Johann Gottlob Schmeisser (22 March 1751 – 21 December 1806) was an Evangelical

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 was the second minister of

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg is a port town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. The economy was traditionally based on the offshore fishery and today L ...

and served for 24 years. He arrived during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, and, after being in the village for only two months, he was involved in the defense of the town during the

Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1782) The Raid on Lunenburg (also known as the Sack of Lunenburg) occurred during the American Revolution when the US privateer, Captain Noah Stoddard of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at L ...

Germany

Schmeisser's parents were Meister J. Schumeisser and Eva Dorothea. He was born in Weissenfels. Schmeisser attended the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

at Weissenfels for several years. Because his father only had the income of a tailor, at age 25, the town sponsored Schmeisser to attend the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

in 1777. The town indicated that Schmeisser was awarded the money because "he has led an industrious, quiet, and systematic life, and by his good behaviour has won the praise of his teachers and of the town." He was ordained at

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

. He also worked in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. He eventually left for Nova Scotia via

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 ...

, where he stayed for a number of weeks.

Nova Scotia

Schmeisser followed Rev. Mr. Friederich Schultz at Lunenburg. (Rev. Schultz was the first to serve in Lunenburg, erected the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1772 and stayed for 8 years.) After the position was vacant for two years, Schmeisser arrived in Lunenburg on 1 May 1782. Soon upon arriving in Lunenburg, Schmeisser, at age 31, began to court Sophia Biehler, age 25, the daughter of the master blacksmith, Wendel Wust. He confronted the American invaders in the raid on Lunenburg and was subsequently tied up and left in the centre of town. Three days after the raid on Lunenburg, on 3 July 1782, he married Sophia in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (Lunenburg). They eventually had six children. During his 24 years in Lunenburg he baptized 1729 children, confirmed 700 people and buried 380. He also wrote the sermon ''The Holy Communion: A Relic of the Past and an Instructor of the Present : Being a Sermon Written in the Year A.D. 1797''. He suffered an illness for 17 years and died on 21 December 1806 at age 55. He was buried with a gravestone in the

Hillcrest Cemetery (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia) The Hillcrest Cemetery is the oldest protestant cemetery in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and one of the oldest in Canada. The cemetery is adjacent to the Lunenburg Academy. The oldest marker is dated 1761, eight years after Lunenburg was established. ...

.
Miss A. Creighton, "An Unforeclosed Mortgage," Acadiensis, October, 1905
p. 297

References

*
David Luther Roth ''Acadie and the Acadians'', 2nd edition. Utica, New York: Childs and Son. 1891
* MacMecham, Saga of the Seas, 57-71 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmeisser, Johann Gottlob Military history of Nova Scotia 1751 births 1806 deaths

Germany

Nova Scotia

See also

References