EllieSS@aol.com wrote: > > Just returned from Harrisburg, PA... was in Berks Co Sunday w/family mbrs... > checking old cemeteries.. had a great time, but have a question... > > Can anyone tell me more about the Moravians and their doctrine.. found we > have Moravian family in the Host Cem.... > I know nothing much about their doctrine, except I think they believed in some kind of communal living, maybe something like the Shakers, but there is a large settlement of them in North Carolina; I think they are supposed to have come from Bethlehem, PA, (which they also founded). They were the founders (late 18th century?) of the old village of Salem, now incorporated into the city of Winston-Salem. The old German village has been preserved/restored a la Colonial Williamsburg and is something of a tourist site, called Old Salem. Although thought of as somewhat of an austere sect (I'm sure they are turning in their graves at having a cigarette named for their town, whose name means 'peace'; it is a form of the Hebrew 'Shalom'), they make a very big thing of Christmas, and now have quite a business in their cookies (very thin gingersnaps)and also 'Moravian Stars', a many-pointed three-dimensional star of translucent plastic (I suppose originally paper or parchment) with a lightbulb (originally a candle?) inside that people, by no means all of them Moravians, around here hang on porches for Christmas. That sentence is much too Germanic but you will get the idea. -- jan <janiceaf@ix.netcom.com> Researching names: FRANK, KELLER, LUPHER/LUPFER, PENROSE, SCHULTZ, TAYLOR ==== PENNA-DUTCH Mailing List ==== New? Looking for a quick connection? Visit the surnames list associated with this mail list at http://members.aol.com/PennaDutch/pdlsurnames.html