Henry Augustus Philip Mühlenberg

Background

Henry Augustus Philip Mühlenberg was born on May 13, 1782, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the third of the eight children of Gotthilf Henry Ernest Mühlenberg and Mary Catharine Hall.

Education

Mühlenberg received a thorough classical training from his father, studied theology with his uncle, John Christopher Kunze.

Career

Having been licensed by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, Mühlenberg became pastor in April 1803 of Trinity Church, Reading, Pennsylvania. He was ordained at Easton in 1804.

His official call to Reading stipulated that he should receive, in addition to his salary and perquisites, "all love and friendship which a faithful and conscientious pastor should have, so that he may fulfill his office among us with joy and not with grief", and this proved to be more than a pious wish, for under him the congregation enjoyed a quarter-century of peace, good will, and prosperity.

During these years Mühlenberg maintained an extensive correspondence with other Lutheran clergymen and served as secretary and as president of the Ministerium. His only known published sermon is Busstags-Predigt Gehalten Donnerstags den 206ten August 1812.

In 1828, because of indifferent health, he resigned his charge and removed to a farm on the outskirts of the town, but he continued to preach to his congregation until his successor, Jacob Miller, was installed in March 1829.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of his prestige among the Pennsylvania Germans, the Democrats of Berks County nominated him for Congress. He was readily elected, took his seat March 4, 1829, in the Twenty-first Congress, and served continuously until his resignation, February 9, 1838.

Mühlenberg took to politics as a duck to water. In Berks County he had a large personal following that gave its vote to the entire Democratic ticket, and the county became known - in the words of campaign orators - as "the tenth legion of the Democracy. " In Congress he served continuously as chairman of the House committee on Revolutionary claims, gave loyal, intelligent support to President Jackson's measures, and made a good friend of Martin Van Buren.

Meanwhile in state politics he was less fortunate. As a result of internal dissensions, the Democrats put two candidates for governor into the field in 1835, George Wolf, who was running to succeed himself for the second time, and Mühlenberg. The ensuing defeat engendered bitterness that lasted for years, and finally it became obvious that in the interests of party harmony Mühlenberg would have to be removed, at least temporarily, from Pennsylvania politics. Van Buren offered him the secretaryship of the navy and the ministry to Russia, but Mühlenberg felt that he could not afford to accept them.

Then it was decided to send a legation to Austria, and on February 8, 1838, he was made the first American minister to Austria. John Randolph Clay, later minister to Peru, was his secretary of legation. Mühlenberg did something to promote the use of American cotton in Austria, enjoyed the society of Prince Metternich, and traveled in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy; but the legation was a severe drain on his resources, and on September 18, 1840, he was recalled at his own request.

In 1844 he was again nominated for governor of Pennsylvania, and with the united support of his party his election was assured, but he died, in the midst of the campaign, on August 11, 1844, of a stroke of apoplexy. Henry Mühlenberg was buried in the Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Pennsylvania.

Achievements

• Henry Augustus Philip Mühlenberg was a prominent Lutheran pastor, who served a church in Reading, Pennsylvania. In addition, he was esteemed by many citizens in the area, and they asked that he serve in the United States Congress, which he did between 1829 and 1838.

Politics

Henry Mühlenberg was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1828 as a Jacksonian Democrat. He remained in Congress from 1829 until his appointment as the first United States Minister to the Austrian Empire on February 8, 1838. He served in Vienna from 1838 to September 18, 1840.

He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Pennsylvania twice in 1835 and 1838. He was nominated by the Democratic Party a third time in 1844, but died before the election took place.

Membership

Henry A. P. Mühlenberg was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814.

Connections

In 1805, Henry A. P. Mühlenberg married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Hiester. She died in childbed in 1806, and in 1808 Mühlenberg married her sister Rebecca.

Henry Mühlenberg had several children.

Father:

Gotthilf Henry Ernest Mühlenberg

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.

Mother:

Mary Catharine Mühlenberg (Hall)

Sister:

Mary Henrietta Mühlenberg

Sister:

Anna E. Schmidt (Mühlenberg)

Wife:

Mary Elizabeth Mühlenberg (Hiester)

Wife:

Rebecca Mühlenberg (Hiester)

Daughter:

Mary Elizabeth Mühlenberg (Deininger)

Daughter:

Rosa Catharine Nicolls (Mühlenberg)

Son:

Hiester Henry Mühlenberg

Son:

Henry Augustus Mühlenberg

Henry Augustus Mühlenberg was an American politician and Congressman (Democratic) representing the state of Pennsylvania.

Brother:

Frederick Augustus Hall Mühlenberg

Uncle:

John Christopher Kunze

Friend:

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren, born Maarten Van Buren, was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841.