Johann Friedrich Peter

PETER, Johann Friedrich (John Frederick). b. Herrendijk, the Netherlands, 19 May 1746; d. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 13 July 1813. Born into a Moravian Church community where his father was minister, Peter was educated at the Moravian Boys’ Schools in Haarlem and Zeist, with further study at the church’s academy in Niesky, Germany. In 1765, he entered the seminary at Barby, Germany, for theological training, completing his studies in 1769. In 1770, he was sent by the church to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His duties there, and in the nearby community of Nazareth, consisted of teaching in the Boys’ School and keeping the daily chronicles and other records of the church. In 1779 he was...