Peter Muhlenberg
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| John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg | |
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| In office 4 March 1801 – 30 June 1801 |
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| Preceded by | William Bingham |
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| Succeeded by | George Logan |
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| In office 31 October 1787 – 14 October 1788 |
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| Preceded by | Charles Biddle |
| Succeeded by | David Redick |
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| Born | October 1, 1746 Trappe, Pennsylvania |
| Died | October 1, 1807 Gray's Ferry, Pennsylvania |
| Profession | minister, politician, soldier |
| Religion | Anglican |
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746 – October 1, 1807) was a clergyman, a soldier and a politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary eras in Pennsylvania.
Muhlenberg was born to Anna and Henry Muhlenberg in Trappe, Pennsylvania, and received a classical education from the Academy of Philadelphia. Then, following his father's example, he studied at the University at Halle (Saale) in Germany from 1763 to 1766. He also served briefly in the German dragoons before returning to Philadelphia. He was ordained in 1768 and headed a Lutheran congregation in Bedminster, New Jersey, before moving to Woodstock, Virginia. In 1770 he married Anna Barbara "Hannah" Meyer, the daughter of a successful potter. Together they had six children. He visited England in 1772 and was ordained into the priesthood of the Anglican Church. Besides his new congregation, he led the Committee of Safety and Correspondence for Dunmore County, Virginia. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1774, and was a delegate to the First Virginia Convention.
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[edit] Military career
Toward the end of 1775, Muhlenberg was authorized to raise and command as its Colonel the 8th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. After Washington personally asked him to accept this task, he agreed.
On January 21, 1776, Rev. Muhlenberg started the services in the Anglican church in Woodstock, Virginia as usual. For the sermon, he took his text from the third chapter Ecclesiastes, which starts with "To every thing there is a season...".[citation needed] When he got to the eighth verse, he declaimed "...a time of war, and a time of peace,... and this is the time of war". He removed his clerical robe to reveal his Colonel's uniform. The next day he led out 300 men from the county to form the nucleus of the Eighth Virginia.[citation needed]
The unit was first posted to the South, to defend the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. In early 1777, the Eighth was sent north to join Washington's main army. Muhlenberg was made a Brigadier General of the Virginia Line and commanded that Brigade in Nathanael Greene's division at Valley Forge. Muhlenberg saw service in the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. After Monmouth, most of the Virginia Line was sent to the far south, while General Muhlenberg was assigned to head up the defense of Virginia using mainly militia units.
At the Battle of Yorktown, he led the first brigade of Lafayette's Light Infantry division. His brigade was made up of units drawn from Massachusetts (10 companies), Connecticut (5 companies), New Hampshire (5 companies), and 1 company each from Rhode Island and New Jersey. They held the right flank, and manned the two trenches built to move American cannons closer to Cornwallis defenses.
At the end of the war (1783), he was brevetted to major general and settled in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Muhlenberg was also an original member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Society of the Cincinnati.
[edit] Political career
After the war, Muhlenberg was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1784. He was elected Vice-President of the Council, a position comparable to that of Lieutenant Governor, on 31 October 1787. His term as Vice-President ended on a mysterious note. On 14 October 1788 the minutes of the Executive Council report that Muhlenberg had left Philadelphia without tendering his resignation—why his resignation was needed or expected is not noted—so a messenger was sent after him. That night, after the messenger returned with the resignation, the Council met at President Benjamin Franklin's home to chose Muhlenberg's successor, electing David Redick to the position.
Muhlenberg was elected to the first U. S. Congress (1789-1791) by the entire state of Pennsylvania as an at-large representative. (His brother Frederick was the Speaker for that same Congress.) He was the first founder of the Democratic-Republican Societies in 1793. He served in Congress as a Republican from 1793 to 1795 and 1799-1801 for the 1st district. He entered the U.S. Senate in January of 1801, but resigned on June 30th of that same year.
President Jefferson appointed him the supervisor of revenue for Pennsylvania in 1781 and customs collector for Philadelphia in 1802. He served in the later post until his death.
[edit] Death and legacy
Peter Muhlenberg died in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on 1 October 1807 and is buried at the Augustus Lutheran Church in Trappe, Pennsylvania.
Muhlenberg is the namesake of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.
[edit] External links
- His Congressional Biography
- National Statuary Hall Collection Biography
- Biography and statue at the University of Pennsylvania
- History Detectives: The Muhlenberg Robe
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