Archive for the ‘ebenezer’ Category

Of cannonballs and grapeshot
July 11, 2018

Little Danny is currently engrossed in a study of the elemental content of cast iron cannonballs and grapeshot (or case shot) from Revolutionary War sites in Georgia and South Carolina. Thus far he has sampled (with a Bruker III-V) ray gun, examples from Camden, Charleston, Ebenezer, Fort Motte, Kettle Creek, Ninety-Xix, Purysburg, Savannah, Sunbury and Tar Bluff. The sample size is growing! The results of this study will be presented at the 2018 International Fields of Conflict Conference in Connecticut later this year. Hurrah for pXRF!

Abby the Archaeobus in Savannah, ONE DAY ONLY!
March 20, 2018

ArchaeoBus at Forsyth Farmers Market 3-24-18

Abby the Archaeobus, the dreamgirl of the Society for Georgia Archaeology, will make a one-day only appearance in Savannah’s Forsyth Park on Saturday, March 24 from 9-1PM. Free and open to the public. Be there!

Our history is beneath our feet.

Georgia Day at the Grand Opening of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown!
March 22, 2017

If you happen to be in Yorktown on Sunday, March 26, why not drop by the Grand Opening of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, where we will be celebrating Georgia’s role in the war. this is a really cool new museum, well worth the expense. Learn about the battles of Carr’s Fort, Kettle Creek and Savannah, and more. For more information:

http://www.historyisfun.org/virginia-vacation-getaways/georgia-invitation-event/

 

https://www.gofundme.com/lamar-institute-archaeology

 

pXRF Workshop for Archaeologists and Others
March 6, 2017

PRESS RELEASE
THE LAMAR INSTITUTE
For release, Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Get the Lead Out! A Scientific Workshop
The LAMAR Institute is pleased to announce that it will host a workshop for archaeologists, museum specialists, military historians and other professionals interested in early military history. The workshop, Get the Lead Out: Elemental Analysis of 18th and Early 19th Century Ammunition in Eastern North America, will instruct participants in the use of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) technology in the study of musket balls. It will allow participants to use elemental analysis to improve their understanding of round (musket) balls in current research and in older museum collections. The application of this advanced technology on early ammunition is new and evolving and preliminary results reveal it to be useful in identifying unique profile characterizations. While nearly all bullets from this era contain quantities of lead, the addition of other elements such as tin, antimony, and silver, whether intentional or accidental, has been demonstrated to vary within and between archaeological sites in Georgia and South Carolina. The workshop will be structured to allow researchers to bring samples for study. Experts in the field of pXRF will assist in data collection, processing and interpretation. The results of the workshop is expected to set the baseline for future studies on this topic. The workshop is being held at the Coastal Georgia Center in Savannah, Georgia on June 29 and 30, 2017 and is open to 30 students on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested persons should contact the LAMAR Institute.
Contact: Daniel Elliott, The LAMAR Institute, P.O. Box 2992, Savannah, GA 31402
Cell: 706-341-7796
Email: dantelliott@gmail.com

When: June 29 and 30, 2017; 9AM-5PM
Where: Room 2002, Coastal Georgia Center, 305 Fahm Street, Savannah, Georgia
Cost: $25 registration fee, checks made payable to the LAMAR Institute; Registration for the workshop closes on June 15th.
What to bring: Laptop computer, round lead ball collection (if available)
Sponsored by: The LAMAR Institute, Savannah, Georgia and funded by a Preservation Technology and Training Grant from the National Park Service, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Open to: Archaeologists, museum specialists, military historians and other interested professionals (30 students max).

Last Chance for Ebenezer Metal Detector Workshop!
October 20, 2016

Last chance to sign up for the upcoming workshop on Metal Detecting for Archaeologists to be held at Ebenezer, Georgia, visit this website and hurry, hurry, hurry:

https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/events/metal-detecting-for-archeologists/

LAMAR Institute
to Host Metal Detector Workshop at Ebenezer

Savannah, October 22, 2016. The LAMAR Institute will host a workshop on Metal Detecting for Archeologists from November 18-20, 2016 at the historic New Ebenezer town site in Rincon, Georgia. The workshop is sponsored by the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), the Friends of NCPTT and Connor Consulting. Metal detector applications and use generally have become accepted in historical archeology, but it is clear that few professional and student archeologists have received training in metal detector capabilities or use. This course offers an opportunity for archeologists to become familiar with, and comfortable using metal detector technology on archeological sites. Instructors are professional archeologists, many well-known for their work in using metal detectors on military and domestic sites. The course is designed as a 2.5 day event, with day one being an introduction to metal detectors and metal detecting capabilities, followed by a day and a half of a field practicum where attendees will use various detectors on an actual archeological site expected to contain significant metal artifacts. The workshop is designed to provide attendees with an understanding of how a metal detector works, a familiarity with the various devices available and practical experience collecting data by using a variety of metal detectors in an archeological field situation.The field portion of the training will be held on the site of the New Ebenezer Revolutionary War defenses. For more information and to register for the workshop, visit this webpage: https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/events/metal-detecting-for-archeologists/.

Metal Detecting for Archaeologists Workshop at Ebenezer, Georgia!
June 20, 2016

To learn more about the upcoming workshop on Metal Detecting for Archaeologists, visit this website:

https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/events/metal-detecting-for-archeologists/

A Chapter on Ebenezer Ceramics
March 27, 2016

Connections: Georgia in the World: The Seventh Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Georgia Museum of Art; 1st edition (February 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0915977923
ISBN-13: 978-0915977925
7thGreen
This volume includes the following papers delivered at the seventh Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts, held Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, 2014: “Revealing Georgia: Viewing the Cultural Landscape through Prints and Maps,” by Margaret Beck Pritchard; “Utilitarian Earthenware in the Ebenezer Settlement, Effingham County, Georgia,” by Daniel T. Elliott; “Worldly Goods for a Chosen People: The Material Culture of Savannah s Colonial Jewish Community,” by Daniel Kurt Ackermann; “Considerations of William Verelst s ‘The Common Council of Georgia Receiving the Indian Chiefs,’ 1734 36,” by Kathleen Staples; “Materiality in the Gullah Geechee Culture: The Kitchen in the Heart of the Story,” by Althea Sumpter; “Colonial South Carolina Indigo: Red, White, and Black Made Blue,” by Andrea Feeser; “Scarf and Dress Designs by Frankie Welch: Highlighting Georgia Through Her Americana,” by Ashley Callahan; “Georgia’s Textile Connections: Imports, Homespun and Industry,” by Madelyn Shaw; “Weaving History: The Yeoman, the Slave, the Coverlet,” by Susan Falls and Jessica R. Smith; “Capitalism and Revolution: A Staffordshire Mug and Its Anti-Monarchial Message,” by Lauren Word; “Sumptuous Goods: The McKinne-Whitehead-Rowland Collection at the Georgia Museum of Art,” by Julia N. Jackson; “Valley View: Reflecting on a Place, Its People, and Its Furnishings,” by Maryellen Higginbotham; “Mexican Silver in an Antebellum Georgia Household,” by Carolyn Shuler; “From London to Shanghai, 1780 1920: How Five Generations of Yonges and Brownes Brought Their Silver to Columbus, Georgia,” by Sandra Strother Hudson; and “Shopping from London to Naples for a Future Country Palace in Macon: William and Anne Tracy Johnston on the Grand Tour, 1851 1854,” by Jonathan H. Poston, as well as a foreword by museum director William Underwood Eiland and acknowledgments and a focus on a recent acqusition by Dale L. Couch, curator, Henry D. Green Center for the Study of the Decorative Arts. Full-color illustrations throughout.

Battle of Purysburg News Story
August 5, 2015

Click here to read today’s news story in the Jasper Sun Times:

http://www.jaspersuntimes.com/news/2015-08-05/breath-life-battle-purrysburg

Purysburg Battlefield Survey
January 8, 2015

PRESS RELEASE
The LAMAR Institute
For release Wednesday, January 8, 2015

Public invited to archaeology presentation about ongoing search for sites of Revolutionary War Battles of Purysburg & Black Swamp, South Carolina

LAMAR Institute archaeologists will offer information about this project to the public and invite participants to share information as well. The presentation will include information gathered from historical documents during a recent research trip to Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston. The presentation will examine how archaeologists are conducting the survey on the colonial town of Purysburg, South Carolina in search of key elements of the Revolutionary War battle there in 1779. Researchers will apply systematic battlefield archaeology techniques to discover elements of the town and its battlefield. Archaeologists are focused on the American Patriot headquarters at Purysburg and Black Swamp and the soldiers garrisoned there.

A second presentation at this time by the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust will detail that organization’s work to identify historic earthworks, roads, and other landscapes in Jasper and Charleston counties. The presentations will be at the Bluffton Branch Library (843) 255-6490, 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, South Carolina, 29910 on January 17, 2015, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Quick Facts:

• This is a two-year project with various phases of research, field work, lab work, and report writing.
• Purysburg, South Carolina became an important location in the American Revolution following the 1778 British shift to the southern theater of the war in Georgia and South Carolina.
• Following the British taking of Savannah, Georgia in 1778, American Major General Benjamin Lincoln established his headquarters at Purysburg to regroup Patriot forces and hold the Savannah River as the front line.
• The Patriots established its secondary headquarters at Black Swamp, north of Purysburg.
• For the next several months, thousands of Patriot troops in the area held a stand-off with thousands of their British counterparts located across the Savannah River at New Ebenezer, Georgia.
• Prior to the British attempt to take Charleston, South Carolina, British Major General Augustin Prevost’s troops engaged the Patriots in a brief battle at Purysburg.
• Patriot troops commanded by General Moultrie retreated to Charleston to fortify that town in advance of Prevost’s expected attack there.
• The 32-year-old LAMAR Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to promote archaeological research and public education in the southeastern United States.
• The LAMAR Institute and its associates have been awarded and/or involved in eight NPS American Battlefield Protection Program grants since 2001.

For more information or to schedule an interview with archaeologists, please contact Dan Elliott at dantelliott@gmail.com or (706) 341.7796. For more information about The LAMAR Institute visit http://www.thelamarinstitute.org

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior. The Bluffton Branch Library is not a sponsor of this program.

Dynamic Duo? Smash! Bang! Pow! %#&@!
November 11, 2014

Rita's Lifetime Achievement Award in Archaeo-Education

Rita’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Archaeo-Education

Dan's Lifetime Achievement Award in Archaeology

Dan’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Archaeology

Rita Folse Elliott and Daniel Elliott both were recognized by the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution at Its Revolutionary War Roundtable held in Washington, Georgia on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Rita was given an award for her lifetime of service as an Archaeo-Educator and Dan was given an award for a lifetime of service as an Archaeologist. Both were bestowed with this rank by the presentation of elegant golden gorgets with the appropriate engraving. Truly this is a great honor for two of The LAMAR Institute’s research team!

LAMAR Institute Awarded $87600 National Park Service 2014 Grant
July 23, 2014

Modern aerial view of Purysburg, South Carolina

Modern aerial view of Purysburg, South Carolina

NPS-pressrelease-Purysburg-7-2014

The LAMAR Institute has been awarded a research grant from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to document the Purysburg (S.C.) Revolutionary War battlefield and American headquarters complex. To learn more:

http://www.nps.gov/abpp/grants/battlefieldgrants/2014grantawards.htm

Donate to LAMAR Institute–Carr’s Fort Project and Beyond
December 30, 2010

DONATE TO LAMAR INSTITUTE–Support Our Research for 2013!

http://www.razoo.com/story/Lamar-Institute

Here are some of our active projects that could use some financial support:

  • Pre-Civil War Forts Inventory
  • Skeletons in The Closet Initiative
  • The Lost City Survey
  • Native Georgia Landscapes
  • Fort Hawkins Archaeological Project

DONATE TO LAMAR INSTITUTE–Support Our Research for 2013!

http://www.razoo.com/story/Lamar-Institute

Get Your Archaeology Books? Support Archaeology!
December 30, 2010

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mrsoap-20&o=1&p=12&l=ur1&category=books&banner=0FJJ5N860RNJAV2PXB02&f=ifr

Donate to LAMAR Institute using Razoo:

var r_protocol=((“https:”==document.location.protocol)?”https://”:”http://”);var r_path=’www.razoo.com/javascripts/widget_loader.js’;var r_identifier=’Lamar-Institute’;document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript id=’razoo_widget_loader_script’ src='”+r_protocol+r_path+”‘ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));

New Archaeology Reports Available
October 13, 2010

Several recent archaeological reports have been uploaded for free public distribution on the LAMAR Institute’s website. These include:

The Search for Redoubt Number 6 at New Ebenezer

Click to access publication_138.pdf

Smith House Site, Valdosta, Georgia, GPR Survey

Click to access publication_146.pdf

Archaeological Reconnaissance of Civil War Resources on Rose Dhu Island, Chatham County, Georgia

Click to access publication_154.pdf

GPR Survey at Behavior Cemetery, Sapelo Island, Georgia

Click to access publication_155.pdf

Archaeological Reconnaissance of Pennyworth Island, Chatham County, Georgia

Click to access publication_163.pdf

Fort Perry Reconniassance, Marion County, Georgia.

164. Fort Perry Reconnassaince, Marion County, Georgia. By Daniel T. Elliott, Mike Bunn, Don Gordy, and Terry Jackson, 2010 (0.7 MB).

GPR Survey at Gascoigne Bluff, St. Simons Island, Georgia.

165. GPR Survey at Gascoigne Bluff, St. Simons Island, Georgia. By Daniel T. Elliott, 2010 (1.7 MB).

GPR Mapping fo the Adler Plot, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.

166.  GPR Mapping of the Adler Plot, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. By Daniel T. Elliott, 2010 (3 MB).

GPR Mapping of Lot K-207, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.

167. GPR Mapping of Lot K-207, Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. By Daniel T. Elliott, 2010 (2 MB).

GPR Survey at the Copeland Site (9GE18).

168. GPR Survey at the Copeland Site (9GE18). By Daniel T. Elliott, 2010 (2 MB).

TO NAME A FEW, FOR MORE VISIT:

The LAMAR Institute

http://thelamarinstitute.org

Click on REPORTS.

We welcome your comments!

Yuchi Indians return to native land | savannahnow.com
September 13, 2010

Yuchi Indians return to native land | savannahnow.com.

Effingham dig uncovers fort built by the British during the Revolution | savannahnow.com
August 27, 2010

Effingham dig uncovers fort built by the British during the Revolution | savannahnow.com.

Rats in Trees at Ebenezer
February 28, 2010

From The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, by John James Audubon and John Bachman, 1846, regarding the Florida Rat:

“About fifteen years ago [ca. 1831], on a visit to the grave-yard of the Church at Ebenezer, Georgia, we were struck with the appearance of several very large nests near the tops of some tall evergreen oaks, (Quercus aqualicus;) on disturbing the nests, we discovered them to be inhabited by a number of Florida rats, of all sizes, some of which descended rapidly to the ground, whilst others escaped to the highest branches, where they were concealed among the leaves. These nests, in certain situations are of enormous size. We have observed some of them on trees, at a height of from ten to twenty feet from the ground, where wild vines had made a tangled mass over head, which appeared to be larger than a cart wheel, and contained a mass of leaves and sticks, that would have more than filled a barrel.”

Dawn of American Industry: Ebenezer Silk
February 27, 2010

Please download and enjoy our presentation, “Dawn of American Industry: Ebenezer Silk” by Daniel Elliott, President, The LAMAR Institute and Rita Elliott, Curator of Exhibits and Archaeology, Coastal Heritage Society. This keynote address was presented before the Georgia Salzburger Society at their Landing Day celebration that was held at the Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2966 Ebenezer Road, Rincon, Georgia, USA on March 13, 2010. Here is the link: DawnofAmericanIndustry_EbenezerSilk

Translations of Two Letters from Ebenezer to the SPCK, 1739
May 22, 2009

Translations of Two Letters from Ebenezer to the SPCK, 1739

A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch, from the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer to their Benefactors in Europe.

WE, whose Names are underwritten, the Saltzburgers and all the Members of the Communion of Ebenezer in Georgia in America, present our mos t humble and most dutiful Respects, and good Wishes to all our kind Benefactors and Benefactresses in England and Germany, of all Ranks and Conditions whatsoever. To the Praise of Almighty God we often call to remembrance all the spiritual and temporal Kind- nesses and Favours which we have received from many Thousands of true Protestant Christians, since our going out from Saltzburg our native Place, and sojourning in Protestant Countries ; and therefore we think it our bounden Duty, as long as we live, humbly to implore our gracious Lord, in the Name of Jesus Christ, through the Assistance of the Holy Ghost, who has inclined their Hearts to Charity and good Will towards us, that He would be pleased according to his great Mercy to reward all their Works of Love with abundant Blessings in the Life that now is, and in that which is to come. The wonderful and all-wise Providence having open’d a Way for us to go to Georgia, a new Colony, begun in good measure for the Refuge and Support of persecuted and distressed Protestants ; and we, after a previous due Consideration of the Will of God, having gone thither with a full Inclination and Chearfulness of Mind: The Love and Benevolence- of our ever honoured Benefactors towards us despised People has not been altered in the least, but we have had the comfortable Experience of it ‘ in many Instances, as well at our Departure from ‘ Europe as also ever since at Ebenezer ; the Place, where, by God’s Assistance and Blessing, we have taken up our Abode. Before we left Germany we were provided with necessary Protestant Books, and such as we still wanted have been sent after us in such plenty, that we cannot sufficiently praise the ‘ Lord for those Blessings. Upon our Arrival in ‘ this Country, wherein we were quite Strangers, we found the want of Linnen and other Necessaries for the cloathing of our Bodies ; but God Almighty has beyond our Expectation so graciously order’d it, that from Year to Year, by the kind Contributions of several Benefactors, a good Stock thereof has been sent to us, which has filled our Hearts with Praise and Thanksgiving : And tho’ an uncultivated Country, in a new Climate, together with a Way of Living quite different from what we were accustomed to before, could not but occasion various ‘ Diseases and Distempers, as did likewise the Want of Shoes and other Necessities among our Poor ; yet the merciful God has inclined the Hearts of our worthy Benefactors, to make Remittances from time c to time for these Purposes into the Hands of our Ministers, and more particularly we have been sufficiently provided with excellent Medicines, which have often had their desired Effect. Besides the liberal Charities in Money given to the Third Transport, as also to some of the Second, who came from Lindau to Ebenezer, and since that, to the seven new Colonists ; the All-sufficient God has likewise continually blessed us with such Supplies, that we 1 have been able both to erect and support an Orphan- ‘ House or Hospital among us ; which has been very ‘ much to the spiritual and temporal Advantage of’ the whole Congregation ; and will continue to be so, if, as we wish and pray, the Fountain of God’s Mercy mall still flow upon us. We cannot also but esteem it to be a very acceptable Benefit, and worthy of our most sincere Thanks, that so many good and pious Persons in Europe go on to promote our Welfare with their earnest Prayers, Intercessions, good Wishes, Counsels and Christian Exhortations-, but above all we acknowledge, with the deepest Sense of Gratitude, that the Lord, according to his loving Kindness, has largely provided us with his holy Word and Sacraments, together with all things necessary for this Life, particularly with a plentiful Harvest last Year; as also that He has disposed the Honourable the Trustees of Georgia, and the Society for Promoting Cbristian Knowledge, together with other Benefactors in England, to favour and assist us in a singular and extraordinary Manner; for which the Name of the Giver of every good and perfect Gift be for ever praised by us and all our Posterity. In order, therefore, to shew our most worthy Benefactors the real Sense we have of the charitable Gifts and Kindnesses we have receiv’d from them, we think ourselves bound both in Duty and Gratitude to write this Letter in order to be published, wishing from the bottom of our Hearts, that the God of eternal Truth, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, (who is pleased with Sacrifices of Mercy) may abundantly reward all their Charities bestowed upon us, and so bless this their Seed that they may reap a plentiful Harvest of eternal Joy and Happiness in the Life to come, for our Lord and Saviour will not forget his gracious Promise : Matt. xxv. 34. 36. Then shall the King say unto them on his right band, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World: for I was an hungry , and ye gave me Meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was ‘ a Stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye cloathed me, &c. but will fulfil it to the eternal Satisfaction and Comfort of all such as are not weary in well doing : As long as we live we shall not cease, by the ; Assistance of the Holy Spirit, humbly to implore, in our publick and private Prayers, our heavenly Father, that he would encompass them with his Favour as with a Shield ; and make good to them and their Children all his precious Promises, more; especially that in Psalm xli. I. 3. Blessed is be that considereth the Poor, the Lord will deliver him in the time of Trouble: the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and be shall be blessed upon the Earth ; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the Will of his Enemies, the Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of Languishing; thou wilt make all his Bed in his Sickness. And as we do further humbly conceive, that it will not be unacceptable to such our Friends and Benefactors to be acquainted with our present Circumstances in this new Part of the World; we beg leave to inform them, to the Praise of the living God, who has done all Things well, that we at Ebenezer live in the happy and comfortable Enjoyment of a pure, and plentiful Instruction in the holy Gospel ; of many temporal Blessings ; of all Christian Liberty; of external Tranquility, and good Success in our Undertakings, and also in brotherly Love and Charity to one another: the Sense of which Mercies, even whilst it convinces us of our great Unworthiness, does at the same time make us wish, out of Love to our Brethren and Countrymen in Germany, that they also might be Partakers with us of these Blessings. Our new erected Town, Ebenezer, is situated so very conveniently on the River Savannah, as to be far enough removed from the noise of the World and worldly minded Men. The Land granted for our Plantations is very good, and has even this Year given us a full Proof of its Fertility, and what it is able, by the Blessing of God, to produce. Our Cattle increases; the keeping of Herdsmen to look after them is made easy to us, by their being for the most part maintained by Charity Money sent over from Europe to our Ministers. As to the blessed Effects of the Ministry of our loving Teachers, and what the most gracious God is pleased to do by them for our Souls, Eternity will make appear. The Eyes of many amongst us have been opened in this Wilderness, so that Ebenezer has been to several the Place of their spiritual Birth. Our Place of Divine Worship has been hitherto in a Hut, which in Winter and rainy Seasons is very inconvenient ; nor have we any Place for the Education of our Children ; but we trust God will also therein hear our Prayers, and by the charitable Contributions of well disposed Christians, enable us to build a Church and ‘ School-House. We have already signified these our Wants to some of our Friends in Europe; and may God Almighty so stir up the Hearts of some who « abound in the Blessings of this Life, that they may c give out of their Abundance, what will be sufficient towards railing so necessary and useful Edifices. We conclude this our Letter with commending you, our ever renowned Benefactors, to the everlasting Love of God the Father, to the tender Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the comfortable Fellowship of the Holy Ghost, now and for evermore; and at the same time assuring you of our constant and earnest Prayers for your true Happiness and Welfare, we remain, with the profoundest Respects,

Your most bumble, (and for so many spiritual and temporal Benefits, in Love and Gratitude) Most obliged Servants,

The Inhabitants of Ebenezer.

Ebenezer in Georgia, 26th Octob. 1739.

****

A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch from the Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer.

Dear and Honoured Benefactors and Friends in Christ our Lord,

We think it our Duty to accompany this Letter of our Congregation with a few Lines, as being, by your Will and Pleasure, intitled to a Share in the many Favours you have bestowed upon them; and, consequently, being obliged to unite with them in Praises and Thanksgivings to God for his Mercies, as well as in humble Intercessions for your Welfare and Happiness. We can assuredly testily of our Saltzburgers, that they have received all the Benefactions sent and distributed to them, with the greatest Humility and Thankfulness, express’d in the most obliging and respectful Terms -, and have made use of them agreeably to the Intent of the Givers, to the Glory of God, and the Relief of their own Necessities. As often as they join with us in Prayer (as we do not only every Day at Evening Prayer, but several times a Week besides, either in our own Houses of theirs when we go to visit them) the Benefactions received are always mentioned with Praise to God, and Wishes for his Blessing on all their Benefactors. They beg of God Almighty to give them Grace to apply all such Benefactions to the End? they are sent for, and that they may be led by this his Goodness towards them to Repentance and Holiness of Life. Altho it is too common for many to spend what is bestowed on them even in Charity in an irregular and sinful Manner, yet we cannot say. this of any one of our Saltzburgers; nay we should ourselves even on any Suspicion of this kind-, have rather kept back the Benefactions designed for such Persons till their Amendment should appear, than to allow a wrong Use of them; in doing which we hope that we act nothing contrary to the Will and Intention of our Benefactors. We can therefore assure all our Patrons and Friends upon our best Knowledge and Conscience, and we hope to their great Satisfaction, that they have not sown the Seed of their Charities upon a barren, but in a fertile Ground at Ebenezer, where it will blossom and bring forth Fruits unto everlasting Life: And since according to the Testimony of the Holy Spirit, this is the Portion of the Righteous, that it mall be well with them, and that they mall eat the Fruit of their Doings; we never mall cease to make our hearty Supplications before our most faithful and merciful Father in Heaven, that He may fulfil on them this and all his other precious Promises; that in return for what they h.ive given so liberally to the poor Saltzburgers, or rather lent unto the Lord, they may receive a thousand fold, through the Merit and Mediation of Jesus Christ. Part of the Charities in Money and other Gifts has been, according to the Pleasure of the Benefactors, a great help to both of us Ministers, in the first settling our Families; for which we humbly ‘ praise the Lord, and return them our most grateful Acknowledgments. The Lord grant unto them, that they may find Mercy of the Lord in ‘ that Day ; and as they have refreshed us so often, they may together with their worthy Families be refreshed in the Presence of the Lord for ever, yea that Goodness and Mercy may follow them all ‘ the Days of their Life.

These, dearest Benefactors, are the hearty Wishes and daily Prayers of Your very obliged humble Servants,

John Martin Boltzius, Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer. ISRAEL CHRISTIAN GRONAU, Catechist and Assistant to the Congregation of Saltzburgers at Ebenezer.

Ebenezer in Georgia, 26th Octob. 1739.

Source: Thomas, John 1740 No. IV. A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch, from the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer to their Benefactors in Europe. [and] No. V. A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch] from the Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer. A Sermon Preach’d in the Parish-Church of Christ-Church, London; On Thursday May the 8th, 1740…To Which is Annexed, An Account of the Origin and Designs of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Pp 51-57. M. Downing, London, England.