Thursday, January 17, 2008

Anna Margaret Kling Mack

As is true with many women of the period, little is recorded related to their early years that is not related to their fathers or their husbands. The same is true with Anna Margaret Kling.

Her great-grandfather Kling settled in Schriesheim in 1650 and married a wealthy heiress, who made it possible for him to invest in an inn. The Kling family has continued to be leaders in the same communities for over three centuries. Her father served as an elder in the Reformed Church and on the city council.

While little is known about Anna before her marriage to Alexander in 1701, we do know that she gave birth to five children, one of whom died in infancy. We also know that she shared an enthusiasm for Pietism with her husband and welcomed Bible study groups into her home on a regular basis.

Five years after her marriage to Alexander, moving into the mill and becoming an extended member of the Mack family, religious persecution would require her family to move to Schwarzenau in 1706. There she managed the household while her husband traveled extensively. In 1708 Anna Margaret (she shared the same name as Alexander's only living sister) was one of the original group of Brethren baptized in the Eder River.

In 1720 she and her family and other Brethren migrated to the Netherlands where she found the language unintelligible. She died within six months and her only daughter died within the following week.

Tomorrow we celebrate the anniversary of her marriage to Alexander, a marriage which would end with Anna Margaret's death less than 20 years later.

Source: The Brethren Encyclopedia