Page:Schwenkfelder Hymnology.djvu/108

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SCHWENKFELDER HYMNOLOGY

lesia and who married Anna Meschter, the leader of the Schwenckfelder emigration and their first preacher here increased the collection in 1726 and arranged it in four parts. There are also some hymns written abroad and here by Balthaser Hoffman, father of Christoph, who was born in 1686 and came to Penna. in 1734.

"In the manuscript the letter 'A' signifies that the hymn is in its old form, 'C that it has been corrected by Caspar Weiss, and 'G' by George Weiss. In the Second Register the hymns collected by Caspar Weiss are designated by red capitals and those by George Weiss by black. This collection, which up to that time had remained in manuscript, formed the basis of the hymn-book printed by Saur in 1762.

"On examining this manuscript we cannot help but feel the strongest admiration for the zeal and patience of the scribe, the neatness and excellence of his work, the strength and beauty of the binding, and the nice care with which the book has been preserved through one hundred and twenty-one years in all its original freshness and purity.

"Samuel W. Pennypacker,
"Nov. 6, 1881."

Hans Christoph Hiibner was born in 1721. His father was Christoph Hiibner and his mother Maria (nee Yeakel). He and his parents came to America in 1737. He is buried on the farm on which he lived, near the present Cedars, Montgomery County. The farm is now (1909) owned by William G. Freed. The writer is extremely glad of the opportunity to direct attention to this neglected Schwenkfelder scribe, Hans Christoph Hiibner. In 1746 he married Barbara Schultz, who in 1734, at the age of 14 years, with her widowed mother had emigrated to America. Having attained the rank of a householder, he soon acquired prominence in the life of the church. For thirty years beginning (circa) 1745, he was active as a transcriber and compiler. He wrote the three folio volumes of hymns dated 1758. 1759 and 1765. In addition, three massive collections of sermons in folio, numerous quartos of hymns and of homiletic literature, and a great variety of additional volumes. In the quantity of