Matthias Sheeleigh

Matthias Sheeleigh, author, born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in 1820; died in Fort Washington, Pa., July 15, 1900. His ancestors were among the Palatinate refugees who settled in Montgomery County in 1732. He received his training at Pennsylvania College and Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., and was ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1852. He was pastor of Lutheran congregations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He was secretary of the General Synod, for more than a quarter of a century a member of the Lutheran Board of Publication, acting as president of it a few years, and twelve years as reader and reviser of works offered for publication and for thirty-four years a member of the Board of Directors of the theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He was editor of the Lutheran Sunday-school Herald from the time of its establishment in 1860 until his death, and editor of the Lutheran Almanac and Yearbook from 1871. He was the author of a thousand poems, including hymns that have found their way into the hymnals. He was also an enthusiastic student of local history, and was an authority in the Montgomery County Historical Society.

Source: Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1900, Third Series, Vol. V (whole series, vol. xl). New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1901, p. 499.

Submitted by Nancy.