Spreng, S. P. The Life and Labors of John Seybert, First Bishop of the Evangelical Association. Cleveland, O.: Evangelical Association, 1888. First Edition. [3737]
Faded purple cloth, 8 1/4 x 6 inches, former owner's signature on fep, portrait frontispiece, 439 clean pp., tight, with a useful index. Good. Hardcover.
Roberts, Revival Literature no. 5064. "With numerous accounts of revivals."
John Seybert (1791-1860), b. Manheim, Pa.; d. near Flat Rock, Ohio. His father had been a Hessian mercenary during the Revolutionary War, was captured and imprisoned, and after the war serving as an indentured servant for three years. The family was of the Lutheran faith. John was converted at a revival meeting held by an itinerant Evangelical preacher, Matthias Benz. In 1819 John became a preacher serving both Pennsylvania and Ohio circuits, and in 1822 was elected Bishop, the only successor to that office since the death of Jacob Albright.
The Evangelical Association was founded by Jacob Albright (1759-1808), b. in Montgomery County, Pa.; his parents were German immigrants from the Palatine. Jacob was a drummer boy during the American Revolution, serving in Captain Jacob Witz’s Seventh Company, Fourth Battalion, Philadelphia Militia. He was raised Lutheran, and converted to Methodism ca. 1790. He ministered as an evangelist for the Methodists, but when forbidden to preach in German by them he started his own class meetings to minister to the German-speaking Christians. After his death the group named themselves the Evangelical Association. A later 19th century split of the group eventually resulted in part uniting with the Methodists and others with the United Brethren.