Schlatter, Michael

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SCHLATTER, MICHAEL

German Reformed minister; b. St. Gall, Switzerland, July 14, 1716; d. Chestnut Hill, PA, Oct. 31, 1790. He was educated in his native city and was ordained in Holland in 1745. In 1746 the Synods of North and South Holland sent him to Pennsylvania, where he visited German settlements and organized Reformed churches. In 1747, with the aid of John Philip boehm, he formed the Synod of Pennsylvania. Schlatter returned to Europe in 1750 to recruit ministers and raise money for the new congregations. From 1754 to 1756 he was general superintendent of schools for the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania. He served as chaplain of the 60th Royal American Regiment during the French and Indian War, but suffered for his attachment to the patriot cause in the American Revolution.

Bibliography: h. harbaugh, The Life of Rev. Michael Schlatter (Philadelphia 1857).

[r. k. macmaster]

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