Luther A. Gotwald Papers

Lutheran Alexander Gotwald, D.D. was born on January 31, 1833, the son of Lutheran minister Daniel Gotwald and his wife Susannah (Krone). He baptized by Samuel Simon Schmucker, and lived most of his younger days in Petersburg, now Littlestown, Pennsylvania. In 1851, Gotwald entered Wittenberg College, a Lutheran college in Springfield Ohio, in the Preparatory Department. In 1855 he entered Gettysburg College (then called Pennsylvania College), from which he graduated with honors in 1857. He entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Gettysburg from which he graduated in 1859, and was ordained b the West Pennsylvania Synod in the same year. Gotwald's first ministry was in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1863. Gotwald then became the pastor in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for two years, where he preached until 1865. He went from Lebanon in 1865 to serve as the pastor to the First Lutheran Church at Dayton, Ohio, where he remained until 1869, when he had to resign his ministry because of throat problems, which forced him to take a year off from the ministry to recuperate. In October 1870, Gotwald had recovered and was able to assume the ministry at the Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where he preached until 1874. Gotwald received his honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Pennsylvania College in 1874, some fifteen years after completing his initial studies. Afterward, for nearly twelve years he was pastor of Saint Paul's English Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania. In December 1885, he returned to Springfield and became pastor of the Second Lutheran Church there for three years, which was to be his last pastorate. In December 1888, he was elected to the Professorship of Practical and Historical Theology in the Wittenberg Theological Seminary in Springfield. Gotwald served as a director of Wittenberg College from 1865 until 1869, a trustee of Pennsylvania College from 1873 until 1885, a director of the Gettysburg Theological Seminary from 1871 until 1880, a member of the board of Lutheran Home Missions from 1881 until 1885, president of the West Pennsylvania Synod from 1873 until 1876 and a member of the Board of Church Extension from 1874 until 1885. Gotwald was tried for heresy by the board of trustees at Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, on April 4 and April 5, 1893. Following the trial, Gotwald continued to serve as a professor at Wittenberg until his resignation in 1895 due to health reasons. He died in Springfield, Ohio, on September 15, 1900.

Sources consulted: Luther A. Gotwald, An Autobiography, arranged by Luther A. Gotwald, Jr., Davidsville, Pennsylvania, 2007