# Joseph Funk

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{{Short description|American music teacher, publisher, and composer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
thumb|Joseph Funk's tombstone in Singers Glen, Virginia
thumb|Funk's home in Singers Glen

'''Joseph Funk''' (1778–1862) was a pioneer American music teacher, publisher, and an early [American composer](/source/list_of_American_composers).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqT-CJYcqskC&pg=PA134|title=Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music|first=W. K.|last=McNeil|date=November 30, 2017|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415941792|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.voxnovus.com/resources/American_Composer_Timeline.htm|title=American Composer Timeline|first=Robert|last=Voisey|website=www.voxnovus.com}}</ref> He invented a [shape note](/source/shape_note) system in 1851 for the [Harmonia Sacra](/source/Harmonia_Sacra).

==Biography==
Funk was born April 6, 1778 (though his gravestone states March 9, 1777), in [Bucks County, Pennsylvania](/source/Bucks_County%2C_Pennsylvania), the son of Henry and Barbara (Showalter) Funk, and a grandson of Bishop [Heinrich Funck](/source/Heinrich_Funck), a [German Palatine](/source/German_Palatines) settler of Bernese Swiss descent. Bishop Funck came to America in 1719, and was the first Mennonite bishop in America. As a boy, Joseph moved with his parents to [Rockingham County, Virginia](/source/Rockingham_County%2C_Virginia), and spent the rest of his life there.

In 1804, Funk married Elizabeth Rhodes, and they had five children. After her death, he married Rachel Britton, and they raised nine children.

He was a member of the [Mennonite Church](/source/Mennonite_Church_(1725%E2%80%932002)). In 1847, he established the first Mennonite printing house in the [United States](/source/United_States), at Mountain Valley, Virginia (renamed [Singers Glen](/source/Singers_Glen%2C_Virginia) in 1860). Funk and his sons were active in organizing and teaching many [singing school](/source/singing_school)s in [Virginia](/source/Virginia).

Funk died December 24, 1862, and is buried in the cemetery at [Singers Glen](/source/Singers_Glen%2C_Virginia).
Funk compiled and published seven books and periodicals:<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Hostetler  | first = John A. |authorlink=John A. Hostetler
  | contribution = Funk, Joseph (1778-1862)
  | year = 1956  | title = Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  | contribution-url = http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/F87ME.html }}</ref>
:*''Ein allgemein nützliche Choral-Music'' (1816)
:*''A Compilation of Genuine Church Music'' (1832)
:*''The Confession of Faith'' (1837)
:*''A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs'' (1847)
:*''The Reviewer Reviewed'' (1857)
:*''The Southern Musical Advocate and Singer's Friend''
:*''J. and D. Brenneman, Hymns''

The 1847 fourth edition of Funk's ''A Compilation of Genuine Church Music'' was the first publication by Joseph Funk and Sons at Singers Glen. The name was changed to ''[Harmonia Sacra](/source/Harmonia_Sacra)'' in 1851. The book is still is in use by Mennonites today. ''The Southern Musical Advocate and Singer's Friend'' was a 16-page monthly periodical published by Funk from 1859 to 1861. It was a forerunner of ''The Musical Million and Fireside Friend'', a periodical published by Funk's grandson, [Aldine S. Kieffer](/source/Aldine_Silliman_Kieffer). Joseph Funk's sons continued the printing business after his death. The Ruebush-Kieffer Company purchased the press in 1878.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Hostetler  | first = John A.
  | contribution = Joseph Funk Press
  | year = 1956  | title = Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  | contribution-url = http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/F871ME.html }}</ref>

The [Joseph Funk House](/source/Joseph_Funk_House) was listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) in 1975.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funk, Joseph}}
Category:1778 births
Category:1862 deaths
Category:American male composers
Category:Composers from Pennsylvania
Category:American Mennonites
Category:American music publishers (people)
Category:American people of Pennsylvania Dutch descent
Category:American people of Swiss-German descent
Category:Mennonite writers
Category:Mennonitism in Virginia
Category:Composers from Virginia
Category:Hymnal editors
Category:Musicians from Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Category:People from Rockingham County, Virginia
Category:Shape note
Category:Mennonite musicians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Funk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Funk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Funk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.