to 1,200 copies of 1,284 pages. It was three years in press, the largest work as yet issued in the colonies, and was the first Bible printed in this country, with the exception of Eliot's Indian Bible. Thereafter his publications were very numerous, both in English and German. In the same year he began printing he established the first type-foundry in this country, and a manufactory for printer's ink. He afterward made his own paper, bound his own books, and was the inventor of many things of practical use in his business. He is supposed to have invented cast-iron stoves, which he at least introduced into general use. In addition to farming and printing, he practised his profession, and manufactured tall eight-day clocks. He was also active in all public measures, and frequently represented his countrymen in their intercourse with the government. Upon his death, his business and his estate were inherited by his son, Christopher, b. in Laasphe, Germany, 20 Sept., 1721; d. in Methatchen, Pa., 4 Aug., 1784. He was liberally educated, and when he was twenty-six years old became a minister, and was associated with the Rev. Sanders Mack in Germantown, in the oldest Dunker church in this country. Five years later he was chosen overseer, or bishop, and continued the duties of his office in connection with his secular business until his death. Upon taking charge of the business, he so increased it that for many years it was the largest book-manufactory in the country. In 1763 he published a second edition of the great quarto Bible, in 1776 a third, all in German. These editions were issued previous to the publication of an English Bible in the American colonies. A part of the unbound sheets of the edition of 1776 was seized by the British during their occupation of Germantown and used for littering horses. Copies of all the editions are in the Lenox library, New York city, the Library company of Philadelphia, and the Historical society of Pennsylvania. He did his own type-founding, wood-engraving, paper- and ink-making, and binding, carrying on also a large business in his father's medical preparations, which he sent to various parts of the country. He was one of the founders of the Germantown academy, to which he largely contributed. He also was an opponent of slavery, and his advocacy of the doctrines of universal peace caused him to be misunderstood, so that during the Revolution, though he did not espouse the British cause, he was arrested and imprisoned. On a second arrest for not conforming to an edict, of which he seems to have been ignorant, he was taken from his bed, maltreated in various ways, and led before the provost as a spy. His large property was confiscated, but instead of having recourse to the law, he said: “I made them to understand that I should permit everything to happen to me that the Lord should ordain.” The remainder of his old age was spent, except when visiting churches within his jurisdiction, at Methatchen, where, assisted by a faithful daughter, he supported himself at binding and selling remnants of his publications. He died in poverty. No one in his denomination has been held in higher veneration, and his benevolence to the poor families of the soldiers earned him the title of the “bread father.” He was an eloquent speaker, and his reputation as a writer extended throughout the colonies. — His son, Christopher, b. in Germantown, Pa., 27 Jan., 1754; d. in Baltimore, Md., 3 July, 1799, was engaged in business in Philadelphia during the war, and afterward led an unsettled life. — The second Christopher's great-grandson, Charles Gilbert, b. in Norristown, Pa., 21 Nov., 1821, removed the establishment to Philadelphia in 1844, where he continued publishing, first in his own name, then successively as Sower and Barnes, Sower, Barnes and Potts, and Sower, Potts and Co. In 1888, one hundred and fifty years after it was founded by Christopher Sower, the house was incorporated as the Christopher Sower company by a charter granted by the state. Charles G. Sower remains as president of the company.
SPAETH. Adolph (spate), theologian, b. in
Esslingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, 29 Oct., 1839.
He received his classical and theological education
in the University of Tubingen, where he was
graduated in 1861. He was ordained to the min-
istry of the Lutheran church in October, 1861,
came to the United States in 1863, and has been
pastor of St. John's German Lutheran congrega-
tion in Philadelphia since 1867. He became pro-
fessor in the Lutheran theological seminary, Phila-
delphia, in 1873, president of the general" council
of the Evangelical Lutheran church in North
America in 1880, and was a delegate of the general
council to the general conference of Lutheran
ministers at Hamburg, Germany, in 1887. Al-
though a German by birth and education, he has
become thoroughly identified with American in-
terests, both ecclesiastical and political. He has
acquired the English language and speaks it with
ease. The University of Pennsylvania gave him
the degree of D. D. in 1875. Dr. Spaeth is a fre-
quent contributor to the periodicals of his church
in this country and in Europe. He has been edi-
tor of the " Jugend-Freund," a German monthly,
since 1877. Among his published works are " Die
Evangelien des Kirchenjahrs " (Philadelphia,
1870); "Brosamen von des Herrn Tische" (1871):
" Sonntagschulbueh des General-Concils," edited
(1876) ; " Kirchenbuch des General-Concils," edited
(1877); "Amerikanische Beleuchtung" (1882);
" Luther im Lied seiner Zeitgenossen " (Reading,
Pa., 1883) ; " The Luther Jubilee in Philadelphia "
(Philadelphia, 1884) ; " The General Council," in
English and German (1885); "Phxebe, the Dea-
coness," in English and German (1885) ; " Faith and
Life as represented by Martin Luther" (1887);
"Liederlust" (Allentown, Pa., 1887); and a large
number of sermons and addresses. He has for
several years been engaged in the preparation of
a complete " Life. Correspondence, and Works" of
Charles P. Krauth, the Lutheran theologian.
SPAIGHT, Richard Dohbs, governor of North Carolina, b. in New Berne, N. C., 25 March, 1758: d. there, 6 Sept., 1802. His father, Richard, was a member of the king's council in 1757, and secretary of North Carolina under the crown in 1762. His mother was the sister of Arthur Dobbs, governor of the colony in 1753-'65. The son lost his parents at eight years of age and received his education abroad, being graduated at the University of Glasgow. He returned home in 1778, and at twenty years of age became aide-de-camp to Gen. Richard Caswell, and was present at the battle of Camden. His kinsman, C'apt. William Spaight, of the 65th regiment, had already been engaged at the battle of Bunker Hill on the Brit- ish side. In 1781 he was elected to the North Carolina legislature, and again in 1782 and 1783. In the last year he became a member of congress and was placed on the committee to devise a plan for the temporary government of the western territory. He was a delegate to the convention to frame the constitution of the United States in 1787, and was active in the proceedings. In the Hillsboro', N. C., convention in July, 1788, though afterward a Jeffersonian Republican, he earnestly
