Mr.Causton was one of the three magistrates charged with all civil and criminal jurisdiction in Savannah, and his position as keeper of the Store, from which all provisions promised by the Trustees were dispensed, gave him such additional power that he was really the dictator of Savannah, ruling so absolutely that the people finally rebelled, and in 1738 secured his dismissal from office.
On his return to England in 1739, he found great difficulty in trying to explain his accounts to the Trustees, was sent back to Georgia to procure some needed papers, died on the passage over, and was buried in the ocean.His treatment of the Moravians was characteristic, for he was courtesy itself to the new-comers who had money to spend, inconsiderate when hard times came, deaf to appeals for settlement of certain vexing questions, and harsh when their wills were opposed to his.
The next morning, before sunrise, Spangenberg and Toeltschig went apart into the woods, fell upon their knees, and thanked the Lord that He had brought them hither in safety.The day was spent in gaining information as to the customs of the place, Mr.Causton again claiming them as his guests at dinner, and in the evening they accepted the invitation of a merchant to supper.
As they ate, the report of a cannon announced the arrival of their vessel, and Toeltschig went to spend the night aboard, Spangenberg remaining on shore to push the preparation for the reception of the company.
Early on the following morning, April 8th, he had their town lots assigned, (Nos.3 and 4 Second Tything, Anson Ward), in order that their baggage might be brought directly to their own property, for he had found that lodgings in the town were very dear, and decided that a small cabin should be built at once and a house as soon as possible.
Going then to the ship he guided the company to their new home, and the entire day was consumed in moving their belongings to the town, as it was some distance, and everything had to be carried by hand to the little hut which was hastily erected and roofed over with sacking.
Evening came before they had really finished the arrangement of their possessions, but before they prepared and shared their evening meal, they humbly knelt and thanked God for His mercies, discussed the Bible text for the day, and joined in several familiar hymns.A New York merchant stopped and asked them to sing one of his favorites, which was done, and an Indian who had joined them near the river and followed them home, stayed through the service, and at parting beckoned them to come and visit him.Despite their fatigue, the "Hourly Intercession" was observed throughout the night, their slumbers rendered more peaceful by the knowledge that one and another in turn was watching and praying beside them.
On the following day two more Indians visited the Moravians.
Their faces were adorned with streaks of red paint, and they seemed very friendly, rejoiced over the gift of two pewter mugs, and on leaving made signs that some one should go with them, an invitation that could not then be accepted.
The 10th of April, the first Sunday in America, Spangenberg attended service in the English Church, and heard a sermon on the text, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,"well fitted to be the watchword of the Moravian settlers in the trials that were before them.
No unpleasant presentiments, however, troubled them, as they went busily about their work during the next weeks.
Mr.Causton was very pleasant to them, selling them provisions at cost, offering them credit at the store, and promising Spangenberg a list of such Indian words as he had been able to learn and write down.
He also introduced him to Tomochichi, the Indian Chief, and to John Musgrove, who had a successful trading house near the town.Musgrove had married Mary, an Indian princess of the Uchees, who had great influence with all the neighboring tribes.At a later time, through the machinations of her third husband, she made much trouble in Georgia, but during the earlier years of the Colony she was the true friend of the white settlers, frequently acting as Interpreter in their conferences with the Indians, and doing much to make and keep the bond of peace between the two races.
On the 11th of April the five acre garden belonging to Spangenberg was surveyed, and work was immediately begun there, as it was just the season for planting corn.Nine days later Nitschmann's garden was laid out aside of Spangenberg's.By the 14th the cabin on Spangenberg's town lot was finished.It was twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and fourteen feet high, with a little loft where they slept, their goods, with a table and benches being in the room below.At daybreak they rose, sang a hymn, and prayed together, breakfasted at eight o'clock, the daily text being read aloud, then worked until half past eleven, when they dined and read the Bible.More work, an evening prayer service, and such conference as was needed that each might engage in the next day's labor to the best advantage, prepared them for their well-earned repose.
With this simple program steadily carried out, much was accomplished.
A fence was built around a small kitchen-garden on their town property, and a chicken-yard was enclosed, while the neighbors came to look on and opine "that the Moravians had done more in a week than their people in two years."As the gardens (the five acre lots) lay at some distance from Savannah, a hut was built there, to serve as a shelter against sun and rain, a heavy storm having chased them home one day soon after their arrival.
