Francis Daniel Pastorius was born in Sommerhausen, Germany, in 1651. Pastorius studied at the University of Altdorf and practiced law in Frankfurt. While a lawyer Pastorius was converted by the religious ideas of William Penn.

In 1683 Pastorius arranged for a group of twelve Quaker families from Krefeld to sail to America on a ship called the Concord. When Pastorius arrived in Philadelphia he purchased 15,000 acres of land from William Penn and established a settlement of Germantown, the first permanent settlement of German immigrants in America.

Pastorius became Germantown's burgomaster and in 1687 a member of Pennsylvania's assembly. Germantown concentrated on producing cloth and sold considerable quantities to New York and Boston. Pastorius was opposed to slavery and it was banned in Germantown. In 1688 he became the first person in America to organize a petition against slavery. He also campaigned against it in other German colonies in America.

Pastorius also taught at his own school but also a member of staff at the Quaker school in Philadelphia. He also wrote several books and pamphlets including Methodical Directions to Attain the True Spelling, Reading and Writing of English (1698). Francis Daniel Pastorius died in Germantown on 1st January, 1720.