ANALYSIS
OF
LEE R. GANDEE'S
ACCOUNT
OF
THE WEBERITE HERESY
Debunking the Myth perpetrated by Lee Gandee
in "The New-Found Eden, Carolina"
found in Lee R. Gandee's STRANGE EXPERIENCE,
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HEXENMEISTER
Copyright 2000. All Rights Reserved.
Brenda Keck Reed
In 1971 Lee R. Gandee, a self-avowed hexenmeister of Lexington, South Carolina published his autobiographical work, STRANGE EXPERIENCE, through Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. His chapter, "The New-Found Eden, Carolina" discusses his perspective on the Weberite Heresy and murders that took place in the 1750's and 60's at Saxe Gotha, South Carolina's German-Swiss settlement along the Saluda River. In my research this written account follows that of Claude C. Leitner, published in 1934 in the Southern Christian Advocate.
Lee Gandee takes great liberties in telling the story of the Weberite Heresy and the individuals involved that do not agree with known historical facts. From his letter to Mrs. Lura Glass regarding the Smithpeter family, you can personally observe that Gandee relied on psychic, albeit interesting but unreliable, means for much of his information. He also makes assertions of voodoo practices that have no basis in historical fact, found to date by this researcher.
For purposes of this analysis, let us begin by examining the correct name of the Weberites' murder victim John George Smithpeter, as he came to be known in South Carolina. His proper given name, Johann Georg Schmidtpeter, from birth is recorded in the Evangelical Luthern Parish Registers of Ettenstaat, Bavaria, Volume 67-6, page 46, held at the Archive in Regisberg, Germany. Historical records (Birth records, S. C. Council Journal records, S.C. Memorials, Payments for Colonial Service, S.C. Gazette, S.C. Deeds, and Charleston Will Records, reflect that the man who was murdered by Jacob Weber and the Weberites was known by the following names:
Johann Georg Schmidtpeter
John George Smithpeter
George SmithPader
John George Smith Pader
John George SmithPeeder
George Smithpeter
John George Smithbeader
John-George Smithpeter at the Congarees
Capt. John George Smith Beder at Congarees
John George Smith Peter (wife Catharine Smithpeter)
George SmithPeter, deceased
Never, before Lee Gandee came along, was Johann Georg Schmidtpeter known as "Hans" or "Hans Georg Peter Schmidt." In Jacob Weber's "confession" of 16 April 1761, he refers to a man known as "Schmidt Peter" as the author and instrument of his fall. In 1765 Rev. Woodmason did not give the names of the murderers or their victims, only the name of the Rich Planter, "Mr. Skinging Moore." In 1774, thirteen years after John George Smithpeter's death, Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg referred to him as "Shmidt Peter the Son" and states that "Peter Schmid is said to have been a co-founder" [of the Weberites] in the same journal entry. Claude Leitner in 1934 mentions a man named Schmidt as being a founder of the Weberites and who moved across the Saluda River to found the Appii Forum Church (after the death of John George Smithpeter).
To be continued ...
