Philipp Merkle,Stanley Nadel, ''Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City, 1845–80'', University of Illinois Press, 1990, p. 98 also known as Philip MerklePeter Ross, ''A Standard History of Freemasonry in the State of New York'', volume 2, New York: Lewis, 1899 pp. 452–53 "Death List of a Day," ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', August 25, 1895, p. 16 (pdf). (March 20, 1811, Frainshaims, Rhineland-Palatinate – May 5, 1899, New York City) was a prominent German-American
Freethinker
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
and preacher in New York in the nineteenth century who was active as a Masonic leader and also co-founded two influential German-American fraternal societies, one of which became the largest such organization.
Merkle attended the
University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
to study medicine, but at his father's request transferred to
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and studied theology. He was imprisoned for political activities in connection with the 1832 uprisings, but was released on appeal and graduated as a minister, second highest in his class. Unable to find an appointment because of his record, he emigrated to the United States in 1833. He became pastor of the
German Lutheran Church The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 8.6 million people. The Member Churches of this org ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Chrystie Street in New York. He was the minister there until 1857, when he was appointed Special Examiner of Drugs for New York State, then City Excise Commissioner, then elected City Coroner. He was active in Democratic politics, for many years a member of the General Committee of
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, and one of the leaders of the successful defence against increasing Republican influence in Little Germany in the 1856 and 1860 elections.
Merkel was a Freemason leader in the German-American community. After being initiated in 1844, he founded and headed two new lodges, in 1853 and 1857, and was made an honorary member of four others.
Before that, in 1847 he was the primary founder of the
German Order of Harugari The German Order of Harugari, sometimes called the Ancient Order of Harugari or by its German name, Der Deutsche Orden der Harugari, is a mutual benefit and cultural association of German Americans founded in New York City in 1847 that was at one ti ...
, which became the largest German-American fraternal order.Nadel pp. 111–12 Merkle left his position as minister to concentrate on promoting Harugari, which he saw as a continuation of German workers' radicalism.
He also led the group that founded the
Sons of Hermann
The Order of the Sons of Hermann (german: Der Orden der Hermanns-Soehne, also known as Hermann Sons ( ''Hermannssöhne'' ), is a mutual aid society for German immigrants that was formed in New York, New York on July 20, 1840,Fritz Schilo"Sons of ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', May 19, 1895, p. 21. (pdf) both list "Dr. Philip Merkel" first, which is also the form of his name in the ''New York Times'' article on the founding of Harugari.