View source for Ehrenfried, Joseph (1783-1862)

Joseph Ehrenfried was born in Mainz, Hesse-Darmstadt, [[Germany|Germany]] on 25 December 1783, of Catholic parents. Coming to America in 1802, he taught in western [[Lancaster County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Lancaster County]], [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]]. Soon thereafter he was translator and bookkeeper in Albright's Printery in [[Lancaster (Pennsylvania, USA)|Lancaster]]. On 9 August 1808 he and William Hamilton published the first issue of the <em>Volksfreund. </em>In 1817 they sold the paper to [[Baer, John (1797-1858)|John Baer's]]. For 20 years Ehrenfried remained with the latter firm as editor, translator, and compositor. In this period he published at Lancaster several Mennonite books in German: (1) the <em>Enchiridion </em>of [[Dirk Philips (1504-1568)|Dirk Philips]] (1811), the first American edition; (2) the German[[Martyrs' Mirror|<em> Martyrs' Mirror </em>]](1814) in a beautifully printed and bound (full polished calf) edition, which according to [[Funk, John Fretz (1835-1930)|J. F. Funk]] caused Ehrenfried's bankruptcy; (3) the[[Ausbund|<em> Ausbund</em>]] (1815). He made two trips to his homeland around 1837, returning to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to publish <em>Vaterlands Wächter. </em>He published the <em>Friedensbote </em>and <em>Lecha County Anzeiger </em>1812-1821 in [[Allentown (Pennsylvania, USA)|Allentown]]. Either alone or in partnership he published at least ten other books in German between 1810 and 1820. From 1845 to 1860 he was Register of Wills in Lancaster. In religion he was a Swedenborgian. He died in Lancaster on 6 March 1862.
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