Henry Melchior Muhlenberg

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711–1787), born in Hannover as Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, studied theology at the University of Göttingen and was ordained in Halle as a clergyman in the Lutheran church. Encouraged by Gotthilf August Francke (1696–1769), he left Halle to assist the Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania. He formed a synodical Ministerium for America for which he prepared the common prayer book and thus became a co-founder of the Lutheran Church of America. (Photo courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County)