Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg (/ˈmjuːlɪnbɜːrɡ/; January 1, 1750 – June 4, 1801) was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the first Dean of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Federalist Party, he was delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a Lutheran pastor by profession, Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania. His home, known as The Speaker's House, is now a museum and is currently undergoing restoration to restore its appearance during Muhlenberg's occupancy.^[2]

Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna Maria (Weiser) and Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg. His father, an immigrant from Germany, was considered the founder of the Lutheran Church in North America. His maternal grandfather was Pennsylvania German colonial leader Conrad Weiser. His brother, Peter, was a general in the Continental Army and his brother Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst was a botanist.^[3]

In 1763, together with his brothers John Peter Gabriel and Gotthilf Henry Ernst, he attended the Latina at the Franckesche Stiftungen^[4] in Halle, Germany. In 1769, he attended the University of Halle, where he studied theology.

On October 25, 1770, Muhlenberg was ordained by the Pennsylvania Ministerium as a minister of the Lutheran Church. He preached in Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania, and Lebanon, Pennsylvania, from 1770 to 1774, and in New York City from 1774 to 1776. When the British Army entered New York at the onset of the American Revolutionary War, he felt obligated to leave, and returned to Pennsylvania. He moved to New Hanover Township, and was a pastor there and in Oley and New Goshenhoppen until August 1779.^[5]

On October 15, 1771, Muhlenberg married Catherine Schaeffer, the daughter of wealthy Philadelphia sugar refiner David Schaeffer. They had seven children.^[12]

On June 4, 1801, Muhlenberg died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at age 51. He was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster.^[6]

• On July 9, 1945, with World War II still ongoing, the S.S. Muhlenberg, named in Muhlenberg's honor, was launched at the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore.

• German language in the United States
• Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, named for Henry Muhlenberg
• The Speaker's House, in Trappe, Pennsylvania, home of Frederick Muhlenberg

• United States Congress. "Frederick Muhlenberg (id: M001063)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania