178 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
MEMORY OF ZEISBERGER.
A poetical tribute by John Milburn
Harding, New Philadel-
phia, Ohio, November 17, 1908.
AT ZEISBERGER'S GRAVE.
[One hundred years after he died.]
There are tombs of the high, there are
graves of the low,
There are sepulchers sacred in story
But the grave hollowed here just a
century ago
Has a halo of unselfish glory.
'Mid the scenes of thy triumphs and
direst defeat,
Near the spring rich in savage tradition.
Here you gave up the ghost and at Jesus'
feet
You implored but a Christian transition.
Sixty years of your life you had headed
the strife
To upbuild in the Indian nation
The Moravian faith in the heavenly life,
And a prosperous civilization.
Whether "vagabond" preacher,
or pris'ner in jail,
Or advisor in savage commotion.
Or guest in the lodge, or a guide on the
trail,
You possessed the sincerest devotion.
Though your labors were vain as to
saving the race,
Yet the souls that were saved numbered
many.
The success of your work on our fair
valleys' face
Has scarcely been equaled by any.
Could you now, brave Zeisberger, return
to this vale
When the church bells on Sabbath are
pealing,
With thy "Brown Brethren" gone,
and the faces all pale,
Would it bring you a sad hearted
feeling?
Still the stars twinkle down, and the
river still flows,
And the flowers bloom in springtime at
Goshen,
Still the sunshine still falls, and the
rains and the snows,
But our life has a greater commotion.
'Twas the strength of the race--the
invincible one-
That o'ercame your high hopes and
ambition,
And that forced the brave Red Man to
follow the sun
Would this be to you now true fruition?
David Zeisberger Centennial. 179
Slumber on, and may Christians of
whatever creed
Bow their heads to the altered
condition,
And as years roll along with eternity
speed
Give thy tomb its deserved recognition.
Slumber on in the vale far away from thy
birth
Where pure beauty and plenty fail never,
Where thy victories were in the efforts
put forth
For the Race almost vanquished forever.
SITE OF LICHTENAU.
Regarding the location of Lichtenau,
founded by Rev. David
Zeisberger of the work of Heckewelder
and Zeisberger and the
first spelling book used in Ohio, Rev.
W. H. Rice, D. D., says the
following:
Lichten-Au is a German word, signifying
a Pasture or
Meadow of Light here the name is
significant of God's smile upon
the green pasture lands. It was the name
given by Rev. David
Zeisberger to the Christian village
settlement which he founded
in April, 1776, on the eastern bank of
the Muskingum river, two
and a half miles below Goshochkunk
(Coshocton) in accordance
with the urgent wishes of the chief of
the Delaware Indian Na-
tion. Chief Netawatwes whose capital was
Goshochkunk the
Indian name which has survived in
"Coshocton." Netawatwes
selected the site in such proximity to
his capital because, "If the
brethren will live near me, I will be
strong. They will make me
strong against the disobedient."
The site is a broad level of many acres
stretching to the foot
hills with a slight rise. The river bank
has an arc-shaped out-
line and was covered with maples and
sycamores. There was a
rich soil, and an abundance of materials
for building.
The pre-historic relics tell of its
having been occupied once
before as a village site. There is a
circle of five acres and a
mound. The former is quite near this
site of Lichtenau and the
latter three-quarters of a mile down the
river.
Forty-five years ago the site of
Lichtenau was identified as
stretching across the long lane that
runs from the river to the
foot hills, separating the farms then
owned by Mr. Samuel Moore
and Mr. Samuel Foraker, in Tuscarawas
township, in Coshocton