Miscellaneous papers of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg from his later years, including 3 letters addressed to him (1782-1786); a copy of a marriage certificate signed by him, dated 30 September 1771; and a memorandum in his hand concerning St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Barren Hill, dated 22 June 1774. Of the letters, two are in the form of copies (in part in Muhlenberg's hand), from Gottlieb Anastasius Freylinghausen in Halle (30 March 1782; copy, ca. July 1783); and Johannes Hangleiter and other members of the Lutheran congregation in Ebenezer, Georgia (29 April 1786; copy, ca. June 1786). The third letter is an original item from Henrich Katz, Senior, dated 20 April 1786, concerning St. Peter's at Barren Hill. The marriage certificate attests to the marriage of Wilhelm Hoffman, papermaker, and Susannah Weinbach, by Pastor Johann Christoph Kunze (Kuntze) at St. Michael's, Philadelphia, on 4 June 1771. The memorandum on St. Peter's tells the history of the church, primarily with respect to financial matters, from 1753 to 1772, including a copy of accounts kept by Muhlenberg and Henry Keppele from 1768 to 1771.

Personal papers of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg are held at the Lutheran Archives Center, Philadelphia, including items related to St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Barren Hill, Pa.

Lutheran pastor and organizer of the first synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (1748). Born in Einbeck, in the Electorate of Hannover; studied at the university in Göttingen, and then in Halle, a center of Pietism; and was ordained in Leipzig in 1739. Muhlenberg emigrated to America in 1742, answering a call to lead the German Evangelical Lutheran congregations in southeastern Pennsylvania, and served as pastor to three congregations, in New Hanover, New Providence (today: Trappe), and Philadelphia. He presided over the building of schools and churches, including St. Michael's Church (1743) and, later, Zion (1766), in Philadephia (together, St. Michael's and Zion parish). He organized the new congregation of St. Peter's in Barren Hill (today: Lafayette Hill), Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, in 1752, and led the building of its schoolhouse (1758) and church (1761-1767). From 1776 until his death he resided in New Providence.

In German.

Finding aid available in repository.

One item in this collection, the memorandum on St. Peter's Church, Barren Hill, may be a copy of one of the documents that Muhlenberg submitted to the German Society of Pennsylvania, at the members' meeting of 25 March 1774, with a request that the Society review his records, in order to dispel certain suspicions that he had not dealt properly with funds from the Count Solms-Rödelheim legacy. A committee subsequently examined the papers and the minutes record that Muhlenberg took them back (30 March 1774). The following note was recorded later during the library's cataloging of the item (the original note is not extant): Species factorum, welche ich einem Committee der Deutschen Gesellschaft in Philadelphia 1774 zur Betrachtung vorzulegen für nötig befand.