E. H. (Edward H.) Rauch

Born near Lititz, Pennsylvania, Edward Henry Rauch was a nineteenth-century writer, journalist, and public figure best remembered for his work in Pennsylvania Dutch. Research on his Pennsylvania Dutch Hand-Book describes him as a third-generation American who was educated at the Lititz Boys Academy and later built a career in public service and newspaper publishing.

His life reached well beyond the page. He was politically active, associated with Thaddeus Stevens, and during the Civil War he organized Company H of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and served as its captain. After the war, he spent much of his career in journalism, especially in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania.

Rauch also wrote with a playful voice under the pseudonym "Pit Schweffelbrenner," using Pennsylvania Dutch for humorous letters on politics and everyday life. That mix of language, comedy, and regional identity makes his work especially valuable today, both as literature and as a record of Pennsylvania German culture.