1 Rev. Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger

The first Lutheran minister to settle in Upper Canada (Ontario), Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger (1734-1803) was born in Burgbernheim, Bavaria and studied theology at the University of Erlangen. He emigrated to America in 1753 and served as pastor of congregations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York. Persecuted for his allegiance to the Crown during the American Revolution (1775-83), Schwerdtfeger moved to Dundas County, Upper Canada in 1791. He settled in Williamsburg Township and became pastor of a congregation of German settlers that had been established in 1784. By the end of the 18th century, Schwerdtfeger had organized Lutheran congregations in several neighbouring townships. He died in 1803 and was buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Church cemetery in Riverside Heights, near Williamsburg.

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