Greathouse of Dunmore County, VA

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1772, Fall - Arrival: Rev. Peter Muhlenberg, Beckford Parish, Woodstock

1771, May 4 - Letter: James Wood to Rev. Peter Muhlenberg

Rev. Sir: I have been requested by the vestry of a vacant charge in Virginia to use my endeavors to find a persons of an unexceptionable character, either ordained or desirous of obtaining ordination in the clergy of the Church of England, who is capable of preaching both in the English and in the German languages. The Living, as established by the Laws of the Land with Perquisites is of the value of Two hundred and Fifty Pounds Pennsylvania currency, with a Parsonage House and a Farm of at least Two hundred Acres of Extremely Good Land with every other convenient Out House belonging to the same, which will render it very convenient for a Gentleman's Seat. And having just now received a Character and Information of You from Mr. John Vanorden of Brunswick, I am very inclinable to believe, You would fully answer the expectations of the people of that Parish; the Gentleman of whom I have had information does not know, whether You are ordained by the Bishop of London or not. However, be that as it will, if You can come well recommended to the Vestry, they will recommend You in such a manner as to make Your ordination certain. If You should think those Proposals worth Your acceptance, I shall be glad You would write me an Answer to be left in Philadelphia at the Sign of the Cross Keys, where I shall stay a few days on my return home, when, if I find You inclined to accept of this Living, You may expect to hear further from me, directed to the care of the Gentleman, of whom I have been favored with the information, which I have received.

I am, tho' unacquainted, Rev. Sir, Y. Ob. Serv.,

James Wood

New York, 4th May 1771

P. S. If You should determine to go to London, I make no Doubt of the Vestry advancing the sufficient Sum to defray the expenses."

Footnotes:

1) James Wood was a justice of Winchester, VA. His letter had a decisive effect. Soon after receiving the invitation Peter Muhlenberg visited the field of labor in Virginia, furnished with an introduction by the Rev. Rich. Peters, D. D., in the strongest terms recommending him as a "young and promising Divine, who is of amiable disposition and has great Esteem amongst both the Lutherans and English," and promising similar letters in his behalf from himself, Dr. Smith, and Rev. Duche to bishops and archbishops in England. It appears that the Lutherans who in large numbers had emigrated from Pennsylvania to Virginia and settled in the valley of the Blue Ridge, especially in and about Woodstock, were much pleased with the candidate for their vacant parish, and that he also felt greatly attracted by the surroundings to which he was invited. Bidding farewell to his congregations in New Jersey, he prepared himself to go to England to receive Episcopal ordination, without which, in Virginia, he would have no legal standing as a clergyman. He did not intend to change any of his convictions, and the Lutheran synod, to which he belonged, did not consider him as separating himself from its connection, which to us appears rather anomalous. He sailed for England March 2, 1772.

2) The document of ordination given to him, and preserved by his descendants, states that Peter Muhlenberg, "our beloved in Christ, a literate person, of whose virtuous and pious life and conversation and competent learning in Holy Scriptures we were well assured," was on Tuesday, the 2st of April 1772, ordained by Edmund of Ely in Mayfair Chapel, Westminster, London, to the holy order of deacon, according to the manner and form prescribed and used by the Church of England, "having first in our presence taken the oaths appointed by law to be take for and instead of the oath of supremacy, and also having freely and voluntarily subscribed to the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the three articles of the Thirty-Six Canons." He was ordained as a priest April 23rd, at the King's Chapel of St. James, by the bishop of London, in company with Rev. Braidfoot of Virginia and Rev. White, later the highly-honored bishop of Pennsylvania.

3) By the fall of 1772, Rev. Peter Muhlenberg had moved to Woodstock, Dunmore County, VA, where he carried on his pastoral labors to the great satisfaction of his Lutheran and Anglican parishioners.

4) William Julius Mann further related, "There is no proof that he [Rev. Peter Muhlenberg] ever received ordination as a Lutheran pastor and a voting member of the Lutheran Ministerium. That, however, in spite of his abnormal position, he was considered a Lutheran minister my be gathered, not only from the fact that he served a Lutheran charge, but also from this, that in behalf of the Lutheran synod he visited Lutheran congregations east of Woodstock -- or Staufferstadt, as Krug, who during his tour to Strassburg visited here and comforted many with the prospect that Father Muhlenberg might pay them a visit when his son Peter would move there, calls it -- and investigated the case of Rev. J. Schwarbach, who as a licensed Lutheran minister officiated in congregations in Augusta County, VA.

5) Edward W. Hocker, in "The Fighting Parson", related, "The fact that Peter Muhlenberg never was the actual rector or pastor of these New Jersey congregations [German Lutherans along the Raritan in Hunterdon County, NJ] probably explains why he was not ordained. According to Lutheran usage, a candidate who has sucessfully passed an examination in theology is not ordained until he has received and accepted a "call" in due form to become pastor of a congregation. Peter Muhlenberg in New Jersey was always an assistant to his father, the latter being nominally rector.

6) Hocker then related that Peter Muhlenberg was examined and licensed to preach while he was attending the meeting of the Lutheran Ministerium at St. Michaels Church, Philadelphia, PA in June 1769. It was during this meeting of the Lutheran Ministerium that Zion Church was dedicated.

Article: 1769, Jun 25 - Dedication: Zion Church, Philadelphia City

Sources:

William Julius Mann, Life and times of Henry Melchior Mühlenberg, Edition 2, G. W. Frederick, 1888. Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Sep 20, 2007. Pages 426-227, 1771, May - Letter: James Wood to Rev. Peter Muhlenberg. View @ Google Books

Ibid., Mann, Pages 427-228, 1771, May - Letter: James Wood to Rev. Peter Muhlenberg. View @ Google Books

Edward W. Hocker, The Fighting Parson of the American Revolution, A Biography of General Peter Muhlenberg: Lutheran Clergyman, Military Chieftain and Political Leader, Philadelphia, PA: Published by the Author, 1936. Page 33-34, Peter Muhlenberg in New Jersey was always an assistant to his father, the latter being nominally rector.