Joseph Funk

Funk was born April 6, 1778 (though his gravestone states March 9, 1777), in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry and Barbara (Showalter) Funk, and a grandson of Bishop Heinrich Funck, a German Palatine settler of Bernese Swiss descent.

As a boy, Joseph moved with his parents to Rockingham County, Virginia, and spent the rest of his life there.

In 1847, he established the first Mennonite printing house in the United States, at Mountain Valley, Virginia (renamed Singers Glen in 1860).

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.