In 1752 Bishop Gottlieb Spangenberg came to the Carolina back-country to choose a site for a Moravian settlement. He had made arrangements with Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent, to purchase land of his choice. He brought with him five men, carefully chosen for a specific purpose. Henry Antes, a farmer from Pennsylvania was to consider the land with respect to farms and millsites. Herman Lash was to care for the horses and study the trails for ''convenience of access'' (p. 36) to the settlement. John Merk, saddler, was to keep harnesses in order and look for openings for craftsmen. Joseph Miller, who had studied medicine was to see if the area had health hazards and to see to the medical needs of the search group. Timothy Horsefield, JP, would note the local laws and economic conditions. Bishop Spangenbergwould keep a diary, correlate the findings and make decisions.

They first went to Philadelphia seeking information about North Carolina. They found little or none. They continued to Edenton, North Carolina to see Lord Granville's agent. They found a lot of water there - flooding and chills and fever.

They asked Mr. Corbin about maps of North Carolina and was told there were none. Antes wondered how they would find land. Corbin replied, "That is always the question. The custom is for a man to select land on which no one is living, camp on it, and report to this office that he wishes to buy. Men often live on the land for a number of years before they take the trouble to have it surveyed and secure a deed." (p. 39)

Editorial Comment: This proved to be the custom in Surry. Men "squatted" until the surveyor came. And it might be years before the surveyor came again. The law required that a Granvillegrant and later a North Carolina State grant be registered. It did not require registration of otherland transactions. Many went unregistered for years but were listed for taxes.

Corbin sent William Churton, Surveyor, with the group. They set out, rode 150 miles without finding what they wanted. They continued in the wilderness. They came down with chills and fever. Spangenberg was very sick but did recover. Brother Horsefield could not recover quickly and eventually Joseph Miller took him back to Penn-sylvania. The others continued. It was hard riding up mountains and down in valleys and it was especially hard on the horses. They faced snow and very cold weather, sometimes with no food for man or beast.

Finally, a Mr. Owen who lived somewhere along the Catabaw River suggested they might be ableto find land they desired on the forks of Muddy Creek where it flows into the Yadkin River. They found it, camped there and the good Bishop said, "The Lord must have saved this for the Brethren for it seems to be the only good and large piece of land left in Earl Granville's part of North Carolina." (p. 43) This was what is now Forsyth County on the east side of the Yadkin. The tract covered most of what is now Forsyth.

They set to work. Antes found millsites, timber and building stone; Bishop Spangenberg found springs, homesites, pasturage; Herman Lash looked for trails that would put them in contact with settlements.

After surveying and plotting the land, they returned to Pennsylvania. Then Spangenberg, affectionately called "Brother Joseph," made plans to go to Europe to.tell that the search was over. They had found their Wachovia.

They had been gone on the North Carolina search for six months. Henry Antes was not well after his return and died 20 July 1755 with burial on the family faim in Pennsylvania. His daughter,Catharina, came to Bethabara with her doctor husband in 1759 and it was she who kept a wonderful diary that Dr. Adelaide Fries used to write The Road to Salem quoted here.

When the Wachovia tract purchase was completed, the building of Bethabara quickly began. Catharina wrote, "From the beginning in Bethabara our craftsmen had furnished the most necessary articles. Wagons took flour to Cross Creek (Fayetteville). They brought back salt, glass for window panes, sugar, coffee, spice. Deerskins and other skins were brought by settlers to Bethabara to be bartered for goods at the store. The skins were sent to Charleston, S.C. in exchange for molasses, wine, hardware, glass and otherthings such as almonds and raisins. They traded a bushel of wheat for a bushel of salt."

The first group of men who came to build Bethabara had a steady diet of cornmeal mush and stewed pumpkin. They soundly welcomed their good vegetable gardeners who grew all kind of greens,beans,peas,rootcrops,melons,herbs, eight kinds of grain, flax, hemp, hops, cotton, tobacco, gourds, berries, fruit trees and grapevines.

And they met well the civil needs. Jacob Lash was a Justice of the Peace and learned well the laws of the county and the Colony of North Carolina. The Moravians were adamant that laws must be obeyed and taxes paid promptly.

Horses and cattle were branded and registered at Salisbury. A stockade was built at Bethabara and provided the only protection for the settlers around them from the Indians stirred up by the French during the French and Indian War.

A need arose for another village and they built Bethania and by 1765 the central village of Salem was a reality fulfilling their dreams of a larger village with multiple shops and other accommodations to be used for the glory of God. Theirs was the only place in the area provided with ministers and a place of worship. The other settlers in the area were Lutheran, Reformed and Church of England but without pastoral care. Indeed, the Moravians were the first in the state to have a pipe organ.

The influence of the Moravians is simply inestimable. They brought civilization to the wilderness and continued to serve the area. Catharina writes, "The settlement was founded with definite intent and with the most definite of ideals. At the center of these ideals is community life and keeping the spirit in spite of hardships, and having brotherly kindness and service for all for the good of all."

One of their greatest accomplishments was the starting of a school for girls in 1772. Unheard of in those days. They believed as did John Amos Comenius (1591-1610) who wrote, "No reason can be shown why the female sex should be kept from knowledge of languages and wisdom. For they are also human beings, an image of God as we are; they are equally gifted to acquire wisdom; indeed, in gentleness of understanding they are often more endowed than we. They can manage people, lands estates, kingdoms and advise kings and princes, practice the art of medicine, care for fellow human beings. Why then should we merely dismiss them (women) with the ABC's and drive them away from books? Are we afraid of meddling? The more we introduce them to mental occupations, the less time they will have for meddling which come from emptiness of mind."

(Information from Less Time for Meddling, A History of Salem Academy and College 1772-1866 by Frances Griffin. Main source of information from The Road to Salem by Dr. Adelaide L. Fries based on the diary of Catharina Antes 1726-1816.)