Journey from Bethlehem in Pennsylvania to New Harmony on the Wabash
Reading – Harrisburg on the Susquehanna – Picturesque Juniata Valley – Height of the Alleghenies – Stay at Ebensburg – Hunting excursions – Laurel Hill – Blairsville – New Alexandria – Pittsburgh – Economy on the Ohio – Society of Mr. Rapp – Wheeling – Navigation of the Ohio – Marietta – Parkersburg – Cincinnati – Louisville– Mount Vernon
September 30, 1832
Sunday. After breakfast we viewed a small park, which Mr. Rapp had also constructed, with sixteen or seventeen deer (Cervus virginianus). Most of the deer already had their winter coats, grayish brown with a white spot under the throat (like our roe deer). Only one doe and her fawn were still somewhat red. In March they are said to lose their antlers and during the mating season also to emit a cry. At nine o’clock we attended church. The men sat to the right of the preacher, the women to the left, the old people in front, the younger people more to the rear. Mr. Rapp’s family sat at the very front.
The church has neither organ nor pulpit. When we were all seated, the elder Rapp entered with firm stride. He wore a completely dark blue suit, a robe, had a pointed blue cloth cap on his head, and [wore] a hat over that. With a Bible under his arm, he strode firmly down the aisle, greeted us, and sat down at his table, which is on an elevated platform. He put on his glasses, announced a hymn, and the singing began at a rather rapid tempo without organ accompaniment. After five or six verses had been sung, the congregation stood for prayer, and then Mr. Rapp delivered a sermon on a passage from the Bible, which he delivered quite prosaically and in a manner suitable for rural people, with dramatic images and expressions and accompanied by powerful, fiery gesticulations. When he had concluded, the congregation again sang several verses and then repeated a prayer that Rapp recited, whereby the congregation remained seated, each one, however, with body bowed forward and head supported on folded hands. The word “Amen” was repeated by the congregation each time it was pronounced by the pastor. First the women filed out; the men remained seated until the last woman had left, [and] then it was our turn.
After church we again visited the museum, which was shown [to] us by a young man, a certain Dr. Schnabel, who knows the products of this region well and also has some knowledge of natural history. He does not have many reference works, though he does have a few books, including Wilson’s Ornithology. We ate lunch in the inn and then visited Mr. Rapp’s garden, where he cultivates very many beautiful varieties of fruit and excellent wine grapes, as well as several citrus plants, including nice lemons and Seville oranges. The Gardenia florida was still blooming, and a magnolia, with stiff leaves that were shiny on top and whitish underneath, bore ripe seeds, which I took with me. We took a very cordial farewell from the Rapp family and in the afternoon began the return trip.
On the way back, we had the beautiful Ohio Valley before us, but we saw the side opposite the one we had seen yesterday. Therefore we once more had new and varied, beautiful views into its hazy, steaming distance while a faint sun brightened the region. These rays of the sun lasted only intermittently, however, because it also rained. At about six o’clock, we again arrived in Pittsburgh. In the meantime Dr. Saynisch had gone out with Mr. Bodmer. They had roamed through the region, begun a sketch, and looked for the interesting Ohio river mussels of the genus Unio. They had also acquired some other noteworthy natural history specimens. We spent the evening at the home of Mr. Volz.