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33-618: Wachovia's early settlers were mostly German-speaking people who shared a common Germanic cultural background. In 1752 Moravian Bishop August Gottlieb "Brother Joseph" Spangenberg led an expedition to locate the area where the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian church, intended to begin the Wachovia settlements. Members of the Moravian Church in Europe purchased 98,985 acres (400.58 km) of land in

66-646: A fellow labourer, though the count wished to obtain from him a declaration which would remove from the Pietists of Halle all blame with regard to the disruption. Spangenberg went to Herrnhut and found his life work with the Moravian Church , becoming its primary theologian, apologist, statesman, and corrector over a lengthy 60-year career. The Moravians universally referred to Spangenberg as "Brother Joseph" because, like Joseph in Genesis , he took care of his Brethren. For

99-558: A large number of refugees until 1761. The establishment of a central town was delayed for thirteen years because of the growing Moravian population and hundreds of refugees. Once it was felt safe to do so in 1766, the central town Salem was begun. Many of the buildings in Bethabara were dismantled, and used for the new structures in Salem. As the houses were taken down, the small rootcellars were pushed in and filled. With Salem completed in 1771,

132-647: A wooden stockade was built around the central-most area of the Moravian settlement, and Bethabara became a place of refuge for settlers from across the region, with many refugees living near the Bethabara Mill, numbering 120 by May 1759. The first planned Moravian settlement, and oldest incorporated municipality in Wachovia is Bethania , Province of North Carolina, formed June 12, 1759, also known historically as Bethany, meaning "house/place of dates and figs" in Hebrew. Bethania

165-630: Is located in Winston-Salem and is operated by the City of Winston-Salem Recreation & Parks Department as an open-air museum . The site also features 20 miles (32 km) of nature trails. There are frequent festivals and reenactments on the weekends, such as the Independence Weekend Celebration held the weekend prior to or during Independence Day . The Bethabara site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1999. The Gemeinhaus

198-726: Is the German form of Bethany . The Town of Bethania was incorporated in 1995, following the reactivation of Bethania's 1838/1839 town charter, and was spared from being annexed into the city of Winston-Salem . Today, Bethania remains the only independent, continuously active Moravian town in the southern United States. In 2007, Historic Bethania, a visitor center and museum, opened in Bethania, providing information and historical interpretation in yet another Wachovia Moravian community. Wachovia's central administrative congregational town of Salem can be visited today at Old Salem Museums and Gardens . Salem

231-452: Is the namesake and birthplace of Wachovia Corporation , once one of the world's largest banks . The bank was pioneered by Bethanian I.G. Loesch. Salem, then Winston-Salem, was the corporate headquarters for the bank until its merger with the First Union corporation, when the headquarters was moved to Charlotte, North Carolina . Present day students and scholars who are not familiar with

264-535: The Baptism of Jesus Christ ) was a village located in what is now Forsyth County , North Carolina . It was the site where twelve men from the Moravian Church first settled in 1753 in an abandoned cabin in the 100,000-acre (400 km ) tract of land the church had purchased from Lord Granville and dubbed Wachovia . Its early settlers were noted for advanced agricultural practices, especially their medicine garden, which produced over fifty kinds of herbs. Bethabara

297-748: The Catawba , Little, New and Yadkin Rivers that suggested the Wachau region in Lower Austria. Twelve Moravian Single Brethren traveling from Pennsylvania , most from the Christiansbrunn farm near Nazareth, arrived in Wachovia in 1753, forming Bethabara , in Hebrew meaning "House of Passage", a transitional congregational settlement founded November 17, 1753. In July 1756, during the French and Indian War (1754–1763),

330-627: The Lord's Supper and his connection with Count Zinzendorf brought matters to a crisis. The Senate of the Theological Faculty gave him the alternative of doing penance, submitting to his superiors, and separating from Zinzendorf, or leaving the issue to be settled by the king unless he preferred to "leave Halle quietly." The case went to the king, who ordered the military to expel Spangenberg from Halle, which they did on April 8, 1733. At first Spangenberg went to Jena, but Zinzendorf sought to secure him as

363-537: The Moravian Church . As successor to Nicolaus Zinzendorf as bishop of the Moravian Church, he helped develop and lead international Moravian missions in colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania and stabilized Moravian theology and organization. Spangenberg was born in Klettenberg, Holy Roman Empire , in present-day Hohenstein, Thuringia , Germany. His father, Georg Spangenberg, was a pastor and ecclesiastical inspector. At age 13, Spangenberg left an orphanage to attend

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396-471: The 1850s. Today, what remains of the village, including the excavated foundations of the original buildings, the restored Gemeinhaus (the Bethabara Moravian Church ), and the reconstructed palisade and colonial gardens, is part of Historic Bethabara Park. The site was excavated by noted historical archaeologist Stanley South in the 1960s. The 183-acre (0.74 km ) park and wildlife preserve

429-443: The German language frequently, albeit incorrectly, use a masculine article "der" to modify "Wachau" when the feminine article "die" should be used, as historically documented. When speaking of "Wachovia" as a place, the proper title in German is "die Wachau". When speaking of "Wachau" in a locative sense, such as "in the Wachau," the article becomes dative and written as "in der Wachau." Many individuals and organizations have seen

462-642: The Moravian Church against criticism from Lutherans and Pietism . He moderated the mysticism of Zinzendorf, bringing a simple, practical nature to his theological work. In 1761, Spangenberg visited Emmaus, Pennsylvania , then one of the four leading Moravian communities in the Thirteen Colonies, and announced the town's new name as Emmaus, "Now here we build a village small; toward its completion we give all. Here, too, our hearts within shall flame; Emmaus then shall be its name.". The second thirty years of his work between 1762 and 1792 were largely devoted to

495-727: The Moravian colony, whose approach appealed to him. His free lectures in Jena were widely accepted. Gotthilf Francke offered him the post of assistant professor of theology and superintendent of schools connected with his orphanage at Halle . He accepted the offer in September 1732. But differences between the pietists of Halle and Spangenberg emerged with Sangenberg finding their religious life too formal, external, and worldly. The pietists could not sanction his comparative indifference to doctrine and his tendency to separatism in church life. Spangenberg's decision to take part in private observances of

528-658: The Moravian faith. In 1741 and 1742, he traveled to England to raise funds for his mission and obtain the sanction of the Archbishop of Canterbury . During the second half of this missionary period of his life, Spangenberg served as the Moravian Church's bishop in Pennsylvania, where he oversaw its Moravian churches. He helped raise money to defend the Thirteen Colonies during the Seven Years' War , and wrote as an apologist of

561-584: The Scripture concerning the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we may answer the question, Whether God would have all men to be saved? with a confident, Yes. There is in him the most fervent desire, and the most earnest will that we all should be saved." He provided several texts to justify this position, writing that Jesus suffered the loss of glory and the pains of human life and death in order to save all people. The Holy Ghost , he argued, makes unwearyingly efforts to reprove

594-566: The Wachau region northwest of Vienna , along the Danube River between the towns of Melk and Krems . Bishop Spangenberg and the surveying team in 1752 strayed into the mountains of western North Carolina, coming down through what is now Wilkes County (viz. " Moravian Falls " etc.) on their way to the Three Forks of Muddy Creek. It was this mountainous landscape in the Carolina back country along

627-604: The backcountry (middle/western area) of the Province of North Carolina , from John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville . The land in North Carolina was purchased on behalf of the Moravians by John Henry (Johann Heinrich) Antes, who had also served as agent on behalf of the Moravians in the purchase of the 500-acre (2.0 km) tract which became the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania . He also served as Baumeister ("construction manager") of

660-461: The balance and moderation that Spangenberg expressed. The Idea Fidei Fratrum is an account of doctrine that keeps close to the words of Scripture. There is little in it of abstract theological reasoning. Spangenberg does make his views plain on certain controversial matters. One of these, for instance, is the question of double predestination , including damnation and salvation, about which he wrote: "If we sum up that which hath been deduced from

693-648: The consolidation of the German Moravian Church. Following Zinzendorf's death in 1760, he returned to Herrnhut , where the Moravian organization needed help. In 1777, Spangenberg was commissioned to draw up the Idea Fidei Fratrum , a compendium of the Christian faith of the United Brethren, which became the accepted declaration of the Moravian belief. Compared to Zinzendorf's writings, his book exhibited

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726-401: The dative phrase and have irresponsibly and unknowingly dropped the preposition, leaving "...der Wachau," which is incorrect when used as a proper noun. The feminine gender of "die Wachau" does not change, though the case might. August Gottlieb Spangenberg August Gottlieb Spangenberg (15 July 1704 – 18 September 1792) was a German theologian, minister, and bishop of

759-577: The first buildings which still stand in Bethlehem's historic district. 4,000 acres (16 km) were purchased by Johann Steinhauer , leader of the Moravian church in Riga (today's Latvia ). "Wachovia" is a Latinized form of the German name Wachau . It was chosen as the name of the North Carolina Moravian tract to honor Count Zinzendorf , Moravian patron and bishop whose family estate was located in

792-532: The first thirty years of his career, from 1733 to 1762, his work was mainly devoted to the supervision and organization of the extensive missions in Germany, England , Denmark , the Netherlands , Suriname , and elsewhere. One of Spangenberg's special endeavors was in the Province of Pennsylvania in what was then colonial -era British America , where he brought the scattered followers of Caspar Schwenckfeld into

825-455: The official seat of government was transferred from Bethabara to Salem. Only a few residents remained behind. Bethabara became a farming community which supplied food to the other Moravians towns in Wachovia. In 1788, an enslaved person , Johann Samuel, was made superintendent of the farm. He was freed in 1801, after 50 years of servitude to the Moravians. Bethabara continued to decline. The principal industries were farming and pottery, well into

858-540: The secondary school in Ilfeld . In 1722, he entered the University of Jena , where he studied law. Johann Franz Buddeus , a professor, took him into his family and arranged a scholarship. Spangenberg soon abandoned law for theology , obtaining his degree in 1726 and began to giving free lectures on theology. Spangenberg took an active part in a religious union of students, supporting free schools for poor children established in

891-449: The suburbs of Jena and in training teachers. In 1728, Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf visited Jena, and Spangenberg met him. In 1730, Spangenberg visited the Moravian colony at Herrnhut and founded a "collegium pastorale practicum" for the care of the sick and poor at Jena, which the authorities broke up as a "Zinzendorfian institution", seen as a challenge to the state. Spangenberg visited

924-462: The surviving buildings and archaeological remains of a small Moravian community, that was first settled in 1753. Located in present-day Forsyth County , North Carolina , it is now a public park of the city of Winston-Salem . It was designated National Historic Landmark in 1999. Bethabara (from the Hebrew , meaning "House of Passage" and pronounced beth-ab-bra, the name of the traditional site of

957-625: The worldly for their sin, writing, "Would God command all men every where to repent, and yet would not, that all men should be saved? Who can form such a thought of the God of Holiness and Truth?" In the final years of his, Spangenberg devoted special attention to the education of the young. Spangenberg died at Berthelsdorf on September 18, 1792, and was buried in God's Acre in Herrnhut . Bethabara, North Carolina Bethabara Historic District encompasses

990-427: Was begun in 1766 (formally organized in 1771), and was built by Moravians and friends from Bethabara and Bethania. Subsequent Moravian congregational settlements to be formed include Friedberg (1769), Friedland (1772), and Hope (1775). The congregation at Hope was the first "English" Moravian church in the area. A secular county seat was founded in 1849 in newly drawn Forsyth County, north of Salem. The new county seat

1023-442: Was named Winston in 1852. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company , maker of Winston, Salem, and Camel cigarettes , was founded at Winston in 1875. The towns of Salem and Winston merged as Winston-Salem in 1913. Bethabara now lies within the city limits of Winston-Salem, and can be visited today at Historic Bethabara Park , operated by the city of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Over time, the 98,985-acre (400.58 km) Wachovia Tract

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1056-451: Was never meant to be a permanent settlement. It was intended to house the Moravians until a more suitable location for a central village could be found. Just six months after arriving in Wachovia, the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in America ) began in western Pennsylvania. The violence quickly spread to southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina. Bethabara hosted

1089-428: Was redrawn into the following counties as the backcountry of North Carolina became increasingly populated: Historic Bethabara Park , Historic Bethania , and Old Salem Museums and Gardens are museums which serve to transport visitors in time to what Wachovia once was. The museums each contribute to the story of Moravians in North Carolina, and preserve, interpret, and demonstrate life in Wachovia over time. The area

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