Lankenau, John D. (1817-1901)

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, John Diederich Lankenau was perhaps the leading Lutheran layman in the United States. He was president of the German Hospital of the City of Philadelphia from 1869 until his death in 1901. It was at his instigation that deaconesses were brought from Germany to work as nurses in the hospital. He founded the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses, which has been called "one of the most remarkable acts of charity American Lutherans have ever witnessed."1

Lankenau's parents were Johann Lankenau of Bremen, Germany, and Elizabeth Windeler, a German woman who had been sent to live in England when the French invaded the Rhineland. Johann Lankenau met Elizabeth on a business trip to England. They were married in St. MaryleBone in Middlesex, England, on April 16, 1816. John, their eldest child, was born on March 18, 1817, in Bremen, to which his parents had returned to live. Over the next few years, several other children were born to the couple.

John was educated in the Bremen schools, and received a thorough business training at the "Handels-schule," or commercial college. Soon after his confirmation, he became a clerk in the firm of Tiersch & Gerischer, successors to his father¿s firm of Lankenau & Tiersch. The business, he said, was the "colonial produce business," and he added, "After staying with them 3 years, I was engaged by Mr. Wicht for his Philadelphia house, Wicht, Warner & Co."2 He left his parents' home on August 4, 1836, at the age of 19, sailing on the Elise for Baltimore, Maryland. Although he later called the voyage "pleasant," he was seasick, "very miserable," for the first two days. He also recorded that he smoked his first segar [sic] on board the vessel.3

Upon arriving in Baltimore on September 15, 1836, he spent a few days with a school friend, and then continued on to Philadelphia where he took up his new position at Wicht, Warner, & Co. When not working, Lankenau pursued other interests. Among these was playing the flute. He often met with friends for musical evenings when they could play their instruments.

In 1840, Mr. Warner, of Wicht, Warner & Co., retired, and on July 1, 1845, after 10 years in Philadelphia, Lankenau became a partner with Wicht's nephew in the new firm of Wicht & Lankenau, a partnership set up by the elder Wicht, who was dying of an incurable disease. Early in the partnership, Lankenau went to Europe on business, sailing on the Savanak on April 1, 1846, for Liverpool, England.

In his hymnbook, the same one that Rev. Draseke had signed, Lankenau recorded the important details of his life.4 On the 23 November 1846 made the acquaintance of Mary Drexel. On 22ned [sic] May 1847 told her I loved her, and asked her hand in marriage. On the 27 May 1847 asked the father's consent. On the 2d June 1847 received his consent. On the 9th October 1848 our marriage day.

Shortly into their marriage, the couple faced the tragedy of losing a child. On June 30, 1849, Mary gave birth to a son who lived only a few minutes. However, two other children soon appeared, Francis Windeler Lankenau, born April 21, 1852, and Elise Catherine, born September 29, 1854. Nevertheless, the family continued to encounter tragedy. His mother, whom he had seen several times on business trips to Europe, including one when Mary accompanied him, died in 1853. Ten years later, Lankenau's father-in-law, Francis M. Drexel, died as the result of a railroad accident, and in 1870, his mother-in-law, Catherine, died.

Lankenau¿s wife did not survive her parents long. Mary died on May 27, 1873, and was buried in Woodlands Cemetery. The list of dates in his hymnbook records, "on the 26th June went to pay my first tribute of love to her." He poignantly adds, "These two yellow or rather white roses, my dear Mary had between her fingers in the coffin." To this day the roses remain pressed in his hymnbook. This was not the end of his tragedy, however. His son Frank died on February 23, 1877, at the age of 24, and his daughter Elise on April 22, 1882, at the age of 27. Both were buried at the Woodlands Cemetery along side their mother. Lankenau was left with no immediate family. He was 65 years old.

In the years after his marriage, Lankenau, who had become a citizen of the United States in 1847,5 had done very well in business. It was at this point that Lankanau was able to retire from the business that created his wealth and pursue other interests and endeavors. When his father-in-law, Francis M. Drexel, died, Lankenau was one of the executors of his will. It was through these duties that he became involved with the German Hospital of the City of Pennsylvania. This hospital was built for the purpose of serving German immigrants living in Philadelphia. Several attempts were made to start such a hospital throughout the 1850s, but it was not until 1860 that the hospital was incorporated by an act of the Pennsylvania legislature, with the objective of serving patients "without distinction of Nationality, Creed, or Color."6 By the time the hospital was ready to open in 1862, it was taken over by the United States government to serve sick and wounded soldiers. It finally opened to the general public at the end of July, 1866.

Mr. Drexel had been the hospital board¿s treasurer, and Lankenau was looked upon to take his place as a representative of the Drexel family. He became a member in 1863, contributing $3 a year. Three years later he became a director of the hospital and in January, 1869, he was elected its second president, as he said, "without my wish and desire."7 Only three years after Lankenau became president, the hospital moved to a better location and soon was greatly enlarged in size with a new addition completed in 1875. Other highlights during the first years of Lankenau's presidency include the following: began free dispensary (outpatient clinic) service,1874; instituted annual Donation Day, when money was solicited for the hospital, 1880; established the medical library,1881; opened the pathological museum,1881; appointed a hospital apothecary,1882; began ambulance and telephone service, 1883.

His wife's death, Lankenau said, "only increased the interest I took in the hospital; it became a necessity. My son died in 1877 and my daughter in 1882. Instead of making me desponding, increased my zeal to do more for my fellow citizens, with what result is sufficiently known."8 He remained as a very effective president of the German Hospital until his death. Dr. Frese, the chief physician, said of him "his munificent deeds, his self-sacrificing spirit and his whole-souled generosity have and always will form a Monument which will be as lasting as the sands of time."9

After his son's death in 1877, Lankenau's friends suggested that he and Elise tour Europe, hoping it might assuage their grief. They left Philadelphia on August 4, 1877, for Bremen. In the next 15 months, they visited Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Egypt, where they traveled down the Nile, and England. While they were in London, Elise suggested a home for aged people be built in Philadelphia for as a memorial to her mother, a project of which her father heartily approved. Lankenau had long been concerned that many old people who left the hospital were in need of a home where they could receive continuing care. Unfortunately, Elise died before the plan could come to fruition.

One of Lankenau's concerns for the hospital was to secure good nurses, which were in short supply. He turned again to the church, this time in Germany, where the deaconess movement, centered at Kaiserswerth, was known for its exemplary service in nursing. His friend and fellow hospital board member, Charles H. Meyer, German consul in Philadelphia, visited Germany and inquired about deaconesses at Kaiserwerth and elsewhere, but none were available. Finally, Consul Meyer heard of a group of independent deaconesses in Iserlohn who might be interested, and immediately wrote to their directing sister, Marie Krueger. She was interested, but had doubts. These were put to rest by a letter from Lankenau, who assured her that the deaconesses would be capable of administering the hospital and that the current administrator had already resigned but would remain until the deaconesses came. He also spoke of the possibility of establishing a motherhouse. He asked Sister Marie not to abandon an earlier thought of hers that the discovery of the finding of the sisters by Consul Meyer was an act of Providence and that they were destined to transplant deaconess work from native to American soil.

Consul Meyer, who was in Germany at the time, arranged passage on the Pennland for Sister Marie and six other deaconesses who agreed to come with her. They arrived in New York on June 19, 1884. Lankenau met them on the ship and brought them to Philadelphia.

Construction began on the Mary J. Drexel Home for the Aged and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses on September 20, 1886. At Sister Marie's suggestion, a children's hospital was added. The U-shaped building, with a wing for the deaconesses, another for the Mary J. Drexel Home for the Aged and the children's hospital, and a central area with a chapel, assembly rooms, and offices, was constructed in the Gothic style of yellow brick with grey stone trim. In addition to bedrooms, the sisters' wing included sitting rooms, sewing rooms, and classrooms. The building's construction was financed entirely by Lankenau.

Developments continued to happen swiftly. On December 6, 1888, the dedication of the Mary J. Drexel Home for the Aged and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses occurred and less than one month later, the first new deaconess was consecrated on January 4, 1889. Two others who were already consecrated in Germany were also accepted into the community. In May, the children's hospital opened, followed soon after by a dispensary. A school for girls opened on the fourth floor of the motherhouse in May 1889.

In his last years, Lankenau continued to work actively on the boards of the hospital and the Mary J Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse. The many pictures of Lankenau with groups of deaconesses show that he remained close to the community on a personal as well as an administrative level. He often joined the deaconesses at Villa Lankenau, a spacious summer home at Cape May Point, New Jersey, which he had provided so that they had a place to spend their month's vacation. Lankenau¿s last visit there was in June 1901. He had two strokes in July, and died on August 30, 1901.

John D. Lankenau was a modest and humble man who did not seek honors for himself. When he named the Mary J. Drexel home for his wife, he used her maiden name, not the name she shared with him. The only time he asked for his own name to be used was in his will, where he requested that the paintings left to the Drexel Institute be called "The John D. Lankenau Collection, " and that his executors "place to the right of the first landing of the Main Stairway of the Building of the said Home and House of Deaconesses, a simple Tablet with the following inscription: 'In memory of John Diederich Lankenau native of Bremen, Born March 18, 1817, Died -- The Founder of the Mary J. Drexel Home and the Benefactor of the German Hospital.'"10

Others, however, honored Lankenau during his lifetime and after his death. In 1886, the hospital trustees had his portrait painted by Bernhard Uhle, a leading portrait painter, and presented it to the hospital. In 1875, Lankenau was in charge of the German Exhibit at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia. For his services, Emperor William I of Germany invested him with the Order of the Crown, 3rd class. Consul Charles H. Meyer brought Lankenau¿s work with the German Hospital to the attention of the Emperor, who in 1885 awarded Lankenau the Order of the Crown, 2nd class for this work. But perhaps the highest honor Lankenau received occurred on March 18, 1917, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and 19 days before the entry of the United States in World War I. On that day, the German Hospital of Philadelphia was renamed the Lankenau Hospital, the name it still bears today.

1 Frederick S. Weiser, United to Serve, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania: LCA Deaconess Community, 1966. 2 John D. Lankenau., 'Biography of John D. Lankenau," undated, John D. Lankenau Papers, Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 3 John D. Lankenau, "Diary of my first voyage from Bremen for Baltimore in the Ship Elise, Captain Koch, translated into English on the 22nd of February, 1867, the birthday of Geo. Washington," John D. Lankenau Papers, Archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 4 Written inside Lankenau's hymnbook by his own hand.

From the description of John D. Lankenau Papers 1816-1987; 1883-1901 (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Library). WorldCat record id: 76768082