Call Number:

19

Repository:

Germantown Historical Society

Extent:

1.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1719-circa 1940

Creator:

Billmeyer, Michael, 1752-1837

Abstract:

Michael Billmeyer (1752-1837) was a well-known printer and bookseller in the Germantown section of Philadelphia who catered especially to Pennsylvania German and Mennonite communities. The Michael Billmeyer family papers, 1719-circa 1940, are comprised primarily of materials relating to Michael Billmeyer (1752-1837) and his publishing company, with a small amount of materials relating to other family members and the family home.

"In 1777 the British destroyed the Germantown (Pennsylvania) printing establishment of the Brethren (Dunkard) printer, Christopher Saur, Jr. Six years later Peter Leibert, a Brethren minister, and Michael Billmeyer, his Lutheran son-in-law, bought what was usable of the Saur equipment, and set up shop in Germantown [Leibert und Billmeyer], being more or less the successors of the younger Saur. This partnership continued for about three years, after which Billmeyer continued alone, and Leibert started a new printing business. In 1785 the Billmeyer press issued a reprint of the Ausbund, and a polemic from a onetime Franconia Mennonite bishop, Ein Aufsatz oder Verteidigung [by] Christian Funk. In 1790 it reprinted Roosen's Christliches Gemütsgespräch. In 1803 Billmeyer printed the new Franconia Conference hymnbook, Die kleine geistliche Harfe der Kinder Zions, and reprinted it in 1820. In 1805 he issued the fourth edition of Die Wandelnde Seele by J. P. Schabalie. He was thus in effect for a generation the printer for the Franconia Mennonites."

The Michael Billmeyer house is part of Colonial Germantown Historic District, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Bibliography:

Quoted text from: Wenger, John C. "Billmeyer, Michael (1752-1837)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, web edition. 1955. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B54046.html.

This collection is comprised of materials relating to Michael Billmeyer (1752-1837), his book shop, and family. From Michael Billmeyer's lifetime, this collection includes four ledgers (1815-1822), bills and receipts (1800-1840), correspondence (circa 1803-1810), and a German-language manuscript (1793). There is an epistle from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1719, which predates Michael Billmeyer. From his descendants, this collection includes: two letterbooks, circa 1893; photographs and images of Billmeyer's house, circa 1890-1940; and records of the estate sale of Wilhelmina G. Billmeyer, 1912. There are also a German Catechism, a recipe book, and other assorted items in the collection.