Note:  William Penn [1644-1718], founder of Pennsylvania, was perhaps the most well known champion of religious freedom in America.  Penn was very much involved in the interests of the Early American Rosicrucians as I shall discuss later.

As we lead you through our discussion of Ephrata, we would also like to have you remember a few points that will help to guide your understanding of the Ephrata connection.  The first Rosicrucian cycle in America involved two very distinct groups.

The first group we will discuss—which we will refer to as ‘the Kelpius group’—was sponsored by the Philadelphia Lodge in London to establish an official Rosicrucian chapter in America.  It had two successive leaders—Johannes Kelpius [1673-1708] and Conrad Mathaii [1678-1748]. 

Some members of this group, and others who came later to the colonies to join Kelpius, remained in Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania throughout the cycle of early American Rosicrucian activity.