Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Hehl, Matthew

HEHL, Matthew, Moravian bishop, b. in Ebersbach, Würtemberg, 30 April, 1705; d. in Lititz, Pa., 4 Dec., 1787. He was graduated at the University of Tübingen, and after being consecrated to the episcopacy, 24 Sept., 1751, in London, came to this country as assistant of Bishop Spangenberg (q. v.). His first seat was at Bethlehem, Pa., where he superintended the neighboring country churches and the educational institutions of the Moravians. In 1756 he transferred his residence to Lititz, Lancaster co., Pa., and for twenty-eight years had the oversight of the churches of that vicinity, as also of those in Maryland, retaining his seat in the governing board at Bethlehem. Hehl was a learned divine, an eloquent preacher, and wrote numerous hymns.