Biography:

Conrad Beissel was a German Pietist who was exiled from Germany for religious and political reasons and traveled to Pennsylvania in 1720, attracted by William Penn's policies of religious tolerance. Once in Pennsylvania, he lived in the Germantown settlement near Philadelphia for some time and was appointed leader of the Conestoga Brethren Congregation. In 1728, however, his ideas about celibacy and the Sabbath caused a rift between Beissel and the Brethren and he withdrew from the church, traveling to a secluded spot in Lancaster County along the Cocalico Creek. He was soon sought out by those who agreed with his theology and teachings, and with this new community of believers he founded the Ephrata Cloister.