Heinrich Funck (–1760) was a mill operator, religious author and a

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

bishop in America.

Biography

Heinrich Funck is commonly believed to have been born in the Palatinate region of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. No baptismal record is known. He was a descendant of Swiss Mennonites who were expelled from Bern, Switzerland, in the 17th century based largely on their religious beliefs. Funck arrived in Philadelphia in 1717 with his family and other

German Palatines Palatines (german: Pfälzer), also known as the Palatine Dutch, are the people and princes of Palatinates ( Holy Roman principalities) of the Holy Roman Empire. The Palatine diaspora includes the Pennsylvania Dutch and New York Dutch. In 1709 ...

, seeking a place to freely practice their Mennonite faith, including Dielman Kolb (1691–1756), who became an early Mennonite minister in Pennsylvania. During 1719, he settled in

Franconia Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Franconia Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,064 at the 2010 census. History Franconia Township was founded in the late 1720s. The name means "Land Of The Franks", and most of the se ...

. In about 1720, Funck married Anne Meyer (ca 1700–1758), daughter of Mennonite immigrant Christian Meyer (1676–1751). They would be the parents of ten children. Heinrich Funck was the grandfather of

Joseph Funk Joseph Funk (1778–1862) was a pioneer American music teacher, publisher, and an early American composer. He invented a shape note system in 1851 for the Harmonia Sacra. Funk was born April 6, 1778 (though his gravestone states March 9, 1777) ...

and of Jacob Funk, the original owner of the historic Jacob Funk House and Barn. In 1725, Heinrich Funck built and operated a grist mill on Indian Creek in Franconia Township in what is today

Telford, Pennsylvania Telford is a borough in Bucks and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 4,872 at the time of the 2010 census. Of this, 2,665 were in Montgomery County, and 2,207 were in Bucks County. History Founding Orig ...

. In 1738, Heinrich Funck, together with others including Dielman Kolb and Christian Meyer, was instrumental in purchasing land for the

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Mennonite meeting house. The Salford Mennonite Congregation itself had dated to 1717. He served for many years as bishop in the

Franconia Mennonite Conference Franconia Mennonite Conference was a conference of Mennonite Church USA based in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, with 45 congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, New York and California and 19 conference related ministries. In February 2020, Fr ...

. From 1745 to 1748, together with Dielman Kolb, he supervised the translation of the classic 1660 Dutch religious history ''

Martyrs Mirror ''Martyr's Mirror'' or ''The Bloody Theater'', first published in Holland in 1660 in Dutch by Thieleman J. van Braght, documents the stories and testimonies of Christian martyrs, especially Anabaptists. The full title of the book is ''The Blood ...

'' into the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

. Funck also wrote two German-language religious books: ''Ein Spiegel der Taufe'' (A Mirror of Baptism), published in 1744, and ''Eine Restitution, Oder eine Erklaerung einiger Haupt-puncten des Gesetzes'' (Restitution, or an Explanation of Several Principal Points of the Law), published posthumously by his children in 1763. Heinrich Funck died during 1760 and was buried in the Delp Burying Ground in

Harleysville, Pennsylvania Harleysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. The population was 9,286 at the 2010 census. It is located mostly within Lower Salford Township and also in Franco ...

. A memorial gravestone there lists him as Henry Funk.

References

Other sources

*Boldt, Andrea; Werner Enninger, Delbert L. Gratz (1997) ''Mennonites in Transition From Switzerland to America'' (Masthof Press) *Kasdorf, Julia Spicher (2009) ''The Body and the Book: Writing from a Mennonite Life: Essays and Poems'' (Penn State Press) *Ruth, John L. (1984) ''Maintaining the Right Fellowship: a narrative account of life in the oldest Mennonite community in North America'' (Franconia Mennonite Conference)

External links

''Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians'' ''Mennonite Church History'' (1906) Hartzler, Jonas Smucker; Kauffman, Daniel (Mennonite Book and Tract Company. Scottdale, PA)

Salford Mennonite Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funck, Heinrich 1690s births 1760 deaths Year of birth uncertain American Mennonites Mennonite ministers American Christian religious leaders American people of Swiss-German descent German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies German Mennonites German Palatines Pennsylvania Dutch people Protestantism in Pennsylvania 18th-century American people Religious leaders from Pennsylvania 18th-century Anabaptist ministers Mennonite writers

Biography

See also

References

Other sources

Related Reading

External links