In January, 1737, the question of going to the Upper Creeks
was submitted to the "lot", and the Moravians were bidden
to wait for another opening. Meanwhile an actual beginning had been made
among the Lower Creeks. On the 7th of May, Ingham and John Wesley
went up the river to the home of Mrs. Musgrove, the half-breed woman
who at this time was of such great use as interpreter and mediator
between the Indians and the English. Arrangements were made
by which Ingham should spend three days of each week with her,
teaching her children to read in exchange for instruction
in the Indian language. The other three or four days were to be spent
in Savannah, communicating to Wesley the knowledge he had acquired,
Anton Seifert sharing in the lessons.
On the 19th of June, the Moravians held a meeting to determine
whether the time had come for them to take up the Indian work in earnest.
The "lot" was appealed to, and the answer being that the language
should be learned, Seifert, George Neisser and John Boehner were appointed
to make diligent use of Ingham's instructions. The frequent visits
of Tomochichi and his people to Savannah gave them an opportunity
to practice speaking, for the Moravian house was always open to the red men,
and food and drink were theirs at any time of day, a fact of which
the visitors were not slow to take advantage.
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