Thomas Langballe

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Thomas Langballe (born January 4, 1762 in Tysted , † February 13, 1826 in Bethlehem ) was a Christian missionary of the Moravian Brethren .

Life

Origin and childhood

Langballe was born in 1762 in Tysted, a municipality north of Jutland . His father was a Protestant preacher. When Thomas Langballe was four years old, the family moved to Aggerholm. His parents both died during his childhood, which is why he and his siblings were raised by different relatives.

Entry into the Moravian Church

In 1776 Thomas Langballe joined the Protestant community of the Moravians in Christiansfeld. In the following years he held various ranks and functions within the hierarchy of the group.

Missions abroad

In 1787 Langballe was sent to Suriname as a missionary by his congregation . In total, he stayed in this country for around 33 years and worked in Paramaribo , Hoop and New Bambey. In the meantime he also traveled to the still young United States (around 1810). From 1810 to 1820 Langballe and his wife represented the Moravians in Paramaribo. They then moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , where Langballe also died on February 13, 1826 at the age of 64.

family

Langballe was married to Marie Esther Ertel from 1801 until her death in 1802. In 1805 he married Hannah Warner, who died just a year later. Then he married Gertraud Maria Lorenz. After her death in 1818 Langballe was married to Maria Opinion. His only child, his daughter Hedwig, from his marriage to Hannah Warner, died shortly after birth.

Act

During his time abroad, Langballe wrote numerous letters and his own résumé. These written sources are still used today by historians to gain knowledge about the missionary work of the Moravians.

swell

Thomas Langballe's curriculum vitae in the Herrnhut university archive.