Josua Harrsch, also known as Joshua Kocherthal (30 July 1669 – 27 December 1719Bente, F
American Lutheranism, Volume I
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, p. 31.) was a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

minister who led

German emigrants German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Biography

Joshua Harrsch was born at

Fachsenfeld Fachsenfeld is a borough (''Stadtbezirk'') of the town Aalen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Geography Location From Fachsenfeld it is approximately 5 km linear-distance to the City Center of Aalen. The next districts are ...

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

, in the

Ostwürttemberg Ostwürttemberg (''East Württemberg'') is a region in eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Stuttgart subdivision (Regierungsbezirk). It is located in the southwestern part of Germany. It consists of the districts of Heidenheim and Ostalb ...

region of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. He was the youngest of 23 children of Hans Jörg Harrsch (1610-1675). Educated to the ministry, he served as a Lutheran pastor at

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

in Palatinate. The Palatinate in Germany had been ravaged by the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

(1618 and 1648) and the subsequent

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

(1688–97). Refugees from the war, occupation by the French army and the unpopular political and religious policies of

Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm II, Elector Palatine (''"Jan Wellem"'' in Low German, English: ''"John William"''; 19 April 1658 – 8 June 1716) of the Wittelsbach dynasty was Elector Palatine (1690–1716), Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg, Neuburg (1690–1716), ...

sought a new life elsewhere. Harrsch became the leader of a group of these

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 ...

and traveled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to secure permission for them to settle under the British crown. Queen Anne supported

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

as did her Lutheran husband,

Prince George of Denmark Prince George of Denmark ( da, Jørgen; 2 April 165328 October 1708) was the husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. He was the consort of the British monarch from Anne's accession on 8 March 1702 until his death in 1708. The marriage of Georg ...

.Bente, F
American Lutheranism, Volume I
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, p. 29. The first group, which arrived in New York during 1708, consisted of 53 persons. Unjustly deprived of food, a portion of his congregation settled for a time in the

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, th ...

. Harrsch sailed back to return with a second group, which arrived in June 1710. Although he left with 3,000 persons, 800 of them died on the way or shortly afterward while in quarantine. Many of them first were assigned to work camps along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

to work off their passage. Newly arrived Palatines were settled in the West Camp, ( Saugerties) near the mouth of the

Esopus Creek Esopus Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Uls ...

. Others were settled across the river in the East Camp on the east side of the Hudson River. Reverend Josua Harrsch was the Lutheran minister on both sides of the river.Bente, F
American Lutheranism, Volume I
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, p. 30. He died in

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

. Upon his death, he was succeeded by

Justus Falckner Justus Falckner (November 22, 1672 – September 21, 1723) was an early American Lutheran minister and the first Lutheran pastor to be ordained within the region that became the United States. Falckner's published works include ''Grondlycke Onderric ...

, the first Lutheran minister to have been ordained in America.Bente, F
American Lutheranism, Volume I
St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1919, p. 32.

References

Other sources

*Nelson, Clifford E. (1975) ''Lutherans in North America'' (Fortress Press) *Stievermann, Jan ; Oliver Scheiding (2013) ''A Peculiar Mixture: German-Language Cultures and Identities in Eighteenth-Century North America'' (Penn State Press)

External links

The Palatine Monument, West Camp, New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrsch, Josua Harrsch, Josua. 1719 deaths 18th-century German Lutheran clergy German Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in the United States People from Aalen German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies