The first settlement in what is now Carbon County was made by the Moravian missionaries in the year 1746.
The converted Mohican Indians having been driven out of Shekomeko, N. Y., near the border of Connecticut, and from Pochgatgach, in the latter State, found an asylum for a short time at Friedenshutten, near Bethlehem.
The missionaries considered it unwise to maintain a large Indian congregation so near Bethlehem, and they purchased two hundred acres on the north side of Mahoning Creek, about a half mile above its junction with the Lehigh. Here the Indian town of Gnadenhutten became a regular fixture, and in it each Indian family possessed its own lot of ground.
The paths to Wyoming and other Indian towns passed through the settlement. A church stood in the valley, the Indian houses formed a crescent upon the higher ground, and on the open end stood the home of the missionary and the burying ground.
In September, 1749, Baron John de Watteville, a noted bishop of the Moravian Brethren, went to Gnadenhutten and laid the foundation of a new church, replacing the one built in 1746, which was too small for the growing congregation, which then consisted of 500 Indians.
About this time Reverend David Brainerd and several Indian converts visited Gnadenhutten. The congregation continued in this pleasing and regular state until 1754.
The Delaware and Shawnee on the Susquehanna began to waver in their allegiance to the English. They were preparing to take up the hatchet on the side of the French, and it became a matter of concern to them to withdraw their Indian brethren in the Moravian settlements beyond the reach of the whites, that the hostile savages might more freely descend upon the white settlements.
The Christian Indians for some time resolutely refused to move to Wyoming or Shamokin. At length, however, a considerable part of them were seduced by the influence of the Delaware King Tedyuskung to move.
The Mohicans who remained were joined by other Christian Delaware and soon the land upon which they lived became so impoverished that the inhabitants of Gnadenhutten removed to the north side of the Lehigh River.
The dwellings were removed and a new chapel built in June, 1754. This place was called New Gnadenhutten, and stood where the borough of Weissport now stands.