The Life of Rev. Michael Schlatter

In 1746 Michael Schlatter arrived in Philadelphia with a daunting commission: to gather the growing German population of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic into organised Reformed congregations. Henry Harbaugh, himself a notable Pennsylvania German writer, told his story in 1857. He follows Schlatter on his extensive travels across the colony as he established churches through years of war and political turmoil, while a new nation was taking shape around him.

Much of the lasting value lies in the primary material gathered here: an English translation of Schlatter's 1751 journal and his report on the real conditions of the destitute congregations he found. It remains an important source for the study of the early German church in America and of German settlement in Philadelphia. It is a rewarding find for anyone tracing Pennsylvania German roots, colonial religion or the Reformed tradition in America.