Martin Luther Stoever Papers

Professor Martin Luther Stoever, an American Lutheran educator and writer, was born on February 17, 1820, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College in 1838. Although he originally intended to go into ordained ministry, Stoever entered the education field instead, becoming principal of a classical academy in Maryland from 1838 to 1842. He headed the preparatory department of Pennsylvania College from 1842 to 1851, and then taught history, Latin, and political economy from 1851 until his death. He was the college’s first history professor. In 1850 he served for a brief period as interim president of Pennsylvania College following the retirement of Charles P. Krauth. Stoever received an honorary doctorate from Hamilton College in 1866, and a Doctor of Laws from Union College in 1869. He was also offered the presidency of Girard College in Philadelphia in 1862, as well as a professorship of Latin at Muhlenberg College in 1869, but declined both. In literary matters, Stoever served as editor of the Literary Record and Linnaean Journal from 1848 to 1849, and editor of the Evangelical Quarterly Review from 1849 to 1870. His biographical articles on Muhlenberg, Philip P. Mayer, and other writings about Lutheran history earned Stoever the sobriquet of “The Plutarch of the Lutheran Church.” Martin Luther Stoever died at Germantown, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1870.

Sources consulted: https://www.lutheranhistoricalsociety.com/martin-luther-stoever/