It is only necessary to mention a few of these hymn-writers to recall to mind the extreme productiveness of this style of literature and music. Among the most important hymn-writers were F. D. Pastorious, of Germantown; Johann Kelpius, of the Wissahickon; Conrad Beissel, of Ephrata, and Count von Zinzendorf, the Moravian.[2] FOOTNOTES: [1] Louis Elson, _National Music in America_, p. 18. [2] Cf. for further information on this subject: J. H. Dubbs, _Early German Hymnology of Pennsylvania_; Hausmann, _German American Hymnology 1683-1800_, in _Americana Germanica_ 1898, Vol. II. No. 3, p. II. PART I Beginnings before 1750 CHAPTER I. HYMN MUSIC OF GERMANS IN PHILADELPHIA. To Francis Daniel Pastorious has been assigned the honor of being the first German hymn writer on American soil. Pastorious[3] was born Sept. 26, 1651 at Sommerhausen, Germany, of cultured parents of some means and position in society. His father Melchior Pastorious had studied Catholic theology and also jurisprudence, but had finally renounced his faith and had become a Protestant. Needless to say Francis Daniel’s education was not neglected. He was sent to school in various places: as Windsheim, Basel, Nuremberg, Erfurt, Strassburg where he studied law and the French language, Jena where besides law he studied Italian, and finally he took his degree of Doctor of Laws at Altdorf, 1676. He settled now at Frankfurt am-Main and practiced his profession. He probably continued in this work until 1680, when, as the companion of Johann Bonaventura von Rodeck, he made a journey, extending over two years, through Holland, England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Upon his return to Frankfurt, November, 1682, he became interested in the mysticism of Spener and his companions, and the movement to America which they were promoting--filled him with an ardent longing to share in it. So, with the consent of his father who provided him with money, Francis Daniel set sail for America and arrived in Philadelphia Aug. 20, 1683, six weeks before the other immigrants landed. Pastorious was the only highly educated man in this colony. He was looked up to by the other colonists for this reason, and also because he was the agent of a land company formed in Germany for the purchase and sale of land in Pennsylvania. The new colonists chose as the spot for their new homesteads a tract of land not far from Philadelphia, where they founded Germanopolis or Germantown.