Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder was a Moravian missionary.

Moravian missionary who worked to Christianize Indians in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Heckewelder, David Zeisberger, and Christian Delaware Indians migrated from Pennsylvania to the Ohio territory and laid out Schoenbrunn ("Beautiful Spring") in 1772 along the Tuscarawas River. They also founded Gnadenhutten ("Tents of Grace") further downstream, where nearly 100 Christian Indians were murdered by whites in 1782.

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder was a Moravian missionary to the Indians of Ohio.

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder worked as a Moravian missionary to the Indians of Ohio.

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder served as a Moravian missionary to the Indians of Ohio.

Missionary of the Moravian Church to the Indians of Ohio and Pennsylvania during the latter half of the eighteenth century, Heckewelder spent many years learning the languages and customs of these Indian tribes.

He was most familiar with the Ohio Country Delaware and Mohegan Indians helping to establish the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, Ohio in the 1760's and 1770's. Heckewelder vividly recorded in contemporary correspondence and in later accounts his experiences and broad knowledge of Indian life and of colonial affairs in the Ohio Valley.

Missionary of the Moravian Church to the Indians of Ohio and Pennsylvania during the latter half of the eighteenth century, Heckewelder spent many years learning the languages and customs of these Indian tribes.

He was most familiar with the Ohio Country Delaware and Mohegan Indians helping to establish the Moravian Mission of Gnadenhutten, Ohio in the 1760's and 1770's. Heckewelder vividly recorded in contemporary correspondence and in later accounts his experiences and broad knowledge of Indian life and of colonial affairs in the Ohio Valley.

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder (1743-1823) was a missionary of the renewed Unitas Fratrum, or the Moravian Church to the Native American tribes of Ohio. He retired from active missionary service in 1786. In 1792 he was appointed to a U.S. Government commission headed by General Putnam to arrange the Peace Treaty of Vincennes. In 1801 returned to Gnadenhűtten to administer the Indian “estate” on the Muskingum. In 1810, at the request of Caspar Wistar of the American Philosophical Society, Heckewelder recorded his knowledge of Indian life, published as an “Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States,” that appeared in Transactions of the Historical & Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 1 (1819).

Heckewelder was the son of a Moravian clergyman and native of Moravia, who served the church of the Unitas Fratrum in England. He was born in Bedford, England, and started his education in Moravian schools there, before moving with his parents to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1754. There he finished the last three years of his education at the Moravian Boys’ School. Afterward, he was sent to assist in the operation of the Economy Farm of the Moravian Brethren at Christian’s Spring near Nazareth. He was indentured to a cedar cooper or barrel maker in Bethlehem, although he expressed a strong interest in evangelism and asked that he be allowed to participate in the work of David Zeisberger and Christian Frederick Post, Moravian missionaries to the Indians on the Muskingum River in the Ohio territory. In 1762 he got his chance, when Post asked him to assist with the transfer of several groups of Christian Delawares from the Susquehanna river area to Ohio. Plans for the migration were temporarily suspended by Pontiac’s War in 1763, and between 1763-1771 Heckewelder was forced to remain a cooper, only occasionally being dispatched as a messenger to the Indian settlement at Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, as well as other Indian towns along the western Susquehanna.

Heckewelder displayed a remarkable understanding of native American customs and languages, spending hours studying their language, traditions, and legendary history. In 1771 he began regular mission duties for a period of fifteen years, during which he was an assistant to David Zeisberger. He lived among the Moravian Christian Indians, guiding Indian groups from the Susquehanna to the Big Beaver River and beyond to Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhütten on the Muskingum river in western Pennsylvania. During those years he was constantly on horseback, leading groups of Indians between Bethlehem and Detroit. He served as their “passport” and guide since the notion of Indians as peaceful and God-fearing people was incongruous to many frontier people. Toward the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781, Heckewelder and all of his companions were taken prisoner by a wandering band of Loyalists and Indians, who held them as American spies in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He was twice summoned to Detroit by the British authorities and arraigned before the English commandant of the post. During his absence from the Ohio territory in 1782, ninety-six Christian Indians at Gnadenhütten were massacred by white settlers.

In 1780 Heckewelder married Sarah Ohneberg of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Six years later he retired from active missionary service and moved to Bethlehem, where he continued to be active in church work. However, the new government of the United States soon utilized Heckewelder’s expertise with Indian languages and culture, calling on him as an adviser to the War Department in 1792. Secretary of War Henry Knox asked him to accompany a commission led by General Rufus Putnam to negotiate the Treaty of Vincennes, recognizing American ownership of the Vincennes tract by the Miami Indians. The following year he advised a similar delegation, consisting of General Lincoln, Colonel Pickering and Virginia Governor Beverly Randolph, involved in negotiations with the Iroquois, leading to the Pickering Treaty or the Treaty of Canandaigua. Finally, in 1801 Heckewelder returned to Gnadenhütten, where for nine years he administered the Indian estate on the Muskingum river held in trust for Delaware Indian descendants by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. By this time most of these Indians had been transferred to Fairfield, Canada through Heckewelder’s efforts.

In 1810 Heckewelder and his family returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where new labors awaited him. Caspar Wistar of the American Philosophical Society, solicited his efforts in recording his knowledge of Indian life. The resulting work, an “Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States,” appeared in Transactions of the Historical & Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 1 (1819), translated into German and French editions. Heckewelder died in 1823.

John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder (1743-1823) was a missionary of the renewed Unitas Fratrum, or the Moravian Church to the Native American tribes of Ohio. He retired from active missionary service in 1786. In 1792 he was appointed to a U.S. Government commission headed by General Putnam to arrange the Peace Treaty of Vincennes. In 1801 returned to Gnadenhűtten to administer the Indian “estate” on the Muskingum. In 1810, at the request of Caspar Wistar of the American Philosophical Society, Heckewelder recorded his knowledge of Indian life, published as an “Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States,” that appeared in Transactions of the Historical & Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 1 (1819).

Heckewelder was the son of a Moravian clergyman and native of Moravia, who served the church of the Unitas Fratrum in England. He was born in Bedford, England, and started his education in Moravian schools there, before moving with his parents to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1754. There he finished the last three years of his education at the Moravian Boys’ School. Afterward, he was sent to assist in the operation the Economy Farm of the Moravian Brethren at Christian’s Spring near Nazareth. He was indentured to a cedar cooper or barrel maker in Bethlehem, although he expressed a strong interest in evangelism and asked that he be allowed to participate in the work of David Zeisberger and Christian Frederick Post, Moravian missionaries to the Indians on the Muskingum River in the Ohio territory. In 1762 he got his chance, when Post asked him to assist with the transfer of several groups of Christian Delawares from the Susquehanna river area to Ohio. Plans for the migration were temporarily suspended by Pontiac’s War in 1763, and between 1763-1771 Heckewelder was forced to remain a cooper, only occasionally being dispatched as a messenger to the Indian settlement at Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, as well as other Indian towns along the western Susquehanna.

Heckewelder displayed a remarkable understanding of native American customs and languages, spending hours studying their language, traditions, and legendary history. In 1771 he began regular mission duties for a period of fifteen years, during which he was an assistant to David Zeisberger. He lived among the Moravian Christian Indians, guiding Indian groups from the Susquehanna to the Big Beaver River and beyond to Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhütten on the Muskingum river in western Pennsylvania. During those years he was constantly on horseback, leading groups of Indians between Bethlehem and Detroit. He served as their “passport” and guide since the notion of Indians as peaceful and God-fearing people was incongruous to many frontier people. Toward the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781, Heckewelder and all of his companions were taken prisoner by a wandering band of Loyalists and Indians, who held them as American spies in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He was twice summoned to Detroit by the British authorities and arraigned before the English commandant of the post. During his absence from the Ohio territory in 1782, ninety-six Christian Indians at Gnadenhütten were massacred by white settlers.

In 1780 Heckewelder married Sarah Ohneberg of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Six years later he retired from active missionary service and moved to Bethlehem, where he continued to be active in church work. However, the new government of the United States soon utilized Heckewelder’s expertise with Indian languages and culture, calling on him as an adviser to the War Department in 1792. Secretary of War Henry Knox asked him to accompany a commission led by General Rufus Putnam to negotiate the Treaty of Vincennes, recognizing American ownership of the Vincennes tract by the Miami Indians. The following year he advised a similar delegation, consisting of General Lincoln, Colonel Pickering and Virginia Governor Beverly Randolph, involved in negotiations with the Iroquois, leading to the Pickering Treaty or the Treaty of Canandaigua. Finally, in 1801 Heckewelder returned to Gnadenhütten, where for nine years he administered the Indian estate on the Muskingum river held in trust for Delaware Indian descendents by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. By this time most of these Indians had been transferred to Fairfield, Canada through Heckewelder’s efforts.

In 1810 Heckewelder and his family returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where new labors awaited him. Caspar Wistar of the American Philosophical Society, solicited his efforts in recording his knowledge of Indian life. The resulting work, an “Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations, Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States,” appeared in Transactions of the Historical & Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 1 (1819), translated into German and French editions. Heckewelder died in 1823.