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ZEISBERGER BIOGRAPHER TO SIGN COPIES OF BOOK * SUBJECT, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF BETHLEHEM AND NAZARETH, LIVED WITH INDIANS.

Morning Call - Allentown, Pa. Author: BRYAN HAY, The Morning Call

Copyright Morning Call Nov 22, 1997

From the time he was a boy, David Zeisberger had an instant knowledge of languages, a gift he later used in his quest to baptize Indians in Ohio.

"Very few missionaries could speak Indian dialects," said Zeisberger biographer Earl P. Olmstead. "Imagine trying to convert Indians and explain complex Christian concepts without knowing how to speak their dialect."

Zeisberger, one of the original settlers of both Nazareth and Bethlehem, "was the vanguard of all Moravian missionaries," Olmstead declared.

He spent 63 of his 87 years among the tribes of Ohio's Tuscarawas County during the French and Indian War, the American Revolution and the westward migration.

"No white missionary came close to that," noted Olmstead, who has spent more than 15 years researching Zeisberger's diaries and letters, some of which have been published and translated for the first time.

Olmstead will sign copies of his second book on Zeisberger Sunday at the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth. "David Zeisberger: A Life among the Indians," just published by Kent State University Press, will be available for $39 plus tax.

Hardcover and softbound copies of his first book, "Blackcoats among the Delaware," which covered the last 32 years of Zeisberger's life, also will be available for $29 and $17.50, respectively.

Olmstead, 78, doesn't consider himself a scholar but rather a devotee of the secular side of Zeisberger's life. He spent 35 years in the industrial supply business in Akron, Ohio, and began his research in 1980, tapping resources at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem and the Moravian Historical Society.

"Very few historians have the privilege of working out of primary source documents," Olmstead said.

The author first learned of Zeisberger as a boy when he visited the mission cemetery where Zeisberger lies in Goshen, Ohio.

His two volumes represent the first examination of the European-born missionary since the late 19th century.

"The most important of Zeisberger's contributions was that he was the first missionary to bring Euro-American cultural ideas to the Indians," Olmstead said.

Zeisberger (1721-1808) always made sure his Indian guests, whether peaceful or hostile, were fed if they stopped at the missions. It made them more amenable to what he had to say about the Gospel.

But Zeisberger was also an intelligence gatherer as well as a preacher. If the Indians were on the warpath against the Continental Army, Zeisberger would alert the commanders at Fort Pitt, eliminating any element of surprise, Olmstead noted.

Zeisberger's message appealed to the more peaceful tribes, who learned that it was more important to plant corn in spring than wage war against other tribes or armies, Olmstead said. Zeisberger brought codified laws to the mission, providing a sense of organization to the tribes.

"He always got along with the Delaware, who invited Zeisberger to sit on their council," Olmstead noted. By the end of the American Revolution, his three missions had won 400 converts.

Native Americans were especially drawn to Zeisberger's ability to convert their highly symbolic language into written word. He published two Delaware spelling books and an English-to-German dictionary in Iroquois -- one of the primary Indian dialects.

Despite his deep religious beliefs, Zeisberger always acknowledged and respected the Native American culture.

"They might have quarreled with him, but they respected and loved him," Olmstead said. "Otherwise, he would have been scalped. That's proof of his respect."

Earl P. Olmstead will sign copies of his newly published book on David Zeisberger 1-4 p.m. Sunday in the Whitefield House, headquarters of the Moravian Historical Society, 214 E. Center St., Nazareth.

The society's Christmas exhibit, "What Child Is This?," a look at the figurines used in putzes, also will debut 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

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