Christian Cyclopedia

1. This family, which gave a large number of pastors and educators to Am. Lutheranism, descended from Anthony Jacob Henkel (Henckel; formerly known as Gerhard, Gerhardt, or Gerhart), perhaps a descendant of the Henckel von Donnersmarck family. A Johann Henkel was chaplain to Mary* of Hung., who selected him on recommendation of M. Luther* ca. 1526; he was present with Mary at the Diet of Augsburg 1530 (see Lutheran Confessions, A). Count Erdman Henkel, a pious Luth., was a benefactor of the Halle institution of A. H. Francke*; helped H. M. Mühlenberg,* who is said to have been a blood relative of the Henkels.

Anthony Jacob Henkel (Henckel; 1663–1728). B. Me(h)renberg, Nassau, Ger.; educ. Giessen; ordained 1692; to Am. 1717 with his family and others; helped form a colony at New Hanover (also known as Falckner's Swamp), now in Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania; pastor there; also served Luths. at Philadelphia and elsewhere; fatally injured in fall from horse August 12, 1728.

2. Jacob Henkel (March 14, 1733–February 14, 1779), son of John (or Johann) Justus Sr. (February 10, 1706–August 1778; son of Anthony Jacob), was the father of Paul, Benjamin (ca. 1765–February 4, 1794), Isaac (b. ca. 1767), Joseph (b. ca. 1770), John (ca. May 21, 1774–December 30, 1803), all of whom became Luth. ministers, and of Moses (September 18, 1757–July 28, 1827), who became a Meth. minister. Paul (December 15, 1754–November 27, 1825), b. near Salisbury, North Carolina, was educ. by J. A. Krug* and C. Streit*; licensed 1783 by Ministerium of Pennsylvania (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 22); ordained 1792 by same body; active in areas including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio; helped organize North Carolina Syn. 1803, Ger. Ev. Luth. Ministerium in Ohio and the Neighboring States 1818, and Ev. Luth. Tennessee Syn. 1820 (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 16); fostered theol. studies of his brothers and sons; encouraged sons Solomon and Ambrose to est. a printery at New Market, Virginia The Book of Concord was pub. in Eng. by the Henkel press 1851.

3. Solomon Henkel (November 10, 1777–August 31, 1847), Philip Augustus Henkel (September 23, 1779–October 9, 1833), Ambrose Henkel (July 11, 1786–January 6, 1870), Andrew Henkel (October 21, 1790–April 23, 1870), David Henkel (May 4, 1795–June 15, 1831), and Charles Henkel (May 17 [or 18], 1798–February 2, 1841), sons of Paul Henkel, became Luth. ministers, except Solomon, who was a doctor and main organizer, later owner, of the printery. Philip, b. Hampshire, Virginia, pastor North Carolina, opened a sem. 1817 which was short-lived; helped organize Ev. Luth. Tennessee Syn. (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 16). David, b. Staunton, Virginia, gen. regarded as the most gifted mem. of the Henkel family, was pastor North Carolina; his miss. journeys extended into Kentucky and Indiana. Andrew and Charles were pastors in Ohio; Charles tr. AC into Eng. in the early 1830s. Ambrose learned the printing trade as a young man; one of the founders of the Henkel Press ca. 1805; its first publisher and ed.; tr. SC into English. Polycarp C. Henkel (August 23, 1820–September 29, 1889), b. near Conover, North Carolina, son of David, was pastor in North Carolina and at Gravelton, Missouri; 1st pres. Concordia* Coll., Conover. Socrates Henkel (March 22, 1823–June 20, 1901), b. near Conover, North Carolina, son of David; was Tennessee Syn. pastor New Market, Virginia, 1850–95; prominent in connection with pub. of Luth. books. Eusebius Schultz Henkel (July 26, 1811–December 17, 1874), b. near Lincolnton, Lincoln Co., North Carolina, son of Philip Augustus, was ordained 1831; mem. Tennessee Syn.; settled in Indiana; traveling miss.; helped organize Indiana* Syn. (I); helped form Union* Syn. of the Evangelic Luth. Ch. and became its pres. 1860.

The Henckel Family Records, ed. E. O. Henkel (New Market, Virginia, 1926–39); The Henckel Genealogy, 1500–1960: Ancestry and Descendants of Reverend Anthony Jacob Henckel, comp. W. S. Junkin and M. W. Junkin (Spokane, Washington, 1964); The Henkel Memorial, ed. A. Stapleton and E. O. Henkel (York, Pennsylvania, and New Market, Virginia, 1910–19); History of the Lutheran Church in Virginia and East Tennessee, ed. C. W. Cassell, W. J. Finck, and E. O. Henkel (Strasburg, Virginia, 1930); B. H. Pershing, “Paul Henkel: Frontier Missionary, Organizer, and Author,” Lutheran Church Quarterly, VII (April 1934), 125–151, also in CHIQ, VII (January 1935), 97–120; W. J. Finck, “Paul Henkel, the Lutheran Pioneer,” LQ, LVI (July 1926), 307–334; T. Graebner, “Diary of Paul Henkel,” CHIQ, I (April 1928), 16–20 (July 1928), 43–47, and “Paul Henkel, an American Lutheran Pioneer in Missions, Organization, and Publicity,” CHIQ, V (July 1932), 58–63; W. E. Eisenberg, The Lutheran Church in Virginia, 1717–1926 (Roanoke, Virginia, 1967). HGC