The Germanna Henry Häger family has always inspired my awe. For their courageous decision to emigrate, they take the prize among the Germanna families. Marc Wheat recently opened a discussion of the family and the note here today is intended to further that discussion.
Marc referred to Henry Häger as the first German Reformed pastor in the Americas. Perhaps the son of Henry, Johann Friedrich Häger, has a better claim to this than his father. The answer to this question depends on several questions. Johann Friedrich left Nassau-Siegen in 1709 as a part of the large emigration of that year. Apparently he was licensed as a preacher before he left. In London, several of the German refugees petitioned to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for one John Frederick Häger to be appointed as their minister. After he agreed to ordination by the Bishop of London of the Anglican church, he was appointed. [See Walter Allen Knittle, " Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration ", 1937, p. 142.]
Hank Z Jones refers to Johann Friedrich Häger as the Reformed minister of the New York Palatines. [See Jones, " The Palatine Families of New York, 1710 ", 1985, p. 322]. From the training of Johann Friedrich in the German Reformed faith, from the desire of the Palatines to have him as a minister, and from his appointment to the Palatines in New York, it would appear that he probably conducted services in the German language according to the order of worship used by the German Reformed Church. His church members though were of a mixed faith, mostly Reformed and Lutheran with a sprinkling of Catholic. For all practical purposes, Johann Friedrich would appear to qualify as a German Reformed minister. As such he was early than his father.
I have read excerpts from the history of the German Reformed Church in America where the claim that Henry Häger was the first German Reformed minister was not made. That distinction was bestowed on others.
Some of Johann Friedrich's letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel have been preserved [see " Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York ", Hugh Hastings, editor, 1901-1916; also the " New York Colonial Manuscripts ", V. 55, p. 29b and p. 29c, and V. 58, p. 57a contain brief notes by Johann Friedrich]. In the two years, 1710 to 1712, Johann Friedrich baptized 61 children and married 101 couples.
The Rev. Johann Friedrich Häger, High-German Pastor at Kingsberg, married Anna Catharine Rohrbach 13 Nov 1716. He died in 1721. Whether he had surviving children is not clear. Jones does not give any but other sources have answered the question in the affirmative. For a few more sources of information about, or by, Rev. Häger, see Jones.
Two avenues of questions to be explored are:
1. Who do the historians of the German Reformed Church say was their first minister in America?2. Did Johann Friedrich Häger leave children?
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.