Introduction

Biography

Kelpius gra­du­at­ed from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Alt­dorf (near Nur­em­burg) in 1689.

Of a mys­ti­cal bent, he was at­tract­ed to sects such as the Pie­tists, un­der Phil­ip Ja­cob Spe­ner, and the Phil­a­del­phists, un­der Jane Leads. Seek­ing great­er free­dom for his un­or­tho­dox views, he emi­grat­ed to Am­er­ica in 1694, set­tling with 40 fol­low­ers near Ger­man­town.

Known as the Her­mits of Wis­sa­hick­on, they main­tained a large­ly self sus­tain­ing com­mu­ni­ty. Kel­pi­us was one of the first in Am­er­ica to use an or­gan in re­li­gious ser­vic­es.