大多數的記述都將傳說的起源歸到弗朗茨·馮勒赫（英语：Franz von Löher）。他是曾到美國訪問的德國人，1847年出版著作Geschichte und Zustände der Deutschen in Amerika（德國人在美國的歷史和狀況）。[12]他似乎把這個關鍵投票的故事只設定在賓夕凡尼亞州，決定德語是否為該州的官方語言，而非美國全國。（當時美國國會座落在該州的費城，費城同時也是該州的首府。令事件更加混淆的是，米倫伯格在出任美國眾議院議長前，也曾經出任賓夕凡尼亞州眾議院的議長。）根據他的說法，投票結果打平，於是米倫伯格給英語投下決定性的一票。[13]
^Heath, Shirley Brice & Frederick Mandabach. Language Status Decisions and the Law in the United States, in Cobarrubias, Juan & Joshua A. Fishman, eds., Progress in Language Planning, p. 94 (1983)
^Arndt, Karl J. R. German as the Official Language of the United States of America?, Monatshefte, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Summer, 1976), pp. 129–150 (Arndt's article attempts to trace pre-Loher accounts which may have helped foster the legend, including an 1813 article by Justus Christian Henry Helmuth; at n. 21, Arndt lists seven accounts published between 1927–52 debunking the myth, starting with the 2nd edition of Albert Bernhardt Faust's The German Element in the United States, at Vol. II, pp. 652–56 (1927))
^Lohr, Otto. Deutsch als 'Landessprache' der Vereinigten Staaten?, Mitteilungen der Akademie zur wissenschaftlichen Erforschung und zur Pflege des Deutschtums 4 (1931): 283–90 (in German)
^Wood, Ralph C. The Second Period of the German Society of Pennsylvania and the Muhlenberg Legend, publication?, cited in The German American Review, 1949
