Christopher Sower

Sower, Christopher, an enterprising printer and publisher of Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia, was a German by birth, and was a man of education. In 1735 he published a quarterly journal in German, which was the first work of the kind in a foreign language issued in the colony of Pennsylvania. The same year he published a newspaper; the first German Almanac in America; Extracts from the Laws of Providence, by William Penn; and several other works. At that time all the type used in the colonies was brought from Europe, and finding this very inconvenient, he commenced a type-foundery and manufactory of printers' ink; the first establishment of the kind in the country. In 1743 he printed German quarto Bible, the largest work issued from any press in the colony, and which was not equalled for many years subsequently. He possessed a large influence among his countrymen, and frequently acted as their representative in their intercourse with the government. About the year 1744, he resigned his business to his son, Christopher Sower, and died in 1760. This son, Christopher Sower, (2d), was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, September 26, 1721, and in the autumn of 1726 emigrated with his father to Pennsylvania. He not only continued, but also enlarged the business, printing many books, and a weekly newspaper. In 1762 he published a second, and, in 1776, a third edition of the German quarto Bible. He conducted by far the most extensive book manufactory then, and for many years subsequently, established in America. He kept in operation several binderies, a paper-mill, and ink manufactory, and a foundery for German and English types. His mechanical talents and enterprise were known and appreciated. He was supposed to be the inventor of cast-iron stoves, and it is certain he introduced the use of them. He was well educated, having been instructed by his father, was an ordained minister of the German Baptist Society, and was highly respected in the social, as well as in the business relations of life. His religious principles were in some respects similar to those of the Quakers, particularly in regard to peace and war. He was noted for his philanthropy; and during the American Revolution distributed flour and potatoes by the wagon-load among the destitute families of the militia that had been called into service. He was subsequently known, until his death, as "Das Brod Vater"--The Bread Father. Christopher Sower, (2d), died in 1748, at the age of 63 years. He left seveal children, three of his sons, Christopher, David, and Samuel, being practical printers. One of the sons of Christopher (3d) is a printer, and now resides in Virginia; and two of his sons are printers, as well as editors of newspapers in South Carolina. Samuel settled in Baltimore. David, the son of Christopher, (3d), in 1799 published the first newspaper issued in Montgomery County, at Norristown. In 1809 the establishment passed into the hands of his son Charles, who continued the publication until 1812. In 1816, another son, David, jr., took the establishment and continued the publication eighteen years, until 1834, with reputation and profit to himself. He also established the first bookstore opened in the country, which is now in the hands of his youngest son, Franklin D. Sower. Another son of David Sower, (2d), Charles G. Sower, and great-great-grandson of the principal subject of this article, is now, 1856, the senior partner of the firm of Sower & Barnes, a large publishing house in Philadelphia; so that already five generations of the same family have been, or are now engaged in the useful and honorable occupation of printers and publishers. The good they have thus done in society is immense; and, for themselves, they have acquired wealth and honorable fame, which is infinitely better than that of an hereditary, factitious nobility, inasmuch as it is the result of talents, useful occupation, and moral attributes--it is a fame highly appreciated by the universal instincts of mankind.

Blake, John Lauris. A Biographical Dictionary: comprising a summary account of the lives of the most distinguished persons of all ages, nations, and professions; including more than two thousand articles of American biography. Philadelphia: H. Cowperthwait & Co., 1859, p. 1166.

Submitted by Nancy.