The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees

In 1801 the Moravians, a Pietist German-speaking group from Central Europe, founded the Springplace Mission at a site in present-day northwestern Georgia. The Moravians remained among the Cherokees for more than thirty years, longer than any other Christian group. John and Anna Rosina Gambold served at the mission from 1805 until Anna's death in 1821. Anna, the principal author of the diaries, chronicles the intimate details of Cherokee daily life for seventeen years. Anna describes mission life and what she heard and saw at Springplace: food preparation and consumption, transactions pertaining to land, Cherokee body ornaments, conjuring, Cherokee law and punishment, Green Corn ceremonies, ball play, and matriarchal and marriage traditions. She similarly recounts stories she heard about rainmaking, the origins of the Cherokee people, and how she herself conversed with curious Cherokees about Christian images and fixtures. She also recalls earthquakes, conversions, notable visitors, annuity distributions, and illnesses. This abridged edition offers selected excerpts from the definitive edition of the Springplace diary, enabling significant themes and events of Cherokee culture and history to emerge. Anna's carefully recorded observations reveal the Cherokees' worldview and allow readers a glimpse into a time of change and upheaval for the tribe.

Rowena McClinton is an associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She is the editor of the two-volume set The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees (Nebraska 2007).

Praise for the Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees, two-volume set: "The diaries are placed into context expertly and indexed exactly to render them even more fascinating and useful. This is a gargantuan achievement and a great step forward in Cherokee scholarship." Appalachian Heritage "McClinton's translated and annotated edition of the Moravian Springplace Mission diaries must be recognized as a momentous work for scholars in a wide variety of fields." Angela Pulley Hudson, Documentary Editing "McClinton's edition of this valuable primary document will prove highly useful to those interested in the Moravians, in the Cherokees, and in the Southeast during the early republic." Katherine Carte Engel Journal of Southern History