EMMAUS, Pa. — The life of Catarina Andres, a Moravian who was among the earliest settlers in Emmaus, can be traced from her baptism through to her wedding and 1819 death.
Andres's legacy can also be followed through her family and other community members to developments in the founding of the borough by a religious society that helped shape the Lehigh Valley.
Her story was among those told last week in a program called "Moravians in Emmaus: The First 100 Years, 1742-1842," which featured research and scanned documents from the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem.
It was part of the Emmaus Historical Society's monthly programming.
- "Moravians in Emmaus: The First 100 Years, 1742-1842" brought about 50 community members to learn about the early religious foundations of the borough
- Materials were referenced from the Moravian Archives to tell stories of early residents and the development of the formerly closed Moravian community
"I thought it would be fun to focus on a couple people and try to experience life in Emmaus," said Thomas McCullough, the archives' assistant archivist who acted as host for the event Wednesday.
Showing early maps, documents and drawings from the archives of the Emmaus Moravian community, McCullough told the story of the German-speaking village through the lives of some early residents.
Learning your history
Emmaus Historical Society President Jeanne Harakal, whose family history traces back to the original village, said it is great to learn your area's history and enjoy McCullough's mixing of documents with personal stories.
"I've always said there will be no history without the people," Harakal said. "So you need to tell the people's stories and that way people relate to the history. History can be pretty dry sometimes but if you're telling people stories, 'Oh, that's how they lived, that's what they went through,' it's fascinating."
About 50 members of the historical society and the public came to St. John's Lutheran Church for the event, with many audibly reacting or taking notes of their own throughout the presentation.
"I was really impressed with how many people are here," McCullough said. "It's not often that I go to a historical society, and there are this many people. I'm really impressed by how much the local community here cares about their history."
The program walked through the highlights of the founding of the religious community, be it the 33 pastors, the presence of iron mining or how names changed over time for communities as they grew, incorporated and shifted.
"History can be pretty dry sometimes but if you're telling people stories, 'Oh, that's how they lived, that's what they went through,' it's fascinating."Jeanne Harakal, Emmaus Historical Society President
Who are the Moravians?
The Moravians are a protestant Christian group that originated from today's Czech Republic in the mid-1400s and has spread throughout the world ever since.
The group is a key part of the foundation of many communities in the Lehigh Valley, including Bethlehem, Nazareth and Emmaus. Efforts are underway for the historic Moravian village area of Bethlehem to be classified as a UNESCO heritage site.
In Emmaus, Moravians living in the area developed a closed religious village to those belonging to the church in the mid-1700s after Sebastian Knauss and Jacob Ehrenhardt donated land to the church.
First called Salzburg (Salisbury), the village was renamed Emmaus in 1761, a biblical name much like other Moravian communities in the area. The community remained small until opening up to non-Moravians in the mid-1800s with the community organizing as a borough soon after in 1859.
The Emmaus Moravian Church celebrated its 275th anniversary this year and still has an active congregation.
The hourlong program also acknowledged the region's original Lenape Indian tribe roots and the area's original name of Maguntsche, meaning "feeding place of the bears," which went on to be the Macungie name of the nearby townships and borough.
Reminders remain
The presentation also went into the building of the 1834 church that still highlights Emmaus' main street and how it was funded not just by the local congregation but also by canvassing in Bethlehem, Nazareth and other nearby towns.
McCollough also highlighted the conflicts between the church's pacifism and the serving of some community members now buried in God's Acre in the borough during the Revolutionary War.
Attendee James Roth, a member of the historical society and longtime Emmaus resident, said he was unfamiliar with a lot of what was discussed and enjoyed seeing what types of discussions took place back then and having a peek at these old documents used to tell the story of people highlighted.
"I always enjoy seeing the old maps and the photographs," Roth said. "Like that, they included women in the signing off on the letters and things are not as strict as they you might think they were."
For those looking to explore the history themselves, the Emmaus Historical Society Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at 218 Main St., and the organization holds such programs monthly.
The Moravian Archives is on Moravian University's campus and is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
"We're not just in a building full of documents so that no one will use them," McCullough said. "If there's one or two people that were here tonight that come that visit us in the archives, then it's a success because they'll they were inspired."
