The New World into which the Wahl Family was Planted.

Before we take a close up look at the Wahl family, it would be helpful to put into context where they were “planted.” A new nation had been born in 1776. New immigrants were pushed west. Churches and hospitals were needed. Thus, it is important to understand some of the dynamic historical, political, and religious background into which the Wahl family began its life in the New World.

The first settlers, many from England, came to the New World primarily for economic, political, and religious reasons. There were only a few Germans among these early settlers. Germans arrived later. By the time the flood of German immigrants arrived, they found that they were not always accepted by those who had come earlier. Most of the first settlers had a trade or business background. Many of those coming from Germany were poor and without any business or trade.

While history books can give us some information, we area able to gain a personal perspective from the first person sent to be a “missionary” to these German Lutherans in the New World. In 1742, Henry Melcohior Muhlenberg arrived from Halle, Germany, to “plant the church.” On pages 18-19 of “The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman,” Muhlenberg reports:
“Our German Evangelical settlers in Pennsylvania are, for the most part, the most recent immigrants to this province.”

“The English, Quakers, Inspired Mennonites, Separatist, and the like…came to this country earlier, took the good land at a cheap price. They selected the most fertile regions …and now have firmly established homes and estates.” “Hence they (the Germans) are moving farther and farther into the wilderness. Even those with large families have also been obliged to move on.”

Thus, many Germans moved on, over the mountains, and settled around small settlements in Western Pennsylvania. One of the communities was a small settlement known as Zelienople (some 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pa.). When these German settlers moved away from the urban areas of the East and into Western Pennsylvania, there soon emerged the need for hospitals, schools, places for orphans, and other social services.

Fortunately, someone rose up to meet the need. His name was William Passavant. He was born in Zelienople, Pa. He went to church in Zelienople. In fact, the town was named in honor of his mother, Zelie Passavant, whose parents had come from Frankfort, Germany in 1802.

William Passavant had a passion for the needs of people. The result was that he spent his life starting institutions to serve human needs in this New World. Passavant was instrumental in bringing the first deaconesses from Germany to America. Passavant founded Passavant Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and worked to establish Thiel College (Greenville, Pa). He established a home for epileptics (Rochester, Pa.). Passavant would go on to start many other hospital, orphanages, colleges, etc., reaching out into the upper mid-west. But it all grew from what was first “planted” at Zelienople.

Somehow Christian Wahl, Sr. found himself in Zelienople when he emigrated from Germany (Alsace-Loraine) in 1838. And it was in Zelienople that the paths of William Passavant and Christian Wahl, Sr. first crossed.