It takes a village: Schoenbrunn 250th anniversary
Pastor John Wallace, left, of the First Moravian Church in Dover with Tuscarawas Arts Cooperative members Tim Sidel and Vivian Mosley, who designed the project, with a mockup of the metal sculpture to be installed at Schoenbrunn for the 250th anniversary celebration.
It’s going to take a village, plus an entire county and beyond to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Historic Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia on May 3 and 4.
Schoenbrunn was founded on May 3, 1772, when Moravian missionary David Zeisberger and five families of Christian Delaware Indians, also known as Lenape, arrived in the Tuscarawas Valley. Zeisberger had been invited to establish a mission at the invitation of the Delaware leader Netawatawees.
The village thrived for five years until pressure from both sides of the American Revolutionary War became too great and the Schoenbrunn inhabitants were forced to move.
During that time they recorded many firsts in the Ohio territory including the first church and the first school. They lived in an organized Christian society that valued the contributions of men and women and made education the focus for all children.
Organizers of the event include The Dennison Depot, which manages Schoenbrunn Village for the Ohio History Connection and serves as the local managing partner for the events; the Ohio History Connection, which owns the village property; and members of the Moravian Church and the Delaware Tribe. They have been working for nearly four years to put together a celebration befitting of the 250th anniversary.
New projects are being completed ahead of the 250th anniversary of Historic Schoenbrunn Village, along with planning for special events to be held in May.
“We really wanted to have legacy gifts, which are gifts to the village which would last way beyond the anniversary,” said Wendy Zucal, director of The Dennison Depot.
It began with a mural in downtown New Philadelphia last year and will continue with a new metal sculpture, a new interpretive exhibit, new outdoor signage in David Zeisberger’s handwriting, a new history of the village written by Seth Angel of New Philadelphia and more.
A new structure known as the Shebosh cabin will be unveiled to the public at the May 3 event. The cabin replaces one from the reconstruction in the 1920s-30s that was destroyed by fire. The project was funded through the Ohio History Connection with help from the Tuscarawas County Community Foundation.
Officials also would like to rebuild another cabin that burned, and there will be a ghost house of the Wilhelm cabin that visitors can view and can donate to make it a reality.
The new interpretive display was completed by Bill Mann of the OHC, and the video about the village history has been updated. There will be new signage and interpretation outside in the village and a bird’s eye map of the village when it was at its peak.
“One of our overriding goals for this anniversary was to bring the voice of the Delaware into the village. It was missing; it just really wasn't there,” Zucal said of the new interpretive display.
The grounds will get an upgrade too.
“We're putting in 10 new historically accurate trees, and we're putting in a new aesthetic garden with the help of SWARM,” Zucal said.
The projects are sponsored by the Reeves Foundation and the Tuscarawas County Moravian Churches.
Zucal would like to thank the OHC for doing the archaeology surveys where the trees and garden will be placed.
“Schoenbrunn is considered a significant Native American site. Therefore, nothing can be done to harm the ground without archaeology being done,” Zucal said.
These new projects will be completed prior to the May events.
The Tuesday, May 3 event will be for the adults and the community. A ceremony featuring a welcome and a prayer in the Delaware language, German and English will open the events. The program will feature the New Philadelphia Children's Choir, the Moravian Trombone Choir, members of the Delaware Tribe and the Moravian Church, and other local and state dignitaries.
Trumpet in the Land is providing two actors to portray David Zeisberger and his wife, Sister Susan, at the event.
Children’s Day is being moved from June to Wednesday, May 4. Many special guests will be in town from the Delaware Tribe and the Moravian Church. They are being asked to stay overnight and participate in events on May 4 that offer free admission to students.
“We want all the kids to have access to these speakers,” Zucal said, adding organizers are still looking for a $2,000 sponsorship for the event.
Other sponsorships also are needed to cover the costs of printing the new history booklet at $2,000 and cover extra costs of travel, lodging and meals needed for the speakers who live outside of the area for the May events and the speaker series.
Local food trucks will be available at Schoenbrunn during the events.
The 250th celebration is being extended for a full year from May 2022 to May 2023 with a speaker program in conjunction with Kent State University Tuscarawas and the Moravian Churches. Many speakers have been lined up so far including Seth Angel of New Philadelphia, Pastor John Wallace of the First Moravian Church in Dover and Kim Jurkovic, curator of the Tusc/Kent Archives for the Tuscarawas County Historical Society.
There also will be commemorative items for sale in the Schoenbrunn Gift Shop and original artwork from local artists that will be unveiled at the event. They also have put together a traveling exhibit about Schoenbrunn that will go to various places for display. Funding is needed to cover that project too.
Schoenbrunn Village will be featured on the plate at the First Town Days Festival this year. Also planned is a canoe and kayak trip on the Tuscarawas River in partnership with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District on Aug. 14. The cost to participate is $25 per person.
More volunteers and sponsorships are needed. A meeting will be held Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. at the Streetside Center at The Dennison Depot for anyone interested in helping with the event or call the depot at 740-922-6776.
Donations made out to Historic Schoenbrunn Village may be sent to The Dennison Depot, P.O. Box 11, Dennison, OH 44621.
Gift shop employees and paid interns also are needed for the season.
“The OHC has really helped us with the improvements to the grounds, with the cabins, with the exhibits. I can't say enough good things about all the hard work and research that's gone into the new exhibit,” Zucal said. “The Moravian Churches, it's very important to them, and they've come up with funding, and they've supported multiple projects.”
One of those projects is a metal sculpture featuring figures representing the three branches of the Delaware Tribe: the wolf, turkey and turtle. The artwork was the idea of Wallace, who enlisted the help of the Tuscarawas Arts Cooperative to make it a reality. The group operates a gallery inside Around the Corner Frames in New Philadelphia. Vivian Mosley designed the sculpture, and Tim Sidel contacted Barbco Inc. of East Canton to make the final product.
With a stone base, donated by Roger and Mary Spies, of 24 inches, the sculpture will be about 6 or 7 feet tall when completed and will feature the word “Welcome” in Delaware, German and English.
“It will be given from the Moravian Church in honor of the Delaware Nation to the village of Schoenbrunn,” Wallace said.
The Northern Province of the Moravian Church is sponsoring the project.
The Moravian Churches of Tuscarawas County also spearheaded the tree plantings and, with the help of SWARM, a new pollinator garden.
Wallace said many representatives of the Moravian Church will be present for the celebrations including a staff writer to cover the festivities.
“They're seeing this as a celebration of what mission work should look like,” Wallace said.
Much overlooked information will come to light with the publication of a new booklet by Angel titled “Understanding Schoenbrunn Village: Field Guide to the Moravian Delaware Village of Welhikphuppeck.” Welhikphuppeck is what the Delaware called the village and the name Zeisberger used in his diaries.
Through his research Angel uncovered many facts and was able to connect the dots on some of the things he already knew. One of the reasons he wanted to write the booklet is to help new volunteers at Schoenbrunn who may not be familiar with the history. It includes information about many Schoenbrunn residents who haven’t been featured as much and a walking tour for visitors.
One of the stories that surprised Angel was that of Johannas Papunhank, a Munsee prophet and the village doctor. “When the village was first started, Papunhank was given charge of external affairs. He was the face of the village to the surrounding Indian community,” Angel said.
Schoenbrunn was mainly Munsee, a dialect that was spoken, which is a sub-part of the Delaware Nation. “But as time went on, there became a more even mix of Delaware and Munsee, and when Papunhank passed away in 1775, the village helpers had to find two people to take that job of external communication,” Angel said.
They selected Nathanial Davis and Abraham, also known as Sekima, because one was Delaware and the other was Munsee.
“It’s little things like that, when you really dig deep on something, you find little tidbits that you wouldn't have thought about otherwise,” Angel said.
In addition to some of the Delaware residents whose contributions have been overlooked, Angel would like to see visitors learn more about Anna Jungmann, who was responsible for half of the members of the congregation — the female members.
“We've talked about the male half of the community, but we're not talking about the female half of the community,” Angel said. “There are a lot of things that came to light for me when I was working on this.”