ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: OLD SALEM, N. C.
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
On a November night in 1753, 15 pioneers huddled in a small cabin in the North Carolina woods and listened to the howling of wolves.
In the middle of that darkness, they sang.
They held the first Moravian ``lovefeast,'' a simple ceremony of worship, song and bread. It was a gentle christening for the wild tract of land that would be their new home.
They hoped to live quietly according to their belief in community, simplicity and the Bible. And, like Quakers, they believed in peacefulness and humanitarianism. Although mostly German, they belonged to the old Protestant church formed in the Czech region of Moravia - 50 years before Martin Luther touched off the Reformation - and, like their predecessors, sought freedom from persecution.
They would survive that November night to build the village they called ``Bethabara'' (from the Hebrew ``House of Passage''), their temporary settlement until they began building the nearby town of Salem (meaning ``peace'') in 1766.
The Moravians' industrious, orderly and cooperative ways - and their abiding faith - carved a thriving church-centered town in the heart of the wilderness.
It is still thriving today.
Located about 112 miles south of Roanoke, within sight of the Winston-Salem skyline, Old Salem offers visitors a glimpse of centuries gone by.
Interpreters in costume stroll along brick sidewalks. Doorsteps blossom with pots of red and pink geraniums in summer; candlelight shines in windows on winter nights. And, any time of year, there are daily activities true to each season that bring the town to life.
Although gracious and simple, it was also a hard life, interpreters explain as they haul water for laundry or perspire in their vegetable gardens. Nevertheless, the Moravians found joy in their daily work and celebrated the ordinary as holy.
``We want people to go away knowing what life was like here,'' says Sherry Brogden, who sits quietly making buttons out of thread. ``And what the church did for these people by holding the community together.''
Old Salem is a restoration of original buildings - not a reconstruction - that covers more than a dozen blocks. Once nearly lost to development as the city of Winston grew, it is now one of the most authentic living history communities in the country, with private residences still inhabited by families.
Interpreters, many of them Moravians themselves, call each other ``brother'' and ``sister'' and explain the ``choir'' system, whereby people worshipped with their peers and, if single or widowed, lived in a group. The church believed that peers could provide better support because they understood each other's life position.
Welcoming the public
Admission-paying guests are offered a tour of 12 staffed buildings, with several others open free of charge. The first building on the tour is the Single Brothers House on Main Street, a large dormitory-like dwelling built in 1769 that includes a kitchen, chapel and several workshops.
Tailor Ben Seelbinder takes a break from his sewing and looks up over his 150-year-old wire-rimmed spectacles. ``All the garments were hand-sewn, one stitch at a time,'' he says. ``Clothes were so valuable they were willed down the line.'' He points to his linen trousers and shirt and says he made them himself.
Pewter-maker Earl Williams scoops liquid pewter from a kettle, pours it into a mold and taps it into shape. Within seconds, he opens the mold and out falls a large spoon. Despite the glowing heat and his red face, he smiles at a group of wide-eyed schoolchildren and answers their questions. ``It's fun to see their eyes brighten up,'' he says.
Fred Rogers, who works in the kitchen, demonstrates fire-making with flint and fibers. ``Moravians did have a good quality of life here,'' he muses. ``I'm sure some people found it oppressive, being told what to do [by the church], but it worked very well.''
The interpreters say their jobs also have some interesting side-effects.
``You almost start becoming them,'' says Beth Basta, who works in the doctor's house on Church Street, about a block away. Even though she has electricity at her own home, she says, her two lives often overlap. ``Sometimes I dream, `How am I going to get the wash done?' on cold days, thinking the water is frozen in the tubs. You learn to think with an 18th-century mind.''
At Winkler Bakery on Main Street, built in 1800, guests can watch sweets and breads baking in a thick brick oven. Moravians are famous for their crisp, paper-thin cookies and buttery sugar cake. A variety of baked goods are for sale at the bakery.
Authentic Moravian fare, including chicken pot pie, is available at the Old Salem Tavern also on Main Street. Built in 1816, it is annexed to the original 1784 tavern, which is now a museum. President George Washington stayed in the old tavern in 1791 when he came to inspect the town's waterway, the first municipal waterway in the South.
Old Moravians today
Many of the descendants and followers of those first pioneers are part of the Salem community today.
Arthur Spaugh is one of them. A seventh-generation Salem Moravian born 64 years ago, his family tree includes both Jacob Loesch, one of the original 15 settlers, and farmer Adam Spach (the family later changed the spelling), who arrived in 1754.
``The early Moravians had such a strong faith,'' Spaugh says. ``And that's what we want people to believe today. We think we're a friendly, active church, and we try to welcome people.''
Spaugh, who sells commercial real estate, and his wife, Mary Jo, raised a daughter and son in the church and have been active as Sunday school teachers. Their son, Rob, is an eighth-generation Salem Moravian. He and his wife, Kaye, have two children - 5-year-old Caroline and 2-year-old Andrew - who are the ninth generation.
Community service is still an important vein of Moravian life. ``We believe in helping the community in any way we can,'' says Spaugh.
Sunday services are held at Home Moravian Church, the original church built in 1800. Visitors will find themselves warmly greeted and will be asked to sign the ``Friendship Book,'' or guest register. Although modern Moravians no longer wear their distinctive simple dress, their friendliness has not changed throughout the centuries. And, like their forebears, they still believe in ``Unity, Liberty, Charity.''
A visit to Old Salem would not be complete without a look at the cemetery, or God's Acre, at the top of the hill. All the flat, white headstones are identical and gleam in the sunlight. Spaugh explains that Moravians believe in the democracy of death, so that one cannot tell rich from poor.
Also, in death as in life, people are grouped in choirs, with children, men and women all buried next to each other rather than in families.
``Some people would think it's sad not to be buried next to their spouse, but we believe they'll see each other eventually,'' says Spaugh. ``We believe we're all together in the afterlife as one family.''
LENGTH: Long : 139 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. & 2. COURTESY OLD SALEM Old Salem interpreters workby CNBin 18th-century conditions, and even haul water to homes and
gardens (right). Home Moravian Church (below) was built in 1800.
color
3. & 4. KAREN ADAMS Members of the Moravian Band (above) perform for
passers-by on a recent Saturday. Fred Rogers (right), an interpreter
at Old Salem, says, ``Moravians did have a good quality of life
here.'' color
5. Seventh-generation Moravian Arthur Spaugh (left) with (from left)
his wife, Mary Jo, granddaughter Caroline, 5, daughter-in-law Kaye,
son Rob, and grandson Andrew, 2. color KAREN ADAMS
6. map showing location of Old Salem, N. C. color STAFF