The Muhlenbergs Become Americans by PAUL A. BAGLYOS

The struggle for American independence occurred over a period of time longer than the eighty-six months between the first week

of July 1776, when the Second Continental Congress issued its fa­mous Declaration, and the first week of September 1783, when bel­ligerents in the American war signed the Treaty of Paris. Historian Walter A. McDougall has written recendy that "by 1650 it was surely the case that [American colonists] were beginning to define their in­terests independendy of their mother countries' laws, churches, and merchants."1 Just as surely, the struggle continued well beyond 1783 as Americans sought to secure their independent interests by estab­lishing and defending a viable national polity.2 The long struggle in­volved more than the political and military contest with the British government. Habits of heart and mind needed to be revised as Amer­icans, removed from the transatlantic contexts of personal, familial, or communal memory, constructed new frames of reference for their perceptions, attitudes, and actions in their New World.

Histories of the national struggle for independence, which led to the creation of the American republic, tend necessarily to overlook most of the coundess smaller struggles that occurred within that larger narrative as individuals, families, societies, and institutions adjusted to American independence.ifet those smaller struggles were (and are) in­tegral to the larger narrative. The purpose of this essay is to outline the story of one of those coundess smaller struggles integral to the history of American independence. The lives of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and his three sons illustrate the intergenerational dura­tion of the struggle for American independence, and provide exam­ples of the challenges which struggle posed to cherished habits of heart and mind. In the case of the Muhlenbergs, the construction of new frames of reference by which to order their lives as Americans involved independence not only from England but also from Halle, the German headquarters of an international Pietist missionary en­terprise that had sponsored H. M. Muhlenberg s move to America.

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LUTHERAN QUARTERLY Volume XIX (2005)

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The Muhlenbergs' eventual independence from Halle directives be­came one thread in the larger fabric of American independence.

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was a native of Einbeck in the Ger­man province of Hannover. Born on September 6,1711, he was the eldest son of parents who sought to provide for his education in both church and school. His education was interrupted, however, by the death of his father in Muhlenbergs adolescence; Muhlenberg spent his teens and early twenties helping to support his family under con­strained financial circumstances and furthering his education under the guidance of tutors in exchange for his own work as a tutor of younger students. He would later write that he felt the first stirrings

. toward godliness during those years of his life.3

His full religious awakening occurred under the guidance of the Reverend Doctor Joachim Oporin (1695-1753) at the newly founded University of Göttingen, where Muhlenberg was able to enroll at the age of twenty-four thanks in part to scholarship assis­tance from the city of Einbeck. Oporin was "professor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology[;] Muhlenberg lived in [his] home and became his secretary."4 From Oporin Muhlenberg learned to know and un­derstand the experience of religious conversion and rebirth.5 His per­sonal faith and his pastoral theology were forever molded according to that experience.

During his years at Göttingen Muhlenberg and two other theol­ogy students established a school for local poor children, teaching them Luther's Small Catechism, literacy and arithmetic. In that ac­tivity, Muhlenberg wrote, "I found better opportunity to devote a few free hours to the poor, forsaken children and to lead them to Christ."6 Muhlenberg s initiative at first got him into trouble, but eventually got him into Halle. The trouble came from a charge be­fore the Hannover government that Muhlenberg and his two col­laborators were operating their school without proper authority. The matter was resolved when the Hannover authorities placed the school under the supervision of the Göttingen theology faculty. Subse­quently, Muhlenberg s work in the school brought him into contact with benefactors who arranged for his transfer to Halle, where, in 1738, he was assigned to teach in the orphanage and later also to su­pervise the sick wards.7

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 45

From Halle Muhlenberg thought he might be sent as a missionary to India, but before that idea could be realized he received a call to a pastoral position at Grosshennersdorf in Upper Lusatia. Muhlenberg accepted the call and was ordained in Leipzeig in August 1739.8 Of his service in Grosshennersdorf, Muhlenberg wrote: "I had the plea­sure of working there among the sheep and lambs with divine help for almost three years."9 By the end of that period Muhlenberg was preparing to leave Germany not for India but for America.

The possibility of going to America was first presented to Muh­lenberg on September 6,1741, his thirtieth birthday. While in Halle that day on temporary leave from his duties in Grosshennersdorf, Muhlenberg "was invited to a meal by the Rev. Dr. [Gotthilf August] Francke"10 (1696-1769), the son of August Hermann Francke (166 3-1727) and his successor in charge of the Pietist institutions at Halle. Muhlenberg wrote: "Before we sat down, the Rev. Doctor of­fered me a call to the Lutheran people in the province of Pennsylva­nia The poor folk there had been petitioning urgendy for this for several years. Because for my part I knew well that I am the servant of my Lord, I could not answer otherwise than that it was all one to me if it was the Lord's will, because a servant depends upon the will of his Lord."11 Muhlenberg concluded his ministry in Grosshenners­dorf and left there for the last time on December 17,1741. He spent the first few months of 1742 visiting and saying farewell to family, friends and benefactors in various locations in Germany.

During those months Muhlenberg experienced another instance of trouble with the governing authorities. "From the twentieth to the twenty-first of February," he wrote, "[I] received constant visits from certain good friends and acquaintances with whom, at a pre­vious time, I had been awakened to repentance and faith. We had no other purpose in our visits than to converse with one another concerning faith and godliness and to tell one another of the bless­ings the reconciled Father in Christ bestowed upon us in body and soul." A few days later, Sunday, February 25, Muhlenberg preached at the Neustadt church. "That evening," he wrote, "many people from the town came of their own accord to my house, some of whom may have come to hear something new, others because they had been sent, but still others to visit me and have a good conversation.

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Though I was very careftd," he added, "on account of the law of the land, not to give the appearance of holding private worship, the Su­perintendent, the young preacher at the Neustadt church, and the pastor of the Market church nevertheless took this occasion to take action against me with the local magistrate as one who was con­ducting forbidden Pietistic conventicles contrary to the law of the land." Muhlenberg was exonerated of the charges against him, but the experience cast a shadow over his remaining weeks in Germany. He was troubled by what he saw as "blind prejudices concerning Pietism," and wrote that "prejudice and bitterness against the so-called Pietism... is such a dreadful and incomprehensible thing in the Hannoverian country."12

Muhlenberg himself harbored no prejudice against Pietism. On the contrary, he embraced the Pietist understanding of conversion and rebirth and he rejoiced in the fellowship of the religiously awak­ened. He regarded mentors such as Oporin and Francke as his "fa­thers" in faith, and he emulated both their theology and their ex­ample of charitable care for others. At the same time, however, he avoided association with the Pietist label, not wanting to be regarded as a "homo pietismi suspectissimus."13 He recognized that Pietism prompted some people toward religious separatism, and he insisted throughout his life that those who followed separatist paths were led, and led others, "astray."14

Before leaving Europe Muhlenberg came under the tutelage of another great mentor whom he came to regard as a "father": Friedrich Michael Ziegenhagen (1694-1776?15), a former student at Halle and pastor in Hannover who, in 1722, had become court preacher in the German royal chapel of St. James in London. "For more than fifty years [Ziegenhagen] acted as middleman between Halle and the missionaries in India and pastors in North America."16

Muhlenberg sojourned in London from mid-Apr il to mid-June, 1742,17 where from Ziegenhagen he received additional pastoral training and English language instruction in preparation for his mis­sionary work in America.

On June 12 Muhlenberg sailed from London, but his voyage did not reach the Adantic until nearly a month later. The ocean cross­ing itself lasted until September 21, when Muhlenbergs ship finally

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 47

cast anchor at Charleston, South Carolina. From there Muhlenberg traveled to Savannah, Georgia, where he had been instructed to meet Reverend Johann Martin Bolzius, pastor to a group of Salzburg im­migrants who had established a settlement named Ebenezer near Sa­vannah in 1734. Bolzius was to help orient Muhlenberg to Amer­ica and accompany him to Philadelphia. As it happened, Bolzius excused himself from the voyage to Philadelphia and Muhlenberg traveled alone, arriving there at last on November 25.18

Having reached Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg was now in the place where he would make his home for the rest of his life. The terms of his call stipulated a trial of three years, after which he would be at liberty to return to Europe if he so desired. Before the three years had ended, however, Muhlenberg had begun to put deep roots in the Pennsylvania soil. On April 22, 1745, he married Anna Maria Weiser, daughter to Conrad Weiser (1696—1760), who worked for the colonial government of Pennsylvania as a diplomat to the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Weiser was also a major landowner in the Tulpehocken Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania; Muhlenberg had married into a prominent family whose fortunes were tied to the future of Pennsylvania.19 Increasingly, his own for­tune would be tied to that future as well. Muhlenberg often traveled outside Pennsylvania, sometimes for extended periods, but he never settled permanendy anywhere else, nor did he ever leave North America or again visit Europe. Whether he knew it or not at the time, when he arrived in Pennsylvania a month before Christmas, 1742, he had arrived for good.

The influence of Halle Pietism on Muhlenbergs ministry in and beyond Pennsylvania for nearly half a century is abundandy evident in the journals he kept and from which he prepared frequent reports to the Halle authorities.20 In America Muhlenberg conducted many activities similar to the work he had done in Göttingen, Halle and Grosshennersdorf: he provided, either personally or through collab­orators, catechesis and other instruction to children and youth, often from poor families among the scattered German settlers; he practiced a ministry of healing, using medicines supplied to him from Halle;21

eventually he and other seasoned colleagues tutored younger ap­prentices in pastoral theology. The larger activities of Muhlenberg s

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ministry included a nearly ceaseless round of preaching, administer­ing the sacraments and other rites of the church, conducting pastoral visitation, organizing and overseeing congregations, establishing and leading a ministerium among the Halle missionaries and other like-minded colleagues in the Pennsylvania field, and maintaining com­munication with Halle benefactors. In all this work Muhlenberg was a missionary of the spiritual life to which he had been awakened in Europe. His record of his preaching and pastoral visitation, for exam­ple, displays an unwavering focus on the Pietist themes of conversion and rebirth. Muhlenberg "never lost the connection to Halle theol-ogy[;] through his education he was spiritually tied to Halle in the closest degree."22

At the same time, however, a growing distance—measured not in miles but in perception and understanding—came to separate Muh­lenberg s ministry in America from the ministry of Francke and Ziegenhagen in Europe. At first Muhlenberg relied heavily on the instructions and authorization he had received from those recognized church officials who had arranged his mission in Pennsylvania. This reliance was indispensable to Muhlenberg s initial efforts to establish his own authority over against numerous rogues and religious en­trepreneurs working among the German Lutheran settlers in the Pennsylvania field. Perhaps the best known example of Muhlenberg s invocation of his formal credentials occurred in his controversial en­counter with Nicholas von Zinzendorf (i700-1760) in Philadelphia on December 30,1742. Zinzendorf had been trying to gather Ger­man settlers of various Protestant denominations under an experi­mental organization he called the Church of God in the Spirit. That effort spurred Francke and Ziegenhagen to send Muhlenberg when they did. Against Zinzendorf's questionable authorization, Muhlen­berg asserted his own credentials as a duly commissioned minister acting under the direction of legitimate church authorities.23 This strategy helped Muhlenberg to secure his position in Pennsylvania against opponents and competitors. But as time passed the direction of Halle authorities became less important, and in some ways irrel­evant, to Muhlenberg s ministry

Francke and Ziegenhagen had poor understanding of the Ameri­can circumstances in which Muhlenberg labored, and their advice to him often contradicted his own sense of how best to proceed. An

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 49

early case in point involved the question of fees paid to ministers for pastoral acts, such as baptisms and communions. Pennsylvania was beset by dubious characters posing as ministers in order to collect such fees for their livelihood. In a masterstroke intended to clear the field of rogue competitors, Muhlenberg announced that he would neither charge nor accept such payment. Francke criticized Muhlenberg for this, saying that he and others "have taken exception to your com­plete abolition of perquisites without prior consultation because, for one thing, teachers in the future could get into difficulty if people would perhaps not be as willing to share what is theirs with those who instruct them." Muhlenbergs action, however, had been prompted precisely by concern for the future. He recognized that the stability of Lutheran church life in Pennsylvania would require regu­lar salaries paid by parishioners to their ministers; the rogues, who, in his words, "wander around, preach and administer the Communion for cash in hand," were an impediment to a well-ordered, stable church life. Muhlenberg decided, without hesitation or regret, that he would have to pursue his own course in this matter, regardless of Francke s opinion.24 Over the years there were other such cases. For example, when Muhlenberg convened the first meeting of the Pennsylvania ministerium in August 1748, he used the occasion to arrange the or­dination of John Nicholas Kurtz (1720-1794). In 1745 Kurtz had arrived under Halle sponsorship to serve as a co-worker with Muh­lenberg and other Halle missionaries. But Kurtz was not ordained; he was authorized to serve only as a catechist. From Muhlenberg's point of view, the situation in Pennsylvania required laborers who could function with full pastoral authority. Francke had approved Kurtz's candidacy for ordination, but had not yet determined the date or oc­casion on which it should occur. Muhlenberg did not wait. Under his direction and in collaboration with four other Lutheran pastors, in­cluding the nearby Swedish Lutheran provost, Kurtz was ordained in Philadelphia on the afternoon of August 14,1748.25

Francke and Ziegenhagen "held central positions in the ecclesi­astical domain[;] they cared for a network of mission projects around the world [and] they felt themselves responsible for each field of mis­sionary labor."26 In their view, American circumstances seemed to threaten the success of the entire enterprise. They held the opinion that the Pennsylvania field was awash in disorder, and they worried

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that such disorder could drain financial resources from other, more promising fields. Muhlenberg shared their opinion about disorder in Pennsylvania, but perceived different remedies for that situation.

As much as he relied upon his European credentials when he en­tered Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg soon realized that reference to dis­tant authorities would be insufficient ground on which to build the local church. Francke and Ziegenhagen were not on hand to help him deal with the circumstances he faced in America. Again and again Muhlenberg tried to explain to them the fundamental differ­ence between Europe and America. "We are in a free country here," Muhlenberg wrote to his European superiors; "in religious matters each person has the freedom to do or not to do as he pleases"; "there is no law pertaining to these things."27

In this free land we have no other weapons... than prayer, exhortation and ex­clusion from the Lord s Supper. At times even these weapons are of no help. For the people who are recalcitrant say,*We will go to Pastor [so and so], he will marry us; he drinks and dances with us and also receives us at Commu­nion. After all, you are only pietists... ^

The only remedies for religious disorder that Francke and Ziegen-hagen could conceive were those that worked in Europe; those reme­dies focused on ecclesiastical authority that functioned with the force of law. Muhlenberg had felt the weight of such law when he was ac­cused before the authorities in Göttingen and Neustadt. In Amer­ica, however, circumstances were different. Muhlenberg reported one occasion when "[o]ur deacons and elders wanted to bring [a] trou­blemaker before the secular authority];] I did not want to permit it," he wrote, "because I see clearly that nothing is gained before such authority, and the preaching office is only weakened in this way and its authority diminished."29

We know very well what difficulties are encountered in Europe when. . . the civil authorities... use their power to impose a restraint on a community or a parish; how much less can we expect to achieve with the secular arm in this for­eign land where other laws prevail. It is a great blunder to allow things to come to such a pass! Once one resorts to the legal process, then all trust is gone.30

The only effective resources on hand to help Muhlenberg deal with the circumstances he faced in America were the support of his own

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 51

missionary coworkers and the support of mature and sympathetic lay people in the communities they served.31 Trust between pastors and people, Muhlenberg perceived, was essential to religious order in America. Trust could not be imposed by law, yet without the pro­tection of law, the Halle authorities feared, disorder would inevitably prevail. European authorities such as Francke and Ziegenhagen did not trust the capacity of lay parishioners in America to promote a stable church life by their own volition. They believed that the suc­cess of their far-flung missionary enterprise depended upon a sys­tem of oversight in which directives from Halle would be carried out in the mission fields by duly authorized agents, such as Muh­lenberg and his coworkers. But Muhlenberg came to perceive that the success of the mission in the Pennsylvania field depended upon local authority and responsibility shared by trustworthy pastors and trustworthy parishioners. There could be no other way, he realized, even if it was not the Halle way.32

This does not mean either that Muhlenberg wavered in his esteem for the Halle fathers or that he became a democrat. Throughout his life "Muhlenberg felt deep respect for Francke and Ziegenhagen and acknowledged both men equally as his wise and worthy superiors."33

Also throughout his life Muhlenberg held the opinion that the Penn­sylvania field and the broader American situation were awash in dis­order. He was no populist champion of American liberties. When he charted his own course of leadership in divergence from Euro­pean directives, it was not because he agreed with the people s right to clamor for their own way, but because he found it unfeasible sim­ply to disregard such clamor or to think that he could silence it by appeal to a formal authority.

As Muhlenberg grew older the clamor for American liberties grew louder. The Declaration of Independence in July 1776 brought tumult to Muhlenberg and his family as to many other families on both sides of the Atlantic. Muhlenberg had lived most of his Ufe in dual loyalty to the Georges who functioned both as kings of England and electors of Hannover. In his role as a pastor Muhlenberg en­deavored to stay above the fray of political conflict, but the Decla­ration demanded a demonstration of allegiance. Muhlenberg faced a crisis of conscience, and he agonized about what to do and how to

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do it. Halle offered no help. In his journal entry for December 4, 1776, Muhlenberg wrote: "My son [Frederick] heard in the city that there is a Hessian officer in New York who is said to have a letter from His Reverence, Director Freylinghausen, which he is to deliver to me or our Ministerium, in which, it is said, we are admonished to have nothing whatsoever to do with the rebels."34 Gottlieb Anasta-sius Freylinghausen (1719-1785) was a successor to Francke in charge of the Halle institutions. The actual wording of the letter he circu­lated among Halle missionaries in America instructed them not "to meddle in secular affairs or even go so far as to attempt to create dis­order in the state."35 For Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, however, such advice was useless: his eldest son had already cast off his preaching gown in favor of an American officer's uniform, and his second-born son would soon leave the ministry for political office in the new re­public. If Henry Melchior Muhlenberg had wanted to have nothing to do with the rebels, he would have had to disown his family.

Muhlenberg s sons had been groomed to follow in their father's footsteps. On the afternoon of April 27, 1763, after the Muhlen­berg family had eaten their noon meal together, Anna Maria had taken her three sons to the harbor in Philadelphia where they— without her—boarded a ship that carried them across the Atlantic; they were bound for Halle and a Pietist education. The oldest son, John Peter Gabriel (1746-1807), was just sixteen years old; his younger brother, Frederick Augustus Conrad (1750-1801), was thirteen; their younger brother, Gotthilf Henry Ernest (1753-1815), was nine. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg had made arrangements for his sons' education at Halle through the generous cooperation of Francke. He wanted to bring his sons under formative influences similar to those that had shaped his own heart and mind as an awak­ened Christian and a missionary pastor. (The names "Augustus" and "Gotthilf," given to the two younger boys, suggest Muhlenberg's deep affection for the Franckes.) Events did not work out, however, quite as Muhlenberg had hoped. An apprenticeship in Lübeck arranged for Peter proved so intolerable to the young man that he fled for America with a British regiment only halfway through the term of his contract, returning to Pennsylvania in January 1767. Frederick and Gotthilf remained at Halle despite the absence of their

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 53

older brother, but their performance as students disappointed their schoolmasters. By mutual agreement, but not for mutual reasons, the fathers in Halle and the father in Pennsylvania decided that the boys should terminate their studies in Europe and return to America; they arrived home in the fall of 1770. Despite their failure to re­ceive the impress of Halle as deeply as had their father, the three Muhlenberg sons all entered the ministry. Frederick and Gotthilf were ordained shortly after their return to Pennsylvania in 1770; Peter, who had been licensed for the ministry in 1768, was ordained in London by the Church of England in 1772 in order to serve a parish in Anglican Virginia.36

Frederick's journal during the first years of his ministry reflects the strong influence of his father's example. He wrote on October 25, 1770: "This day is and always will be to me the most important day of my life, because on it I was ordained as a co-laborer in the United Evangelical Lutheran Congregations here."37 Many of the entries that follow, spanning the years 1770-1774, read as if they were lifted from the pages of his father's own journals. Frederick Muhlenberg, like his father, filled his journals with a record of busy activity involved in preaching, administering sacraments, conducting funerals, teaching and visiting parishioners. Also like his father, Frederick Muhlenberg wrote about the ordeal of nearly constant and often perilous travel by horseback, in good weather and bad. He wrote too of the pres­sure of visitors bringing requests for pastoral care and other demands for his attention and assistance.

The coming of war threw the pastoral ministry of the Muhlen­bergs into upheaval. War often came literally to the front door of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg in the form of moving armies and flee­ing civilians, causing terror and distress to him and his household. The ravage of war destroyed church buildings and disrupted church affairs. Near the end of his life Muhlenberg recalled: "The church building on Barren Hill . . . was alternately occupied by the British and the Americans, its doors, windows, floors, and pews were de­stroyed, it was used as a battery and stable for horses, and it was filled... with manure and the limbs of dead men and animals."38 In 1777 Muhlenberg received the following report in a letter from his youngest son, Gotthilf:

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Our circumstances... grow worse. The danger from the outside is increasing constantly. Everything is expensive, and we do not have enough to meet our necessities and feed ourselves unless we get something extra If there were less work... I might propose to demit [the ministry] for a season until better times return.39

Muhlenberg s youngest son did not demit the ministry, but his two older sons—Peter and Frederick—did. Peter was the first, and when he accepted a military appointment from Williamsburg in January 1776 he sent shudders of alarm through his family. An angry ex­change of letters passed between the brothers regarding Peters ac­tion. Frederick, who by then was serving as a pastor in New York, criticized Peter s decision: "I think a needless self-love and ambition, a desire to appear the big man...wrere the secret causes," he wrote. Peter s interpretation of his own action was different: "You know that from the beginning of these troubles, I have been compelled... to have a hand in public affairs. I have been [named] to the com­mittee of delegates from this county from the first. Do you think that if America should be conquered I should be safe... and wOuld you not sooner fight like a man than die the death of a dog?" Not only did Peter implicidy question Frederick s manhood, he also implied that Frederick s reaction was a product of Tory sentiment in New York City. This suggestion cut Frederick deeply. "You do not know me," Frederick replied to his older brother; "I believe I have always been, and still am, as firm in our American cause as you are."40

It appears that Frederick s reaction to Peter s decision to leave the ministry for the military arose not so much from Frederick s con­victions about the pastoral office as from a lack of such conviction. He confessed to Peter, "I have long had some doubts of my own I recognize well my unfitness as a preacher... "4l We may speculate that Frederick struggled to persist in a vocation he had ceased to de­sire. He had been molded according to the image of his father, but he no longer recognized himself in that image. Peter s bold action may have triggered the crisis Frederick wanted to avoid, namely, the crisis of his own vocation. In any case, Frederick also left the min­istry after March 1779 when he was elected to serve as one of Penn­sylvania's delegates to the Continental Congress. For the rest of his life he was active in the politics of Pennsylvania and the young re-

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 55

public. During the ratification debates over the new Constitution he acted in support of the federalists. In 1789 he was chosen to be the first Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, a position he held again in the Third Congress, 1793-1795-42

When Henry Melchior Muhlenberg learned that Frederick had been nominated for the Continental Congress in February 1779, he wrote: "The Savior of the world rewards His faithful servants in the evening of life infinitely better than the great world rewards its ser­vants on the little planets. I would much rather that the Swedish [Lutheran church of Gloria Dei in Philadelphia] called him as preacher... "43 When he learned a month later that Frederick had been elected, he wrote:

I say once more: The Lord and Father of the vineyard rewards faithful laborers in the evening of life infinitely better than the so-called great world rewards its servants. O Father in heaven, preserve us from, or in, temptations which are harmful to the soul! [Frederick] did not seek this critical service, but was drawn into it by well-meaning intermediaries and their worldly motives.44

Throughout his life Henry Melchior Muhlenberg drew a sharp distinction between Gods vineyard and the world of human affairs. He understood pastoral ministry as caring for souls in relation to God and the promise of heaven; such ministry, in Muhlenberg's mind, was not to be compromised by involvement in temporal affairs of the world. Recognized as a man of influence among the German in­habitants of Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg was often pressured to direct his fellow Germans in their political behavior. This he steadfasdy re­fused to do. A decade before the War of Independence, Muhlen­berg recorded a lengthy interview with two Pennsylvanians who wanted his support in opposition to the Quaker proprietors of the colony. At the beginning of the interview Muhlenberg told them, "During my stay here I have had litde or nothing to do with polit­ical affairs, and it is not my sphere even now, as my office is con­cerned with other things."45 Politically, Muhlenberg was neither ig­norant nor unaware; in the ensuing interview he demonstrated a subde understanding of the dynamics of Pennsylvania politics, and he skillfully avoided the efforts of his interviewers to manipulate his opinions.lfet he also strove to avoid associating his pastoral office with any political position. This was fiilly consistent with Halle directive.

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The letter from Freylinghausen to Halle missionaries in America in 1776 reminded them: "It would be improper for a preacher of the Gospel... to meddle in secular affairs— Jesus did not interfere in the least in worldly matters[;]... His whole behavior makes it suffi­ciently clear that His kingdom is not of this world."46

But such a sharp distinction between gospel ministry and worldly affairs proved inadequate to the circumstances of the American Rev­olution. The Halle directive provided no relevant assistance to mis­sionary pastors ensnared in the tumult of the war. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg struggled throughout the war not only to survive and protect his family but also to comprehend theologically what was happening around him. When Pennsylvania's revolutionary govern­ment issued an oath of allegiance requiring citizens to forswear their previous loyalty to the British crown, Muhlenberg delayed signing as long as he could, for fear that that such an overtly political act would jeopardize his pastoral ministry. Finally, on May 27,1778, less than a week before the final deadline for doing so, Muhlenberg did sign the oath, once it was clear to him that any further delay or re­fusal would likewise jeopardize his ministry.47

Peter and Frederick Muhlenberg likewise found no assistance in the Halle directive. The clear distinction between God's vineyard and human affairs could not be bridged; a choice for the gospel meant a choice against the world, and vice versa. "I am a clergyman it is true," Peter wrote to Frederick, "but I am a member of society as well. . . and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man[;] shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at home when the best blood of the continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it." "I think you are wrong," Frederick told him, "in trying to be both soldier and preacher together. Be either one or the other. No man can serve two masters."48 The conception that the vineyard and the world were two distinct spheres under two distinct masters left Peter and Frederick Muhlenberg no recourse ex­cept to choose between the spheres. They chose the affairs of the revolution and the republic.

A different conception is suggested by the example of Christian Streit (1749-1812), another laborer in God's vineyard. Streit, a native of New Jersey, was tutored for ministry by Henry Melchior Muh­lenberg and licensed by the Pennsylvania ministerium. Following the

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 57

Declaration of Independence he became a chaplain in the Ameri­can forces, thereby bridging the separation between gospel ministry and worldly affairs. Streit had himself been a tutor of Peter Muhlen­berg after Peter's return from Halle. Unlike Peter, however, Streit had never been to Halle; he was educated in Philadelphia at the college that later became the University of Pennsylvania.49

In the American experience of the Muhlenbergs the directives of Halle flew in the face of circumstances they could not adequately address. That does not mean, however, that Halle influence com­pletely dissipated. Part of Halle's historic accomplishment was the founding of schools and the promotion of education. Henry Mel­chior Muhlenberg's formative experiences in the orbit of Halle Pietism occurred in the context of schools and teaching. He had been both a student and a teacher in Pietist institutions. That influence remained strong throughout his life and ministry in America, and was strong also in the lives and careers of his sons.

In his journals, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg often reflected upon the conditions and needs of American society, and what measures might best improve those conditions and meet those needs. In Au­gust 1773 he wrote:

It would perhaps have been more necessary, useful and beneficial for the Amer­ican body if one had first established schools. Here the exceedingly numerous young people could have been imbued primarily with the pure milk of the sav­ing Gospel according to the teaching and understanding of the world s Savior and his apostles, along with those things that are necessary for civic welfare. In this way a lasting foundation would have been laid but that is what is lacking. Every religious faction seeks to entrench itself with impressive institutions and to produce fencing masters who will defend its hypotheses. Such temporal ef­forts are of litde value, but godliness is of value for all things.30

This connection between godliness and schools, piety and education, is perhaps the most enduring legacy of Halle influence in the Muh­lenberg family. Wherever he labored to build congregations and churches Henry Melchior Muhlenberg also endeavored to establish schools, similar to the one he and his colleagues had established in Göttingen. Muhlenberg intended that the ministry of the church should include a ministry of education, not only for the elementary instruction and catechesis of youth but for other purposes as well.

58 L U T H E R A N QUARTERLY

Among his pia desideria for America was the establishment of a theo­logical seminary at which American-born candidates for the min­istry might be prepared for labor in God's vineyard beside the other workers of the Pennsylvania ministerium. Muhlenberg solicited Halle support for this proposal, but never received it. When Francke sent Frederick and Gotthilf Muhlenberg back to America, however, he also sent another missionary pastor for the Pennsylvania field who in time would help to realize Henry Melchior s desire partly through the support of the two younger Muhlenberg sons.

The Reverend John Christopher Kunze (1744—1807) sailed to America with Frederick and Gotthilf Muhlenberg in 1770. In July 1771, ten months after his arrival in Pennsylvania, he married their sister, Margaret Henrietta (1751—1831), whom they called Peggy, thereby becoming a member of the Muhlenberg family. Kunze was a gifted scholar. In addition to his pastoral ministry, Kunze also served as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Columbia College in NewTYork City. In 1797 , t e n years after his father-in-law had died, Kunze agreed to serve as professor at a new theological seminary to be established in New York under Lutheran auspices. In spite of the fact that Kunze and Gotthilf Muhlenberg had had a terrible falling out many years earlier, Gotthilfs son Henry became one of the first students under Kunze s instruction; Freder­ick Muhlenberg helped to make the arrangements for his nephew s theological education.51

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg did not Uve to see the establishment of the seminary for which he had long been an advocate. He died on October 7, 1787, in Providence, Pennsylvania, also known as Trappe. (The Lutheran congregation in Providence had been one of the original three "united congregations"—the others being in New Hanover and Philadelphia—that had issued the pastoral call Francke had placed before Muhlenberg on September 6,1741.) Earlier that year, however, Muhlenberg did see his sons make a distinctive con­tribution to education in America. In March Peter and Gotthilf were named as trustees of the newly established Franklin (now Franklin and Marshall) College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The college was named for Benjamin Franklin, who wTas also one of the original trustees. Gotthilf Muhlenberg wTas chosen to be the first principal of

THE MUHLENBERGS BECOME AMERICANS 59

the college. At first, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg feared that his youngest son would now follow the example of the two older broth­ers and leave the ministry for other work.52 Gotthilf did not leave the ministry. He perceived his involvement in education as compatible with his pastoral duties because he regarded education itself as a di­vine work. On June 6,1787, Gotthilf Muhlenberg delivered an ad­dress at the dedication of Franklin College. In that address, which was based upon Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers, do not provoke your chil­dren to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord," Principal Muhlenberg told his hearers (and, subsequendy, his readers): "The whole country in which education is provided experiences the blessing, for one can render no greater benefit to the common good than by the good education of one s own children."53

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg s earlier reflections about the necessity of education in America echoed in the words of his youngest son who now dedicated a college intended, he anticipated, for the godly education of lawyers, doctors and ministers in the new republic.54

Who knows whether Gotthilf Muhlenberg thought about him­self and his own family when he spoke of the benefit fathers render to the common good through the education of their children. Cer­tainly he and his brothers were examples ofthat proposition. Their father had sought to provide a good education for them, and they were now contributing to the common good of their nation. In Feb­ruary 1782, a few years before the dedication of Franklin College, Frederick wrote to Gotthilf, "I confess that I am too deeply entan­gled in politics." Frederick, longing for a respite from the frenzy of political life, indulged a daydream about the "privacy and quiet of country life" that he anticipated at the end of his political service. "I swear," he told his younger brother, "I have no other ambition than what is best for the country."55 In remarking thus, Frederick Muh­lenberg was speaking the language of Franklin and Washington rather than Francke and Ziegenhagen.56 That language also echoed in Gotthilfs remarks about the blessing and benefit of education for the entire country.

The thirty-year-old pastor sent from Halle to Pennsylvania nearly half a century before the founding of Franklin College arrived in North America keenly aware of his dependence on his Halle pa-

60 L U T H E R A N Q U A R T E R L Y

trons, whom he filially termed "fathers." But, regardless of whether he or they knew it, intended it, desired it, or welcomed it, the inde­pendence of the pastor from his patrons began to occur the moment he stepped aboard a ship bound for America. Such a statement does not imply historical inevitability, but it does point to the eventual outcome of events as they actually unfolded. In order to carry out the mission Halle had entrusted to him, Henry Melchior Muhlen­berg made decisions and chose to act independently of Halle direc­tives. His sons, especially Peter and Frederick, opted for even greater independence from Halle directives in their decisions and actions on behalf of the American revolution and republic. Such decisions and actions were not easy or painless either for the father or the sons .Yet their personal and familial struggles of conscience, allegiance, and vo­cation contributed to the larger national struggle by which Ameri­can independence came about.

NOTES

i . Walter A. McDougall, Freedom Just Around the Comer. A Sew American History, 1585-1828

(New York: HarperCollins, 2004). 691".

2. For a recent treatment of this topic, see John Ferling, A Leap in the Dark The Struggle to Cre­

ate the American Republic (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

3. Theodore G. Tappert and John W. Doberstein, eds., Tlie Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlen­

berg, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1942-1958, reprint, Whipporwill Publications, 1982),

I:iff., hereafter cited as MJ (for "Muhlenbergs Journals"); Walter H. Wagner, The Zinzendorf-

Muhlenberg Encounter A Controversy in Search of Understanding (Bethlehem. Moravian Historical Soci­

ety, 2002), 78f.

4. Wagner, 80.

5. Wagner, ibid , regards Oporin s influence on Muhlenberg as grounded in the "Hallensian steps

in the plan of salvation." Another historian would disagree: "Clearly it was Oporin and the 'irenic'

evangelical Lutheranism of Goettingen which shaped Muhlenberg s life and thought, rather than

Francke and Halle pietism, as is generally supposed." Robert F. Scholz, "Was Muhlenberg a Pietist5"

Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly 52:2 (1979): 56.

6. MJ 1:4

7. Ibid., 4f; see also Wagner, 8if.

8. MJ 1:5. Muhlenberg was ordained by Rev. Salomon Deyhng (1677-1755), who was superin­

tendent of the St. Thomas school in Leipzeig, where, at the same time, J. S.Bach (1685-1750) was can­

tor. Did Bach perhaps provide music for Muhlenberg s ordination?

9. Ibid, 6.

10 Ibid.

11. Ibid ,6i.

12. For the quotations in this paragraph see ibid., 12,16.

13 Ibid, 15.

T H E M U H L E N B E R G S B E C O M E A M E R I C A N S 61

14 Ibid, 13

15 This is the year of death reported in John W Kleiner and Helmut Τ Lehmann, eds and trans ,

The Correspondence of Heinrich Melchior Muhlenberg,Vo\ 1 1740—1747 (Camden Picton Press, 1993), 11,

η io, hereafter cited as M C (for "Muhlenberg's Correspondence") In his journals, Muhlenberg re­

ports receipt of a letter indicating that Ziegenhagen died on January 24, 1776, MJ HI 24 Different

dates are indicated in other sources Wagner, 7, indicates Ziegenhagen's dates as 1664-1773, which

would have put the court preacher well over 100 at the time of his death

16 M C ibid

17 MJ I 18-22

18 Ibid, 22-65

19 The date of Muhlenbergs marriage is given by Paul A Wallace, The Muhlenbergs of Pennsyl­

vania (Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press, 1950), 43 Francke had been encouraging M u h ­

lenberg to stay beyond the initial term of three years, see M C 130, 146 For information on Conrad

Weiser, see http //wwwberksweb com/weisertext html

20 O n the various uses for which the journals were intended and to which they were put, see

Wagner, 75-78

21 See Helmut Τ Lehmann and J Woodrow Savacool, "Muhlenberg s Ministry of Healing"

Lutheran Quarterly 6 (1992) 51-68

22 Thomas J Muller, Kirche zwischen zwei Welten Die Obngkeitsproblematik bei Heinrich Melchior

Muhlenberg und die Kirchengrundung der deutschen Lutheraner in Pennsylvania (Stuttgart Franz Steiner Ver­

lag, 1994) 197, trans mine (" verlor Muhlenberg me den Bezug zu der Halleschen Theologie Durch

seine Ausbildung war er geistlich auf das engste mit Halle verbunden")

23 This is part of the central topic of Wagners book

24 O n Muhlenbergs decision and Francke s response, see M C 79, 88, i65f

25 MJ I 20i f ,Muller, i 9 i , M C 279, 3i9f, 352

26 Müller, 196, trans mine ("Beide Manner besetzen zentrale Positionen im kirchlichen Bere­

ich Sie betreuten eine Reihe von Missionsprojekten in aller Welt Fur jedes Arbeits feld fühlten sie

sich verantwordich ")

27 The quoted lines are taken from M C 123,68,74, respectively

28 Ibid, 295

29 Ibid, 123

30 Ibid, 214

31 Consider the following comments reflecting Muhlenberg s rebanee upon supportive laity and

the issue of pastors' salaries as related to congregational stability "Well-meaning members of the con­

gregations would like to see order introduced and Christianity propagated They go to a great deal of

trouble and urgendy petition the Ministerium for preachers who are suited to their circumstances The

Ministerium patches something together because it desires to help, but is unable to do so The rude

mass then takes the bull by the horns and hires preachers after its own kind at the lowest possible price,

either for a year or for a half-year, and the consequences are easily imagined" MJ II 548

3 2 This account of the differences between Muhlenberg, on the one hand, and Francke and

Ziegenhagen, on the other, is that of Thomas Müller, 192-200

33 Ibid , 1 9 8 , trans mine ("Muhlenberg empfand tiefen Respekt vor Francke und Ziegenhagen

und erkannte beide gleichermassen als seine weisungsberechtigten Vorgesetzten an")

34 MJ II 761

3 5 O n the letter, see Theodore G Tappert, "Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and the American

Revolution" Church History 11(1942) 284-301

36 O n the sons' experience in Halle and subsequent ordinations, see Wallace, 56-82, and Wolf­

gang Splitter, Pastors, People, Politics German Lutherans in Pennsylvania, 1740-1790 (Trier Wis­

senschaftlicher Verlag, 1998), I79f, 198-201

37 J W Early, "Diary of F A Muhlenberg" Lutheran Church Review 24 (1905) 127

38 MJ III 625

62 L U T H E R A N Q U A R T E R L Y

39 Ibid, 23.

40. O n the exchange of letters, see Wallace. 119—121.

41 Ibid , i 2 i .

42 For a summary biography of Frederick Muhlenberg, see Jürgen Heideking, "Muhlenberg, Fred­

erick Augustus Conrad" American Sattonal Biography Online February 2000, ht tp: / /www. anb.org/ar-

ticles/02/02-000242 .html.

43 MJ 111:217-

44 Ibid , 220.

45 Ibid., II: 190.

46. See above,footnote 33.

47 O n Muhlenberg and the oath of allegiance, see Charles H. Glatfelter. Pastors and People Ger­

man Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, 1717-1793, vol. 2. Tlie History (Breinigsville:

Pennsylvania German Society, 1981). 407-413.

48. Wallace, i2of

49. O n Streit, see index citations in Wallace and MJ.

50. MJ II: 799.

51. For a summary biography of Kunze, see William H. Brackney, "Kunze. John Christopher"

American Xatwnal Biography Online February 2000. http.//www.anb.org/articles/08/08-000831.html.

The falling out between Gotthilf Muhlenberg and Kunze is described m Wallace, i8of The seminary,

which was named Hartwick Seminary in honor of its founding benefactor, John Christopher Hartwick,

is today Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Frederick Muhlenberg's participation m the arrange­

ments for his nephews schooling under Kunze is a topic of the letter from Frederick to Gotthilf dated

August 23,1799; Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia, reference PM92Z1.

52 O n the founding of Franklin College and Henry Melchior Muhlenbergs initial reaction to

Gotthilf s position, see Wallace, 270

53 Gotthilf Henry Ernest Muhlenberg, Eine Rede bey der Eimveihung von der Deutschen Hohen

Schule oder Franklin Collegium in Lancaster (Lancaster: Albrecht u. Lahn, 1788), io; trans., mine. ("Das

ganze Land, in dem die Auferziehung gehandhabt wird, empfindet den Segen, daher man dem

gemeinen Wesen keine grossre Wohlthat erweisen kann, als durch eine gute Auferziehung der seini­

gen")

54 Ibid , 1 1 .

55 Quoted lines from Frederick's letter to Gotthilf, dated February 20,1782; Lutheran Archives

Center at Philadelphia, reference PM92Z1.

56 I have argued this development in Frederick's perspective at greater length elsewhere· Paul A.

Baglyos, "From Pietism to Virtue: Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg in Halle and Philadel­

phia"; paper delivered at an International Symposium, "The Impact of Halle Pietism on Colonial

North America and the Young United States," October 3—6,2002, Leucorea Foundation, Lutherstadt

Wittenberg (Germany); available by request.

^ s

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