US Congressman, Author. Elected as a Democrat to represent Pennsylvania's 8th District in the Thirty-Third Congress, he served from 1853 until his death in office. Muhlenberg was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, a scion of the Muhlenberg-Hiester family dynasty whose members would be involved in American politics for over 200 years. His father was US Congressman Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg; his grandfather, Joseph Hiester, was Governor of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dickinson College in 1841, he was admitted to the bar (1844) and practiced law in Reading. In 1849 he was elected to the first of four terms in the State Senate, and that same year published a biography of another distinguished descendent, "The Life of General Peter Muhlenberg". As a state legislator he was opposed to slavery but willing to accept the Compromise of 1850 in order to preserve the Union. Muhlenberg was elected to succeed Thaddeus Stevens in the US House by a wide margin, but by then he was seriously ill with tuberculosis. On December 5, 1853 he attended the opening of the first session of Congress in Washington, DC; it was his only appearance with that body. He took to his bed and died little more than a month later. Muhlenberg was 30. His remains were returned to Reading for interment in the Charles Evans Cemetery, while a cenotaph exists for him at Washington's Congressional Cemetery.
US Congressman, Author. Elected as a Democrat to represent Pennsylvania's 8th District in the Thirty-Third Congress, he served from 1853 until his death in office. Muhlenberg was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, a scion of the Muhlenberg-Hiester family dynasty whose members would be involved in American politics for over 200 years. His father was US Congressman Henry Augustus Philip Muhlenberg; his grandfather, Joseph Hiester, was Governor of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dickinson College in 1841, he was admitted to the bar (1844) and practiced law in Reading. In 1849 he was elected to the first of four terms in the State Senate, and that same year published a biography of another distinguished descendent, "The Life of General Peter Muhlenberg". As a state legislator he was opposed to slavery but willing to accept the Compromise of 1850 in order to preserve the Union. Muhlenberg was elected to succeed Thaddeus Stevens in the US House by a wide margin, but by then he was seriously ill with tuberculosis. On December 5, 1853 he attended the opening of the first session of Congress in Washington, DC; it was his only appearance with that body. He took to his bed and died little more than a month later. Muhlenberg was 30. His remains were returned to Reading for interment in the Charles Evans Cemetery, while a cenotaph exists for him at Washington's Congressional Cemetery.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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