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MICHIGAN CHAPTER 16 Influx of Settlers
A notable settlement was that of the Moravians upon the banks of the Clinton river, then called Huron, near the site of the present city of Mt. Clemens. The Moravian or Bohemian brethren trace their origin to the time of John Huss. His disciples were driven out of Moravia and Bohemia in the early part of the seventeenth century, and about 1740 came to America, establishing themselves in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They were earnest and active missionaries who met with fair success in their labors among the Indians. The Rev. David Zeisberger was a devoted and energetic leader in
this religious colony and it was he who led a little company of his followers to Michigan and founded the settlement at Mt. Clemens. In the fall of 1781 General De Peyster, then in command at Detroit, sent for Zeisberger who at that time was sojourning with some of his devoted followers near Sandusky, having been forcibly expelled from the Ohio valley on the score of sympathy with the American cause and suspicion that they were acting as spies in the interest of the latter. It was upon this point that DePeyster wished to be enlightened. Accompanying Zeisberger in answer to the summons were Heckewelder, Sensemann and Edwards with1 a number of Christian Delawares who had attached themselves to the missionaries. Zeisberger's diary, which has been published, gives a full account of his extraordinary experiences and throws much light on the condition of affairs hereabout at the time. According to his account Detroit was a veritable Sodom "where all sins are committed.
MICHIGAN
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