RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 97 



compensated them for all that they suffered. For some time 

 they were in the habit of holding their meetings for religious 

 services in the tent of the Rev. Mr. Bolzius, one of their pas- 

 tors, and when the contributions of their friends in Europe 

 enabled them to erect an orphan-house, divine worship was 

 held in this building until their two churches were ready for 

 their reception. About this time there was a settlement of 

 Germans on St. Simon's Island, under the pastoral care of the 

 Rev. Mr. Driesler, a gentleman, who by his exemplary piety 

 had secured the love of all who knew him. In Savannah a 

 church had been established probably before 1759, under the 

 care of Rev. Messrs. Martin Rabenhorst and Wottman, but 

 divine service being conducted in the German language, and 

 the younger part of the congregation being ignorant of that 

 language, the church was closed, and remained in this situ- 

 ation for many years. Thechurch was again opened in 1824, 

 with preaching in the English language, the Rev. S. A. Mealy 

 being their pastor. The present church was erected in 1843, 

 at a cost of $13,000. 



The congregation at Ebenezer in the very beginning of the 

 Revolution took an active part in favour of the colonies. This 

 was to be expected. They said, "We have experienced the* 

 evils of tyranny in our native country ; for the sake of Liberty 

 we have left home, lands, houses, estates, and have taken re- 

 fuge in the wilds of Georgia ; shall we now again submit to 

 bondage ? No ! we will not." With a few exceptions they 

 stood by their country throughout the whole revolutionary 

 conflict. Their church was converted into a stable by the 

 British soldiers, and sometimes was used as a hospital for the 

 sick and wounded. After the war the settlers began to scatter 

 themselves on small farms from two to ten miles from the vil- 

 lage. The church was repaired, and the Rev. John E. Berg- 

 man arrived from Germany, and served the congregation as 

 their pastor for thirty-six years. He preached in the German 

 language, which proved, as far as the young were concerned, 

 injurious to the interests of their church, and about the close 

 of the eighteenth century, a few only remained of a congrega- 

 tion which once required the services of three clergymen at 

 the same time. 



