Among the earliest women composers in the American colonies, the Solitary Sisters of the Ephrata Cloister wrote intricate hymn melodies and texts during the 1740s for use in worship services. Several compositions and lyrics in the illuminated manuscript known as the Ephrata Codex are attributed to Sister Föben (Christiana Lassie), Sister Ketura (Catherine Hagaman), and Sister Hanna (Hannah Lichty).