He married Mary Catherine Hall in 1774, with whom he would have eight children. Despite his family beginning to take root in Philadelphia, Muhlenberg found he had no choice but to flee Philadelphia upon the outbreak of Revolutionary War hostilities in the region. Returning to his hometown of Trappe, he took up the study of botany.
He served as the pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 1780 through 1815. In 1785, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society. In 1787, he was also made the first president of Franklin College.
In 1779, he retired and devoted himself to the study of botany. He is best known as a botanist. Muhlenbergia, a well-known genus of grasses, was named in his honor. His chief works are Catalogus Plantarum Americae Septentrionalis (1813) and Descriptio Uberior Graminum et Plantarum Calamariarum Americae Septentrionalis Indiginarum et Cicurum (1817).
By his thorough work, his publications, his collections, and his correspondence with European botanists, he did much to advance the knowledge of American botany. The Henry Ernest Muhlenberg papers, which contains scientific letters written to Muhlenberg, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
The Henry Ernest Muhlenberg papers, which contains scientific letters written to Muhlenberg, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
