The Trial of Frederick EberleWinner of the 2011 St. Paul, Biglerville Prize from the Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid Atlantic In the summer of 1816, the state of Pennsylvania tried fifty nine German Americans on charges of conspiracy and rioting. The accused had, according to the indictment, conspired to prevent with physical force the introduction of the English language into the largest German church in North America, Philadelphias Lutheran congregation of St. Michaels