Building Wachovia: The Father of Salem

Born on February 5, 1721, Friedrich Wilhelm von Marschall was raised in a military household with the expectation that he would join the military; however, he instead went on to join the Moravian Church in 1739. Eventually, he began writing his name using the English spelling and became known as Frederic William Marshall. After joining the Moravian Church, he began to travel to Holland and England in service of the church. In England, Marshall first dealt with matters relating to North Carolina. He showed exceptional skills relating to administration, finance, and ministry, which resulted in him being appointed senior civilis in 1761. This same year, he and his family took their first trip to America, where he supervised financial affairs for the Moravian settlements in Pennsylvania. Two years later, Marshall was appointed agent for the Unity in North Carolina and oeconomus of Wachovia. Arriving in Wachovia late in 1764, Marshall selected the location for the new central town of Wachovia and set to work planning the town of Salem.   Bibliography & Further Reading: Fries, Adelaide, ed. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina. Volume I: 1752-1771. Vol. I. Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton Print Company, 1922.    Fries, Adelaide. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina. Volume V: 1784-1792. Vol. V. Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton Print Company, 1941.    Fries, Adelaide. Records of the Moravians in North Carolina. Volume VI: 1793-1808. Vol. VI. Raleigh, NC: The North Carolina Historical Commission, 1943.   Powell, William, ed. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. 4. Vol. 4. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.   Music (Freemusicarchive.org): Allegretto (green pastures) by Dee Yan-Key (Attribution-NonCommerical-ShareAlike: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) Grand Piano Theme – Loopable by Lobo Loco (Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) On my Way to Work by Lobo Loco (Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)