Muhlenberg, Correspondence of Heinrich Melchior Vol. 1: 1740-1747
- Author: John W. Kleiner and Helmut T. Lehmann
- SKU: 1340
- ISBN: 0897250966
- Our Price:
$49.50
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Description:
By John W. Kleiner and Helmut T. Lehmann. 400pp. Index of Names and Places, Scriptural index; smyth sewn and hard cover. 1993.
"The Letters shed light on many affairs and subjects taken up in the Journals, but can be read independently of them." - Der Reggeboge quarterly of The Pennsylvania German Society.
This extremely important work, never before translated from the original 18th century German, makes available to researchers, both genealogical and academic, the voluminous correspondence of this "Father of American Lutheranism".
Muhlenberg came to Pennsylvania as a young missionary in 1742, intending to spend three years establishing Lutheran chruches for the many German immigrants. Instead he spent the rest of his life in Pennsylvania; preaching, teaching, baptizing, marrying, and burying. The many controversies and scandals in which he became enmeshed make for fascinating reading for everyone interested in the 18th century. A time of great religious turbulence, the churches' active struggle for members in a sparsely populated New World led to frequent transfers of church membership. Much more than just dry data, this book gives the serious genealogical researcher the historical background and ancillary information needed for churches whose members (and their movements) you are researching.
When combined with The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, you will be able to see both faces of this remarkable man: his public face here in his Correspondence, when he was writing both for an audience and for posterity, and the private man in his personal Journals, where he expressed his private thoughts and opinions.
What a rich source these two titles make for the historian and genealogist!
This book is an importnat element in Picton Press' major effort to offer researchers a wide variety of the most valuable 18th century Germanic resource documents.
