History of All Religions Containing a Statement of the Origin, Development, Doctrines, Forms of Worship and Government of All the Religious Denominations in the United States and Europe

Samuel M. Smucker was born Samuel Mosheim Schmucker on January 12,1823 in New Market, Virginia. The son of a Lutheran pastor, he went on to become a Lutheran pastor himself in Lewistown and later Germantown, in Pennsylvania. He worked in the ministry for six years, but left in 1848 to study law. He pursued law for a few years in Philadelphia, but after 1853, he decided to follow his passion and write. Smucker was known better for compiling information he found available, rather than doing deep research. As a result, while this work claims to be a "History of All Religions", and paints a helpful picture of numerous religions practiced during the 1800s around the world, it is far from exhaustive. Smucker died on May 12, 1863 while in Philadelphia. Although quite young at the time of his passing, he wrote numerous books, including Historic Doubts Respecting Shakespeare, Illustrating Infidel Objections Against the Bible (1848), Life and Times of Henry Clay (1859) and Blue Laws of Connecticut (1860).