MUHLENBERG, Frederick Augustus Conrad

Fast Facts

• As America’s first Speaker, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania provided steady leadership as Congress built the machinery of the federal system. Although he had his own opinions regarding the direction of the country, his support for the Constitution and the success of the young nation shaped his largely impartial approach to the Speakership.
• A minister by training, Muhlenberg drew upon extensive legislative experience having both served in the Continental Congress and presided over the Pennsylvania house. With a President from Virginia (Washington) and a Vice President from Massachusetts (Adams), his election as Speaker brought regional balance to the new government.
• Muhlenberg also established precedent as he navigated between the needs of the House and those of his constituents. Although Speakers were expected to maintain a proper remove from debate, Muhlenberg never abandoned his legislative ambitions. In particular, he worked hard to locate the nation’s capital in Pennsylvania. In 1790, he cast a tie-breaking vote to sustain one of his rulings that kept his state in contention.
• During both terms as Speaker, Muhlenberg served alongside his brother, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. They were the first of more than 350 siblings who have served in one or both chambers of Congress.

Biography

MUHLENBERG, Frederick Augustus Conrad, (brother of John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, uncle of Francis Swaine Muhlenberg, uncle of Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg, great–great–granduncle of Henry Augustus Muhlenberg, great–great–granduncle of Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg), a Delegate and a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Trappe, Pa., January 1, 1750; pursued an academic course; attended the University of Halle, Germany; studied theology and was ordained by the ministerium of Pennsylvania a minister of the Lutheran Church October 25, 1770; preached in Stouchsburg and Lebanon, Pa., 1770-1774, and in New York City 1774-1776; when the British entered New York he felt obliged to leave, and returned to Trappe, Pa.; moved to New Hanover, Pa., and was pastor there and in Oley and New Goshenhoppen until August 1779; Member of the Continental Congress, 1779-1780; member of the Pennsylvania state house of representatives, 1780-1783, and its speaker, 1780-1783; delegate to and president of the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention in 1787 called to ratify the Federal Constitution; elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the First Congress, reelected as an Anti-Administration candidate to the Second and Third Congresses, and reelected as a Democratic Republican to the Fourth Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1797); Speaker of the House (First and Third Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1796; president of the council of censors of Pennsylvania; receiver general of the Pennsylvania Land Office, 1800-1801; died in Lancaster, Pa., June 4, 1801; interment in Woodward Hill Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library

Library of Congress
Manuscript Division

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

Muhlenberg College
Harry C. Trexler Library

New-York Historical Society

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