PRINTER'S NO. 3055
No. 276 Session of 1996
INTRODUCED BY BUNT, CLYMER, HERMAN, BELARDI, MUNDY, FAIRCHILD,
SCHULER, SANTONI, BAKER, HERSHEY, ARGALL, KAISER, WOGAN,
TRELLO, PETTIT, DENT, HENNESSEY, SHEEHAN, GEIST, WALKO, BARD,
FARGO, E. Z. TAYLOR, RUBLEY, CURRY, GODSHALL, PESCI, BEBKO-
JONES, DRUCE, LYNCH, PITTS, SATHER, TRUE, DONATUCCI, LEH,
B. SMITH, HALUSKA, L. I. COHEN, REBER, MELIO, OLASZ, FICHTER,
BELFANTI, D. W. SNYDER AND YOUNGBLOOD, FEBRUARY 2, 1996
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, FEBRUARY 2, 1996
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the United
2 States Postal Service to consider and recommend to the United
3 States Postal Service Board of Governors that John Peter
4 Gabriel Muhlenberg and Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg
5 be memorialized as the subjects of postage stamps.
6 WHEREAS, The Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee reviews all
7 matter of subjects proposed to be memorialized as subjects of
8 postage stamps issued by the United States Postal Service; and
9 WHEREAS, This committee makes recommendations to the Board of
10 Governors of the Postal Service for appropriate subjects; and
11 WHEREAS, To the knowledge of the Pennsylvania House of
12 Representatives there has never been a postage stamp issued to
13 memorialize John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg and Frederick Augustus
14 Conrad Muhlenberg, two persons who figured prominently in the
15 founding of the United States; and
16 WHEREAS, These brothers were born in Trappe, Montgomery
17 County, Pennsylvania, to Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, a German
1 immigrant and Lutheran minister who is credited with organizing
2 the Lutheran Church in America, a German church which, because
3 of its lack of centralized leadership in the colonies, had
4 fallen into disarray until Muhlenberg's intervention; and
5 WHEREAS, Although Peter and Frederick Muhlenberg's intentions
6 were to become ministers and follow in their father's footsteps,
7 life took them in another direction, for their patriotism and
8 devotion to America and to Pennsylvania led them into the
9 prominent and loyal service of the Thirteen Colonies and, later,
10 to their nation and Commonwealth; and
11 WHEREAS, Peter Muhlenberg's eminent role in the founding of
12 the United States can be summarized as follows:
13 John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, oldest son of Henry and
14 Anna, was born October 1, 1746. After primary schooling
15 in Trappe and at the Philadelphia Academy, now the
16 University of Pennsylvania, he and his younger brothers
17 went to Germany to study for the ministry. He returned
18 home and served congregations in the Philadelphia area
19 and, ultimately, in Woodstock, Virginia. Here, after a
20 Sunday service in 1775, he removed his robe to reveal a
21 military uniform. He enrolled men in his parish into a
22 regiment (the 8th Virginia Battalion, or "German
23 Battalion") and became its colonel. Already active in
24 colonial politics, he was a member in the House of
25 Burgesses when Patrick Henry delivered his famous
26 "liberty. . . or death" speech; he also was chairman of
27 the Committee on Resolutions from Dunmore county. He was
28 Washington's intimate friend and rose by merit to the
29 rank of major general, commanding troops at Brandywine,
30 Germantown, Monmouth and Yorktown where he witnessed the
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1 surrender of Cornwallis' army. In 1781 he was elected to
2 the Executive Council of Pennsylvania and was its vice-
3 president under Benjamin Franklin from 1785 to 1788. In
4 Statewide Pennsylvania elections he was elected to the
5 First, Second and Sixth Congress, with intervening
6 service in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from
7 1797 to 1798. In 1801 he was elected to the United States
8 Senate, and President Jefferson appointed him Supervisor
9 of Internal Revenue of Pennsylvania. In 1802 he was
10 appointed Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, the
11 position he held at his death October 1, 1807. He is
12 buried at Augustus Church in Trappe. His statue stands in
13 Statuary Hall in the Nation's Capitol; and
14 WHEREAS, Frederick Muhlenberg's prominent role in the
15 founding of the United States can be summarized as follows:
16 Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, second son of Henry
17 and Anna, was born January 1, 1750. After six years of
18 theological studies in Germany, he returned to Trappe,
19 was ordained in 1770 and served parishes in Berks County
20 and Lebanon County. He served New York City's Christ
21 Church from 1773 until the British occupation began. He
22 returned to Trappe and in 1779 was elected to the
23 Continental Congress and to the Pennsylvania Assembly
24 where he served for four consecutive terms and was
25 Speaker the last three of these terms. During this time,
26 he cast the tie-breaking vote to establish English as the
27 official language of Pennsylvania and in 1781 delivered
28 the Address of Congratulations to Washington upon the
29 General's arrival in Philadelphia after the Yorktown
30 victory. He was elected justice of the peace in 1783 and
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1 became president judge of the newly formed Montgomery
2 County in 1784. In 1787 he was president of the
3 Pennsylvania Convention for ratifying the United States
4 Constitution. He was elected in 1788 to represent
5 Pennsylvania in Congress and served in the First, Second,
6 Third and Fourth Congress while making two unsuccessful
7 bids to become Governor of Pennsylvania. Most notably, he
8 was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives,
9 sitting at Washington's left at his first inaugural as
10 President and being first signer of the Bill of Rights
11 before it was sent to the states for ratification. He
12 also was Speaker of the House of Representatives during
13 the Third Congress and was chairman of the Committee of
14 the Whole during the Fourth Congress, casting the April
15 29, 1796, tie-breaking vote to implement the
16 controversial Jay Treaty. This vote ended his political
17 career and nearly cost him his life in a knifer's attack
18 on a Philadelphia street five days after the vote. In
19 1800, Governor McKean appointed him Receiver General of
20 the Land Office of Pennsylvania. He died June 5, 1801,
21 and is buried at Trinity Church in Lancaster. His
22 portrait hangs in the Capitol in Washington, D.C; and
23 WHEREAS, Few persons could be more worthy of the honor of
24 being selected as postage stamp subjects than Peter and
25 Frederick Muhlenberg; therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
27 Citizen's Advisory Committee to consider and recommend to the
28 United States Postal Service Board of Governors that John
29 Gabriel Muhlenberg and Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg be
30 memorialized as subjects of postage stamps issued by the U.S.
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1 Postal Service; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to:
3 Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
4 c/o Stamp Management
5 United States Postal Service
6 Room 5301
7 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
8 Washington, DC 20260-6756
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