New Market in Shenandoah County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Paul Henkel

1754-1825

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2021

1. Paul Henkel Marker

Inscription. Itinerant pastor to pioneer Lutherans in the Virginia counties of Frederick, Shenandoah, Rockingham, Augusta, Botetourt, Montgomery, Wythe, and Washington;

Organizer of numerous congregations in the Shenandoah Valley, in southwest Virginia, in the Carolinas, and in East Tennessee;

Traveling missionary to dispersed German settlers in Western Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky;

Co-organizer of the Virginia Special Conference of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania (1793); of the Synod of North Carolina (1803); of the Ohio Special Conference of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania (1812); of the Synod of Ohio (1818); of the Tennessee Synod (1820);

Resident of the forest, Shenandoah County (1785-1790), and of New Market, his principal home (1790-1825), with sojourns at Staunton, at Davidson County, North Carolina, and at Point Pleasant, West Virginia excepted;

Founder, with his sons Solomon and Ambrose, of the Henkel Press, New Market, 1806, and publisher of religious and secular literature in the German and English Languages;

Founder and pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, new Market (1823-1825);

Father of Solomon Henkel, Apothecary; of Philip, Ambrose, Andrew, David, and Charles Henkel, Lutheran Ministers; and of three daughters; Naomi Henkel Rupert, Sabina Henkel Adam, and Hannah Henkel Stirewalt;

His dedicated life and tireless labors were instrumental in preserving the Lutheran Confessional Heritage on the American Frontier.

Topics.

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This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1754.

Location. 38° 38.748′ N, 78° 40.243′ W. Marker is in New Market, Virginia, in Shenandoah County. It can be reached from East Lee Street east of John Sevier Road, on the right when traveling east. Marker is mounted at eye-level on the left side of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church main entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 155 East Lee Street, New Market VA 22844, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2021

2. Paul Henkel Marker

(marker is just left of Emmanuel Lutheran Church main entrance)

within walking distance of this marker: Site of New Market Academy and New Market Polytechnic Institute (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Replica of a 19th Century Town Pump (about 600 feet away); The Henkel House (about 600 feet away); a different marker also named The Henkel House (about 700 feet away); Woodworth Cottage (about 700 feet away); Fighting in the Streets (about 800 feet away); In Memory of General Robert E. Lee (about 800 feet away); The New Market Crossroads (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Market.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Jackson in New Market (was about 800 feet away but has been reported to have been replaced with another marker now near it).

Also see . . .
1. The Autobiography and Chronological Life of Reverend Paul Henkel. This book provides a fascinating account from diaries of the life of the Lutheran minister Paul Hinkle and his wife as they traveled by horse and buggy on missionary trips through the mid-Atlantic states in the late 1700s and early 1800s. (Submitted on May 20, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

Emmanuel Lutheran Church (<i>northwest corner</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2021

3. Emmanuel Lutheran Church (northwest corner)

(market mounted just left of entrance)

The congregation that became Emmanuel Lutheran Church began in 1790, when Reverend Paul Henkel founded the Davidson Lutheran Church in New Market. In 1820 Samuel S. Schmucker, a Yale Graduate became the church’s new minister. (Submitted on May 20, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

3. Henkel Press. In 1806, two young men, Ambrose Henkel and his brother Solomon, started one of the first German language presses in the South. The press began as an amateur operation in the New Market home of their father, Paul, a prominent Lutheran minister. The first publications were crudely printed and had blurry illustrations, but the brothers eventually became skilled printers. (Submitted on May 20, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Emmanuel Lutheran Church (<i>northwest elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2021

4. Emmanuel Lutheran Church (northwest elevation)

Emmanuel Lutheran Church and Cemetery (<i>west elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2021

5. Emmanuel Lutheran Church and Cemetery (west elevation)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 20, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 19, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 881 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 19, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.