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weather to attend the services, the matter was brought up in a Congregation Council at Bethlehem, when it was proposed to erect a building adjoining the Sisters' House for their accommodation. Temporary relief, however was afforded by transferring several widows from the Whitefield House to the Burnside plantation, near Bethlehem.2

The Synod which convened at Bethlehem, May 3 to June 4, 1766, recommended the building of a Widows' House in Bethlehem, and that collections be made in all the congregations of the Province, and donations solicited in Europe. Two weeks thereafter, a lengthy communication, signed on behalf of the Choir by Sister Werwing, the Deaconess, praying for united action on the part of all the congregations, was read to the communicant members at Bethlehem. By invitation of the Board of Wardens, on December 1, Sisters Werwing and Huber came down. from Nazareth to select a site. The next day they selected the lot known as the "Congregation Garden,” opposite to the Girls' School in the Sisters' House, in dimensions 121 feet 6 inches front, by 200 feet in depth, whereupon the Wardens passed a resolution to erect a building the following Spring, and appointed Abraham Boemper superintendent and treasurer of the building fund. On January 8, 1767, the plan of the building, to be 78x44 feet, was approved, and on April 27, the masonThe work was ready for the laying of the corner-stone. day prior to the ceremony Bro. Lembke and wife, with Bro. Peter, escorted a number of the widows from Nazareth, and early the next morning the remainder of the Choir left in wagons for Bethlehem.

Monday, April 27, 1767, proved to be a bright Spring day. When the Widows' Choir and the congregation

In 1763, there were three widows in Bethlehem who were unable to join the Choir at Nazareth for want of room.

assembled in the chapel, Bro. Nathanael Seidel gave out as the first hymn:

"Unser Gottes Lämmelein

Ist in unsrer Mitte,

Er mag noch so ungeseh'n

Unter uns 'rum geh'n," u.s.w.

He then spoke with "unction" on the text of the day: "In Salem also is His tabernacle and His dwelling place in Zion," applying it to the laying of the corner-stone of the Widows' House, and asked the congregation to accompany the act with their prayers and blessings. Thereupon the document, in English and German, which was to be placed in the leaden box, was read. An English translation, to be found in the Bethlehem Archives, is as follows:

"After the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; during the mild reign of George III, King of Great Britain, our most gracious Sovereign; at the time of the governorship of the Honorable John Penn, Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania; also in the third year after the General Synod of the whole Brethren's Unity which convened at Marienborn, the first Synod after the departure on the 9th of May, 1760, of the memorable Servant of the Lord; by Virtue of the gracious consent of an Act of Parliament to the Evangelical Brethren's Unity; here in Bethlehem, in the presence and with the blessing of our beloved and reverend brethren Nathanael Seidel, the present Economus of the Brethren's congregations in North America, and Co-episcopus David Nitschmann, the elder, Bishop Math. Hehl, Episcopus Provincialis, John Ettwein, assistants at the present Economat, and Francis Christian Lembke, Ordinarius of the congregation at Nazareth, as well as with the sincere blessing of the whole congregation (now numbering 540 souls) and all the persons engaged in the service of the same N. N. on the 27th of April, when the Daily Word from the Brethren's Text Book was the following: In Salem also is His tabernacle and His dwelling place in Zion;' here in Bethlehem, in the Name of the Holy Trinity was laid this corner-stone to this Widows' House, the building of which had been decided upon in the year 1766. This place had been selected by the wise counsels of the Directors and Visitatores of that time and the authorized Deputy of the Directors, our beloved and honored brother David Nitschmann,

and the Synod then assembled here. In the presence of all the Widows, twenty-eight in number, N. N. among whom were the Widows' Labouresses, the Sisters Wilhelmine Werwing and Catharine Huber, and with the good wishes of the Widows' Labouress in New York, Eliza Ronner, the building was consecrated and dedicated to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may bless, protect and care for all who will dwell therein; to the Son, slain for us, the Bridegroom of souls, that He may be the support of all the Widows and fill their hearts with a blessed hope and daily communion with Him and that He may fill the whole house with His presence; to the Holy Spirit, that He may preserve it as His holy temple to the end of days." This was followed by the hymn:

"Ach auserwählter Heiland,

Du willst ja dass wir bleiben,

Drum segne jed' Revier wo wir eingezogen," u.s.w.,

whereupon all repaired to the site of the building, which they surrounded, while chorals were performed by the trombonists from the belfry on the north side of the street. An original hymn, composed for the occasion

was next sung.

While the words, "In Thy Name we now lay the first stone, were being sung, Sisters Werwing and Huber approached the corner-stone, and during the singing of: "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Ghost," by the whole congregation, the cornerstone was laid and the leaden box with the documents was placed in it by Sister Werwing. As both sisters retired, the congregation again sang. Bro. Seidel then advanced to the stone and kneeling upon it offered up a prayer, imploring the protection of the Holy Trinity upon the Widows' Choir and their building. During the singing of the hymns:

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'Dies Haus soll werden," u.s.w.,

Mache dieses Hüttlein zum Exempel," u.s.w., two masons walled in the corner-stone. It was a solemn and impressive act, and the peace of God rested upon it from beginning to the end. The Widows' Choir re

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