This history recounts the formation of the Seventh Day Baptist congregation in Ephrata from the early Pietist movement in Germany to the founding of Ephrata and other communities in southeastern Pennsylvania in the 1730s. Focusing on the biography of the influential leader and superintendent Conrad Beissel (1690-1768), Chronicon Ephratense explores life in the Ephrata community through intimate portraits of its inhabitants. It contributes to and enriches our knowledge of the unique social and religious conditions among early settlers of central and southeastern Pennsylvania....