Gnadenhutten
In 1772, Moravian missionaries founded a mission for Native Americans in the Ohio Country at Schoenbrunn ("Beautiful Spring" in German). Because of its success, Rev. David Zeisberger founded a second village in the same year at Gnadenhutten ("Tents of Grace" in German). Life at Gnadenhutten was similar to life at Schoenbrunn.
The American Revolution made life difficult for the residents of Gnadenhutten and other Moravian settlements. During the war, non-Christian Delawares increasingly supported England instead of the rebellious Americans or the Christian Indians who hoped to remain neutral. To protect his followers, Zeisberger consolidated the Moravian missions at Lichtenau in 1778, but he eventually reestablished the village of Gnadenhutten in April 1779.
In 1781, British authorities ordered the Christian Delawares to abandon their current villages and relocate in northern Ohio along the Sandusky River. Arriving at their new villages in the late fall, too late to plant crops, the Moravians and the Christian Delawares faced serious food shortages during the winter of 1781-1782. Hoping to alleviate their suffering, Zeisberger sent a group back to Gnadenhutten in March 1782, to harvest whatever crops remained in the fields. Mistakenly believing that these peaceful Indians were responsible for raids in Pennsylvania, militiamen attacked the village, captured the inhabitants, and then murdered them. This gruesome event is known as the Gnadenhutten Massacre. After the incident, the Moravians never rebuilt the village.
References and Suggested Reading
- Barr, Daniel P., ed. The Boundaries Between Us: Natives and Newcomers Along the Frontiers of the Old Northwest Territory, 1750-1850. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2006. - Available from Amazon.com
- Bond, Beverley W., Jr. The Foundations of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941.
- Howells, William Dean. Three Villages. Boston, MA: J. R. Osgood and Company, 1884.
- Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996. - Available from Amazon.com
- O'Donnell, James H., III. Ohio's First Peoples. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2004. - Available from Amazon.com
- Olmstead, Earl P. Blackcoats Among the Delaware: David Zeisberger on the Ohio Frontier. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1991 - Available from Amazon.com
- Olmstead, Earl P. David Zeisberger: A Life Among the Indians. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1997. - Available from Amazon.com
- Rice, William H. David Zeisberger and His Brown Brethren. Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Publication Concern, 1908. - Available from Amazon.com
- Ricky, Donald B., ed. Encyclopedia of Ohio Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers, Inc., 1998. - Available from Amazon.com
- Wapatomika Productions. Moravian Massacre. Berkeley, CA: University of California Center for Media and Independent Learning, 1996.
- Zeisberger, David. Schoenbrunn Story: Excerpts from the Diary of the Reverend David Zeisberger, 1772-1777, at Schoenbrunn in the Ohio Country. Columbus: Ohio Historical Society, 1972.
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Citation
"Gnadenhutten", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=723
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