第19章 The First Year in Georgia(6)

The two farm lots were laid out during the summer, Spangenberg assisting with the survey.By the close of the year twenty-six acres had been cleared, --on the uplands this meant the felling of trees, and gradual removal of stumps as time permitted, but on the rice lands it meant far more.The great reeds, ten to twelve feet high, grew so thick that a man could scarcely set foot between them, and in cutting them down it was necessary to go "knee-deep"below the surface of the ground, and then the roots were so intertwined that it was difficult to pull them out.

Every acre of land that was cleared and planted had to be securely fenced in, for cattle roamed in the woods, and ruined unprotected crops.

Indeed, the colonists in Georgia derived little benefit from their cattle, which ran at large, and when a few were wanted for beef or for domestic purposes, they were hunted and driven in.

The Moravians had to wait until midsummer before they could get their allotment, and then they received a cow and calf, six hogs and five pigs, with the promise of more.Before the others came the cows had again escaped to the woods, and the swine had been drowned!

In July Spangenberg wrote to Herrnhut that he had given his fifty acres of land, including the town lot, to the Moravian Congregation at Savannah, and that he would at once apply to the Trustees to vest the title in that body, and if he left Georgia before this was accomplished he would give a full Power of Attorney to Toeltschig.

From the first his land had been used as the common property of the party, and he desired that the nine men, who, with him, were bound to the repayment of the 60 Pounds, borrowed from the Trustees, should have the use of it until that obligation was met, and then it should be used as the Savannah Congregation thought best.

Nitschmann's land seems to have been held in a different way, although granted at the same time, and under similar circumstances.

July 11th, Spangenberg sent him a detailed description of the town and garden lots, explaining the advantages and difficulties of cultivation, suggesting several methods by which it could be done, and giving the approximate cost, urging that instructions be sent as to his wishes.Later he wrote that the company had decided not to wait for Nitschmann's reply, but to clear the garden on the terms usual in Georgia, e.g., that the man who cleared a piece of ground held it rent free for seven years, when it reverted to the owner.

This had been done, and the garden was ready to plant and fence, and if Nitschmann approved they intended to clear the farm, and would build a small house on the town lot.Zinzendorf had suggested that negroes be employed on Nitschmann's land, but at that time slavery was prohibited in Georgia, and any negroes who ran away from Carolina were at once returned to their masters.

The two farms lay side by side about four miles from Savannah, the gardens, also adjoining, were about two miles from town, so it was necessary to build cabins at both places, as shelters from sun and storm, which the settlers found equally trying.

Two additional cabins had been built in Savannah on Spangenberg's lot, and by the end of the year a house, thirty-four by eighteen feet in size, was under roof, though not yet finished.This gave an abundance of room, not only for themselves, but for the second company to whose arrival they were looking forward with such eagerness.

When this reinforcement came they hoped to move to Zinzendorf's tract, and then, as soon as they could be spared, Demuth, Haberecht, Waschke and the two Haberlands wished to claim the twenty acres apiece which the Trustees had promised to the Count's "servants".

Riedel was of the same mind, but he did not live to see the arrival of the second company.Some months after reaching Georgia, he was dangerously ill with fever, but passed the crisis successfully, and recovered his full strength.He was one of the party who went to survey Zinzendorf's tract, but was taken sick again three days after the boat left Savannah, and by the time they returned he was obliged to go to bed, and soon became delirious.

The other Moravians were greatly distressed, but could do nothing except nurse him carefully and pray for him earnestly, and toward the end his mind cleared, though his body had lost the power to recuperate.

He died on the 30th of September, the first Moravian to "fall asleep"in the United States, though others had given up their lives for the mission work in the West Indies.His spiritual condition had at times caused much concern to Toeltschig, who was especially charged with the religious welfare of the first company, many of whom had been under his care in Germany, but in the main he had been an earnest man, a willing and industrious partaker in the common toil, and his death caused much regret.The burial customs in Savannah included the ringing of bells, a funeral sermon, and a volley of musketry, but learning that these ceremonies were not obligatory the Moravians declined the offer of the citizens to so honor their Brother, and laid him to rest in the Savannah cemetery with a simple service of hymns and prayer.

As they were robing Riedel for his burial, a young man came to the door, and asked if he could not make them some pewter spoons.In the conversations that followed it developed that he was a native of Switzerland, the son of a physician, and after his father's death he had sailed for Pennsylvania, intending there to begin the practice of medicine.