Anna Catharina of NC-Her Final Chapter

There had barely been a road when the Moravian looked for the Wachovia tract of land. They were poor, food was almost non-existent, and travel with their loaded wagon was anything but easy. This was November and the weather was rainy and cold but reaching their land these men celebrated with a love feast, which was a tradition these people used at any opportunity. It was song and prayer and a feast of the best that they had.

It was still practiced today at every chance to give thanks for progress they had made here in North Carolina, with Salem being their central and main assembly. Salem was a busy place with many passing through her continually and Anna was here now after the death of her third husband, Casper, who had been a surveyor for the Wachovia land.

Brother Johannes came to Anna and requested she marry Jacob Ernst of Bethabara. She wanted her life as it was and this man was younger than her. Surely he would need and want a younger woman, but brother Johannes reminded her of her oath to serve the Lord and this was thought to be the right match for service.

They were set for the pastorate of Bethabara, where Anna was so many years ago with her first husband, the doctor. Jacob sells Anna’s house against her wishes, even with her telling him what it meant to her because of Christian, her second husband, being the one who built it for her.

Soon after this Anna is named deaconess of the Unity of Brethren, the highest honor of a woman in the church. She and Brother Jacob Ernst of Bethabara were betrothed. Her path now though seemed to be behind the pulpit with her new husband who performed communions and had interviews with Sisters. Who would believe this was not really what Anna wanted from the start!

The new pastor in Friedland were Anna had lived for awhile and served with her last husband; was bitten by a rattlesnake hidden in the woodpile and he soaked his hand in strong salt water while men found the snake; killed it and put some of its fat on the wound tying off his wound and was fed some bitter herbs and he did indeed recover.

Bethabara, outside Salem, was nowhere near as populated as it was when Anna was here before. The old congregation building was falling apart and a new one must be built. It took about a year and it was for the congregation, the pastor and wife and the school, but the school was relocated.

North Carolina money was unsure and not always accepted so barter was often the practice but even in this it was watched carefully to see all was done fairly. It would never be acceptable that someone make a profit, it was a hard thing to do to know what an even trade was. Many of the farmers were not paying their rents on this land here of this people, using any excuse they could and then driving off with their cattle to buy elsewhere and all that could be done was to wait until times improved. Anna’s house in Salem was now being used for widows with the man who purchased it from Jacob having passed away.

The school combined the boys and girls and Jacob taught it now when he was not brought down by Podagra, which is gout, a form of arthritis. When it caused him too much pain to stand someone from Salem would come to teach. He was treated by a new doctor and recovered somewhat.

The Assembly had had some important guests and Governors that befriended them and shared services with them but now to be told they would be entertaining George Washington, the president of the United States was quite an excitement for all! Jacob was certain Washington would come through Bethabara heading north and with his bad pain assured Anna they should be there to greet the President, but Washington decided to visit the Guilford battleground and took another route. Anna did not ever get to meet the president.

Soon she and Jacob would be sent to Friedland where she had ministered with her last husband Casper and having known most of these people she settled in quickly and made special friends with a young boy whose mother had passed away. He called her Mother Ernst, which became what all the children would call her.

Being a country ministry meant a trip once a month into Salem which I am certain Anna looked very forward to. They now had a tower clock there; which benefited everyone ringing in the hours. It had to be wound and lost time needing adjusting occasionally but it was worth it to all.

Jacob’s condition was back bad and Anna was down too as she had been a time or two before in her life and she apologized to Jacob telling him she had argued when they proposed his marriage that he needed a younger wife, but Jacob, calling her Cathy, whereas her ex-husband had called her Catharine, said, “But I wanted you Cathy.”

How she got these two nicknames is left to the imagination of the reader but I can only imagine they were Anna’s doing with her maiden name being Anna Catharina Antes.

They were no sooner on their feet than a throat disease hit; which they believed to have come from Salem where strangers came through continually and many were down with it, including Anna. It seemed to take more of the sister’s lives. When it was over Jacob went back to teaching but not many showed up so he told Anna that they had no shoes, nor stockings. Anna then thought to start some classes teaching the girls to knit and sew.

Soon though, Anna and Jacob begged to be allowed to retire since they both were often in so much pain but the response they got back from the leaders was to come back to Bethabara and do what they could so they agreed thinking it may be possible. Indeed they saw the end of one century and the beginning of another. In 1794 the United States government gave them a bi-monthly post. In 1798, Salem built their first church. Most of the old leaders had passed on now and new ones had taken over.

As Anna regained strength, Jacob did not and only did manage some meetings in Salem with the Elders, from Bethabara. On one trip Anna joined Jacob and they inquired again if they might retire. She wanted to return to her former house that two widows now lived in. The Elders inquired with their meager finances how they planned to leave their belongings and Jacob assured them other than seeing that Anna was taken care of in the event of his death that he would naturally leave it all to the church. They then made an allowance for this retired couple who had given their whole lives to this Assembly enough to live well enough and although the house was no longer Anna’s they could both live there until they died.

Jacob was only a few months going home, in the first part of December. Beforehand, when he was weak and near death when anyone asked if he thought he was dying, he only smiled.

Anna went back to Friedland for three months when she was needed there and into her home she took another widow Sister to live there with her, where they shared meals with a little boy who was schooling in Salem. She fixed treats for many other youngsters and enjoyed from her window the building of the young girl’s new school and she kept up with all going on and never missed Christmas programs and the like. From the so little we can know for sure, I feel certain that Salem and Anna's Christian activities made her very happy. She knew as much or more than many. She was there almost from the start, approximately fifty-five years. So this would have made her about twenty-two when she married her doctor and arrived here to only have him for such a short time.

She watched the building of the girls school from her window, this woman who her father called Catharina, one husband called Catharine, and another called Cathy. Anna is what many called her though; I do think from the reading of this book, so there was a tender side to her that is not put forth, yet can be read between the lines.

She had no children but she kept and took care of many, some as infants which she must have become very attached to, yet Anna's first and top priority I believe was her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as was taught by this Moravian belief. They had many love feasts and celebrations so their religions was not so strict as to believe fun was a sin. They loved music and hymns and I would dare imagine some toe tapping. These were a happy people that played such a big part in the settlement of North Carolina. They befriended friends and foes and believed no matter what happened God would look over them, and it seems that He did.

The writings she left she signed as Catharina’s autobiography in 1803, saying what better way to end her writing than the fiftieth year celebration of Wachovia (the almost 100,00 acre tract of land purchased here near Yadkin Valley) with wagons arriving to bring ones from Bethabara and Bethania, settlers and assembly members from back in November 17^th, 1753. These first colonists would be there for this thanksgiving and Jubilee and the Moravian did a celebration right and surely this would be one to behold. Anna would be 77 in two days. Did Anna think this was close to her end, to stop writing here? Well it certainly was not.

Five years later, in 1808, Anna was an honored guest of the love feast being the anniversary of the one fifty years before for eight couples married, of which Anna was the only survivor. In fact, Anna lived another eight years, leaving her beloved people and Salem on March 9th, 1816. She was eighty-nine years old.