member of the U.S . House of Representatives
Frederick Muhlenberg took which position between Aug 1795 and Mar 1797?
Frederick Muhlenberg Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg ( ; January 1 , 1750 – June 4 , 1801 ) was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives . A delegate to the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention and a member of the U.S . House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a Lutheran pastor by profession , Muhlenberg was born in Trappe , Pennsylvania . His home , known as The Speakers House , is now a museum and is currently undergoing restoration to restore its appearance during Muhlenbergs occupancy . Early life and ministerial career . Frederick Muhlenberg was born in Trappe , Pennsylvania , the son of Anna Maria ( Weiser ) and Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg . His father , an immigrant from Germany , was considered the founder of the Lutheran Church in North America . His maternal grandfather was Pennsylvania German colonial leader Conrad Weiser . His brother , Peter , was a General in the Continental Army and his brother Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst was a botanist . In 1763 , together with his brothers John Peter Gabriel and Gotthilf Henry Ernst , he attended the Latina at the Franckesche Stiftungen in Halle , Germany . In 1769 , he attended the University of Halle , where he studied theology . He was ordained by the Pennsylvania Ministerium as a minister of the Lutheran Church on October 25 , 1770 . He preached in Stouchsburg , Pennsylvania , and Lebanon , Pennsylvania , from 1770 to 1774 , and in New York City from 1774 to 1776 . When the British entered New York at the onset of the American Revolutionary War , he felt obliged to leave and returned to Trappe . He moved to New Hanover Township , Pennsylvania and was pastor there and in Oley and New Goshenhoppen until August 1779 . On October 15 , 1771 , he married Catherine Schaeffer , the daughter of wealthy Philadelphia sugar refiner David Schaeffer . They had seven children . Political career . Continental Congress . Muhlenberg was a member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780 , and served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1780 to 1783 . He was elected its speaker on November 3 , 1780 . He was a delegate to and chairman of the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention in 1787 called to ratify the Federal Constitution . He was the first signer of the Bill of Rights . U.S . House of Representatives . He served as a member of the U.S . House of Representatives from Pennsylvania in the first and the three succeeding United States Congresses ( March 4 , 1789 – March 4 , 1797 ) . Muhlenberg was also the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives . In August 1789 , he cast the deciding vote for the location of the nations new capital . He did not seek renomination as speaker in 1796 . On April 29 , 1796 , as chairman of the Committee of the Whole , he cast the deciding vote for the laws necessary to carry out the Jay Treaty . In 1794 , during Muhlenbergs second tenure as Speaker , the House voted 42-41 against a proposal to translate some of the laws into German . Muhlenberg , who himself abstained from the vote , commented later that the faster the Germans become Americans , the better it will be . Despite not having voted against the bill , a legend , the Muhlenberg Legend , developed in which he was responsible for prohibiting German as an official language of the United States . According to another legend , Muhlenberg also suggested that the title of the President of the United States should be Mr . President , instead of His High Mightiness or His Elected Majesty , as John Adams had suggested . Other offices . Muhlenberg was president of the council of censors of Pennsylvania , and was appointed receiver general of the Pennsylvania Land Office on January 8 , 1800 , serving until his death in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , on June 4 , 1801 . Death and legacy . He was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster .