By Shelley Burtner Wallace

John Christopher Hartwick was 82 years old when he died in 1796. During his 50 years in America he had witnessed the American Revolution, the struggles of the early republic and the challenge Lutheranism faced in adapting to these formidable changes. Hartwick was only one of many pastors–both “orthodox” and “pietist”–that had come from Germany to lead Lutheran congregations. Many were far less successful than Hartwick in adjusting to this new and strange environment. Hartwick’s eccentric and orthodox personality has frequently been ridiculed and certainly over exaggerated. However, his pietistic actions, often in direct contrast to his personality, clearly illustrate a much more complex figure.

In 1517, Martin Luther nailed onto the church door in Wittenberg his 95 theses against the misuse of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church, and by 1521 the Reformation was well under way. Typical of any reform movement, those who followed Luther did not always agree on theological interpretations. There developed two basic lines of Lutheranism: orthodoxy and pietism. Orthodoxy, which was centered in Hamburg, held a staunch, rigid adherence to Luther’s theological doctrines, a dogmatic and authoritarian preaching style, a pessimistic view of worldly improvement and a refusal to allow toleration of any deviation from Luther’s beliefs. The pietist movement, which was centered at the University of Halle, advocated a “practical Christianity” that included spiritual conversion, social activism, missionary work and an optimistic view of the millennium. Both strains of Lutheranism found their way to America.

Lutheranism had begun making inroads in America over 70 years before John Christopher Hartwick’s arrival in 1746. Orthodox Dutch Lutherans had settled in the colony of New Netherlands between 1623 and 1664, but the staunchly Calvinist Dutch authorities had discouraged the growth of Lutheranism in their colony. However, in 1664, when the Duke of York captured New Netherlands and claimed it as English, religious toleration was quickly granted. In 1669, Jacobus Fabritius arrived from Amsterdam to lead the first Lutheran congregations in New York City and in Albany. For the next 35 years Lutheran parishes in America struggled to maintain their cohesion due to the dearth of ministers that were being sent over from Europe.

In late 1709, over 32,000 Germans from the Palatinate immigrated to America. The Palatine Lutheran tradition was dominated by pietism. Justus Falckner, who had been educated at the University of Halle, had arrived in America in 1703 and until his death in 1723, devoted himself to establishing and maintaining congregations in New York and New Jersey.

Two years after Falckner’s death, Wilhelm Christoph Berkenmeyer arrived in New York City. He had studied theology at the orthodox University of Altdorf, and quickly assumed the authority of superintendent of all Lutheran parishes in New York and New Jersey. By 1735 he had revised the Amsterdam Church constitution, making it “more suitable for the colonies.” Berkenmeyer required that this 48-page orthodox constitution be signed by all church councils and pastors. He also required that congregations accept only “orthodox Lutherans from academies in Hamburg, London or Amsterdam.”

Berkenmeyer’s strict supervision and authoritarian manner was not always welcomed by the parish clergy. In 1736, he arrived at the church of a pastor who had refused to sign the revised Amsterdam constitution. The pastor held his ground when Berkenmeyer confronted him; a yelling match ensued and in the end the pastor resigned. Berkenmeyer himself filled the vacant position, leading the congregations at Rhinebeck, East Camp, Tar Brush, Ancram and Staatsburg for the next 10 years. It was not until 1746 that Berkenmeyer’s call for a replacement was acknowledged, and John Christopher Hartwick arrived to take over the parish.

Hartwick personified the Lutheran debate between orthodoxy and pietism. Although he had been studying at the University of Halle, his call came from the Orthodox Hamburg Consistory, and upon his arrival he readily signed Berkenmeyer’s revised Amsterdam constitution. If these turn of events had comforted Berkenmeyer regarding the orthodoxy of his new pastor, Hartwick’s actions were soon to change his mind. Within a year after his arrival Hartwick traveled to Pennsylvania to visit his former teacher at Halle–Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Muhlenberg had arrived in Philadelphia in 1742, had begun to organize the Pennsylvania congregations and, like Berkenmeyer, had assumed the power of superintendent. However, Muhlenberg’s pietism and his kind, gentle manner were an obvious challenge to the orthodox and autocratic style of Berkenmeyer.

Hartwick’s visits to Muhlenberg did not go unnoticed by Berkenmeyer. And, in 1748, when Muhlenberg invited Hartwick to attend the organizational meeting for the Pennsylvania Ministerium, Berkenmeyer became livid. He distributed four charges against Hartwick, and in January of 1750 he and two other Lutheran ministers arrived at Rhinebeck and once again crated pandemonium in the church, verbally and physically attacking Hartwick. Understandably, Hartwick was upset. Muhlenberg visited Rhinebeck the following summer to discuss the charges with the congregation and efficiently resolved the dispute by suggesting that Hartwick take a six-month leave of absence.

Hartwick’s first four years in America had not been easy, nor had he made it easy on himself. He was eccentric and arrogant and frequently alienated his congregations and other clergy. He preached two-hour sermons and had little patience for his parishioners’ vices–often making them sign a covenant that “they would forswear shooting, horse racing, boozing and dancing.” He moved from parish to parish up and down the East Coast and was never very successful in finding a congregation that was willing to submit to his strict dictates. Ironically, he was very much like the orthodox Berkenmeyer–from his dogmatic preaching style to his autocratic role over his congregations.

Yet his pietism frequently would shine through this rigid personality. In 1764 he wrote an article vehemently protesting the death penalty for theft, claiming that the punishment was contrary to divine law. He also envisioned a government run educational institution and opposed the exclusiveness of private schools. His greatest determination was to form a utopian community dedicated to the principles of pious living. To this end he made numerous land deals and eventually was successful in obtaining the majority of a 24,000 acre patent from the Mohawk Indians in Otsego County, NY. Hartwick spent little time on his property and eventually commissioned his neighboring landowner, Judge William Cooper, to lease his land to suitable Christian settlers for the establishment of this “New Jerusalem.” Cooper ignored Hartwick’s stipulations, and much to Hartwick’s dismay, the settlers on his property were not in the least interested in abiding by the dictates of his utopian ideals.

Hartwick died in 1796 without having fulfilled his dream for a New Jerusalem or establishing a public school, but he did leave complete instructions in his will for the organization of a seminary. The orthodox language used in his will of “heathens,” “heretics,” and a demand that teachers should “keep order and silence,” stands in direct contrast to his numerous pietistic instructions for missionary work, tolerance and cooperation with other denominations, and a republican form of government for the Seminary.

Lutheran pietism, with its social activism, missionary zeal and religious toleration, was much more suitable than orthodoxy to the 18th century American scene. Despite Hartwick’s orthodox personality, his pietistic views enabled him to succeed in providing the tools for the establishment of a pietistic seminary that would train the majority of pastors for the New York Ministerium.

[This article was published in Hartwick’s alumni magazine The Wick in the Summer of 1996.]