Note 75 — EPHRATA.

The Ephrata Chronicle says that, as the enemy approached (the Indians came within thirteen miles of Ephrata), many persons sought refuge in the cloister, with those who were themselves in need of protection. As reports of murders reached Ephrata day after day, the celibates (Einsamen) became despondent, and even the leader turned pale,—a thing that had never been witnessed before. When danger was so imminent, the fathers proposed to take the sisters away on wagons to a safer place. It was then that Beissel received by night a divine revelation to the effect that no Einsamer should perish by the hands of the Indians.

Accordingly they remained at their station, and it really turned out as Beissel had predicted. The people who took refuge in the monastery probably stayed at Ephrata, not with a view of finding protection behind the wooden walls of the cloister, but for the sake of shelter and support. The statement that the government sent a company of soldiers for the protection of Ephrata seems to be verified by the mention in the Chronicle of Rothröcke or Redcoats.