The fact that there were three David Nitschmanns in the active service of the Moravian Church during a number of years after its renewal in Herrnhut affords ample opportunity for confusion, but one would not expect to find it in the minds of their contemporaries.But even such a man as Frederick William Marshall wrote, "The Deeds to these two lots, Nos.3 and 4, are kept in Bethlehem (one stands in the name of Brother Joseph, the other of Bishop D'd Nitschmann, who passed away in Bethlehem)and it would be well if something were done about them.
I do not know what can be arranged with the son of the latter;but Brother David Nitschmann, who is now in Zeist, said when he was in America that he himself was the David Nitschmann in whose name the grant was made, because he was the one who had shared in the negotiations with the Trustees of Georgia." Bishop David Nitschmann had died in Bethlehem, Oct.9th, 1772, where his son Immanuel lived until 1790.
The David Nitschmann residing in Zeist was the Syndic, formerly Count Zinzendorf's Hausmeister, the leader of the first company to London, where he and Spangenberg had arranged matters with the Trustees, and had each received fifty acres of land in his own name.
The Bishop had had nothing whatever to do with the matter, and this was the conclusion reached, for the title to the Town Lot No.3passed at the Syndic's death, March 28th, 1779, to his son Christian David Nitschmann.
June 14th, 1784, August Gottlieb Spangenberg and Christian David Nitschmann by deed transferred their title to the Savannah property to Hans Christian Alexander von Schweinitz, Administrator of the estate of the Unitas Fratrum in Pennsylvania.
The Revolutionary War had come and gone, and Von Schweinitz began again to investigate the condition of affairs in Savannah.Their Agent, James Habersham, had died in 1775, but his son James had kept up the taxes, so the title was intact."But there is a matter," he wrote, "which it is necessary you should be made acquainted with.
When the British Troops took possession of Savannah, they had occasion for a lot belonging to a Mr.George Kellar, for the purpose of erecting a fort on, it being situated in the outskirts of the town, and in order to satisfy this man they VERY GENEROUSLY gave him your two lots in lieu of the one they had taken from him, but very fortunately for you, our Legislature passed a Law rendering null and void all their acts during the time they held this country, and notwithstanding Mr.Kellar is perfectly well acquainted with this matter, he has moved a house on one of the lots, and on the other he has lately built another house, which he rents out, and holds possession -- in defiance of me, as I am possessed of no power of attorney to warrant any proceeding against him." A power of attorney was at once sent Habersham, with instructions to evict the intruder, and rent, lease or sell the property.
A suit against the trespasser was won in 1794, but in 1801his tenant was still in possession, poor, and refusing to pay rent.
Habersham had meanwhile died, and John Gebhard Cunow, acting as attorney for Von Schweinitz, who had returned to Germany in 1798, requested Matthew McAllister to take charge of the matter; but McAllister, having made some inquiries, reported that the man named John Robinson, who lived on the premises, was likely to make trouble, and that as he himself was the only Judge in the district it would be better to put the case into the hands of some one else, and leave him free to hear it.Cunow therefore asked George Woodruff to act as attorney, to which he agreed, requesting that John Lawson be associated with him, which was done the following year.
Hans Christian Alexander von Schweinitz died Feb.26th, 1802, the title to the Savannah Lots passing by will to Christian Lewis Benzien, of Salem, North Carolina, who however requested Cunow to continue to look after them.
The Agents had no light task in ejecting John Robinson and his wife from their abode, for he was "a foolish, drunken man,"and she "a perfect `virago', and the Sheriff is really afraid of her,"but on July 5th, 1805, Lawson wrote to Cunow, -- "I am happy to inform you that after great trouble and difficulty we have this day obtained possession of Mr.Benzien's lots."Feb.17th, 1807, Christian Lewis Benzien, by his attorneys Woodruff and Lawson, conveyed Town Lot No.4, Second Tything, Anson Ward, to Charles Odingsell, the consideration being $1,500, one hundred dollars in cash, the rest secured by bond and mortgage, payable in one, two, and three years, with 8 per cent interest from date.
In the same manner Town Lot No.3 was sold to Worthington Gale, March 14th, 1807, for $1,450.
Owing to "the distress of the times," payment of these bonds was slightly delayed, but by June, 1811, both were cancelled.
Although the two Town Lots thus brought $2,950, they had cost a good deal in taxes and attorney's fees, and it is doubtful whether the general treasury profited greatly by the investment, and certainly the men who had lived and labored and suffered in Georgia were in no financial way enriched thereby.
Christian Lewis Benzien died Nov.13th, 1811, and the two Farm Lots were transferred by will to John Gebhard Cunow of Bethlehem, Pa., who in March, 1822, deeded them to Lewis David de Schweinitz of Bethlehem, Pa.
And here the two Farm Lots disappear from the records.
They had never been available for farming purposes, and by degrees the timber was stolen from them, so that it became wiser to let them go than to keep up the taxes with no prospect of return.In course of time the title lapsed, and the land passed uncontested into other hands.
End
