Historical Sites and Monuments

---

Shekomeko

This monument commemorates the location of the Mahican Village of Shekomeko, and the final resting place of Gottlieb Buettner. It is located in the Town of Pine Plains in Dutchess County, New York.

In 1740, the Moravians sent Christian Henry Rauch to New York City to preach. Visiting at the same time as Rauch was an embassy of Mahican Indians on business with the colonial government. After a few visits, two of the chiefs (Tschoop and Shabash) invited Rauch to come to Shekomeko and be their teacher. Rauch traveled north and took up temporary residence with a family who lived close to the village who taught him the Mahican language. Rauch was initially well-received, but his message was not accepted by the Indians. Although scorned he persisted, even after his life was threatened.

The turning point in his efforts came when Rauch fell asleep one day in the dwelling of Tschoop. This hard warrior was astounded that a white man could sleep so soundly and trustingly under an Indian's roof. Tschoop concluded that such a man must be worthy of hearing. Tschoop became one of Rauch's first converts.

The change in character of Tschoop caused a great sensation. His example caused Shekomeko to become the scene of a great revival. In the summer of 1742, Count Zinzendorf visited the village and baptized more Indians.

That November, Gottlieb Buettner and his wife Margaret joined Rauch. By this time, the change in Tschoop and the converted Indians was so remarkable to those who saw them or otherwise heard about them that the mission church soon became a place of worship for settlers and natives alike.

Martin Mack, Christopher Pyrlaeus, Gottlieb Senseman, Friedrich Post and their wives all spent time as missionaries at Shekomeko. Buettner remained at Shekomeko for most of 1743, while Rauch returned to Pennsylvania and the others journeyed to Indian villages located nearby in present-day Sharon and Kent, Connecticut.

In July 1743, a new chapel was finished and dedicated at Shekomeko. Although the congregation grew, the troubles for the Moravians were just beginning. White settlers accused the Moravians of working to turn the Mahican Indians against them. The missionaries were repeatedly summoned to appear before local courts, detained and harassed, but were always exonerated and released. A law was then passed in New York in 1744, forbidding any person to reside with Indians in order to Christianize them, specifically written to end the Moravian missions.

Soon after, the white settlers began to keep a watch to prevent further visitors from Bethlehem, thereby cutting the missionaries and their converts off from any help that might have come from the outside. In October, the Governor of New York ordered the Moravian missionaries to "desist from further teaching and depart the province." Despite these orders, Buettner stayed. On February 23, 1745, Gottlieb Buettner died at Shekomeko, and was buried near the village. His untimely passing marked the beginning of the end of the Moravians' work in the area.

By 1746, worried settlers unsuccessfully demanded a warrant authorizing the killing of the Shekomeko Indians, lest they band together and ravage the countryside. With word of the request, the exodus from Shekomeko began. Some sought refuge in nearby Connecticut, while others traveled to Pennsylvania to be closer to the established Moravian settlements there.

The Shekomeko monument was initially placed at the site of Buettner's grave and dedicated on October 5, 1859 through the efforts of local residents and the newly-formed Moravian Historical Society. The monument was re-dedicated on June 22, 1926 when it was moved to its present site in order to make the monument more accessible to the public.

Click here for a map to the Shekomeko Monument.

For more information, please read:

• Little Nine Partners Historical Society, A History of the Hamlet of Bethel in the Town of Pine Plains, New York - Vol. 5: Out of the Wilderness, 1996
• Moravian Historical Society, A Memorial of the Dedication of Monuments to Mark the Sites of Ancient Missionary Stations in New York and Connecticut, 1860
• Levering, Joseph Mortimer,A History of Bethlehem Pennsylvania, 1903

Text Of Monument