About

Joseph Funk (1777-1862) was the grandson of Henry Funk, the first Mennonite bishop in America, and the son of Henry Funk, Jr., founder of the “Funkite” branch of the Mennonite church. The Funks moved to Rockingham County from Berks County, Pa., when Joseph Funk was a child. In 1847 Funk established his own press in what became the village of Singers Glen, where he published his English translations of German Mennonite theological tracts and choral music. Funk also set up singing schools in the village and in other Shenandoah Valley towns, and promoted the patent or shaped note system, which was employed in his own widely used hymnal, Harmonia Sacra. Funk's simple weatherboarded log house in Singers Glen was built ca. 1810. Its press was located in the loom house nearby, which has since been destroyed.