “Gedaechtnisz-Tag” of 1734 have not survived.48 A report about the journey of this main emigration trek of 1734 was not published by the Schwenkfelders who emigrated to Pennsylvania until 1771. It appeared this year for the first time — without an author’s name — in the appendix to the “Erläuterung für Herrn Caspar Schwenckfeld, und die Zugethanen, seiner Lehre”.49 This comprehensive book is — as will be discussed later — the first important self-representation of the Schwenkfelders, translated into English in 1942 as “A Vindication of Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig”.50 The report of this journey bears the title: “Reise-Beschreibung von Altona bis Pennsylvanien”, i. e., “An Account of the Voyage of the Silesian Emigrants from Altona to Pennsylvania”. It was written by Christopher Schultz who was much esteemed at that time. While writing this account he referred to records and notes that he had made during the trip as  a sixteen-year-old. The literary form of this “Reise-Beschreibung” is not that of  a diary, but rather a daily logbook, recording the day-by-day chronological progress of the passage and its salient events succinctly and without reflection. The interest is focused by and large on the route of the ship, its speed dependent on wind and weather conditions, and on the depths and shallows of the ocean measured by the lead line. It also preserves the encounters of the St Andrew with other ships. Their nationality and course as well as the freight of each were properly noted whenever possible. In this context some episodes were also mentioned. Thus, for example, it was noted that the captain of the St Andrew, John Stedman, communicated in English with the captain of another ship by means of a speaking trumpet. There are also reports about encounters with fishes and birds off the continental coast. Especially fascinating for them was the surfacing of a whale, a “very large fish that sprayed water powerfully into the air as if out of tubes” as well as “many flying fish”, i. e., presumably dolphins, possibly, however, flying fish (Exocoetidae).51 On the other hand, existential experiences and critical events in life — such as going through a hurricane, suffering illnesses, and encountering sudden death —  are mentioned exceedingly briefly, or are totally disregarded. However, there are 47 The celebration of “Gedaechtnisz-Tag”, i. e., now Day of Remembrance, is clearly different than the celebration of the love feast, or agape, that was practiced by several German speaking denominations and Christian communities in eighteenth century Pennsylvania, e.g., by the Mennonites, Moravians, Schwarzenau Brethren (Dunkers, Dunkards or Tunkers). Cf. Lee, “Commensality”, 147–50. 48 “First one hundred”. 49 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 450–61. 50 [Schultz et al.], Vindication 1771, 321–30. 51 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 456, 459; quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 325, 328.

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some exceptions. For example, there is a more detailed report that on September 10 a severe eight-hour storm caused all sails to be lowered, “the rudder or steering tied down” and the ship “given over to the terrible, rough ocean.”52 Because of the heavy sea all “hatches and windows” were “nailed shut,” and the migrants had to hold out patiently under deck “without air” and in “great heat.” Moreover “the terrible tossing from one side to the other since the ship on the one side was continuously immersed”. Even the deaths of adults and children are simply entered in the “Reise-Beschreibung” more or less in passing. Only the death of 21-month-old Elizabeth Jäckel53 on August 10 is noted with reference to the general cause of deaths among the children, namely, that during their illness they had “very high heat”, i. e., a high fever, and “excessive, unnatural” thirst and “diarrhea”.54 After their death it was determined that “everything in the mouth was black and burnt”. According to that they died evidently not so much from vitamin deficiency, but mainly from dehydration. In the “Reise-Beschreibung” or “Account of the Voyage” nothing is reported about everyday living together on board of the fully occupied St Andrew except for two violent quarrels among the Palatine migrants. These disputes degenerated even into fights and were punished. In the “Account” there is also no indication that the Schwenkfelders had any kind of contact with the Palatines — immigrants like themselves. Did they avoid contact with them? Above all, it is notably strange, however, that there are no reports in this “Reise-Beschreibung” about the religious life of the Silesian migrants except for the ceremony of the burial of David Heebner’s child at sea already mentioned above. It would be of interest to learn whether and how devotions such as worship services or prayer- and hymn-sessions took place on the ship. Of course, it may well be assumed that George Weiss continued to be active during the journey as spiritual adviser and instructor, especially for the youth, as he had been in Upper Lusatia.

2. Smaller Emigration Groups  After this large migration in 1734 only another 24 Schwenkfelders emigrated by 1737 in very small groups on three ships to America. Each time the immigration port was Philadelphia.55 On June 28, 1735, only  a single Schwenkfelder disembarked from the Mary of Philadelphia. Eight Schwenkfelders arrived on October 19, 1736, on the Perth 52 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 458–9; quotation and the following quotations ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 328. 53 On Elizabeth Jäckel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 467 (E 38–2). 54 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 456; quotation and the following quotation ibid. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 325. Elmer Schultz Gerhard, translator and editor of the Vindication, surmises (pp. 325–26) “Scarlet fever”. 55 For the fourth Schwenkfelder migration (1735), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 39.

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Amboy56 and fourteen on September 26, 1737, on the St Andrew, which again was under the command of Captain John Stedman.57 Among the migrants on the last emigration ship was Abraham Wagner,58 at that time 22 years old, with his widowed mother Anna née Jäckel59 and his two younger siblings, Susanna and Melchior.60 As a practitioner in medicine Abraham Wagner practiced later in Pennsylvania with great success. He was one of the most fascinating figures of Schwenkfeldianism in the first s­ettler generation. This great-grandson of Georg Hauptmann,61 born 1715 in Harpers­ dorf, was clearly, during his childhood and youth, greatly supported and influIll. 10 Plaque commemorating enced by Melchior Heebner,62 who — as disembarkation of Schwenkfelders from already mentioned — was an active practhe St Andew, Philadelphia (1934) titioner in medicine in nearby Hocke­ nau and very open to other religious traditions. When Heebner and his family fled to Görlitz in April 1726, the 11-year-old Abraham very likely joined them. His own family did not go there until the beginning of 1736 after they had to abandon their small house and piece of land in Harpersdorf as the result of ever severer, repressive measures of the Jesuit mission. Altogether just 204 Schwenkfelders in six emigrations from 1731 to 1737 disembarked in Philadelphia and immigrated to America.63 In this context it must be pointed out again that most of them were related by blood or by marriage. They were therefore not related just as fellow countrymen; but rather they were related by blood, too. This sociological fact is of fundamental importance for understanding the further history of Schwenkfeldianism in America. Of the Schwenkfelders who emigrated from Silesia to Upper Lusatia and then to Pennsylvania, six died during the passage from Pirna to Philadelphia. Moreover, 56 For the fifth Schwenkfelder migration (1736), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 39. 57 For the sixth Schwenkfelder migration (1737), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 39. 58 On Abraham Wagner, see p. 156 n 35. 59 On Anna Wagner née Yeakel (Jäckel), see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192). 60 On Melchior Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1437–40 (E 192–2). 61 On Georg Hauptmann, see p. 31 n 65. 62 On Melchior Heebner, see p. 56 n 19. 63 For the number of Schwenkfelder immigrants, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 43; Henderson, “Schwenkfelders”, 27 (Lit.).

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during the Atlantic crossing three Schwenkfelder infants were born and died at sea within  a few days or weeks. All of the Schwenkfelder migrants settled verifiably and permanently in Pennsylvania, except one or two who moved on or whose whereabouts remain unclear.

VII. Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania —  From Immigration to Beginning of the Revolutionary War

Most of the Schwenkfelders who had disembarked in Philadelphia at the end of September 1734 spent the winter months in this city of approximately 13,000 inhabitants or in its nearby environs. In the following weeks some of them undertook scouting trips to become familiar with the nature and circumstances of the countryside. Thus, for example, a group of them set out at the beginning of October for a multiday tour of the Perkiomen Valley.1 They were accompanied by the relatively well-informed George Schultz2 and his 17-year-old brother David.3 George Schultz had been, as is known, the first Schwenkfelder to emigrate to America. His brother David had come with his parents to Pennsylvania in the second immigration group that arrived in Philadelphia in September 1733. During the first weeks and months after their arrival in Philadelphia the Schwenk­felders discussed the next steps within their families and during mutual visits as well as at general meetings. On the basis of acquired information and personal observations, certain worries, doubts, and irritations awoke and increased visibly in not  a few of them — except, for example, the three very hard-working brothers George,4 Melchior,5 and Christopher Schultz.6 Most of the Schwenkfelders were soon concerned about their future means of income and earning  a living in Pennsylvania. Will they be able, they asked themselves, to make a living here with their sideline artisanal occupations, namely, spinning and linen production, which they had primarily pursued in Silesia? Doubt assailed them, whether they would be able to acquire a sufficiently expansive land area that would enable them to settle near one another as most of them had done in Silesia. They were irritated about the luxury and the easygoing way of life in the society, especially among the youth, which prevailed in Philadelphia. Also confusing to them was the religious diversity that met them in Pennsylvania, mainly in Philadelphia, literally at every turn. Certainly they fully appreciated the religious freedom guaranteed in Pennsylvania, but the plurality of denominations and Christian communities as well as the large number of religious loners and 1 For the excursion of a group of Schwenkfelders into the Perkiomen Valley, October 1–4, 1734, see Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 40. 2 On George Schultz, see p. 75 n 23. 3 On David Schultz, see p. 75 n 26. 4 On George Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 940 (E 68). 5 On Melchior Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 964 (E 69a, b). 6 On Christopher Schultz, see p. 116 n 98.

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eccentrics — nearly all of whom claimed more or less to be in possession of the absolute truth — disquieted them. Interpreting these phenomena as signs of the Last Days that is to say, the coming of false prophets — as described by Jesus in the Olivet discourse [Matt 24:5 and 11] was helpful to them at first. These worries, doubts, and irritations are impressively reflected in a rather long letter at the end of 1735, which David Seibt7 addressed to his brother who had remained in Silesia.8 Typically, no word was mentioned, however, about the political situation in colonial Pennsylvania.9 The following is an overview of the history of the Schwenkfelders who emigrated to America up to the end of the French and Indian War or rather until the beginning of the Revolutionary War.10 This time limit was chosen because almost all of the Silesian immigrants of the first generation — to the extent they were already adults by the time of the immigration — were no longer living or were very old at the time of the secession of the Thirteen Colonies in North America from the British Empire and the official declaration of independence of the colonies on July 4, 1776. In accordance with the principal question of interest for this study — migration and faith — settlement and economic circumstances of the Silesian immigrants, their religious life, and their social and political engagement will be presented in that order and from this point of view.

1. Settlement and Economic Circumstances The settlement of the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania and their early economic circumstances can only be sketched in this section. In accord with their plan to settle together in a contiguous area, they initially kept an eye out for such a piece of land northwest of Philadelphia. Christopher Wiegner11 was especially engaged in searching for such an area. For this purpose he “traveled hundreds of miles”.12 To their great disappointment they could not, however, find an adequate location despite manifold efforts.13 7 On David Seibt, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 886 (E 59). 8 David Seibt to his brother, December 20, 1735, SLHC Pennsburg, VK 1–8, 2512–29. Interesting information in regard to first impressions of Pennsylvania by the Schwenkfelders after their arrival in Philadelphia can also be found in “Extract-Schreiben”, 706–9. 9 Wellenreuther, “Vorstellungen”, 109. 10 For the history of the Schwenkfelders in America until the beginning of the Revolutionary period (1763), see especially Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 43–129; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 35–70; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 199–232. Cf. the professional articles (presented at the colloquium on Schwenckfeld and the Schwenkfelders, Pennsburg PA, September 17–22, 1984) in the anthology Schwenkfelders, edited by Peter C. Erb. 11 On Christopher Wiegner, see p. 74 n 11. 12 Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1177. 13 For the unsuccessful efforts for the purchase of  a large, contiguous area, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 48–50.

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Undoubtedly there were several reasons for that. First of all, the area in Pennsylvania where all the Schwenkfelders wanted to live together was already relatively densely settled by that time. An area — of the size they desired — obviously was therefore no longer available. A few quite large areas were of course offered to them for purchase, but not everyone could afford it. Secondly, there was no one among the group who — well-informed and familiar with the Pennsylvania countryside — could keep an eye out for settlement land and could negotiate the terms and conditions of a purchase in the name of everyone. In this connection it must be pointed out emphatically that the financial circumstances of the Schwenkfelder immigrants were diverse. On the one hand, there was a number of relatively wealthy people among them. In Upper Lusatia, these Schwenkfelders had been able to sell their acquired real estate and their personal property, as numerous purchase agreements show. The selling of their property was, of course, not always successful. On the other hand there were among the Schwenkfelder immigrants a few families with limited means. Faced with this situation, over the course of the year 1735 the Schwenkfelders came to the painful realization that by necessity every family would have to scout around on its own for  a plot of land and acreage. As  a result the Schwenkfelder families, in the end, settled quite dispersed over a distance of 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, specifically, in the areas of Germantown, Chestnut Hill, Towamencin, Skippack, Frederick Township, Goschenhoppen, Milford, and Macungie, i. e., the southeastern region of the present-day Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which at that time was still very rural.

1.1 Scattered Settlements Northwest of Philadelphia The settlement area of the Schwenkfelders was divided into two districts, specifically the Upper District and the Lower District.14 The Upper District consists of the area of present-day upper Montgomery County while the Lower District was the area of middle and lower Montgomery County as well as northern Philadelphia. In terms of percentage there were significantly more Schwenkfelder families in the Upper District than in the Lower District. The parcels gradually purchased or leased by individual Schwenkfelder families were of varying sizes;15 they reflected the diverse financial circumstances of the Silesian immigrants mentioned above. Properties that directly neighbored one another were somewhat less common; yet some Schwenkfelders settled in relative isolation. Sometimes their neighbors were fellow believers; sometimes their 14 Cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 50–3; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 47–9; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 201–3. 15 According to Dollin (Schwenkfelders, 51) the largest of the properties was between 111–171 acres, as a rule.

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Ill. 11 Map of the early Schwenkfelder dwelling places in Pennsylvania (1767)

neighbors were settlers of German descent who belonged to other denominations or Christian communities. However, even those Schwenkfelders who had fellow believers as neighbors usually did not have direct, close contact with one another regularly since their farm houses in Pennsylvania were usually surround by acres of land, whereas in Silesia their cottages were usually surrounded by just small gardens. Here the Schwenkfelders were able to chat over the garden fence at any moment. They lived cheek by jowl. That was no longer the case in Pennsylvania. The firm wish of the Schwenkfelders to settle very close to one another in  a single area was not fulfilled. This fact was to become, in multiple respects, of significant importance for the further development of Schwenkfelders in America — especially in regard to their religious life. The Schwenkfelder settlers erected houses on the purchased parcels of land.16 However a few of them moved into already existing houses, which had been built on their parcels by other settlers of German or British descent.17 Those houses which 16 See Keyser, “Architecture”, 75–82. 17 See Keyser, “Architecture”, 93.

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Ill. 12 Home of Balthasar Krauss (1743) in the architectural style of the first generation Schwenkfelder migrants

were erected by the Schwenkfelder themselves on individual pieces of property were not at all uniform in regard to their size and their architecture. In 1767 Melchior Schultz noted in his explanation of the map showing the area of Pennsylvania where Schwenkfelder houses were located, which his cousin David Schultz,  a surveyor, had drawn for the fellow believers who remained in Silesia: “Here everyone builds according to his own wishes and situation on his land, which is generally quadrangular and has water and meadows, plow land and woodland round about.”18 Of these original houses built by Schwenkfelder immigrants not a single one is completely preserved in its original form. Therefore, building research is dependent on old drawings and descriptions as well as photographs from the nineteenth century. According to such evidence the first generation of Schwenkfelders constructed their houses — like the neighbors of German descent — in the architecture of the log cabin. These log houses were rectangular and one or one-and-one-half stories. Two story houses seem to have been rare exceptions. Except for a few stone houses, the log houses were made of wood. The tree trunks used for construction were left undressed or they were square cut. The gaps, chinks, and cracks between the logs or beams were filled with wood or stones. The roofs were usually covered with wooden shingles; just a few had clay tiles. Some houses had casement windows. 18 Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, Plate 12; quotation ibid.

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Undoubtedly all of the one-story Schwenkfelder houses had  a kitchen and  a heated, usually oblong room, called the Stube, just the way it was in Silesia. This Stube was next to a bedroom, which was accessible from the Stube by a door. The cellar was only under the Stube. The entrance to early Schwenkfelder houses was through the kitchen whose entry door was a Dutch door. Such doors were extremely practical since they prevented children from leaving the house and animals from entering. In addition, the kitchens received increased lighting via the Dutch door and could be ventilated. A few of the earliest Schwenkfelder houses had a smaller room in addition to the Stube, called the Stüblein or Stubel; both words are diminutives of Stube.19 This Stüblein or Stubel — living and bedroom all in one — was specifically for the elderly parents or widowed or single adult members of the family. Since such small rooms are also demonstrable in the homes of Schwenkfelders in Silesia it is assumed that these rooms are a traditional feature of the architecture, which the immigrants had brought with them from their homeland. The kitchen was for cooking and baking. The living room or the Stube, the only heatable room, was multifunctional. It served as the place for living, for eating, for handiwork such as spinning and sewing, for reading and writing as well as, of course, daily devotions. Since 1753 these Stuben were also used for devotional gatherings, where not only family members, but also friends and neighbors participated. From time to time the Stube fulfilled the function of a meeting room. Yet it is true that this “meeting room was not a separate room built just for religious meetings in any of these houses, but it was the long stove room of the type built by nearly all immigrant Schwenkfelders.”20 It was not until summer 1790 that the Schwenkfelders living in the Upper District built their first meeting house in the Hosensack Valley.21 However, this building fulfilled not only a religious function, but also an educational purpose. It was used as both a meeting house and a school. Since the majority of the Schwenkfelders of the immigrant generation worked in agriculture either as their main or secondary occupation, they built barns or stables on their properties. Yet no original eighteenth century barn survives. Because the Schwenkfelders took over the architectural style of their houses from their neighbors, it is assumed that they borrowed that type of barn, i. e., Boddam Scheier, from them as well. Accordingly on one side of the barn was the stable for the cattle and on the other the one for the horses. Between these two stalls was a threshing floor. In one-and-one-half-story barns the threshing floor was located in the upper story, which could be reached by stairs. On their property some Schwenkfelders occasionally built additional buildings.22 These outbuildings were mainly small, separate houses for their elderly parents or 19 See Keyser, “Architecture”, 79. 20 Keyser, “Architecture”, 79. 21 For the first Schwenkfelder meeting houses, see p. 115. 22 For Schwenkfelder outbuildings, see Keyser, “Architecture”, 96.

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grandparents. In addition, remains of a small building erected over a water spring to keep food stuffs fresh and cool still exist from the time of the first generation. It was a type of spring house. Finally, a weaver’s shop can be mentioned that was probably used exclusively for commercial activities.

1.2 Economic and Labor Conditions The commercial activities which the Schwenkfelder settlers quickly pursued in Pennsylvania were somewhat, but not completely different than those which they had practiced in Silesia as well as during their asylum in Upper Lusatia. Now in Pennsylvania most of them pursued agriculture more or less as their principal occupation.23 The Schwenkfelders — particularly the women and young girls — certainly continued to work, as in Silesian and Upper Lusatia, in weaving, flax processing, and the production of both linen and embroidery, but these products were designated mostly for their own use.24 At that time there was no major sales market in Pennsylvania for these goods. Even those Schwenkfelders who worked, for example, as spinners, weavers, carpenters, or surveyors, also pursued as  a rule both crop and livestock farming on the side. The well-esteemed and successful land surveyor David Schultz can be mentioned in this regard. He had a good income due to his professional career, i. e., his surveying and staking, but, nevertheless, practiced farming on the side.25 The major commercial and earnings source, therefore, for virtually all Schwenkfelders in the first settler generation was some sort of mixed crop and livestock farming. That was possible because the agricultural land at their disposal was much greater than in Silesia.26 However that was also necessary because — as mentioned earlier — spinning and weaving as a main occupation disappeared due to difficulties in marketing. By the way, this far reaching agriculturally oriented economy of most Schwenkfelders determined more or less their entire life until the time of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. But not all Schwenkfelder immigrants at that time owned property for agricultural use. These landless Schwenkfelders followed a particular trade or were daily laborers.

23 For Schwenkfelder farming, cf. Manolescu, “Dairy farming”. There are no published investigations focused specifically on Schwenkfelder farming by the first settler generation, taking correspondence, diaries, wills, and inventories into account. 24 Cf. Gamon, “Textiles”. 25 For David Schultz’s brisk and successful agricultural pursuits, see his (Shultze) Journals (vol. 1 and 2). 26 See Christoph Wiegner to Brüder und Schwestern [in Ebersdorf?], November 8, 1735, SLHC Pennsburg, VK 1–8, 2624–30. Cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 53.

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2. Religious Life — From Privacy to Communality The religious life of the first immigrant generation of Schwenkfelders passed through a very stormy and tension-filled phase.27 This phase will be sketched here only in broad strokes.

2.1 Religious Life during the Early Settlement Years During the first two decades after their immigration to Pennsylvania, i. e., until about the middle of the 50s of the eighteenth century, the religious life of the Schwenkfelders was characterized first and foremost by privacy. It took place more or less within the household and was focused on the family. In addition, each member of the family would, of course, spend his or her individual religious life in personal devotions. Yet at that time among the Schwenkfelders there were also some gatherings and meetings. These took place, however, only sporadically, for example, on special occasions such as weddings and funerals. Also the number of participants at such gatherings was very small. In these cases there were usually just members of the family, friends, or nearby neighbors. However, it should not be overlooked that during these years there was also a remarkable communal religious life among  a very small number of Schwenkfelders. Here, reference is made especially to Christopher Wiegner and his circle of friends.28 These Schwenkfelders, as  a rule, maintained contacts with other denominations and communities, especially with the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkers, ­Dunkards or Tunkers) as well as the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine and with different pietistic groups. They participated in various ways in the communal religious life of these groups. The private religious life of the first settler generation was, in general, obviously no longer as serious and intensive as it once was in Silesia and Upper Lusatia. At least George Weiss29 and Balthasar Hoffmann,30 the first “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders, complained repeatedly about the fading seriousness of faith and moral laxity.31 27 For the religious life of the first immigrant generation of the Schwenkfelders, see especially Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 53–69; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 55–79; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 203–6. 28 For the communal religious life of Christopher Wiegner and his circle of friends, see p. 109. 29 On George Weiss, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 856–7 (E 50); Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 54–69; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, passim; Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss” (Verzeichnis seiner Schriften); Schultz, Course, 127–32; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 204 (Lit.). 30 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 31 For example, see Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben an alle und jede Schwenckfelder, was ich mich, bey gegenwärtigem verwirreten und Erbarmungs-würdigen zustande, nach meinem Gewis­ sen gegen sie zu verhalten gedencke, December 15, [1737]” (cited hereafter as Weiss, “Erin­ne­

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The focus of the religious life on privacy, i. e., one’s own family or one’s own self, was, firstly, based on the fact that most Schwenkfelder families lived relatively far from each another. Visits and gatherings with fellow believers were no longer a part of everyday life as they once were in their Silesian villages. Generally they came together with their relatives, friends, and acquaintances only on special occasions such as birth, marriage, or burial, i. e., the great milestones of life. These transitions in the life cycle were, of course, usually used for spiritual edification in the circle of those present. Secondly, the settlers had simply no time and no physical strength for the maintenance of their communal religious life in the form of gatherings, communal prayer, and hymn sessions. They had to create a new existence for themselves, which was time-consuming and energy-sapping. These efforts to establish their new livelihoods were, moreover, as noted, tied in many ways to the change in their previous way of making a living. Thirdly, the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania were no longer subject to persecutions by authorities. Therefore there was no pressing need to draw closer emotionally in religious meetings to comfort, encourage, and strengthen one another. The prevailing fundamental freedom of religion in Pennsylvania was also a reason for the intense privacy and individualization of the religious life of the Schwenkfelder emigrants. Constituent elements of private religious life within the family were Bible reading, prayer, and singing as well as reading devotional literature. In the case of the latter it was, at that time, more or less  a matter exclusively of such books or manuscripts that they had brought along with great difficulty in their baggage from the old homeland to America. Above all there were the postils, i. e., the annual cycles of sermons or homilies by Michael Hiller, Erasmus Weichenhan, and Johann Sigismund Werner.32 In addition to devotions in the family circle, individuals practiced their personal piety in private devotions. Faith substantially determined the daily life of the first settler generation. Thus even the small amount of leisure time that the migrants had was filled with carefully copying the handwritten postils, prayer books, and hymn collections in order to have sufficient copies for their private and family devotions.33 Kurrent, an old form of German handwriting, based on medieval cursive writing, and Fraktur — a broken letter form in the gothic style — were frequently used when copying. In spite of the increased burden of work and very scant time, the Schwenkfelders gave special attention to the education of their children who received instruction within the family, from their parents or other family members, up to the middle of the 60s. This instruction was based in religion and focused on the Schwenkfelder belief. The acquisition of reading and writing skills, which the Schwenkfelders rungs-Schreiben”), SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with short omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6 (hereafter quotations will come from this translation). 32 For the postils of Michael Hiller, Erasmus Weichenhan, and Johann Sigismund Werner, see p. 22. 33 Numerous handwritten postils, prayer books, and hymn collections are located in the SLHC Pennsburg.

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valued greatly even in Silesia and during the asylum in Upper Lusatia, took place almost exclusively for religious purposes. It was not until 1764 that the Schwenkfelders decided to establish schools and employ teachers in the so-called “Articles of Agreement”.34 In fact, the religious life of most Schwenkfelders in the first years of their settlement in Pennsylvania was primarily private and showed relatively few features of  a community. However, it was not without any kind of spiritual advice and catechetical instruction. Both lay almost exclusively in the hands of George Weiss, who, as already mentioned, had gradually become their very dedicated advisor in Upper Lusatia and during the voyage to America. When Weiss perceived — during the months after the arrival of the Schwenk­ felders in Pennsylvania — among his fellow believers a much greater concern about their material well-being on earth than about their eternal salvation, he was seized by  a deep dejection.35 It was not until the end of 1735, that he pulled himself together again and visited some families once more in order to advise them spiritually and, above all, to instruct their children in the Schwenkfelder belief. “Quite in the dark [sc. secretly]” he wanted to see “whether there were some who were inclined to draw closer together, if only twelve, to edify each other in Christ, which would be an example to the rest, arousing them to participate”. His hope was not fulfilled. On November 9, 1735, Weiss accepted his election as “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders.36 This election, whose genesis remains inadequately investigated, however, took place only among nine Schwenkfelder “housefathers”, i. e., heads of households. On the basis of a plan drawn up by Weiss himself, he made a contract or agreement37 with them. They agreed that Weiss should instruct them in the doctrine of faith, advise them spiritually, and support them during the milestones of life, especially at marriages and funerals. He should thoroughly instruct the bridal couples about the essence of Christian marriage prior to the wedding ceremony and 34 The first schoolhouse was built in Towamencin (Lower District) in 1765. In Goschenhoppen (Upper District) there were no schoolhouses at that time so lessons in German and English were taught in a private house. It was not until 1790 that a combined school and meeting house was built in Hosensack. For the beginning of the Schwenkfelder school system, see Learned (ed.), “Schwenkfelder school documents”, 70–86, especially, ibid., 79–85 (“Gewisse Agreements und Fundamental Article [sic]”; English translation in Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 123–8). For Schwenkfelder education as a whole, see especially Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 120–31. 35 See Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6; the following quotes ibid., 24. 36 For the elections of George Weiss as “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders, cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 54; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 58; Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 7–8; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 204. 37 “Ordnung und Verzeichniß derjenigen Bedingungen, mit welchen ein Vorsteher von der Gemeinde, und wiederum die Gemeinde ihn angenommen, n.d. [November 9, 1735]” (cited here­after as “Ordnung”), SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 3 Box, VS 4–16; the following quote ibid.

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Ill. 13 Title Page of “Christliches and dabey auch Tägliches Gesang-Buch” (1733)

bury the dead “with Christian and worthy ceremonies, with pious reflection, diligent consideration, and reminder of death”. In order to support Weiss in his activities, Balthasar Hoffmann and David Seibt were elected as “Älteste”, i. e., elders. The “housefathers” entered into a separate contract or agreement with them which stipulated their responsibilities.38 They were especially responsible for monitoring the Schwenkfelders’ entire lifestyle on the basis of the Ten Commandments. The agreement between Weiss and the Schwenkfelder housefathers was renewed in 1737.39 Weiss undertook, usually on horseback, countless trips from Skippack where he had his residence since the end of 1735, to visit Schwenkfelder families. Gratuitously he instructed the Schwenkfelder settlers in the doctrine of faith, held worship services and religious meetings in Schwenkfelder homes, looked after them in a pastoral way, and especially gave their children religious instruction. He also kept a rigorous watch on the behavior and morals of his fellow believers. Thus it was important to him and the two elders that the Schwenkfelder immigrants continue to maintain their traditional, simple garb — half-linen, gray coat without pockets 38 “Ordnung u. Verzeichniß der Bedingungen, was bey Wählung der Aeltesten zu betrachten u. was sie, so wol in Ansehung deß Vorstehers, als auch der Gemeinde sich zu verhalten haben, n.d. [November 9, 1735]” (cited hereafter as “Ordnung u. Verzeichniß”), SHLC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 3 Box, VS 4–16. 39 See Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 8.

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and hooks — and not dress in the latest fashion.40 Through his frequent visits Weiss also contributed significantly to informing the scattered Schwenkfelders continuously about the well-being of their blood relatives and fellow countrymen as well as sharing news about one another. As he had done already in Upper Lusatia, Weiss directed, moreover, letters to numerous Schwenkfelders again and again. These letters contained primarily instruction in the “orthodox” Schwenkfelder doctrine and clarification of controversial topics of faith. This doctrinal aspect of his correspondence was especially important to him. By means of these manifold activities Weiss hoped that the conditions for the development or building of  a congregation or church would be created, namely the existence of real Christians. The building of a congregation or church is itself however — as Weiss always stressed — exclusively the work of God, that is to say, of a person chosen by God to do that: “He who builds it [sc. a Christian congregation] must be called by God”.41 In order to promote the conditions for the building of a congregation or church, he decided at the end of 1737, to carry out spiritual welfare and religious advice to his scattered fellow-believers according to a definite plan.42 Now it was especially important to him that the meetings took place consistently on Sundays and feast days each time in the same locations and that in these meetings the pure and true doctrine of the Schwenkfelder faith be proclaimed without religious discourses or even verbal disputes and controversies. Consistent with his ecclesiology, i. e., his understanding of the church’s nature and its functions, Weiss took no action to give the Schwenkfelders the form of an organized congregation, as other churches or denominations had. However, this desire for an organized community, as he noted, was already well known in Germany among his fellow believers.43 He opposed this not so much on account of his spiritualism, but principally on account of his donatistic ecclesiology, i. e., his perfectionist understanding of the nature of the Christian church. For the “building of  a Christian Congregation”, he wrote in  a circular letter to his fellow believers in 1737, “real Christian members” were the absolutely essential precondition, 40 In regard to the Schwenkfelder dress code of that time, see “Ordnung u. Verzeichniß”, SHLC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 3 Box, VS 4–16. Cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 59. 41 Weiss, “Ursache, Grund und Fundament der wahren Christlichen Orthodoxischen Theo­ logie, wie auch gegründete Bestättigung der Confessio unsers einfältigen Christlichen Glaubens, September 2, 1738” (hereafter cited as Weiss, “Ursache”), SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 26–9 (hereafter quotations will be from this translation), here, 28. 42 See Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6, here, 25. 43 Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6, here, 24: “While we were still in Germany, some, who had reflected on my insight and knowledge, urged me to organize  a Christian Congregation.”

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otherwise “it would be only hypocrisy, indeed, merely  a deception by Satan”.44 Because he could not perceive among the Schwenkfelders any “real Christian members”, he stated tersely: “We are not  a proper congregation”. He not only repeated this opinion just one year later in another circular letter, but he also intensified it: “I cannot regard you as a congregation, and you are not one, for the suspicious feelings, impure thoughts, derogatory remarks, secret jealousy, stubborn selfishness, amongst each other and toward each other, as well as toward me, prove very clearly that you do not possess the attributes of a congregation”.45 Tenaciously Weiss urged the retention of the traditional Schwenkfelder belief, the “pure and true confession, or orthodox doctrine of the sainted Caspar Schwenckfeld and his faithful fellow believers”.46 His insistence on the pure and true Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith was intensified significantly principally in connection with his dispute with August Gottlieb Spangenberg, Zinzendorf ’s emissary. This will be discussed later in detail.47 By his insistence on the pure and true Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith, Weiss lost, however — as was justifiably noted — “the unqualified support of some of the more liberal faction” of the Schwenkfelders.48 This faction was relatively small, but several of the respected men belonged to it. They were open to other religious and spiritual traditions and forms of piety. However, they were in their religious beliefs by no means homogenous. This group was united only in its reluctance or even opposition to any absolutization of the Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith, as, in their opinion, Weiss — and later his successor Balthasar Hoffmann — represented. To this small group belonged first of all the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner,49 who was a great admirer of the writings of Jane Leade and the radical pietist couple Johanna Eleonora and Johann Wilhelm Petersen.50 The doctrine of apokatastasis had been “very animating and important” to him and he spoke a lot about it, too; for which reason the Schwenkfelders were neither satisfied nor did they concur with him.51 Secondly, Melchior Wiegner52 and George Schultz with his two sons, Melchior and David, were  a part of this group; they likewise sympathized with Jane Leade.53 Thirdly, the practitioner in medicine Abraham 44 Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6, here, 24–5. 45 Weiss, “Ursache”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 26–9, here, 28. 46 Weiss, “Ursache”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 26–9, here, 27. 47 For the disputes between George Weiss and August Gottlieb Spangenberg, see p. 110. 48 Berky, Wagner, 48. 49 On Melchior Heebner, see p. 56 n 19. 50 Cf. Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 39, 57. 51 Wagner, “Leben und Sterben des seeligen Melchior Hübners”, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 3–51, 2v. 52 On Melchior Wiegner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 418 (E 36–1). 53 See Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 57.

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Wagner54 belonged to this faction. He was — as will be presented later in more detail — extremely open to almost the entire spectrum of spiritual and pietistic tradition. Fourthly, Christopher Wiegner, last but not least, belonged to this group. He felt attracted to all religious movements, in which he found — or thought to find — lively piety. However, he was principally bound closely to the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, i. e., Moravians.55 Weiss disputed vigorously with this very heterogeneous group in different ways. This occurred most intensively — orally and in writing — with the practitioner in medicine Abraham Wagner56 and with the religiously very sensitive Wiegner.57 Weiss was suspicious of the latter trying to assimilate the Schwenkfelders to the Moravians, and ultimately integrating with them. After the death of George Weiss on March 11, 1740, the 53-year-old Balthasar Hoffmann was elected by four Schwenkfelder “housefathers” as their new “Vorsteher”.58 He had come to Pennsylvania in 1734 together with his wife Ursula59 née Beier and their three children and lived in Lower Salford Township. Hoffmann was — as his surviving theological, catechetical, and hymnological manuscripts and his many hymns show — at that time the best informed of the Schwenkfelder tradition. Moreover in 1718 he was among the signatories of the “Kurtzes und einfältiges Bekäntniß” and had been the head of their delegation at the Imperial Court in Vienna from 1721 to 1725. Therefore he was esteemed by a number of Schwenkfelders. He consented to continue the office of his predecessor and friend George Weiss in accordance with the principles which he, i. e., Weiss, had created.60

2.2 Spangenberg’s and Zinzendorf ’s Attempts at Influencing Schwenkfelders’ Religious Life In April 1736, hardly half  a year after George Weiss had assumed his office as “Vorsteher”, August Gottlieb Spangenberg arrived in Pennsylvania. He came from the English colony of Georgia, to where he had accompanied Moravian immigrants from Herrnhut in Saxony. Then when he returned to Europe in 1739, Zinzendorf arrived in the middle of December 1741 in Pennsylvania and stayed there for the most part until the beginning of 1743 when he sailed from New York back to 54 On Abraham Wagner, see p. 156 n 35. 55 For Christopher Wiegner’s multiple connections to various denominations, Christian communities and loners, see p. 109. 56 For the disputes between George Weiss and Abraham Wagner, see p. 155–56. 57 For the disputes between George Weiss and Christopher Wiegner, see p. 79, 155–56. 58 For the election of Balthasar Hoffmann as “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 70–1; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 62. 59 On Ursula Hoffmann, see p. 81 n 5. 60 For Balthasar Hoffmann’s activities as second “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders, see p. 114 n 88.

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Europe. The Schwenkfelders came therefore once again into Zinzendorf ’s sphere of influence, which they had hoped to have escaped forever.61 Immediately after his arrival in Pennsylvania Spangenberg was very solicitous about the Schwenkfelders. He wanted to “try” to bring “the blood of The Lamb [sc. Christus] to their hearts” so that they would “still receive the grace that they had avoided in Herrnhut.”62 During his three-year sojourn in Pennsylvania he established his headquarters in the home of Christopher Wiegner in Skippack. From there, however, he set out repeatedly on shorter or longer trips. By the end of May 1735 Wiegner had acquired a large plantation of 150 acres in Skippack and had built there — with the help of Herrnhuter Georg Bönisch63 —  a large residence. He lived there with his widowed mother Susanna née Heydrick64 and his sister Rosina65 who, like him, remained unmarried. His farm became a pilgrimage site and a communications center, where members of various denominations and Christian communities as well as religious loners came and went. Among others the Associated Brethren of Skippack met there. This community, which recruited principally from pietists of various stripes and colors and was only very loosely organized, had the goal of awakening German settlers and nurturing their religious lives. Wiegner was among the most engaged members of the Associated Brethren of Skippack. The head of this community was the religiously and politically influential Henry Antes, a friend of George Whitefield and especially — later — of Zinzendorf. He was a native of the small Palatine town of Freinsheim and had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1720; he operated a paper mill on the Wissahickon Creek near Philadelphia. Initially Spangenberg was frequently well received by not a few Schwenkfelders. Dressed like a Schwenkfelder, he often visited their family devotions and religious meetings.66 Usually these were those Schwenkfelders who were close to Wiegner and his circle of friends in the broader sense. In view of this situation George Weiss, the elected “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders, pointed out to his fellow believers the substantial differences between the Schwenkfelder belief characterized by spiritualism and Herrnhuterism influenced by Lutheranism. He likewise disputed directly with Spangenberg in writing and 61 For August Gottlieb Spangenberg’s and Zinzendorf ’s attempts at influencing the religious life of Schwenkfelders, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 63–78; Frantz, “Schwenkfelders”; Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 103–19; Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”; Levering, Bethlehem, 37–8, 76–105; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 206–13 (Lit.). 62 “Acta Synodi ecclesia Fratrum Gotha anno 1740”, UA Herrnhut, R. 2. A. 3. a, Nr. 1, 197 (Sessio X (June 17, 1740), Top 19). 63 On Georg Bönisch, see p. 86 n 29. 64 On Susanna Wiegner, see p. 70 n 23. 65 On Rosina Wiegner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1176 (E 77). 66 See Christoph Wiegner, Georg Bönisch, Christoph Baus et al. to N. N. [Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf ?], August 4, 1737, UA Herrnhut, R. 14. A. 21, Nr. 7 (Photocopy in the Library of Congress Washington). English translation with omissions in Wiegner, Diary, 139–46.

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orally, rightly addressing especially soteriology and ecclesiology as theological controversial points.67 When Spangenberg gave a speech and the Herrnhuter Georg Böhnisch offered a prayer on June 20, 1736, in a religious meeting that took place in Towamencin in the home of Schwenkfelder Melchior Kriebel,68 Weiss took offence. He accused Spangenberg of creating religious confusion among the Schwenkfelders and demanded that he keep away in the future. Despite this criticism and snub, Spangenberg continued to think that he could still win over the Schwenkfelders. Therefore he called on Zinzendorf in June 1737 to set off soon on his planned journey to Pennsylvania.69 Two months later Wiegner even wrote to the Count emphatically: “Spangenberg worked among the Schwenkfelders in so great  a grace that he achieved  a significant breakthrough in many souls and  a heartfelt love as well. In our present circumstances I dare to say — indeed, I believe — that there is no man alive, who has reputation like to brother Spangenberg.”70 A few months after that, however, many Schwenkfelders showed an increasing reservation and even opposition toward Spangenberg. Disappointed and frustrated, Spangenberg subsequently recommended to Zinzendorf in May 1738 that he should cease all efforts in regard to the Schwenkfelders.71 He himself returned to Europe in the summer of 1739 as directed by Zinzendorf. Although Zinzendorf had been dissuaded from attending to the Schwenkfelders, he did this with his characteristic stubbornness when he arrived in Pennsylvania on December 10, 1741. The actual purpose of his visit to this English colony was, however, — first and foremost — to unite the many German speaking denominations, Christian communities, and religious loners into the “Church of God in Spirit”72 based on his “Tropenidee”,73 which began to take shape very gradually at this time. According to this ecclesiology all churches and denominations should retain their specific doctrines of faith; however, they should be linked together — at  a higher level — namely “in Spirit”. He wanted to implement this “Church of God in Spirit” with synods. The Associated Brethren of Skippack seemed especially suitable for convening and organizing them. Zinzendorf ’s ecclesiological concept was there 67 For disputes between George Weiss and August Gottlieb Spangenberg, see Dollin, Schwenk­ felders, 62–6; Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 29–32. 68 On Melchior Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 348 (E 25). 69 See Reichel, History, 92–3. 70 Christoph Wiegner, Georg Bönisch, Christoph Baus et al. an N. N. [Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf ?], August 4, 1737, UA Herrnhut, R. 14. A. 21, Nr. 7 (Photocopy in Library of Congress Washington). English translation with omissions in Wiegner, Diary, 139–146; the following quotations ibid., 141. 71 See August Gottlieb Spangenberg to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, May 21, 1738, UA Herrnhut, R. 9. A. a. 1, Nr. 16. 72 For the idiom “Church of God in Spirit” (“Gemeine Gottes im Geist”) and its meaning, see Authentische Relation, 8*/8–11*/11 (1. Synod), 56*/56 (3. Synod). 73 For Zinzendorf ’s ecclesiology (“Tropenidee”), see Authentische Relation, XIII–XIV (Einleitung/Introduction by Peter Vogt); Meyer, “Zinzendorf ”, 46, 97 n 298 (Lit.).

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fore: The projected “Church of God in Spirit” was not to be a union of the different churches, denominations, and Christian communities with  a unified faith and order, but rather a brotherly association while retaining their own doctrine of faith, rites, and regulations. Into this “Church of God in Spirit” Zinzendorf obviously wanted somehow to integrate the Schwenkfelders, even though their “Vorsteher” Weiss had firmly declared: “We are not  a regular congregation”.74 Therefore the Schwenkfelders belonged to the group of recipients of  a circular letter, in which they were invited to an initial synod or conference in Germantown on January 11 and 12, 1742.75 A few days before this first synod, on Epiphany, i. e., January 6, Zinzendorf gave a sermon on Wiegner’s farm in Skippack, where he had been  a guest for several days. Some Schwenkfelders had also come to it. Still on the same day or possibly not until the following week they had a discussion with Zinzendorf in Germantown, where he had taken up lodging. According to the minutes of the discussion,76 which the Schwenkfelders produced retrospectively, the Count first inquired about their congregation and then about several central doctrines of their faith. Their answers provoked him such that he accused Caspar Schwenckfeld and George Weiss, their “Vorsteher” who had died several months before, of heresy. He was very upset about the fact that the Schwenkfelders were still not  a congregation. If he had known, so he explained, that “you were not going to be a congregation, you would never have had a chance to get out of Saxony”. If in the future they were still not ready to constitute a congregation, then “I will”, so he said, “exert all my strength so that I may tear souls [i. e., Schwenkfelders, especially their children] away from you, and thus secure your children for my Savior that they may be torn away from error and rescued from hell”. The Schwenkfelders understood this warning under the direction of their new “Vorsteher” Balthasar Hoffmann in the sense that Zinzendorf intended to carry out his plan with force, if necessary. Thereupon they replied that they were prepared to move again to “some other spot”, if he should take such actions against them. Yet they were not willing to yield from the truth, which they had acknowledged. In this agitated exchange of words Zinzendorf allowed himself to get carried away and made the threat: “I will still follow you, and where I cannot go I will send my assistants. I will persecute you until I have destroyed you and have torn your children from you.” 74 For the statement by George Weiss “We are not  a real congregation”, see Weiss, “Erinnerungs-Schreiben”, SLHC Pennsburg, George Weiss Box, VS 4–510. English translation with omissions in Kriebel & Schultz, “Weiss”, 23–6; the following quotations ibid., 25. 75 For these Synods see Authentische Relation, VII–LXX (Einleitung/Introduction by Peter Vogt); Lewis, Zinzendorf, 144–46; Vogt, “Zinzendorf ” (Lit.). 76 See Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 248–55 (“Kurtzer aber gründlicher [von den Schwenckfeldern, nebst obigen Briefen, selbst communicirter] Extract der Formularien, womit Herr Graf von Zinzendorf gegen einige der Schwenckfelder Freunde in Pensilvanien sich ausgelassen, und was selbem von erwehnten Freunden entgegen gesetzt oder geantwortet”); the following quotations ibid., 250, 252, 253. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 22–4 (hereafter quotations will come from this translation), here, 22, 23.

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Zinzendorf assumed, as the minutes of the meeting and the subsequent exchange of letters show, that as  a lord of the manor he continued to wield power over the Schwenkfelders as he had previously on his Upper Lusatian estates. In this connection he referred to an “Uhrkund [document]”77 in which the Schwenkfelders — allegedly — had committed themselves to his attentive protection. Regardless of the fact that the Schwenkfelders emphatically denied to have ever signed such  a paper, and that Zinzendorf refused to present this ominous document to them as proof, the legal position of  a lord of the manor in Upper Lusatia in the English colony of Pennsylvania had no validity whatsoever. Moreover, the Count had not paid the passage costs for the Schwenkfelders from Europe to America. If he had borne the expenses of this journey, then he could have, under certain conditions, perhaps derived and imposed legal claims.78 The second synod took place on January 14 and 15, 1742, in Falkner Swamp at the mill of the Schwenkfelder George Heebner,79 the son of the practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner. In addition to George Heebner, who was doubtlessly influenced by his father in his admiration for the universalist Jane Leade, C ­ hristopher Wiegner was the only other Schwenkfelder to participate in this synod. Also for the ensuing five synods — the last took place at the beginning of June 1742 in Philadelphia — the Schwenkfelders did not appear. On March 20 Zinzendorf delivered an ultimatum to the Schwenkfelders in  a letter: if they formed an organized congregation with an office of preaching the Gospel and administrating the sacraments within three weeks, he would leave them in peace in the future.80 However, if they continued their unorganized religious life and persevered in their erroneous doctrine of faith, then he would hunt them down everywhere they would go. He would seize their “hirelings [cf. John 10:12 f.]”, that is their unfaithful “Vorsteher” and “elders”, their false leaders and snatch the sheep, i. e., the ensnared and innocent Schwenkfelders, “out of their mouths”. On April 12, 1742, the “Vorsteher” Balthasar Hoffmann and “sundry other friends” made clear in  a letter to Zinzendorf that their doctrine of faith would differ so much that their future participation in synods — initiated by him — would be pointless.81 Besides, they were of the opinion that it will be the best “to allow each one to take his stand and to act as it seems best to him and grant him the 77 For this document (“Uhrkund”,  a faulty spelling for “Urkunde”), to which Zinzendorf referred, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 74–6; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 211–12. 78 For the redemptioner system, see Bailyn, Voyagers, 166–89. 79 On George Heebner, see p. 73 n 7. 80 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Schwenkfelders, March 20, 1742, in Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 239–43; the following quotations ibid., 242. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 26–7 (hereafter quotations will come from this translation), here, 27. 81 Balthasar Hoffmann et al. to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, April 12, 1742, in Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 244–45; the following quotations ibid., 245. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 27–8 (hereafter quotations will come from this translation), here, 28.

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benefit of such a course”. Thereupon Zinzendorf directed another letter — without date — to the Schwenkfelders.82 Referring to the disputed “document”, in which they at one time had allegedly committed themselves to his “spiritual and temporal care” forever, he asked them to sign an attached “obligation”.83 In it they were to release him — their “reformer” — before God and man, solemnly from all duties of care. In the future he would no longer administer to their needs, except for those Schwenkfelders who explicitly requested his help. In an undated reply, Hoffmann and the cosignatories, however, declared in a friendly but firm manner that they no longer wanted to have anything to do with him until he presented the “document” to them.84 They could not believe that he had been appointed by Christ to be their reformer. They could not comply nor agree to his claims. Understandably they therefore did not sign the obligation Zinzendorf had sent to them. Therewith Zinzendorf ’s plans to nudge the Schwenkfelders to form  a congregation and to link them to the “Church of God in Spirit” failed across the board. However, the conflicts with Zinzendorf contributed to the fact that the Schwenkfelders, thanks to the activities of “Vorsteher” Weiss and Hoffmann, for the most part, reflected again somewhat more intensely on their Schwenkfelder tradition and pulled closer together emotionally. With some justification it has been stated that in “order to reject the Moravians, the Schwenkfelders had to identify themselves, define their own positions, and renew their adherence to the teachings of Caspar Schwenckfeld”.85 Despite the Schwenkfelders’ definitive break with Zinzendorf, their relationship to the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in the following years was in no way broken off. This relationship continued especially to the brothers and sisters in the Bethlehem settlement east of Allentown, about 35 miles away. This Moravian mission community was founded by David Nitschmann, since 1735 the first Bishop of the renewed Moravian Church, and Count Zinzendorf on Christmas Eve 1741. Therefore, it was named after the town of Bethlehem in Judea, identified in the New Testament as the birthplace of Jesus. Later this settlement developed into the northern headquarters of the Moravian Church in North America. The continual existence of contacts with Bethlehem was especially due to the Moravian missionaries there who transported Schwenkfelder letters, packets of books and manuscripts again and again 82 Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to Christoph Wiegner, Balthasar Hoffmann, and [Melchior] Kriebel, n.d., in Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 245–46; the following quotations ibid., 245, 246. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 28 (hereafter quotations will come from this translation), here, ibid. 83 The “obligation” is published in Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 246. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 28. 84 Balthasar Hoffmann et al. to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, n.d. [after April 12, 1742], in Fresenius, Nachrichten, vol. 3, 246–48. English translation in Gerhard & Schultz, “Schwenckfelders and the Moravians”, 28. Several Synods were concerned with the controversy between Zinzendorf and the Schwenkfelders, including their quarrel; see Authentische Relation, 55*/55 (3. Synod), 61*/61 (4. Synod), 107*/107, 115*/115 (7. Synod). 85 Frantz, “Schwenkfelders”, 109.

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back and forth to Silesia.86 The Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania also entrusted them repeatedly with the transportation of money to Silesia, in order to support their bitterly poor fellow believers and relatives in the old homeland.

2.3 Emergence of the Society of Schwenkfelders —  Gradual Formation of Organizations and Institutions After the termination of the conflicts with Zinzendorf, the cohesion of the Schwenkfelders with one another loosened again noticeably.87 Hoffmann, who as “Vorsteher” was supposed to advise his fellow believers and instruct them in Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith, sensed little support from them. Tensions and differences manifested themselves within the Schwenkfelders and between most of the Schwenkfelders and Hoffmann.88 Those were “tumultuous years”, as those years were justly characterized.89 These tensions and differences were in the end induced because Hoffmann — like his predecessor and highly esteemed friend Weiss — insisted firmly on an “orthodox” Schwenkfeldianism and especially on  a puritanical Christian lifestyle. The manifold religious and moral deficiencies, which Hoffmann observed to his horror among the Schwenkfelders, and the increasing tensions between him and them, were the reason why he retired three times from his office as “Vorsteher.”90 It happened first in May 1741; for the last time in 1749. However, the last resignation was also due to ill health.91 Increasing respiratory distress caused him problems when speaking and made the continuation of his office 86 The cooperation of the Schwenkfelders with the Moravians — after the falling-out with Zinzendorf — (see, for example, Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 56–7) has hitherto been given too little attention. 87 For Schwenkfelder religious life after the death of George Weiss (1740), their first “Vorsteher”, until the first General Conference of the Schwenkfelders (1762), see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 70–92; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 63–4; Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 47–52; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 215–16. 88 For Balthasar Hoffmann’s activities as “Vorsteher” of the Schwenkfelders and his three retirements from this position, see especially Balthasar Hoffmann to his Kinder [children], March 1750, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Schultz Box 2, VS 4–59, [1–40], here, [35–40]. English translation in Viehmeyer (ed. and transl.), Tumultuous Years, 29–90, here, 82–90. See, too, some letters which Balthasar Hoffmann wrote to various Schwenkfelders between 1741 and 1749 (SLHC Pennsburg, VC 2–13) which can be found edited in English translation in Viehmeyer (ed. and transl.), Tumultuous Years, 92–5 (May 1741), 96–104 (July 9, 1741), 105–9 (July 1741), 110–14 (1741), 115–30 (July 1744), 131–9 (February 18, 1745), 140–2 (March 7, 1745), 143–8 (September 20, 1745). 89 For the term “tumultuous years”, see Viehmeyer (ed. and transl.), Tumultuous Years, iv–v (Introduction). 90 For the Balthasar Hoffmann’s threefold retirement as “Vorsteher”, cf. Gerhard, “Hoffmann”, 39. 91 See Balthasar Hoffmann to his Kinder [children], March 1750, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Schultz Box 2, VS 4–59, [1–40], here, [39–40]. English translation in Viehmeyer (ed. and transl.), Tumultuous Years, 29–90 (Part Two, 70–90), here, 89.

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impossible. He still took on only a few tasks such as the catechetical instruction of the youth and carrying out the Day of Remembrance celebrations. Professionally he continued to pursue spinning. His leisure time was filled with intensive studies, mainly in the field of hymnology.92 He was an insightful authority on the rich Schwenkfelder hymn repertoire and wrote numerous hymns. At the end of 1753 the religious life of the Schwenkfelders, which during these tumultuous years after Hoffmann’s last retirement was increasingly characterized by privacy, surprisingly revealed basically new references to community. Four housefathers and an older individual agreed, namely, in the future to hold meetings in their homes “every third Sunday” for the sake of their salvation and out of responsibility for the religious education of their children.93 They called these meetings or gatherings primarily “visits [Besuche]”, in order to express their privacy and intimacy. After “an additional few housefathers” had expressed their interest in such “visits” in 1759, they met every other Sunday.94 In these visits, or gatherings, prayer, song and Bible reading were constitutive parts. Doubtlessly these participants were exclusively Schwenkfelders born in Silesia or their descendants. They were therefore connected to one another not only by faith but also by the fact that they were fellow countrymen. In addition, many of them were related by blood or by marriage. It is notable that all meetings in the following decades, too, took place in private homes. The first meeting that did not take place in the private realm of a Stube was not held until August 8, 1790, in the Upper District in the Hosensack Valley. Here, at that time, the Schwenkfelders erected their first meeting house.95 However, in this log building space was set aside for a schoolroom. The religious life of the Schwenkfelders received therefore in the late 50s of the eighteenth century  a quite loose organizational structure. It was to be solidified then in the 60s, as will be shown. In essence there were four causes that enabled and accelerated the development of a communal religious life with some organizational structure among the Schwenkfelders. First of all, Spiritualism had further weakened among many Schwenkfelders. Everything to do with organization was now no longer considered irrelevant by them or even hindering to faith. Secondly, no one sought any longer to constitute  a congregation of “pure, true Christians” — in  a donatistical sense — as their first “Vorsteher” George Weiss had intended. Thirdly, 92 Balthasar Hoffmann’s catalog of writings in Gerhard, “Hoffmann”, 50–1. For Balthasar Hoffmann as writer of spiritual songs, see Viehmeyer, “Hymnology”. Cf. Evers, Lied, especially, 221–8 (Lit.). 93 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 49. 94 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 51. 95 See Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 82. A general overview of the Schwenkfelder meeting houses, which were erected during the subsequent years, can be found in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 21–3; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 232 (Lit.). For the Schwenkfelder meeting houses in the Upper District, see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 82–83; Meschter, Schwenkfelders, 83. For the Schwenkfelder meeting houses in the Lower District see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 83–4; Meschter, Schwenkfelders, 117–8.

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the political and social development in colonial Pennsylvania during the 50s and the 60s, especially during the French and Indian War, caused, as is still to be discussed, the Schwenkfelders again to close ranks.96 Fourth, some Schwenkfelders realized that their very small number without any sort of organizational structure, would, in the long run, decrease numerically in the multireligious and multiethnic society of Pennsylvania. Hence it must be expected that in the course of time Schwenkfelders — for different reasons, but principally as a result of marriages with non-Schwenkfelder partners — will leave for other denominations and communities. Of course, that will not be so much the case in the first settler generation, but probably in the second. Indeed, in this generation it came to “a gradual exodus through the wedding arch.”97 Based on these circumstances since the middle of the 50s, the founding of an organized society was discussed frequently within the Schwenkfelders. Nevertheless, in these years the term “society” was not yet used by them. The person who contributed decisively to this development was Christopher Schultz, doubtlessly the outstanding personality of the Schwenkfelders in the eighteenth century. Due to his deep rootedness in Schwenkfelder tradition, his astounding openness to dialogue and collaboration with other Christian denominations and communities, his broad interests in education, his exceptional social and political engagements as well as his totally indefatigable energy, he enjoyed high esteem not only among his fellow believers, but also among members of other denominations and Christian communities. Christopher Schultz98 was born in Harpersdorf in 1718 as the youngest son of the prosperous farmer Melchior Schultz99 and his wife Susanna née Kriebel.100 In April 1726 the parents and their three children fled to Upper Berthelsdorf in Upper Lusatia where they acquired a parcel of land and built a house. Like many other Schwenkfelders Christopher learned the weaver’s trade. He was introduced to Latin by George Weiss; later in life he taught himself Greek and Hebrew with the assistance of Balthasar Hoffmann. After the death of his parents,101 he and his two brothers George102 and Melchior103 joined the emigration trek to Pennsylvania in 1734. Here he first eked out  a living as  a weaver, purchased together with his

96 Norman Dollin (Schwenkfelders, 88–9) emphasized this historical aspect in particular. 97 Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 174. For Schwenkfelder marriages with non-Schwenkfelders, ibid., 173–6. 98 On Christopher Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 964–8 (E 70); Dollin, Schwenkfelders, passim, especially, 106–23; Gerhard, “Schultz”; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, passim; Schultz, Course, 137–40; Schultz, “Schultz”; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 217–20, 222–6. 99 On Melchior Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 940 (E 68), 964 (E 69, 70). 100 On Susanna Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 940 (E 68), 964 (E 69, 70). 101 Susanna Schultz died in Berthelsdorf on March 30, 1732. Her husband Melchior preceded her in death; see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 940 (E 68). 102 On George Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 940 (E 68). 103 On Melchior Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 964 (E 69).

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brothers a parcel of land in Upper Hanover Township in 1735 on which a two-story dwelling was built. After his marriage with Rosina née Yeakel (Jäckel)104 in 1744 the three brothers terminated their nearly ten years of living together in one house. Christopher Schultz acquired a farm in the vicinity of Clayton where he lived until the end of his life in 1789. His property became  a meeting place for his fellow believers and the members of other denominations and Christian communities, especially Quakers, Mennonites, and Pietists. With his entrepreneurial skills and untiring zeal he attained considerable wealth.105 However, he applied his capital again and again for the support of charitable, social, and literary projects. In addition to Christopher Schultz, his cousin and closest friend Christopher (Christoph) Kriebel106 was also very significant for the organizational shaping of the religious life of the Schwenkfelders toward the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s. Born in 1724 in Harpersdorf as the fourth child of the farmer Christoph Kriebel107 and his wife Maria née Heydrick,108 two-year-old Christopher came with his parents and siblings to Saxony in 1726 and in 1734 as a ten-year-old to Pennsylvania. Here his parents purchased property in Lower Salford Township not far from the properties of George Weiss and Balthasar Hoffmann and established a farm. Christopher Kriebel, about whose childhood and adolescent life almost nothing is known, probably learned reading and writing at home and presumably was mentored vigorously by the two “Vorsteher” Weiss and Hoffmann. After his father’s death in 1741 the farm came into his possession. In 1748 he married Maria née Dresher (Drescher)109 and became  a very respected, successful, and affluent farmer. In his leisure time — especially after he had turned over the farm to his son Jeremiah in 1784110 — he devoted himself to reading the writings of Schwenckfeld and his followers, to copying Schwenkfelder hymnals and prayer books, to the composition of speeches and sermons, to correspondence and to the writing of some hymns. Above all, he invested much time and effort to his preparations for the “Kinder-Lehr”, i. e., catechetical instruction of Schwenkfelder children.111 At the initiative of Christopher Kriebel the Schwenkfelders gathered in Lower Salford Township at his farm for  a large meeting on October 9, 1762.112 At this first General Conference Kriebel gave a short, carefully designed speech about the 104 On Rosina Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 964 (E 70). 105 For Christopher Schultz’s estate, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 967. 106 On Christopher Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 228–9 (E 19–2); Hoffmann, “Kriebel”; Schultz, Course, 140–3; Schultz, “Kriebel”. 107 On Christoph Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 228 (E 19). 108 On Maria Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 228 (E 19). 109 On Maria Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 228 (E 19–2). 110 Christopher Kriebel, who died in 1800, turned his farm over to his son Jeremiah in 1784. 111 For a list of Christopher Kriebel’s writings, see Hoffmann, “Kriebel”, 62–9. 112 For the Schwenkfelders’ first General Conference on October 9, 1762, and its decisions, see especially Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 92–4; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 64–6; Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 52–3; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 216–22.

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necessity of meetings for worship, instruction in the Schwenkfelder faith, and how these meetings could be put into practice.113 In his presentation he invited his fellow believers to remember God’s great blessings and glorious guidance with heartfelt gratitude. They should change their present, shattered religious life and moral behavior by a renewed devotion to God and care for their neighbor. Everyone should reach out — “according to his ability [Acts 11:29; cf. Matt 25:15]” — to his neighbor. One should especially pay attention to the young people who are like “abandoned, lost, innocent little sheep”. After an open and intensive discussion — much of which concerned chiefly the toleration of deviant doctrines (especially the doctrine of apokatastasis, i. e., universal salvation) among the Schwenkfelders — there was  a decision to accept Kriebel’s proposals as a basis for their future communal exercise of religion.114 Some decisions were made immediately which contributed significantly toward organizing  a Society of Schwenkfelders. The two most important decisions pertained to the promotion of the meetings in order to intensify religious life and the catechetical instruction of the youth in order to acquaint them with the Schwenkfelder faith. In order to promote the meetings it was therefore decided to have a gathering every Sunday forenoon. These gatherings should be carried out alternatingly in the private houses of the “united housefathers” in Goschenhoppen and in Skippack or Towamencin, i. e., Upper and Lower Districts. The head of the household in whose house the gathering took place was to be “responsible basically for the conduct of the gathering”.115 However, every participant “was obliged to contribute his share according to ability to the common edification.” Constituents of these gatherings were: hymn-singing, prayers, Bible, and postil readings. A songbook was to promote singing in these gatherings as well as in family prayer services and private meditations. At that time such a book was actually still in press. It was issued by the renowned printer Christopher Sauer in Germantown by the end of 1762 under the title “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch”.116 With recourse to some Schwenkfelder hymn collections it was created essentially by Christopher Schultz. It contains 918 hymns, which had been “in use” by the Schwenkfelders for a long time. In this case the book consists of the repertoire of the Bohemian Brethren, hymns from the Medieval Church, and hymn texts of orthodox and pietistic hymn 113 Kriebel, “Anno 1762. den 9.  Octob. war eine allgemeine Zusammenkunfft” [i. e., speech by Christopher Kriebel and report on the Schwenkfelder conference], SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 4 Box, VS 4–55 (unpag.), quotations ibid. 114 See the report on the Schwenkfelder conference on October 9, 1762, in Kriebel, “Anno 1762. den 9. Octob. war eine allgemeine Zusammenkunfft”, SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 4 Box, VS 4–55 (unpag.). Cf. Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 52. 115 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 52; the following quotation ibid. 116 For the “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch” (1762) and its various editions (1813, 1869), see especially Evers, Lied, 234–53 (Lit.). The following quotation is found on the title page of the “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch”. For the difficulties in the creation and during the printing of this songbook, cf. Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 51–2.

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writers as well as hymns, which were created by Silesian and southern German Schwenkfelders.117 With 242 hymns the latter group contributed a little more than one fourth of the total number of hymns. The two-part hymnal — on “God’s Being and His Revelation through Christ in the Holy Spirit” and “on the Economy of the Revelation of God in the work of Creation, Government of His Church, and Leading of his People, in the Work of Grace” — is best accessed through the four indices at the rear of the hymnal. It should be noted that the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania at that time — like previously in Silesia and Upper Lusatia — sang in their “visits” or gatherings without instrumental accompaniment. Even later they dispensed with instrumental music in their meeting houses until the late-nineteenth, turn of the twentieth. That seems rather strange because the Schwenkfelders had respected organ builders in their ranks: John and Andrew Krauss.118 Beginning in 1796 these two brothers and their descendants provided several churches of other denominations in Pennsylvania with organs. In contrast, their own fellow believers never requested such an instrument from them. It was not until 1911 that Palm Schwenkfelder Church, as the first of the Schwenkfelder churches, obtained an organ, although the Schwenkfelder General Conference had already basically allowed musical instruments to be used in worship services as early as 1890.119 This reservation of the Schwenkfelders in regard to instrumental music resulted on the one hand from a literal understanding of John 4:23 f.: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

In their “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch” the Schwenkfelders spiritualized, therefore, e.g., the verses of Psalm 150, in which people are exhorted to sing the praises of Yahweh with musical instruments as was common at that time. Thus in the third verse of this Psalm the call to praise Yahweh with trumpet sounds and with the tones of harp and lyre was altered by the Schwenkfelders into an appeal to laud God with word and deed as well as Psalms and spiritual hymns.120 On the other hand, the Schwenkfelders were concerned that the use of musical instruments in worship and prayer services would detract or even disturb the 117 Adam Reißner, George Weiss, Balthasar Hoffmann, Abraham Wagner, Christopher Kriebel, and others were among the hymn writers in the “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch”, who belonged to Caspar Schwenckfeld’s circle of friends or who were Schwenkfelders from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 118 On John and Andrew Krauss, see Brunner, Ingenious business, especially, 128–33; Eader, “Krauss”. 119 I would like to thank L. Allen Viehmeyer for his valuable information about the Schwenkfelders’ stance on instrumental music. 120 See Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch, 360; cf. ibid., Vorrede (by Christopher Schultz), xx; L. Allen Viehmeyer, e-mail message to author, June 14, 2014.

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worshipers in their devotions. Similar reservations towards instrumental music can also be observed in some other denominations and Christian communities, who are bound to spiritualist or pietistic traditions.121 In order to promote catechetical instruction of the youth it was decided at this first General Conference that such instruction for the children and adolescents should take place on every Sunday afternoon as well as occasionally on feast and holidays following the forenoon meetings. By doing that the “prevalent ignorance” should be “somewhat forestalled” and they should be led to “an understanding of pure Christian doctrine” and to “virtuous life and character.”122 In this context Christopher Schultz was entrusted with the preparation of  a catechism. Since he could draw on catechetical preparatory work, his “Catechismus, Oder Anfänglicher Unterricht Christlicher Glaubens-Lehre” appeared by 1763 at the print shop of Henrich Miller in Philadelphia.123 It underwent multiple editions.124 The content of the catechism, which is in the question-and-answer format, is focused on soteriology and ethics. The two dominating figures at this first General Conference and the following conferences were Christopher Schultz and Christopher Kriebel. They were much esteemed by their fellow believers. For this reason the Schwenkfelders soon entrusted both men with important leadership tasks. Schultz was conferred with the office of catechist for the young people in the Upper District in 1763. In the following year he was appointed by the Schwenkfelders “as their regular minister”.125 1764 Kriebel was entrusted in the Lower District with the instruction of children. Until 1797 — for more than thirty years — he conducted the “Kinder-Lehr”, i. e., the catechization of children with great diligence and dedication.126 In 1782 he was furthermore elected as  a “minister” for the Lower District.127 The catechization of children had been and continued to be, however,  a matter close to his heart. Therefore, on his tombstone in the Salford Cemetery he was rightfully called: “der Lehrer der Schwenkfelder Gemeinde” (“the teacher of the Schwenkfelder Congregation”).128 At the General Conference in 1762 the Schwenkfelders set the course for  a continuing organizational development in the direction of a society. However, the actual formation of this society did not take place until 1782. A closer examination 121 This position in spiritualistic and pietistic denominations and Christian communities on the use of instrumental music in worship or prayer services has received hitherto too little attention. 122 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 53. 123 For the “Catechismus” by Christopher Schultz, see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 65; Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 53; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 220–22. 124 For the various editions of the “Catechismus” by Christopher Schultz, see Kriebel, Schwenk­ felders, 65. 125 Kriebel & Schultz, “Schultz”, 9. 126 For Christopher Kriebel as “catechist”, see Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 54–5; Learned (ed.) “Anmerkungen [II]”, 61, 64; Schultz, “Kriebel”, 55–6. 127 Hoffmann, “Kriebel”, 62. 128 Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 229.

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of this development process cannot be undertaken here. Only the day of inception of the Society of Schwenkfelders can be pointed out. After preliminary discussions over the urgent necessity of forming a society Christopher Schultz presented a sketch of  a considered constitution at the General Conference on May 8, 1782, in Goschenhoppen. This draft was approved — after consultations —  under the title “Vorschlag nützlicher Stükke bey einer religiösen Gesell­ schafft in christliches Bedencken zu Ziehen” (“Presentation of Useful Parts”) on August 15, 1782, in Towamencin by 41 housefathers.129 This “Presentation of Useful Parts”, afterwards called “Fundamental or Principal Rules” or “Consitution or Fundamental Rules” or “Constitution”, consists of seventeen articles and is the basis of the incorporation of the Schwenkfelders into Ill. 14 Title page of the “Constitution” the form of a religious society — later (1782) called Society of Schwenkfelders.130 The content of the “Consitution or Fundamental Rules”: According to Art. 1–4 the “proper foundation” (“rechtschaffenes Fundament”) and the “approved idea (prototype)” (“bewährtes Urbild”) of the religious society, i. e., Society of Schwenk­ felders, is “God’s nature” (“Gottes Natur”) or “divine nature”. “God’s nature” or 129 For the founding of the Society of Schwenkfelders (1782) and its “Constitution or Fundamental Rules”, see especially Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 71–9; Learned (ed.), “Anmerkungen [II]”, 66–7; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 228–32. 130 Initially the “Constitution or Fundamental Rules”, expanded later by “Verordnungen” (“By-Laws”), was entered into the “Memorandum” by hand. It did not appear in printed form until 1830 ([Schultz et al.], Erläuterung (1830), 481–84). In 1851 it was published for the first time as a self-contained print in a revision by Josua Schultz of the 1782 version under the title Constitution der Schwenckfeldischen Gemeinschaft, welche sie Angenommen und unterschrieben den 17ten Tag August A. D. 1782. Wie auch Neben-Gesetze, welche Theils von Zeit zu Zeit, und Theils gegenwärtig einstimmig auf- und angenommen sind worden, als den 19ten Tag Oktober A. D. 1850. Nebst einer Zugabe, von einigen Pflicht-Schuldigkeiten derer, die in gliederlicher Gemeinschaft stehen. In Fragen und Antworten aufgesetzt. Aus den Urkunden gesammelt und zusammen getragen [sic] Von Josua Schultz, Allentown, Penns. 1851; the following quotations are taken from this edition. Additional information about editions of the “Constitution” can be found in Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 228 n 48.

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the “divine nature” (“göttliche Natur”) manifests itself everywhere, “but more particularly in the works of creation, of redemption, and of sanctification”. In  a unique way that was fulfilled in the “ideal (prototype)”, i. e., Jesus Christ. “God’s nature” or the “divine nature” includes and offers above everything: love. Because love is “that excellent outflowing virtue, which binds together God and man” (“diejenige edle ausfliessende Tugeng [sic] die Gott und Menschen zusammen verbindet”). According to this love, all who desire to belong to the society shall “conform themselves in all things”. Based on “this foundation-principle of divine nature, namely, love” the major final goal of each member of the society consists in the glorification of God and in the “advancement of the general good of each fellow member” (“der Beförderung des Besten eines jeden Gliedes”). In this connection, on the one hand, reference is made to “the two tables of the Commandments” and, on the other hand, to the interpretation of the Decalogue as given in Jesus and Paul (Mark 12:31 (par); Rom 13:8–10). In order to achieve this “final goal” (“Endzweck”) — namely, love — “public worship” (“Gottes-Dienst”) and “instruction of the youth” (“Unterricht der Jugend”) is required (Art. 5–10). Instrumental for this private and communal life — characterized by the well-known double commandment of love (Mark 12:29–31) — are the regulations, which are presented in relatively remarkable detail in Art. 11–17. Even this short summary of the “Constitution or Fundamental Rules” permits on the one hand the divergences from Caspar Schwenckfeld’s theology as well as the Schwenkfelder theology of the seventeenth and the early eighteenth century to become clear. These divergences become particularly evident in the soteriology, which now is oriented toward anthropology and ethics. On the other hand, influences from other Protestant spiritual traditions are evident in the “Constitution or Fundamental Rules”. Thus, Quakerism can be cited in particular; however, that would have to require a more detailed study. Within the Society of Schwenkfelders several Boards and Committees were established in the following years.131 By means of these the various activities of the Society of Schwenkfelders were to be more effectively organized. In 1909 the formation of The Schwenkfelder Church was undertaken by the Schwenkfelders; that is to say the Society of Schwenkfelders was incorporated into The Schwenkfelder Church.132 Within that same year The Schwenkfelder Church was legally recognized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as  a Protestant denomination. For improvement of the ecclesiastical organization and for the coordination of various trust funds, the drafting of  a constitution, by-laws, and regulations was begun immediately. These drafts were accepted by the General 131 Cf. n 134. 132 For the founding of The Schwenkfelder Church and its Constitution, see, i.a., Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 237–8. Valuable personnel, institutional, and statistical information about the Schwenkfelders in the twentieth century can be found in Meschter, Schwenkfelders, 371–80 (Appendixes).

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Conference in 1911 and appeared in the following year in print under the title “Formula for the Government and Discipline of the Schwenkfelder Church.”133 In subsequent years the small Schwenkfelder Church  —  currently numbering four independent church congregations (Central Schwenkfelder Church, Olivet-Schwenkfelder United Church of Christ, Palm Schwenkfelder Church, Schwenkfelder Missionary Church) — involved itself in the area of education and school operation (with the famous Perkiomen Seminary resp. Perkiomen School), in missionary work (in Turkey and China), in charitable-social concerns (support of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, of Mennonite Emigrants to Paraguay, of suffering Germans and Dutch after the end of World War II, in the ecumenical movement (since 1963 membership of the United Church of Christ) and last but not least in cultural maintenance of Silesian tradition (especially with The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, founded 1885). All this happened first and foremost through several Boards and Committees.134 Since the mid-eighteenth century the Schwenkfelders had pursued — as was shown — the organizational and institutional development of their religious life. This process was both long and multicausal. It culminated in 1909 with the formation of The Schwenkfelder Church. In spite of its small membership this Protestant denomination subsequently developed impressive ecclesiastical, educational, social, and cultural projects. How these projects were pursued by its congregationally governed churches, boards, and committees cannot be examined in more detail at this juncture.

3. Social and Political Engagement during French and Indian War In the 40s of the eighteenth century, i. e., just a few years after their immigration to colonial Pennsylvania, the Schwenkfelders were confronted with huge social and political challenges.135 These confrontations compelled them to reflect upon and revise their former, mostly undifferentiated understanding of government as well as to position themselves socially and politically. In their Silesian homeland and likewise during their asylum in Upper Lusatia, the Schwenkfelders had only commented about magisterial measures if they felt impaired in the exercise of their own faith. Thus, they had offered passive resistance or overt opposition, for example, 133 The first edition was published by the General Conference in 1912. 134 For an overview of the most important Boards and Committees of The Schwenkfelder Church, which to some extent had already been founded during the time of the Society of Schwenkfelders, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 94–100; Gerhard, “Schools”; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 120–38; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 225–8. 135 For the social and political engagement of the Schwenkfelders in colonial Pennsylvania until the end of the French and Indian War, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 88–90, 101–5; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 139–248; MacMaster, Conscience, passim; Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 9–18.

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to the repeatedly imposed bans on conventicles in their homes, i. e., gatherings for prayer and edification. Otherwise they had obeyed — citing Romans 13 — more or less uncritically the governmental orders in “all appropriate, just matters” as far as these things did not go against their conscience.136 When the Schwenkfelders established themselves as settlers in colonial Pennsylvania, its multiethnic and multireligious population was no longer in any way defined essentially by Quaker principles, as they had found expression most of all in the “Peace Testimony”.137 No doubt, Quaker principles admittedly, still dominated the government more or less until the 50s. Within the population, however, in addition to that, other moral values were virulent and increasingly gaining in influence. Besides, in Pennsylvania there were Native American peoples, the Delaware and the Shawnee Indians, with their own moral values. These Native American peoples were already located even by this time mainly in the border areas of the Pennsylvania Colony or had moved to the west. Last but not least, attention must be given to the fact that the British Empire through its administrative organs — especially through the governors — pursued imperial interests in Pennsylvania as in its other colonies. At that time these imperial interests, which spread to the North American colonies, gained great topicality through three long-term wars, which England waged since the 40s with other European states. The Colonial Wars started with the military conflicts between England and Spain in 1740. The governor of Pennsylvania at that time, George Thomas, wanted the inhabitants here — as in other English colonies — also to take part in the burdens of the war. His plan, however, failed upon its rejection by the General Assembly where the Quakers constituted the majority of the delegates at that time. Nevertheless, they liberally approved 4,000 pounds for “the King’s use” without its purpose of use being determined in any way.138 This refusal of a direct military participation was welcomed by the Schwenkfelders. It marked, as has been rightly perceived, the beginning of a “firm alliance between Mennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders and other non-resisters with the Quakers in defense of their liberties”.139 In the second Colonial War, King George’s War, — it was connected to the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) — England and France fought each other in North America from 1744 to 1748. While in Europe dynastic reasons were decisive for the war, in America it was exclusively a matter of territorial interests: England wanted to prevent its coastal colonies from being gradually cut off from the free Indian lands in the west by the French colonies Louisiana, Mississippi, and Canada, making further expansion impossible. During the four-year battle the British 136 “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß”, 100. Cf. Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens (Mennonite in Amsterdam)], December 3, 1725, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042. 137 The best known version of this fundamental document of the Society of Friends is the declaration by Quaker Margaret Fell for King Charles II of England (January 12, 1661); printed in Fox, Journal 1973, 421–6. 138 See MacMaster, Conscience, 66; quotation ibid. 139 MacMaster, Conscience, 68.

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Empire asked its colonies, therefore also Pennsylvania, to support the motherland by the payment of a war tax. Again the General Assembly with its Quaker majority approved funds for the English King George II. This time, these funds, however, should be used exclusively for the provisions and clothing of the army, but not for the procurement of weapons and munitions. While the Schwenkfelders were only indirectly affected in the first two Colonial Wars, they were directly challenged politically and socially by the French and Indian War (1754–1763).140 This third Colonial War was related to the Third Silesian War or Seven Years’ War. In this pan-European war, which began in 1756 and ended in 1763, Great Britain was an important ally of Prussia, although it paid only subsidies and did not enter the war directly with troops. Incidentally, the Schwenkfelders as their diaries and correspondences reveal followed the campaigns of King Frederick II of Prussia with great attention.141 Their sympathies during this time were understandably on the side of Prussia. As is known, Frederick II had secured for the Schwenkfelders who remained in their homeland as well as those returning there individual freedom of religion and conscience in two edicts in 1741 and 1742.142 In the French and Indian War, which began officially in 1754, there were initially only isolated attacks on whites by Delaware Indians mainly in Ohio Country, i. e., in the regions west of the Appalachian Mountains and the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie. These whites were active here chiefly as traders. In spring 1755, however, Indians coming from the Blue Mountains penetrated into the northern districts of Berks and Northampton Counties and conducted raids there. In this connection it should be remembered that after William Penn’s treaty with the Delaware Indians in November 1683 in Shakamaxon, a meeting place along the Delaware River, the Indians had lived in peace for more than seventy years with the Pennsylvanian settlers. Now they justified their attacks mainly by claims of ownership: their former land had been taken from them by white settlers. Sometimes they justified their attacks by claiming that white settlers had altered closed contracts of purchase fraudulently or had fulfilled the contractual agreements only partially. The Indian raids were  a highly explosive political subject because it was  a matter of colonial interests between England and France in this region as well. As mentioned, since the mid-1750s France had wanted to prevent Pennsylvania and other British colonies from territorial expansion toward the west. That is why French troops had erected a chain of defense works. 140 For the political and social activities of the Schwenkfelders during the French and Indian War, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 88–90, 101–5; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 139–48; MacMaster, Conscience, 61–164; Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 9–18. 141 For example, David Schultz immediately noted the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War in his diary at the end of September 1756; see Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 184 (September 1756). The editor Andrew S. Berky rightly claimed: “Shultze had more than a passing interest in the campaigns in Europe since that part of the war was originally fought for the sake of Silesia” (ibid., 184). 142 For the two edicts of King Frederick II of Prussia (1741 and 1742), see p. 133–5.

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After  a few smaller skirmishes between British and French troops  a decisive military battle was fought on July 3, 1755, near Fort Duquesne in the vicinity of present-day Pittsburgh. The British army under the command of General Edward Braddock, made up of ragtag volunteers from the colonies, suffered  a crushing defeat at the hands of standing French troops who were supported by Indians. The superior victory encouraged the Delaware Indians now to massively attack single-handedly the white settlers in the border regions of Pennsylvania and other colonies. Subsequently the Pennsylvania Assembly began to develop plans starting in July 1755 to support the British Crown in the defense of the colony by collecting taxes. Those proposals cannot be reviewed in detail here. Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that these plans led to far-reaching ethical conflicts within the Quaker party. Since October 1755 the Indians had been invading the completely unprotected Pennsylvania border regions more and more frequently and attacking settlements.143 Settlers were tortured and scalped or abducted. The first massacre was committed on October 16, 1755, near Penn’s Creek north of Selinsgrove.144 In the Penn’s Creek Massacre fourteen colonists were killed, eleven were taken prisoner, one settler was wounded and escaped. The Schwenkfelders, whose dwelling places were located outside of the conflict area, did not receive any information about the Indian raids until autumn 1755. Of course, the earliest reports were to some extent very vague and exaggerated as well. When the Schwenkfelders learned details about the massacre committed by Delaware Indians on November 24, 1755, in Gnadenhütten in Carbon County, Pennsylvania — a mission station of the Moravians from Bethlehem, where Moravians and the Christian Delaware Indians were living together — they were immediately ready to help.145 Like the Quakers, Dunkers, and Mennonites, they, too, sent provisions to Bethlehem. Not only the few survivors from Gnadenhütten had fled there, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but also several hundred residents from the Moravian settlements of Christiansbrunn, Nazareth, Gnadenthal, und Friedensthal, all on the open frontier of Northampton County. It was mainly the white settlers on the Blue Mountains who were the most deeply alarmed about the increasingly ferocious Indian attacks in the Pennsylvania border regions, since their cries for help seemed to go unheeded by the Philadelphia Provincial Government. Therefore several settlers in this border area began to erect guard posts at their own expense for the protection of their lives and property. One of those who endeavored to organize an effective self-defense of the settlers here was Jacob Levan. 143 For the first Indian attacks, see Sipe, Indian Wars, 203–29. 144 For the Penn’s Creek Massacre, see Sipe, Indian Wars, 204–9; MacMaster, Conscience, 75, 106–7 (Document 21). 145 For the Gnadenhütten Massacre, see Sipe, Indian Wars, 255–6; for efforts of support by the Schwenkfelders, see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 144; MacMaster, Conscience, 81, 132–5 (Document 52, 53); Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 11, 14.

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Levan, born in Amsterdam in 1702, was a mill owner in Eagle Point, Maxatawny Township, and between 1752 and 1762  a judge of Berks County.146 From the beginning his supporters included the two Schwenkfelders David Schultz and his cousin Christopher Schultz.147 On March 2, 1756, Levan, with the support of these two Schwenkfelders, sent  a circular letter to the Pennsylvania townships, referring to the planned establishment of a self-defense organization and requesting support.148 Immediately there were objections to these self-defense guard posts from Pennsylvania residents, including from Schwenkfelders.149 People inquired whether the residents of Pennsylvania’s “backwoods” were even competent for and committed to the protection of the “outer” or “upper” inhabitants in the border area of the Blue Mountains. Most of all, however, they doubted whether such guard posts would be efficient for defense and would have enough military discipline. Christopher Schultz and the Mennonite John Mack considered all of these objections to be nothing but “lame excuses”. They “all stir things up so that people will not open their purses, that they pay no attention to the great hovering danger” and “push the burdens onto others, as best they can”. Remarkably, in the document no account was taken of the possibility that the opposition against the Independent Guard by some Schwenkfelders took place on the basis of a radical rejection of military service. By April 1756 then The Maxatawny and Allemangle Independent Guard began its duties.150 This volunteer company was posted “in the area around Albany Township in Berks County, now and then spreading out into Linn Township, Northampton County. At other times, however, especially at night, they were divided into groups, so that only three men were posted in one house”.151 Apparently only some Schwenkfelders, among them Melchior Schultz, participated in the financial support of this small, just 24-man-strong volunteer company under the 146 Jacob Levan’s large property in Eagle Point with a grist mill was a stopping place for many Moravian missionaries on their travels in Pennsylvania and to other North American colonies. In 1742 Zinzendorf, who was a close friend of Levan, preached at this location. 147 For the support of the self-defense idea by Christopher and David Schultz as well as some other Schwenkfelders, see MacMaster, Conscience, 68; Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 167 (February 15 and 24, 1756); Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 11–14. Cf. MacMaster, Conscience, 76–7. 148 See Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 169–70 (March 2, 1756). 149 For the objections to the self-defense organization, especially the self-defense guard posts, by Pennsylvania residents, see John Mack and Christopher Schultz to Christoph Weber, Caspar Kriebel, et al., March 8, 1756, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Schultz Box 3, VS 15–1, quotations ibid.; English translation in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 170–3. Cf. MacMaster, Conscience, 77; Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 12–3. 150 For The Maxatawny and Allemängle Independent Guard, see Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 175. This Independent Guard consisting of twenty-four men existed only from April 3 to May 11, 1756. After that the Provincial Commissioners stationed regular militia in this area. 151 Appeal of the trustees Jacob Levan and David Schultz, November 17, 1756, in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 191. After the disbandment of The Maxatawny and Allemängle Independent Guard David Schultz together with Jacob Levan continued to look after the pay for the guards that was still outstanding; see Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 190–1 (November 16, 1756).

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command of Captain John Hergereder.152 Their most enthusiastic protégé was doubtless David Schultz, who early on had been a convinced proponent of the idea of self-defense by colonial militia men.153 Meanwhile, however, the British governor in Philadelphia, Robert Hunter Morris, developed a plan for the protection of Pennsylvania Colony. He wanted to secure the border areas by means of a volunteer militia made up of Pennsylvania colonists and to enact war tax legislation. Thereby he hoped not only to avert the Indian attacks, but also to be able to go on the offensive against them where necessary. On April 14, 1756, he declared war against the Delaware Indians with the approval of the Provincial Council; Great Britain’s formal declaration of war against France followed  a few weeks later. Thus, what the Quaker preachers and the conservative forces in the Society of Friends had tried above all to prevent had happened. In this conflict situation the delegates of the Quaker party, which was not at all homogenous, gradually withdrew from the General Assembly. They had wanted to settle the conflict peacefully with the Indians through negotiations and monetary offers. Besides, they had been ready to make available wagons for the transport of regular British troops as well as monetary resources “for the King’s use” for the protection of Pennsylvania border areas. However, they were not ready to approve war tax legislation. “Their concern was the preservation of the Testimony of Friends against war”.154 Through their gradual retraction the representatives of the Quakers, however, now opened the way so that the General Assembly was able to pass laws for the organization of volunteer militias as well as the construction of forts and defensive works. Like other denominations and Christian communities, especially the Mennonites and the Moravians, the Schwenkfelders were in a dilemma: On the one hand, they were convinced that the government is ordained by God to protect the settlers and their property from the violent Indian raids. Therefore, they also considered it to be their duty to obey governmental laws and orders. Besides, at the time of their immigrations, they had solemnly promised King George II and his “successors” as well as the “proprietor of the province” fidelity and obedience with respect to the laws of England and Pennsylvania and had affirmed it with  a handshake.155 On the other hand, on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7) and other Scripture passages and as a consequence of their experiences of suffering in Silesia, the Schwenkfelders felt that they were obligated to refrain from taking up arms.

152 Cf. Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 144. 153 For David Schultz’s engagement for the self-defense organization, see David Schultz to Robert Greenway, January 18, 1756, in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 163–7. Unfortunately David Schultz’s almanacs for the years 1753 till 1755, in which he entered his daily notes, are no longer extant. 154 Marietta, “Conscience”, 18. 155 For the loyalty oath taken by the Schwenkfelders upon their immigration to Pennsylvania, see p. 90.

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For that reason the three Schwenkfelders Gregorius Schultz,156 Balthasar,157 and John (Johannes (Hans) Heinrich) Yeakel (Jäckel),158 who had settled with their families in Macungie on the Jordan Creek in the vicinity of the Indians, had greatly endeavored to cultivate  a friendly relationship with them.159 Nevertheless, many wrongs were inflicted upon them by the Indians. Shortly before the outbreak of the Indian uprisings, they left Macungie and moved to the area of Goschenhoppen, where, as known, most of the fellow believers settled. In view of this difficult situation the much respected and very wealthy Quaker Israel Pemberton, often referred to as the “King of the Quakers”, a former member of the Assembly, who was one of the sharpest critics of the declaration of war, established together with some other Quakers the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures in the spring of 1756.160 This organization, which was supported especially by wealthy Quaker merchants in Philadelphia and to which mainly Quakers belonged who strictly venerated Penn’s original ideals, wanted to end the military conflicts with the Delaware Indians by negotiations and payments in cash. The payments were to serve as compensation to the Indians for loss of their lands and for financial losses from closing purchase agreements or failure to fulfill their obligations. Like the Mennonites and other denominations and Christian communities, the majority of the Schwenkfelders supported this influential Association, which existed outside of the political institutions, very early.161 The indefatigable promoters of this were Christopher Schultz and his cousin Caspar Kriebel,162 who were informed by Pemberton about the Association. At the initiative of Schultz and Kriebel 42 Schwenkfelder “housefathers” decided to support the plans of the Association and pledged 215 pounds in Skippack on November 13, 1756.163 In their letter they wrote, inter alia, “they hope that their contributions [sic], small as it is, will not be contempted [sic], for it may well be compared with the two mites which the poor widow in Evangelio [cf. Mark 12:31–44] cast in, for they have cast in their living. Nevertheless, they do it with cheerfulness and delight, to be assisting in the intended salutary endeavors, as also they are ready to satisfy

156 On Gregorius Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 908 (E 62). 157 On Balthasar Yeakel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 467 (E 38–3). 158 On John Yeakel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 468 (E 38–5). 159 For these three Schwenkfelder families who lived in the immediate vicinity of Indians in Macungie for 19 years, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 52, 89; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 42, 140–1. 160 For the founding of the Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures, see, i.a., Wellenreuther, Glaube, 285–6. 161 Wellenreuther (Glaube, 285–6) especially pointed out the political independence and even the great influence of the Association. 162 On Caspar Kriebel, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 66. 163 For the Schwenkfelders’ support of the Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures, see Johnson, “Schultz”, 17; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 144–8; MacMaster, Conscience, 83, 139–44 (Document 58–63); Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 14–18.

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their true loyalty to the King’s government, to which they have submitted”.164 The spontaneously undertaken cooperation of the Schwenkfelders with the Association contributed significantly to their cohesion to one another. Schultz and Kriebel were elected as trustees to the Association. They negotiated orally and in writing principally with the two Quakers Israel Pemberton as well as Anthony Benezet; the latter had multiple contacts to the Schwenkfelders and became an early American abolitionist and founder of one of the world’s first anti-slavery societies.165 The Schwenkfelder trustees also took part in the peace negotiations with the Delaware Indians at the unsuccessful conference in Lancaster in spring 1757 and at the third conference in Easton, which lasted from July 21 to August 7, 1757.166 At this conference Teedyuscung, Chief of the Delaware Indians, known as King of the Delawares, was present. Admittedly the Schwenkfelder representatives appear to have functioned more or less as mere observers. When the Schwenkfelders were notified in 1760 that the Association was negotiating the ransom of settlers from the control of the Indians, they were ready to give support.167 They decided to make one-half of the money they had collected available for this purpose. The Schwenkfelders were also involved otherwise in the burdens of the French and Indian War. In 1759, for example, the British Brigadier General John Stanwix needed  a rather large number of wagons for the transportation of provisions to Bedford, Pennsylvania. He gave Conrad Weiser, who was originally from Württemberg and had already performed significant services in the French and Indian War as  a diplomat and translator between the Indians and colonists, the task of requisitioning these wagons.168 At the subsequent meetings of the residents of Upper Hanover Township in June 1759 David Schultz took part.169 Melchior Schultz, Melchior Wiegner, David Meschter,170 and Christopher Schultz as well as

164 George Anders and 41 other Schwenkfelders to the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures, November 13, 1756, in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 187–9, here, 188. 165 For negotiations by Christopher Schultz and Caspar Kriebel, trustees, with Israel Pemberton, see, for example, Caspar Kriebel and Christopher Schultz to Israel Pemberton, May 13, 1757, in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 205–6. 166 For the participation of Schwenkfelder deputies at the conferences (peace negotiations with the Delaware Indians) in Lancaster in spring 1757 and in Easton in summer 1757, see Learned (ed.), “Anmerkungen [II]”, 52; Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 208–10 (July 28–August 5, 1757); Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 17–18. 167 For the Schwenkfelders and the ransom for prisoners, see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 146–7; MacMaster, Conscience, 83, 149–50 (Document 69); Thayer, Pemberton, 173 n 10. 168 See the advertisement of the Brigadier General John Stanwix of the British Army, May 4, 1759, in Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 238–9. 169 See Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 238–40 (June 11, 16, 30, 1757). 170 On David Meschter, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 67.

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some other Schwenkfelders promised assistance.171 The latter went to Reading in Berks County as a negotiator to enter into contracts with Weiser. In summary therefore, it can be said that the Schwenkfelders were involved in the burdens of the French and Indian War in diverse ways. They gathered substantial monetary donations to compensate the Indians for wrongs they had endured. They supported settlers who had suffered adversity by means of establishing a self-defense organization. They were involved also in the transportation of provisions for regular troops. This makes clear that the Schwenkfelders did not pursue a radical pacifism. However, they did not participate directly in acts of war. Whenever one of them was called up for the citizens’ militia, they provided  a substitute with  a monetary payment. In this way they attempted to make a contribution for defensive protection of people and their property without taking up arms themselves. Christopher Schultz, at this time the leading representative of the Schwenkfelders, remarked: “We all have willingly helped bear the burden and expenses in the townships, whatever happened to someone”; yet they avoided personally laying their hands on the enemy, and every time arranged “for a person [sc. a substitute] against payment, when it became their turn [sc. to go to war]”.172 In Pennsylvania the authorities’ understanding of the Schwenkfelders doubtlessly experienced a modification due to the Colonial Wars with their great political and social challenges. The political ethics of most Schwenkfelders became more nuanced. Yet among them there were substantial differences. Their social and political engagement now ranged from an active participation in political matters to a reserved or even skeptical attitude toward everything political. In this connection it is also noteworthy that during the Colonial Wars, indeed up to the formal end of the American War of Independence between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies of North America in September 1783 (Treaty of Paris), not a single Schwenkfelder had held a higher political office. However, some Schwenk­ felders, e.g., Christopher (Christoph) Reinwald,173 Melchior Schubert,174 John (Johannes (Hans) Heinrich) Yeakel (Jäckel), and David Schultz, had assumed on a local or community level — usually for a rather short time — very small appointments or public responsibilities. In the case of David Schultz it was  a matter especially of road construction projects, which were offered to him as a surveyor. On March 6, 1769, Christopher Schultz wrote to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze175 in Silesia: “In all of our townships we accept — like other Pennsylvania inhabitants — civil offices (“Civile Aemter”), i. e., we just take things as they come”.176 As  a reason 171 For the provision of transport wagons for the troops of the British General Stanwix by some Schwenkfelders, see Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 146; Weaver, Schwenkfelders, 14. 172 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [I]”, 52. Cf. Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 177–8. 173 On Christopher Reinwald, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 630–1 (E 44). 174 On Melchior Schubert, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1152–3 (E 75). 175 On Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, see p. 139 n 15. 176 Christopher Schultz to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, March 6, 1769, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, VIII–XVII (XVI–XVII postscript), here, XVI; following quotation ibid.

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for their reluctance about assuming higher public offices Schultz mentioned in this letter the fear of limiting or losing their “freedom” by doing that. He wrote: “As for higher office, we stay away from it, not because we think it wrong, but because we prefer freedom”. At that time, therefore, the Schwenkfelders — with few exceptions — did not truly intercede actively in political affairs in a creative way. Due to the Colonial Wars the vast majority of Schwenkfelder immigrants underwent  a noticeable change in their attitude to social and political issues. However, their political ethics did not undergo a substantially greater modification until during the years from the Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies (1776) to the end of the American War of Independence (1783). This development is — on account of the time frame of this study — no longer a topic of this presentation.

VIII. Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia under Prussian Sovereignty

As described,  a total of only about 200 Schwenkfelders decided to emigrate to America between 1731 and 1737. Therefore the far greater number of the Schwenk­ felders remained in Silesia or fled to Upper Lusatia. From there  a part of them returned to their homeland after Silesia had come under Prussian sovereignty in 1740. The history of these Schwenkfelders who remained in their Silesian homeland or returned there can only be sketched here.1 This overview will be focused on the guiding cognitive interest of this study: what significance and consequence did the migration of a few hundred Schwenkfelders to America actually have for their fellow believers who remained behind in the Silesian homeland?

1. Guarantees for Individual Freedom of Faith and Conscience —  Edicts of King Frederick II of Prussia After the unexpected death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI on October 20, 1740, King Frederick II of Prussia marched into Silesia with an army of 27,000 troops on December 16 without  a declaration of war. In regard to the occupation of Silesia — which had belonged to Austria since 1526 — the young ambitious King claimed old titles which he thought could be inferred from the inheritance pact of Duke Frederick II of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau with the House of Brandenburg in 1537, the so-called Liegnitzer Erbverbrüderung. By the end of January 1741 Austrian troops were driven out of Silesia.

Ill. 15 Edict by Frederick II, King of Prussia, for the Schwenkfelders (1742)

1 For the history of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia during Prussian sovereignty, see Hensel, Kirchen-Geschichte, 737–9; Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 48–50; Weigelt, Tradition, 265–76; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 170–9.

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When King Frederick II of Prussia was informed of the imperial expulsion order of the Schwenkfelders just  a few weeks after his occupation of Silesia, he ordered his Feldkriegskommissariat — a wartime office for supplying and equipping troops — to publish a decree for their protection. In this decree, dated May 8, 1741, the “mandated emigration and extirpation” was suspended.2 The Schwenkfelders were to be tolerated until other instructions are forthcoming in Silesia with “that freedom”, which they, some years ago, i. e., before the establishment of the Jesuit mission, had possessed under Habsburg sovereignty. With this decree the Schwenkfelders had regained their earlier legal status, i. e., they were legally integrated again into the Lutheran Church. They were in no way to be tolerated or even recognized as an independent religious community. Only individual freedom of religion and conscience — within the scope of the tenets of the Peace of Westphalia — was guaranteed to them. King Frederick II was insistent on strict obedience to the tenets of the Peace of Westphalia, because at that time he still intended to negotiate with Empress Maria Theresa, who succeeded to the Habsburg throne, over a voluntary surrender of Silesia. To approach the staunchly Catholic monarch — who is said to have designated Silesia as the most precious jewel in her crown — with such a request would be pointless from the outset if he had blindly ignored the tenets of the Peace of Westphalia. On the other hand, the Prussian King was concerned about the economic prosperity of the Silesian areas he had occupied. Therefore he was very interested in the retention of the Schwenkfelders who had not yet emigrated from their homeland. When some Schwenkfelders returned to their Silesian villages from Upper Lusatia after the Prussian occupation of Silesia, they encountered difficulties. Their former houses, into which they wanted to move again, had been acquired meanwhile, in part, by purchase or taken into possession illegally by Catholics or Lutherans. Therefore, they turned to Minister Ludwig Wilhelm von Münchow, President of the Kriegs- and Domänenkammer in Glogau and Breslau, with their grievances. These two central administrative agencies were established in place of the Feldkriegskommissariat and now — in peacetime — formed the main court of the state administration in Silesia. Münchow informed the King directly in a letter about the Schwenkfelders’ complaints. Thereupon Frederick II delegated him and the Silesian Minister of Justice Samuel von Cocceji in a handwritten letter with the preparation of an edict.3 In his letter he also provided very precise details about the content. Just two weeks later, on March 8, 1742, at his headquarters, which, at that time, was in Selowitz in Moravia, the King

2 The decree by King Frederick II of Prussia on May 8, 1741, is printed in Hensel, KirchenGeschichte, 738; Kabelbach, Schwenkfelds, 49. The following quotations ibid. For the decree, see Weigelt, “Friedrich II”, 232–5. 3 See Kabinettsorder König Friedrich II. von Preußen to Ludwig Wilhelm von Münchow, February 23, 1742, GStA PK Berlin, I. HA Geheimer Rat, Rep. 96, B, Nr. 25, fol. 48r–v.

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signed the edict “regarding the accommodation and placement of the so-called Schwenkfelders”.4 This edict was an offer for the repatriation of the Schwenkfelders. First of all, in the edict religious intolerance was firmly rejected. It is contrary to reason and contrary to the spirit of Christianity to pressure the conscience of the subjects and to persecute them “on account of one or another erroneous doctrine of faith”, so long as the “main principles of the Christian religion” are not denied. Secondly, the Schwenkfelders who are willing to return are assured that they will get back their farms and houses free of charge excluding those farms and houses which had been lawfully acquired in the meantime by new owners. Thus the Schwenkfelders were completely blocked from claiming or suing for old possessions. Nevertheless, all Schwenkfelders who wanted to settle in their former home villages or in other “districts and villages” as well, were assured that they would be “advised of farms” and they would be provided a “good accommodation”. They could become residents in other cities, too. Moreover, they were even promised special privileges such as free building sites and a multi-year release from property taxes. This offer was made not only to the Schwenkfelders who had fled from their Silesian homeland to nearby Upper Lusatia, but also to those who had emigrated to America. Of the latter not  a single person decided to return. Understandably enough, the fellow believers who remained behind in Silesia had vague hopes that they would return home. The Schwenkfelders who had emigrated to America were, of course, thankful for the offer to be repatriated, but profound misgivings held them back from making the return. Most of all they probably feared recruitment for the Prussian army upon their return to Silesia and induction for military service. At that time military service was for them “all things that belong to the Devil’s Kingdom”.5 The invitation to repatriate did not appeal to the American immigrants, secondly, because in the meantime they had already begun to establish themselves in the new homeland, which ensured them freedom of religion and was similar to the old one in landscape and climate. Last but not least, acute economic hardship did not cause the Schwenkfelders to accept the Prussian King’s repatriation offer. Only relatively few of those Schwenkfelders remaining in Upper Lusatia returned to Silesia. Among these were, for example, Friedrich Bormann6, who had settled in 4 An original print of this edict of March 8, 1742, is located in GStA PK Berlin, I. HA Geheimer Rat, Rep. 46, B, Nr. 131, Fasz. 2, Nr. 5 (unpag.); following quotations, ibid. The edict is printed in Gesamlete Nachrichten, vol. 3, part 25, 2–4; [Hempel & Seyfart], Helden-, Staats- und Lebens-Geschichte, 581–82; [Jähne], Erinnerung, 34–6; [Köpke], Nachricht, 2–3. For the edict, see Weigelt, “Friedrich II.”, 235–9. 5 Hans Christoph Hübner to Rosina Scharffenberg, December 1748, SLHC Pennsburg, VOC H 6. 6 On Friedrich Bormann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 16. According to his passport (Berthelsdorf, May 5, 1752) Friedrich Bormann was married to Rosina and had four children.

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Ill. 16 Passport for Friedrich Bormann for the purpose of returning to Silesia (1753)

Berthelsdorf after fleeing from Silesia; he was a brandy distiller by profession. It was not until spring 1752 that he finally made up his mind to return to Silesia together with his wife Rosina and their children. For this purpose he received  a passport issued by Erdmuthe Dorothea von Zinzendorf herself.7

2. Religious and Social Life of a Shrinking Minority The relatively few Schwenkfelders who returned to their Silesian homeland from Upper Lusatia together with their fellow believers who had always stayed there could not help to nurture Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia to  a new blossoming. The general political and societal conditions for doing this had been completely favorable. Of course, the Schwenkfelders had to allow the Lutheran pastors in their villages to perform official acts, i. e., baptisms, marriages, and funerals according to the decree of May 1741 by King Frederick II of Prussia; but otherwise they could enjoy their private freedoms of religion and conscience. They could 7 Friedrich Borrmann’s [Bormann’s] passport for him as well as his wife Rosina and their four children, dated May 5, 1752, is in SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 2 Box, VS 2. Cf. Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 197. Since there were several Schwenkfelders at the time with the surname Bormann (see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 17, 348, 418, 466, 918, 1176), it is certain that in the case of Borrmann on the passport the clerk (Paul Schneider) who filled out the passport in Berthelsdorf wrote or heard it incorrectly.

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hold conventicles without hindrance and were not forced to participate in worship services or in church life. On account of their religious belief they no longer suffered discrimination as they did earlier, especially during the Jesuit mission. In 1776, for example, Christoph Groh8 reported to America: “Now we are not considered to be as despicable as at the time of the mission. I am seen by the nobleman, the pastor, and the village mayor like any other person.”9 Schwenkfelder funerals, on the other hand, seem to have escalated occasionally to polemical invectives. The funeral sermon for Melchior Warmer, who died on August 11, 1771, and was buried on the fourteenth in the new Lutheran cemetery in Harpersdorf, can serve as an example.10 With reference to the last two lines of the first strophe of the hymn of eternity “Who knows how near my end may be” by ­Ämilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt the Harpersdorfer pastor, Johann Ephraim Weissig, put his funeral sermon under the motto “God’s love, Christ’s blood, make my end good.”11 The pastor, as Carl Ehrenfried Heintze reported to America, first of all presented in detail that forgiveness of sin and  a blessed end — through the blood of Christ — can be gained only through God’s Word and the Sacraments as means of grace. “Finally”, Heintze derisively wrote in his letter, “the blood of Christ became very biased. Whoever did not receive the same [sc. the blood of Christ] by means of God’s Word and the Holy Sacraments, would be in  a critical situation; and he [sc. the pastor] admonished those present to heed their proper use [sc. of Word and Sacraments]; he explained, too, how people could achieve — by and with those means — forgiveness of all of their sins and become assured of their eternal salvation. He could not say very much about the deceased [i. e., Schwenkfelder] because he knew nothing about him. Perhaps God, nevertheless, had been merciful toward him in his last hour.”12 In spite of favorable religious and societal conditions Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia gradually became religiously less and less distinctive and socially less and less relevant. What were the reasons for this steady decline? First of all, it should be noted that more or less all of the leading Schwenkfelders had emigrated to America. Those Schwenkfelders who remained at home and also those Schwenkfelders

8 On Christoph Groh, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 270, 940. 9 Christoph Groh to Christopher Schultz, March 17, 1776, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 229–33, here, 230–1. 10 No further biographical data are known about Melchior Warmer. Warner’s funeral took place on August 14, 1771; pastor Johann Ephraim Weissig (1721–1804). On Johann Ephraim Weissig, see Goldmann, Harpersdorf, 36–7. He was a pastor in Harpersdorf for 44 years. 11 “Mein Gott, ich bitt’ durch Christi Blut: // Mach’s nur mit meinem Ende gut” (“My God, for Jesus’ sake I pray // Thy peace may bless my dying day”) is the closing of the first strophe of the hymn “Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende!” (“Who knows how near my end may be”) by Ämilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Translation from German to English by Catherine Winkworth in 1858; see Chorale book for England, no. 187. Cf. BWV 27. 12 Carl Ehrenfried Heintze to Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, August 22, 1771, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 92–8, here, 96.

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who repatriated from Upper Lusatia were mainly old and widowed persons. In 1768 the number of those in this area of Silesia who considered themselves to be Schwenkfelders had fallen to  a total of forty-four. Among them were only  a few families with children or adolescents. When these reached marriageable age, it was almost impossible for them to find  a Schwenkfelder partner. They either had to remain single or marry a Lutheran. In the latter case contacts with their previous fellow believers generally became less frequent or stopped altogether. Secondly, Schwenkfeldianism, whose social structure had clearly bottomed out, was no longer attractive. The Schwenkfelders were by now almost exclusively cottagers, i. e., owners of small houses with little garden plots, and harvesters, who carved out  a meager living while pursuing mainly spinning as  a sideline. Their level of education had clearly declined, as the correspondence with their fellow believers in America shows. Their letters were stylistically awkward and spelling substandard. There is hardly any mention in their correspondence about political, social, or cultural news. Thirdly, their former basic religious concern, the realization of the New Man, was no longer very active among them. Symptomatic of this trend was the fact that the religious meetings, which earlier served them especially by promoting piety, hardly ever took place any more. That is why the Schwenkfelders who had emigrated to America repeatedly entreated their fellow believers to meet together and make an effort “now and then or at regular intervals” to come together with “praying, reading, singing, reminding or admonishing one another like our ancestors, the devotees of J. C.”, did in the days of old.13 On the other hand, the disappearance of their former most important concern revealed itself outwardly in that they gave up their earlier traditional reservation toward other villagers and no longer rejected all festivities and revelries. They also discarded their traditional simple grey garb. Johann Adam Hensel, at that time a Lutheran pastor in Neudorf on the Gröditzberg, summarized on the basis of his observations over a number of years: Their old religious fervor has almost entirely waned among them, for they find themselves in groups of people where young people enjoy themselves, they no longer set themselves off especially by their very old-fashioned manner of dress, by which they could be recognized formerly, rather they dressed themselves like the other village farmers and lived with the other Lutherans in friendly company.14

Toward the end of the 60s, however, for some years it seemed — of course deceptively — as if the meager number of Schwenkfelders in Silesia could grow 13 Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania to Schwenkfelders in Silesia, June 16, 1767, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 14–20, here, 15 and VC 4–17, 7–14, here 8–9. The abbreviation “J. C.” in the quotation means very likely Jesus Christus. However, the phrase “devotees of J. C.” in the quotation is probably an allusion to early followers of Caspar Schwenckfeld; thanks to L. Allen Viehmeyer for bringing this to my attention. 14 Hensel, Kirchen-Geschichte, 739.

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once again. Around 1765 Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, very receptive to religion and metaphysical questions, joined them.15 For about a decade he swept the little group along mightily, but spread a lot of unrest, too. Heintze was the son of a Lutheran Amtmann, i. e., official, in Probsthain, whose office was akin to that of  a bailiff. He was an engraver and  a canvas printer by profession. After a long search for the truth in Calvinism, Catholicism, and Lutheranism, he had — according to his own account — become aware of Schwenckfeld in a dream. He delved into Schwenckfeld’s books which he borrowed, experienced a religious awakening, and with his mother Eva, his siblings, and relatives, joined the Schwenkfelders. Quite soon afterwards, he became their spokesman. He also maintained a major correspondence with their fellow believers in America, primarily with Christopher Schultz16 and Christopher Kriebel.17 Due to his ascetic piety and intellectual ability, he seemed to these two men to be the bearer of hope for the languishing and shrinking Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia. In regard to the “beloved brother” Heintze, Christopher Kriebel wrote therefore in 1769 from Pennsylvania to his Silesian fellow believers, we could not help but mention him for your sake. We see in the letters which we received that he is a man full of love, awarded, too, with a wonderful knowledge of Christian doctrine as well as a special gift for speaking and writing. And you others, who have been raised on Schwenckfeld’s teachings, but now are seriously declining in number so much so that it appeared that the end was nearly at hand, ponder and consider what is God’s plan with this H[eintze]. Whether he might not be a gift from God to uplift you languished and totally discouraged people, to lift up Schwenckf[eld’s] teaching from the dunghill again, to seek faithfully Christ’s honor, to bestow his love in admonishing you.18

Incidentally, the letters by Schultz and Kriebel to Heintze afford valuable insights into the religious and economic as well as cultural life of the Schwenkfelders in colonial Pennsylvania during the second half of the eighteenth century.19 Schultz, for example, reports in  a letter20 dated March 6, 1769, the following about the construction and installation of  a lightning protection system in Pennsylvania 15 On Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, see Schultz, “Historische Anmerkungen [I]“, 56–8; Learned (ed.), “Historische Anmerkungen [II]”, 60–1; Weigelt, Tradition, 272–5; Weigelt, Von Schlesien nach Amerika, 176–7. For Heintze’s religious development, see Carl Ehrenfried Heintze to Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, May 1765, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 9–14, here, 10–11. 16 On Christopher Schultz, see p. 116 n 98. 17 On Christopher Kriebel, see p. 117 n 106. 18 Christopher Kriebel to Schwenkfelders in Silesia, February 28, 1769, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 39–54, here, 49. 19 In the SLHC Pennsburg there are several letters (copies) sent by Christopher Schultz and Christopher Kriebel to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze; in most cases multiple copies exist. 20 Christopher Schultz to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, March 6, 1769, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, VIII–XVII (XVI–XVII postscript); following quotation XVII. In the quotation the German term of respect “Herr” in front of “Doctor Franklin” was translated even though the term “Mister” in front of “Doctor” is not used in today’s English.

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at that time: “Men [sc. the house owners or workmen] plant [i. e., mount] thin, iron rods with brass tips, rising up about the height of a man, over the gables of their houses. From these [sc. rods] a strong, iron wire runs on the outside of the exterior wall from the gable down into the ground. These brass tips draw the electrical fire of the lightning to themselves when it comes close to the building. Thus it travels — according to its magnetic nature — along this iron wire down into the ground, causing no damage. Men [i. e., Pennsylvania inhabitants or settlers] generally consider it a Probatum [i. e., a proven tool]. Our Mister Doctor Franklin, who is currently in London as the agent for this province [i. e., an advocate for the colony of Pennsylvania] and one of the greatest philosophers [i. e., natural scientists] of this time, developed these arts [i. e., skills of dealing] with electrical fire.” It is noteworthy that Christopher Schultz wrote this letter to his fellow-believers in Silesia — and that shows how intellectually alert Schultz was — one year before the first lightning rod was installed in continental Europe, in Germany on the tower of the St Jacobi Church in Hamburg. The euphoria of the Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders for Heintze subsided, however, at the beginning of the 70s and finally changed to reticence and rejection. This turnaround was connected with the printing of the “Erläuterung für Herrn Caspar Schwenckfeld, und die Zugethanen seiner Lehre” (“A vindication of Caspar Schwenckfeld and of the adherents of his faith”).21 This voluminous book is actually a compendium, i. e., a collection of writings. After the dedication and preface22 it contains — from the Schwenkfelder point of view — an extensive introduction to Schwenckfeld’s life and theology as well as an apologetic description of the history of the Schwenkfelders in Glatz County and especially in the Principalities of Liegnitz and Jauer up to 1740, i. e., up to the occupation of Silesia by Prussia. In the appendix to the “Erläuterung” are, first of all,  a biographical sketch of Schwenckfeld23 and two accounts of his death.24 The biography and the reports of his end of life are based on the tract “Kurtze Lebens-Beschreibung” first printed in 1607.25 Further, the appendix contains the report mentioned above by ­Christopher Schultz about the Schwenkfelder migration from Altona to Philadelphia in

21 On the publication history, content outline, and summation of major arguments laid out in the “Erläuterung” 1771, see Schultz, “History”; [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 7–14 (Historical and critical introduction), here, 7–12. 22 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, A 2r–4v [Widmung], A 5r–7v (Nothwendiger Vorbericht an den Leser). Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 21–3 [Dedication], 25–7 (Prefatory note to the reader). 23 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 438–41 (Caspar Schwenckfeld). Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 307–9 (Caspar Schwenckfeld). 24 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 441–2 (Abschied Caspar Schwenckfelds), 443–50 (Endschaft und Auflösung). Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 310–12 (Caspar Schwenckfeld’s death), 313–19 (The last days of Caspar Schwenckfeld). 25 For the authorship and printings of this tract, see CS, vol. XVII, 1011–32, Document MCLXXI–MCLXXXVI.

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173426 and a letter by the physician and lay preacher George de Benneville to the Schwenkfelders in Silesia from the year 1769.27 Why did the Schwenkfelders decide in 1768 at a meeting in Skippack to publish a voluminous book about Schwenckfeld’s life and theology as well as the history of Schwenkfeldianism?28 Such  a book, based on numerous printed and manuscript sources, seemed to them to be urgently needed because so many erroneous or even untrue opinions were circulating about Caspar Schwenckfeld and the Schwenk­ felders.29 Deliberately the Schwenkfelders entitled their book “Erläuterung”, which means, viz., an illuminating and clarifying account. The Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders were directly inspired to write the “Erläuterung” when they read the “Helden- Staats- und Lebens-Geschichte […] Friedrichs des Andern” by Christian Friedrich Hempel and Johann Friedrich Seyfart. This panegyric work had been in print since 1746 in two volumes and editions. The second volume contained — in the first edition of 1747 as well as the second edition of 1758 — not only the edict for the Schwenkfelders by Frederick  II, but also some inexact or even false statements about Caspar Schwenckfeld and the Schwenkfelders.30 In Skippack Christopher Schultz, doubtlessly the most competent Schwenkfelder at that time, was entrusted with the composition of the “Erläuterung”. He was to be assisted by Caspar Kriebel,31 Christopher Kriebel, as well as Balthasar Hoffmann.32 The latter was a very important contemporary witness at the time of the Schwenkfelder persecution in Silesia during the Jesuit mission. After the labor on the “Erläuterung” had lain dormant for months, it was hastily taken up in December 1768. Already by mid-February 1769 the manuscript was finished and copied by Caspar Kriebel,  a cousin of Schultz. Together with a lengthy cover letter33 addressed to Heintze the copy was taken to Bethlehem at the beginning of March. From there it was carried by Moravians to Silesia, because it was to be printed there, not in America. In the cover letter Heintze was asked not only to assume the proofreading, but requested expressly to carry out necessary cuts or additions. The Schwenkfelders even gave him a free hand in regard to the selection of a printer. He was to make 26 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 450–61 (Reise-Beschreibung von Altona bis Pensylvanien [sic]). Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 321–30 (An account of the voyage of the Silesian emigrants from Altona to Pennsylvania). 27 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 461–4 (Sende-Schreiben von Bristol in Pensylvanien [sic]). Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 331–33 (A letter from Bristol, Pennsylvania). 28 See Learned (ed.), “Historische Anmerkungen [II]”, 56–8. 29 Cf. [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 1–4. 30 [Hempel & Seyfart], Helden-, Staats- und Lebens-Geschichte, 575–82. The Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders assumedly read the second volume of the second edition; see [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, A 2v–A 3r. 31 On Caspar Kriebel, see p. 129 n 162. 32 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 45 n 122. 33 Christopher Schultz to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, March 8, 1769, SLHC, VC 4–17, 52–8.

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a contract with this printer and discuss with him whether it was appropriate to dedicate the book to King Frederick II of Prussia in order to thank him for his 1742 edict, in which the emigrated Schwenkfelders had been invited to return to Silesia. If so, Heintze was to draft such a dedication and consult a lawyer, who could put the foreword into a form that would not give ground for complaint or legal action. Heintze, who received the manuscript in mid-October 1769, not only took on all of the tasks assigned to him, but also obtained in Glogau the mandatory printing license.34 By taking on these multiple tasks he had totally overwhelmed himself. After the official printing license had been received and the printer Heinrich Christian Müller in Jauer had declared to be ready for the production of the book, the printing of 610 copies began at the end of 1770. The printing, however, was repeatedly interrupted on account of financial problems and other more profitable printing jobs as well as ecclesiastical objections to the printing of that book. Only after the Silesian Schwenkfelders had declared themselves ready to assume all costs was the printing completed in April 1771.35 The consignment lay in the hands of Gottfried Wilhelm Seidel, book dealer in Breslau and Leipzig. As planned, the “Erläuterung” was dedicated to King Frederick II of Prussia, by whose “public royal mandates” their “religion” had received  a “free and untrammeled exercise” [sc. in the sense of “permission to exercise their religion freely and untrammeled”] by “the first Sovereign Prince and Crowned Head”.36 Of course, this statement was — in that formulation — imprecise and indeed wrong. In the fall of 1771, as the first 100 unbound copies of the “Erläuterung” arrived in America, they unleashed among the Schwenkfelders there not thankful joy, but rather vehement displeasure. They were indignant over the form of the dedication, over the editorial insertions — especially in the appendix — and cuts that had been undertaken as well as the numerous printing errors. Especially appalling was the appended “Aria” that appeared at the end of the book.37 This poem came from Heintze’s pen. In fifteen clumsy strophes the Schwenkfelders were celebrated panegyrically and hagiographically as faith heroes; on the other hand, the Lutheran 34 For the legally required request for  a printing license, see Acta 13 (1749), 521–4 (“Edict wegen der wieder hergestellten Censur derer Bücher und Schriften, wie auch wegen des Debits [Absatz, Vertrieb, Verkauf] ärgerlicher Bücher, so auserhalb des Landes verleget werden”). 35 The print shop of Enos Benner in Sumneytown PA, released a second, improved edition of the 1771 Erläuterung in 1830. An English translation of the first edition was printed in Allentown, Pa., in 1942 with the title “A Vindication of Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig […]”. Translator and editor was Elmer Schultz Gerhard; publisher was The Board of Publication of the Schwenckfelder [sic] Church. In 1776 a pirated edition of the first edition appeared in Leipzig under the title “Die Wesentliche Lehre des Herrn Caspar Schwenckfeld und seiner Glaubensgenossen, sowohl aus der Theolgie als bewährten und glaubwürdigen Documenten erläutert. Nebst ihrer Geschichte bis 1740. Ihrem Glaubensbekenntnisse, und ihren Streitigkeiten [et]c”. The pirated edition was expanded by a “Vernunfts-Aria” (469–72) in which reason (rationality) is praised in 10 strophes as divine. Bookseller of this pirated edition was Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn in Breslau. 36 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, A 2v–3v. Cf. [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 21. 37 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 465–8.

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and Catholic Churches, especially their clergy, were vilified and diabolized in the worst way. Therefore, the Schwenkfelders in America insisted immediately that the horribly embarrassing “Aria” be removed from all the books that had not yet been bound or delivered. An index of printing errors, which Christopher Schultz compiled and inserted in every copy, listed 463 of the most striking errors. The countless number of letter transpositions, i. e., typographical errors would be hopefully “resolved”, as mentioned in the insert, by the attentive reader himself.38 The sale of the book was abysmal. In 1776 Christoph Groh reported to America: “the “Erläuterung” is read now and then; the people borrow it from one another. But nobody wants to buy it. I’m sorry that it is not selling.”39 In Pennsylvania the “Erläuterung” aroused irritation not only among the Schwenkfelders but also among the Lutherans. Mühlenberg, the mouthpiece for the Lutherans, judged this book to be “warmed up polemics and squabbles in which God’s Word is twisted and perversely used”.40 He feared, that this work, with which the Schwenkfelders wanted to clarify and illuminate their history and theology, could rip open old wounds. The severely strained relationship of the Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders to Heintze, however, soon grew even more difficult when they found out that he was no longer content to read the works of Schwenckfeld, but was looking into Para­ celsian, spiritualistic, Boehmist books and even into works of the Early Enlightenment. A rift developed, however, when he began “namely to venerate and recommend Theophrastus [Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus], Boehme, Gichtel and Leade”.41 While the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania in regard to the works of Jacob Boehme and Jane Leade in a letter to Heintze only noted that they “did not agree with Schwenk[feld’s] teachings and foundations”;42 they categorically repudiated the works by Johann Christian Edelmann and sternly issued their fellow-believers in Silesia a warning. The writings of this early proponent of the Enlightenment, so they explained in a letter to them, were not only incompatible with those of Hoburg and Schwenckfeld, “but straight away contradicted some fundamental articles of Christ[ian] faith”.43 In regard to the warning about Johann Christian Edelmann the Schwenkfelders referred to his “Unschuldige Wahrheiten”, his first publication, which appeared between 1735 and 1743 in fifteen “Discussions”. There, in the eighth “Discussion”, 38 [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, after 468 (unpag.). 39 Christoph Groh to Christopher Schultz, March 17, 1776, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 229–33, here, 232. 40 Mühlenberg, Journals, vol. 3, 563 (September, 19, 1783). 41 Christopher Schultz to Christoph Groh, July 1, 1779, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, ­LXI– LXVII, here, LXI. 42 Christopher Kriebel to Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, February 16, 1771, SLCH Pennsburg, VC 3–7, XXIX–XXXII, here, XXXI. 43 Christopher Kriebel to Schwenkfelders in Silesia, December 1774, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 170–85, here, 176.

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as they expressed their opinion, “the merits of Chr[ist] were dealt with in a very despicable a[nd] contempt[uous] way”.44 In this eighth “Discussion”, which appeared in print in 1735 and belongs actually to Edelmann’s radical pietistical period, he polemicized — referring to the radical pietist Johann Konrad Dippel — passionately against the satisfactory concept of justification. People ought not to imagine God, according to Edelman, as “a vengeful tyrant”, who “could not have been reconciled other than with the blood of this own son”.45 Rather, God feels “absolutely no enmity” against mankind; therefore, offering him satisfaction is not necessary.46 The “enmity” is rather on the “side of the people”, who mistrust the “fountain of love”, i. e., God, their “loving father”.47 Therefore, God does not have to be reconciled with mankind, but rebellious ­mankind with God. This reconciliation takes place through Jesus Christ. It was He who, namely, “taught through His example how we should become free of sin through obedience to the faith [Rom 1:5; 16:26]”.48 Of course, man “never” had — by his own strength — ability to this obedience in faith, but rather he first had “to receive” this ability “from God through conversion in the new birth”.49 If that happened, then the born-again people could practice self-denial and — like Christ — “sacrifice their outer life” and return “again to God their origin”.50

3. Extinguishment of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia After Heintze’s death on December 31, 1775, Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia became more and more marginal. It lost its religious identity for the most part and no longer had any appeal. It had almost no social relevance as well. The correspondence which the Schwenkfelders remaining in Silesia had with their fellow believers and blood relatives in America became increasingly irregular, which was also limited by the Napoleonic Wars. It revolved more or less around family matters, primarily illnesses and deaths of relatives. Occasionally it had to do with the buying up in Silesia of still existent Schwenkfeldiana, for which their fellow believers provided financial means. A resigned, morbid feeling prevailed in their letters. It was not a swansong, i. e., a beautiful song just before an end, but rather the pitiful closing remarks of a constantly shrinking minority. People suspected or realized that Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia was unstoppably approaching its end. 44 Christopher Kriebel to Schwenkfelders in Silesia, December 1774, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 3–7, 170–85, here, 183. 45 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 715 [8th Discussion]. 46 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 717 [8th Discussion]. 47 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 718 [8th Discussion]. 48 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 722 [8th Discussion]. 49 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 723 [8th Discussion]. 50 Edelmann, Wahrheiten, vol. 6, 717 [8th Discussion].

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In 1826 the farmer Melchior Dorn51 died in Harpersdorf, formally the bustling center of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia. He was married to Rosina née Klemt, with whom he had a son and a daughter; both of whom survived him. In Lower Harpersdorf he owned a farm. According to a contemporary witness he was the last person who “still publically” called himself a Schwenkfelder.52 And so Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia, this once mighty side flow of the Reformation, was sociologically extinguished after almost exactly 300 years. Revealingly, the Schwenkfelders in America did not receive notice about the demise of Dorn for over three decades. In 1857 they inquired, namely, of the mayor of Probsthain, whether he could officially confirm their “hope” and assumption that Schwenkfelders were still living there in the area.53 For many Schwenkfelders “on this side of the Ocean”, they wrote, it would be the fulfilment of an “intimate wish” to find out, “whether and where in the district Schwenkfelders reside there”. As a result the pastor of Probsthain, Oswald Kadelbach, had to inform them that the last Schwenkfelder, Melchior Dorn, had already died on June 24, 1826, at 73 years of age; his grave was located in the Lutheran cemetery in Harpersdorf close to the church.54 Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia therefore underwent a nearly continuous decline after the end of the Jesuit mission. Even the individual freedom of religion and conscience guaranteed to the Schwenkfelders by King Frederick II of Prussia could not impede the decline. There were principally two causes which led to this gradual, but relentless ebbing and extinguishing of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. First and foremost, the flight and migration of a few hundred intensely devoted and energetic Schwenkfelders from their homeland were decisive for its fall. The bloodletting was qualitatively too high. Secondly, the numerically very small group of Schwenkfelders — in many cases elderly, sick, and single — could not demographically secure Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia. The few Schwenkfelders were not in  a position to ensure the continuity of Schwenk­ feldianism there. The birthrate was too low; the pedigree collapse was too great. Therefore, the migrations of the Schwenkfelders had not only great relevance for those who decided to go abroad, i. e., to America. The migrations also had grave implications for those who — for various reasons — decided to stay at home, i. e., in Silesia. Decisions for or against migrations are always ambivalent.

51 On Melchior Dorn, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 16, 18.  Dorn’s wing chair was found by Elmer Ellsworth Schultz Johnson 1906 in Harpersdorf and brought later (1919?) to Pennsylvania. The wing chair is now owned by the SLHC Pennsburg. 52 Kabelbach, Schwenkfelds, 50. 53 George Meschter, William Schultz, and Jacob Meschter to Bügermeisteramt in Probsthain, 1857, in Kadelbach, Schwenkfelds, 77–8; following quotations ibid. 54 See Oswald Kadelbach to Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, December 2, 1857, SLHC Pennsburg, VOC K 2.

IX. Migration and Faith. Risks and Opportunities

Exclusion, repression, persecution, and expulsion extensively dominated  —  as shown — the history of Schwenkfeldianism in Silesia since at least the middle of the sixteenth century. With these manifold measures, governments and ecclesiastical authorities proceeded against the Schwenkfelders. By those measures, their religious deviance and radical criticism of the church were to be punished and they were to be disciplined. When these punitive measures climaxed with the establishment of a Jesuit mission in 1719, several hundred of them decided in 1726 and in the following years to flee from Silesia to nearby Lutheran Upper Lusatia in the Electorate of Saxony. A few years later, however, in April 1734, the Schwenkfelders were ordered again in a decree issued by the Elector Frederick August II of Saxony to leave the country within a year. Exempt from that decree were, of course, those who had returned to the Lutheran Church in the meantime. Between 1731 and 1737 two hundred and four of them decided thereupon to migrate to Pennsylvania for the sake of their Schwenkfelder faith. In this English colony in North America they hoped it would be possible for them to confess and practice their faith freely and unhindered. Persecution and flight from their Silesian homeland to Upper Lusatia and the migration to America had affected the Schwenkfelders in rather varying ways in regard to their faith. In part, the persecutions and migrations caused them to give up their Schwenkfelder faith,1 i. e., to betray or to abandon their religious convictions; in part the persecutions and migrations caused the Schwenkfelders to modify, change, or even revise their Schwenkfelder faith; in part, the result of expulsion, flight, and migration was a strengthening and deepening of their Schwenkfelder belief. Below, these diverse developments will be clarified paradigmatically on the basis of some biographical sketches and reinforced by systematic points of view.

1 The verb “to give up” is used here neutrally, i. e., without any value judgement. It is used in the sense of “to put aside”. However, in specific context the verb “to give up” can take on the meaning “to betray and breach fidelity” or “to abandon and forsake”.

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1. Giving up Schwenkfelder Faith —  Betrayal and Abandonment In connection with persecution, flight, and migration, giving up the Schwenkfelder faith occurred among not a few Schwenkfelders. Openly or secretly they joined the Lutheran Church. In this connection it should be remembered that they were, in general, correctly considered by the governmental and ecclesiastical authorities as members of the Lutheran Church due to the baptism they ordinarily received there as infants. Furthermore a number of Schwenkfelders converted to Catholicism as well. Of course, this took place almost exclusively during the time of the Jesuit mission, i. e., between 1719 and 1740.2 Numerically these conversions to Catholicism were, incidentally, not very small. After all, priest Karl Xaver Regent noted with satisfaction in his statistics for the year 1739 — therefore one year before the end of the mission — that a total of 1007 Catholics, converts, and Catholic newcomers, now belonged to the Jesuit mission.3 The fact is, in any case, a significant number of Schwenkfelders gave up their Schwenkfelder faith and turned to the Lutheran Church or converted to Catholicism. What were the reasons for this behavior and how was it understood by the Schwenkfelders? Was it a case of betrayal, i. e., breach of fidelity, and apostasy, or was it a case of abandonment, i. e., forsaking and jettisoning a religious conviction, which had been useless for some time?

1.1 Betrayal — Breach of Fidelity and Apostasy After manifold hardships lasting for years and facing threatened expulsion, more than a few Schwenkfelders were ready to give up their Schwenkfelder faith in order not to have to suffer new reprisals constantly or even the loss of their homeland with deprivations and dangers to life and limb. The latter threatened them doubtlessly during flight, migration, and especially the long crossing over the Atlantic Ocean. The fact that this was the reason for giving up their faith by not a few Schwenk­ felders is shown in a letter, which had been directed to the Mennonites in Amsterdam at the beginning of April 1726 by the Schwenkfelders who had fled to Upper Lusatia.4 In answer to their question about the exact number of members, the Schwenkfelders informed them through Adam Wiegner5, namely, that during 2 For the Jesuit mission, which was established in 1719 for the catholicization of the Schwenkfelders, see p. 35–44. 3 See Schneider, “Jesuiten-Mission”, 39. 4 Adam Wiegner to [Daniel Hoovens (Mennonite in Amsterdam)], December 3, 1725, GA Amsterdam, PA 1120–1042; the following quotations ibid. 5 On Adam Wiegner, see p. 46 n 8.

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the time of the Jesuit mission, a “rather large portion” of the Schwenkfelders had “fallen away” and “become Lutheran”. They had not — like the faithful Schwenk­ felders — held out “unremittingly” for “the received knowledge of the truth [cf. Heb 10:26].” Despite their opportunistic and selfish return to the Lutheran Church they could not, however, as they had speculated, remain in Silesia. They had to migrate to Lutheran Saxony, too.6 Here they now wanted to stay forever. Since their “discharge”, as Wiegner continued in his letter, they “no longer have any contact with us”; nor did they previously support the petitions of the Schwenkfelder delegation to the Imperial Court in Vienna.7 Their giving up the “received knowledge of the truth” and their affiliation with the Lutheran Church had occurred accordingly with the expectation of being allowed to remain in their Silesian homeland and not having to set forth on the migration to foreign lands with all the imponderables and dangers. They were not ready to suffer persecution for the sake of their belief. They had betrayed their original faith. For Wiegner, in these years one of the Schwenkfelder spokespersons, giving up the religious conviction in this time of persecution meant not only  a simple turning away from Schwenkfelder faith, but betrayal of the “received knowledge of the truth” and breach of fidelity. It meant therefore ultimately nothing less than apostasy.

1.2 Abandonment — Forsaking and Jettisoning For other Schwenkfelders, who at that time in Silesia and in Upper Lusatia joined the Lutheran or the Catholic Church or later in America another denomination, it was, however, not a matter of betrayal or breach of fidelity, but rather the abandonment and forsaking of their Schwenkfelder faith. They gave it up because they were attached to it — strictly speaking — only out of mere convention or out of respect for their parents and family members. In this case giving up their traditional faith was actually a process of external relief and emancipation. Persecutions and mainly migrations provided all kinds of convenient opportunities to do so. Yet in this connection it is to be remembered, that  a relaxation or even an estrangement from their earlier religious behavior was observed by numerous Schwenkfelders already since the second half of the 17th century.8 Outwardly this was evident, among others, in that they often gave up more and more their former aloof manner toward worldly events, village entertainments, and modern clothing 6 In contrast to these Schwenkfelders, many other Schwenkfelders, who, at that time, either for opportunities or with conviction, had turned again to the Lutheran Church in their Silesian homeland, could definitely remain living in Silesia. 7 For the Schwenkfelder delegation which had been staying at the Imperial Court in Vienne since spring 1721 to plead for religious toleration, see p. 43–4. 8 For the relaxation of the earlier stanchness in the religious behavior of the Schwenkfelders during the second half of the seventeenth century, see p. 26–35.

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fashions. Significant representatives of the Schwenkfelders voiced complaints about this multiple times. For example, Martin John Jr9, the author of the first history of Schwenkfeldianism, sighed and lamented heavily about this in  a 1668 letter: “O my God! It is shameful how those Schwenkfelders, who “want and should be faithful”, spruce up their children to go to church to such an extent that “the clergy themselves make fun of them and say: They [sc. the Schwenkfelders] themselves don’t want to come to church but send their children in all their pomp and finery. Is that not justly ridiculed? The dancers and epicureans [i. e., hedonists] can then almost quite correctly say that those who call themselves Schwenkfelders have the worst and most mischievous children of all. I [sc. Martin John] have heard this and must blush with shame. When the Schwenkfelders just mentioned stroll around at weddings — where there are gun shots, shouts of joy, and musicians — the dancers and epicureans say: Look there! Look there! Are they better than we are? There is no proof there that they [i. e., the Schwenkfelders] are better than we [i. e., the Lutherans] are”.10 It is to be assumed, therefore, that for  a fair number of Schwenkfelders an appreciable easing of their religious commitment had occurred even before the persecutions of the Jesuit mission, their flight from Silesia, and their migration to America. People clung to their Schwenkfelder faith frequently just out of family tradition or out of respect towards their ancestors. However, they clung to their traditional faith not out of personal conviction. When those Schwenkfelders who were already inwardly uprooted decided, nevertheless, to flee and migrate from Silesia, then that happened due to allegiance to their family members who were ready to migrate or because they simply followed the trend. In foreign lands these Schwenkfelders frequently found connections to other denominations and Christian communities, especially when they married nonSchwenkfelders.11 That was verifiably the case for some Schwenkfelders who had found refuge in Upper Lusatia, for example, the two daughters of the esteemed practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner, Eva and Maria, who married Lutherans in Görlitz and remained there.12 In Pennsylvania, too, there were repeatedly exogamic marriages among the Schwenkfelders in the first generation of settlers with members of other denominations and Christian communities.13

9 On Martin John Jr, see p. 32 n 67. 10 Martin John Jr to Heinrich Schütz, November 1, 1668, SLHC Pennsburg, VC 5–3, 1002–9, here 1008. 11 In no way does this assert that all Schwenkfelders who entered upon an exogamous unions in Upper Lusatia or in Pennsylvania had had only a loose bond to their Schwenkfelder belief. 12 Reference is to Melchior and Maria Heebner’s two daughters Eva and Maria. Eva married David Libtz in Görlitz (before April 1734); Maria married David Christoph Nicolai likewise in Görlitz (1735?). See Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 220 (E 17–1b). 13 For exogamous unions among the Schwenkfelders in the first settler generation, see Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 173–6; Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker connection”, 124.

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Migrations were therefore quite often the reason why Schwenkfelders cast off their traditional faith like worn-out clothing. They were devoted to it only because of tradition or out of respect for family members. This manner of giving up the faith was generally not understood among the Schwenkfelders as betrayal, i. e., breach of fidelity or apostasy. Rather it meant giving up an earlier religious belief, which already for a long time no longer had existential meaning for their life.

2. Alterations of Faith — Modification, Change, and Realignment Flight, expulsion, and migration resulted in many Schwenkfelders experiencing modifications, changes, or even transformations in their traditional faith and piety. Occasionally the transformations were so radical that there hardly seemed to be a connection to their former faith and piety anymore. What were the causes of these alterations, i. e., modifications, changes, or transformations, and how did they take place? The Schwenkfelders, in the countries where they found asylum and admittance after their flight from Silesia, i. e., in Upper Lusatia and Pennsylvania, encountered, first of all, new religious faiths and forms of piety. These encounters with members of other denominations, Christian communities, and religious loners were experienced firsthand principally in Pennsylvania. Here, the Schwenkfelders no longer lived in a confessionally homogeneous territory, but in a multireligious society with Quakers, Mennonites, Methodists, Moravians, Lutherans, Reformed, Catholics, and others. These encounters become everyday experiences. They led, as will be shown, partially to a modification of their traditional faith and piety, partially, too, to its change or even to its transformation. Naturally their encounters with members of other religious faiths and forms of piety were of quite diverse frequency and intensity. Especially numerous and lasting were the contacts with those religious loners and Christian communities where the spiritualistic tradition was of great relevance, viz., with the different mystic spiritualists and with the Quakers. However, the fact should not be overlooked that serious differences existed — particularly in soteriology and anthropology —  between the Schwenkfelders and the mystical spiritualists as well as especially the Quakers. Caspar Schwenckfeld had always emphasized that eternal salvation will be given by God to mankind — only from the outside — by grace through the Holy Spirit without the outer Word and Sacrament.14 In man himself there is no starting point or link for eternal salvation, i. e., no scintilla animae or spark of the soul, which must simply be ignited and also no Inner Light that can effortlessly be brought to illumination. Even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Schwenkfelders 14 For Caspar Schwenckfeld’s understanding of salvation, see i.a. Weigelt, Tradition, 36–46.

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essentially held fast to the extra nos of the Reformation — i. e., eternal salvation always comes from outside of ourselves — as their “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß” of 1718 shows.15 On the contrary, there was among the different mystic spiritualists as well as especially among the Quakers the concept of the divine scintilla animae, or of the Inner Light that is present in every person. Already in the case of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, the concept of the Inner Light is found in his “Journal”, compiled between the end of 1673 and the beginning of 1675 — with reference to John 9 — to some extent.16 This concept was then developed ­further doctrinally specifically by the Scottish Quaker scholar Robert Barclay, the distinguished theologian and apologist of Quakerism. In his “Theologiae Vere Christianae Apologia”, published in 1676 and appearing within two years for the first time in English under the title “Apology for the True Christian Divinity”, the doctrine of the “spiritual light, wherewith every man is enlightened” is treated in detail in the fifth and sixth Propositions.17 According to it, the “spiritual light […] is in every creature under heaven”.18 It preaches “in the hearts of all men, offering salvation unto them, and seeking to redeem them from their iniquities”.19 The message of salvation through Jesus Christ, who according to John 9 is the light of the world, is therefore also known to those people, to whom “the outward gospel was never preached”.20 Therefore Barclay — with reference to the Holy Scriptures as well as heathen authors such as Plato, Pythagoras, Plotin, Cicero, or Seneca — could state: “By this inward light many of the heathen philosophers were sensible of the loss received by Adam, though they knew not the outward history [sc. of the fall of man (Gen 3)]”.21 By that Barclay referred to the narrative of the eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden by the first man and woman, which was forbad by God and which brought sin into the entire world. “Also they had a knowledge and discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a remedy in them to deliver them from that evil seed, and the evil inclinations of their own hearts, though not under that particular denomination”. Despite this fundamental difference there were  a number of Schwenkfelders, who sympathized with or even tried to adapt the Quaker concepts of Inner Light to

15 For the Schwenkfelder “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß” of 1718, see p. 36 n 81. 16 See Fox, Journal 1973, vol. 1, 86–7; cf. ibid., 92. Cf. Fox, Journal 1952, vol. 1, 33: “Now the Lord hath opened to me by his invisible power how that every man was enlightened by the divine light of Christ; and I saw it shine through all.”; Fox, Aufzeichnungen, 22: “Der Herr offenbarte mir durch seine unsichtbare Kraft, daß ein jeder erleuchtet werde durch das heilige Licht Christi (Joh. 1,9). Und ich erkannte, daß es in allen leuchtet.” 17 Barclay, Apology 1678, 74–136 (§. I–XXVII); quotation ibid. (Contents of the Propositions, unpag.). For Robert Barclay’s doctrine of the Inner Light, see esp. Eeg-Olosfsson, Conception. 18 Barclay, Apology 1678, 115 (§. XXIII). 19 Barclay, Apology 1678, 116 (§. XXIII). 20 Barclay, Apology 1678, 116 (§. XXIII). 21 Barclay, Apology 1678, 132 (§. XXII); the following quotation ibid.

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some degree. This led them on various occasions to modifications, changes, or even to transformations of their Schwenkfelder doctrine and to religious realignment. In addition to encounters with other religious beliefs and forms of piety, the confrontation with new social and political conditions led many Schwenkfelders, secondly, to alterations in their traditional faith and piety. That was certainly not so much the case during their relatively short exile in Upper Lusatia. However, it was strengthened in the multiethnic and multicultural colonial Pennsylvania. In this regard the Colonial Wars, especially the French and Indian War, turned out to be a challenge in particular to the first settler generation.22 Through these military acts of war they felt compelled to mull over and revise their traditional understanding of government and their political ethics.

2.1 Modification Illustrated by the example of Christopher Wiegner, it will become clear how certain modifications in traditional faith took place in the case of some first generation Schwenkfelder settlers through encounters with other religious beliefs and forms of piety. Wiegner23, one of the most interesting figures among the Schwenkfelders who emigrated to America, had, as shown, already come into contact with representa­ tives of other religious beliefs and forms of piety during his sojourn in Upper Lusatia, especially with members of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine.24 In Pennsylvania, from the beginning, his contacts with members of other denominations and Christian communities as well as with religious loners multiplied. For example, he participated repeatedly in meetings here with the Schwarzenau Brethren or Tunkers (Dunkers, Dunkards); reciprocally, members of those groups visited him.25 The Schwarzenau Brethren or Dunkers had arisen out of radical pietism at the beginning of the eighteenth century near Berleburg in Schwarzenau and had soon spread out in southwestern Germany and in Switzerland. An initial group of them migrated to Pennsylvania in 1719. From these Schwarzenau Brethren  a splinter group (Siebentäger-Tunker or Seventh Day Dunkers), under the leadership of Conrad Beissel, broke away in 1728 and founded the semimonastic community Ephrata in Lancaster County in 1732. Wiegner had multiple contacts with these Seventh Day Dunkers.26 However, even in Pennsylvania Wiegner’s main relationship was still to the Moravians. This was the case particularly between 1736 and 1739 when 22 For the situation of the Schwenkfelders during the Colonial Wars, see p. 123–32. 23 On Christopher Wiegner, see p. 74 n 11. 24 For Christopher Wiegner’s close ties to Zinzendorf and August Gottlieb Spangenberg as well as to the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine during his sojourn in Upper Lusatia, see p. 76–7. 25 See Wiegner, Diary, 93 (October 31, 1734), 147–8 (October 24, 1737). 26 See Wiegner, Diary, 96 (September 1734), 119 (May 7, 1736), 133 (April 22, 1737), 148 (end of October/beginning of November 1737), 148 (November 4, 1737), 152 (July 12, 1738).

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Ill. 17 Christopher Wiegner’s friendship with Spangenberg; entry in Wiegner’s Diary (1734)

Spangenberg had taken up his lodging in Wiegner’s home and from 1740 to 1742 when Zinzendorf sojourned in Pennsylvania.27 Members of different denominations and Christian communities visited Wiegner almost constantly for shorter or longer stays. There was an endless coming and going of guests and visitors. Many of them plunged Wiegner into deep, religious crises, which were occasionally linked with emotional disturbances. For example, in July 1738 when five members of the Seventh Day Dunkers came for a visit.28 They categorically demanded that Wiegner renounce all of his property, if he wanted to join Jesus’ discipleship. In his diary he noted: The Sabbatarians told me that my life did not agree at all with the teachings of Jesus, that I must first sell all I had and give it to the poor [cf. Matt 19:21; Mark 10:21] and then come and be baptized, further, that no child of God could stand and be holy in this country who did not cast in his lot with them [sc. Sabbatarians], desire their faith and works.

Generally Wiegner’s visitors attended the devotions, which had taken place in his home regularly each week since 1738. But they also organized their own large meetings, which the spaciousness of his farm made possible. For example, on May 5, 1740, the Anglican preacher of the Great Awakening, George Whitefield, preached there in English. Coming from Georgia, Whitefield had been undertaking a nine-week journey through Pennsylvania since the middle of April 1740.29 Unfortunately, Whitefield’s diary entry on his stay in Skippack and the speeches delivered there is very brief: 27 For Christopher Wiegner’s relationship to August Gottlieb Spangenberg during the latter’s sojourn in Pennsylvania, see p. 108–10. Several times differences arose between them; see, e.g., Wiegner, Diary, 133 (April 23, 1737), 147 (October 26, 1737), 149 (December 1 and 5, 1737), 151 (January 24 and 25, 1738). 28 See Wiegner, Diary, 152 (July 12, 1738); the following quotation ibid. 29 For George Whitefield’s sojourn in Pennsylvania, see Whitefield, Journals, 405–27.

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Preached at Shippack, sixteen miles from Montgomery, where the Dutch people live. It was seemingly, a very wilderness part of the country but there were not less, I believe, than two thousand hearers. When I had done, Peter Bohler, a deacon [preacher] of the Moravian Church, a dear lover of our Lord Jesus Christ, preached to his countrymen in Dutch. Travelling and preaching in the sun again, weakened me much and made me very sick; but by the Divine assistance, I took horse, rode twelve miles, and preached in the evening to about three thousand people at a Dutchman’s plantation, who seemed to have drunk deeply of God’s Holy Spirit. The German Brethren were exceeding loving to me, and I spent the evening with many of them in a most agreeable manner. The order, seriousness, and devotion of these people in common life, is most worthy to imitation. They prayed and sang in their language [i. e., in German], and then God enlarged my heart to pray in ours [i. e., in English].30

As  a result of these encounters with other religious beliefs and forms of piety Wiegner’s Schwenkfelder faith, with which he had become familiar in his parents’ home in Silesia, underwent modifications. It is remarkable that these modifications scarcely touched upon his Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith. As his diary clearly discloses, he was remarkably disinterested, yet occasionally uninterested in the doctrines of faith of other Christians. Rather the modifications come to light particularly in the form of his piety. His practice of piety — in contrast to the Schwenkfelders’ traditionally sober-minded practice of piety — was focused strongly on sensitivity and emotionality. He felt a substantial lack of both among his Schwenkfelder fellow believers. Therefore he eagerly sought contact with those religious loners and Christian communities where he found or hoped to find that form of piety. Numerous entries in his diary, which he indeed first commenced in 1732 although he begins with  a description of religious experiences in his childhood and youth from the time he was six years in 1718, and which he broke off abruptly in 1739 — with Spangenberg’s return to Europe — show that he yearned primarily — nay, craved — for a sensitive and emotional Christian life. Wiegner’s passionate focus on a sensitive and emotional form of piety — with a noticeable lack of interest in Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith — was perceived with irritation, yet profound dismay by the more traditionally minded Schwenkfelders, particularly by their first two “Vorsteher” George Weiss31 and Balthasar Hoffmann32. That becomes impressively evident in a letter, which the latter directed to Christopher Schultz33 on November 9, 1745.34 In this letter Hoffmann reported 30 Whitefield, Journals, 412 (April 24, 1740). For George Whitefield’s sojourn at Christopher Wiegner’s farm, see Berky, Wagner, 48–9; Kriebel, Schwenkfelders, 110–11; Wiegner, Diary, xxxii (Peter C. Erb, introduction). 31 On George Weiss, see p. 36 n 82. 32 On Balthasar Hoffmann, see p. 43 n 122. 33 On Christopher Schultz, see p. 116 n 98. 34 Balthasar Hoffmann to Christopher Schultz, November 9, 1745, SLHC Pennsburg, VK 1–10, 3245–6; the following quotation ibid., 3246. Cf. Summary of this letter in English ibid., 3244.

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to Schultz about his visit to Wiegner in Skippack  a few days earlier. In their conversation they discussed among other things meetings and religious services. In the presence of Abraham Wagner, who was visiting, Wiegner poured out his heart about the Schwenkfelders’ desolate condition of religious community life. He lamented emphatically: “Our time, people, and youth are be pitied!” The traditionally minded Schwenkfelders distanced themselves silently or also pointedly from Wiegner. That happened not only due to his multiple personal contacts to members of other denominations and Christian communities as well as loners, rather last but not least also on account of his modified form and practice of piety. These they found in part strange, in part uncanny. By their distancing behavior toward Wiegner the traditionally minded Schwenkfelders unavoidably fueled his contacts with other denominations and Christian communities. Thereby they contributed unintentionally and unknowingly to  a modification of his, i. e., Wiegner’s, initial form of piety. Wiegner, whose final years are for the most part still in the dark, died either by 1745 at the age of 33 or perhaps not until 1746 at the age of 34. Although his life was therefore only relatively short, it shows in an exemplary way how migration can lead to modification in traditional faith.

2.2 Change Migrations can lead, however, not only to modifications, but also cause substantial changes in the traditional doctrines of faith and forms of piety. An example for this is the practitioner in medicine Abraham Wagner35 who has already been mentioned several times. Before these important changes in his traditional Schwenk­felder faith and their impact on his life are presented, his vita should be sketched very briefly. Abraham Wagner was born in 1715 in Harpersdorf as the first son of the small-scale farmer Melchior Wagner36 and his wife Anna37. In this center of Silesian Schwenkfeldianism he also spent his early childhood, of which however nothing further is known. Then he received his education and training chiefly from the Schwenkfelder practitioner in medicine Melchior Heebner38 in the very small village of Hockenau,39 located near Harpersdorf, and later in the commercial town of Görlitz.40 Here Heebner’s family had found asylum after their flight 35 On Abraham Wagner, see Berky, Wagner; Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434–7 (E 92–1); Dollin, Schwenkfelders, 80–1; Viehmeyer, “Wagner”; Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”. 36 On Melchior Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192). 37 On Anna Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192). 38 On Melchior Heebner, see p. 56 n 19. 39 Melchior Heebner received his training in the art of healing from Martin John Jr in Hockenau and took over John’s practice after his death in 1707. Cf. Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 263. 40 Melchior Heebner, who fled with his wife Maria and his three children from Silesia on April 26, 1726, lived in Görlitz near the Roter Turm (Red Tower). Cf. p. 50–1.

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from Silesia at the end of April 1726.41 When Melchior Heebner and his family decided to emigrate to Pennsylvania in 1734, Abraham apparently returned to Harpersdorf. However, in January 1736 his parents, too, felt compelled to flee to Upper Lusatia.42 Wagner’s family likewise found admittance to Görlitz, after they had initially resided for a short time in Berthelsdorf. As Abraham Wagner’s early hymns show, he was well acquainted with Schwenkfelder traditions.43 Nevertheless he had certainly become acquainted with other religious traditions as well — mainly through Heebner — while in Silesia and Upper Lusatia.44 In 1737 Abraham Wagner migrated together with his mother — his father had died in Görlitz in the meantime — and his two younger siblings, Susanna45 and Melchior46, to Pennsylvania.47 Here he was warmly received again in the home of his mentor Melchior Heebner in Falkner Swamp.48 Doubtlessly his medical education continued there. In daily contact with Heebner and his patients he came to know the diversity of religious traditions better now. He was deeply impressed by Heebner’s hope that ultimately all people will attain eternal salvation in God’s love. This is clearly visible in the biographical sketch, which he had written about his fatherly friend after the latter’s death.49 In regard to his final, 30-week-long sickbed, he reported that Heebner had talked several times “very deeply moved and forcefully about God’s great love and mercy for all his creatures, likewise about the eminent validity of the merits of Jesus Christ and about his sacerdotal office, that he would continue to do the same until the final restitution of all things”. Shortly before his death Heebner ended — thus he noted for the record — a very long explanation about the apokatastasis with the words: “Now who will be able to overturn my tenet [sc. of the restauration of all things]? No one certainly. Let all the scholars in the whole world come here to refute this tenet. They should not be able to accomplish much with me — no more than  a little boy [would be able to accomplish] by throwing  a lump of clay against  a stone wall”. In the final hours of his life his elderly wife Maria asked him one more time whether he continued to remain “fast to his (often proclaimed)  tenet of the restitution of all things”. To which he not only “replied with yes”, but he also “added that it [sc. the restitution of all things] would still be true for him”. 41 For Abraham Wagner’s education and training from Melchior Heebner, see esp. Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 263–5. 42 See Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434. 43 See Viehmeyer, “Wagner”, 11; Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 267–8. 44 At Melchior Heebner’s funeral on July 14, 1738, George Weiss, the first Schwenkfelder “Vorsteher” said, “that the deceased was not of their [sc. of the Schwenkfelders’] confession”; see Wiegner, Diary, 152 (July 14, 1738). 45 On Susanna Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 344, 1434. 46 On Melchior Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1437–40 (E 192–2). 47 For Abraham Wagner’s emigration to Pennsylvania in 1737, see Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 265. 48 Cf. Berky, Wagner, 26; Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 266. 49 Wagner, “Leben und Sterben des seeligen Melchior Hübners”, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 3–51; the following quotations ibid., 14, 15.

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After Heebner’s death on July 12, 1738, Wagner lived for several years together with his mother and siblings in Worcester. A few weeks after his mother’s death he married Maria50 née Kriebel in April 1749. He continued to live in Worcester and practiced medicine there until his death in May 1763.51 In addition to his medical activities, he pursued extensive theological und Church history studies. He concerned himself intensively not only with Caspar Schwenckfeld’s works, but also with the writings of several Schwenckfeld followers, i. e., with Michael Hiller’s writings, Erasmus Weichenhan’s postil, Adam Reißner’s hymns and poems, as well as Daniel Sudermann’s writings and song texts.52 Wagner immersed himself also, however, in Lutheran orthodox writings, as well as especially spiritualistic, and pietistic works. He was convinced, viz., that divine truths were also to be found in such works whose authors were not Schwenkfelders. “I believe,” he wrote, “that the spirit of Christ is not so limited that he is unable to, or still cannot, awaken even multiple witnesses of the truth”.53 However, he admitted that he could “not defend everything that is contained in them [sc. their books]”. For example, he concerned himself with the writings of Johann Arnd, Theophil Großgebauer, Christian Scriver, Johann Georg Walch, Heinrich Müller, Johann Jakob Rambach, Philipp Jacob Spener, Christian Hoburg, Gottfried Arnold, Johann Wilhelm and Johanna Eleonora Petersen, and Gerhard Tersteegen.54 In 1755, for instance, he wrote to Tersteegen, the mystic, author and hymn writer, that not until he was here in America had he read his “Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein Inniger Seelen” with joy; in Europe he had not set eyes on this collection of hymns, i. e., of this spiritual flower garden.55 Wagner firmly defended his perusal of non-Schwenkfelder writings. First and foremost he argued with the Pauline admonition: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess 5:21), even though abuse is perpetuated with this 50 On Maria Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 228, 1434. 51 For Abraham Wagner’s life and activities as medical practitioner in Pennsylvania after his marriage to Maria in 1749 until his death in 1763, see Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 266–7. For his medical knowledge, see esp. his “Remediorum Specimina aliquot ex Praxi A. W.”, SLHC Pennsburg, VB 1–8; The College of Physicians Digital Library: Eighteenth-century Colonial Formularies, (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2015 www.accesspadigital.org/cpp/site-templates/ about_project.html. For Wagner’s therapeutic practice and his position in the medical history of the eighteenth century, see Helm and Wilson (eds.), Medical theory. 52 Cf. Berky, Wagner, 40–3. 53 Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, March 28, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53; the following quotation ibid. 54 Cf. Berky, Wagner, 44. 55 [Abraham Wagner] to Gerhard Tersteegen, August 27, 1755, SLHC Pennsburg, VK 1–10, 3304 [summary]; Abraham Wagner Box, W 1.  It is unknown which edition of Tersteegen’s Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein Inniger Seelen, first published in Frankfurt am Main in 1729, Wagner read in Pennsylvania. A reply by Tersteegen to Wagner is unknown and therefore it is uncertain that Tersteegen received Wagner’s letter. However, Tersteegen verifiably corresponded with the medical practitioner and lay preacher George de Benneville, who is mentioned in Wagner’s letter; see Tersteegen, Briefe, vol. 2, 204–6 (May 14, 1753), no. 493.

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Ill. 18 Abraham Wagner’s books listed in the Codicil to his last will (1763)

Pauline admonition.56 Furthermore he did not refrain from pointing out that Caspar Schwenckfeld, too, adopted this admonition of the apostle in his tract “Ain Bedenckhen, Von der Freihait des glaube[n]s”.57 However, it is noteworthy that Wagner, in all probability, did not read any belletristic literature or philosophical works. At least no such literature was found among his books at the time of his death. In addition to his extensive reading Wagner engaged, too, in literary endeavors. For example, he collected poems by the highly educated John Kelpius.58 This radical pietist had founded  a hermitage on Wissahickon Creek in the woods between Philadelphia and Germantown in 1695 and was here the leader of The Chapter of 56 Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, May 16, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53. Cf. Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, March 28, 1743, ibid. 57 CS, vol. 17, 661–74, here 669, l. 21–670, l. 4, Document MCIX. Cf. Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, May 16, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53. 58 For Wagner’s collection of hymns by Kelpius, see Berky, Wagner, 44; Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1434 (E 192). Kelpius’ literary estate included especially a short essay on prayer, printed for the first time in German in Philadelphia 1756 (Kurtzer Begriff oder leichtes Mittel zu beten, oder mit Gott zu reden), in English in Philadelphia 1761 and Germantown 1763 (A short, easy, and comprehensive method of prayer. Translated from the German […]) as well as a collection of hymns, and letters. Abraham Wagner’s copy of Kelpius’ hymns is located in SLHC Pennsburg, Hymns Box, VS 13–13.

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Perfection until his early death in 1708.59 This community waited yearningly for the second coming of Christ and the establishment of a Kingdom of God on Earth. However, Wagner’s interest in Kelpius was surely not in regard to his apocalyptic expectations, but his hope for the restoration of all creation. Thus Wagner had therefore already become acquainted with other religious traditions and forms of piety in Silesia and in Upper Lusatia; but he did not become intimately familiar with them until he resided in Pennsylvania. By means of numerous personal contacts with members of other denominations, Christian communities and religious loners as well as by the extensive reading of their books substantial changes took place in his traditional Schwenkfelder faith. The quintessence of these changes best becomes accessible from his understanding of revelation. According to Wagner’s understanding, God revealed his truth in many places and at different times in many ways and to various extents. The process of revelation, however, is ongoing and is in no way finished, but continues. That is to say that God can “still reveal more divine mysteries, which another person did not have”.60 Revelation happens therefore progressively, according to God’s will and how it is comprehensible for mankind. In order to show that his understanding of revelation conforms to Schwenckfeld’s idea, Wagner quoted nearly verbatim a passage from Schwenckfeld’s circular letter dated at the end of 1530, in which the Silesian nobleman had passed his judgment on the Confessio Augustana.61 According to Schwenckfeld’s conviction even this fundamental confession of the Lutherans does not contain the whole truth.62 Agreeing with this Wagner wrote: For the merciful God portions out His gifts and does not give everything at once nor pours them all into one man nor into one place, but does this gradually when it is laudable for him to do so as well as beneficial, edifying, and comprehensible to mankind, releasing them one after the other so that every thing and every undertaking under heaven has its time, as the Wise Man [sc. Solomon] says, Eccl 3 [Eccl 3:1], of which there are many examples in Holy Scripture.63.

However, according to Wagner it is in no way  a matter only of continuing, completing, and deepening of revelations that occurred in the past. In fact he was convinced that God at all times can and does give substantially new revelations 59 The mystic, musician, and writer John (Johannes) Kelpius was born as the son of a pastor near the town of Schäßburg (Transylvania) now Sighişoara, Romania in 1667, arrived in Philadelphia in 1694 and moved to the Wissahickon Creek near Philadelphia; he died near Germantown in 1708. 60 Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, March 28, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53. 61 CS, vol. 3, 859–940, Document CVIII. 62 CS, vol. 3, 863, l. 29–65, l. 36, Document CVIII. 63 Abraham Wagner to Christopher Schultz, March 28, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53. Cf. CS, vol. 3, 863, l. 32–64, l. 3, Document CVIII.

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Ill. 19 Abraham Wagner’s ecumenical spirit expressed in his letter to Lutheran theologian Mühlenberg (1753)

in the present and in the future.64 This understanding ran into  a firm rejection by the more conservative Schwenkfelders, for example Christopher Schultz. The latter pointed, on the one hand, to Paul’s farewell address to the elders in Ephesus during his third mission journey.65 In his address the Apostle made clear face to face: “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” [Acts 20:27]. Therefore — as Schultz interpreted this statement of Paul — all plans and resolutions of God are already revealed. On the other hand, Schultz quoted from the Schwenckfeld’s “sermon”, i. e., exposition on the feast of Pentecost on John 14:26 whose dictum is “Non diversa aut nova”, i. e., not other things, or new things.66 Wagner and Schultz represented therefore two different understandings of revelation. 64 Wagner’s understanding of revelation seems, in some aspects, like  a certain anticipation of the concept of  a continuous or continuing revelation that had been discussed in Protestant theology esp. since the end of the eighteenth century. For example, see Friedrich Schleiermacher in his fifth speech of his early work On Religion (121): “Never did he [Jesus Christ] pass off the intuitions and the feelings he himself could communicate as the whole compass of religion that was to proceed from his basic intuition; he always pointed to the truth that would come after him. Thus his disciples also never set limits to the Holy Spirit; […]. The holy writings have become Scripture by their own power, but they prohibit no other book from also being or becoming Scripture, and whatever had been written with equal power they would gladly have associated with themselves.” 65 Christopher Schultz to Abraham Wagner, April 27, 1743, SLCH Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53. 66 CS, vol. 18, 586–99, here 586, l. 3–4, Document MCCXXXVI (Excerpts from Schwenckfeld in the 2nd edition of Werner’s Postill 1586). Caspar Schwenckfeld’s expositions on the feast of Pentecost printed in Johann Sigismund Werner, Postill 1586, vol. 2, XLVIv–LIIIv, here XLVIIIv, [l. 39]. Cf. Christopher Schultz to Abraham Wagner, April 27, 1743, SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, VS 4–53.

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For the more conservative Schwenkfelders God’s revelation is entirely complete; it could at best still be deepened or broadened. According to Wagner the opposite is true: revelation continues, goes on and is not yet complete. In the present and in the future there will be new revelations of God, which, however, in no way will be contrary to the previous revelations. Wagner’s very broad understanding of revelation, had, of course, relevance for all of the topoi of his belief, and had strong influence on his life. Only in the case of the latter can a somewhat closer look be taken here. Due to his conviction that God continues to reveal the truth to all men in various ways, he impartially linked in Pennsylvania many personal and had epistolary contacts to followers of other denominations and Christian communities as well as religious loners. These connections can be pointed out here only paradigmatically. For example, Wagner was on friendly terms with the Lutheran Henry Melchior Mühlenberg.67 This theologian arrived in Pennsylvania from South Carolina at the end of November 1742 and became the father and organizer of early Lutheranism in America. Wagner wrote to Mühlenberg, who consulted him as well on medical matters,68 on September 1, 1753: The true God Father gave me […] an impartial Christian love for all of his children, […] they may designate their names, their beliefs just as they wish. Therefore I am not very much concerned about which denomination they belong to, when they belong only to Christ and are made alive by his spirit. Therefore I ask and I see in the case of a soul above all how things stand with the essence of the true Christianity: whether they have  a living faith […], i. e., whether God’s fire is burning in their heart and whether they are led by the spirit of Jesus Christ and not by the spirit of the world? Etc. However, I do not want to dispute or quarrel over disagreements, opinions, and insights; rather I leave it up to each one to answer to the Lord.69

Wagner also had lively contacts with pietists and radical pietists. Thus, for example, he carried on multiple conversations with the significant pietistic printer and publisher Christopher Sauer, the influential intermediary between the various religious groups in Pennsylvania.70 Also Wagner’s only publication, a broadsheet, was published in his printing house.71 However, Wagner’s most intensive contacts were with various spiritualists. First and foremost to mention here is his long-lasting friendly relationship with the 67 For contacts between Abraham Wagner and Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, see Berky, Wagner, 61–7. Cf. Mühlenberg, Korrespondenz 1987, vol. 2, 67–71 (Abraham Wagner to Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, September 1, 1753, no. 137); 316–17 (Henry Melchior Mühlenberg to Abraham Wagner, June 22, 1757), no. 177 (autograph in SLHC Pennsburg, Abraham Wagner Box, M 4). 68 Henry Melchior Mühlenberg to Abraham Wagner, June 22, 1757, in Mühlenberg, Korrespondenz 1987, vol. 2, 316–17, no. 177. 69 Abraham Wagner to Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, September 1, 1753, in Mühlenberg, Korrespondenz 1987, vol. 2, 67–71, here, 69, no. 137. 70 For contacts between Abraham Wagner and Christopher Sauer, see Berky, Wagner, esp., 27, 46–7, 67–8. 71 See n 90.

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physician and lay preacher George de Benneville, an important “spiritual founder” of the Christian Universalism in America.72 Benneville, born in London in 1703 and a descendant of Huguenot refugees, had in his youth and in manhood manifold deep religious experiences during his journeys through France and Germany.73 Of these experiences his near-death experience at the age of 36 was doubtlessly the pivotal one.74 This experience was linked to a vision, in which he was called — after his return to his earthly tabernacle — “to publish and to proclaim to the people of the world an everlasting gospel [cf. Rev 14:16] that shall restore in its time all the human species without exception to its honor and to the glory of its most holy trinity”.75 All people — no matter what sins they may have committed in their lifetime — will therefore come “back in their first glory, which they had in the beginning”. In 1741 Benneville left Europe since God “called him to go to America and preach the gospel there”.76 In 1743 — after a temporary lodging and job arrangement in Germantown with the printer Sauer77 — he settled in Oley, Berks County, and practiced medicine, but, preached the Everlasting Gospel again and again in many places.78 Benneville soon became not only a readily consulted physician, but especially a true friend to many Schwenkfelders.79 He repeatedly attended their religious meetings and also preached to them from time to time.80 He also had contact by letter to the Schwenkfelders who had remained behind in Silesia.81 However, he was on friendly terms especially with those Schwenkfelders who sympathized with the

72 For the amicable relationship between Abraham Wagner and George de Benneville, see Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”. Cf. Berky, Wagner, 49. 73 For Benneville’s life in France, Germany, and the Netherlands from about 1720 to his emigration to America in 1741, see Benneville, Account, 16–25. Cf. Bell, Benneville, 9–24; Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 268–70. 74 At 79 years of age, Benneville retrospectively described in detail his near-death experience in his autobiographical Account, which was first published in Philadelphia in 1800 (see pp. 25–39). This report about his near-death experience was analyzed in a study (Vincent & Morgan, “Neardeath experience”); Benneville’s report is also printed here (37–43). Vincent and Morgan opined, on the basis of “Benneville’s personal history”, that they are able to prove that there “is no evidence that his visions were the result of psychosis” (“Near-death experience”, 43). 75 Benneville, Account, 29; the following quotations ibid., 36. Cf. Vincent & Morgan, “Neardeath experience”, 39; the following quotations ibid., 42. 76 Benneville, Account, 39. Cf. Vincent & Morgan, “Near-death experience”, 43. 77 For Benneville’s lodgings and collaboration with the printer Christopher Sauer from 1741 to 1742, see Bell, Benneville, 25–32. 78 Benneville resided in Oley from 1742 to 1757 (cf. Bell, Benneville, 33–47), where in 1745 he married Esther Bert(h)olet from an established Huguenot family. 79 For Benneville’s manifold contacts with the Schwenkfelders, see Bell, Benneville, esp. 41–2; Viehmeyer, “Wagner and Benneville”, 272–3. In SLHC Pennsburg are numerous Bennevilleiana. 80 See Shultze, Journals, vol. 1, 177 (May 27, 1756), 183 (September 12, 1756), 208 (July 24, 1757), 244 (September 2, 1759); vol. 2, 118 (May 18, 1780). 81 George de Benneville to Schwenkfelders in Silesia, January 9, 1769, in [Schultz et al.], Erläuterung 1771, 461–64; [Schultz et al.], Vindication, 331–3. Cf. Bell, Benneville, 41–2.

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apokatastasis concept. These included above all George Schultz82 and his sons Melchior83 and David84, and Melchior Wiegner85, as well as especially Abraham Wagner.86 Wagner and Benneville not only corresponded with one another, but visited each other, too. Yet, despite all the commonalities between them, the differences must not be overlooked.87 Wagner was introverted, Benneville, on the other hand, extroverted. While the former preferred most of all to devote his free time to writing hymns and spiritual poetry, the latter untiringly preached in Pennsylvania as well as in New Jersey and in the southern states that at the end of time every man will return again to blissfulness and holiness.88 Due to this understanding of faith Wagner felt revulsion toward all theological disputes. For example, he stayed out of Zinzendorf ’s way, when the latter attempted to establish a “community in spirit” in Pennsylvania in 1742, triggering, however, excessive religious tensions in doing so.89 Without naming Zinzendorf directly by name, he expressed his criticism of the Count in his poem “Das kleine A, B, C in der Schule Christi”.90 This broadsheet, anonymously published in 1742 in Sauer’s printing house in Germantown, is an acrostic poem. It consists of 27 quatrains in alphabetical order as well as two quatrains each at the beginning and the end. The two introductory quatrains consist of a “pupil’s” petition to God for his schooling and God’s assurance to be his “master” always. In the two concluding quatrains the “pupil” is invited to reflect on the poem daily in order to live some day in eternity in “fellowship” with God. The content of the poem is based thematically on the little ascetic document — written originally in Latin — “Das kleine Alphabet des Mönchs in der Schule Christi” by Thomas à Kempis, a German canon regular of the late medieval period.91 The first Latin word resp. sometimes the first two Latin words of the 23 aphorisms by Thomas were treated thematically by Wagner — in German — in a separate quatrain. Every line of verse is assigned to a biblical text to demonstrate its biblical basis. The main message of the poem is: pride and superiority are not the right way to truth (cf. Ps 86:11), but rather “self-denial [cf. Matt 16:24]”.92 82 On George Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 88–9 (E 7). 83 On Melchior Schultz, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 91–2 (E 7–2). 84 On David Schultz, see p. 75 n 26. 85 On Melchior Wiegner, see p. 107 n 52. 86 See Bell, Benneville, 34–5. 87 The differences between Wagner and Benneville were clearly brought out by Viehmeyer (“Wagner and Benneville”, 273–4). 88 Vincent & Morgan, “Near-death experience”, 37. 89 See p. 110–3. 90 A facsimile of Wagner’s broadsheet can be found in Berky, Wagner, between pp. 52 and 53. 91 Thomas à Kempis, Alphabet. 92 The poem closes with the term “self-denial” (“Selbst-verläugnung”). With self-denial the path of Christian discipleship begins and it will end with the beatific vision and communion with God.

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In summary, it can be stated that — in closest connection with his migration — Wagner’s traditional Schwenkfelder faith changed in essential ways. Several topoi of Schwenkfelder doctrine, as expressed in the “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß” of 1718 were no longer of fundamental importance.93 In his letter mentioned above he wrote to the Lutheran Mühlenberg: People commonly call him “the Schwenckfelder doctor” because he bears or must bear “a damned heretic name”.94 However, he himself can and may not — according to 1 Cor 3:4 — base his “faith” and his “knowledge” on human writings, i. e., those of Schwenckfeld and the Schwenkfelders. Rather he follows “God’s Word”, because nothing is permanent “except whatever is vitally opened in his own heart through God’s grace — according to the witness of the Holy Scriptures”. However, Wagner’s “impartiality” definitely had limits. “I do not approve tacitly,” he wrote, “reprehensible libertinism or indifference in matters of faith, rather I protest against them.” Despite many reservations and objections to the traditional Schwenkfelder doctrine of faith as well as behavior, Abraham Wagner always considered himself to be  a member of the Schwenkfelders and never outwardly separated himself from them. He was also recognized — sometimes with  a certain reservation — by the Schwenkfelders as one of their own. That is why 37 of his songs were accepted into the “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-buch”, printed for the first time in 1762.95 Moreover, in the two later editions of this songbook the hymns of Wagner survived better than any other Schwenkfelder’s. In the case of Abraham Wagner it becomes exemplarily clear how migrations can lead to substantial changes in traditional doctrine of faith and behavior.

2.3 Realignment Migrations can also cause  a fundamental transformation of traditional faith and piety, which results in a religious realignment. In the case of a very few Schwenkfelders, in whom such a religious reorientation is observable in the first or second settler generation, the spiritual tradition commonly proves to be  a particularly strong ferment or culture medium. An example for this is David Wagner, a nephew of the practitioner in medicine Abraham Wagner. His lifetime, however, already extends far into the second Schwenkfelder settler generation.

93 For the “Kurtz und einfältiges Bekäntniß”, see p. 36 n 81. 94 Abraham Wagner to Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, September 1, 1753, in Mühlenberg, Korrespondenz 1987, vol. 2, 67–71, here, 68, 70, no. 137. 95 For the “Neu-Eingerichtetes Gesang-Buch”, see p. 118 n 116. Hymns by Abraham Wagner are also found in the second and third revised editions of this hymnbook, printed in 1813 and 1869 respectively. Several of his hymns also found their way into a few non-Schwenkfelder hymnals; cf. Viehmeyer, “Wagner”, 19–20.

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David Wagner96 was the son of the respected and prosperous Schwenkfelder Melchior Wagner, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1737 with his widowed mother Anna and his two older siblings, Abraham and Susanna;97 later he owned a significant amount of property in Worcester Township in Montgomery County.98 David was born here on January 25, 1752, and — as he wrote in his autobiographical sketch — “was brought up as  a farmer’s son, and had no more learning than to scarcely read and write the German and English language”.99 With certainty he was educated in the spirit of the Schwenkfelder tradition. It is unknown whether his broad-minded uncle Abraham Wagner had influenced him during his early childhood, but it is probable.100 As  a 20-year-old, David Wagner came into contact with Methodists from the surrounding area.101 Because his parents disapproved of this contact, he escaped from his parental home in 1772. In Baltimore he joined the Methodists and was baptized. After his father discovered his whereabouts and in a letter promised him “Liberty”, should he come home, he returned to Worcester Township. In 1774 he married Rebecca Supplee102, a 23-year-old Methodist. Their marriage produced ten children.103 Over the next few years he became better acquainted with the Quakers, who lived likewise close to his parental home in large numbers, and felt very much drawn to them.104 With their understanding of the Christian faith they seemed to him “to be nearest to the Scripture [i. e., the sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments] truths”. In the middle of October 1782 he suddenly had a most fateful encounter with the eccentric itinerant preacher Jemima Wilkinson, who was 30 years old at that time. 96 On David Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1437–40 (E 89–7); Kriebel, “Wilkinson”. Numerous references to David Wagner can also be found in the literature on Jemima Wilkinson as well as the Society of Universal Friends. See especially Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson; cf. Cleveland, Yates County, 42, 61, 455, 638, 664, 668. 97 For the immigration of Anna Wagner with her children Abraham, Susanna, and Melchior to Pennsylvania in 1737, see p. 93. 98 For Melchior Wagner’s farm, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1438–40; Keyser, “Architecture”, 93. 99 David Wagner, Autobiographical sketch [in or about 1787], quoted in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1442–3 (David Wagner [From an article in “The Yates County Chronicle” in the year 1870]), here 1442. The article, which is printed in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1442–3 could not be ascertained bibliographically in the publication organ “Yates County Chronicle”, edited by Stafford C. Cleveland since 1869. 100 On Abraham Wagner’s broad-mindedness, see p. 162. 101 See David Wagner, Autobiographical sketch [in or about 1787], quoted in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1442–3 (David Wagner [From an article in “The Yates County Chronicle” in the year 1870]), here 1442; following quotation ibid. Cf. n 99. 102 On Rebecca Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1440. 103 On David and Rebecca Wagner’s ten children, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1441. 104 David Wagner, Autobiographical sketch [in or about 1787], quoted in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1442–3 (David Wagner [From an article in “The Yates County Chronicle” in the year 1870]), here 1442; following quotation ibid. Cf. n 99.

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Jemima Wilkinson105 was born as the eighth of twelve children to the famers Jeremiah and Amey Whipple Wilkinson in Cumberland, Rhode Island, in 1752; her parents were Quakers. During a severe and long-lasting illness she had a religious awakening combined with visions and auditions in 1776. After becoming aware of her divine mission she henceforth called herself the Universal Friend or the Publick Universal Friend and understood herself to be like the “tabernacle” of Jesus Christ; i. e., she did not feel like a second incarnation of Christ, but like a tabernacle, a cabin or box-like vessel, of Christ’s spirit.106 Shortly afterwards she moved around Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts preaching for several years. In October 1782 Wilkinson appeared for the first time in Pennsylvania for a few weeks with  a small entourage. In Philadelphia and environs her appearance immediately stirred up vast publicity on account of the rumor that she was a miracle worker, on account of her behavior and masculine dress and hairstyle, and on account of her down-to-earth proclamation. She, too, seemed very much to enjoy standing blatantly in the limelight of publicity. In her undifferentiated proclamation she dealt especially with ethical topics such as condemnation of all wars, humanity against all people, chiefly care of prisoners, rejection of slavery and, last but not least, asceticism, particularly in the area of sex and glorification of celibacy.107 Theologically, influences of Quakerism, of the New Light Baptist Church and of the Great Awakening in America can be shown in her sermons. When Abraham Supplee, a brother of Wagner’s wife Rebecca, a former Quaker, then, however, a Methodist minister at the Bethel Church in Worcester Township, heard Wilkinson preach in Philadelphia in the Methodist St. George’s Church, he invited her to come to his home and preach in his church.108 While Wilkinson was there, David Wagner attended some of her meetings and was deeply impressed by her preaching. Retrospectively he wrote about her speeches: “When I heard the Gospel’s Trump[et] [sc. Jemima Wilkinson] sound, I knew it was the true sound, and that it was with great power from on high [sc. God], even to the convincing and converting of souls that heard and obeyed the counsel delivered”.109 Wagner invited 105 On Jemima Wilkinson, see Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson; Wisbey, “Wilkinson”. Cf. Brekus, Strangers, 80–97; Cleveland, Yates County, passim; Hudson, Wilkinson. Although Hudson’s presentation of Wilkinsons’ life (a reprint of this book appeared in 1844 with the title “Memoir of Jemima Wilkinson”) is partially noncritical, partially flawed, this publication cannot be fully disregarded. See the detailed survey of the literature in Wisbey’s biography of Wilkinson, pp. 217–25 (Bibliographical Essay). 106 However, several members of the Society of Universal Friends did consider Jemima Wilkinson to be the second incarnation of Christ. 107 See Wilkinson, “Advice”. 108 For Abraham Supplee’s contact with Wilkinson, see Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 83. To all appearances Abraham Supplee was, however, enthusiastic about Jemima Wilkinson for only a brief time. 109 David Wagner, Autobiographical sketch [in or about 1787], quoted in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1442–3 (David Wagner [From an article in “The Yates County Chronicle” in the year 1870]), here 1443. Cf. n 99.

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Wilkinson together with her entourage to his farm in Worcester.110 Here she was a guest for the first time from October 19 to 21, 1782.111 In the following years Wilkinson stayed at Wagner’s farm several times with her followers. However, her visits were always interrupted by longer or shorter trips. She resided with Wagner from August to October 1784 during her second visit in Pennsylvania. Her third journey to Pennsylvania was from December 1787 until November 1788 and her fourth and last from February 1789 until March 1790. Both times she, along with her adherents, resided most of the time in Wagner’s comfortable stone farmhouse. During all of her visits to Wagner’s farm she also held meetings. But the fellowship of the Universal Friend — now usually called the Society of Universal Friends — frequently stopped off at Wagner’s premises without her. Its sojourn in January 1787 — Wilkinson was in Rhode Island at that time — was particularly spectacular.112 There was a war of words between two of Wilkinson’s closest followers: Sarah Wilson and Abigail Dayton. The fierce quarrel culminated with Sarah’s accusation that Abigail had perfidiously tried to murder her while she slept during the night of January fourth to the fifth. The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser, published by John Dunlap and David C. Claypode, mockingly reported this incident which had taken place in David Wagner’s house, in the March 28, 1787, issue.113 At the end of this newspaper article it was sophistically observed in circular reasoning: “Many […] believe Jemimah is Christ” and “they think she knows even their [sc. her followers’] secret thoughts, it therefore seems reasonable to infer that if they have privately taken the life of any person, or attempted it, it must be with her approbation, for they implicitly observe all her directions”. Of course, this newspaper report aroused much attention in Pennsylvania. So noted Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, at that time pastor at the Holy Trinity Church in Lancaster in his diary: As early as January [1787] the band [sc. followers of Wilkinson] settled down in the home of a so-called Schwenkfelder, David Wagner, in Shippach [sc. Skippack], where Jemima Wilston [i. e., Wilkinson], who gives herself out to be the Saviour, was also 110 David Wagner bought this farm, which directly abutted his father’s farm, or separated only by a street, in 1781 from his two brothers-in-law Andrew and Abraham Supplee. See Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1441. 111 For Wilkinson’s first stay at David Wagner’s in autumn 1782, see Cleveland, Yates County, 42; Kriebel, “Wilkinson”, 159–60; Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 83; Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker Connection”, 122. Cf. Hudson, Wilkinson, 40–1. 112 The scandal-ridden sojourn of Wilkinson’s adherents at Wagner’s farm in the winter of 1786/87 is mentioned repeatedly in references; see i.a. Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 89–90. For the situation of Wilkinson’s followers after the Universal Friend had concluded her second stay in Pennsylvania and at David Wagner’s from August to October 1784, see Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 88; cf. Hudson, Wilkinson, 47–9. 113 The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser, March 29, 1787, [2, cols. 1 and 2]; following quotation ibid., [2, col. 2]. This newspaper reported the scandalous affair again on August 22 and September 5, 1787.

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Ill. 20 David Wagner’s eschatological threats of judgment, announced in his letter to the Schwenckfelder Society (1788) present. They were holding a conventiculum [conventicle, i. e., meeting for religious worship] one evening at Wagner’s when Sara Wilson contradicted something, which angered Abig[ail] Dayton and she tried to poison Sara Wilson, etc.114

Since Wilkinson’s second visit with Wagner from August until October 1784, he became one of her most faithful disciples.115 The costly, weeks-long, indeed months-long sojourns at his farm as well as the trustingly granted subsidies, which were accepted by Wilkinson as a matter of course, were even for such a prosperous man as Wagner disastrous in the long run and drove him to the brink of ruin.116 After the end of Wilkinson’s third months-long, very lavish stay in his stone farmhouse, David Wagner gradually began to sell his meanwhile debt-ridden property in Worcester. Now he wanted to move with his wife Rebecca into the settlement recently founded by the Society of the Universal Friend on the western side of Seneca Lake in the present-day Yates County, New York State.117

114 Mühlenberg, Journals, vol. 3, 737 (April 2, 1787). 115 For Wilkinson’s second stay at David Wagner’s in autumn 1785, see Kriebel, “Wilkinson”, 160; Wisbey, Pioneer Prophetess, Wilkinson, 85; cf. Hudson, Wilkinson, 43–5. See also Jemima Wilkinson to David Wagner, n.d., quoted in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1443 (David Wagener [From an article in “The Yates County Chronicle” in the year 1870]). The letter fragment, which is printed in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1443, could not be ascertained bibliographically in the publication organ “Yates County Chronicle”, edited by Stafford C. Cleveland since 1869. 116 David Wagner was a very wealthy man, for he inherited his father’s farm after the latter’s death in 1784. For David Wagner’s economic exploitation by Jemima Wilkinson, cf. Kriebel, “Wilkinson”, 161–2; Hudson, Wilkinson, 67–8. 117 David and Rebecca Wagner’s preparations for moving out of Pennsylvania accordingly extended over a lengthy period of time. This reluctance seems odd — as if they were insecure in their decision.

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However, before his departure from Worcester Township Wagner emphatically admonished the Society of Schwenkfelders to do penitence and conversion. That took place on December 21, 1788, in a long letter.118 The content of this letter will be examined in more detail because his theological thinking and his self-image is reflected in it in a unique way. Wagner reports to the Schwenkfelders at the beginning of his letter written in English that he on that morning — lying on his “bed”, but standing in his “mind” “before the Lord the God of heaven and Earth” — thought about the life of the present Schwenkfelders and about the life of their forefathers with their “works” and their “faith”. Then — he wrote — a “Nessesity [sic] is laid upon me [cf. 1 Cor 9:16]”. He felt actually forced to remind his fellow-believers about God’s deeds, which had taken place for their faithful forefathers “in their day and time of Vissitation [sic] [cf. Luke 19:44; 1 Pet 2:12] from on high”. Their forefathers had endured terrible persecutions by God’s enemies. Some of the contemporary witnesses to this time of suffering and persecution are still alive. They endeavored to follow their ancestors “in the way of holiness”. However, when the Schwenkfelders achieved prosperity later, they adjusted to godless people and enjoyed great esteem by them. Now their “Religious Performances”, i. e., their worship meetings, are ineffective. The “Enemy of all Good”, the devil, is not attacked through their lifestyle in any way, “but is at perfect peace with” them. This situation is, however, Wagner wrote, not perceived by the present Schwenkfelders. They also do not realize that those contemporaries, who today serve God in holiness, — by that Wagner meant doubtlessly, last but not least, Jemima Wilkinson and her entourage — suffer the same persecutions that their ancestors had once suffered in Silesia. Christ is, however, at hand to gather all these pious people. He will “be their God and Dwell with them even on this Earth and they Shall be his people [Rev 21:3] and he will be their God and reign with them a 1000 years [cf. Rev 20:4]”. There is no doubt that “the fullnis [sic] of the time is Come [Eph 1:10]” and the “Prophisies [sic] of the Lord” will be “Surely” fulfilled. The great and dreadful day [cf. Mic 4:5] is near, for his “wrath [sc. God’s wrath] is full and he will avenge himself of his adversaries and Make an Utter end of Sin and Unrighteousness on the whole face of the Earth”. 118 David Wagner to the Swenkfeld Society [Society of Schwenkfelders], October 21, 1788, SLHC Pennsburg, Schwenkfelder Correspondence Box 1, VS 5–16; printed in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1443–4 (Letter of David Wagener to the Schwenkfelder Society [Date of December 21 given here is an error]). All of the following quotations are taken from this printed edition. David Wagner addressed his letter to the Society of Schwenkfelders. Since Christopher Hoffmann, at that time secretary of the Society of Schwenkfelders, took on the response to David Wagner’s letter, but because he felt that he did not command sufficient knowledge of English, Wagner’s letter was translated into German for him. The German translation of this letter (David Wagner an die Häupter der Schwenckfeldischen Gemeine [heads of the Schwenkfelder congregation], October 21, 1788) is located in SLHC Pennsburg, Schwenkfelder Correspondence Box 1, VS 5–16.

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In view of the descending Last Judgment Wagner assured the Schwenkfelders that God will devote himself to them again, just as God had formerly devoted himself to their ancestors. He, Wagner, wanted to make that known to them so that they would not pass by the “day of Vissitation [sic] [1 Pet 2:12]” and die the Eternal Death [Rev 20:13]”, but receive eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and “rejoice in God with the lamb [sc. Christ] and the Saints”. Turning anew to Jesus Christ is, however, only then possible — Wagner wrote — when the Schwenk­felders remove themselves from their constitutions and bylaws, their organized worship services and meetings as well as their literal preaching of the outer Word and by doing that provide space in their hearts for God’s action. Namely, God wants to teach — directly — his people himself. In this regard Wagner used the favorite Bible verse found in all spiritualistic traditions: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor 3:6). Wagner did not conceal his fear that this matter will be too onerous for present-day Schwenkfelders. They no longer know anything about God’s power and the work of the Holy Spirit, — knowledge of which their ancestors had had in the days of old. In the conclusion of his writing Wagner returned again to the apocalyptic sign of the times. Facing the catastrophic global events during the end times, the pious people should be ready for an escape into the wilderness. Namely, there is already a refuge “on Earth for the Righteous”, where they can hide “a little Season [Rev 20:3]” until the “Calamities be overpast”. As he closed his letter, Wagner reflected: if the Schwenkfelders shrug off his remarks as “Idle tales [Luke 24:11]” then he is exculpated. He has told his “Errand [cf. Gen 24:33]”. Wagner’s letter — dominated by a prophetic sense of mission — illustrates clearly, on the one hand, his spiritualism. God always acts –Wagner wrote — on people directly through his spirit. On the other hand, it becomes clear that Wagner lived in intense expectation of eschatological events, the Great Tribulation referenced in the Book of Revelation. However, before the Great Tribulation comes, it is necessary to seek protection for a short time in a safe haven prepared by God until Jesus Christ will return and establish a thousand-year, peaceable kingdom on earth. Wagner’s spiritualism, therefore, was connoted, indeed permeated, by chiliastic-apocalyptic concepts. He was a representative of a chiliastic-apocalyptic spiritualism.119 The reply to Wagner’s writing was undertaken by Christopher Hoffmann,120 the son of Balthasar Hoffmann and at that time secretary of the Society of Schwenk­ felders.121 On December 31, 1788, in  a letter written in German, he sharply 119 For the term apocalyptic or eschatological spiritualism, see Benrath, “Lehre außerhalb der Konfessionskirchen”, 561–3; Leppin, “Spiritualism”, col. 1586. 120 On Christopher Hoffmann, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1183–4 (E 106–3); Gerhard, “Christopher Hoffmann”. 121 Christopher Hoffmann to David Wagner, December 30, 1788, SLHC Pennsburg, Christopher Hoffmann Box, VS 5–16; the following quotations ibid.

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criticized, first of all, Wagner’s apocalyptic ideas. Above all he criticized Wagner’s ideas about an impending Great Tribulation, about the gathering of  a visible eschatological community, which should seek a safe haven for their protection, and about the millennium with the annihilation of Satan and the total destruction of sin and complete “overthrow or eradication of godlessness”. Secondly, Hoffmann outlined his, i. e., the Schwenkfelders’ eschatology. According to it, God reigned and protected his people, the invisible communion, from the beginning through the Holy Spirit and through “faithful teachers and servants […] until the end of the world”. At the close of his letter he appealed deeply to his “friend” Wagner to examine himself (cf. 2 Cor 13:5), whether he had a “righteous certainty”, so that he “would not have to endure what others had to undergo”, who “hoped and waited for such an apocalyptic event, even predicting the time and years when such a event should begin”. In spite of this warning David Wagner and his wife continued with their preparations for moving out of Worchester Township. Not later than spring 1790 they moved to the settlement of Wilkinson’s followers, which was located in the wilderness west of New York on the outlet of Keuka Lake into Seneca Lake, and belonged to Iroquois lands. This first white settlement in that area could not be established until  a rather lengthy exploratory phase was completed. Already by the end of 1787 Wilkinson and her followers had passed  a final resolution to build  a permanent settlement for their community and had sent out Ezekial Shearman into the Genesee area west of New York for enquiry. On the basis of his information  a tripartite commission — consisting of Thomas Hathaway, Richard Smith, and Abraham Dayton — then engaged a small group of 25 Wilkinson followers to look for a suitable settlement area. After rather lengthy efforts, which cannot be presented here in further detail, a settlement was built in 1788 on a hill near Seneca Lake, which was euphemistically called City Hill. This Universal Friend’s settlement, which was located on the grounds of the present-day village Penn Yan, New York, grew to about 260 people by 1790.122 Without  a doubt this settlement of the Universal Friend is to be seen as an attempt to make the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev: 20–22)  a reality. Incidentally there were several similar utopian experiments at that time in North America.123 However, there is no doubt that the Universal Friend’s settlement was originally supposed to be, above all else, a safe haven from the coming Great Tribulation. Due to the delay of the Great Tribulation and the thousand-year-long Kingdom of God on Earth the eschatological tension among Wilkinson’s adherents ceased gradually, but they continued to build — for several years — on their utopian experiment.

122 A listing of the most important publications on the Universal Friend’s settlement in Dare, American communes, esp. 127–8, no. 1303–18. 123 Cf. Bernet, Apokalypse, 68–9 n 226.

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In spring 1790 at the latest, David Wagner finally moved, as already mentioned, with his wife und some of their children to the Universal Friend’s settlement.124 But not only David Wagner but also his brother Jacob125 as well as his two sisters Susanna126 and Anna127 settled there. Anna Wagner, like her brother Jacob, remained unmarried. In mid-April 1790 Wilkinson also arrived in this settlement after she had lived for many years without a permanent residence. Here all the cabins were log structures. However, a two-story house was soon built with a gambrel roof and a central chimney with nine fireplaces for the Universal Friend. This building — the first frame house in New York State — was supported willingly by Anna Wagner with her wealth, which came from her inheritance.128 However, by 1794 the Universal Friend — disappointed over the many outside oppositions against the settlement and the tribulations within her followers — removed her domicile a few miles west to the vicinity of Keuka (earlier Crooked) Lake. A number of her close confidants also moved to that location. She called this newly established dwelling place New Jerusalem. Here she lived in the midst of her adherents, but still maintained active contact with her other followers, who, as already mentioned, settled not far away. In 1814 she finally withdrew to a spacious three-story building with many outbuildings, built for her and her close female confidantes and domestic servants and set apart on a hill. The circle of unconditionally loyal devotees of the Universal Friend gradually had grown increasingly smaller. Wilkinson died there — unmarried and childless and, last but not least had become lonelier — in 1819. After her death the Society of Universal Friends quickly dispersed. It had been in decline for a considerable time, not only personnel-wise but also spiritually, on account of yearslong legal conflicts over land ownership, on account of the disappointment over the non-appearance of the Kingdom of God, and, last but not least, on account of the monotony of the Universal Friend’s ascetical proclamation.

124 It is unknown which children of David and Rebecca Wagner had already moved with their parents to the settlement of the Universal Friend at that time. Certainly Mary Magdalene, the oldest daughter (see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1453–4 (E 192–9)) accompanied her parents (cf. Cleveland, Yates County, 668); their oldest son Abraham probably as well (see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1447–53 (192–7a, b)), who later took a leading position in Yates County (cf. Cleveland, Yates County, 565–6, 758, 760). 125 On Jacob Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1437; Cleveland, Yates County, 52, 84, 575. Jacob Wagner’s relocation to the settlement of the Universal Friend occurred in June 1792 at the latest. 126 On Susanna Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1440 (E 192–3a, b). The year of her relocation to the settlement of the Universal Friend is unknown. 127 On Anna Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1438; Cleveland, Yates County, 48, 66, 575. She was in the settlement of the Universal Friend by 1792 at the latest. 128 Anna Wagner “was […] wealthy; she aided with her means in the construction of the Friend’s house” (Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1438). “Anna Wagener furnished much of the means to erect this building” (Cleveland, Yates County, 48).

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The adherents of the Universal Friend certainly did not live in a strict community of property; however, mutual support was expected as a matter of course. Above all else, everyone in the Friend’s settlement was obligated to unconditional obedience and to being continuously on call to the Universal Friend. Without making any explanations she dictatorially demanded goods and services. All that was said was: “The Friend had need of these things [cf. Luke 19:34]”.129 It would be interesting to discuss the few commonalities and the substantial differences between the Universal Friend’s settlement and the contemporaneous Ephrata Community; but this is not the place for such an exploration. Like the other settlers, David Wagner farmed  a piece of his own land. The ground, now belonging to Penn Yan, consisted of 276 acres. At the end of 1791 he also became a co-owner of a grist mill which was situated on the outlet of Keuka Lake and had just started operating in the previous year.130 This mill, the “Friend’s mill”, which formed an important communication center, was the only one in this area for a long time. In 1796 he bought an orchard from George Wheeler and planted trees from the orchard on his farm.131 Therefore, it is certain that David Wagner and his family, especially his oldest son Abraham,132 made  a significant contribution to the economic or social development of Penn Yan.133 It is, however, wrong to assume that  a completely heavenly harmony would have existed continuously between the Wagners and the Universal Friend. For example, David Wagner’s wish to become the sole owner of the flour mill was denied by Wilkinson. More serious was the fact that after the birth of David and Rebecca Wagner’s eighth child, their daughter Lament,134 on November 13, 1787, Wilkinson — during her last visit in Worcester — strongly rebuked the couple due to their lack of sexual abstinence.135 According to her conviction it is inadmissible for couples, who belong to the ‘Heavenly Jerusalem’, to continue to have intercourse with one another. According to tradition the Universal Friend supposedly said to the married couple Wagner that they

129 Holloway, Heavens, 63. 130 For the acquisition of the grist mill by David Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1449; Cleveland, Yates County, 61. 131 David Wagner’s son Abraham was able to breed a new type of apple, which was called the Wagener Apple. See Beach, Apples, 1, 21, 24, 354–6; Kriebel “Wilkinson”, 167; Yoder, “Schwenk­ felder-Quaker Connection”, 123–4, 132 n 35. 132 On Abraham Wagner, see n 124. 133 Kriebel, “Wilkinson”, 167: “The name Wagener is indelibly impressed on the community [sc. Penn Yan]”. Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker Connection”, 123: “Judging from the wider American viewpoint these ex-Schwenkfelders [sc. of Wagner’s family] made solid contributions to the history and development of their adopted ‘fatherland’”. 134 On Lammet Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1455 (E 193–11). 135 Cf. Hudson, Wilkinson, 185–6. Hudson’s description of Wilkinson’s displeasure over the birth of David and Rebecca Wagner’s last children may be incorrect in the details; basically, however, it reflects Wilkinson’s disturbed attitude toward sexuality.

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had broken the command of the Lord, had been guilty of a voluntary transgression, and had committed a most enormous sin, and that nothing but perpetual and sincere repentance, and future abstinence could ever atone for the guilt of this crime.136

In order to make the gravity of the moral transgression public, the Universal Friend insisted that Wagner’s eighth child receive the name Lament, i. e., a cry of grief. By doing this, the parents were to be reminded of their lapse their whole life long.137 This severe lecture, however, bore no fruit because after Lament two more daughters were born, Rachel138 and Rebecca139. These births are said to have led again to quarrels with Wilkinson.140 Despite this rebuke David Wagner nevertheless remained her devoted follower until the end of his life.141 In contrast, his wife Rebecca seems — according to tradition — to have held certain reservations against her. She was “never fully convinced”, that Wilkinson “was the Messiah”.142 Admittedly the Universal Friend — as already noted above — had not claimed to be the Messiah, but many of her devotees viewed her as a second incarnation of Christ, as the Messiah. David Wagner died on August 26, 1799, and was the first to be buried in Lake View Cemetery in Penn Yan, New York. His name is contained in the “Death Book of the Society of Universal Friends”, a register of deaths kept since 1790.143

136 Hudson, Wilkinson, 186. 137 Hudson, Wilkinson, 186: “She [sc. Jemima Wilkinson] told them [sc. David and Rebecca Wagner] that they ought to lament this deplorable fall from grace as long as they lived, and as she foresaw that they would be again in danger of yielding to the like temptation, unless they had some striking memento constantly before their eyes, she insisted on naming the child “Lamentation”, that thereby its birth should be remembered, in all future time, as a cause of lamentation and grief to themselves and as an admonition to others”. 138 On Rachel Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1455–6 (E 192–12a, b). 139 On Rebecca Wagner, see Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1456 (E 192–13). 140 Cf. Hudson, Wilkinson, 186–8. 141 Hudson, Wilkinson, 185: “From the circumstances which have been stated in relation to the operations of Jemima while she resided in Pennsylvania, it will be seen that her friend Mr. W. was probably one of the most obedient and devoted disciples in her whole train”. In contrast, Abraham Wagner was convinced, that his father David “thought her [i. e., Wilkinson] a very good woman, and aided her in many ways, but he never claimed to be  a member of her society” (Kriebel, “Wilkinson”, 162). However, Abraham Wagner’s judgment is to be seen as an attempt to play down his father’s behavior. In addition, bear in mind that Abraham Wagner had evolved into a sharp critic of the Universal Friend. Wisbey wrote about him: “Abraham Wagener, after the death of his father, would deck his horses out with bells, hitch them to a sleigh filled with young ladies, and drive from Penn Yan out to the Friend’s meetings in Jerusalem. He enjoyed the cross, sour looks he got from Jemima” (Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 153). A study on the diverse developments of David and Rebecca Wagner’s ten children, all of whom had experienced the same religious socialization, would be religio-psychologically very interesting. 142 Hudson, Wilkinson, 185. Cf. n 106. 143 Death Book of the Society of Universal Friends, in Wisbey, Pioneer prophetess, Wilkinson, 187–95 (Appendix I), here 193 (David Wagner); two of David and Rebecca Wagner’s children are recorded ibid., 194 (Jacob), 195 (Susanna).

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Ill. 21 Entry of David Wagner’s death (1799) in the “Death Book of the Society of Universal Friends”

The Society of Schwenkfelders emphatically denounced the religious development of David Wagner and his family and perceived it as scandalous.144 For them they were people, who had left “truth and homeland”. Like “foolish children”, as Isaac Schultz judged them 1838, they “incautiously” ran after ­Jemima Wilkinson and her entourage, i. e., “her sing-, prayer- and faith-followers” and followed them in the Genesee area. These ruthlessly people “snatched the assets” of David Wagner and his family. As shown by the example of David Wagner and his family, migrations can therefore lead to  a fundamental transformation of traditional doctrine of faith and form of piety and to a religious realignment. Such sensational religious realignments were, however, in the first and second Schwenkfelder settler generation absolute exceptions.

3. Deepening and Strengthening Faith and Piety In all probability the greater part of the Schwenkfelders, the migrations led to  a deepening and strengthening of their traditional faith and piety. What were the reasons and impulses for this and how was such a deepened and strengthened faith realized in their everyday life?

3.1 Reasons and Impulses The Schwenkfelder emigrants were compelled, first of all, to concern themselves more intensively with their traditional faith and piety due to multiple encounters with members of other religious beliefs and forms of piety. These encounters 144 Isaac Schultz, “Abschrift und Auskunft von den ersten Ansiedelungen der Schwenckfelder hier in Amerika, und nebst andern Intereßanten begebenheiten, 1838”, SLHC Pennsburg, Library Catalog 1 Box, VS 1–410, 11; the following quotations ibid. Cf. Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker Connection”, 123, 132 n 34.

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actually began when they — under the pressure of the Jesuits’ catholisation measures145 — secretly fled in small groups from their homeland Silesia to nearby Upper Lusatia in the Electorate of Saxony at the beginning of 1726.146 However, more intensive encounters with other denominations, Christian communities, and religious loners did not occur until 1734 and the following years. At this time two hundred four Schwenkfelders emigrated namely, as already shown, to Pennsylvania, after Elector Frederick August II had ordered their expulsion April 4, 1733.147 Becoming acquainted with other religious beliefs and forms of piety was certainly the first and foremost reason or impulse, why many Schwenkfelders attained a deepening and strengthening of their faith and piety. Secondly, a deepening and strengthening of the faith of the Schwenkfelders also occurred as the result of their living in scattered or dispersed settlements within colonial Pennsylvania, to where they had immigrated.148 In this English colony they encountered a multicultural society. Here they became acquainted with other life styles and moral values. These confrontations with new cultural identities did not remain without multifarious consequences for their traditional faith and piety. Thirdly, for many Schwenkfelders  a deepening and strengthening of the faith took place in their new homeland Pennsylvania in connection with the political challenges arising from the Colonial Wars.149 That occurred especially during the French and Indian War (1756–1763), which was related to the pan-European Seven Years’ War. The Schwenkfelders became involved in burdens and obligations of this war in many different ways — whether they liked it or not. Thereby they felt compelled to reconsider their previous, generally uncritical obedience, i. e., submission or passivity to authority and government, and to draft a political ethic.

3.1.1 Encounters with Beliefs of other Denominations and Christian Communities A deepening and strengthening of their faith occurred among the Schwenkfelders firstly — and before anything else — through encounters with other religious beliefs and forms of piety. It basically began with their flight from Silesia to Upper Lusatia after 1726. Here they met members of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine

145 For the Jesuit Mission established in 1719 for the catholization of the Schwenkfelders, see p. 35–44. 146 For the flight of several hundred Schwenkfelders from Silesia into Upper Lusatia beginning in 1726, see p. 48. 147 For the immigration of 204 Schwenkfelders to Pennsylvania in six successive waves between 1731 and 1737, see p. 81–94. 148 For the settlement of the Schwenkfelders in colonial Pennsylvania, see p. 97–101. 149 For the Schwenkfelders and the Colonial Wars, see p. 123–32.

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in some places, especially in Herrnhut.150 These encounters continued to occur in Pennsylvania after their 1734 immigration.151 In those days not only numerous emissaries of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, among others August Gottlieb Spangenberg, did missionary work — for  a shorter or longer period of time — in this English colony, but Zinzendorf himself was active there, too, between the end of 1740 and the beginning of 1742. Last but not least, the Moravian mission community Bethlehem, found on Christmas Eve 1741, was located geographically about a seven-hour walk north from some Schwenkfelder settlements. Even after their break with Zinzendorf the Schwenkfelders maintained friendly relations with these Moravian missionaries in Bethlehem. They entrusted them with letters and packages which were to be brought to their fellow believers in Silesia and Upper Lusatia. In Pennsylvania the Schwenkfelders dealt with Herrnhuterism more critically because they were urged to do so by George Weiss and then by Balthasar Hoffmann, their first two “Vorsteher”. These tradition-conscious men persistently pointed out — as shown above — the doctrinal differences. At that time these were, in fact, numerous, particularly notable in the understanding of the Word and the sacraments, in soteriology and in ecclesiology. However, most of all it was the understanding of church, which divided the Schwenkfelders and Herrnhuter from one another. Their very distinct understanding of church became especially obvious, when Zinzendorf, during his sojourn in Pennsylvania, endeavored to unite the many German-speaking denominations and Christian communities into the “Church of God in Spirit”152 and to integrate the Schwenkfelders somehow — as a congregation — into this “Church of God in Spirit”. However, a more intensive encounter of the Schwenkfelders with members of other denominations and Christian communities, especially with the Quakers, the Dunkers, the Mennonites, and Methodists, did not occur in Pennsylvania, as noted, until the beginning of the 40s of the eighteenth century, i. e., since the Colonial Wars. That does not mean in any way, however, that individual Schwenkfelders had not had contacts with them previously. Reference is made here just to Christopher Wiegner and his circle of friends.153 Collectively, however, the Schwenkfelders were not concerned with these denominations and Christian communities until the challenges of the Colonial Wars, especially the French and Indian War.154 Among 150 A detailed study on the Schwenkfelders and the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine during their asylum in Upper Lusatia is still a research desideratum. 151 For the Schwenkfelders and the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, i. e. the Moravians, see p. 108–14. 152 Authentische Relation, 8*/8–11*/11 (1 Synod); 56*/56 (3 Synod). Cf. Authentische Relation, XIII–XIV; Meyer, “Zinzendorf ”, 46, 94 n 298 (Lit.). 153 In this context it should be pointed out that Melchior Heebner and Abraham Wagner, practitioners in medicine, also had manifold contacts with other denominations, Christian communities, and loners. Cf. p. 112, 157–65. 154 For the increase in Schwenkfelder connections to other dominations and Christian communities due to the challenges of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), see p. 123–32.

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those connections their contacts with the Quakers turned out to be especially intensive because they cooperated closely with the Quakers in many ways at that time.

3.1.2 Scattered Settlements and Conditions of Life in a Multicultural Society Secondly, among the Schwenkfelders  a deepening and strengthening of their faith — in  a slow, gradual process — took place as  a result of conditions of their scattered settlements within the multicultural society of Pennsylvania.155 In Pennsylvania they no longer resided close to one another as they did in their Silesian ribbon villages. Now they lived at rather substantial distances from one another. Their nearest neighbors were now very often not fellow believers, but members of other denominations and Christian communities with their own cultural and religious background. In their day-to-day neighborly encounters with them they became better acquainted — by observation — with their beliefs and forms of piety. Furthermore, the Schwenkfelders, who had to create, for the most part, a whole new existence for themselves in Pennsylvania, were in many ways dependent on a cooperating society. They were simply forced to work together with people of other faiths. Several Schwenkfelders were impressively successful in doing that. The surveyor David Schultz with his broad network of contacts and influential relationships should be recalled. He was really a model of a successful integration in Pennsylvania.156 Through this occupational cooperation with other settlers the Schwenkfelders also became especially familiar with their faith and forms of piety. In the case of many Schwenkfelders the acquaintance with other beliefs and forms of piety led to a deepening and strengthening of their own traditional faith. Of course, that happened in the case of individual Schwenkfelders in very different ways as well as various degrees of intensity. Some eagerly endeavored to get to know new beliefs and forms of piety, others remained anxiously reserved.

3.1.3 Social and Political Challenges during the French and Indian War Thirdly, a deepening and strengthening of their Schwenkfelder faith also occurred among many of the Silesian settlers through the political events and challenges with which they were confronted within  a few years after their immigration to Pennsylvania. It was  a matter of the Colonial Wars, i. e., the English-Spanish 155 The multicultural society of Pennsylvania, initially perceived by many Schwenkfelders as irritating and dangerous, later proved to be an opportunity of deepening and strengthening their faith. 156 Impressive testimony for David Schultz’s successful integration in Pennsylvania society is found in his daybooks (Shultze, Journals, vols. 1 and 2).

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War, King George’s War, and especially the French and Indian War, with their political implications. The Schwenkfelders felt compelled foremost to ponder over their understanding of authority and government and especially their position on service in war. At that time in colonial Pennsylvania there was, namely, no feudalism, under which the Schwenkfelders had lived earlier in their homeland Silesia and in their asylum in Upper Lusatia. In both territories they were excluded de facto from any participation whatever in political issues. Whereas in Pennsylvania the government involved — during those times — the inhabitants and settlers within a certain radius in processes of making political decisions and placed upon them civil duties. Like other denominations and Christian communities, especially those of the Quakers and the Mennonites, i. e., of the historic peace churches, as well as members of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, the Schwenkfelders were now challenged to rethink their previous understanding of authority and government. Under the dominating influence of Christopher Schultz157, the preeminent figure of the Schwenkfelders in the second half of the eighteenth century, they found — in debates about events and circumstances in colonial Pennsylvania — their way to a differentiated understanding of government and to a new political ethic. That means that they no longer accepted all governmental orders without hesitation as given by God. They had become more critical. Secondly, above all, they engaged themselves in different ways and forms in political processes. That became evident principally during the French and Indian War, as was already illustrated.158 The Schwenkfelders shared the burdens of war in various ways: They gathered financial means to compensate the Indians for suffered damages; they supported settlers who endured tribulations by marauding and massacring Indians; they promoted establishing a self-defense organization; they helped in the transportation of provisions for regular troops. At that time, however, they could not bring themselves to an active participation in military service. They refused to fight with weapons. “Every time”, when they were summoned to go to war, they “arranged for a person against payment”.159 Their refusal to fight with weapons was not biblically based by them. That is to say, they did not justify — in  a literal sense — their stance on war service by Bible verses in which a prohibition of killing is pronounced, as, for example, in Exod 20:13 or Deut 27:17 (The Fifth Commandment).160 Rather they refused fighting with weapons because this is incompatible with Christian ethics.

157 A competent, source-based portrayal of Christopher Schultz’s life and work is an urgent research desideratum. 158 See p. 123–32. 159 Schultz, “Anmerkungen [1]”, 52. 160 Spiritualism — although weakened in the seventeenth and the beginning of eighteenth centuries — hindered the Schwenkfelders in general from a biblicistic understanding of the Scriptures. That is, their spiritualism made it impossible for them to interpret and understand the Scriptures literally or in literal sense.

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Above all, fighting contradicts love, the “foundation-principle of divine nature”,161 i. e., of God. Wars are “things that belong to the Devil’s Domain”.162 However, the Schwenkfelders rejected military service, finally, too, on account of the hardships and persecutions which their ancestors — and, in some cases, they themselves, too — had suffered in Europe.163

3.2 Realization in Everyday Life —  Charitable and Social Commitment, Tolerance The majority of the Schwenkfelders of the first settler generation came — as  a result of their migrations — to  a deepening and strengthening of their own faith through encounters with foreign faiths and forms of piety, through their scattered settlements in Pennsylvania as well as through political and social challenges during the Colonial Wars. This deepened and strengthened faith became a reality in the everyday life of the Schwenkfelders, namely, in their basic openness towards people with different beliefs and other forms of piety, their helpfulness toward all needy people — irrespective of their religious or ethnic affiliation — and their social and political engagement within the wider community. This realization cannot be presented in detail within the framework of this account. It can only be sketched and explained here by offering a few examples. First of all,  a basic openness to members of other denominations and Christian communities can be observed among those Schwenkfelders who became acquainted with other beliefs and forms of piety. This openness is revealed, on the one hand, by the fact that now in Pennsylvania they no longer — as earlier in Silesia and Upper Lusatia164 — had communion more or less exclusively with and among like-minded people. Now they attended, from time to time, devotional meetings of other denominations and Christian communities in the neighborhood. Numerous pieces of evidence for this are found in the diary of the farmer Christopher W ­ iegner165 and the journals of the surveyor David Schultz.166 In this context it is striking that the Schwenkfelders attended primarily meetings of other denominations and Christian communities in which spiritualism was relevant.

161 Constitution, Art. 1. 162 Hans Christoph Hübner to Rosina Scharffenberg, December 1748, SLHC Pennsburg, VOC H 6. 163 The Schwenkfelders’ own painful experiences in their Silesian homeland were certainly an important motive for their rejection of military service. That wide range of experience is, however, in need of additional research. 164 For the Schwenkfelders’ largely religious and to some extent social separation, too, in Silesia from the second half of the sixteenth to the last third of the seventeenth century, see p. 20–2. 165 See Wiegner, Diary, passim. 166 See Shultze, Journals, vols. 1 and 2, passim.

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On the other hand, the deepening and strengthening of their own faith was manifested in the fact that the Schwenkfelders no longer delved solely into Schwenckfeld’s writings and Schwenkfeldiana. They concerned themselves now and then with non-Schwenkfelder literature. Of course, such a literary opening, as shown, was possible only after surmounting much opposition and apprehension.167 Indeed, some Schwenkfelders even promoted the study of writings from other denominations and Christian communities. Here, too, Christopher Schultz again took  a leading role. He and his Quaker friends, especially Israel Pemberton and Anthony Benezet,168 called each another’s attention to important publications by their societies. They even promoted the translation of  a few of their books into German, respectively, English in order to make the religious convictions of the Schwenkfelders or of the Quakers resp. Friends better understood in each other’s community. For example, in 1773 Christopher Schultz reviewed the voluminous manuscript of  a German translation of Robert Barclay’s “Apology”.169 This basic work in the defense of Quakerism, originally published in Latin in 1676 in Amsterdam (“Theologiae vere Christianae Apologia”), was printed for the first time in English in Aberdeen in 1678 under the title “An Apology for the true Christian Divinity”. After Schultz had finished his review of the German translation — which had been passed on to him for verification — it appeared in Germantown in 1776 at the printing house of the renowned printer Christopher Sauer under the title “Apolo­gie Oder Vertheidigungs-Schrift der wahren Christlichen Gottesge­lahr­ heit”.170 Several years later the Quakers asked Schultz to make a critical review of a German translation of the tract printed in 1781 entitled “A Letter from Elizabeth Webb to Anthony William Boehm, with his Answer”.171 This small publication is actually a letter which the Quaker preacher Elizabeth Webb172 wrote to the Halle pietist Anthony William Boehm,173 chaplain and officiate at the Court of Prince

167 For the apprehensions of the tradition-conscious Schwenkfelders toward the reading of non-Schwenkfelder writings in the seventeenth as well as the eighteenth century, see p. 26. 168 For Christopher Schultz’s manifold contacts with the merchant and politician Israel ­Pemberton (1715–1779) as well as the educator and abolitionist Anthony Benezet (1713–1784), two very influential Quakers, see p. 129–30. 169 See Christopher Schultz to Israel Pemberton, March 29, 1772, in Yoder, “Schwenkfel­derQuaker Connection”, 152–3, Doc. 13. 170 This German translation is the only German edition of Barclay’s “Apology” that appeared in Germantown in the printing house of Christopher Sauer. 171 See Israel Pemberton to Christopher Schultz, July 15, 1783, in Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker Connection”, 153–5, Doc. 14. 172 Elizabeth Webb (1663–1726) was an English female preacher. An account of her religious development respectively spiritual life is found in her letter to Anthony William Boehm dated 1712. 173 The Halle pietist Anthony William Boehm (Anton Wilhelm Böhme) (1673–1722), theologian and educator, was a German Lutheran chaplain in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in London from 1705 until his death in 1722. He was also a prolific author, translator, and editor; see esp. Brunner, Halle Pietists.

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George of Denmark.174 Because Schultz judged the translation to be unready for publication, it did not appear in Sauer’s printing house.175 The openness of Schwenkfelders to non-Schwenkfelder literature was, however, not unlimited. At that time certainly almost all of them rejected reading books, in which central doctrines of Christian faith are called into doubt or even resolutely denied. Thus they were very shocked when they learned in the middle of the 1770s that in Silesia Carl Ehrenfried Heintze176, on whom they had pinned their hopes for the almost completely exhausted Schwenkfeldianism in that area, was also engaged in the early Enlightenment writings of Johann Christian Edelmann and was warmly recommending them.177 They feared that their fellow believers — in most cases their relatives — would be infected with enlightenment ideas. Therefore the Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders warned them sternly about Edelmann’s writings. In all probability the far greater portion of the Schwenkfelders expressed their trepidation not only about publications of the Enlightenment but also about such spiritualistic, radical pietistic, Boehmist and Paracelsian writings in which speculative treatments on Trinitarian, Christological, eschatological or anthro­pological concepts are found. Remarkably, even these Schwenkfelders, who otherwise supported an open dialogue about other Christian doctrines, spoke out against reading such writings, for example Christopher Schultz. Like other tradition-conscious Schwenkfelders of the past he felt that he had to raise  a warning finger at the renowned medical practitioner Abraham Wagner, who was not only known to be open to the entire spiritualistic, pietistic, and natural-philosophical tradition but was also an advocate of unlimited reading material. Schultz’s controversy over these matters with Wagner is both impressive and oppressive.178 Secondly, the reality of the deepened and strengthened faith of the Schwenkfelders became apparent in their support of all needy people regardless of their ethnicity or creed. Such support was rendered in part by individuals and in part by

174 Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland (1653–1708) had been married since 1683 with Anne who became Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702. 175 Published in Philadelphia in the printing house of Carl Cist in 1783, this letter by Elizabeth Well to Anthony William Boehm was titled in a German translation as: “Einige Glaubens-Bekentnisse und göttliche Erfahrungs-Proben, in einem Send-schreiben”. The translator of this printed edition was J. M. of Jorck [York]; the translator of the manuscript negatively judged by Schultz was Elisha Kirch (cf. Yoder, “Schwenkfelder-Quaker Connection”, 153–4). Elisha Kirch (1757–1790) lived with his family in York County from 1780 until his death. 176 On Carl Ehrenfried Heintze, see p. 139 n 15. 177 For the controversy between the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania and Carl Ehrenfried Heintze in regard to Johann Christian Edelmann’s “Unschuldige Wahrheiten” which appeared between 1735 and 1743 in fifteen “discussions”, see p. 143–4. 178 For the controversy between Abraham Wagner and Christopher Schultz over reading works in which fundamental doctrines of Christianity are brought into question or presented in a distorted way, see p. 160–2.

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the community. An example for the first case is the will of the medical practitioner, Abraham Wagner, dated May 16, 1763.179 In it he directed his executors to sell his entire estate except for those things which he bequeathed to “some named Persons”. One-third of the proceeds was to be distributed by the trustees of his estate “unto poor and needy Folks, and both amongst our and other Folks of any Sort of Religion or Persuasion, where they [sc. the trustees] think it will be good and needful”. Noteworthy is the fact that a timetable was specified in detail for the distribution of the money for the poor. In his will Wagner also bequeathed the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia — the first hospital in the American colonies — a financial contribution of “Twenty Pounds ready Money”. This donation was to be applied “towards carrying on the charitable Design” of this hospital founded in 1751. Of more significant public relevance was the support which the Schwenkfelders rendered more or less as  a community. They repeatedly gave their financial and material support to those settlers and natives who had suffered at the hands of encroaching, marauding, and scalping Indians in Pennsylvania. When they found out, for example, about the massacre that the Delaware Indians had perpetrated on the missionaries and the Christianized Delaware Indians living at the Moravian mission station Gnadenhütten (English: huts of grace) in Carbon County in 1755, they spontaneously geared up to assist.180 They sent provisions to those totally destitute Moravian missionaries and Christianized Indians who were able to save themselves by fleeing from Gnadenhütten to Bethlehem. Another example of the charitable-social engagement of the Schwenkfelders is their willingness to contribute to the ransom for settlers captured by Indians. When the Schwenkfelders heard, namely, in 1760 that the Friendly Association for the Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures was negotiating ransom for settlers they were ready to give support without prior inquiry about the faith and country of origin of the captive settlers.181 The deepened and strengthened faith of the Schwenkfelders became  a reality, thirdly, in their social and — reluctant — political engagement. In contrast to their apoliticism in their Silesian homeland as well as their asylum in Upper Lusatia the Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania became involved in some social endeavors and — to  a certain extent — in political affairs as well. As individuals and as  a community they worked for the common good. Their largest undertaking at that time was clearly their collaboration with the Friendly Association for Regaining

179 The will of Abraham Wagner, dated May 16, 1763, in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1435–6; Berky, Wagner, 167–70 (Appendix). Cf. codicil to the will, May 16, 1763, in Brecht (ed.), Genealogical Record, 1436–7; Berky, Wagner, 170–2 (Appendix). 180 For Schwenkfelder support of the Moravian missionaries and the Christianized Delaware Indians, who were able to escape the Gnadenhutten massacre in November 1755, see p. 126. 181 For the Schwenkfelders’ readiness to support, by a fixed amount, the Association’s plan to pay ransom to the Indians for the release of captive settlers, see p. 130.

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and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures.182 This politically independent organization wanted to end the military conflict with the Delaware Indians peacefully through negotiations and monetary compensation. Already by November 13 of this year the Schwenk­ felders declared their readiness for financial support in the amount of 215 pounds. Through their trustees they also participated in some deliberations and decisions of this organization. In summary, the traditional faith of most of the Schwenkfelders who had immigrated to colonial Pennsylvania experienced  a deepening and strengthening through their migrations. They encountered here in their scattered settlements, as shown, other cultural identities as well as different social circumstances and new politic realities. However, above all else, they became more closely and intimately acquainted with other religious beliefs and forms of piety. Ill. 22 Title page of the “Catechismus” By becoming acquainted with the faith by Christopher Schultz (1763) of other people and by learning new cultural identities as well as by overcoming challenges — brought by new social and political conditions — Schwenkfelder faith underwent deepening and strengthening. This altered faith became a reality in their everyday life by showing remarkable religious tolerance and openness to people of other beliefs, greater helpfulness to needy people regardless of their religion, ethnicity, or nationality, and — last but not least — more active participation in social and political life as well. Thus, the majority of the Schwenkfelders perceived their migration — first and foremost — as a chance or an opportunity and seized it with varied intensity.

182 For Schwenkfelders’ support and cooperation with the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures established in 1756 by  a group of eminent Quakers in Philadelphia, see p. 129–30.

Epilogue

I. Migrations are a phenomenon that can be traced back to the time when humanlike beings, i. e., hominini, appeared. Here the reference is only to great migrations in prehistoric times, caused primarily by climate fluctuations and by the lack of a sufficient natural habitat. Both were usually connected to great famines. But also in historical times the history of mankind has been closely intertwined with migrational movements from the beginning. However, they were of quite varying extent and differing duration. Moreover, their frequency distribution in the various epochs of history has been very diverse. In modern times, especially during the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, numerous migrational movements took place, particularly from Europe to North America.1 In this time the migrations of the Schwenkfelders in Silesia, followers of the teachings of the mystic spiritualist Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig (1589–1561), also occurred. In the first half of the eighteenth century more than two hundred of them left namely — as shown in this monograph — their Silesian homeland and emigrated to America for the sake of their faith. Here — after being permitted to reside temporarily in the Upper Lusatian region of the Electorate of Saxony — they settled in colonial Pennsylvania between 1731 and 1737, scattered widely for some fifty miles northwest of Philadelphia, the harbor of their immigrations. The causes and inducements for these — in some cases — massive movements of people in modern history were manifold. For the most part it was a matter of political, economic, social, ethnic, and last but not least religious reasons which led to these migrations. Mostly there were, however, multicausal reasons why people — individuals, small and large groups, communities, or nations — moved out of their initial living spaces or homelands. Some chose to do this more or less voluntarily, for example, due to lack of employment. Others, surely most, were forced to do it. It was done not infrequently in the face of repressions and by savage use of force. That was also exactly what happened to the Schwenkfelders who emigrated to America in the 1730s. Their migrations took place, as shown, within the framework of the Counter-Reformation. This period of Catholic resurgence beginning with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) was carried out in Silesia — a constituent part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526 to 1742 — with the utmost determination 1 Since World War II migration movements have reached, as generally known, dramatic proportions in nearly all regions of the world. Not without good reason one speaks therefore of global migrational flows. (For the topic global mission, see Oltmer, Globale Migration, esp., 123–5; there is a lot of important literature here about global migration.) These migrations increasingly confront the international community with tremendous tasks, which can be solved only in concert.

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including the use of brute force. For the Counter Reformation in Silesia was far more  a violent reaction to the Reformation, i. e., Protestantism, than  a religious reform movement. However, seen from  a Christian point of view, not only human history is interlaced with migrational movements from the beginning. Rather the life of each individual person is ultimately — metaphorically — a migration. The unknown author of the Epistle to the Hebrews expressed that basic human state of being on the move in the last third of the first century in these words: “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb 13:14).2 This metaphor is found throughout Christian literature, especially in those texts which treat Christian eschatology, i. e., the end of the world and the ultimate destiny of humanity. This metaphor has also been used often by poets and hymn writers in their works. Here Gerhard Tersteegen, the famous German Protestant religious writer and mystic in the eighteenth century, can be pointed out. In the hymn “Wann sich die Sonn erhebet” (“When the sun is rising”) — published in 1745 for the first time in the fourth edition of his often printed “Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein” — he formulates the ninth verse metaphorically: “Ein Tag, der sagt dem andern, // Mein Leben sei ein Wandern // Zur großen Ewigkeit. // O Ewigkeit, so schöne, // Mein Herz an dich gewöhne // Mein Heim ist nicht von dieser Zeit.”3 In an English version these lines of the verse read: “Each day says to the next, // my life is a pilgrimage // to vast eternity. // O eternity, so beautiful, // accustom my heart to you, // my home is not in this time.”4 II. All historical events are, in  a certain way, characterized by uniqueness and unrepeatability. That is absolutely true, too — mutatis mutandis, i. e., with the required modifications — for the migrations of the Schwenkfelders in the early eighteenth century. Not only the reasons of their persecutions (such as, for example, the special form of their religious deviance and criticism of the church) and the historical context of their flight (the establishment of  a Jesuit mission for their catholicization), but also the course of their migrations and transatlantic passages 2 Cf. the translations of Heb 13:14 in Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible (1929): “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come”, and in The Bible in Basic English (1982): “For here we have no fixed resting-place, but our search is for the one which is to come”. 3 Tersteegen, Blumen-Gärtlein 1747, Buch 3, Lied LXXVIII Morgen- oder Abend-Opffer (“Wann sich die Sonn erhebet”), 407–9, here 409. On the title page of this edition of Tersteegen’s Blumen-Gärtlein it is noted: “In Teutschland zum 4ten Mahl gedruckt; und nun in America das erste Mahl Gedruckt zu Germanton bey Christoph Sauer / 1747” (Printed in Germany for the fourth time; and now printed in America for the first time in Germanton [sic] by Christoph Saur, 1747). For this song by Tersteegen, see esp. Deichgräber, Gott ist genug, 70–8; for the last, ninth strophe of this song (“Ein Tag, der sagt dem andern”) see, ibid. 78. 4 Quoted from Bonhoeffer, Letters and papers from prison 2010, 197 (77. Prayers for Prisoners: Evening Prayer). Cf. Bonhoeffer, Widerstand und Ergebung 1998, 207 (77. Gebete für Gefangene: Abendgebet); Bonhoeffer, Widerstand und Ergebung 1951, 100 (Abendgebet).The translator of this strophe is Lisa E. Dahill (on Dahill, see Bonhoeffer, Letters and papers from prison 2010, 747–8).

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to America (between 1731 and 1737 in six migrations) and their — originally unintended and unwanted — scattered settlements in Pennsylvania are in a certain way unique and distinctive. Nevertheless some particular features can be detected among the Schwenkfelder migrations, which — in modified form — can also be found in other migrations. That is especially the case when a comparison is made with such migrations which likewise ensued for the sake of faith. Such similar features become evident when special attention is paid to the effects which migrations had on the faith and piety of the emigrants. Such features may be mentioned only in just  a few keywords here as follows: Loosening of religious ties, shrinkage of traditional forms of piety, betrayal of former religious beliefs, return to or renewal of faith traditions of the ancestors, multifarious alterations of the traditional faith and piety, deepening and strengthening of one’s own faith tradition. III. With all due caution against making generalizations, it is therefore possible to consider the Schwenkfelders’ migrations under the well-known Latin phrase pars pro toto, i. e.,  a part represents the whole. According to this figure of speech the Schwenkfelder migrations correspond to some — just mentioned — key elements of other migrations which also took place for reasons of religious belief in the eighteenth century.5 The Schwenkfelder migrations therefore can have in some way — phenomenologically — a paradigmatic function, especially in regard to other religious migrations at that time. Furthermore, the migrations of the Schwenkfelders have a quasi ‘research function’ in regard to other migrations that took or take place likewise for the sake of faith. Precise knowledge of the Schwenkfelder migrations is namely capable of raising awareness to risks and opportunities which are likewise present in other religious migrations. In any case, they can contribute to  a quicker insight and better evaluation of similar risks and opportunities. However, today’s religious emigrations — in contrast to earlier ones — are admittedly almost always more closely intertwined with ethnic, economic, and political causes and inducements. IV. Doubtlessly, migrations always involve manifold risks. This also applies, of course, to such migrations that take place for the sake of faith. They are fraught with multifold risks, for example, the waning or even breaking off of religious tradition, religious homelessness, and uprootedness. However, without somehow minimizing or trivializing the gravity of these risks, attention shall be focused here once again just on opportunities that migrations imply and open up. Migrations make it possible for religious refugees to become acquainted with other religious beliefs and forms of piety as well as to encounter other identities and lifestyles in the host countries. Both will be in the majority of cases first-hand experiences in daily life due to a common living and working world. The history 5 How numerous those religious migrations to America were precisely at that time is already obvious after a quick glance at the many preserved passenger lists from great European emigration ports such as Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

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of the first Schwenkfelder settler generation in Pennsylvania is — as thoroughly investigated in the present monograph — an eloquent example of this. In this English colony, where in 1681 the Quaker William Penn had ventured his “Holy Experiment”6, the Silesian Schwenkfelders made numerous acquaintances with members of other denominations and Christian communities as well as religious loners in the day-to-day life with one another. These acquaintances and encounters are never without effects and repercussions on traditional beliefs and long-established forms of piety. However, these ramifications take place in very different ways and with varying degrees of intensity. In this case it is crucial, on the one hand, whether interest in and openness to other beliefs and forms of piety basically exists and, on the other hand, whether there is a willingness to grapple critically with them in the context of one’s own religious convictions. As shown, based on the history of the Schwenkfelder migrants, such acquain­ tanceships and encounters with other beliefs can lead, on the one hand, to quite different alterations in faith and piety. They range from insignificant modifications to grave transformations. On the other hand, such alterations also make possible a deepening and strengthening of one’s own religious faith. That has, of course, last not least a great effect on one’s way of life and world view. In the case of the Schwenkfelders it came obviously — as shown — to  a social and to some extent political engagement for the common good. In summary, migrations which take place for the sake of faith also always involve great opportunities for one’s own religious development as well as for one’s own future life and activities. These opportunities demand, however, to be resolutely perceived, seized, and realized in the day-to-day world.

6 For William Penn’s plan to establish an ideal government based on religious foundations in the Province of Pennsylvania, see Bronner, Holy Experiment, esp., 31–49, 250–9. Of course, at the time of the Schwenkfelders’ immigration to Pennsylvania Penn’s former hopes and desires had disappeared in many respects. Nevertheless the “Holy Experiment” had not remained without fruits. The “Holy Experiment” had left positive marks, which the Schwenkfelders of the first settler generation quite often mentioned gratefully in letters to their fellow believers in Silesia.

Summary in German

Die Monographie »Migration and Faith« thematisiert die Relevanz von Migrationen für Glauben und Frömmigkeit von Auswanderern. Das geschieht anhand der Migrationen der Schwenkfelder von Schlesien nach Amerika im 18. Jahrhundert. Diese Anhänger der Lehre des mystischen Spiritualisten Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig bildeten in Schlesien – von 1526 bis 1742 ein Teil der österreichischen Habsburg Monarchie – seit der zweiten Drittel des 16. Jahrhunderts vor allem im Herzogtum Liegnitz und in den Fürstentümern Schweidnitz-Jauer größere durative, jedoch kaum organisierte Gemeinschaften. Wegen ihrer religiösen Devianz und massiven Kritik besonders an der Lutherischen Kirche, der sie de jure durch die Taufe angehörten, wurden sie von weltlichen und geistlichen Obrigkeiten vielfältig verfolgt. Im Zuge der in Schlesien mit großer Härte durchgeführten Gegenreformation wurde 1719 eine Jesuiten Mission zu ihrer Katholisierung errichtet. Deshalb sahen sich seit Anfang 1726 schließlich mehrere Hundert Schwenkfelder gezwungen, ihre Heimat um des Glaubens willen heimlich zu verlassen. Mit dieser Geschichte der Schwenkfelder in Schlesien befasst sich überblicksmäßig das erste Kapitel. Hierbei wird einerseits besonders auf die Charakteristika ihrer Theologie und Frömmigkeit sowie auf ihre Kritik an Lehre und Verfassung der Lutherischen Kirche eingegangen. Andererseits werden die vielfältigen Disziplinar- und Strafmaßnahmen dargestellt, mit denen Obrigkeit und Kirche gegen die devianten Schwenkfelder vorgingen. Unter dem wachsenden Druck der Jesuiten Mission und infolge der endgültigen Zurückweisung ihrer Bitte um religiöse Duldung oder um Erlaubnis zur legalen Auswanderung durch Kaiser Karl VI. sahen viele Schwenkfelder – so wird im zweiten Kapitel deutlich – keine andere Möglichkeit, als heimlich aus der Heimat zu fliehen. Nachdem sie sich mündlich und schriftlich in verschiedenen deutschen Territorien und in den Niederlanden vergeblich nach einem Asyl erkundigt hatten, fanden sie schließlich Obdach in der nahe gelegenen Oberlausitz, nämlich in Görlitz sowie vor allem auf den Besitzungen des pietistischen Reichsgrafen Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, in Berthelsdorf und Herrnhut. Mit ihrer recht unterschiedlichen Aufnahme und Existenzweise in der Handelsstadt Görlitz und auf den Zinzendorfschen Besitzungen befasst sich das dritte Kapitel. Während in Görlitz mit seinem selbstbewussten Rat und seiner einflussreichen lutherischen Pfarrerschaft dem religiösen Leben der schwenkfeldischen Asylanten enge Grenzen gesetzt waren, war dies in Herrnhut und in Berthelsdorf, keineswegs der Fall. Besonders in dem großen Reihendorf Berthelsdorf, wo schließlich die meisten von ihnen Unterkunft fanden, konnten sie sich nahezu ungehindert entfalten. Es war ihnen möglich, eigene religiöse Zusammenkünfte zu veranstalten, ihren Lebensunterhalt durch verschiedene Tätigkeiten zu verdienen sowie Häuser mit Gärten und etwas Ackerland zu bauen oder zu

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mieten. Vor allem lernten sie auf Zinzendorfs Besitzungen die 1722 gegründete Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine mit ihrer christozentrischen Frömmigkeit, ihrem intensiven Gemeinschaftsleben und schlichten Lebensstil kennen. Durch die alltäglichen Begegnungen mit deren Mitgliedern  – Mähren, Pietisten und religiöse Einzelgänger  – wurden sie veranlasst, sich mit deren Glauben und Frömmigkeit auseinanderzusetzen. Dadurch wurde ihr eigener schwenkfeldischer Glaube auf mannigfaltige Weise und unterschiedlicher Intensität beeinflusst. Relativ überraschend erhielten die Schwenkfelder am 4.  April 1733 von dem Kurfürsten Friedrich August II. von Sachsen den Befehl, Kursachsen innerhalb eines Jahres in kleinen Gruppen wieder zu verlassen. Von dieser Ausweisung waren die wenigen schwenkfeldischen Familien, die in Görlitz und Umgebung Aufnahme gefunden hatten, zunächst nicht betroffen. Den religiösen und auch politischen Gründen für dieses Dekret – nur wenige Wochen nach dem Tod Friedrich Augusts I. erteilt – widmet sich das vierte Kapitel. Es wird evident, dass die öffentlichen Bezichtigungen, Zinzendorf habe Untertanen aus Habsburger Territorien und religiöse Dissidenten angelockt und ihnen auf seinen Besitzungen illegal Unterschlupf gewährt, für Kaiser Karl VI. entscheidend waren, am kursächsischen Hof in Dresden auf Ausweisung der Schwenkfelder zu insistieren. Nach Erhalt des Migrationsbefehls erkundigten sich diese sogleich durch Sendboten und Briefe vielerorts in Europa oder Amerika nach einem neuen Asyl. Ein solches wollten sie jedoch nur dann annehmen, wenn es ihnen dort garantiert möglich sei, ihren Glauben frei zu bekennen, sich gemeinsam in einem Areal anzusiedeln, und ihren Lebensunterhalt zu erwirtschaften. In engem Kontakt mit den Mennoniten in Haarlem und Amsterdam streckten sie ihre Fühler besonders nach den Niederlanden und nach den englischen Kolonien Georgia und Pennsylvania aus. Aufgrund von Empfehlungen und eigenen Recherchen wählten sie, so wird im fünften Kapitel eingehend erörtert, schließlich die Englische Kolonie Pennsylvania als neues Zufluchtsland. Zu Recht gingen sie davon aus, dass sie hier, wo der Quäker William Penn 1681 sein »Holy Experiment« gewagt hatte, frei ihren schwenkfeldischen Glauben bekennen und ihn öffentlich leben können. Mit den insgesamt sechs Auswanderungszügen der Schwenkfelder befasst sich das sechste Kapitel, wobei das Hauptaugenmerk dem Treck im Jahre 1734 gilt, mit dem mehr als 200 von ihnen nach Amerika emigrierten. Diese beschwerlichen und gefahrvollen Reise begann Ende April in der Oberlausitz und führte in vier Etappen nach Pennsylvania. Entsprechend der obrigkeitlichen Anordnung zogen die Schwenkfelder zunächst in kleinen Gruppen zu Fuß und mit Wagen nach Pirna, südöstlich von Dresden gelegen; von hier fuhren sie in zwei Kähnen elbabwärts nach Altona. Von dort ging es auf drei holländischen Booten nach Haarlem, von wo sie dann auf der englischen St Andrew – zusammen mit vielen Migranten aus der Pfalz – über den Atlantik nach Philadelphia segelten. Gestützt auf logbuchartige Aufzeichnungen können Organisation und Route der Passage sowie aktuelle Ereignisse detailliert dargestellt werden. Durch die spirituelle Fürsorge und generöse Unterstützung durch mennonitische Bankiers und Großkaufleute in Haarlem und

Summary in German

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Altona, so wird deutlich, verfestigte sich das Band zwischen den Schwenkfeldern und den Mennoniten. Infolge dürftiger Quellenlage eröffnen sich dagegen kaum Einblicke in das religiöse Leben der schwenkfeldischen Auswanderer während ihrer fünfmonatigen Reise. Nach ihrer Ankunft in der damals etwa 13 000 Einwohner zählenden Stadt Phil­ adelphia Ende September 1734 konnten die Schwenkfelder jedoch trotz intensiver Bemühungen in dem zu dieser Zeit schon dicht besiedelten Pennsylvania kein größeres Areal erwerben, um sich dort gemeinschaftlich niederzulassen. Stattdessen mussten sie vielfach relativ weit voneinander entfernt in einem Radius von 50 Meilen nordwestlich von Philadelphia siedeln. Diese verstreute Siedlungsweise in der multireligiösen, multiethnischen und multikulturellen englischen Kolonie­ Pennsylvania hatte nicht nur für ihre nunmehr weitgehend agrarisch orientierte Erwerbstätigkeit, sondern vor allem für ihren Glauben und ihre Frömmigkeit weitreichende Folgen, wie im siebenten Kapitel dargestellt wird. Im alltäglichen Miteinander lernten sie andere religiöse Bekenntnisse und Frömmigkeitsformen kennen und waren zur Auseinandersetzung herausgefordert. Davon abgesehen wurden die Schwenkfelder – in ihrer schlesischen Heimat vom Feudalismus geprägt – in Pennsylvania auch mit neuen gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten und politischen Ereignissen konfrontiert. Das geschah vor allem im Laufe der Kolonial Kriege, besonders während des Siebenjährigen Krieges in Nordamerika (French and Indian War). So kam es, dass in der ersten Siedlungsgeneration nicht nur das religiöse Leben der Schwenkfelder als Gemeinschaft eine tiefgreifende theologische, organisatorische und institutionelle Entwicklung durchlief. Vielmehr erfuhren auch Glaube und Frömmigkeit jedes einzelnen Schwenkfelder vielgestaltige Veränderungen, selbstverständlich in unterschiedlicher Intensität. Diese reichten von einer fundamentalen Umwandlung ihres traditionellen schwenkfeldischen Glaubens bis hin zu seiner Stärkung und Vertiefung. Zwischen 1731 und 1737 waren zwar etwas mehr als 200 Schwenkfelder nach Amerika emigriert, aber der weitaus größere Teil  ihrer Gesamtzahl war in der schlesischen Heimat geblieben. Hier waren sie weiterhin den immer härter, willkürlicher und bizarrer werdenden Zwangsmaßnahmen der Jesuitenmission ausgesetzt. Zur klammheimlichen Freude der lutherischen Dorfbevölkerung widersetzten sie sich diesen aber nun gelegentlich mit brachialer Gewalt. Ihre ausweglose Lage änderte sich jedoch grundlegend, als König Friedrich II. von Preußen nach dem Tod Kaiser Karls VI – sich auf alte Erbansprüche stützend – 1740 ohne Kriegserklärung in Schlesien einmarschierte und es in Besitz nahm. In zwei Edikten sicherte er allen Schwenkfeldern, also auch den in die Heimat rückkehrwilligen, zu: Individuelle Glaubens- und Gewissensfreiheit, Rückerstattung ihres Eigentums, Niederlassungsrecht in anderen Territorien Preußens, Steuerprivilegien. Dieses Angebot nahmen viele von den in die Oberlausitz geflohenen Schwenkfelder im Laufe der nächsten Jahre an; dagegen kehrte kein einziger von den nach Pennsylvania ausgewanderten nach Schlesien zurück. Mit der Geschichte dieses späteren schlesischen Schwenkfeldertums bis zu seinem Erlöschen im Jahre 1826 befasst sich das

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achte Kapitel. Hierbei wird besonders den Gründen nachgegangen, warum und wie es trotz günstiger religionspolitischer Rahmenbedingungen zu einem unaufhaltbaren Niedergang kam. Begründet war dieser, so zeigt es sich, keineswegs nur in der demographischen und sozialen Struktur des späteren Schwenkfeldertums. Entscheidend für den Untergang war vielmehr, dass die religiös entschiedensten und unternehmerisch aktivsten Schwenkfelder nach Pennsylvania emigriert und zu keiner Rückkehr bereit waren. Migrationen haben eben auch weitreichende Konsequenzen für diejenigen, die sich – aus welchen Gründen auch immer – nicht zur Auswanderung entschließen können. Die Darstellung der Geschichte der Schwenkfelder, die in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Schlesien nach Amerika auswanderten, hat gezeigt, dass die Migrationen für ihren Glauben und Frömmigkeit von großer Bedeutsamkeit gewesen sind. Infolge ihrer Auswanderung lernten sie auf vielfältige Weise neue religiöse Glaubensvorstellungen kennen und begegneten andersartige Frömmigkeitsformen. Auch wurden sie mit neuen gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten und politischen Ereignissen konfrontiert und von ihnen herausgefordert, sich zu positionieren. Dadurch kam es bei einigen von ihnen zur Aufgabe ihres traditionellen Glaubens oder sogar zum Abfall von ihm; bei etlichen vollzogen sich vielgestaltige Veränderungen ihres schwenkfeldischen Glaubens, die von geringfügigen Modifikationen bis zu tiefgreifenden Umwandlungen reichten. Bei wohl den meisten Schwenkfeldern der ersten Siedlergeneration lässt sich jedoch eine Verfestigung und Vertiefung ihres herkömmlichen Glaubens konstatieren. Diese vielfachen Veränderungen des traditionellen Glaubens und der hergebrachten Frömmigkeitspraxis der Schwenkfelder werden im neunten Kapitel – unter einem anderen methodischen Zugriff – anhand charakteristischer Fallbeispiele vertieft erörtert und illustriert. Dabei wird jeweils auf Personen zurückgegriffen, die im Verlauf der bisherigen Darstellung bereits mehrfach in verschiedenem Zusammenhang erwähnt wurden. Im Epilog werden einerseits Migrationen, seit prähistorischer Zeit ein Phänomen der gesamten Menschheitsgeschichte, unter historischem, kulturellem und theologischem Aspekt betrachtet und die Auswanderung der Schwenkfelder im 18.  Jahrhundert in die neuzeitlichen Migrationsbewegungen positioniert. Andererseits wird die Geschichte der schwenkfeldischen Migrationen gemäß der lateinischen Redefigur pars pro toto im Kontext der neuzeitlichen Migrationsbewegungen thematisiert. Es erweist sich, dass Kenntnisse und Einsichten über die religiös motivierten Auswanderungen der Schwenkfelder durchaus einen Beitrag zur gegenwärtigen Migrationsdikussion leisten können  – vor allem hinsichtlich der ­Risiken und Chancen, die religiöse Migrationen für Glauben und Frömmigkeit stets involvieren.

Summary in Polish

Tematem monografii »Migracja a wiara« jest znaczenie migracji dla wiary i pobożności emigrantów. Ten krąg tematyczny zostaje tu przestawiony na przykładzie migracji schwenkfeldystów ze Śląska do Ameryki w XVIII wieku. Jako wyznawcy doktryny religijnej mistycyzującego spirytualisty, Caspara Schwenkfelda von Ossig począwszy od końca XVI w. tworzyli oni na Śląsku, będącym od 1526 do 1742 roku częścią austriackiej monarchii Habsburgów, przede wszystkim zaś w księstwie legnickim i księstwach świdnicko-jaworskich większe, trwałe wspólnoty, w żadnej mierze nie posiadające jednakże zorganizowanych struktur. Z powodu ich odszczepieńczej konfesji i zmasowanej krytyki, stosowanej szczególnie pod adresem kościoła protestanckiego, do którego de jure należeli poprzez chrzest, byli oni prześladowani zarówno przez władze duchowne jak i świeckie. W trakcie przeprowadzanej na Śląsku z dużą zaciekłością kontrreformacji utworzono w 1719 roku jezuicką misję, mającą za zadanie nawrócenie ich na katolicyzm. Dlatego też na początku roku 1726 kilkuset schwenkfeldystów poczuło się w końcu przymuszonych do podjęcia decyzji, by z powodu wiary potajemnie opuścić swe rodzinne strony. Historia schwenkfeldystów jest przedstawiona skrótowo w pierwszym rozdziale. Szczególną uwagę poświęca się przy tym z jednej strony charakterystyce ich teologii i pobożności jak też ich krytyce pod adresem nauki i kondycji kościoła luterańskiego, z drugiej zaś przedstawia się środki dyscyplinujące i karne, które podejmowały władze i kościół przeciwko odszczepieńczym schwenkfeldystom. Z powodu rosnącego nacisku ze strony misji jezuickiej i wskutek ostatecznego odrzucenia ich próśb o religijną tolerancję lub zgodę na legalną emigrację przez cesarza Karola VI, schwenkfeldyści nie widzieli innej możliwości – jak wynika to z treści drugiego rozdziału – niż potajemna ucieczka z ojczyzny. Po bezskutecznych próbach, pisemnych i ustnych, uzyskania azylu w różnych częściach Niemiec i w Niderlandach, znaleźli w końcu schronienie na niedalekich Górnych Łużycach, mianowicie w Zgorzelcu (Görlitz), jak też przede wszystkim w posiadłościach pietystycznego hrabiego cesarstwa, Mikołaja Ludwiga von Zinzendorfa, w Berthelsdorfie i w Hernnhut. Tematykę ich dość zróżnicowanego przyjęcia i egzystencji w handlowym mieście Zgorzelcu (Görlitz) oraz w posiadłościach Zinzendorfa podejmuje rozdział trzeci. Podczas gdy w Zgorzelcu z jego świadomą swej władzy radą miasta i wpływowym luterańskim klerem życie religijne schwenkfeldystów było poddane poważnym ograniczeniom, w Berthelsdorfie i w Herrnhut było całkiem na odwrót. Szczególnie w tej wielkiej wsi łańcuchowej, Berthelsdorfie, gdzie w końcu większość z nich znalazła schronienie, mogli się rozwijać prawie bez żadnych przeszkód. Wolno im było organizować własne religijne zgromadzenia, zarabiać na życie w różnych zawodach jak też wynajmować domy z ogródkami lub pewną powierzchnią ziemi

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uprawnej. Ale przede wszystkim zapoznali się w posiadłościach Zinzendorfa z założoną tam w 1722 roku wspólnotą braci morawskich z Herrnhut wraz z ich chrystocentryczną pobożnością, ich intensywną praktyką wspólnotową i skromnym sposobem życia. Poprzez codzienne spotykanie się z innowiercami – Morawianie, pietyści i religijni outsiderzy  – zyskiwali okazję do krytycznego zapoznawania się z ich wiarą i pobożnością. W ten sposób własne wyznanie schwenkfeldystów podlegało różnorodnym mniej lub bardziej intensywnym wpływom. 4 kwietnia 1733 roku schwenkfeldyści dość niespodziewanie otrzymali rozkaz od księcia elektora, Fryderyka Augusta II Saskiego rozkaz, by w przeciągu roku w małych grupach opuścić elektorską Saksonię. Przy tej deportacji pominięto najpierw niewielką liczbę rodzin schwenkfeldiańskich, które znalazły schronienie w Zgorzelcu (Görlitz) i jego okolicach. Religijnym i politycznym powodom tego dekretu  – został on wydany kilka tygodni po śmierci Fryderyka Augusta I  – poświęcony jest czwarty rozdział. Jest oczywistym fakt, że publiczne oskarżenia, jakoby Zinzendorf zwabiał poddanych habsburskich oraz religijnych dysydentów i zapewniał im w swoich posiadłościach nielegalne schronienie, stały się dla cesarza Karola VI decydującą przesłanką, by naciskać na elektorskim dworze w Dreźnie na przeprowadzenie deportacji schwenkfeldystów. Po otrzymaniu nakazu emigracyjnego schwenkfeldyści dowiadywali się za pomocą posłańców i poczty w wielu miejscach Europy i Ameryki o możliwość uzyskania nowego azylu. Takowy chcieli jednakże przyjąć tylko pod warunkiem, że otrzymają tam gwarancję wolnego wyznawania swej religii, osiedlenia się w jednym regionie i podejmowania działalności gospodarczej zapewniającej im utrzymanie. Pozostając w ścisłym kontakcie z menonitami w Haarlem i Amsterdamie spoglądali szczególnie uważnie na Niderlandy i na angielskie kolonie, Georgię i Pensylwanię. Na podstawie poleceń i własnych poszukiwań wybrali w końcu, jak to jest dogłębnie opisane w piątym rozdziale, angielską kolonię, Pensylwanię jako nowe miejsce azylu. Słusznie wyszli z założenia, że tu, gdzie kwakier Wiliam Penn odważył się w 1681 roku podjąć swój »Święty eksperyment«, będą mogli bez ograniczeń jawnie wyznawać i żyć według swej schwenkfeldiańskiej doktryny wiary. W rozdziale szóstym jest przestawionych w sumie sześć schwenkfeldiańskich grup uchodźczych, z których szczególną uwagę zwraca się na grupę emigrantów z 1734 roku, w której do Ameryki wyjechało ponad 200 osób. Ta trudna i niebezpieczna, czteroetapowa podróż do Pensylwanii rozpoczęła się pod koniec kwietnia w Górnych Łużycach. Zgodnie z odgórnymi rozporządzeniami schwenkfeldyści wyruszyli najpierw pieszo i furmankami, małymi grupami do Pirny, leżącej na południowy wschód od Drezna; stąd popłynęli dwoma łodziami w dół Łaby do Altony. Stamtąd udali się trzema holenderskimi łodziami do Haarlemu, skąd potem pożeglowali angielskim statkiem St. Andrew wraz z innymi emigrantami z Palatynatu przez Atlantyk do Filadelfii. Opierając się na zapiskach z dziennika okrętowego można dokładnie odwzorować organizację i rutę podróży jak też różne towarzyszące jej wydarzenia. Poprzez opiekę duchową i wspaniałomyślną pomoc menonickich bankierów i kupców z Haarlemu oraz Altony, widać to wyraźnie,

Summary in Polish

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umocniła się więź między schwenkfeldystami i menonitami. Z powodu ubogich materiałów źródłowych nie ma natomiast prawie żadnego wglądu w życie religijne schwenkfeldiańskich uchodźców podczas ich pięciomiesięcznej podróży. Po ich przybyciu pod koniec września 1734 roku do liczącej wtedy około 13 000 mieszkańców Filadelfii schwenkfeldyści nie byli w stanie pomimo intensywnych starań nabyć w tamtym czasie w gęsto już zaludnionej Pensylwanii żadnego większego areału, gdzie mogliby się w zwartej grupie osiedlić. Zamiast tego musieli się często osiedlać we względnie dużym oddaleniu od siebie w promieniu 50 mil na północny zachód od Filadelfii. Ten rozproszony sposób osadnictwa w wielowyznaniowej, wieloetnicznej i wielokulturowej kolonii angielskiej, Pensylwanii miał nie tylko znaczny wpływ na ich teraz w znacznej mierze agrarny sposób zarabiania na utrzymanie, lecz także przede wszystkim na ich wiarę i pobożność, jak to zostało opisane w rozdziale siódmym. W codziennych kontaktach poznawali oni inne wyznania i formy pobożności, stając przed wyzwaniem konfrontacji z nimi. Oprócz tego schwenkfeldyści, ukształtowani przez porządek feudalny ich śląskiej ojczyzny, zostali skonfrontowani w Pensylwanii z nowymi społecznymi zależnościami i politycznymi wydarzeniami. Miało to miejsce przede wszystkim w trakcie wojen kolonialnych, szczególnie podczas wojny siedmioletniej w Ameryce Północnej (French and Indian War). Tak więc już pierwsza generacja osiedleńcza schwenkfeldystów jako wspólnota doświadczyła głębokich teologicznych, organizacyjnych i instytucjonalnych zmian nie tylko w życiu religijnym. Co więcej również wiara i pobożność pojedynczych schwenkfeldystów doznały różnorodnych przemian, mniej lub bardziej intensywnych. Obejmowały one często fundamentalne przewartościowanie ich tradycyjnego schwenkfeldiańskiego wyznania, prowadząc też nierzadko do jego umocnienia i pogłębienia. Między rokiem 1731 a 1737 do Ameryki wyemigrowało wprawdzie nieco ponad 200 schwenkfeldystów, ale znacznie większa część ich całkowitej liczby pozostała w śląskiej ojczyźnie. Tu byli oni w dalszym ciągu wystawieni na coraz twardsze, samowolne i osobliwe środki przymusu, stosowane przez misję jezuicką. Ku potajemnej radości luterańskiej części wsi ci jednak odpowiadali teraz przemocą na przemoc. Ich beznadziejna sytuacja zmieniła się jednakże diametralnie, kiedy po śmierci cesarza Karola VI, król Prus Fryderyk II, odwołując się do dawnych roszczeń spadkowych, bez wypowiedzenia wojny wkroczył w 1740 na Śląsk, zajmując tę prowincję. W dwóch edyktach zagwarantował on wszystkim schwenkfeldystom, a więc także tym, którzy chcieli wrócić do ojczyzny, następujące prawa: wolność wiary i sumienia, zwrot ich własności, prawo do osiedlenia w innych częściach królestwa, przywileje podatkowe. Tę ofertę przyjęło wielu schwenkfeldystów, którzy wcześniej uciekli na Łużyce Górne; natomiast na Śląsk nie powróciła żadna z tych osób, które wywędrowały do Pensylwanii. Historią późniejszego schwenkfeldyzmu aż do jego wygaśnięcia w roku 1826 zajmuje się rozdział ósmy. Szczególną uwagę poświęca się w nim przyczynom, dla których pomimo sprzyjających warunków doszło do nie dającego się powstrzymać upadku. Nie był on w żadnym razie spowodowany, jak się okazuje, jedynie demograficzną i społeczną strukturą późniejszego

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schwenkfeldyzmu. Decydującym dla tego upadku był w znacznie większej mierze fakt, że najbardziej przedsiębiorczy i religijnie zmotywowani schwenkfeldyści wyemigrowali do Pensylwanii i nie mieli zamiaru powrócić. Migracje mają wszakże dalekosiężne konsekwencje również dla tych, którzy  – mniejsza oto, z jakich powodów – nie mogą zdecydować się na uchodźctwo. Przedstawienie historii schwenkfeldystów, którzy wyemigrowali w pierwszej połowie XVIII w. ze Śląska do Ameryki, pokazuje, że migracje miały doniosłe znaczenie dla ich wiary i pobożności. Wskutek emigracji poznali oni nowe religijne doktryny i spotkali się z innymi formami pobożności. Zostali również skonfrontowani z warunkami społecznymi oraz wydarzeniami politycznymi, wobec których byli zmuszeni zająć stanowisko. Na wskutek tego u niektórych z nich doszło do rezygnacji z ich tradycyjnej wiary lub nawet do jej odrzucenia; u wielu wykształciły się różnorodne zmiany w ich schwenkfeldiańskim wyznaniu, które sięgały od niewielkich modyfikacji aż do głęboko wnikających przeobrażeń. Jednakże u większości schwenkfeldystów pierwszej generacji osiedleńczej daje się zauważyć umocnienie i pogłębienie ich tradycyjnego wyznania. Owe liczne przemiany tradycyjnej wiary i przywiezionej ze sobą schwenkfeldiańskiej praktyki wyznaniowej – z innej wszakże metodologicznej perspektywy – są wnikliwiej przedstawione i zilustrowane w rozdziale dziewiątym na przykładzie charakterystycznych przypadków. Odwołujemy się przy tym do osób, które były już wielokrotnie wymienione w różnych kontekstach w trakcie dotychczasowych rozważań. W epilogu są ukazane z jednej strony migracje od czasów prehistorycznych jako zjawisko dotyczące całej historii ludzkości w odniesieniu do ich historycznego, kulturalnego i teologicznego aspektu, zaś emigracja schwenkfeldystów w XVIII w. w odniesieniu do współczesnych ruchów migracyjnych. Z drugiej strony historia uchodźctwa schwenkfeldystów jest przedstawiona w myśl łacińskiej maksymy »pars pro toto« w kontekście współczesnych ruchów migracyjnych. Okazuje się, że znajomość i zrozumienie umotywowanych religijnie migracji schwenkfeldystów może stanowić ważny wkład w obecną dyskusję migracyjną – przede wszystkim ze względu na ryzyka i szanse dla wiary i pobożności, które zawierają w sobie migracje religijne.

List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices

1. List of Archival Materials in Archives and Libraries As a rule, most of the terms, labels, and titles of the following archival items are later, ex post facto short tiles for describing the forms of documentation, the components, or content of the respective archival item.

Amsterdam, Stadsarchief, Gemeentearchief (GA) PA 1120–1042 Schwenckfelders

Berlin, Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz (GStA PK) I. HA Geheimer Rat, Rep. 46, B, Nr. 131 u. Rep. 96. B, Nr. 25

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SB)

Ms. Germ. Quart 861 Schneider, A. Friedrich H.: Materialien zur Geschichte der Jesuiten-Mission in Harpersdorf, fast ausschließlich aus den Papieren des Carl Regent. Collectaneum no. 25 b. Berlin 1856

Dresden, Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv (HStA) Loc. 5854 Acten der geh. Canzlei Loc. 1892 Acten des Oberkonsistoriums Loc. 5861, Bd. 1 Geheime Canzlei-Acten

Görlitz, Stadtarchiv/Ratsarchiv (StadtA) Regal 3, Fach 24 (Vogthof)

Herrnhut, Unitätsarchiv (UA)

R. 2. A. 3. a, Nr. 1 Acta Synodi ecclesia Fratrum Gotha anno 1740 R. 5. A. 2. a Acta publica Lusatica 1724–36 Vol. I R. 5. A. 3 Die Pfarr-Adjunktur in Berthelsdorf und Herrnhut 1732 etc. R. 5. A. 5 Akten über das zweimalige Exil Zinzendorfs 1732–1736 R. 5. A. 20. b Briefwechsel Gersdorf an Zinzendorf 1720–1744 R. 9. A. a. 1 Briefe und Berichte aus der Gemeine zu Ebersdorf an Zinzendorf, die Gräfin und Andere 1729–1743 R. 14. A. 21 Pennsylvanische Briefe von Christoph Wiegner, dem Schwenckfelder, aus Germantown an Zinzendorf u. a., sowie von Wiema, Bechtel [u. a.] R. 20. C. 11 Zinzendorfs Briefwechsel

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List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 

Pennsburg, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre (SLHC)

M 4 Abraham Wagner Box VA 3–12 Pre-migration letters VB 1–8 Remediorum Specimina aliquot ex Praxi A[braham] W[agner] VB 4–9 Sammelband: letters, tracts, etc. VC 2–13 Sammelband: Balthasar Hoffmann’s Bericht, letters, etc. VC 3–7 Christoph Kriebel’s Schrifften-Sammlung; Heintze correspondence VC 4–17 Christoph Schultz’s copy of Heintze correspondence VC 4–19 Sammelband: tracts, hymns, etc. VC 5–1 Epistolar der Missiven und Sendbriefe VC 5–3 Epistolar der Missiven und Sendbriefe VD 5–86 Christopher Wiegner Box VK 1–8 Letters (1734–1739) VK 1–10 Letters (1740–1770) VN 73–6 Sammelband: Jesuit records, vol. 6 VN 73–10 Sammelband: Jesuit records, vol. 10 VN 73–11 Sammelband: Jesuit records, vol. 11 VOC H 6 [Letter: Hübner to Scharffenberg, 1748] VOC K 2 [Letter: Kadelbach to Schwenkfelders, 1857] VS 1–410 Library Catalog 1 Box VS 2 Library Catalog 2 Box VS 2–52 Library Catalog 3 Box VS 3–51 Abraham Wagner Box VS 4–16 Library Catalog 3 Box VS 4–53 Abraham Wagner Box VS 4–55 Library Catalog 4 Box VS 4–59 Christopher Schultz Box 2 VS 4–510 George Weiss Box VS 5–16 Schwenkfelder Correspondence Box 1 VS 13–13 Hymns Box VS 15–1 Christopher Schultz Box 3 VS 20 Funeral Sermons Box W 1 Abraham Wagner Box Johnson Archive Johnson’s diary, 1905

Wrocław, Archiwum Archidiecezjalne (AA)

Harpersdorf 5 Index in die Berichte zum Königlichen Oberamt und finaliter an Königliche Majestät, Aufzählung von Schreiben, Erlassen, bischöflichen und staatlichen Berichten betreffend Schwengfelder

Wrocław, Archiwun Państwowe (AP), Księstwo Legnickie 418 (Rep. 28, Fürstentum Liegnitz, X, 5, b)

Wrocław, Bibliotheka Uniwersytecka (UB)

Akc. 1945/70 Knauth, Historia Schwenckfeldianismi in Lusatia Sup. d. i. Gründlich historischer Bericht, was es mit denen Schwenckfeldern in Ober-Lausitz besonders in Görlitz gehabt

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Bernet, Claus: “Gebaute Apokalypse”. Die Utopie des Himmlischen Jerusalem in der Frühen Neuzeit, Mainz: von Zabern 2007 (Veröffentlichungen für Europäische Geschichte Mainz. Abteilung für Abendländische Religionsgeschichte 215). [Apokalypse] Bernhardin Senensis: Opera omnia: Synopsibus ornata, postillis illustratra, necnon variis tractatibus […] locupletata. Ed. Jean de La Haye. Tom. 4, Venetia: Andrea Poletti 1745. [Opera] Böhme, Jacob: Epistolae theosophicae, oder Theosophische Send-Briefe (1618–1624). In: Jacob Böhme: Sämtliche Schriften. [ND der Ausgabe von 1730, hg. von Will-Erich Peuckert]. Bd. 9, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog 1957. (Theosophische Send-Briefe) Böhme, Jakob: Theosophische Sendbriefe, hg. von Gerhard Wehr, Frankfurt am Main/Leipzig: Insel Verlag 1996. [Sendbriefe] Bolten, Johann Adrian: Historische Kirchen-Nachrichten von der Stadt Altona und deren verschiedenen Religions-Partheyen, von der Herrschaft Pinneberg und von der Grafschaft Ranzau. Bd.1, Altona: J. F. Hammerich 1790. [Kirchen-Nachrichten] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: Letters and papers from prison, transl. Reginald H. Fuller, London: SCM Press 1959. [Letters and papers from prison] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: Widerstand und Ergebung. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft, hg.von Eberhard Bethge, München: Chr. Kaiser 1951. [Widerstand und Ergebung 1951] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: Widerstand und Ergebung. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft. Hg. von Christian Gremmels, Eberhard Bethge und Renate Bethge in Zusammenarbeit mit Ilse Tödt, München i.a.: Kaiser 1998 (Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: Werke 8). [Widerstand und Ergebung 1998] Brecht, Samuel Kriebel (ed.): The genealogical record of the Schwenkfelder families. Seekers of religious liberty who fled from Silesia to Saxony and thence to Pennsylvania in the years 1731 to 1737, New York/Chicago: The Board of Publication of the Schwenkfelder Church 1923. [Genealogical record] Bronner, Edwin Blaine: William Penn’s “Holy Experiment”. The founding of Pennsylvania, 1681–1701, New York: Temple University Publications; Columbia University Press 1962. [Holy experiment] Brümmer, Franz: Schwedler, Johann Christoph. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Bd.  33, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot 1891, S. 326–27. [Schwedler] Brunner, Daniel L.: Halle pietists. Anthony William Boehm and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1993 (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Pietismus 29). [Halle pietist] Brunner, Raymond J.: “That ingenious business”. Pennsylvania German organ builders, Birdsboro PA: Pennsylvania German Society 1990 (Publications of The Pennsylvania German Society 24). [Ingenious business] Cleveland, Stafford Canning: History and directory of Yates County, containing  a sketch of its original settlement by the Public Universal Friend, the Lessee Company and others, with an account of individual pioneers and their families; also, of other leading citizens, including church, school, and civil history, and  a narrative of the Universal Friend, her society and doctrine, Penn Yan NY: S. C. Cleveland 1873. [Yates County] Conrads, Norbert: Die Durchführung der Altranstädter Konvention in Schlesien 1707–1709, Köln/Wien: Böhlau 1971 (Forschungen und Quellen zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte Ostdeutschlands 8). [Altranstädter Konvention] Constitution der Schwenckfeldischen Gemeinschaft, welche sie Angenommen und unterschrieben den 17ten Tag August A. D. 1782. Wie auch Neben-Gesetze, welche Theils von Zeit zu Zeit, und Theils gegenwärtig einstimmig auf- und angenommen sind worden, als den 19ten Tag Oktober A. D. 1850. Nebst einer Zugabe, von einigen Pflicht-Schuldigkeiten derer, die in gliederlicher Gemeinschaft stehen. In Fragen und Antworten aufgesetzt. Aus den Urkunden gesammelt und zusammen getragen Von Josua Schultz, Allentown PA: Guth, Young und Trexler 1851. [Constitution] Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum, ed. Chester D. Hartranft, Elmer E. S. Johnson and Selina Gerhard Schultz. 19 vols., Leipzig/Pennsburg PA: Breitkopf & Härtel, later Publication of the Schwenckfelder Church 1907–1961. [CS]

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Tersteegen, Gerhard: Briefe. Hg. von Gustav Adolf Benrath unter Mitarbeit von Ulrich Bister. Bd. 2, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2008 (Texte zur Geschichte des Pietismus, Abteilung V, 7). [Briefe] Testimony of the dear and faithful man John Matern who had […] served the Lord […], London: Ben. Clark 1680. [Testimony] Thayer, Theodore: Israel Pemberton, king of the Quakers, Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1943. [Pemberton] The choral book for England, a complete hym-book for public and private worship, in accordance with the services and festivals of the Church of England […], London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green 1863. [Choral book for England] The first one hundred Schwenckfelder Memorial Days, 1734–1834. Transl. and ed. by Selina Gerhard Schultz. Part 1: 1734–1784. In: Schwenckfeldiana 2, 3 (1952), pp. 1–72; part 2: 1785–1834. In: Schwenckfeldiana 2, 4 (1954), pp. 1–130. [First one hundred] Thebesius, Georg: Liegnitzische Jahr-Bücher, worinnen so wohl die Merckwürdigkeiten dieser Stadt, als auch die Geschichte der Piastischen Herzoge in Schlesien, von ihrem Anfange biß zum Ende des 16.  Jahrhunderts […] untersuchet […] worden, […] hg. von G[ottfried] B[altasar] Scharff. 3 Bde., Jauer: Johann Christoph Jungmann 1733. [Liegnitzische Jahr-Bücher] Thomas a Kempis: Das kleine Alphabet des Mönchs in der Schule Christi. In: Thomas a Kempis: Sämmtliche Werke […] Aus dem Lateinischen übersetzt von J[ohann] P[eter] Silbert. Bd. 2, Wien: Wallishauser 1834, S. 427–31. [Alphabet] Trautz, Fritz: Die pfälzische Auswanderung nach Nordamerika im 18. Jahrhundert, Heidelberg: Winter 1959 (Heidelberger Veröffentlichungen zur Landesgeschichte und Landeskunde 4). [Auswanderung] Trommler, Frank (Hg.): Amerika und die Deutschen. Bestandsaufnahme einer 300jährigen Geschichte, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag 1986. [Amerika] Urkunden-Sammlung zur Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Schlesiens. Hg. vom Verein für Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Schlesiens. Bd.  2. Die General-Kirchenvisitation im Fürstentume Liegnitz von 1654 und 1655, Liegnitz: Verein für Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Schlesiens 1917. [Urkunden-Sammlung] Urner, Hans: Die Taufe bei Caspar Schwenckfeld. In: ThLZ 73 (1948), Sp. 329–42. [Taufe] Velsen, Dorothee von: Die Gegenreformation in den Fürstentümern Liegnitz-Brieg-Wohlau. Ihre Vorgeschichte und ihre staatsrechtlichen Grundlagen, Leipzig: Heinsius 1931 (Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte 15). [Gegenreformation] Viehmeyer, L. Allen (ed. and transl.): The tumultuous years. Schwenkfelder chronicles, 1580–1750. The reports of Martin John, Jr. and Balthazar Hoffmann, Pennsburg PA: The Schwenkfelder Library 1980. [Tumultuous years] Viehmeyer, L. Allen: Abraham Wagner and George de Benneville. In: Helm, Jürgen and Wilson, Renate (eds.): Medical theory and therapeutic practice in the eighteenth century, pp. 261–79. [Wagner and Benneville] Viehmeyer, L. Allen: Abraham Wagner. Schwenkfelder physician, poet, immigrant to Pennsylvania. In: The Schwenkfeldian 112, 2 (2012), pp. 10–14. [Wagner] Viehmeyer, L. Allen: Eighteenth-century Schwenkfelder hymnology. In: Erb (ed.): Schwenkfelders in America, pp. 203–26. [Hymnology] Vincent, Kurt R. and Morgan, John C.: An 18th century near-death experience. The case of George de Benneville. In: Journal of Near-Death Studies 25 (1) (2006), pp. 35–48. [Near-death experience] Vogt, Peter: Zinzendorf und die Pennsylvanischen Synoden 1742. In: Unitas Fratrum 36 (1994), S. 5–62. [Zinzendorf] Voigt, Felix: Beiträge zum Verständnis Jahob Böhmes. In: Neues Lausitzisches Magazin 100 (1924), S. 249–302. [Böhme] Wackernagel, Philipp: Das deutsche Kirchenlied von der ältesten Zeit bis zu Anfang des XVII. Jahrhunderts […]. Bd.  4: Die Lieder des zweiten Geschlechts der Reformationszeit:

216

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218

List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 

Lebensformen der Herrhuter Brüdergemeine in ihren Anfängen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1966. [Dienen] Yoder, Don: Discovering American folklife. Studies in ethnic, religious, and regional culture, Ann Arbor MI: UMI Research Press 1990 (American material culture and folklife. Masters of material culture). [Folklife] Yoder, Don: Pennsylvania German immigrants, 1709–1786, Baltimore MD: Genealogical Pub. Co. 1980. [Immigrants] Yoder, Don: The Schwenkfelder-Quaker connection. Two centuries of interdenominational friend­ship. In: Erb (ed.): Schwenkfelders in America, pp.  113–62. [Schwenkfelder-Quaker connection] Zelenka, Samuel: Schvengfeldismum in Pietismo renatum praeside Val. Ernesto Loeschero […], Wittenberg: Christian Gerdes 1708. [Schvengfeldismum] Zimmermann, Elisabeth: Schwenckfelder und Pietisten in Greiffenberg und Umgegend. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Frömmigkeit im Riesen- und Isergebirge von 1670 bis 1730, Görlitz 1939: Verlag für Sippenforschung und Wappenkunde C. A. Starke (Sonderheft für schlesische Kirchengeschichte 7). [Schwenckfelder] Zimmermann, Elisabeth: Über den Ursprung der Schwenckfelder im Iser- und Riesengebirge. In: ZRGG 1 (1948), S. 149–62. [Ursprung] Zinzendorf, Nikokaus Ludwig von: Büdingische Sammlung Einiger In die Kirchen-Historie Einschlagender Sonderlich neuerer Schrifften. Bd. 3, Leipzig: Drucker (Flensburg) David Korte 1745 [ND Hildesheim i.a.: Olms Verlag 1966] (Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Erg.-Bd. zu den Hauptschriften 9). [Büdingische Sammlung] Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von: Die Geschichte der verbundenen vier Brüder. (Die ältesten Berichte Zinzendorfs über sein Leben, seine Unternehmungen und Herrnhuts Entstehen. Hg. von Joseph Theodor Müller). In: ZBG 6 (1912), S. 45–118 u. 196–277 [ND Hildesheim/ New York 1973] (Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Materialien u. Dokumente Reihe 3, 2). [Geschichte] Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von: Eine Sammlung Offentlicher Reden […]. In dem Jahr 1742. Mehrentheils In dem Nordlichen Theil von America […] gehalten. 2 Tle., Büdingen: Johann Christoph Stöhr 21746 [ND Hildesheim: Olms Verlag 1963] (Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Hauptschriften 2). [Reden] Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von: Freywillige Nachlese (Kleine Schriften). 2 Bde., Frankfurt am Main [tatsächlicher Verlagsort Görlitz]: Christian Gottfried Marche 1740 [ND Hildesheim: Olms Verlag 1972] (Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Erg.-Bde. zu den Hauptschriften 11 u. 12). [Freywillige Nachlese] Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von: Pennsylvanische Nachrichten Von dem Reiche Christi Anno 1742, s.l. [Büdingen?]: s.n. [Christoph Stöhr?] [1742] [ND Hildesheim: Olms Verlag 1963] (Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Hauptschriften 2). [Nachrichten] Zobel, Alfred: Stadt und Kirche in Görlitz im 18. Jahrhundert. In: JVSKG 29 (1939), S. 173–91. [Görlitz]

Illustrations

219

3. List of Illustrations Ill. 1 Ill. 2

Ill. 3 Ill. 4 Ill. 5 Ill. 6 Ill. 7

Ill. 8 III. 9 Ill. 10 Ill. 11 Ill. 12

Ill. 13 Ill. 14 Ill. 15 Ill. 16

Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig (1489–1561); copperplate print by Theodor de Bry, based on  a woodcut by Tobias Stimmer. Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Caspar Schwenckfeld, plate 5, no. 1.jpg Rural dwelling places of the Schwenkfelders in Silesia between Löwenberg, Goldberg, and Haynau, located in the Duchy of Liegnitz or in the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer.  Weigelt, Horst: Spiritualistische Tradition im Protestantismus. Die Geschichte des Schwenck­feldertums in Schlesien, Berlin/New York: de Gruyter 1973, S. 196/197 The Catholic chapel in Harpersdorf, erected in 1732 on the property of Schwenkfelder Melchior Meschter; photo (ca. 1910).  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Photo (Catholic chapel in Harpersdorf) in E. E. S. Johnson archive VS 2–5 Adam Wiegner’s letter of inquiry to the Mennonites in Amsterdam about  a possible asy­lum for the Schwenkfelders in January 14, 1726.  Amsterdam, Stadsarchief, Gemeente­ archief, PA 1120–1042 The “Schwenkfelder House”, now called “Schwenckfeld-Haus”, in Berthelsdorf, one of the houses built by the Silesian Schwenkfelders between 1727 and 1734; photo (2011). Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Berthelsdorf Photo Expulsion of the Schwenkfelders officially ordered by Elector Friedrich August II in his letter to Oberamtshauptmann von Gersdorff dated April 4, 1733.  Herrnhut, Unitäts­ archiv, R. 5. A. 2. a. Nr. 46 Route of the Schwenkfelders’ main migration trek in 1734 from Saxony to the Nether­ lands. Hoppe, Lee C.: The geography of Schwenkfeldianism. In Erb, Peter C (ed.): Schwenkfelders in America, Pennsburg PA: Schwenkfelder Library 1987, post p.  24, Figure 4 Passenger list of the English sailing vessel St Andrew, September 12, 1734 (Old Style; New Style September 22, 1734), with the signatures of the Schwenkfelder males 16 years of age or older.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, 1734 Ship List, Vault Disembarkation of the Schwenkfelders from the sailing ship St Andrew in Philadelphia on September 22, 1734; oil painting (1934), in the romantic view of the artist Adolf Pannash. Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Ground Floor Gallery Plaque commemorating disembarkation of Schwenkfelders from the St Andew, Philadelphia; installed 1934.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Ground Floor Gallery Map of the early Schwenkfelder dwelling places in Pennsylvania drawn (1767) by the surveyor David Schultz.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Vault Home of Balthasar Krauss, built in 1743 in the architectural style of the first generation Schwenkfelder migrants in Bucks and Philadelphia Counties; photo (ca 1920).  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Photo (Home of Balthasar Krauss) 3637 Title page of the manuscript hymnal “Christliches and dabey auch Tägliches GesangBuch” compiled by George Weiss, copied in 1733.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, VA 2–6 Title page of the “Constitution” (1782), drafted by Christopher Schultz and adopted at the founding of the Society of the Schwenkfelders in 1782; first self-publication Allentown 1851.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, VP Edict by Frederick II, King of Prussia, for the Schwenkfelders dated March 8, 1742.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelders Library & Heritage Centre, VS 3–41 Passport for Friedrich Bormann for the purpose of returning to Silesia from Berthelsdorf, issued (May 5, 1753)by Erdmuthe Dorothea von Zinzendorf.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Library Catalog 2 Box, VS 2

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Ill. 17 Christopher Wiegner’s friendship with Gottlieb August Spangenberg, later bishop of the Moravian Church; entry in Wiegner’s Diary on April 30, 1734, copied (1888) by Agnes Schultz.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, Christopher Wiegner Box Ill. 18 Abraham Wagner’s books listed in the codicil to his last will and testament dated May 16, 1763.  Philadelphia PA, Philadelphia City Hall — Will Book, W, No. 296, 1763 Ill. 19 Abraham Wagner’s ecumenical spirit expressed in his letter to Lutheran theologian Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, September 1, 1753.  Philadelphia PA, Lutheran Archives Center, Papers of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, PM 95 Z 23 (microfilm copy) Ill. 20 David Wagner’s eschatological threats of judgment for the Schwenkfelders, announced in his letter the Schwenckfelder Society dated December 21, 1788.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenk­ felder Library & Heritage Centre, Schwenkfelder Correspondence Box 1, VS 5–16 Ill. 21 Entry of David Wagner’s death (August 26, 1799) in the “Death Book of the Society of Universal Friends”.  Penn Yan NY, Yates County History Center, AS-1-2, [11] Ill. 22 Title page of the “Catechismus, Oder Anfänglicher Unterricht Christlicher GlaubensLehre” by Christopher Schultz; first edition, Philadelphia 1763.  Pennsburg PA, Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Centre, V12o Schultz

Abbreviations

221

4. Index of Abbreviations An English translation is supplied for German and Latin abbreviations. For abbreviations of cited journals, series, encyclopiedic and reference works, see Schwertner, Internationales Abkürzungsverzeichnis. A. D. anno Domini Art. Artikel: article Aufl. Auflage: edition Bd. Band: volume cf. compare col., cols. column, columns d. i. das ist: this is diss. dissertation doc. document ed. edited éd. édité: edited ed., eds. editor, editors e.g. exempli gratia: for example, for instance eingel. eingeleitet: prefaced engl. englisch: English Erg.-Bd., Erg.-Bde. Ergänzungsband, Ergänzungsbände: supplement volume, supplement volumes erw. erweiterte: extended, enlarged esp. especially et al. et alia: and others etc. et cetera: and so on, and the rest f. folio: and the following page Fasz. Faszikel: fascicle fol. folio: folio FS Festschrift: jubilee publication hg. herausgegeben: edited Hg. Herausgeber: editor i.a. inter alia: among other things i. e. id est: that is ibid. ibidem: at the same place Jr Junior l. line Ms. Manuskript: manuscript n number n.d. no date N. N. Nomen nominandum: anonymous or unnamed person ND Nachdruck: reprint no. number Nr. Nummer: number Lit. Literatur: literature o. O. ohne Ort: without place p., pp. page, pages par parallel passim throughout the text r recto

222

List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 

Rep. Repertorium resp. respectively Rpt. Reprint s.l. sine loco: without place s.n. sine nomine: without name sc. scilicet: it is permitted to know, namely, as if to say, to wit Sr Senior St saint t. tome: volume Tle. Teile: parts tom. tomus: volume transl. translator, translated u. a. und andere, unteranderem: and others, among other things überarb. überarbeitete: revised Übers. Übersetzung: translation unpag. unpaginated, unnumbered (without number) v verso viz videlicet: namely, i. e., that is to say vol., vols. volume, volumes

223

Bible Passages

5. Index of Bible Passages All Bible Passages are cited from the 1769 edition of the King James Version (first published in 1611). Gen 3 Gen 24:33

152 171

John 10:12–13 John 14:26

112 161

Exod 20:13

180

Deut 27:17

180

Acts 4:32 Acts 11:29 Acts 20:27

78 118 161

Ps 86:11 Ps 150

164 119

Eccl 3:1

160

Rom 1:5 Rom 13 Rom 13:8–10 Rom 16:26

144 124 122 144

Isa 10:5

78

Mic 4:5

170

Matt 5–7 Matt 16:24 Matt 19:21 Matt 24:5 Matt 24:11 Matt 25:15

128 164 154 96 96 118

1 Cor 3:4 1 Cor 9:16 2 Cor 3:6 2 Cor 13:5

165 170 171 172

Eph 1:10

170

1 Thess 5:21

158

1 Tim 2:1

36

Mark 10:21 Mark 12:29–31 Mark 12:31 Mark 12:31–44

154 122 122 129

Heb 10:26 Heb 13:14

149 188

1 Pet 2:12

170, 171

Luke 19:34 Luke 19:44 Luke 24:11

174 170, 174 171

John 4:23–24 John 9

119 152

Rev 14:16 Rev 20–22 Rev 20:3 Rev 20:4 Rev 20:13 Rev 21:3

163 172 171 170 171 170

224

List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 

6. Index of Persons Anders, George 130 Anders, Johann Friedrich  51 Antes, Henry  109 Arnd (Arndt), Johann  158 Arnold, Gottfried  158 Barclay, Robert  152, 182 Baumhauer, Christoph  27 Baus, Christoph 86 f. Beissel, Johann Conrad (Konrad)  153 Benezet, Anthony  130, 182 Benner, Enos  142 Benneville, George  141, 163 f. Berthold IV, Count of Andechs  39 Beyer, Barbara  50 Boehm, Anthony William  183 Boehme, Jacob 27 f., 32, 56, 80, 143 Bohler, Peter  155 Böhnisch, Georg see Bönisch, Georg Bönisch, Georg  86 f., 109 Bormann, Friedrich  135 Bormann, Rosina  136 Braddock, Edward  126 Braun, Christoph Friedrich von  40 Braun, Ernst Konrad von  40 Breckling, Friedrich  27, 31 f. Bringhurst, John  28 Büttner, Christoph  70 Buyssant, Abraham  85 Buyssant, Isaac  85 Buyssant, Jan  85 Buyssant, Wilhelm  57, 85 Castell-Remlingen, Ludwig Friedrich zu  74 Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland  80, 124 Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor  35, 37, 43–45, 48, 50 f., 68, 133 Charles XII, King of Sweden  40 Christian, Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau 34 Christian IV, Duke of Liegnitz  25 Cicero, Marcus Tullius  152 Claypode, David C. 168 Cocceji, Samuel von  134 Comenius (Komenský), Johann Amos  32 Crajesteijn, Isaac  57 Dayton, Abigail 168 f.

Dayton, Abraham  172 Detschke see Tatzke Dippel, Johann Konrad  144 Dorn, Melchior  145 Dorn, Rosina née Klemt  145 Dunlap, John  168 Edelmann, Gottfried  31 Edelmann, Johann Christian 143 f., 183 Ehrenpreis, Andreas  27 Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress 44 Elisabeth Christine, Holy Roman Empress  43 Emmerich, Dorothea  54 Emmerich, Georg  54 Ender von Sercha, Karl  56 Ender von Sercha, Michael 55 f. Felgenhauer, Paul  27 Fell, Margaret  124 Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary, 19 Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary, 25 f. Firdig, Johann Gottfried  40 Fox, George  152 Francke, August Hermann  29, 31 Franklin, Benjamin  140 Frederick August I, the Strong, Elector of Saxony  57, 68, 72 Frederick August II, Elector of Saxony 72 f., 82, 147, 177 Frederick II, Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau 133 Frederick II, the Great, King of Prussia  51, 125, 133 f., 136, 141 f., 145 Frederick IV, Duke of Liegnitz  24 Frederick IV, King of Denmark and Norway 58 Frederick William I, King in Prussia  45, 58 Geissler, Johann Daniel  60 Gellmann, Georg  32 Georg Rudolf, Duke of Liegnitz and Wohlau  26 Georg Wilhelm I, Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg, and Wohlau 34 George, Prince of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland  183

Persons

225

George II, King of Great Britain and Ireland  90, 125 Gerhard, Elmer Schultz  142 Gersdorff, Friedrich Caspar von 69–71, 73, 82 Gersdorff, Georg Ernst von 68 f. Gersdorff, Gottlob Friedrich von  61 Gersdorff, Henriette Katharina née Baroness von Friesen von  61 Gichtel, Johann Georg  27, 32, 143 Gifftheil, Ludwig Friedrich  26 Gigas, Johannes  89 Groh, Christoph  137, 143 Großgebauer, Theophil  158

Hoffmann, Ursula née Schütze 54 f. Hoffrichter, Balthasar  43 Hohberg (Hochberg), Charlotte Sophie née Gersdorff 48 Hohberg (Hochberg), Otto Conrad von  40, 48 Hohberg, Charlotte Sophie née von Gersdorff von 48 Hohenheim, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von, known as Paracelsus  143 Hoovens, Daniel  46 Hübner, David  50 Hübner, George  73

Hänisch, Christian 56 f., 72 Happenini, Jedaja  27 Hathaway, Thomas  172 Hauptmann, Georg  28, 31 f., 37, 39, 45, 93 Hauptmann, Tobias  45 Hedwig (Saint Hedwig of Silesia), Duchess of Silesia, daughter of Count Berthold IV of Andechs, wife of Duke Henry I of Silesia, canonized in 1267 39 Heebner (Hübner), Balthasar  89 Heebner (Hübner), David  89, 92 Heebner (Hübner), George (Georg)  112 Heebner (Hübner), Maria  89 Heebner (Hübner), Maria née Wiegner  56, 156 f. Heebner (Hübner), Melchior  56, 59, 70, 72, 80, 93, 107, 112, 150, 156–158 Heintze, Carl Ehrenfried  131, 137, 139–144, 183 Heintze, Eva  139 Hempel, Christian Friedrich  141 Henry I, Duke of Silesia  39 Hensel, Johann Adam  138 Hergereder, John  128 Hertel, Johann Georg von  74 Heydrich, Georg  25 Hiller, Michael  22, 103, 158 Hoburg, Christian  27, 32, 143, 158 Hoffmann, Balthasar  27, 43, 46, 63, 69, 74 f., 81, 90, 102, 105, 107 f., 111–117, 119, 141, 155, 171, 178 Hoffmann, Christoph  43, 64, 69, 81 Hoffmann, Christopher (Christoph) 171 f. Hoffmann, Georg  55 Hoffmann, George (Georg)  81 Hoffmann, Johannes 54 f. Hoffmann, Ursula née Anders  69, 81 Hoffmann, Ursula née Beier  108

Israel, Matthias (Pseud. Martin John) see John, Martin Jr Jäckel, Balthasar  25 Jäckel, Elizabeth  92 Jan, Johann Wilhelm  39 Jerin, Andreas von, Bp. of Breslau  24 Johann Christian, Duke of Brieg  26 John, Georg  32 John, Martin Jr  22, 28, 31–33, 56, 150 John, Martin Sr  23, 28 John, Ursula née Geißler (Gaißler)  32 Johnson, Elmer Ellsworth Schultz  145 Kadelbach, Oswald  145 Kelpius, John 159 f. Klemm, Johann Gottlob  89 Korn, Wilhelm Gottlieb  142 Krause, Melchior  70 Krauss, Andrew  119 Krauss, John  119 Kribel (Kriebel), Melchior  74 Kriebel, Caspar 129 f., 141 Kriebel, Christoph  117 Kriebel, Christopher (Christoph) 117–120, 139, 141 Kriebel, Jeremiah  117 Kriebel, Maria née Dresher (Drescher)  117 Kriebel, Maria née Heydrick  117 Kriebel, Melchior  110 Kühn, Hermann Gottfried  34, 40 Leade, Jane  32, 56, 107, 112, 143 Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor  34, 44 Levan, Jacob 126 f. Libtz, David  150 Libtz, Eva née Hübner  150 Lichtenthaler, Abraham  22, 33

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Lieb, Christian  46 Liefmann, Gottlieb  33 Lindner, Caspar  56 Logau, Matthias von  24 Löscher, Valentin Ernst  33 Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia  19 Löw, Caspar  31 Luther, Martin  30 Mack, John  127 Maria Theresa (German Maria Theresia), Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary and Croatia, Archduchess of Austria  134 Maschke, Caspar  55 Matern, Johann Georg  28 Matern, Rosina née Prache  28 Mauschwitz, Sigismund von 24 f. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor  55 Mentzel, Christoph  42 Mentzel, Georg  42 Mentzel, Johann Christoph  42 Merckel, Georg  51 Meschter, David Sr  130 Meschter (Meister), Gregorius  74 Milan, Johann 37–39, 41 f. Miller, Henrich  120 Modrach, Heinrich Gottlob  68 Morris, Robert Hunter  128 Mühlenberg, Henry Melchior  143, 162, 165, 168 Müller, Heinrich  158 Müller, Heinrich Christian  142 Müller, Heinrich Christoph  37 Müller, Johann Gottfried  61 Müller, Johann Gottlieb  61 Münchow, Ludwig Wilhelm von  134 Neander, Johann Samuel  34, 40 Neumann, Gottfried  31 Nicolai, David Christoph  150 Nicolai, Maria née Hübner  150 Nitschmann, David  113 Oelsner, Antonius 23 f. Oglethorpe, James Edward  75 Paracelsus see Hohenheim, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Pemberton, Israel 129 f., 182 Penn, William  80, 125, 129, 190 Petersen, Johann Wilhelm 31 f., 107, 158 Petersen, Johanna Eleonora  107, 158

Plato (Greek Platon)  152 Plotin (Latinized Plotinus)  152 Prache, Barbara  28 Prache, Hilarius 27 f. Putten, Cornelius van  57 Pythagoras of Samos  152 Rambach, Johann Jakob  158 Regent, Karl (Carl, Carolus) Xaver  30, 37 f., 39, 50 f., 67 f., 148 Reinwald, Christopher (Christoph)  131 Reißner, Adam  119, 158 Reuß-Ebersdorf, Heinrich X zu  77 Reuß-Ebersdorf, Heinrich XXIX zu  77 Rock, Johann Friedrich  31 Roscius, Achatius Friedrich  29 Rothe, Johann Andreas  64, 69 Sauer, Christopher  118, 162–164, 182 f. Schäffer, Melchior see Scheffer, Melchior Scheffer, Melchior  48, 53, 60, 67 f. Schneider, August Friedrich Heinrich  49 Schneider, Daniel 29 f., 33 Schön, Johann Adam  60 Schubert, David Jr  88 Schubert, David Sr  88 Schubert, Maria née Teichmann  88 Schubert, Melchior  131 Schubert, Susanna  88 Schultz, Anna née Hübner  75 Schultz, Christopher (Christoph)  63, 81, 83 f., 90 f., 95, 116–118, 120 f., 127, 129–132, 139–141, 143, 155 f., 161, 180, 182 f. Schultz, David 75 f., 95, 99, 101, 107, 127 f., 130 f., 164, 179, 181 Schultz, George (Georg)  73, 116, 164 Schultz, George (Georg) Jr  75, 89, 95 Schultz, George (Georg) Sr  75, 107 Schultz, Gregorius  129 Schultz, Isaac  176 Schultz, Melchior  95, 99, 107, 116, 127, 130, 164 Schultz, Rosina née Yeakel (Jäckel)  117 Schultz, Susanna née Kriebel  116 Schütze, Sebastian Sr 54 f. Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Ämilie Juliane von 137 Schwedler, Johann Christoph  29, 31, 41, 48, 53, 67 Schwenckfeld von Ossig, Caspar 21 f., 30, 37–39, 54 f., 64, 107, 111, 113, 117, 119, 122, 140 f., 143, 151, 158–161, 165, 182, 187

Persons Scriver, Christian  158 Scultetus, Bartholomäus  55 Seibt, David  70, 96, 105 Seibt, Judith  70 Seidel, Gottfried Wilhelm  142 Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, known as Seneca the Younger 152 Serrarius, Petrus  32 Seyfart, Johann Friedrich  141 Shearman, Ezekial  172 Silbermann, Gottfried  89 Smissen, Hinrich van der 83 f. Smith, Richard  172 Solms-Laubach, Erdmuthe Benigna zu  77 Spangenberg, August Gottlieb 64 f., 74, 77, 86, 107–110, 154 f., 178 Spener, Philipp Jacob  28, 78, 158 Stanwix, John  130 Stauffer, D. G. 37 Stedman, John  76, 85 f., 91, 93 Sturm, Johann 29–31 Sudermann, Daniel  158 Supplee, Abraham 167 f. Supplee, Andrew  168 Tatzke, Nikolaus  24 Teedyuscung, Lenape chief  130 Tersteegen, Gerhard  158, 188 Tetschke see Tatzke The Universal Friend see Wilkinson, Jemima Thomas á Kempis  164 Thomas, George  124 Tönnemann, Vitus Georg  68 Wagner, Abraham  49, 93, 108, 119, 156–162, 164–166, 174, 183 f. Wagner, Anna  173 Wagner, Anna née Jäckel  49, 93, 156, 166 Wagner, David 165–176 Wagner, Jacob  173 Wagner, Lament 174 f. Wagner, Maria née Kriebel  158 Wagner, Melchior  166 Wagner, Melchior Jr  49, 93, 157 Wagner, Melchior Sr  49, 156 f. Wagner, Rachel  175 Wagner, Rebecca  167, 169, 175 Wagner, Rebecca née Supplee  166, 173–175 Wagner, Susanna  49, 93, 157, 166, 173

227

Walch, Johann Georg  158 Waldstein, Leopold von  68 Warmer, Melchior  137 Watteville, Elisabeth née Countess von Zinzendorf von  61 Webb, Elizabeth  182 Weichenhan, Erasmus  22, 33, 103, 158 Weigel, Valentin  27 Weiser, Conrad 130 f. Weiss, Anna née Meschter  36, 63, 90 Weiss, Caspar  36 Weiss, George (Georg)  36, 63 f., 74 f., 78–80, 82 f., 90, 92, 102, 104–111, 113–117, 119, 155, 157, 178 Weissig, Johann Ephraim  137 Werner, Johann Sigismund  22, 103 Wheeler, George  174 Whitefield, George  109, 154 Wiegner, Adam  46, 49, 56, 58–60, 70, 72, 76, 148 f. Wiegner, Christopher (Christoph)  63, 65, 70, 74, 76 f., 79, 81, 86 f., 96, 102, 108–112, 153–156, 179, 182 Wiegner, Jeremias  50 Wiegner, Melchior  107, 130, 164 Wiegner, Rosina  70, 109 Wiegner, Susanna  70, 72 Wiegner, Susanna née Heydrick  56, 109 Wilkinson, Amey née Whipple  167 Wilkinson, Jemima known as The Universal Friend or The Publick Universal Friend 166–170, 172–176 Wilkinson, Jeremiah  167 Wilson, Sarah 168 f. Winkworth, Catherine  137 Wirthwein, Caspar  54 Yeakel (Jäckel), Balthasar  74, 129 Yeakel (Jäckel), John (Johannes (Hans) Heinrich)  129, 131 Zelenka, Samuel  33 Zinzendorf, Charlotte Justine née von Gersdorff von  48 Zinzendorf, Erdmuthe Dorothea née ­Countess Reuß zu Ebersdorf  61, 77, 82, 136 Zinzendorf, Georg Ludwig von  48 Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig von 48, 60–65, 67–77, 80, 82, 108–114, 154, 164, 178

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7. Index of Places Aberdeen, Scotland  182 Abtswind, Bavaria, Germany  74 Adelsdorf (PL Zagrodno) near Goldberg  30 Allentown PA 113 Altona, today urban borough of Hamburg, Germany  58, 75, 81–84 Altranstädt (today a district of Großlehna), Saxony, Germany  40 Amsterdam, Netherlands  32, 46 f., 57–59, 84, 86, 127, 148, 182 Armenruh (PL Rochów) near Goldberg  20, 24 f., 40 Arneburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Baltimore MD  166 Barby, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Bautzen (Sorbian Budyšin), Saxony, Germany 69 Bedford PA  130 Belgern, Saxony, Germany  82 Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 153 Berlin, Germany  45, 49, 58 Berthelsdorf near Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany  49, 61 f., 64, 68–70, 75, 80 f., 116, 136, 157 Bethlehem PA  113, 126, 141, 178, 184 Beuthen (PL Bytom)  56 Bielanka see Lauterseiffen near Löwenberg Bittkau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Boizenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany 83 Bremen, Germany  86 Breslau (PL Wrocław)  24, 29, 35, 41, 44, 51, 67, 134, 142 Bytom see Beuthen Cambridge, England  28 Chestnut Hill PA  97 Chojnów see Haynau Christiansbrunn PA  126 Cieszyn see Teschen Clayton PA  117 Copenhagen, Denmark  74, 83 Coswig, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Cumberland RI  167 Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony, Germany  84 Czaple see Hockenau near Goldberg

Danzig (PL Gdańsk)  45 f. Dębowy Gaj see Siebeneichen near Löwenberg Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Deutmannsdorf (PL Zbylutów) near Löwenberg 20 Diersdorf (Dirsdorf) (PL Przerzeczyn)  27 Dłużec see Langneundorf near Löwenberg Dommitzsch, Saxony, Germany  82 Dresden, Saxony, Germany  28, 53, 57, 68 f., 71, 82 Dworek see Höfel near Löwenberg Dzierżoniów see Reichenbach in the Eulengebirge Eagle Point PA  127 Easton PA  130 Eberdorf near Coburg, Bavaria, Germany  86 Edmonton, east of the London Borough of Entfield, England  28 Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany  86 Falkner Swamp PA  112, 157 Feldhäuser (PL Zielonki) near Harpersdorf  26 Frankenstein in Silesia (PL Ząbkowice Śląskie)  38 Frankfurt on the Oder, Brandenburg, Germany  34, 73 Frederick Township PA  97 Freinsheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany 109 Freischütz (SK Sobotište)  27 Freystadt in Lower Silesia (PL Kożuchów)  40 Friedensthal PA  126 Gdańsk see Danzig Geiselwind, Bavaria, Germany  74 Germantown PA  97, 111, 118, 159, 163 f., 182 Glogau (PL Głogów)  40, 134, 142 Głogów see Glogau Glückstadt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany  84 Gnadenhütten PA  126, 184 Gnadenthal PA  126 Goldberg (PL Złotoryja  20 f., 24, 27–30, 33 Görlitz, Saxony, Germany  48 f., 53–60, 67, 69–72, 76, 80 f., 93 150, 156 f. Goschenhoppen PA  97, 104, 118, 121, 129 Greiz, Thuringia, Germany  86 Großschützen (SK Vel’ké Leváre)  27, 46

Places Haarlem, Netherlands  47, 57, 59 f., 75, 84–86, 89 Halle on the Saale, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany 29 Hamburg, Germany  58, 83, 140 Harpersdorf (PL Twardocice) near Goldberg  20, 25, 29 f., 32, 34, 36–38, 40, 43, 46, 56, 63, 69, 76, 93, 116 f., 137, 145, 156 f. Hartliebsdorf (PL Skorzynice) near Löwenberg 23 Haynau (PL Chojnów)  20 Hennersdorf (PL Jędrzychowice) near Görlitz, Saxony, Germany 53 f., 57 Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany 60–64, 68, 70, 74 f., 86, 108 f., 178 Hirschberg im Riesengebirge (PL Jelenia Góra)  38, 40 Hitzacker, Lower Saxony, Germany  83 Hockenau (PL Czaple) near Goldberg  20, 32, 56, 93, 156 Höfel (PL Dworek) near Löwenberg  20 Hosensack PA  104 Jasionek see Laubgrund near Goldberg Jauer (PL Jawor)  36 f., 40, 43, 51, 142 Jawor see Jauer Jędrzychowice see Hennersdorf near Görlitz Jelenia Góra see Hirschberg im Riesengebirge Kamienna Góra see Landeshut in Silesia Kammerswaldau (PL Komarno) near Hirschberg (PL Jelenia Góra)  23 Kehnert, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Kożuchów see Freystadt in Lower Silesia Łagów see Leopoldshain near Görlitz Lancaster PA  130, 168 Landeshut (PL Kamienna Góra) in Silesia  40 Langneundorf (PL Dłużec) near Löwenberg  20, 42, 50 f., 67 Latum, now a part of Meerbusch, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany  32 Laubach, Hesse, Germany  30 Laubgrund (PL Jasionek) near Goldberg  20, 28, 32, 56 Lauenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany  83 Lauterseiffen (PL Bielanka) near Löwenberg  20, 28, 31, 37 f. Legnica see Liegnitz Leipzig, Saxony, Germany  29, 142 Lenzen, Brandenburg, Germany  83

229

Leopoldshain (PL Łagów) near Görlitz  54, 56 Leśna see Marklissa am Queis Lichtenstein, Saxony, Germany  86 Liegnitz (PL Legnica)  27, 34, 36, 42 f., 50 f., 57 London, England  28, 140, 163 Löwenberg (PL Lwówek Śląski)  20, 24 Lower Harpersdorf see Harpersdorf near Goldberg Lübben, Brandenburg, Germany  29 Lwówek Śląski see Löwenberg Macungie PA 97, 129 Magdeburg, Saxon-Anhalt, Germany  82 Marklissa am Queis (PL Leśna)  56 Middle Berthelsdorf see Berthelsdorf near Herrnhut Międzlesie see Mittelwalde on the Neisse Milford PA 97 Milford Square PA 37 Milicz see Militisch Militisch (PL Milicz)  40 Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 86 Mittelwalde on the Neisse (PL Międzlesie)  24, 32 Mühlberg, Brandenburg, Germany  82 Naumburg on the Queis (PL Nowogrodziec)  30 Nazareth PA 126 Neisse (PL Nysa)  39, 50 Neudorf am Gröditzberg (PL Nowa Wiés Grodziska), 138 Niederwiesa (PL Wieża) near Greiffenberg  29, 41 f., 48, 53, 67 Nowa Wiés Grodziska see Neudorf am Gröditzberg Nowogrodziec see Naumburg on the Queis Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany  33, 48, 54, 89 Nysa see Neisse Oley PA 163 Penn Yan NY 172, 174 f. Philadelphia PA 28, 75 f., 81, 89 f., 92 f., 95–97, 109, 112, 120, 126, 128 f., 140, 159, 167, 184, 187 Pirna, Saxony, Germany  75, 82, 86, 93 Pittsburgh PA 126 Plymouth, England  88 Prague, Czech Republic  48 Pretzsch, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82

230

List of Archival Materials, Bibliography, List of Illustrations, and Indices 

Proboszczów see Probsthain near Goldberg Probsthain (Probsthayn) PL Proboszczów near Goldberg  30, 139, 145 Przerzeczyn see Diersdorf Radmannsdorf (PL Radomiłowice) near Löwenberg 20 Radomiłowice see Radmannsdorf near Löwenberg Reading PA  131 Rehweiler, Bavaria, Germany  74 Reichenbach (PL Dzierżoniów) in the Eulengebirge 75 Rochów see Armenruh near Goldberg Roßlau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Rotterdam, Netherlands  75, 81, 85–87 Sagan (PL Żagań) 40 Sandau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Schleiz, Thuringia, Germany  86 Schnackenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany  82–83 Schönebeck, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Schweidnitz (PL Świdnica) 40 Selinsgrove PA  126 Selowitz (CZ Selibice), Czech Republic  134 Siebeneichen (PL Dębowy Gaj) near Löwenberg 20 Skippack PA  97, 105, 109, 111, 118, 129, 141, 154, 156 Skorzynice see Hartliebsdorf near Löwenberg Sobota see Zobten on the Bober Spaarndam, Netherlands  84 Stralsund, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany 77 Strehla, Saxony, Germany  82

Sulechów see Züllichau Sulzbach, Bavaria, Germany  22, 33 Taczalim see Teutschel near Liegnitz Tangermünde, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany  82 Teschen (PL Cieszyn)  40 Teutschel (PL Taczalim) near Liegnitz  27 Torgau, Saxony, Germany  82 Towamencin PA  97, 104, 110, 118, 121 Twardocice see Harpersdorf near Goldberg Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany  19 Upper Harpersdorf see Harpersdorf near Goldberg Vienna, Austria  24, 27, 35, 43, 46, 64, 67, 69, 81, 108, 149 Waltham Abbey in County Essex, northeast of London, England  28 Wanfried, Hesse, Germany  86 Weißenberg, Saxony, Germany  73 Wieża see Niederwiesa near Greiffenberg Wittenberg, Saxony, Germany  33, 82 Worcester PA  158, 168 f., 174 Wrocław see Breslau Ząbkowice Śląskie see Frankenstein in Silesia Żagań see Sagan Zagrodno see Adelsdorf near Goldberg Zbylutów see Deutmannsdorf near Löwenberg Zielonki see Feldhäuser near Harpersdorf Złotoryja see Goldberg Zobten on the Bober (PL Sobota)  20, 40, 48, 51 Züllichau (PL Sulechów) 42