Muhlenberg, William Augustus

Muhlenberg, William Augustus (my`lənbûrg), 1796–1877, American Episcopal clergyman, hymn writer, and philanthropist, b. Philadelphia. He was a great-grandson of Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg. Baptized in the Lutheran communion, he joined the Episcopal Church, in which he was ordained priest in 1820. In 1846, after pastorates in Lancaster, Pa., and Flushing, N.Y., he became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, New York City. Muhlenberg helped found (1858) St. Luke's Hospital, of which he was first pastor and superintendent. He also founded St. Johnland, an industrial Christian settlement on Long Island. He was an influential leader in movements advancing Christian brotherhood and the unity of evangelical bodies throughout the world. Among his best-known hymns are I Would Not Live Alway and Saviour, Who Thy Flock Art Feeding.

Bibliography

See biography by A. W. Skardon (1971).