after his death). Later years In 1845, Muhlenberg moved to New York City. The following year he became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, a rent-free church built by his sister Mary A. Rogers. Muhlenberg founded the first American order of Protestant Episcopal deaconesses, the Sisterhood of the Church of the Holy Communion, between 1845 and 1852. His work with the sisterhood led to the 1850 establishment of St. Luke's Hospital, for which his congregation made offerings each St. Luke's Day beginning in 1847. In 1866, Muhlenberg founded the Church Industrial Community of St. Johnland on Long Island. He bought with of shorefront on Long Island Sound near Kings Park as a home for young, crippled children and the elderly. A moderate rent was charged for the cottages. Muhlenberg died on April 8, 1877 in St. Luke's Hospital, and is buried in the St. Johnland cemetery. Muhlenberg is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the U.S. Episcopal Church on April 8, his death day. His reputation as an educator has been partially overshadowed by his extracurricular achievements after his move to New York City. See also Abbeville (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe New York Free Circulating Library: The Muhlenberg Branch was named in his memory. Further reading Ayres, Anne. The Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg. New York: Thomas Wittaker, 1889. Hein, David and Gardner Shattuck. "Muhlenberg" in The Episcopalians. Westport CT: Praeger, 2004. Prehn, W.L. "Episcopal Schools: History & Mission" in Carper and Hunt, eds., Handbook of Faith-Based Schools in the United States (June 2012). Prehn, Walter Lawrence III. "Social Vision, Character, and Academic Excellence in Nineteenth-Century America: William Augustus Muhlenberg and the Church School Movement, 1828-1877" (Ph.D dissertation, University of Virginia, 2005): University of Michigan online access. Prichard, Robert. A History of the Episcopal Church (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999). Richards, Samuel J. "A Forgotten Muhlenberg School: Trinity Hall in Washington, Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 87, no. 2 (2020): 247–78. DOI: 10.5325/pennhistory.87.2.0247 Skardon, Alvin. Church Leader in the Cities: William Augustus Muhlenberg. Philadelphia: University Press of Pennsylvania, 1971. References External links The Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg by Anne Ayres (Project Canterbury) Some American Churchmen by Frederic Cook Morehouse Chapter VIII. William Augustus Muhlenberg Muhlenberg, William August (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge) William Augustus Mühlenberg 1796–1877 (The Cyber Hymnal) Life of the Right Reverend