Whether the project was house building, canal constructing, road building or any other project, James and Joseph Vann were certain to be involved. However, their greatest contribution to the Cherokees was their sponsorship of the Moravian Mission at Spring Place. Dedicated missionaries labored in the Cherokee Nation for more than three decades and from their diaries we have much information about the days before Murray County was drawn on the map.
The Moravian Church traces its origin to the pre-Reformation awakening led by John Hus and was formally organized as the Unity of the Brethren in 1457. Because much of its early history centered in Moravia the Brethren's Church later came to be called the Moravian Church. Persecution and wars reduced the Brethren to a few scattered remnants in Central Europe until 1722 when the church was revived in Saxony. Within 10 years the reorganized Moravians launched into a world-wide foreign mission program.
Among the teachings and practices of the Moravian church include Infant Baptism. Confirmation, and missions. It is a Protestant church with evangelical emphasis on salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Subscribing to the Apostle's Creed, the Moravian Church is life-centered rather than creed-centered, however. Noted for beautiful music, love feasts, and historic preservation, the Moravians follow the motto; "In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity."
Christian charity brought the Moravians to Georgia with James Edward Oglethorpe in 1735. When war broke out between the colonists and the Spanish in Florida, the Moravians resettled in Pennsylvania in 1740. Some of the group returned to the South in 1753 and made North Carolina their home. By the end of that century Salem and Wachovia had become thriving Moravian communities.
In 1784 Martin Schneider had tried to begin a work among the Cherokees, but the chiefs, busy with other matters, did not have time to discuss the mission with him. By 1799 the Cherokees were more open and the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Salem appointed Abraham Steiner to visit the Indian leaders. Christian Frederic de Schweinitz volunteered to go with him, but when they reached the Cherokee capital in Tennessee, the chiefs were on a hunting expedition. The next year the two men were more successful. Through the influence of Charles Hick, a half-blood interpreter, and James Vann, the ministers were granted permission to establish the long-desired mission on land provided by Mr. Vann.
In 1801 Rev. Steiner and young Gottleib Byhan rode horseback to Spring Place to begin the first mission in a small cabin built with their own hands. Three months later a Mr. Brown vacated his farm and the brethren moved there. Due to the longevity of the mission, the meticulous ministers accumulated volumes of records now in the Moravian Archives at Salern. Some of the materials have never been translated from the original German. However. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina by Adelaide Fries, Edmund Schwarze's History of the Moravian Missions Among Southern Indian Tribes, and the Spring Place Mission Diaries translated by Carl Mauelshagen tell us the story of the mission and the Cherokees of Murray County.
The Moravians began their diaries with many descriptions of the geographic and natural features of the area. In addition to identifying the various springs, the writers listed the many types of plants and trees which grew in the area. In early days the name was often spelled in one word-Springplace-but as the years passed many people, particularly the white men, changed the name to Spring Place.
Additional information about the Vanns and other Indians is given, such as the fact that the due] between James Vann and John Falling occurred near Spring Place. Falling and his wife Nancy lived near Coosawattee where several Indian ballgames were held. After Falling's death, Nancy married George Harlan, another Coosawattee Indian resident. Also, several Indians and whites made "Sumach Town" their home. Among them were Edmund Falling, Charles Hicks, and "Doctor" Bean-a white man who was a self-taught physician.
The Brethren were as amazed (or confused) by the Vann family tree as many present-day genealogists. The Moravians mention many Vanns by name and record that Wawli, James Vann's mother, had several sisters, while Clement Vann had at least one. Jenny. Wawli also had several daughters besides Nancy Falling, including Jenny Brown who lived near the mission for a time. Also noted is that as James built his new house, his mother, who had been living near the construction site, planned to move 3 miles away!
The brethren recorded that Joseph Vann entered their school in 1806 but often accompanied his father on trips and therefore was absent a great deal. After James' death. Margaret Scott Vann, Joseph's mother, moved away from the brick mansion to a new house about 1 mile away. Later she married Joseph Crutchfield. her former husband's overseer, and moved to Montjoy, a plantation south of Spring Place. After her death, Mr. Crutchfield left Montjoy. By this time. Joseph (described as a behavior problem by the missionaries) had two wives. Jenny lived at Spring Place while Polly resided at Montjoy.
The Moravians were extremely dedicated to their work, to the Cherokees, and to God. They labored long hours and were hampered by language difficu ties. Several interpreters helped them, but services were often canceled when no one who knew both English and Cherokee was present. Many times Negro slaves were the only ones who understood the sermons. Negroes regularly attended Moravian services, particularly at Christmas. According to tradition the Moravians possibly had the first Christmas tree in Georgia at Spring Place in 1805.
The names of many visitors to Spring Place are recorded in the diaries. Some were curious Indians, others were white travelers on the Old Federal Road, many were residents of the Spring Place area, and some were employees of the Vanns. Among the Cherokees who visited were Chulea (an early supporter of the school), MacDonald from Coosawattee, Bear. Red Bird, Sour Mush, Fish, several Hickses, Standing Turkey, Tussiwaliti, Major Ridge. Dear Head, Little Broom, Squirrel, Bark, and the Flea. Major Lovely, the Markhams, Mr. Geiger, John Miller, Indian Agents Return Jonathan Meigs and Hugh Montgomery, a Vann blacksmith named Hall, Clarks, and Mr. McNair were among the white and mixed-blood visitors. Additional Vann overseers are mentioned including Tynor, Bridewell, Gann, Josiah Vann. and George Brown, as administrator of James Vann's will.
Many visitors were itinerant ministers of various faiths. Some came to Spring Place to examine the Moravian work prior to beginning a mission of their own. Others were merely curious, but the Brethren were happy to see anyone who "loved the Savior" and spoke English. These visits were probably the most welcome of any of the thousands they received. Among the notable religious visitors were a former Jewish rabbi, an Episcopal priest, a Quaker elder, and several Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists like Samuel Worcester and Cyrus Kingsbury of the "American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" which began a work at Spring Place about 1817. Two famous Baptists were Jesse Bushyhead, a native, and Humphrey Posey, who spent some months in the Murray area.
The Moravians were called upon to feed these "guests" as well as the various Indians who came for assistance and instruction. They performed baptisms for travelers and became a haven for the poor, the families of men who were away on trips, and the ill. Many times school was dismissed so that pupils could help the Brethren tend the crops. They raised sheep, flax, hogs, oats, wheat and sweet potatoes in large quantities. Several times the Mission Board at Salem sent extra household and farm laborers. More than one missionary felt as if they were operating an inn!
The day at Spring Place began in winter at day break, in summer at sunrise, all up and dressed and kneeling in family prayer. Breakfast over, school was in session until dinner. The hours until late afternoon were spent working in the houses or on the farm, with some time allowed for play. Another school session followed by supper, evening songs, prayer, and an early bedtime completed the day. One historian noted that "Moravian Mission dwellings and premises were always noted for spotless cleanliness and well kept appearance."
The curriculum of the school included reading, grammar, writing, sacred history, mathematics, geography, weaving, and botany. Music was also important and. when interpreters were scarce, music was the line of communication. In later years the mission had a piano but several missionaries possessed musical talents. Jacob Wohlfahrt played the trumpet and Christian Burkhardt the clarinet, while Henry Clauder and Karsten Petersen were violinists. Gottlieb Byhan is thought to have built and played the first organ in what is now Georgia. He was also a trombonist.
Several Spring Place students went to the Salem Female Academy and several future chiefs left Spring Place for further education in Cornwell, Connecticut. Among them were John Ridge, John Vann, Buck Watie (Elias Boudinot), and David Taucheechy who visited in Salem and Washington, D.C.
Mission founder Abraham Steiner (born 1758) had several attacks of fever and was not able to stay at Spring Place very long, but continued to visit regularly. Gottlieb Byhan (born 1777 in Saxony, died in Salem 1861) and his wife Dorthea Schneider (1769-1854) were the first Moravians to be regularly in charge of the Spring Place Mission. They began the diaries which were continued by their successor and which yield the following chronology of interesting, noteworthy events:
1802 - Jacob (175S-1807) and Elizabeth (1759-1812) Wohlfahrt came to assist the Byhans.
School opened with two pupils: Sally Vann and her cousin Polly, with one hour of instruction per day. Progress slow, chiefs more interested in the 3 R's than in the Trinity, and put the mission "on trial."
1803 -Two cabins built
1804 - More land cleared Nathaniel Byhan born
1805 - Rev. John and Anna Rosel Kleist Gambold arrive to replace the Wohlfahrts, This devoted couple gave the rest of their lives to the Chetokees, remaining at Springplace for 16 years. Several descriptions of their work reveal the extent of their labors:
"Rev. & Mrs. Gambold made (he ... mission famous for their hospitality and kindness to strangers and their earnest zeal for the education and Christianization of the Cherokees. Mrs, Gambold was a good botanist. She furnished and correctly named about fourteen hundred botanical specimens to Henry Steinhauer, a distinguished scholar of Fulneck, England.
Correa de Serra, a Catholic abbe'. Minister to Portugal from the United States and a naturalist, after spending a day and night at Spring Place, wrote as follows: "Judge of my surprise, in the midst of the wilderness, to find a botanic garden, containing many exotic and medicinal plants, the professor, Mrs, Anna Rosel Gambold, describing them by their Linnean names. Your missionaries have taught me more of the nature of the manner of promulgating civilization and religion in the early ages by the missionaries from Rome, than all the ponderous volumes which I have read on the subject. I there saw the sons of a Cherokee Regulus learning the lessons, and reading their New Testaments in the morning and drawing and painting in the afternoon, though to be sure in a very Cherokee style; and assisting Mrs. Gambold in her household work, or Mr. Gambold in planting com.
Traveler Ebenezer Newton wrote in 1818:
... we came to Mr. Gambold's, a Moravian missionary in the Cherokee Nation; he said he had been established there now 13 years. He appears to be a very pious man, and zealously engaged in the laudable employment of endeavoring to enlighten & civilize the Indians. He has had some success, and seems very sanguine as to the ultimate success of the important business of Christianizing the natives.
To relate how our company was received by this aged man and his lady exceeds my powers of description. The good lady used all the politeness and put on all the airs of a French Lady just from the city of Paris. She is, I believe very pious, and wishes to be useful, and has been useful, to the Indians. She was not willing that we should depart, untill she had prepared some refreshment for us. In the meantime while this was preparing, the male part of the company took a turn or two into the gardens, the work shop and some other things about the lot & yard.
In due time the repast was prepared, and we were invited in to partake of it. The table was spread & covered with eatables. A dish of bacon occupied one end, next a plate of bread, after that a dish of stewed pumpkins and a pan of butter occupied the centre; towards the other end a dish of smoked beef chipped, then another plate of bread & a vessel of pickled cucumbers, which were nearly as large as stuffed chickens. By the side of each one's plate was a large bowl or mug of tea with a spoon that each one may sweeten to his own liking
A later historian wrote:
.Brother Gambold's optimism and purely consecrated spirit were the inspiration dvanced this cause. He had charge of all religious instruction and services besides temporal affairs, taking an active part in the labor of the mission home and Every Moravian' Brother was truly a missionary in spiritual matters; at the same he was also skilled in some vocation either as carpenter, joiner, cooper, weaver, or shoemaker. Mission work included careful instruction and training of pupils and converts in Christian life, besides giving due attention to their temporal interests and needs which built up "the physical, moral, and spiritual life of the native community 'thus making "its good influence contagious."
Mrs Gambold had charge of the school at Springplace. She has been described as ...sprightly in person as well as in fancy and imagination" with the gift of making the hearts of her Indian pupils "blossom like the rose," Her first Christmas at the mis-'on a few weeks after her coming, six children in the school under her direction sang "How shall I Meet My Savior?," each child carrying a real wax taper. They had helped to decorate the room with evergreens and a gilded inscription "Christ is Born! " Thus, many years before festivities had been made a usual part of the Christmas celebration in the States, these Cherokee girls and boys had learned old-time Moravian customs. Mrs. Gambold was a highly talented woman who had previously been for a number of years, principal of the Moravian Boarding school for young ladies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Gambold had another claim to fame. She had once met George Washington and had been given a lock of his hair. She gave the souvenir to Abijah Conger a Presbyterian missionary who married at Spring Place in 1823. Mrs. Gambold became the next diarist.
1806 - "Many Indians coming for food," 8 pupils. 3 living at mission and 5 at Vann's.
1807 - Sophia Dorothea Byhan born in October.
Christian Burkhardt and Karsten Petersen, master craftsman, make an extended visit and build a loom,
1808 - Rev. Gambold's brother Joseph (born 1753) sent to help with fanning. Missionaries now held in great esteem by Cherokees.
1809-7 scholars; big Christmas celebration
1810 - The widowed Margaret Vann, a year after her husband's murder, becomes the first Christian convert among the Cherokees. Her baptism took place on August 13th in the large new barn-the only building big enough to hold the crowd. This description was left by Mrs. Gambold:
The Candidate had spent most of the preceding night in prayer. She was radiantly happy when the great morning of her life dawned, and the light in her face on that morn was prophetic of the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing jn His wings upon the whole Cherokee Nation. Dressed in white, she entered before the Urge congregation and the service began. The school children sang heartily with their teachers and Brother Gambold delivered a short, earnest address and poured out his heart in prayer to God for the Candidate, the whole assemblage, the entire Cherokee Nation. Many persons wept during the service, early from her heart Margaret answered the questions directed to every Candidate for Baptism in the Moravian Church, whereupon she knelt and was baptised by Brother Gambold, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, receiving the name Margaret Ann."
Springplace, though struggling, was the only school in the Cherokee Nation.
1811 - June: grain scarce, no mills operating.
December 16 & 17 - "earth tremors" shook Springplace
1812 - Margaret Vann marries Joseph Crutchfield. They become the mission's greatest friends, supporters, and good will ambassadors. The Byhans leave in October due to Mrs. Byhan's poor health. One of the students, Dawnee age 11, dies.
1813 - Charles Renatus Hicks, second chief of the Nation, becomes the second Cherokee convert. Mrs. Littlefield, daughter of Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene and Mrs. Gam bold's former student, visited.
1814 - Joseph Crutch field joined church.
1815 June - A big ballgame was held at Spring Place. 'There was such a rush of Indians that we could not have service ... it resembled a battleground , . . Around 30 drunk and injured left behind."
September 6: "Drying house caught fire . . . able to save most of the dried apples and peaches,"
1816 - March 11: McKinney and Marshall from Tennessee here to repair mills. April & November - streams flooded
Oct. 15: "The child of Crutchfields' Negress died of whooping cough and was buried beside the grave of little Dawnee."
1817 - January 18: "So cold this morning that every drop of water which fell . . . froze immediately as it struck the floor." 19: "So cold that it was impossible to get warm by standing before the fire wrapped in fur blankets." February - 5-6 inches of snow
1818 - April II: "Had a talk with Joseph Vann , . . about card playing."
June 25: "Humphrey Posey, a Baptist minister, . . . visited ... on his way to the
council meeting at Coosawattee ... He was met here by Governor McMinn of
Tennessee ..."
July: "much illness"; "Mounted postman stopped here for first time."
August: An Irishman, Mr. Gahagen, collector at the Coosawaltee turnpike visited;
Progress on new building slow.
1818 - March 14: Wawli, who had earlier caused some trouble, joined followed soon by her husband. Clement Vann. Given the Christian name Mary Christiana, "Mother Vann" later went on the Trail of Tears and is said to have lived to be 130 years old! Also in March, then Secretary of War John C. Calhoun sent a $100 donation.
April 25: "Hail stones the size of hen eggs made quite a noise as they struck the house . . . not nearly as bad as several years ago , . ."
June: "Lightning storm damaged buildings and trees at mission and Vann's." November: new church and school building completed, said to have been a "blockhouse" design. Dedicated by Rev. Steiner. December 30 - 6" snow.
1820 - A sad lime, Margaret Vann Crutchfield died Oct. 18. Interred in new "God's Acre" - Moravian term for cemetery.
Johann Renatus (1784-1852) and Salome Gertraud Sponhauer Schmidt arrive to help in the school.
Johann Martin Lick came to help with farm, stayed only until 1821 because the place was "too lonesome." Springplace had 13 members and 10 children attending.
1821 - January 5 & 6 unusually cold with much snow.
February 19: The beloved Mrs. Gambold died as they were preparing to go to the new Oothcaloga Mission near New Echota. The funeral was held on the 21st with more than 100 attending; buried close by the grave of Mrs. Crutchfield in a field amidst a fenced orchard east of mission.
August 21: Children's ballgame near Sumach Town. "28 members & children comprise congregation!" Harvested 500 bushels of corn.
1822 - Joseph Vann built a new mill and a sawmill at the old Vann place Conasauga River flooded. Vann also built a racetrack near the mission. "Number of Methodists growing."
1823 - Many cattle killed by disease. Several pupils residing at Vann's.
Mr. Dawson, a Baptist missionary at Coosawattee, visited. Much visiting between Spring Place and Oothcaloga missionaries.
1824 - Salome- Reich, farm helpei since the Gambold brothers went to Oothcaloga, left. Martin Rominger also. "Dry weather, famine" noted.
1825 - Bible was translated into Cherokee along with Moravian hymnal and liturgies "Lovely & spacious church" used to house guests June - intensely hot, many visit "Mineral Springs at Sumach" October: "Big ballgame about two miles from here ... A certain sorcerer, who was accused of having brought on rain, was tried and thrashed." December 18: heavy snow.
1826 - January 19-20 "Snow fell to a depth of two feet . . . Had not experienced the like here." February: "flooded conditions" (again in June)
March: Mouse, an Indian, killed a wolf which had become a menace. Missionaries paid him a 6 ½ cents bounty.
William Henry and Maria Clayton arrived to help with "secular work" To date 105 pupils had attended the Springplace School. During this Silver Anniversary year 42 souls were under the care of Spring Place. Rev. Theodore Schultz visited and left this description
"Spring Place, located six hundred steps from the main road between Nashville and the interior of Georgia, is barely three miles from the Tennessee road leading to Georgia. It is a healthful location, good soil, plenty of woods, good pasturage and wonderful springs. The mission buildings area blockhouses, placed in a square, enclosing a yard. The church stands fifty steps from the dwellings. The yard is very pretty with cherry trees, china trees, catalpa, peach and apple trees. There is an orchard in fine condition, in the midst of which lies the graveyard."
December: Church bell was rung for first time. It's clear tone can be heard for several miles. (This is probably the bell now on display at the Vann House and was given to the mission by Joseph Vann.)
1827 - The Schmidts transfer to Oothcaloga and the Byhans along with their son, Nathaniel, and daughter, Rachel return. Nathaniel was schoolmaster. January 20, Longtime leader, member, and chief Charles R. Hicks died and according to his own wishes he was brought to Spring Place for burial. He was dressed in white, placed in a walnut coffin, and carried to God's Acre by six Indian pall bearers. November 7 - Word came that Rev. John Gambold died at Oothcaloga.
1828 - January 1: "Joseph Vann arranged a race in his field near God's Acre. Many Indians have gathered with the usual amount of whiskey." February 4-5: "Rivers flooded by incessant rain. Another child died. May - "A disease has killed seven of Vann's Negroes this spring." May 11 - Brother Samuel (an Indian convert) "Urged all to attend services regularly every Sunday and not be detracted by Methodists and Baptists who frequently hold services near by."
August 15 "Ballgame in the neighborhood and for all things for Indian women their conduct was not decent."
The Brethren began plans for a new "children's house." Jenny (Mrs. Joe) Vann attended services. Sister Byhan's brother John Schneider and a former worker, John Adams visited. Anna Margarette Becker came to be a household assistant. Br. and Sister Franz Eder from Austria work at Spring Place briefly along with H.C. Clauder before going to Oothcaloga.
1829 - John Vogler and Van Zevely from Salem visited.
March: new "house" completed
April a late freeze killed fruit and damaged com, potatoes, and beans.
Aug. 3 - "Many Indians passed by here on their way to the Green Com Dance in the Cohutta Mountains."
Remarked that they had fed 24 horses for guest but according to custom they cannot "charge for this service."
December: aged Clement and Wawli Vann's moved back nearby.
December 29: "Vann's overseer Nicholson requested e plot in God's Acre for his wife." Also buried there was "our own Negro Brother Christian Jacob."
1830 - 32 adults, 31 students.
Naeman Reminger came "to serve in secular affairs," Clauders' son Charles Ignatius born, George Proske and Theophius Vierling from Salem visited, and Nathaniel Byhan began a Sunday School.
June 20: "Because of the Methodist campmeeting not far from here . . . few attended our service.
July: Horse race! "Indians rummage through cabins and stripped fruit trees."
"Indians are working gold mines," but relations between whites and Indians were deteriorating.
The 1830's saw a turbulent decade for Murray County. Disturbances between the Cherokees and whites increased, soldiers arrived, two forts were built, the Indians were removed, land was surveyed, and white government was established.
Goff gave additional information about the western fork of the Road from Ramhurst as follows:
... the left branch leads northwest by historic Spring Place in Murray County toward Chattanooga. No one living along its course now seems to remember it as a Federal route; generally it is referred to as the "Old Chattanooga Road," although in rare instances a few old timers recall it as the "Georgia Road." The last is its oldest name, under which the government first sought a passageway through the Cherokee country. At Spring Place the road bore to the north of the village and the majestic old Vann house that stands just notth of that place.
A stretch of the early trail is missing along here, But it takes up again at Free Hope Church Crossroads, northwest of Spring Place, and runs straight north to the Old Chattanooga l-ord below the mouth of Mill Creek on Conasauga River. The ford is no longer used, but the former trace is still there.
The road then went through Whitfield County.
The Old Federal Road soon became the major post and stagecoach route in the Cherokee Nation. A stage began running through Spring Place as early as '825 and by 1833 regularly ran to Athens, Tennessee. A post office had been established at Spring Place earlier.
Another important event during this era was the beginning of a canal system in Georgia. Designed to improve "internal" transportation, these canals were very ambitious undertakings, but the canal era did not last long due to the coming of railroad and almost none were even begun in Georgia. However, "the Conasauga River was once a busy artery of commerce and was twice considered as part of a canal system," according to historian Lewis Richardson. One proposal was for the River to become a portion of Georgia's Northwest Canal. "In 1825. Wilson Lumpkin and State Engineer Hamilton Fulton led an exploratory party through the area and selected the river as the best route." The Cherokees refused to permit the canal building at that time or in 1826 and 1827 when the Tennessee General Assembly chartered the Hiwassee Canal Company. Plans were drawn to connect the Conasauga with the Ocoee River by means of 15 locks spaced over 10 miles. However the canals were not to be.
Murray County Heritage