Background
Frederick Augustus Conrad Mühlenberg was born on January 1, 1750, at Trappe, Pennsylvania, the third child and second son of Henry Melchior Mühlenberg by his wife, Anna Maria Weiser, daughter of the younger John Conrad Weiser.
( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ German Poem reprint Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg Julius Friedrich Sachse P.C. Stockhausen, 1897
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Frederick Augustus Conrad Mühlenberg was born on January 1, 1750, at Trappe, Pennsylvania, the third child and second son of Henry Melchior Mühlenberg by his wife, Anna Maria Weiser, daughter of the younger John Conrad Weiser.
Mühlenberg was sent to Halle in 1763 with his brothers, John Peter Gabriel and Gotthilf Henry Ernest, attended the schools of the Francke Stiftungen and the University.
Mühlenberg returned to Philadelphia in 1770 with Gotthilf and their future brother-in-law, John Christopher Kunze, and was ordained at Reading, October 25, 1770, by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania.
His ministerial career extended until the summer of 1779. After his ordination he acted as assistant to his brother-in-law, Christian Emanuel Schulze, preaching and performing other ministerial duties at Tulpehocken, Schaeferstown, Lebanon, and other points in that region. In 1771 he made two arduous trips to Sunbury.
In November 1773 he went to New York as pastor of Christ Church ("The Old Swamp Church") at Frankford and William Streets.
In 1775 Mühlenberg wrote to his brother Peter rebuking him for mixing revolutionary and martial activities with the ministry of the Word, but he himself was known to be in sympathy with the Revolution. As a measure of precaution he sent his family to Philadelphia in February 1776 and late in June, when Howe's fleet appeared in the offing, he followed them. A month later he removed to Trappe with his family and relieved his father of the charge at New Hanover. Mühlenberg also preached regularly at Oley Hills and New Goshenhoppen and occasionally at Reading.
The turning-point of his life was his election March 2, 1779, to fill the unexpired term of Edward Biddle in the Continental Congress. He had been an honest, faithful, laborious clergyman, but his choice of that profession had been dictated by circumstance rather than by his own volition, and to the political career now opening ahead of him he turned with renewed hope and energies.
Mühlenberg was reelected to the Continental Congress November 12, 1779, his term expiring October 28, 1780, when he became ineligible for three years. Meanwhile he had been elected to the General Assembly, of which he was speaker 1780 - 1783. He was president of the Council of Censors 1783 - 1784, and one of the party striving for a revision of the state constitution.
He was commissioned justice of the peace March 9, 1784; and on the organization of Montgomery County that autumn he was made registrar of wills and recorder of deeds. He wrote occasionally for the press, both in German and English, and his private letters are enlivened with racy comments on the politics and politicians of the day. In 1787 Mühlenberg presided over the convention called to ratify the Federal Constitution, and the next year he was elected to the First Congress as a Federalist from the Philadelphia district.
Financial necessity compelled him, meanwhile, to engage in business: he was a partner in the firm of Muhlenberg & Wegmann, importers, and in that of Muhlenberg & Lawersweiler, sugar refiners, in Philadelphia, and owned a house and fifty acres of land at Trappe, with which a store of some kind was connected. When Congress assembled at New York, Mühlenberg came to it with the reputation of an experienced, urbane, impartial presiding officer and was elected speaker, the choice being undoubtedly influenced by the consideration that, since the President came from the South and the Vice-President from New England, it was desirable to select the speaker from the most powerful of the middle states.
Mühlenberg was reelected to the Second, Third, and Fourth congresses as a Federalist, but was displaced as speaker in the Second Congress by Jonathan Trumbull, the change being motivated probably by the fact that Mühlenberg's Federalism had been growing lukewarm.
When the Third Congress was organized he was elected speaker again, this time by the help of Republican votes.
During the ensuing years he steered a political course that must have been as puzzling sometimes to himself as it has since been to historians. As the Federalist candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, Mühlenberg was badly beaten by Thomas McKean in 1793 and overwhelmingly in 1796, while in Congress he worked harmoniously with Jefferson's supporters.
In 1796, as chairman of the House acting as a committee of the whole, Mühlenberg cast the deciding vote to refer again to the House the bill appropriating money for the ratification of Jay's Treaty. It was a courageous, statesmanlike act, and cost him his popularity in Pennsylvania. About two years before his death he abandoned the Federalist party and threw his support to the Republicans. John Adams attributed the Federalist loss of Pennsylvania in the national elections to the influence of Frederick Mühlenberg and his brother Peter.
On January 8, 1800, Governer Thomas Mifflin appointed him receiver-general of the Pennsylvania Land Office, and he moved to Lancaster, then the seat of the government. He was extremely corpulent, and his death on June 4, 1801, resulted from an apoplectic stroke. He was buried in the Lutheran churchyard at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Frederick Augustus Conrad Mühlenberg was a well-known Pennsylvania minister in the Lutheran Church, as well as a member of the Continental Congress and first speaker of the national House of Representatives. His home, known as The Speaker's House, is now a museum and is currently undergoing restoration to restore its appearance during Mühlenberg's occupancy. In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS F. A. C. Muhlenberg was named in his honor.
( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
Frederick Mühlenberg began his career in politics with an unsought nomination to the Continental Congress in 1779, representing a strong base among the Pennsylvania German population. Mühlenberg was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly as a Republican for the 1780 - 1781 term, and was reelected for the 2 following sessions. On November 3, 1780, he was elected the 33rd Speaker of the Assembly. He was reelected Speaker on November 9, 1781, and again on November 1, 1782.
In 1789 he was elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to represent Pennsylvania in the First United States Congress. He also has the distinction of becoming the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Mühlenberg was reelected to the Second and Third Congresses as an Anti-Administration candidate, as well as to the Fourth Congress as a Republican. He served as Speaker a second time for the Third Congress.
Mühlenberg’s later political positions included president of the Council of Censors of Pennsylvania, and from 1800 - 1801, receiver general for the Pennsylvania Land Office. The latter role prompted his relocation to the city of Lancaster, then the capital of the Commonwealth.
On October 15, 1771, Frederick Mühlenberg married Catharine, daughter of Frederick Schaefer, a Philadelphia sugar refiner, by whom he had several children.
Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, a German immigrant pastor, established Lutheran congregations and schools indefatigably, especially in Pennsylvania.
Catharine Salome Mühlenberg died in infancy.
John Enoch Samuel Mühlenberg died in infancy.
Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Mühlenberg was an American pastor, who became an expert in American botany after his retirement from the clergy, and published a number of seminal botanical works.
John Charles Mühlenberg died in infancy.
Emanuel Samuel Mühlenberg died in infancy.
John Peter Gabriel Mühlenberg was an American Lutheran minister and a brigadier general in the Continental (American revolutionary) Army. He also commanded the infantry at the battle of Yorktown and was a congressman for several terms.
