Matthias Loy was the fourth of seven children of Matthias and Christina Loy, immigrants from
Germany who lived as tenant farmers in the
Blue Mountain area of
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In 1834, when Matthias was six years old, the family moved to
Hogestown, a village west of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When he was 14, he was sent as an apprentice to Baab and Hummel, printers of
Harrisburg. Here he worked for six years, while attending school. He received a classical education at
Harrisburg Academy and graduated from the German Theological Seminary of the Ohio Synod, a predecessor body of
Trinity Lutheran Seminary, in
Columbus, Ohio, in 1849. In 1849, he entered the Lutheran ministry and became pastor at
Delaware, Ohio. In 1865, he resigned his pastorate to become professor in the Theological Seminary of
Capital University in Columbus. In 1881, he was elected president of Capital University. Following a critical attack of
angina pectoris, he retired as professor emeritus in 1902 Loy edited the
Lutheran Standard, official periodical of the
Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, from 1864 until 1890. In 1881, he founded the
Columbus Theological Magazine and managed it for ten years. He was president of the Ohio Synod from 1860 to 1878 and again from 1880 to 1894. In 1887,
Muhlenberg College awarded him the degree of
Doctor of Divinity. He wrote 21 hymns and also translated a number of German hymns into the English language. He also edited a translation of ''Dr. Martin Luther's House Postil'' in three volumes (1874–1884). He died in Columbus on January 26, 1915. ==Works==