Ernst Gerhard Wilhelm Keyl (May 22, 1804 in Leipzig, Germany â August 4, 1872 in Monroe, Michigan) was a German-born Lutheran clergyman who worked in the United States. He was a founder and the first president of the Eastern District of the Lutheran ChurchâÂÂMissouri Synod's (LCMS).
Keyl graduated from Leipzig University in 1829 and served as a pastor Niederfrohna, near Penig, beginning in 1829. As a follower of Martin Stephan, he emigrated to the United States in 1839 in the Saxon Emigration. He later served as pastor in Frohna, Missouri (1839âÂÂ1847); Freistadt and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1847âÂÂ1850); Baltimore, Maryland (1850âÂÂ1869); and Willshire, Ohio. (1869âÂÂ1871). He was the first president of the Eastern District of the LCMS from 1854 to 1869). He was a scholar of the life and work of Martin Luther.
His biography was published by J. F. Kostering (St. Louis, 1882).