Karl A. Mueller Papers

Karl A. Mueller Papers

2012

This collection contains diaries written by Mueller, his correspondence with other Moravians, reports and certificates received by Mueller, and sermons and other speeches given by Mueller. There are also other notes and documentation owned by or pertaining to Karl Mueller.

Karl Anton Mueller was born in Zeidler, Schluckenau, Bohemia, on September 6, 1867. His parents were Joseph Mueller and Maria Hesse. In his youth he lived in Schadura, Russia, and during this time he became familiar with the Moravian Church. In 1887, he left Russia and came to the US. He actually originally intended to go to Brazil with some other Moravians and even had a ticket for the passage but at the last moment his mother would not let him go and so he went to the US instead. He studied at Moravian College and Theological Seminary from 1888 until 1890, when he was ordained a deacon on June 15 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His first appointment was in Mamre and Gerah, Wisconsin, from 1890 until 1893. Following this appointment, he was ordained a Presbyter on May 28, 1893, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1900 he was appointed Editor and Publisher of German church papers with the depository of German Moravian book s at Watertown, Wisconsin. He was ordained a Bishop in the year 1908 in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Mueller was then a delegate to the General Synod of the Moravian Church in Herrnhut in 1909. Four years later, in 1913, he was elected to the Provincial Elders Conference as President of the Western District Executive Board, and he held these positions until his retirement. He also was editor of Der Bruederbotschafter, the church paper in German, from 1899 until his retirement. Later, in 1928, Mueller served as an official visitor to the Moravian mission in Nicaragua, about which he published the book, Among Creoles, Miskitos and Sumos. From 1937 until 1941, he also served as Executive Chairman of the General Directory of the Unitas Fratrum. He retired in 1941 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1943. He passed away on January 8, 1962, in the home of his daughter Gertrude in San Francisco, California. He married Pauline Purat on June 15, 1886. She died on November 29, 1944. They had six children: Joseph (who died 3 weeks from his birth), Theophilus Herbert, Johannes Amos Comenius, Paul Gerhard, Johanna Margaretha, and Gertrude Esther.

Restrictions

unrestricted