David Zeisberger's History of Northern American Indians (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from David Zeisberger's History of Northern American Indians

The History of the Northern American Indians herewith made public by The Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society appeared originally in the regular Quarterly publications of the Society for January and April, 1910. The unique interest and value presented in this manuscript of David Zeisberger is such that the members of the Publication Committee of the Society felt they could in no way better subserve the purpose of the Society than by producing this historical material for its patrons and the general public. Some two years ago the Society learned of the vast and rich storehouse of original manuscripts preserved by the Moravian Church at its national headquarters in Bethlehem, Pa. Visits by members of the Ohio Society to Bethlehem revealed the extent of the historical lore there on deposit. Concerning the records preserved in the Moravian Library at Bethlehem, an article by Prof. Hulbert appeared in the Quarterly of The Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society for April, 1909, Volume XVIII, page 199. Much of the material in this library consists of the journals, diaries and records of the Moravian missionaries to the American Indians, recounting their indefatigible and self-sacrificing labor among the copper-colored savages of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, and even Canada. These recitals for thrilling romance, religious devotion and incomparable privation are second only to the Relations of the Jesuit Fathers.

Perhaps the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society never rendered a more valuable service, in its purpose to secure and preserve original historical data, than it has rendered in the present publication. The Zeisberger Indian History is more than a contribution at first hand to early Ohio chronicles; it not only throws new light upon the character and customs of the aborigines, but it imparts such an additional fund of knowledge to the per…