Protocol of the Committee - July 30, 1764
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Present: Marschall, Dettmers, Bechtel, Haid, Weiss, Kleist, Th. Fischer, Andr. Weber, Joh. Arbo
The Committee was first informed that Master Potter Odenwald had been called away from here, which had happened with such hurry and speed, that one therefore had not been able to call the Committee together beforehand.
2) Our Br. Andrew the Mohr and his wife were accused by Christian Anton and his wife, that they had given the first opportunity to the acquaintanceship of Odenwald with Anton’s wife. Because he was completely innocent, he [Andrew] demanded that Anton and his wife might be confronted with him and his wife in the presence of several Brethren, so that one could then hear the truth.
Anton’s wife, who had no good conscience, preferred not to come into Bethlehem. He, however, Anton, that is, came in and brought this matter before the Committee, even as his wife had laid it before him:
Thusly:
Andrew’s wife was to have recommended the acquaintanceship with Odenwald to Anton’s wife with the following words: "he would be sympathetic, generous, and would "help her in her poverty, if she would let herself be kissed by him, as often as he wanted "to lay with her, should she let it happen, he would give her still more money in addition, "and so on and so forth more of accusation.
The chief matter which Anton had to confess in questioning was that he himself had come across and found his wife and Odenwald with each other in actual adultery.
As Christ. Anton left, Andrew the Mohr was called in, and the following questions were laid before him:
Q: Was the first connection with Odenwald and Anton’s wife made with you, and did you provide occasion therefore?
A: No!
Q: Were the two individuals never in your house together?
A: No! Odenwald was only in our house one time, to install an oven, and that was last fall.
Q: Did you then know absolutely nothing of the connection between these two people?
A: Yes. We had noticed something, and had warned Anton of it.
Q: Do you then not know how the connection began?
A: We knew nothing further than that it had already began when Antons still lived over the Lehigh.
Q: Why did you not bring this to the appropriate place as soon as you knew about it? You are in this way implicated in it.
A: We did not believe that it would go so far, and we thought that no one would believe it of us, if we said something.
Here Br. Andrew left, and his wife was called in. The same questions were posed of her, and her answers were in agreement with her husband’s statement.
As she now left, Br. Anton came forward again.
It was declared to him that that which his wife said to him, and that which she accused Br. Andrew and his wife, were nothing but lies, and she had invented her mean plan of accusation only to justify herself, and that Andres and his wife were not guilty of the connection, and that we were all witnesses. Then Anton was redirected to return to his work, with the addendum: that with respect to him and his wife, further disposition would be decided.
Then Andrew and his wife were called together, and were spoken with regarding the sewing and washing for the Single Brethren[.] This was completely forbidden of them, yet with the meaning that if Single Brethren wanted to have something sewn by her, she would not accept it from anyone unless it was brought through the Choir Servant, which she could then perform. Then they were earnestly and emphatically admonished and taken to task because they had known of the connection between Odenwald and Anton’s wife for so long, and had not brought it to the appropriate place, but rather that one first had to learn of it fourth hand and then it was already too late, that therefore they had come under great suspicion; [in such cases], as soon as one noticed something, one should not become silent, which one could not tolerate in this place and [which] ran totally and completely counter our society, and great damage could come out of it.
Transcription and translation by Katherine Carté Engel
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