Muhlenberg, Henry Augustus. Son of Rev. Dr. Henry Ernestus and nephew of J.P.G. and F.A. Muhlenberg; was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1782. Carefully educated by his very learned father, he was ordained to the Lutheran Ministry in 1802. He was called to Trinity Church, Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1802, and remained a most acceptable pastor of that congregation until 1828, when for ill health and other causes he resigned the ministry. He was president of the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania, as had been his father and grandfather before him. He was elected a Representative from Pennsylvania to Congress in 1828, and served from March 4, 1829, until February 1838, when he resigned his seat and accepted the Mission to Austria, about that time created. President Van Buren offered him the Navy Department, when forming his cabinet, and the Mission to Russia, both of which he declined. In 1835 he was the candidate of a portion of the Democratic Party for Governor, and in 1838 appointed Minister to Austria. In 1840 he was recalled at his own request from Austria. In 1844 he was nominated for Governorship by the Democratic Party, but during the canvass died suddenly at Reading, on the 12th of August of that year. He was greatly beloved by the people, and greatly deserved their love as an upright man and able statesman.
Lanman, Charles. Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States During Its First Century: From Original and Official Sources. Washington: James Anglim, Publisher, 1876, p. 305.
Contributed by: Nancy.