Historical essay on DeTurk site, Moravian Conference-- "Great Religious Revival which Occured in the Oley Valley 175 Years Ago"

Excerpt from the "Transactions of the Historical Society of Berks County Volume III: Embracing Papers Contributed to the Society 1910-1916" published by the Historical Society of Berks County in 1923 in Reading, PA. Sixteen-page excerpt begins on page 255 and is titled "Great Religious Revival which Occured in the Oley Valley 175 Years Ago." Paper written by Rev. John Baer Stoudt and read before the Society at an unknown date. Rev. Stoudt's piece focuses on prominent ministers and religious leaders as well as the religious climate of the Oley Valley during the early 18th century. Of particular note is text on pages 260 & 261 under the heading "Zinzendorf Preaches in Oley." which gives a brief account of a Moravian synod of c.1742 [confusion of date derives from use of both Gregorian and Julian calendars two centuries after Pope Gregory's reforms]. Here the author contradicts his 1913 statement (see object number DTHTX19--1001.01.161) about the baptism of three Native American Indians. In this passage the converts were baptized on February 21, 22, or 23 NOT January 12 as previously mentioned. Also note that the synod is claimed to have taken place in John DeTurk's house 25 years before the DeTurk House owned by the Trust was built. Presumably the "house" in which the conference occurred would refer to the c.1740 John DeTurk house, now incorporated into the expanded multi-bay farmhouse to the southeast of the 1767 small house ["ancillary structure"] near the creek. It is possible to reconcile the two accounts as to the sites by inferring that the Synod met in the house and the baptism took place in the barn to accommodate the larger number of people attending the rites admitting the Native American Indians to the Christian community. The January/February inconsistency is less easily resolved. The account of these events printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1742 in pamphlet form recites dates of February 9, 10, 11, “1741/2” [corrected to Feb 10-12th in an erratum leaf]. The “1741/2” expression was the conventional designation under the dual calendar custom], and the German language title cites the location as “Johann De Turcks Hause.” An English translation of this report appeared in “The Lutheran Quarterly” (Jan., 1926), pp. 84-108, with an Introduction by P.C. Croll, author of the Annals of the Oley Valley on page 42 of which the title page of the pamphlet printed by Franklin is reproduced (see MULTIMEDIA LINKS). If the February dates are correct the “Indian” [sic] baptism took place about 10 days after the “Conferenz.” Image shown is first page only. See MULTIMEDIA LINKS or additional images for full text.