Why We Love Effingham County

In Jerusalem Lutheran Church (Springfield, GA) learning about the Salzburgers!

You may have already seen our post last spring and know how delighted we are to participate in events at Historic Ebenezer!  In honor of the 288th anniversary of Landing Day this past spring, I (Morgan) wrote the story of how we came to Effingham County, how we learned about the Salzburgers, and why we love this community so much!

At the close of 2004, my family and I found ourselves living in a hotel room in Pooler.  Our home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia was hours away.  The company my dad had worked for in Roanoke had moved to another state, and a previous co-worker had offered him a job here in Savannah.  Besides this lady and her husband, we didn’t know anyone.

During our six-week hotel stay, we hunted for a new home and enjoyed touring the new area.  We considered homes from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Richmond Hill, and from Savannah to Statesboro.  Finally, we settled on a newly constructed house off of Ralph Rahn Road in Effingham County.  Our new neighbors told us that this area was affectionately called, “Sprincon”, since it is between Rincon and Springfield.

As we adjusted to this new area, many aspects, as southerners, were familiar to us: the friendly people, the laid-back way of life, and, of course, the world-renowned cooking.  However, there were many aspects that were rather an unpleasant surprise…harmless-looking “dirt mounds” inhabited by ants that bit and stung, ponds with signs that read “Don’t Feed the Alligators”, and the suffocating summer humidity.  We were very blessed to have some wonderful neighbors, who were always ready to help us understand the area!

Our next step in settling in was to look for ways to make friends and participate in our community!  Back in Virginia, we had spent many Sunday afternoons visiting elderly members of our church.  My mom, who had worked as an occupational therapist in geriatric care, thought to start visiting the local nursing home!  We soon fell in love with all of the residents at the Effingham Care Center!  The more we visited our new friends here and met other families, the more we noticed some unique aspects about Effingham County.  First, there was a certain dignity about people when they would tell us, “I was born and raised here in Effingham”.  Then, there were so many last names that we had never heard before, like Zeigler, Zittrauer, and Exley.  Occasionally, someone would make a comment about “Salzburgers”, but this only left us more puzzled.

It wasn’t until we signed up for a homeschool field trip that everything started falling into place.  Our homeschool group was scheduled to tour Ebenezer and Jerusalem Lutheran Church, and, here on the beautiful grounds, we were able to connect all of the dots.  We learned that, in 1731-32, Protestants from the archbishopric of Salzburg in Europe were forced to leave family, friends, homes, and livelihoods by the Edict of Archbishop Firmian.  Spellbound, we listened as our guide told us about the thousands who died in the harsh winter.  Then, there was King George II of England’s invitation to the exiles to settle in the fledgling colony of Georgia.  The first transport of Salzburgers arrived on March 12, 1734.  These brave new settlers traveled upriver from the town of Savannah, with the help of James Oglethorpe, and named their town, “Ebenezer”, meaning, “stone of help”.  We were inspired by how, despite facing crop failure, flooding, illness, and death, they decided to move to a more promising location nearby and courageously start over.  They steadily built “New Ebenezer” into a thriving community, as they looked to God for strength and embraced the new freedom to openly worship Him.  Over the next years, they welcomed other fellow Salzburgers and German-speaking people.  As direct descendants of Mayflower passengers who left everything and risked everything for the same freedom, we embraced their story.  I felt chills run down my spine as I stood in front of the Jerusalem Lutheran Church, built by the very hands of these dedicated Christians from 1767 to 1769.  As I looked up at the swan weather-vane on the roof, I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be a Salzburger…to leave all I had ever known and loved and risk my life to come to this untouched wilderness.

I’ll never forget my first Heritage Day Festival, masterfully produced by the Georgia Salzburger Society every Labor Day.  All of us were fascinated by the reenactors and exhibits, but, most importantly, by the incredible heritage of this county.  It amazed us to think of the thousands of descendants that still live here!

Over the years, as we have come to call Effingham County our home, we truly believe God’s Hand led us to this wonderful community.  We owe such a debt to the Salzburgers.  Not only did their perseverance fit so perfectly into the fabric of the budding United States of America, but their Godly lives shaped this community.  We still see traces of their strong Christian influence here today.  Now, as we live on our farm here in Springfield, we are honored to participate in Salzburger events.  March 12, 2022 marks the 288th anniversary of the landing in Savannah.  Just as faithful guides and Salzburger descendants shared this rich history with us, we want to do our part to keep this story alive for generations to come!  The Psalmist wrote, “That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:” (Psalm 78:6-7).

So, we would like to encourage you, whether you have lived in Effingham County for years or have just moved here, to visit Ebenezer and be inspired by the Salzburgers’ story.  Go to the Georgia Salzburger Society’s website for more information and to read the soul-stirring “Exile Song”, written in 1686 by Joseph Schaitberger and well-known among the Salzburgers.  As you stand before Jerusalem Lutheran Church, tour the grounds, or go down to Ebenezer Creek, take a moment to consider the great sacrifice of these families that gave us the freedom we enjoy today.  And, if you stand quietly, you can almost hear them victoriously singing the last verse of the great Lutheran hymn, That word above all earthly pow’rs, / No thanks to them, abideth; / The Spirit and the gifts are ours / Thru Him who with us sideth. / Let goods and kindred go, / This mortal life also-- / The body they may kill; / God's truth abideth still: / His kingdom is forever.

At Landing Day--March 12, 2022

*Join us for the Heritage Day Festival next month: keep an eye out for the flyer from the Georgia Salzburger Society!