When the Moravians came the restlessness which presaged war was stirring among the tribes, becoming more and more pronounced, and one of the Indian Chiefs said frankly, “Now our enemies are all about us, and we can do nothing but fight, but if the Beloved Ones should ever give us to be at peace, then we would hear the Great Word.”
Tomochichi, indeed, bade the missionaries welcome, and promised to do all in his power to gain admission for them into all parts of his nation, but the time was not ripe, nor was his influence equal to his good-will. Though called a “king”, he was only chief of a small tribe living some four or five miles from Savannah, part of the Creek Confederacy, which was composed of a number of remnants, gradually merged into one “nation”. The “Upper Creeks” lived about the head waters of the creeks from which they took their name, and the “Lower Creeks”, including Tomochichi’s people, were nearer the sea-coast. Ingham, whose heart was set on the Indian work, was at first very anxious to go to the Cherokees, who lived near the mountains, at a considerable distance from Savannah, having been told that they had a desire to hear the “Great Word”. On April 22nd, he spoke of his wish to Toeltschig, inviting Seifert and, if they chose, another Moravian to join him in the work. It was the best opportunity that had yet offered, and Seifert wanted to go to the Indians, having already studied their language as best he could, but they hesitated to undertake the work conjointly with Ingham. After some time the Cherokee plan was abandoned. Oglethorpe objected on account of the danger that they would be intercepted and killed, it being a fourteen day land journey to reach the Cherokee country, and he positively refused to let John Wesley go because that would leave Savannah without a minister. Toeltschig says Wesley’s interest in the Indian work failed, and another writer says he gave up the work because he could not learn the Indian language, but Wesley lays all the blame on Oglethorpe.
In January, 1737, the question of going to the Upper Creeks was submitted to the “lot”, and the Moravians were bidden to wait for another opening. Meanwhile an actual beginning had been made among the Lower Creeks. On the 7th of May, Ingham and John Wesley went up the river to the home of Mrs. Musgrove, the half-breed woman who at this time was of such great use as interpreter and mediator between the Indians and the English. Arrangements were made by which Ingham should spend three days of each week with her, teaching her children to read in exchange for instruction in the Indian language. The other three or four days were to be spent in Savannah, communicating to Wesley the knowledge he had acquired, Anton Seifert sharing in the lessons.
On the 19th of June, the Moravians held a meeting to determine whether the time had come for them to take up the Indian work in earnest. The “lot” was appealed to, and the answer being that the language should be learned, Seifert, George Neisser and John Boehner were appointed to make diligent use of Ingham’s instructions. The frequent visits of Tomochichi and his people to Savannah gave them an opportunity to practice speaking, for the Moravian house was always open to the red men, and food and drink were theirs at any time of day, a fact of which the visitors were not slow to take advantage.
The “lot” had so great an influence on the progress of affairs in the Moravian Congregation at Savannah from this time on that it is necessary to understand how the institution was regarded. The use of the lot was common in Old Testament days; and in the New Testament it is recorded that when an apostle was to be chosen to take the place of the traitor, Judas, the lot decided between two men who had been selected as in every way suited for the place. Following this example the members of the ancient Unitas Fratrum used the lot in the selection of their first ministers, and the Renewed Church did the same when the first elders were elected at Herrnhut in 1727. It was no uncommon practice in Germany, where many persons who desired special guidance resorted to it more or less freely, and Count Zinzendorf, among the rest, had used it from his youth up. Gradually it came into general use among the Moravians, and at a later period in their history had its definite place in their system of government, though the outside public never fully understood it, and still holds erroneous views, despite the plain statements that have been made. By degrees its use became more and more restricted, and has been long since entirely abolished.
In its perfection the lot was simply this,—human intellect solving a problem so far as earnest study and careful deliberation could go, and then, if the issue was still in doubt, a direct appeal for Divine guidance, in perfect faith that the Lord would plainly answer his servants, who were seeking to do his will. This standard was not always maintained, but the leaders of the Moravian Congregation in Savannah had the early, absolute, belief that God spoke to them through the lot, and felt themselves bound to implicit obedience to its dictates. Their custom was to write two words or sentences on separate slips, representing the two possible answers to their question, and after earnest prayer to draw one slip, and then act accordingly. Sometimes a third slip, a blank, was added, and if that was drawn it signified that no action should be taken until another time, and after further consideration.
Some time in July, Peter Rose and his wife, (the widow Riedel) went to live among the Lower Creeks, giving all their time to learning the language, and teaching what they could about religion.
On August 9th, Mr. Ingham went to the Moravians with a new plan. Gen. Oglethorpe had agreed to build a schoolhouse for Indian children, near Tomochichi’s village, with the idea that it would give opportunity also to reach the older men and women with the Gospel message. The house was to contain three rooms, one for Ingham, one for the Moravian missionaries, and one to be used for the school, and it was suggested that the Moravians undertake the erection of the building, the Trustees’ fund to pay them for their labor. The proposition was gladly accepted, and preparations were at once made to send the necessary workmen.
On Monday, the 13th, Toeltschig and five others went to the spot which had been selected for the Indian Schoolhouse, usually called ‘Irene’. The site of this schoolhouse has been considered uncertain, but a short manuscript account of “the Mission among the Indians in America”, preserved in the Herrnhut Archives, says distinctly that it stood “a mile above the town (of Savannah) on an island in the Savannah River which was occupied by the Creeks.”
When the carpenters arrived the first act was to unite in prayer for a blessing on their work, and then they began to fell trees and cut down bushes, clearing the ground for the hut in which they were to live while building the schoolhouse. The hut was placed on the grave of an Indian chief. “The Indians are accustomed to bury their chiefs on the spot where they died, to heap a mound some 24 feet high above them, to mourn them for a while, and then to abandon the spot,” and this little elevation was a favorable site for their hut. Until the hut was finished the men lodged with the Indians, Tomochichi himself taking charge of their belongings. Toeltschig returned the same day to Savannah, going back later with a supply of provisions. The Indians made them heartily welcome to their neighborhood, and the Moravians, even in the midst of their building operations, began to teach them the English alphabet, at the same time putting forth every effort to learn the Indian tongue, in which Rose was rapidly becoming proficient.