Archives

The fonds consists of newsclippings and photocopies of newsclippings relating to the Schneider genealogy, family reunions, and milling in Ontario.

Ida Brubacher Bauman (10 April 1890-14 November 1987) was born in Woolwich Township to Dilman and Louisa Cressman Brubacher. She received her certification as a registered nurse in 1919 from the State of Illinois. She was married to Enoch Bauman. They lived most of their married life in Waterloo and attended Erb Street Mennonite Church. They had two children.

J. Harold Sherk was a pastor in the Ontario district of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church, taught at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener, and served with Mennonite Central Committee. He was also involved with the Conference of Historic Peace Churches and provided support to conscientious objectors in Alternative Service during World War II. From 1958-1969 he was the director of the National Service Bureau for Religious Objectors in Washington, D.C.

In 1932, the Mennonite Conference of Ontario appointed a committee to explore how the conference could provide a systematic mutual aid plan for ill and needy members. The Mennonite Aid Union, which sprung from a conference initiative in 1866, already provided an alternative to property insurance. In the 1930s, the conference was concerned that life insurance, medical insurance and other products were also making inroads in Mennonite communities. Commercial insurance companies and other non-Mennonite bodies that provided similar services were theologically objectionable to many Mennonite groups because these organizations were willing to engage in litigation, and affiliation with them weakened the bonds of community within the church. Traditionally, aid to fellow members in Mennonite Church congregations was coordinated by local deacons, however by the 1930s there was an acknowledgement that this more informal system was weakening.

These microfilms from the Public Archives of Canada, the National Archives of the United States and Bethel College Historical Library were obtained by Frank H. Epp for the Mennonites in Canada history project in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Old Mennonite Church was composed of district conferences organized by descendants of nineteenth century Swiss-South German Mennonite and Amish immigrants to North America. Participating conferences were: Allegheny, Atlantic Coast, Conservative, Franconia, Franklin, Gulf States, Illinois, Indiana-Michigan, Iowa-Nebraska, Lancaster, Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada, New York State Fellowship, North Central, Northwest, Ohio, Southwest and Virginia.

The 70th Anniversary Dankfest Committee was an ad hoc, inter-Mennonite committee which planned a service of worship and celebration to commemorate the migration of Mennonites from Russia to Canada in 1924. The service was held on Saturday, October 15, 1994 at the Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church.

Aaron Clemens Kolb (Dec. 7, 1871-May 15, 1937) was the son of Jacob Z. Kolb and Maria Bowman. At the age of 17 he went to Elkhart, Indiana where he worked with the Mennonite Publishing Co. owned by John F. Funk. He served as the first secretary of the Elkhart Institute (later Goshen College). He married Phoebe Mumaw on Jan. 1, 1899.

Abe Wiebe (1925-   ) was born in Ukraine. His family immigrated from Russia to Manitoba in 1928. In the early 1940s he moved to Ontario and was involved in a variety of business enterprises. He entered the real estate business in 1951. He became the developer of the land that became the University of Waterloo.

Margarethe Kroeger (1896-1988) was born in Rosenthal, south Russia to David and Margaretha (Krahn) Kroeger. The Kroeger family were renowned clockmakers. She married Abraham Peter Regier (1895-1995) in June 1920. Around this time, the couple lost both sets of parents to the typhus epidemic of 1919-1920.

Abraham Oberholtzer was born in Waterloo Township in 1834, and was ordained deacon of the Hagey Mennonite congregation in 1889. He married Sarah Erb; they had eight children.

Abraham Break Sherk (Nov. 6, 1832-Nov. 27, 1916) was born near Breslau, Ontario, the son of Samuel Sherk and Magdalena Break. He was raised in the Brethren in Christ Church, but after training at Oberlin College in Ohio became a minister in the United Brethren in Christ Church. Later in life he was part of the Congregational church. He also began to write historical articles on Waterloo County themes; a number of these were published in various sources.

The fonds consists of a four generation genealogical chart for Abraham Berge (1743-1818) done by George F. P. Wanger, Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The chart includes two daughters of Berge, Hannah and Catharine, who married Jacob Bingeman and Abram Hunsberger who moved to Waterloo County, Ontario

The fonds consists of photocopies from Abraham Bowman's family Bible, with an undated cover letter from Bruce W. Jantzi.

Abraham Hiebert Wiebe (Sept. 1, 1892-Aug. 29, 1979) was born in Bergfeld, Manitoba. He studied at Bluffton College, Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin. He had a career in Fisheries, beginning at the U.S. federal hatchery at Fairport, Iowa (1926-1933), then the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission, and from 1937 to 1957 for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Abraham M. Bowman (Jan. 14, 1874-Apr. 24, 1964) was the eldest son of Levi Bowman and Barbara Martin. On February 23, 1897 he married Catharine Brubacher (Aug. 13, 1873-Oct. 3, 1964). She was the daughter of Henry M. Brubacher (1838-1910) and Magdalena Algeiger (1843-1911). Abraham and Catharine had three children; only one, Henry, survived to adulthood.

Abraham M. Martin (25 January 1938- 25 November 2001) was a David Martin Mennonite who was disciplined by this small group that divided from the Old Order Mennonites prior to 1920 for his independent theological views. He published a book, Especially for Mennonites : a message of love in 2001. It appeared about one month after his sudden death.

The fonds consists of a six-page family register.

Abram Abram Harder, the son of Abram H. and Anna (Nikkel) Harder was born in 1906 in Pordenau (Molotschna Colony, South Russia), the fourth of eight children. The family immigrated to Canada in 1924, settling first in Arnaud, Manitoba. It was here where Abram married Maria Braun (1910-1937) in 1931.

Abram B. Kolb (Nov. 10, 1862-Mar. 15, 1925) was the eldest son of Jacob Z. Kolb and Maria Bowman. He grew up in the Berlin, Ontario area, and received his high school education there. He followed the vocation of a teacher for some years, until he went to Elkhart, Indiana in 1886 to serve as an assistant editor in the Mennonite Publishing Co. owned by John F. Funk. He continued in the Company until 1904. He composed a number of hymns over the years that appeared the Church hymnal.

Abram Flaming (24 June 1890-23 November 1980) was born in the Molotschnaia Colony in Ukraine. He married Elizabeth Dick in October 1917. They moved to the Crimea after their marriage. They fled in 1922/23 and were among the group of refugees stranded in the port of Batum on the Black Sea, eventually finding their way to Constantinople and to North America.

Abram Honderich (17 April 1873-20 March 1961) was the youngest child of eight children born to John Honderich (1825-1907) and Veronica Roth (1828-1916). On 15 Jan 1896 he married Lydia Shantz (1 January 1877-8 May 1948). They had five sons and three daughters.

The Abundant Life Conference was begun by a renewal group primarily based in the former Western Ontario Mennonite Conference. The group had an ecumenical charismatic orientation, and focused its efforts on an annual multi-day conference that included teaching sessions during the day, and mass worship services in the evening. A key leader throughout the conference's history was Mahlon Roes.

The Abundant Life Fellowship began services in 1992 and formally organized in 1994. Mahlon and Pearl Roes are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by a group of interested individuals. In 2000 worship services were held at Conrad Grebel College, Westmount Road N., Waterloo, Onario. Mahlon Roes served throughout the life of the congregation as its pastoral leader. In 1995 there were 28 members; in 2000, 26. The congregation's formation was influenced by the theological perspective of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Association. The congregation ended in 2002.

This collection contains unpublished papers, often from academic conferences. The authors are not necessarily academics.

Adalbert Goertz (3 December 1928-7 May 2011) was born in Langenau, Kreis Rosenberg, West Prussia, Germany, the son of Landwirt (later also Rittergutsbesitzer) Paul Gerhard Goertz (1887-1945), Mennonite, and his second wife Margarete (Schukat,1900-1996) Goertz, a Lutheran. In 1944 he was drafted into an anti-aircraft unit.

Administration

Sub-Series 1: Early Administrative Records

Vol. 1: Misc., 1964, 1967, 1974

1. Name and address file, 1973
2. File of Ontario Mennonite youth attending university, 1964
3. Name and address list, 1967

Vol. 2.: 1965?

1. Address book, undated
2. Student sign-out log, 1965?
3. Misc. record book, 1965

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

Originally formed by two Mennonite conferences in the United States as The Congo Inland Mission, this organization became the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) in 1972. Following the name change, the mission expanded into Lesotho (1973), Botswana (1975), Burkina Faso (1978) and the Transkei (1982). In 1984, the five partner groups were: Evangelical Mennonite Church, General Conference of Mennonites, Evangelical Mennonite Brethren, Evangelical Mennonite Conference of Canada and the Mennonite Brethren Church. In 2011, AIMM consisted of eight member conferences from North America, Europe and Africa.

Agape Fellowship began as a house church movement in London, Ontario in 1976 at the initiative of Alvin Roth, just retired as Director of Mission Services in London. A number of small groups developed through the decade of Agape's existence. During these years it received financial assistance for the Inter-Mennonite Mission and Service Board. Sunday morning worship services began in 1988. The group became a member congregation of the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada in 1989.

Agatha Schmidt (1922-2016) was the child of Agatha (Janzen) and Franz N. Loewen. The couple had six children; three survived infancy. The family lived in Gnadenfeld, in the former Molotschna Colony, Ukraine. Franz Loewen was a minister. He attended seminary in Switzerland and was ordained in 1911.

Agnes Fast (1907-1999) was born in Klippenfeld, Molotschna, South Russia to Wilhelm and Helena (Dyck) Fast. She married Johann Thiessen (b.1906) in 1931. The couple had four children. The family endured hardships in the 1930s. Johann was arrested and exiled several times. In 1943, they joined the Great Trek to Germany. Here, they lived as refugees. Johann was conscripted into the German army and not heard from again. Agnes and her children immigrated to Ontario in 1950, sponsored by relatives in Port Rowan. In 1951 they moved to Kitchener. In 1926 Agnes was baptized in the Mennonite Church, and in 1959 was rebaptized and became a member of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church.

In 1985, the ad hoc MCC Ontario Land Use Task Force became the Agricultural Concerns Committee, a standing committee of MCC Ontario. The committee's mandate expanded to include farm issues such as the environment, the changing farm economy, theology of the land, producer/consumer relationships, free trade and rural community. Gordon Hunsberger became the first staff person. He was a farmer and former MCC volunteer in Haiti who was working on development issues for the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Orland Gingerich followed as staff person in 1989. Gingerich had a long history as a minister to rural congregations and a farmer. He was active in the land use task forces of MCC Ontario and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario in the 1970s and early 1980s. After Orland's retirement in 1996, Jamie MacDonald served as interim director.

Albert Drudge (1918-1994) married Annie Burkholder (1915-2002) in 1943. The couple operated a dairy farm in the Markham, Ontario area. A trip to Africa and India in 1965 inspired them to dispose of their herd and sign up as Mennonite Central Committee volunteers. In 1970, they spent eight months in Akron, Pennsylvania. After a brief period in Nairobi, they were assigned to work on school and hospital construction.  While there, Albert was also able to obtain permission to build several water systems in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) from 1971-1977. From November 1977-1980 they worked on a hospital building project in Tanzania. They spent four months in India at the end of 1980, building two experimental water wheels for demonstration purposes. After their return to the Markham area, they retired but took many trips including several overseas.  They maintained extensive contact by letter and visits with former workers and colleagues and built a vacation cottage in the Bancroft area. 

Albert Heer was the son of John and Magdalena (Westfall) Heer. He grew up in Breslau, Ontario and attended Breslau Mennonite Church. Albert married Rose Sully in the 1930s.

Following a year of doctoral study in Basel, Switzerland in 1953, Albert J. Meyer (1929- ) was asked to be the director of Mennonite Central Committee in France, the Mennonite liaison with the World Council of Churches, and the Mennonite representative on the Continuation Committee of the Historic Peace Churches in Europe. In 1958, he returned to his alma mater, Goshen College, where he taught physics. He was also executive secretary of the Mennonite Board of Education (Mennonite Church) for 28 years.

This collection of 35mm slides was prepared as an undergraduate class project. It consists of exterior shots of 20 Old Order Amish or Old Order Mennonite Mennonite parochial schools. Also included are three pictures of Poole Mennonite Church and a map of the Wallenstein area schools.

Alice Snyder was born on 17 November 1917 to Menno and Ida Snyder. She grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Kitchener, Ontario. She had four siblings: Clifford, Florence, Irene and Harvey. During World War II, Alice and Ida managed the Ontario Women's Missionary and Service Auxiliary's (WMSA) cutting room from their home. They purchased and cut cloth to be sent to congregational sewing circles. The finished garments were then shipped to Europe for wartime aid.

Allan B. Shantz (Aug. 14, 1873-Nov. 14, 1931) was a farmer in the Kitchener, Ontario area. He married Catherine Shirk on Mar. 1, 1898; they had eight children.

Lewis Howard Reesor (1919-1999) and Alma (Fretz) Reesor (1921-1989) lived in the Markham, Ontario area. Both joined the Wideman Mennonite Church in 1934.  Lewis Reesor was a conscientious objector during the Second World War, and served from November 1941 to March 1942 at the Montreal River Alternative Service work camp. The couple married in 1947 and had five children. They farmed at Lot 26 Concession 8, Markham Township.

Located on Lot 32, Concession 5, Markham Twp., East side of Fifth line, North of 19th Ave.

Films created by J. Harold Sherk while visiting Alternative Service work camps in Ontario and British Columbia in 1942. He served as secretary of the Conference of Historic Peace Churches, and was resident chaplain at the Montreal River Alternative Service work camp (1941-1942). He also accompanied Alternative Service workers from Ontario to camps in British Columbia in 1942.

2 cm of textual records; 20 cassette tapes; 3 reels of 8mm film; 16 cm of graphic material (4 photograph albums; ca. 100 individual photographs) 
Note: Interviews marked with an asterisk (*) have been digitally copied.

The congregation dissolved in 1922. It was affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario from 1852 to 1922. The language of worship was English; the transition from German occurred in the 1870s.

Alumni Association

Sub-Series 1: Minutes and Correspondence

1. Minutes, correspondence, memos, 1967-1978 
   (Association inactive 1978-1981)
2. Minutes, correspondence, memos, 1981-1990
3. Minutes, correspondence, 1991-1995
   (Association inactive 1995-1999)
4. Minutes, correspondence, 1999-2003
5. Minutes, 2004-2024

Alvin Culp (3 Sept 1885-20 Jan 1982) was born in Vineland Station, Ontario. He was the son of Isaac G. and Matilda (Wismer). He married Alma (Werner); the couple had four children: Isaac W. Culp, Margaret Good, Enid Schmidt and Catherine Hallman. Alvin was ordained a deacon of the First Mennonite Church (Vineland) in 1937. Church members recall he was very conscientious in his deacon's duties of caring for the poor. He died in Kitchener but was interred in the Vineland cemetery.

Alvin Gingerich was born 18 November 1926 to John Z. Gingerich and Annie Steinmann Gingerich. He was the third child and second son in a family of four. Alvin died 30 April 2004 and is buried in the Steinmann Mennonite Church cemetery. His older brother was minister Orland Gingerich.

Alvin Nelson Roth (18 December 1913-27 September 2002) was the second of ten children born to David Roth and Barbara Jantzi. He grew up on a farm near Wellesley, Ontario in a typical Amish Mennonite home. Although he would have liked to continue his education, as was the custom of the time in his church, he left school on his 14th birthday.

Amanda Otterbein was born to Lydia (Kolb) and Henry Otterbein near Breslau, Ontario in 1871. She was two years of age when her mother died; she was then cared for by the Benjamin Shuh family near Natchez. She married Moses Heckendorn; the couple had eleven children. Three died at a young age.

These files contain photocopies of original documents from the National Library and Archives, the Ontario Archives and the University of Toronto Archives. Often there are typescript transcriptions prepared by Roth, as well as explanatory notes explaining the significance and relationship of the documents.

These congregations have their origins in two divisions from the original Amish Mennonite congregations in Ontario. The Mornington Amish Mennonite Church (Nafziger or Poole West) divided in 1903 from the original Mornington Amish Mennonite congregation (today, Poole Mennonite Church), and the Cedar Grove Amish Mennonite Church (or Lichti Church) was formed in 1911 from the Wellesley Amish Mennonite Church (now Maple View). Subsequently new congregations formed out of Mornington or Cedar Grove, either by division or outreach. These include: Pine Haven Amish Mennonite Church (Warren, Ontario), Fairhaven Amish Mennonite Church (Milverton, Ontario), Fellowship Haven Amish Mennonite Church (Monkton, Ontario), Anchor of Hope Anabaptist Fellowship (Stratford, Ontario), Whitechurch Amish Mennonite Church (Whitechurch, Ontario), Salem Mennonite Fellowship (Atwood, Ontario) and Canaan Christian Fellowship (Athens, Ontario). Another congregation, Morningview Amish Mennonite Church (Newton, Ontario) was formed out of a division with the Old Order Amish. Fairhaven has established four mission churches in Ukraine: Kiev (1993), Berezyanka (2004), Shipintsi (2006) and Gorodetskoye (2011).

In 1999 the Institute of Anabaptist Mennonite Studies approved an oral history project on the Amish Mennonite Experience in Ontario, as a means to seek and preserve stories, recollections and descriptions of their experience in Southwestern Ontario. In addition of recollections of significant events, persons and anecdotes, the project wanted to record changes in the piety and worship style of those persons who were part of the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference, which became the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference, which merged into the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada in 1988.

The Amish Mennonite Fire and Storm Aid Union began in 1872, though the historical record is unclear on the reasons for establishing the Aid Union. The Mennonite Conference of Ontario had established such a plan six years earlier; this may have been an influence.

This material was microfilmed at the Muddy Creek Library, Denver, Pennsylvania, by Sam Steiner in 1977. It includes both Old Order Mennonite and Reformed Mennonite items gathered by Hoover. There are two reels of 16mm microfilm. The contents include a bibliography of Old Order Mennonite publications and copies of Reformed Mennonite publications. There are miscellaneous items at the end.

Anna Redekop (1888-1942) was born in Blumengart, Chortitza, South Russia. The daughter of Johann Wilhelm Redekop and Helena Friesen, she had seven siblings. She married Peter D. Dyck (1872-1920) in 1908; the couple had 3 children. She immigrated to Manitoba in 1926 with her children, and later moved to Toronto.

Anna Schmidt (1929-2022) was born to Katharina (Schoenke) and Johann Schmidt in Margenau, Molotschna, Soviet Ukraine. Her father died in 1933 in a Soviet labour camp. In 1943, along with her mother and brother, she joined Mennonite refugees fleeing the Soviet Union in an event commonly called the "Great Trek." After several years as refugees in Germany, Anna and her mother immigrated to Canada in 1947. Anna married Jacob J. Friesen (1930-2016) in 1951; the couple would have three children. Following her marriage, Anna lived most of her life in Vineland and then Waterloo, Ontario. Her brother Georg was separated from Anna and her mother in 1945, but was able to immigrate to Canada in the 1970s with his family.

Anna Neufeld (1894-1942) was born in Schoenfeld, South Russia to Gerhard and Helen (Schroeder) Neufeld. She had three siblings including a brother Peter (1893-1919) who was closest in age to her and died young. The children were raised on a large family estate. Anna married Cornelius H. Tiessen, a teacher, in 1918 and moved to the village of Waldheim. Cornelius served on medical trains with the Red Cross during the First World War.

Anna Shantz (July 25, 1871-July 29, 1917) was the daughter of John D. Shantz (Oct. 4, 1839-June 13, 1923) and Elizabeth Steiner (Dec. 12, 1840-June 24, 1901). She was born in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County on her father's farm.  On April 8, 1903 she married Albert Habermehl (September 30, 1874-1964). They moved to the St. Jacobs area and later to Conestogo. They had one son and five daughters.

Anna (Rempel) Woelke (1905-1955) was born in Tiegenhagen, Molotschna, south Russia to Dietrich D. and Elisabeth (Willms) Rempel. She married Jacob Woelke in 1926 in Gruenthal, Manitoba.

Arcade Mennonite Church joined the Mennonite Conference of Ontario in 1957. Arcade is located 40 miles south of Clarence, N.Y. Its charter service was held on Dec. 16, 1956 with sixteen members from five families. Edward Diener was the founding bishop; LeRoy Yoder was licensed as a minister to serve the congregation. The Arcade congregation discontinued after their minister had been set back from ministry by the conference due to conflicts within the small congregation. No accessions have been received from the Arcade congregation.

This fonds consists of architectural drawings related in some way to Conrad Grebel University College; there are a few miscellaneous drawings from within the larger Ontario Mennonite community. 

Archives

Vol. 1: Records, correspondence, minutes, 1974-

1. Original archives master plan (obsolete Sept. 1974)
2. Correspondence, Amos Reesor family, 1964-1974 (J.W. Fretz files)
3. Correspondence of director, 1965-1975 (J.W. Fretz files)
4. Correspondence with Conference of Mennonites in Canada, and Canadian Conference Archives, 1974-1977
5. Minutes, 1974-1976 - History-Archives Canada, Conference of Mennonites in Canada History-Archives Committee

Arnold Gingrich (18 Dec 1910-4 Oct 1970) was born to Enoch and Rebecca (Witmer) Gingrich. He married Gladys Shantz; they had two children. Gingrich was ordained in 1935 for the Bothwell Mennonite Church. In 1960 he moved to London to serve as president of the London Rescue Mission Board (1960-1964) and field secretary for the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario (1961-1969). In 1968 and 1969 he was president of the London Council of Churches, later called the Inter-Church Council.

The Association of Conscientious Objectors was formed in 1986 and ended in 1996. It was a more formal extension of a series of conscientious objector reunions in Ontario that began in 1978, with the last held in 1991. These were initially held by men who had served in Alternative Service work camps during World War II under the auspices of the Canadian government. The 1991 event was a CO rally intended to present a positive witness to younger Mennonites who had no personal memory of conscription for war service.

Seymour Octet, ca. 1942. - 1 audio disc (ca. 4 min) : acetate on glass base, 78 rpm ; 24 cm. - David Spencer Limited Personal Recording Service (Vancouver, B.C.) . - The quartet was comprised of 8 conscientious objectors serving an Alternative Service term at the Seymour Mountain Park Alternative Service Work Camp (Dollarton, British Columbia) in 1942. Members included: Abe [or Abram] Enns (Manitoba), John Peters (Manitoba), Andrew Steckly (Ontario), Peter Derksen (Ontario), Paul Hunsberger (Ontario), Rudy Dick (Ontario), Isaac Andres (Saskatchewan), Jake [Siemens?] (Ontario).- The disc was donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario by Donna Nazfziger in 2016. It was originally owned by Andrew Steckly. - The disc is cracked but two songs are playable: ""Just a little talk with Jesus" and "Home of the soul." Digital reference copies are available at the Archives. - Names and provinces of octet members transcribed from audio recording.

PACS 201 : Roots of Conflict and Violence correspondence course, [198-?]. -16 audio cassettes of lectures by Conrad Brunk, 1 video entitled Nice guys finish first / Jeremy Taylor, Richard Dawkins.--[London]: BBC, 1986.

Inaugural service / Conrad Grebel College ; scripture reading, Walter Klaassen ; invocation, Henry P. Epp ; authorization, Newton Gingrich ; act of inauguration, Milton R. Good ; inaugural prayer, James Reusser ; president's statement, J. Winfield Fretz ; chaplain's statement, Walter Klaassen ; greetings from Waterloo Lutheran University, Francis Wagschal ; greetings from affiliated colleges, A.W. Rees ; greetings from University of Waterloo, J. Gerald Hagey ; inaugural address, Carl Kreider ; benediction, Henry Yantzi. - 25 Oct 1964: Waterloo, Ont. - 3 audio reels (1 hr, 30 min) : acetate, 7.5 ips, stereo. - Donated to the Archives by Conrad Grebel College. Digitized from audio reel in 2013.*

In July, 1951, the mission board of the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference sponsored a Summer Vacation Bible School in a tent at the corner of Romeo and Albert streets in Stratford, Ontario. In the spring of 1952, the conference mission board purchased a house at 464 Brunswick Street and regular church services began that September. In 1953, Ephraim Gingerich was appointed overseer of the meetings; interested members of the Poole, East Zorra, Steinmann and Wellesley Mennonite congregations supported the venture.

A frame church building was erected in the town of Baden in 1913 by Peter Moyer, a member of the Steinmann Amish Mennonite congregation. Baden was a mission post until 1945. Beginning in 1930 a minister was supplied by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario (Noah Hunsberger, Newton S. Weber). In 1940 it was agreed that the Sunday-school staff should be supplied by First Mennonite Church. In 1945 Baden organized as a formal congregation of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. James Martin was the first pastor. Subsequent pastors were Urie Bender, Elmer Grove, Arnold Cressman and David Groh.

Barbara Bowman Shuh (1857-1937) was born to Moses and Anna Bowman near Mannheim, Ontario. In 1878, she married David Shuh; they farmed on the Shuh farm near Berlin (Kitchener). In 1908, she became president of the first sewing circle of Berlin Mennonite Church; she held this post until 1917. Barbara Shuh was known in the community as a traditional healer. David and Barbara had seven children; David died in 1920 after they moved from the farm to Kitchener.

Barbara Davis was born in Alsace, France in 1821 and came to Canada with her parents at age nine. She married Benjamin Hoover of Rainham, Ontario in 1838; the couple had six children.

The fonds consists of an ancestor chart for Barbara Kratz Honsberger (Nov. 15, 1789-Apr. 10-1878).

4 sleeves containing 67 35mm colour slides. These slides were created at a barn raising for John and Pat Weber just east of St. Jacobs after a barn fire in early 1978. The slides trace the sequence of the barn raising from 8:00 am to completion at 4:30 pm. The photographer is not identified, but is likely David Hunsberger.

Heinrich Baumann (or Henry Bauman) was born in Pennsylvania and lived from 1789-1866. He married Marie Mosser (1795-1868) in 1815. The couple had seven children.

 "The Beachy Amish Mennonites are a conservative Anabaptist denomination with Old Order Amish origins. They have supported the 1632 Dordrecht Confession of Faith and also maintained a set of distinctive practices and limits on lifestyle choices. However, they are not as strict in their practices as the Old Order Amish and have been evangelically oriented, prompting them to engage in outreach and mission programs. The Beachy denomination has been congregational but with many service programs stitching the individual churches together. While the formal Beachy denomination is the largest Amish Mennonite constituency, several other constituencies have their roots in the Beachy movement, including Maranatha Amish Mennonite, Ambassadors Amish Mennonite, Berea Amish Mennonite, Midwest Beachy Amish Mennonite, and Mennonite Christian Fellowship."

Beatrice Brenneman (1921-2007) was the daughter of Daniel Brenneman (1895-1957) of East Zorra Township. She married Ivan Bender in 1941. During the First World War, Daniel Brenneman and Willie Brenneman were picked up by the military and taken to London, Ontario where they were detained for several weeks. Leaders in the Amish Mennonite church worked to have them released.

In 1829, a site on the farm of Samuel Bechtel was chosen to create a burial ground and construct a building that served as a union meetinghouse and later a school. In 1830, Samuel Bechtel donated the land. Mennonite and Tunker (Brethren in Christ) groups used the meetinghouse, and it is considered the starting place of the Wanner and Hagey (Preston) Mennonite churches. The Waterloo Historical Society placed a plaque on the property in 1929.

The site, approminately one half acres in size, is located on Stager Place (Lot 6, Part 1) within the city of Cambridge, Ontario and near the intersection of highways 401 and 24. The site was owned by the Wanner Mennonite Church. In 2011, the congregation agreed to hand it over to a non-profit responsibility for its preservation. The Society for the Preservation of the Samuel Bechtel Burial Ground was incorporated in 2011 to preserve the cemetery.

In 2018, Ken Bechtel donated a scanned copy of a 1642 mandate regarding the Anabaptists of Schleitheim, and a transcription of the interrogation of his ancestor Christian Bechtold (b. 1595). A translation of the mandate was provided to the Archives by Erica Jantzen.

Benjamin Bowman Shantz (23 June 1880-17 Dec. 1964) was the son of Jacob E. and Lydia Bowman Shantz. He was married to Myra Snyder (11 July 1885-26 July 1980) on 7 March 1908. They had four sons and four daughters.

The fonds consists of family reunion records of Benjamin Hallman and Elizabeth Detweiler.

The fonds consists of the family register for Benjamin Weber (Feb. 2, 1786-Jan. 21, 1863) and Veronica Hershey Weber (May 24, 1784-Apr. 11, 1859). They were married Apr. 28, 1806 and had seven children. The family record was already detached from the original Bible.

Located seven miles west of Alma on the Elora Rd. The congregation began services in 1941, and formally organized on Dec. 13, 1946 at the home of John F. Garber. The first building was occupied in 1952. Gordon Schrag is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated as a Sunday school mission known as the Parker Mission. There were 38 charter members.

A leaflet "To the members of the Bergey family" soliciting information and subscriptions for a family genealogy, Genealogy of the Bergey family: a record of the descendants of John Ulrich Bergey and his wife, Mary, published in 1925.

Minister Simon Martin served in 1930 as a congregational leader. In 1925 there were 25 members. The congregation dissolved in 1931. It had been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario since 1820. The language of worship was English.

Located at the corner of Creek Rd. and East-West Line in Virgil, Ontario, the Bethany congregation is an outgrowth of the Niagara United Mennonite Church. In the early 1960s there was greater pressure in that church to use the English language. On December 1964, 143 members from the Niagara church became the charter members of the new Bethany Church. 

The Bethel Chapel congregation began services in 1961, and formally organized in 1964. The first building was a house purchased in 1963 and renovated as a "Sunday School and Worship Centre," opening in 1964. The congregation originated through outreach by the Ontario Mennonite Mission Board, the Western Ontario Mennonite Mission Board, the General Conference Mennonite Church and individuals. the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference was the official sponsor.

Located 2 miles (3 km) south of Hwy. 2 on the Kent-Elgin County line, about 40 miles (65 km) west of London, Ontario. Bethel Mennonite had been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario since its formation. The language of worship was English. The congregation began services ca. 1870, and formally organized in 1875. Early families were Brubacher, Moyer, Snyder, Bergey, Woolner, King, McKay, Saylor, Devitt, and Cressman, who had come from Waterloo County and from the Niagara frontier.

The church is located about six miles northeast of Floradale. The congregation began in 1947 as a rural outreach of the Elmira and Floradale congregations. Reuben Dettweiler is considered the founding leader of the group. The church building was formerly owned by the United Church.

This fonds consists of unpublished bibliographies on Mennonite themes collected by the Mennonite Archives of Ontario that are not part of other archival collections. Published bibliographies are located in the Conrad Grebel College Library.

Biehn was listed as a regular preaching appointment in 1865, with services every fourth Sunday. In 1870 John Biehn donated one-half acre of land for a church, and a frame church building was erected. A new building was erected in 1964.

Mennonite Archives of Ontario collection of biographical and autobiographical materials

When searching for Ontario Mennonite vital records, bear in mind that "dissenting" groups, such as Mennonites, were not allowed to perform marriages until 1831. Beginning in 1831, dissenting ministers were required to register marriages they performed with a Clerk of the Peace. Marriages were later registered with the counties (formed in 1850), and in 1869, civil registration began. If you would like more assistance locating Ontario vital records, the Archives of Ontario has a helpful guide.

Many Ontario vital and census records are available through the FamilySearch Historical Records Search database. You need to create a free account to search this site.

Marriages were performed by Mennonite bishops (not preachers/ministers or deacons). A bishop normally had charge of several congregations. To determine which Mennonite bishop may have solemnized a marriage in Ontario between 1831-1935, and which district (geographical cluster of congregations) he administered, check the list of bishops, ministers and deacons on the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario website.

Since Mennonites do not practice infant baptism, infant baptism records are not available.

The church was located 1.75 miles north of Highway 84 on Bronson Line, Hay Township. 

The church was located 11/2 miles south of Bright.

The congregation formally organized in 1839. Services were first held in a schoolhouse on the southwest corner of Lot 9, fourth concessions of Block A in Wilmot Township. The first building, erected just across the county line in Oxford County 1850. In 1887 the building was moved and veneered in brick. In 1901 a new building was erected.

Bloomingdale was known as the Snyder Mennonite Church until 1960. The name derived from pioneer Jacob Snyder, an 1806 immigrant. The first meetinghouse was built in 1826 on land conveyed by Jacob Snyder the same year. It was likely destroyed by fire in 1872. The present brick building was erected in the 1870s. The congregation suffered a division and the group that came to be known as the Mennonite Brethren in Christ possessed the building from 1874-1879. A family also left at the time of the Old Order Mennonite division in the late 1880s.

Includes both the published annual report and the President’s report to the board with program and faculty reports attached.

The Brantford Mennonite Church was envisioned by January 1984 when a small group began to meet formally. Prior to this were informal Bible studies in the home of Nic and Ana Neu. The first public worship services began in 1984 on Sunday afternoons at the Y.W.C.A. in Brantford. Doris and Rod Weber served as the first pastors. In 1987 the group rented space at the Seventh Day Adventist church. Later Darrell and Florence Jantzi served as pastors from 1990-1994. Retired Minister Henry Yantzi and his wife, Mae, also provided some leadership during these years.

The church is located at 226 Woolwich St., Breslau, ON, N0B 1M0.

In 1996, M. J. (Mary Jane) Heisey conducted oral history interviews of Brethren in Christ members in Ontario on their nonresistant practice during the the First and Second World Wars. Heisey used the interviews for her Ph. D. dissertation "Seeking community: Brethren in Christ nonresistance and American society, 1914-1958" (Syracuse University, 1998).

Bruce Nix (1916-1996) as born to Elmer and Nina (Sider) Nix in Bertie Township, Ontario where he lived for most of his life. From December 1941-April 1942 he did a term of service at Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp as a conscientous objector. From June 1942-February 1943 he served at a camp near Campbell River, British Columbia. He married Edna Winger while on leave in November 1942; the couple would have three children.  Bruce Nix worked as a farmer, factory worker and carptenter. In the 1950s, the couple were foster parents to over 80 children. Bruce and Edna were members of Sherkston Brethren in Christ Church.

Located at 239 Turnberry St. at the north end of the village of Brussels, the congregation began services in January 1980 with six core families that had been part of the Listowel Mennonite Church and Dungannon Christian Fellowship. In effect the Listowel congregation planted the Brussels congregation at a time when its own space was crowded. Brian Laverty, pastor at Listowel, provided leadership for the first half year. Doug Zehr began pastoral responsibilities in July 1980. The congregation purchased a home in June 1981 and renovated it for worship. The formal organization and charter membership took place in 1981.

a printed invitation to a Burkholder family reunion in Hershey, Pennsylvania, addressed to L.J. Burkholder

C. Arnold Snyder is the son of Clifford Snyder and Doris Swartzentruber Snyder, Canadian Mennonite missionaries to Latin America. He spent his childhood in Argentina and Puerto Rico and his teen years in the United States. He received an honours BA in Religions Studies from the University of Waterloo, and an MA and PhD from McMaster University. His studies concentrated on church history, particularly the Radical Reformation; his dissertation was on the life and thought of Anabaptist Michael Sattler.

The church is located at 173 Northumberland Street, Ayr, Ontario. The Mennonite work in Ayr began in 1954 as an outreach by the Mannheim Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. The congregation formally organized in 1961, the same year it obtained a building. There was a subsequent building program in 1990.

The church was located just off Highway 64 in North Monetville.

Calvin Wall Redekop (1925-2022) was born in Volt, Montana, the son of Jacob K. Redekop and Katherine Wall. He married Freda Pellman (1930- ) on 20 August 1955. They had three sons. Redekop received his B.A. from Goshen College in 1949, his M.A. at the University of Minnesota in 1955, and his Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1959. He taught at Hesston College (1955-1962); Earlham College (1962-1967); Goshen College (1967-1976); Tabor College (Vice-President, 1976-1978); and Conrad Grebel College (1979-1990). Following retirement he and Freda moved to Harrisonburg, VA, where he continued his academic endeavors.

The East Africa Revival began as an ecumenical, grass-roots Christian renewal movement in 1929. The movement emphasized a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ, and encouraged a Christ-centered life in community that broke down barriers of denomination, race, class and ethnicity. Women took significant leadership roles in the movement.

The Canadian Mennonite newspaper was founded in October 1953 by D.W. Friesen and Sons. In October 1962, the Canadian Mennonite Association, an inter-Mennonite, non-profit group of shareholders, became the paper's publisher. On 5 Apr 1967, the Association was incorporated in Manitoba as the Canadian Mennonite Publishing Association, Inc.

Minutes and correspondence of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, predominantly the Ontario Sub-Committee.

In 1966, Mennonite Central Committee (Canada) arranged a conference in Winnipeg for Canadian Mennonite hospitals and nursing homes. It was agreed that an annual meeting would be of mutual benefit. Originally named the Canadian Mennonite Hospitals and Homes Association, the group was renamed the Canadian Mennonite Health Assembly (CMHA) in 1973.

The Canadian Mennonite was a weekly inter-Mennonite newspaper, published by the Canadian Mennonite Publishing Association, Inc. from 1953-1971. It was the first English-language Mennonite newspaper to be distributed nationally. It was printed in Manitoba and marketed primarily to Mennonites of the General Conference, Mennonite Brethren and Old Mennonite denominations. Frank H. Epp was the founding editor (1953-1967). He was succeeded by Larry Kehler (1967-1971). Kehler was associate editor 1963-1965 and 1967- 1968) and managing editor (1965-1967). George C. Friesen was assistant editor (1969-1971). Articles were written by the editorial staff as well as by consulting editors, contributing editors and free-lance writers. The editorial policy of the newspaper was to promote the teachings of the Bible as interpreted and proclaimed by Mennonites. Sources: Epp, Frank H. : The Mennonite Encyclopedia V (p. 270) / Adolf Ens (Scottdale, Pennsylvania : Herald Press, 1990); The Transition from "The Canadian Mennonite" to "Mennonite Reporter" / Lori Kroeker, unpublished term paper, 1983.-; The Canadian Mennonite / Canadian Mennonite Publishing Association (1-1-1; 7-32-2; 7-28-3; 15-3-1; 4-39-2; 7-8-1; 7-8-8; 12-9-3; 11-20-6; 6-12-4; 12-33-3; 13-43-10; 18-34-12; 8-9-7; 10-37-1; 10-37-8; 12-3-1; 12-42-1; 12-50-1; 13-5-1).

The Canadian Mennonite Publishing Service (known as Mennonite Publishing Service until 2003) was established in 1971 as a successor to the Canadian Mennonite which had been published as an inter-Mennonite weekly in Altona, Manitoba by the Canadian Mennonite Association.

Located 1.5 km east of Cassel on the 17th Line, East Zorra Township. The congregation has been affiliated with the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (1964-1988), Mennonite Church (1964-), Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1995-). The language of worship is English.

CBC "Concern" program on Mennonites, 1972 (four tapes - reel-to-reel)

Located on the west side of 10th Line of Markham Township north of Steeles Avenue, the congregation began services in 1867, and formally organized in 1912. The grounds were used as a cemetery from as early as 1824.  The first building was erected in 1861. At that time it was primarily used for funerals. Samuel Reesor is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania.

These reels include many cemetery records from York County, Ontario. Of interest to Mennonites are the following:

The Archives holds microfilm copies of census records (1842, 1851, 1861, 1871) for areas in Ontario with significant Mennonite populations. These may be used in the library/archives only. Note that Library Archives Canada has increasing amounts of its census data online.

For records of the Chaplain/Director of Student Affairs prior to 1989 see Administration

Ada Christene ("Chris") Allemang (1940-1990) was raised in Cambridge, Ontario and lived in Kitchener. She grew up in the United Church. She marred Vernon Allemang in 1963; the couple had two children. She was a music supervisor of public schools in two townships, served on the executive of Women Alive, helped found the Independent Living Centre, and was a member, choir director and organist of First Mennonite Church. Following a cancer diagnosis that left her in a wheelchair, she gave personal support to other cancer patients and frequently shared her story with church and other groups.

Daniel Schrag (April 1813-Nov. 1, 1891) was born in Bavaria. His first wife was Elizabeth Güngerich (July 27, 1825- Nov. 26, 1854). There were six children to this union. On June 24, 1849 Daniel Schrag was ordained as a minister for the East Zorra Amish Mennonite Church. On June 3, 1855 he married Magdalena Steinman (October 1825-Sept. 8, 1878). Nine children were born to the couple.

Christian Schrag (Jan. 8, 1870-Nov. 6, 1939) was the youngest son of Christian and Vernonica Schrag. On Dec. 23, 1902 he married Mary Gingerich; they had six children. In 1909 he was ordained a deacon at the Zurich, Ontario congregation. In 1911 he was ordained a minister at the same place.

Christian Eby (1821-1859), born near the nascent village of Berlin (later Kitchener, Ontario), was the eighth child of Bishop Benjamin and Maria (Brubacher) Eby. He married Mary Cressman in 1843; the couple had two children but neither survived infancy. Christian Eby was a farmer who was ordained as a minister in 1854 shortly after his father's death. He was said to be a gifted and knowledgeable preacher and church leader, however his time in this role was brief due to ailing health.

Christian Eby (1704-1756) was born in Germany and died in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His son George (or Georg) was born and lived in Lancaster County. His daugher Esther (1774-1826) married Peter Reesor (or Risser, 1775-1854). The couple moved to Markham Township, York County.

Items in this Mennonite Archives of Ontario collection consist of pictorial materials developed and distributed for Christian education purposes. Items in this collection are from non-Mennonite sources but have been used in Mennonite congregations. Items by Mennonite publishers are catalogued in the library collections.

Christian Gascho (25 March 1857-30 January 1943) was the oldest son of Bishop John Gascho and Barbara Erb. On 1 October 1878 he married Leah Zehr; they had one son and five daughters. On 10 December 1893 he was ordained as a deacon in the Wilmot Amish Mennonite Church; on 4 November 1894 he was ordained as a minister.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) grew out of a call in the 1980s to Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches to establish a non-violent, volunteer peacekeeping force. A steering committee was formed, and CPT was formally organized in 1987 with a head office in Chicago. The Church of the Brethren joined the Mennonite Church and General Conference Mennonite Church as CPT sponsors in 1986, but the Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ withdrew their sponsorship. Friends United Meeting joined as a sponsor in 1996. Mennonite Church Canada is also a sponsor.

Christian (Chris) R. Brunk (5 January 1884-8 January 1972). He married Fannie Kropf on 13 April 1909; they had two children. He was ordained deacon of the Poole Mennonite Church in 1920 or 1921, and served for many years as secretary of the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference. He and his family farmed in Ellis Township until 1955.

Christian Reesor (16 April 1833-26 December 1915) became a minister and bishop in the Mennonite Church. He was ordained as a minister in 1863 and as bishop in 1867. At the time of the division in the Mennonite Church in 1889, he affiliated with the Old Order Mennonites. Christian's youngest child, Thomas (18 March 1867-20 March 1954) was also a minister in the Old Order Mennonite church; he was ordained in 1916.

John (or Jean) Kennel and his brother Joseph came to Canada in the mid 19th century from Lorraine. John settled in East Zorra, Oxford County and married Barbara (Risser). Their daughter Annie (Anna) Kennel married Christian S. Bender. Christian is the grandson of Jacob Bender, who came to Canada in 1832 from Germany via Pennsylvania, settling in Wilmot Township. The Kennels and Benders were both Amish Mennonite families.

Christian K. Steinman (1792-1865) was born in Marienthal, France to Jacob and Barbara (Kennel) Steinman. He married Veronica Eyer (ca. 1801-1883), daughter of Jacob Eyer, sometime before 1821 in Bavaria. The couple would have five children: Jacob, Christian, Catherine, Jospeh and Daniel. Christian and Veronica immigrated to Canada in 1826; Christian was already an ordained minister at this time.

The photocopy was probably received by the Archives in the 1990s. The funeral card was transferred from the Archives' Amish collection in 2017.

Title: Mennonite Archives of Ontario collection of church hockey leagues

The church is located at 11500 Clarence Center Rd., Akron, New York.

Clarence Wismer, was born at Blair, Ontario on May 16, 1907; he died at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital on November 26, 1966. He married Violet Geiger in 1930 and they had six children. They attended Weber Mennonite Church.

Clifford Snyder (1914-1947) was a Mennonite missionary from Kitchener, Ontario. He and his wife Doris and their two children departed for service in Argentina, under the auspices of the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities, in 1947. Clifford died en route of a cerebral haemorrhage on 11 April and was buried at sea. He was 33 years of age. A memorial service was held for him at his home congregation in Kitchener, First Mennonite Church, on 27 April. A memorial fund was established in his memory to train missionaries for the foreign field.

The fonds consists of a printed invitations to, and programs of, Cober family reunions.

At the 1967 MCC Ontario annual meeting, a request was brought forward to investigate the possibility of MCCO volunteers assisting released prisoners. In 1969 Mark Yantzi, an MCCO volunteer, began working at the Waterloo County probation service. In the coming years, he matched volunteers with probationers as part of MCCO's Voluntary Probation Program. The program spread to St. Catharines and Guelph. MCCO also supported the nascent M-2 ("man to man")  and St. Leonard's Society's prison visitation programs by supplying volunteers. 

Administrative history:  Community Mennonite Church of Stouffville, Stouffville, Ontario, Canada, began in 1996 as an outreach from the Hagerman Mennonite Church. In 1995 a significant number of members at Hagerman developed a vision to start a new church in the town of Stouffville, and about half the congregation helped to form the new congregation--about 30 adults and 25 children. Hagerman's pastor, Gord Alton, agreed to serve both congregations during a transition period that lasted four years. He continued as Community Mennonite's pastor for an additional six years.

The Moorefield Mennonite Church had its beginning in 1947 when Amos Brubacher bought the former Anglican Church building for $1000. He had a vision for a mission outpost in Moorefield. Bible school was held at the church in 1947; worship services began in  1949. Renovations took place in 1955 and 1977-78, and 1985.

The Service Section was responsible for coordinating MCC programs related to welfare and social services. In 1975, the Welfare Section became primarily responsible for Craigwood, and the newly named Community Services Section took responsibility for any other social service projects of MCCO. In addition to exploring new possibilities for areas of service, the committee began to provide oversight to the voluntary service (VS) program of MCC in Ontario. This happened after the 1976 decision of MCC Canada to share responsibility for VS with the provincial MCC organizations. In 1983, the name was changed to Community Services Committee.

The Conference of Historic Peace Churches (CHPC) was organized in 1940. Churches represented were the Brethren in Christ, Mennonite Brethren in Christ, Old Order Mennonite, Amish Mennonite, Society of Friends, Brethren, Old Order Dunkard, and the Ontario sections of the Mennonite Brethren and General Conference Mennonites.

Records were received from the organization and from the personal papers of J.B. Martin, S.F. Coffman and other Mennonite leaders.

The Conference of Mennonites in Canada (CMC) began in 1902-1903 with the union of congregations from the Rosenorter Mennonites of Saskatchewan and the Bergthaler Mennonites of Manitoba.  The conference first met in 1903 in Hochstadt, Man., and was organized to promote "home missions." The Mennonites generally had large families and were constantly looking for land, and it was hoped that the conference would aid in the challenging task of keeping them united. The constitution, adopted at the second meeting of the conference in Eigenheim, Sask., in 1904, strongly affirmed the autonomy of individual congregations: "The Conference has no authority to interfere in the internal matters of a congregation unless called to do so. It is not a legislative, but an advisory body. The union it promotes does not consist in agreeable forms and customs, but in unity of love, faith, and hope, and in connection with this a common work in the kingdom of God."  Early leaders in the conference included David Toews (chairperson from 1914-1940, with the exception of 1936), John G. Rempel (secretary from 1930-1947), and J.J. Thiessen (vice-chairperson from 1941-1942 and chairperson from 1943-1959).

Received directly from the Conference and from various individual officers from time to time.

The records of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario were microfilmed by the Mennonite Heritage Centre in 1980

The symposium was held at Conrad Grebel from January 14-17, 1975. It was organized by students.

7 sleeves containing 139 35mm colour slides. These slides and sound track and narration were done by D. Michael Hostetler for the Inter-Mennonite Conference (Ontario). The photographs are not credited. Music on the sound track is by the Inter-Mennonite Music Camp. The script and narration are by D. Michael Hostetler. The cassette sound track is enclosed with the slides.

Series 20: Director of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean
Sub-series 4: Conrad Brunk, 1999-2001

1. Academic Advisory Committee, 1999-2001
2. Course Outlines, 1999/2000-2000/2001

In March 1959 the K-W Inter-Mennonite Ministers' Fellowship, then led by John W. Snyder, Harvey Taves and Jacob J. Toews, planned a panel discussion on "Possible kinds of cooperation in higher education. Frank Peters chaired the panel that included Norman High, John C. Sawatsky and Arthur Sherk.

Conrad Grebel University College collects works of art contributing to a greater understanding of Ontario Mennonite history and culture. The collection is housed primarily in the Archives and rotated throughout the College buildings. Occasionally, these works of art are released for exhibits. A full inventory is filed offline.

In 1970, Frank H. Epp, Vern Heinrichs, Jake Hildebrand and John Snyder created an informal "Canada-based Mennonite-oriented publishing group to facilitate the better and quicker and wider distribution of certain manuscripts." The press would go on to publish a total of nine books, some of them quite influential in Mennonite circles.

Conscience Canada traces its history back to 1978, and was incorporated in 1983. It was founded to:

    advocate for changes in law to allow Canadians the right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to conscientiously object to military taxation,
    educate Canadians about conscientious objection to military taxation,
    defend freedom of conscience.

Cornelius Eby (1840-1927) and Elizabeth Allgeier (1844-1921) married in Waterloo County and moved to Elmwood, Ontario in the early years of their marriage. The couple had 12 children. Together with his son Emmauel A. Eby, Cornelius Eby owned and operated a grist mill in Elmwood.

Aaron Cressman (1854-1913) was born in Wilmot Township and died at his home in Strasburg, Ontario. He was a member of the Weber (Pioneer Park) Church. He married Magdalena Betzner (b. 1852); together they had eight children. He died as the result of a kick from a horse while doing farm work. 

Crosshill Mennonite Church began services in 1949, and formally organized in 1970. The first building was occupied in 1949. The congregation originated through division from Maple View Mennonite due to congregational size. It was part of Maple View Mennonite Church's membership prior to 1970 when it was known as the Wellesley Amish Mennonite congregation.

Crossroads was formed in 1986 as a "Christian organization designed to bring like-minded singles together." Managed by an advisory board, it was defined as a service for Mennonites, Brethren in Christ and Church of the Brethren single adults seeking relationships and marriage. Directories containing anonymous profiles were distributed to members; the organization then facilitated first contacts between members.

Dale Schumm (1932-2002) was born to Henry and Edna (Schlegel) Schumm of Tavistock, one of 11 children. He married Laura (Bauman) in 1957, after graduating from Eastern Mennonite College. He graduated from Goshen College Biblical Seminary in 1960, and from 1960-1965 he was pastor of East Zorra Mennonite Church. He was also on the faculty of the Ontario Mennonite Bible School and Institute (1961-1966). He later served with Mennonite Board of Missions, which in included time as a missionary in India (1966-1972), as personnel director, and director for Asia and the Middle East. A graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary in 1979, he was on the faculty of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (1972-1979).  After retirement from the Mennonite Board of Missions in 1997, he worked for the foundation that supports Nazareth Village. Schumm died in Elkhart, Indiana.

The congregation, located at 2174 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1907-1988), Mennonite Church (1907-1999), Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1999-). Danforth was the only Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada congregation to decline membership in the Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1995. The language of worship is English.

Daniel M. Brubacher was excommunicated from the Conestogo congregation of the Old Order Mennonites, where he was minister, in 1909 or 1912. He began holding services with a small group in his own home. The group briefly joined with the David Martin Mennonites from 1917-1920. At its height, the group was comprised of around 10 families. Most returned to the Old Order, though Daniel Brubacher continued to hold services with his wife and daughters until his death in 1952.

The fonds consists of a printed programme of a Burkholder family reunion.

Daniel Hoch (Aug. 24, 1805-Aug. 13, 1878) was the son of Daniel Hoch and Katharine Bechtel. His father died in 1818. Daniel Hoch married Margaret Kratz (Feb. 23, 1808-Apr. 13, 1875). He was ordained as a minister in the Mennonite Church in 1831. He helped to lead a division from the Mennonite Church in 1848. For a time he affiliated with Jacob Oberholtzer's group in Pennsylvania, and was ordained as Bishop by Oberholtzer in 1851. After 1868 Hoch withdrew from the General Conference and became associated with the "New Mennonites" which later helped to form the Mennonite Brethren in Christ (later Evangelical Missionary Church).

The fonds consists of a photocopy of a nine-section genealogy of the Daniel Swartzentruber (1788-1849) and Barbara Hochstetler Swartzentruber (1803-1886) family by Major Peter Swartzentruber of Westmoreland, NY. Each section is for the nine children who had family of their own:

2 sleeves containing 22 35mm black and white slides. These slides are reproductions of historic photographs related to the audio-visual presentation at the 70^th anniversary Dankfest, held at the Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church on Oct. 15, 1994. This presentation occurred in morning and was a series of stories. The narration is included with the slides.

David Martin (1771-1854) was born in Pennsylvania and came to Canada in 1820. He was married twice, to Maria Gut (variants include Guth or Good) (1775-1820) who died shortly after the family arrived in Canada, and Catharina Gut (1777-1848), who was Maria's first cousin. David had 13 children with Maria. The family settled on Lot 65, German Company Tract, in Waterloo Township. David and Catharina are buried at Martins Mennonite Meetinghouse cemetery in Waterloo, Ontario.

David Bergey (1845-1932) lived all his life in Ontario. He was born near Preston and grew up on his father's farm near Mannheim. In 1872 he married Louisa Bowman. They had seven children.

David Betzner was the fourth son of David and Catherine (Brubacher) Betzner. He was born near St. Jacob's, Ontario. On 11 January 1911 he married Fannie Hess of Lititz, Pennsylvania. He owned and operated the Ontario Woodworking Company, Berlin/Kitchener, until his retirement in 1923. In 1915 he was baptized and joined First Mennonite Church, Kitchener.

David K. Jantzi (Feb. 21, 1916-Oct. 1994) was the seventh child of Solomon S. Jantzi (1873-1965) and Sarah Kuepfer (1882-1950), an Amish couple in the Milverton, Ontario area. On  Nov. 7, 1940 he married Lavina B. Kuepfer (1920- ), daughter of Ezra Z. Kuepfer (1892- ) and Lydia Bender Kuepfer (1889-1966); they had six children.

David L. Hunsberger (4 June 1928-6 January 2005) was the son of Noah and Minnie Hunsberger. Noah was the minister at Erb Street Mennonite Church for many years. When David was 14 they moved to St. Jacobs, where David lived for 55 years. In 1956 he married Katherine (Kate) Nafziger; they had three sons and one daughter. He was a professional photographer in the village for most of those years.

David Newlands, an American and member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), spent two years in Voluntary Service with Mennonite Central Committee teaching in Newfoundland from 1961-1963. He took the position to serve as a conscientious objector in response to his U.S. military draft notice. He taught for one year at Durrell Arm and one year at Kettle Cove in the Twillingate area. Following this experience, he went on to teach at Rockway Mennonite School in Kitchener, Ontario and became a Canadian citizen.

David P. Neufeld (Apr. 24, 1919-Apr. 7, 1982) was born in Orenburg, Russia. He immigrated to Canada in 1926 with his family. On May 31, 1942 he married Helen Neufeld. He served as Executive Secretary of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada from 1961-1967. He pastored at the Bethany Mennonite Church in Virgil, Ontario from 1967-1977.

David P. Reimer (June 13, 1894-1963) was the son of Peter Reimer and Maria L. Plett. He married Justina U. Brandt on April 12, 1914; they had eight children. He became a minister and Elder in the Kleine-Gemeinde church in Giroux, Manitoba. He served as secretary of the Aeltestenkomitee that represented more conservative Mennonite groups in the West during World War II.

For a time in the 1980s Sapelak was a minister in the Missionary Church.

David Schwartzentruber (24 Oct. 1897-11 Dec. 1982) was the son of John and Barbara Brenneman Schwartzentruber. On Sept. 4, 1928 he married Barbara Streicher; they had four children. He was ordained as a deacon in 1934 and minister in 1940 in the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference. In 1947 he served for Mennonite Central Committee in Poland. 

David Toews (1909-2002) was born to Johann Peter and Anna (Neufeld) Toews in Nordheim (Marinovka), Memrik Mennonite Settlement, Ekaterinoslav province (Donetsk), Russia (Ukraine). He was one of 12 children in this Mennonite Brethren family. At age 14, he left school to be trained in woodworking and metalworking. He married Katharina (Katja) Bartel (1909-1992) in 1930. David later began a career as a teacher. The family suffered many privations during the Russian Revolution and civil war, collectivization, the Stalinist purges and the Second World War. In 1979, David and Katja immigrated to West Germany.

David Victor Toews was born in 1948 in Winnipeg, one of five children of John Aron and Nettie (Willms) Toews. John and Nettie had both arrived in Canada in 1926 as part of the Russlaender immigration from the Soviet Union. John A. Toews was a prominent Mennonite Brethren churchman and author, and had a lengthy association with Mennonite Brethren Bible College as a teacher and president.

The fonds consists of genealogical records removed from Detweiler's family Bible.

Detweiler's Meetinghouse, located at 3445 Roseville Road, Roseville, Ontario,  is the only surviving stone meetinghouse built by Mennonites in Ontario. It was built in 1855 and closely resembles Frick's meetinghouse in Pennsylvania. The meetinghouse replaced an earlier log school & meetinghouse built about 1830 for the congregation then led by Preacher Jacob F. Detweiler and Deacon Jacob H. Detweiler.

The congregation began services in ca. 1822. The first building was occupied in ca. 1830, with a later building in 1855. Jacob Detweiler is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania. The congregation was also known as Detweiler Mennonite Church. Its location is R.R. 1, Ayr, Ont., 3/4 mile west of Roseville on ther south side of Roseville Rd.

This collection includes diaries that are not a part of a larger archival collection. These diaries are not original diaries, but are photocopies or typescript copies.

Conrad Grebel had its first "Director of Studies" in 1971 with John E. Toews. For 1973/74 the academic direction was provided by the President, Frank H. Epp. Rodney Sawatsky served as Academic Dean from 1973 to 1989, when he became President. Subsequent Academic Deans have been Hildi Froese Tiessen, Conrad Brunk, Marlene Epp, Jim Pankratz, Trevor Bechtel, Marlene Epp (second term) and Troy Osborne.

Born and raised in Kitchener, Donald Schildroth (1927-2013) always had a passion for art and photography. Following a career at Uniroyal he retired to Victoria, B.C. In 1992, the year of his 65th birthday, he decided to do 65 paintings as "an expression of the lifetime of fond memories I have of roaming Waterloo County with a camera and trying to capture the simple rural and village Spirit that the Mennonite tradition inspired."

Donovan Smucker (1915-2001) was born in Ohio. He married Barbara Claassen in 1939; the couple had three children. He completed a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1957. He worked as a pastor, university professor, and college administrator. His primary interests included Christian ethics, active peacemaking, and race relations. For 1970-1981, he was a Professor of Social Sciences and Peace and Conflict Studies at Conrad Grebel College.

Dorothy Catherine Bean (1913-1994) was born to Henry "Warren" and Margaret (Axt) Bean in Wilmot Township, one of eight children. One sibling died in infancy and a brother, Norman, died in 1940 at age 17. The family farmed and sold cheese at the Kitchener market for many years.

In 1936 Dorothy graduated from Ontario Mennonite Bible School. This was the beginning of a lifelong participation in learning at many academic institutions. From October 1936 to September 1937, she worked as a cook and maid for J.P. and Laura Livingston at their home "Castle Kilbride" in Baden, Ontario. From 1940-1943, she attended Toronto Bible College while working as a domestic. She was involved with the yearbook and sang in many musical groups.

From 1943-1944 she attended Goshen College in Indiana, and in September 1944 started mission work with the Chicago Home Mission. Here she worked mainly with children's programs and summer camps. In 1952, fellow Ontarian Ida Habermehl from Baden joined the mission.  In 1958, Dorothy graduated from Roosevelt University with a B.A. and began working as a case worker at the Cook County Welfare Agency. Following courses at the Loyolla Graduate School of Social Work, she obtained certification as a medical social worker (1967) and worked in a number of settings in Chicago. During her time in the United States she maintained strong ties to Ontario and took frequent trips home.

Dorothy retired and returned home, becoming the first live-in curator at the Brubacher House Museum on the University of Waterloo campus in 1982. She shared this duty with Ida Habermehl, who had also retired. Dorothy and Ida attended Erb Street Mennonite Church. In 1986, Dorothy and Ida purchased a condominum unit at Eastwood Community in Kitchener. They lived there until Ida's death in 1989 and Dorothy's in 1994.

Dorothy Mae Swartzentruber (1924-2012) was the daughter of Edwin and Katie (Leis) Schwartzentruber. She was born in Kitchener and spent her growing up years primarily in Wellesley. Following 8th grade, she worked as a domestic while attending Ontario Mennonite Bible School. From 1944-45, she worked at the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Clothing Depot. After taking time to train as a secretary, she returned to the MCC office in Kitchener until 1949 when she went to work for MCC in Frankfurt, Germany. In addition to secretarial work, she assisted the local Mennonite congregation. She was secretary to C.F. Klassen, MCC director in Europe, at the time of his death in 1954. Swartzentruber decided to return to Kitchener where she took a job at the Golden Rule bookstore and convinced the manager to let her set up the Golden Rule Secretarial Service. This service provided secretarial support to Mennonite congregations. Her many other involvements included becoming the first female editor of the Ontario Mennonite Evangel and the first archivist of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. In the 1960s, she was secretary to Frank C. Peters, the president of Wilfrid Laurier University. At age 47, she married widower Stanley Sauder.

The church was located at R.R. 1, Dungannon, ON, N0M 1R0.

The church is located on Lot 8, Concession 2, on Hwy. 3 east of Dunnville. The congregation was affiliated with the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario in 1950, the Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1949, the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1956, and the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada in 1988. Thus Dunnville United Mennonite was part of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada segment of the Mennonite world. The language of worship is English; language transition from German occurred in the 1960s.

The congregation met at Hebron Christian Reformed Church, 407 Crawforth and in members' homes.

Earle S. Snyder (14 August 1893-14 December 1973) was born to Isador B. Snyder and Hannah Bingeman. On 4 June 1921 he married Florence Cressman (16 April 1892-28 November 1978); they had two daughters. For many years he was on the faculty of Ontario Agricultural College (now University of Guelph) in the Poultry Division, one of the first Swiss Mennonites to teach at the post-secondary level. He was a charter member of the Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church, and was a strong lay leader in the congregation all his life.

The congregation began services and formally organized in 1837. Worship services were held in homes until the first building was occupied in 1883, with subsequent building programs in 1925, 1951 and 1997. Nicolaus Roth is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Europe and from the Wilmot Amish-Mennonite congregation due to the latter's growing size.

Eastwood is a condominium tower for seniors, 1414 King St. East, Kitchener, Ontario, N2G 4T8. Planning for the project began in 1980 when First Mennonite Church Council invited the following congregations to appoint delegates to a task force on Kitchener seniors' housing needs: First Mennonite, Ottawa Street Mennonite Brethren, Rockway Mennonite and Stirling Avenue Mennonite. The task force was incorporated as a Board of Directors in 1983. Construction began just before Christmas, 1985.

Edna Hunsperger (Sept. 26, 1912-July 17, 2002) was the youngest child of Dilman Hunsperger (April 20, 1870-Feb. 11, 1949) and Lydia Ann Nahrgang (Apr. 8, 1870-26 Jan 1958). Edna trained as a nurse at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital School of Nursing. After serving as a private duty nurse for several years, she served with Mennonite Central Committee in England (1942-1946) in various evacuation homes. After the war she attended Goshen College and received her B.A. in 1949. She then worked for the Victoria Order of Nurses for eight years. In December 1957 she married Henry Bowman.

Edna Cress (1906-2006) was born in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario, the eldest of three daughters of John and Louise (Sattler) Cress. Edna's parents had Mennonite ancestry, but were not practicing Mennonites. Edna married Frederick (Keith) Staebler in 1933; the couple later divorced. While an emerging writer of creative non-fiction, she was assigned by Maclean's magazine to write an article on Old Order Mennonites. "How to live without wars and wedding rings" describes her stay with the David and Bevvy Martin family (Bevvy is referred to as "Hannah" in the original article). Her connections with Old Order Mennonites grew, and in 1968 she relied heavily on Bevvy Martin, Louise Cress, and other local Mennonite women for recipes for her first cook book Food That Really Schmecks. The book and several sequels became popular in Canada. Edna Staebler was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1996.

Edward Snyder (1905-1991) was the son of Rev. Absalom and Mary (Groff) Snyder. He founded what became the Hostess potato chip company from his home in Fisher's Mills near Cambridge. He married Glennys Snider. They were members of Wanner Mennonite Church.

The Église évangelique mennonite de Joliette began services in 1958, and formally organized in 1974. Harold and Pauline Reesor were the founding missionaries for the group, choosing this small industrial town, 70 km northeast of Montreal, because it had no French Protestant congregation at the time. Previous French United Church work had been abandoned. This mission venture originated through the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and the Mennonite Board of Mission (Elkhart).

The EWZ files were created between 1939 and 1945 by the Einwandererzentralstelle (Immigration Center) of the German government. They contain information on approximately 2.9 million ethnic Germans who were processed by the center for immigration and naturalization during the war. These files presumably include data on all of the Mennonites who made their way to Germany in the Fall of 1943, as well as information on their immediate ancestors. While some of the information was collected in Russia, the bulk of it was obtained in German occupied territories after 1943. The files, under the control of the German Ministry of the Interior, were captured by the U.S. Army near the close of World War II. This collection of files was of extreme importance because it contained the files of the German S.S. The Berlin Document Center was established to process these documents. Later they were all microfilmed by the United States government before being returned to Germany. The U.S. microfilms are housed at the National Archives II complex at College Park, Maryland. The original files were formally transferred back to the reunified German state in 1994.

Eldon Daniel Weber (18 April 1913-26 February 2004) was born to Ephraim Histand Weber and Maria Steckle. On September 11, 1943  he married Laura Mary Mather (October 1, 1920-December 25, 1985), daughter of John Ackland Mather and Mary Ellen Adulsa Philip;  they had two children, Ross (October 5, 1946-      ) and Bryce (Dec. 2, 1950-     ). After Laura's death, he married Helen Louise Luft.

Eldon Hunsberger (1896-1953) was born to Enos and Angeline (Erb) Hunsberger. He married Mary Cressman (1900-1992) in 1923; the couple had eight children. He farmed near Baden, Ontario and served as deacon of Shantz Mennonite Church from 1940-1953.

This collection consists  of electronic manuscripts unrelated to another collections in the Archives. The formats will vary; items are filed in shelflist order. Some files may be stored on CD, some may only be available as a digital record on an Archives computer.

The fonds consists of a printed broadside.

Eli S. Hallman (Feb. 26, 1866-Aug. 25, 1955) was the son of Abraham Hallman and Mary Schmitt. On Aug. 9, 1893 he married Melinda Clemens; they had five children. He was ordained as a minister at First Mennonite Church in Berlin, Ontario on June 17, 1897. In 1905 he helped to establish the Mennonite settlement at Guernsey, Sask. In Nov. 1907 he was ordained as a Bishop in the Mennonite Church for oversight in the Alberta-Saskatchewan Conference. He also served congregations in Alabama and Texas before his retirement in 1951.

Elias B. Brubacher (1918-1996) grew up in the Elmira area. After a grade 8 education, he worked as a hired hand and later as a carpenter. He was baptized into the Old Order Mennonite Church, but joined Elmira Mennonite Church a few years later. He married Elizabeth Knarr in 1944; the couple had 2 children. During the Second World War, Brubacher was a conscientious objector, serving in Alternative Service at the Montreal River camp (1941) and later in British Columbia.

The fonds consists of pages from an 1860s family Bible owned by Elisabeth Hoover Nighswander Ramer. Elisabeth Hoover (11 April 1840-1904) was the fourth child of Daniel Hoover and Fanny Reesor Hoover. She married Abraham Nighswander (21 March 1834-14 May 1860) on 10 March 1857. They had a daughter, Delilah, born 20 September 1858.

Elisabeth Hamm (1869-1955) was born in Halbstadt, South Russia to Hermann and Eva (Goertzen) Hamm. She married Johann Jakob Klassen (b.1860-1932) in 1893. The couple had eight children. Seven of their children married. All seven, along with their families, were sent to Kazakhstan. Elisabeth and her daughter Susa (1902-1992) remained at home in the Mennonite villages of Waldheim and later Gnadenfeld, Molotschna.

At some point Elisabeth's daughter-in-law Katya (Epp) Klassen (1913-1994), widow of her son David, joined them along with Katya's three sons. In 1943 they left Gnadenfeld on the Great Trek to Germany. By 1946 they had arrived in Roverestein in the Netherlands. Elisabeth, Susa, and Katya with her boys immigrated to British Columbia, where Elisabeth died in 1955.

The fonds consists of an illustrated autobiography of Elizabeth Schulz (1923-).

Elizabeth Unruh (Oct. 7, 1866-Sept. 1, 1943) was born  in Heinrichsdorf near the Polish border. Her family was part of the Claas Epp-led trek to Central Asia. They emigrated to Kansas in the 1880s. She married Abram H. Schultz on June 17, 1886.

Elizabeth Wenger (1946-    ) grew up in Goshen, Indiana, the youngest child of John C. Wenger and Ruth D. Detweiler. She suffered from physical disabilities. She became an artist using needlepoint and petitpoint, creating tapestries. In 1982 she had an exhibit of her works at Conrad Grebel College.

Elizabeth Wiebe was born in Alexanderheim, Wiesenfeld, South Russia on February 16, 1899. She married Peter K. Unger in 1920 in Klinok, Neu Samara. The couple had 11 children. The family immigrated to Canada in 1925. Peter Unger died in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan in 1937. Elizabeth died in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1998.

The church was located at 470 Ellesmere Rd., Scarborough, Ontario.

E.I. McLoughry was born in Grey County and graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College with a BSA degree 1922. He served as agricultural representative in Waterloo County from 1924 to 1951, and consequently was much involved with Amish and Mennonite conscientious objectors in relation to farm placements during World War II. He was always seen as fair, and was a "friend" of the Mennonites.

Elmira Mennonite Church was planted by Floradale Mennonite Church. The lot was purchased in 1919 and the present brick building was erected in 1924. In 1976 the building was renovated and an extension was added. For further reference see Ken Bechtel, Three Score Years (Elmira: Elmira Mennonite Church, 1984).

Elmo Stoll (1944-1998) was a member of the Old Order Amish church and resided near Aylmer, Ontario. As an Amish Bishop, in 1990 he withdrew from the Amish church to organize a plain, horse-and-buggy, English-speaking, communal Anabaptist church in Tennessee.

Elmon Bender (1921-1999) was the son of Aaron and Delila Bender. He grew up in East Zorra, Ontario and attended Cassel Mennonite Church. Elmon was a conscientious objector, and served in Alternative Service at Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp in northern Ontario in the winter of 1942-1943. He married Hilda Roth in 1945. The couple farmed near New Hamburg and later East Zorra. He also ran a cheese booth at the Kitchener Market.

Elmon Lichti of Tavistock, Ontario entered Alternative Service in late 1942, serving at Montreal River and on Vancourver Island. He died in 2005. His family later donated his workboots to the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg.

Elven Shantz (7 Apr 1893-13 Sept 1984) was the son of Menno Shantz and Susannah Bowman. On 4 Mar 1920 he married Mabel Weber; she died in 1973. Elven Shantz was a lay leader in the Ontario Mennonie community. He helped to establish Mennonite Disaster Service and the Mennonite Relief Sale in Ontario, and spoke for the Old Order Mennonites in conversations with the government. Shantz was also secretary of the Military Problems Committee during the latter portion of World War II, and served in the Conference of Historic Peace Churches, predecessor to Mennonite Central Committee (Ontario). In later years he served on the Executive of Mennonite Central Committee (Ontario) and on the board of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario.

Enoch M. Weber (13 March 1869-31 October 1944) was the youngest of twelve children born to Samuel Weber and Anna Martin. He married Lydia Gingrich (22 February 1874-14 March 1969) on 25 January 1895. They had three children. They were part of the Old Order Mennonite community, but were part of the Markham-Waterloo Conference division from the Old Order later in life. Weber was a farmer near Lexington (now within the City of Waterloo) in Waterloo Township, Waterloo County, Ontario.

The fonds consists of genealogical records and a published photograph of Jacob D. Schumacher (b.1799) removed from Detweiler's family Bible.

Ephraim B. Gingerich, son of Christian Gingerich and Annie (Baechler) Gingerich, was born 11 October 1917 in Zurich, Ontario. Elsie Marie Martin, daughter of Simon Martin and Lydia (Bauman) Martin, was born on 3 April 1920 in St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Ephraim H. Weber was born June 29, 1875, the son of Daniel M. Weber and Elizabeth Histand. At the time of writing he lived on his parent's farm near Berlin. Weber died June 22, 1934.

Ephraim Snyder Cressman (4 October 1855-26 February 1911) was the oldest child of Isaac S. Cressman (1830-1894) and Barbara Snyder Cressman (1834-1864). He was a farmer two miles east of Breslau, Ontario. On 15 February 1882 he married Susannah Betzner (8 June 1860-24 September 1948); they had four daughters, including Florence Cressman, who married Earle Snyder.

1 - Correspondence re: disposition of files, 1972-1980
1 - g General - Papers on church institutions, 1950s-1960s
1 - Ad Addresses - Sundry address lists, 1980-1981
1 - C Church - Mostly congregational constitutions, ca. 1957-1962, including Whitewater Mennoniten Gemeinde, First Mennonite (Edmonton), First Mennonite (Newton, Kan.), Fort Rouge Mennonite Brethren (Winnipeg), Olivet Mennonite, West Abbotsford, Grace (Winkler), Altona Mennonite, Kansas City Mennonite, Arvada Mennonite (Colorado), Faith Mennonite (Minneapolis), Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church
1 - C - Ad Advertising - Articles and clippings about church advertising, 1950s-1960s
1 - C - YRB Yearbooks - Various congregational yearbooks, 1955-1962, including West Zion (Moundridge, Kan.), Bethel College Mennonite Church, West Abbotsford Mennonite Church, Bergthal Mennonite (Didsbury, Alta.), First Mennonite (Calgary)
1 - CB Constitution and Bylaws - Various conference and organizational constitutions, 1950s-1960s
1 - CC Conferences and Conventions - Articles on parliamentary procedure and chairing meetings, 1950s-1960s

103 -g General, 1959-1979. Includes: articles on writing and journalism education; The Writer, Oct. 1962.
Removed: "It's the secret dream of thousands" in Winnipeg Free Press, Jan. 17, 1959; "Unsere Lebensformen muessen dynamisch sein..." in Der Bote, Sept. 20, 1960 which includes a section on influencing youth for the good; 2 issues of New Tips, "Timely information for every Christian education worker of the local church," Apr. and May 1960; 4 issues of The Writer (published monthly in Boston, Mass.): Feb., Apr., May and July 1963; Columbia Journalism Review (Fall 1962), requested by Frank H. Epp; article on new journalism center at Syracuse University in Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 4, 1964; an issue of Press Journal, Nov. review and holiday edition, 1966; articles on writing and journalism in Saturday Review: Sept. 26, 1959, p.12f., Oct. 1, 1960, p.12f., June 4, 1960, p.8f, Dec. 4, 1965, p.36f., May 6, 1967, p.19f., Jan. 13, 1968, p.112f.; 1979 calendar attached to letter from Herald Press to its authors, Dec. 11, 1978; article on Iacoca's autobiographer, William Novak in The Sunday Star, June 30, 1985, p.D5.

2 - g General, 1956, 1962-1972, 1979-1985
2 - F Farm Management, 1955? 1958-1959, 1965, 1971-1972, 1983 - Includes booklet "Canada Agriculture, Experimental Farm, Morden, Man., 50 Years"
2 - Fo Forestry, 1957-1968, 1983-1984 - Includes booklet by G. Herbert Lash, "The Incredible Tree" 19p.
2 - FP Food Production, 1984-1985 
2 - Fr Fruit, 1954-1958 - Includes booklet "The Prairie Home Orchard," 67p.
2 - Fr - Gr (Grapes), 1957
2 - G Gardening, 1950s? 1961
2 - Gr Grains(small), 1966
2 - P Pesticides, 1984
2 - S Soils, 1959, 1984
2 - W Water, 1950, 1960-1966, 1980-1982
2 - W - Sk Skywalker, 1984-1985

29 - g - General, 1967? 1971 - Includes Frank Epp's speech to the Mennonite World Conference (1967?). See also, 90 - PSR - 1967 Speaking Requests, Miscellaneous (1), where this file is referred to.

29 - g - SPA Small Peoples Anonymous1972-1978

29 - As Associations, 1957-1959, 1969-1972

29 - As - YMCA Young Men's Christian Association, 1957-1959, 1969 

29 - Ag Agriculture, 1950s? - Includes a 4-H Club Leader's Guide, from the 1950s?

29 - B Boys (Clubs), 1957-1958

29 - CA Church Activities, 1962-1963 - Includes the text of an address by Franklin H. Littell, Prof. of Church History, "Ministry of the Laity" Dec. 2, 1963 to the National Council of Churches.

3 Animal Husbandry

3- g General, 1960
3 - H Hogs, 1957?
3 - HM Horses and Mules, 1957
3 - P Pets, 1957-1959, 1972
3 - P - Ca Cats, 1957-1959
3 - P - Do Dogs, 1957-1960, 1972
3 - Po Poultry, 1957

30 - g General, 1958-1982 - Includes report by Daniel Hertzler, "The Comprehension of Theological Language A report to participating churches." 

30 - g - Bi Bibliography, 1967 - Includes a select bibliography on "International Communications."

30 - g - BBG Board of Broadcast Governors, 1960-1970

30 - g - Ca Canadian - This file contained only a "Canadian Institute of Communications" booklet (late 1950s?) which was removed. 

30 - g - CC Christian Communication, 1965-1972

30 - g - CIC Chevron Investigation Commission, 1978-1980 - Includes the commission's report of Feb. 1978, written by Frank Epp (chair) and other members of the commission. 

30 - g - CIC Chevron Investigation Commission, 1977-1978 - Complements the above file. Includes copies of the Chevron newspaper. The Feb. 17, 1978, p.13 Chevron includes a photo on which Frank Epp is shown.

40 - g General, 1957-1972 - Includes copies of articles by John Kenneth Galbraith, 1966.

40 - g - Ca Canadian, 1963, 1979

40 - g - Ca Canadian, 1963-1971, 1979, 1984 - Complements the above file, includes news clippings only.

40 - g - Is Islam, 1984

40 - g - Pe Peace, 1984

40 - g - Re Religion, 1962, 1982,1985

40 - A Agricultural, 1963, 1969, 1975 - Includes a speech of Henry C. Pauls, Ontario Food Council, 1975 

40 - A - In India, 1962 - Includes a booklet "India Tradition in Transition"

41 - g General, 1952-1979 - Includes "General Conference Mennonite Students" information booklet (1955-56); General Conference Mennonite Church "Educational News Bulletin" (1964).

41 - g - CSSR Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, 1974-1977. Includes: Frank H. Epp's membership in this society in 1976; "A Brief history of the Canadian theological students' conference" Jan. 1978; "Letter to the members of the theological community of Canada," Oct. 1977.

41 - g - Co Counselling, 1956-1958, 1971- Includes a radio sermon by Frank H. Epp, "Advice to Youth: Go Back to School" (1958).

41 - g - Hi History, 1957

41 - g - IRSS Int'l. Reformed Scientific Studies, 1960s - Includes information about the organization; articles: "The Christian Student in the Modern University," "The Necessity of Christian Universities," "Integral Christian Scholarship."

41 - g - Ma Manitoba Education, 1958-1959 - Includes "Memorandum re Defects in Proposed School Divisions and Some Suggestions for Improvement" by Andrew Moore (1959).

42 Engineering

42 - At Automation, 1963

42 - At - Co Computers, 1968-1971, 1983

42 - C Civil, 1957-1960 - Includes 4 newspaper & magazine articles; 9, mostly on bridges around the world were removed.

42 - D Dams, 1960-1963

42 - Ma Marine, 1962-1965 - Includes 2 newspaper articles on the Winnipeg floodway.

42 - Mi Mines, 1969

42 - S Sanitary, 1968-1972 - Includes newspaper and magazine articles on pollution.

42 - S - Ac Acid Rain, 1982-1983

42 - S - EC Ecology Conference 1970 - Includes copies of presentations made at this conference "Ecology and Responsibility" sponsored by the Canadian Council of Churches.

60 - g General, 1958-1983. This file originally measured 2.5 cm & contained newspaper & magazine articles of a general nature, most of which were removed. See file for list of withdrawals. It includes the article: "Theological Implications in History" by Waldemar Janzen, address at the Rhineland Teacher's Association, Oct. 8, 1965, 8p.

60 - g - 60-70 1960s and 1970s, 1969, 1979

60 - g - 83 1983, 1983-1984

60 - g - 84 1984, 1984

60 - g - AHA American Historical Association - Included: AHA Newsletter, Vol.VI, No.1 (Oct. 1967) & a small booklet "The American Historical Association Organized 1884" both of which were removed.

60 - g - Ar Archives, 1968-1971, 1979

60 - g - Ar - Ep Epp Archives - Included "Authors and Archives: A Short Guide" by The Writers' Union of Canada (Robin Skelton, Committee Chairman) which was removed.

63 Home Economics

63 - g General, 1961, 1969. Removed: 5 of 7 news clippings. Includes "Dutch Treat" (Pennsylvania Dutch recipes) in Canadian Homes, Mar.1969, pp.14-16. 

63 - g - Co Counseling - Removed 2 items: "To Prospective Wives" in Youth's Christian Companion, May 5, 1957, pp.280-81; "Should Your Child Be A Dietitian?" advertising article in New York Life Magazine, 1962? File withdrawn. 

63 - BC Beauty Culture, 1925, 1946, 1957-1962, 1968-1969. Included over 40 news clippings and magazine articles, most of which were removed.

63 - BC - Li Lipstick - Included only one news clipping: "Lipstick Industry Wins Shade of Hope on Saving `Vital' Colors" in Minneapolis Tribune, Jan. 31, 1960, which was removed. File withdrawn. 

63 - B Babies and Childcare - Included one Globe and Mail article: "The long and short of hair and heresy" which was moved to Beauty Culture file. File withdrawn.

7 - g General, 1958-1966, 1972, 1983
7 - g - Ca Catalogues, 1962, 1966, 1983
7 - g - Ca - HP Herald Press - 3 catalogues withdrawn, 1966-1969.
7 - g - Re Reference Books, 1950s, 1961, 1968, 1970

7 - C - Children's Literature, 1958-1967

7 - D Dramas, Plays, Pageants, 1953-1973 - Includes a script from the Sunday School program of the Ottawa Mennonite Church (Dec.1967); a Low German script by Mrs. G. Peters, a draft of "These People Mine" by Merle Good; "As a Thief in the Night" by Rev. P.J. Dick. Transferred to Milton Good Library: "Thou that Judgest: a Drama in Three Acts" by Hugo Jantz, Apr 1953.

74 Law

74 - g General, 1959-1962, 1968-1972. Includes an undated essay "The Mennonite and the Law"; press release on an address of the Canadian Minister of Justice, Otto Lang on "Lawyers In An Open Society" 1972. 
Removed: magazine articles regarding the law, the courts, the police and crime from: Maclean's Magazine, Aug. 30, 1958, p9f.; Feb. 14, 1959, p.13f.; Mar. 12, 1960, p.13f.; Apr. 9, 1960, p.24f.; Apr. 23, 1960, p.26f.; "Robert Kennedy speaks out on civil rights..." in Look Magazine, Mar. 28, 1961, p.23f.;  New York Times Magazine, Sept. 11, 1960, p.30f. & June 11, 1961, p.31f.; 25 of over 40 news clippings.

74 - g General, 1960-1976, 1985. Complements the above file, news clippings only. Includes 2 undated articles by Aaron Klassen, "Should Mennonites prepare to enter the legal profession?" in Der Bote; article "Winkler Farmer Told Doctors Can Bar Him From Delivery Room" in Red River Valley Echo, Mar. 19, 1961.

74 - g - AI Amnesty International, 1983-1985. Removed: The following issues of Amnesty International Bulletin Canadian Section: for 1983: May, June, Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. 83/Jan. 84; for 1984: Mar., Apr., May, July, Oct.; for 1985: Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June; The Candle A Journal of International Human Rights, Fall 1984.  

8 - g - Pe Personal - EFH - Epp, Frank H., 1947-1956, 1967-1968, 1977-1986 - Includes some personal documents, writings about him and drafts of his biography for Canadian Who's Who and the Directory of American Scholars;his certificate of ordination, May 5, 1968; his certificate of baptism May 26, 1947; his Teaching Certificate, June 30, 1949 and the Inspector's Report of June 13, 1950; his Bachelor of Theology degree from the Canadian Mennonite Bible College 1953 and the program for the Commencement Exercises, June 12, 1953, his B.A. from Bethel College 1956 and his MA degree from the University of Minnesota in 1960; "Ethos Study: Dr. Frank H. Epp" Eleanor Loewen for Goshen College, May 12, 1967, which discusses his professional activities and contributions up to that date; his certificate of ordination in the General Conference Mennonite Church, May 5, 1968; program for "A Memorial Service in Celebration of the Life of Frank H. Epp," Jan. 25, 1986.
Note: See also the series, PF Personal Files, which includes personal information on Frank H. Epp on various topics.

81 Occupations

81 - g - Co Counselling, 1957-1965. Removed: Carl Ens, Called to A Vocation (Newton, Kan.?: Board of Christian Service, 1965), 48p. (available at CGUC Library and Archives); Melvin Gingrich, "Choosing our work" in Gospel Herald, Aug. 5, 1958, p.729; articles in the "Careers for You" series in Youth's Christian Companion, 1955: Sept. 4, p.283f., Oct. 23, p.341, Oct. 16, p.333f.; 2 Christian Science Monitor articles: "New Jobs - New Frontiers" in Oct. 19, 1963 & "The impact of automation" in Nov. 30, 1963.   

81 - A Advertising - Included one ad of the Royal Bank of Canada in Liberty, June 1957, which was removed. File withdrawn.

81 - C Careers, Jobs, Vocations, 1951, 1958-1963, 1976-1977. Includes: 2 National Council of the Churches of Christ pamphlets: "Women's Church Vocations" 1950s? and "Christian Youth and Christian Vocation" 1951. 
Removed: "Careers in Canada" in Maclean's Magazine, Jan. 19, 1957; "What do you want to be" in Youth's Christian Companion June 29, 1958, p.405f.; 7 of 10 articles from "Choosing your career" series in Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 1976-1977.

85 - g - Co Counselling, 1960, 1973. Includes 3 of 10 news clippings and magazine articles that were in the file. 
Removed: an issue of The Reporter entitled: "We cannot afford the recession, good Guys, bad Guys and Congressman Walter," May 15, 1958.

86 Professions

86 - g General, 1957-1965. Includes: Church Vocations Team at CMBC schedule with forms for 3 interviews conducted by Frank H. Epp attached; evaluation of the team visit. 
Removed: "The Janitor who became a Teacher" in Gospel Messenger, Nov. 4, 1962, p.4f.; "Direction Unlimited" in The Mennonite, Feb. 2, 1960, p.74f.; 2 news clippings.  

88 - g General, 1960, 1979. Removed: "'Linguistic First Aid' for pioneer missionaries, probing the secrets of language" in Evangelical Visitor, Feb. 19, 1962, p.7f. 

89 Research

89 - g General - MRA Mennonite Research Association, 1961-1967. Includes: constitution, reports, minutes and some presentations of the Mennonite Research Fellowship, 1961, the Urban-Rural Research Association, 1965 and the MRA, 1965; related correspondence; Leo Driedger, "Some thoughts on Canadian research"; "Towards of working philosophy of a MRA"; reference to the completion of Frank H. Epp's PhD dissertation on German nationalism and racialism in the German newspaper Der Bote ("...so fresh that it wasn't bound yet.") in the minutes of the Urban-Rural Research Association, May 3, 1965; correspondence of Frank H. Epp with University of Toronto Press concerning publication of his PhD dissertation, Sept. 1965.

9 Biology

9 - g General, 1957-1962, 1969

9 - A Anthropology, 1957-1960 - Includes a number of articles on Canada's Native people.

9 - A - JAL Jacob A. Loewen, 1963-1965 - Includes 4 unpublished articles by him relating to Native Indians of Paraguay and an offprint of his article in The Bible Translator: "Culture, Meaning and Translation." Removed: 9 offprints of articles published by him between 1963-1965 in Practical Anthropology on evangelism in South America.

9 - B Birds, 1957-1962

9 - Et Ethnology, 1942, 1959-1975, 1984 - Includes booklet "Races of Man" 1942, published by the Newspaper Information Service Inc. in Washington, D.C.

9 - Et - ECO Ethno Cultural Organization, 1980 - Includes text of an address of the Minister of State for Multiculturalism to a national conference of this organization. 

9 - Et - Es Eskimos, 1960s, 1972 - Includes an essay by Esther Epp: "Canadian Eskimos"

90 - g General, 1960, 1966. Includes: typed notes, "On the ethical responsibilities of the speaker," Spring 1960; letter from the Canadian Speakers' & Writers' service, June 1966; brochure: "How to get the most out of a visiting lecturer's coming" (undated). 
Removed: "The Priceless gift of speech," article on how children condemned to silence are being helped in Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 3, 1959. 

92 - g General, 1958-1962, 1972. Includes: popular articles; "The Report of the biblical theological commission of church and society conference," Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 1961, Chicago, Ill. (not for publication), 19p.; "Out of Iran's earthquake tragedy a new life begins" World Council of Churches Information sheet, F/4-62, Oct. 24, 1962;
"Counselling young people," Outline prepared by H. Poettcker, 1950s?; "One-hundred sociological concepts and their definitions," Prepared for Introduction to Sociology Course, Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., 1950s?; bibliography for S.W. 268, 269, 270, 1950s?
Transferred to CGUC Library and Archives: Christian responsibility on a changing planet, Report of the Fifth World Order Study Conference, Nov. 18-21, 1958, 64p.
Removed: Esko Loewen, "The Church and social concerns" in The Mennoite, Dec. 3, 1957, p.758-59; Gospel Messenger, Apr. 26, 1958, anniversary Brethren Service issue, pp.1-16; "Is Social Science scientific?" in New York Times Magazine, June 25, 1961, p.11f.

98 - g General, 1950, 1971-1973. Includes: "Uniform standard for travel allowance" information sheet for travel of General Conference board members, 1950; travel schedule of Frank H. Epp, June13 to July 11, 1973? (see 103 - Ar - 74 - TN True North, regarding the trip which Frank H. Epp and his wife Helen took in 1973); letter of inquiry to a person in La Crete, Alberta, Feb. 8, 1971.
Removed: 2 articles from Mennonite Weekly Review 1960, Aug. 25, and Sept. 1, about the John R. Schmidt family's trip from Ascunsion, Paraguay to Newton, Kan.; travel brochures and booklets on vacation travel in Canada;newspaper clippings on travel; Saturday Review, Jan. 7, 1967 for International tourist year: 1967, pp. 24, 43-90, 96-110, on travel in Canada, Russia, Alsaka and many different countries.

These files were designated according to the Phonetic Classification index, but were not interfiled with Series 1.1 when the Archives acquired the fonds. This series also includes files that were never assigned a classification.

The files in this series are organized according to an alphabetical guide created by Frank H. Epp which he designated "Personal Files" and which is located in a "File Key." These files were not integrated into the Phonetic Classification Index of the Mount Vernon Foundation which he began using in 1958. The file names used in Frank H. Epp's alphabetical guide are not always consistent with how the files are actually arranged in this series.

These records were donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario by Helen Epp about 1990.

This series consists of tracts collected by Frank Epp. Prominent authors in this collection include: Arthur W. Pink, B. Charles Hostetter, Billy Graham, Kenneth S. Wuest (in both English and German), John C. Wenger, D. L. Moody, Norman Derstine, George R. Brunk, Jr. and Ruth Stolzfus.

This series consists of objects removed from various files in the Frank H. Epp fonds:

The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (1851-1988), the Mennonite Church (1898-), the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1995-). The language of worship transitioned from German to English in the early twentieth century. The congregation began services in 1837, and formally organized in 1851.  The first building was occupied in 1851, with subsequent building programs in 1902, 1950 and 1980. David Eby is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania. The early settlers included David Eby, Jonas Bingeman and Samuel Schantz.

Erie View United Mennonite Church is a small rural church located in the county of Norfolk. It was established by a Mennonites from Russia in 1926. At first they met for worship in each other’s homes. For Christmas 1926, the group met in the Erie View Baptist Church. Later, in 1940, the United Mennonite group made its home in this building. In early 1927, the Mennonites began meeting in the rented Messiah Church building. Members of both General Conference Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren affiliation met jointly and were ministered to by leaders of both denominations.  The General Conference group was affiliated with the Waterloo-Kitchener congregation.

Biographical sketch:  Erna Wiens worked on the Dneprostroi  hydroelectric station reconstruction project during the German occupation of the Zaporizhia area. She left the Soviet Union on the Great Trek of Mennonites following the German army retreat. She lived in Germany for two years, then Austria, before being forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union. After years of forced labour in Siberia, she was able to immigrate to Germany.

Ernest J. Swalm (Jan. 25, 1897-Aug. 12, 1991) was the son of Isaac and Mary Alice Swalm. He married Maggie Steckley; they had four children. Swalm farmed near Duntroon, Ont. He was best known for his long service in the Brethren in Christ Church as a minister and Bishop, beginning in 1920. He served on many inter-Mennonite committees, including the Conference of Historical Peace Churches, Mennonite World Conference, etc. In 1977 the University of Waterloo awarded him an honorary doctoral degree.

The fonds consists of genealogical notes and photographs of the Fehrman, Weaver, Shurr and Fraily families compiled by Ervin Shurr.

Ezra A. Martin was born 11 September 1876 to Abraham B. Martin and Susannah W. Allgeier Martin. He was the fifth of ten children born to the couple. (Abraham had two additional children with his second wife.) Ezra died 30 March 1939.

Administrative history: These files consisted of vocational tests administered by W. W. Dick to Conrad Grebel College students in 1966.

In 1979 the Multicultural History Society of Ontario provided a grant for an oral history project administered by Conrad Grebel College to interview Mennonite senior citizens living at Fairview Mennonite Home in Cambridge, Ontario. Richard Neff conducted the interviews during the summer of 1979. All 32 interviews were conducted in English. 

The church is located at 269 Sherk St., Leamington, Ontario N8H 3K9

Born in 1925, Fern Dettwiler was the daughter of Reuben and Ella (Weber) Dettwiler. She grew up on a farm one mile south of Floradale, Ontario. She attended Ontario Mennonite Bible School in 1943; in 1945 she married Osiah Horst, a pastor. They had four children.

Hmong refugees from Laos, who were part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church there, began meeting together for worship services at Steinman Mennonite Church in 1980. Vin Vanh Vang, whose family was sponsored by the Steinman Church, took the initiative in this work.

This church was named First Mennonite in 1917. Prior to that time it was known as Eby's, Benjamin Eby's, Christian Eby's, Berlin and East End. It is located at 800 King St. E., Kitchener, Ontario N2G 2M6. Worship services were held in a log schoolhouse on the South-East corner of the adjoining cemetery grounds as early as 1811. In 1834 a substantial frame church and the log schoolhouse was moved to Breslau where it was used for both school and worship purposes. The frame meetinghouse was replaced with a brick edifice in 1902, which was enlarged in 1927, 1950 and 1985.

Located at 22 2nd St., Floradale, Ontario, the congregation began services in 1857, and formally organized in 1889. The congregation first purchased a building from the Evangelical Church in 1867. After the Old Order division a new building was constructed north of Floradale in 1896; in 1936 a new church was built at the present location. Abraham Dettwiler and William Hembling are considered founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through division from North Woolwich Old Order Mennonite after a division in 1889. Initially (1856-1867) the church met every eight weeks in the home of Deacon William Hembling.

Florence Cressman Snyder (16 April 1892-28 November 1978)) was the third of four daughters of Ephraim S. Cressman (4 October 1855-26 February 1911) and Susannah Betzner Cressman (8 June 1860-24 September 1948). On On 4 June 1921 she married married Earle Snyder (14 August 1893-14 December 1973). They had two daughters.

Florence Horning of Ephrata, Pennsylvania began recording sermons for the benefit of her friend Catherine Horst, who could not attend services, in 1961. Florence is the daughter of Franklin M. Horning and granddaughter of Bishop Moses G. Horning.

Florence Anna Snyder (1921-2018) was born in Kitchener to Menno and Ida (Groh) Snyder. She had four siblings: Clifford, Alice, Irene and Harvey. She worked for the Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, Pennsylvania and later for a cable television company in the Kitchener area. From 1962-1965, she served as a matron at the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India. Woodstock was in part a boarding school for missionary children, and a number of Mennonite missionaries and volunteers were involved in its operation. In the course of her life, Florence traveled widely. She died in Waterloo in 2018.

The church was located 21 km east of Bancroft.

Frank H. Epp (25 May 1929-22 Jan 1986) was a churchman, journalist, educator, and author. Born in Lena, Manitoba, he studied at the Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he completed a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1953. He studied for nine months at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas where he completed his Bachelor of Arts degreee in 1956. He attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota from 1959-1965.

The Fund was created as a memorial to Frank H. Epp, journalist, scholar and administrator. Shortly after his death in 1986, colleagues initiated the fund to "support pursuits in those areas of Christian concern to which his life was devoted." Five sponsoring agencies were named in 1986: Conrad Grebel College, Mennonite Central Committee (Canada), Mennonite Central Committee Peace Section, Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, and the Mennonite Publishing Service (Mennonite Reporter). In a 1987 agreement, the College was named the settlor of the fund, and Mennonite Foundation of Canada became the trustee.

10 sleeves containing 177 35mm colour slides. These slides were taken by Frank H. Epp, mostly while he was president of Conrad Grebel College. The content of almost all the slides relate to Conrad Grebel College.

Franz Peter Tiessen (1906-1991) was born in Schoenfeld, South Russia to Peter J. and Elizabeth (Fast) Tiessen. Peter and his first wife Anna (Enns) had six children, four of whom survived infancy. Peter and his second wife Elizabeth (Fast) had eight children, (seven of whom survived infancy) including Franz. The children grew up on the family’s prosperous 700 acre farm. In 1919, the family left for Blumstein to avoid frequent raids by bandits. On June 23, 1924, the family began their immigration journey to Canada. After a brief stay in Heidelberg, Ontario as billets of a local Mennonite family, they moved to Ruthven, Ontario. In 1927, they were able to buy a farm.

The fonds consists of a family register and other items in an 1914 family Bible published in Berlin, Germany by the Britische und Ausländische Bibelgesellschaft. They are from the family of Franz P. Peters (1 December 1871-28 October 1953) and Anna Hooge (21 November 1876-19 February 1942). They had three children: Annie Margaret, Henry Frederick and Ella Lillian.

Fred and Erma (Dedels) Cressman were married on 7 June 1941. Fred was a conscientious objector (CO), and served at the Langford, British Columbia alternative service camp from June 1942 to November 1943. During his absence, Erma worked in a factory and gave birth to their son David.

The fonds consists of marriage certificate removed from family Bible.

5 cm of textual records

One file folder

George Elmore Reaman (July 22, 1889- Dec. 7, 1969) was born in Vaughan Township, York County, Ontario. He married Flora Green in 1914. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He began to teach at the Ontario Agricultural College (University of Guelph) in 1939 and headed the English Department there. In 1954 he began duties at Waterloo Lutheran College, and in 1959 moved to the University of Waterloo. He became very interested in his Swiss-German background and wrote extensively on the topic. His best known book on that theme was Trail of the Black Walnut, published in 1956. He founded the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society.

Geiger Mennonite Church, located on Bleams Rd. near Wilmot Centre in Wilmot Township, is the oldest Mennonite congregation in Wilmot Township. According to L. J. Burkholder it organized sometime in the 1830s. The location was listing in the Calendar of appointments as early at 1837.

George Jutzi (1801-1882) married Catherine Miller (1813-1896) in 1830 in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County. George farmed and ran a sawmill on Lot 8, North Bleams Road. The couple had 8 children.

The fonds consists of a mimeographed genealogy of the George Brownsberger Family by F. Yakeley.

George Edward Reesor (1933-2021 ) was born to Amos Reesor and Anna (Barkey) Reesor in Scarborough Township, York County, Ontario. In 1957 he married Anna Kathryn Weaver of Columbiana, Ohio; they had three children—Mary Louise, Ernest, and Dale Edwin. George Reesor was the grandson of Old Order Mennonite minister, Thomas Reesor, and great-grandson of Old Order Mennonite bishop, Christian Reesor.

George S. Hallman (May 9, 1856-Nov. 7, 1934) was the oldest son of Abraham and Mary Hallman. He farmed near New Dundee, Ontario. On March 21, 1882 he married Veronica Heckendorn (Mar. 1, 1861-June 6, 1948); they had eight children. Both were converted during the John S. Coffman revival in Waterloo County in 1891. In 1895 Hallman was ordained as a deacon for the Detweiler Mennonite Church at Roseville, Ontario.

Gerald Baechler (10 March 1955-) was the seventh child (fifth son) of eight children born to Arthur Baechler and Idella Steinmann Baechler (one son was born to Arthur's first wife, Anna Mae Roth). Gerald Baechler was a prominent lay leader in the Steinmann Mennonite congregation, and worked for a number of years for the Mennonite Publishing House as the manager of the Canadian warehouse. He was a Registered Massage Therapist and self-employed contractor after he left the Publishing House.

Gerhard Peters (1906-1991) was born in the Alexanderthal village in Ukraine. He immigrated to Grunthal, Manitoba in 1926. He married Justina Neufeld (1910-1999) in 1929; the family moved to St. Catharines in 1944. He was ordained as a minister in 1951, and became the first minister of the Hamilton Mennonite Mission in 1952. He served until 1962. He also pastored the Erie View congregation for five years from 1971-1976. He supported himself as a horticulturalist at E.D. Smith's Cannery and in a job at Simpson-Sears.

Gerhard Rempel (1861-1942) and Maria Dyck (1864-1946) married in Schoenfeld, south Russia in 1889. The couple had five children. Only one, Jakob, survived. Sons Gerhard and Peter were murdered by bandits during the Russian civil war. Daughters Maria and Susanna died young. Parents Gerhard and Maria, along with son Jakob and his wife Maria (Peters), left the Soviet Union for Canada on August 15, 1928. Gerhard and Maria arrived in Quebec City on September 21, 1928 aboard the Empress of Scotland. Their son and daughter-in-law, taking a different ship, arrived a few days earlier. Both families settled in Vineland, Ontario and were members of the Vineland United Mennonite Church.

Gerhard F. Willms was born 11 March 1892 to Franz Martin Willms and Anna Rempel Willms. He lived with his family in Karassan, Crimea, South Russia. He attended the Halbstadt Zentralschule. During World War I he served in the Forestry Service, as did many Russian Mennonite young men.

Gerhard Johann Harder was born 14 October 1899 in Friedensdorf, Russia. He studied at the Halbstadt Zentralschule and taught briefly. He emigrated to Canada in 1924, settling first in Saskatchewan, then Sedalia, Alberta in 1928. He was ordained for ministry in the local Mennonite congregation by Jacob B. Wiens.

The fonds consists of a photocopied list of names and addresses of Gingerich descendents compiled by Henry Gingerich.

Located at Lot 4, Concession 2, Uxbridge Township, Stouffville, Ontario.

The church was located on Main St. in Glen Allan, Ontario.

Glenn M. Brubacher was the son of Ezra G. and Salome (Martin) Brubacher. He married Anna Mary Longacre; the couple had three children. He was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite College, Goshen College Biblical Seminary and Wilfrid Laurier University (Religion and Culture). He also trained as a counsellor. Glenn Brubacher had a long career as a pastor, primarily in southwestern Ontario. In addition to a number of interim positions, he served St. Jacobs Mennonite Church (1962-1976), First Mennonite in Kitchener (1976-1989) and Faith Mennonite Church in Leamington (1997-2004). He was also the executive director of Shalom Counselling Services from 1989-1997.

Gordon Bauman (1928-2023) was born to Milton S. and Susannah (Martin) Bauman on a farm three miles north of Waterloo, Ontario. He was raised in the Old Order Mennonite Church until the age of 12, when his parents joined the Markham-Waterloo Conference. In his early twenties he began attending the more progressive St. Jacobs Mennonite Church.  He married Erma S. Martin in 1951; the couple would have seven children, five of whom would live to adulthood.

Gordon Christian Eby (1890-1965 ) was the youngest of six children of Christian Eby (Hist.Mss.1.21) and Catherine Clemens Eby. The family home was at 409 Mill Street, Berlin (later Kitchener). About the time Gordon was born, his mother's sister Veronica Stengel was committed to an asylum in Hamilton. Catherine took charge of her sister's five children. Alvira ("Allie") Stengel, the oldest daughter, maintained a faithful correspondence with the Ebys into her adult life.

Gordon Schrag (28 Feb 1906-22 Aug 1999) was the second child and first son of Christian and Mary (Gingerich) Schrag. He was raised in the Zurich, Ontario area. On 16 Jun 1937 he married Laura Nettie Sherk (b. 6 Oct 1914); they had four children. He was ordained as a minister on 22 Aug 1937, and served from 1937-1942 at the Glasgow Mennonite Church in the Stouffville area. The family then moved to Moorefield where he pastored the Berea Mennonite Church until 1945, and then Lowville, New York where he served the First Mennonite Church of New Bremen, an unaffiliated Mennonite congregation, until 1957. After 1957 the Schrags lived in Indiana, Arizona and Virginia. He died in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Grace Cressman (1911-1989) was the youngest daughter of Adam and Matilda (Erb) Cressman. She grew up on the old Cressman farmstead near Strasburg (Waterloo County). After the death of her father in 1930 the family farm was sold and Grace moved to Kitchener with her mother. She served on the Kitchen staff of Conrad Grebel College for several years. After her retirement she moved to the Eastwood Community where she died.

The St. Jacobs Mennonite Church began to sponsor Laotian persons  near the end of 1980. By 1988 the church had sponsored at least eight Lao families.

The church is located at 677 Niagara St., St. Catharines, ON, L2M 6P5.

The logbooks contain course schedules, memos to students/faculty/others, class lists, annual report of GTS program, graduation information, and miscellaneous other information.

In 1980, several Mennonite families met with the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario (Ontario Mennonite Conference) to determine whether to organize as a congregation in Guelph. Fellowship began on a semi-monthly basis on September 14, 1980. In 1981, regular Sunday morning services began, and the congregation called its first pastor, Martha Smith Good. There were 14 charter members. The congregation was affiliated with, and supported by, the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario.

The fonds consists of a printed invitation to a Guernsey family reunion

The Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario began services in the Hagerman community in 1932 in the homes of William and Alice Wright and Floyd and Lillian Schmucker. In 1934 the meetings moved to the Hagerman Schoolhouse. The congregation formally organized in 1937 and Floyd Schmucker was ordained as a minister. The basement of the present building was constructed in 1944, the new church was built in  in 1956 and an annex added in 1968. It is located at 4581 14th Ave., east of Kennedy Road, in Markham, Ontario.

The Hamilton Mennonite congregation, located at 143 Lower Horning Road, Hamilton, Ontario,  began services in 1952, and formally organized in 1956. The first building was occupied in 1954 with a new building in 1965. A subsequent building program followed in 1991. Gerhard Peters is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through urbanization from rural Ontario in 1952 and earlier outreach by the Conference of Mennonites in Canada

The Hanover Mennonite Fellowship began mid-week services in 1961. The first meeting was held November 22, 1961 in the home of Albert Grove. Amos Martin of Glen Allen brought the message; seven persons were present.

Hans Schmidt (1886?-1951) was born in the Russian Mennonite village of Gnadenfeld. Schmidt studied business in Danzig at Erstes Deutsches HandelsLehr-Institut from which he received a diploma in 1909. This is an example of pre-Revolutionary studies by young Mennonites living in Russia.

Rev. Hans Wiedemann was the Dean of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. He was also one of the archival researchers and transcribers of the Tauferakten (Anabaptist sources) series. Unfortunately his research was not completed due to his administrative responsibilities. A meeting between between Wiedemann and Werner Packull in the spring of 1988 resulted in a transfer of Wiedemann's materials to the Conrad Grebel College Archives in 1988.

On 6 February 1932 Harold was born to Nicholas and Louise Fehderau, in Kitchener, Ontario. In 1995 he developed cancer and died 8 April 1997, the year he planned to retire. Harold was a member of the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church. Nancy Riediger became his wife on 28 December 1957. Their three children were born in different parts of the world, daughter Becky in the Congo, son Dan in Winnipeg and son David in Kinshasa, Zaire.

Harold Carter (1898-1972) was born in London, England to William and Julie (Butcher) Carter. He had four older sisters. Harold was orphaned at a young age. Shortly thereafter, he and three sisters were sent to Canada as part of Dr. Thomas Barnardo's "home child" program of resettlement of destitute children. After a short residence in the Annie MacPherson Home in Stratford, he was chosen by Old Order Amish deacon Daniel S. Jantzi (1871-1952) of Topping, Ontario for farm labour. Daniel Jantzi was married to Fannie (Kuepfer) Jantzi (1870-1914).

Harold Schmidt (1920-2001), son of Abraham and Clara (Snyder), lived all his life on the family farm near Baden, Ontario. In 1934 his father died, and his education was cut short to help run the farm. Later he completed high school, took some university courses, and worked in a bank. He became a member of Shantz Mennonite Church. During the Second World War he was in Alternative Service at Montreal River (Jul-Nov 1941) and Mount Seymour (beginning Jun 1942), working first as a cook's assistant and later doing camp office work. In 1946, he married Enid Culp (1920-2011), a nurse and daughter of Alvin and Alma Culp of Vineland, Ontario. In 1947, he was elected secretary/treasurer of the Mennonite Aid Union of Ontario, a position he held until 1999. In addition to a number of other business and volunteer commitments, Schmidt acquired and ran six cattle and dairy farms in the Baden area. Enid played a supporting role in his many involvements.

Harold Burkholder (25 September 1905-13 May 1933) was the son of Phares D. Burkholder and Laura Sherk. When a student at Goshen College (Indiana) he died in a boating accident along with another student. He had farmed for a number of years before and after his father's death in 1928.

The first families in the Harrow area of Ontario obtained land in March 1929. They began to hold worship services in the original farm house living room. Gerhard Papke is considered the founding leader of the group.

Harvey Taves served as director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Canadian office from 1953 to 1964, and director of MCC Ontario from 1964 to his death in 1965.

Hawkesville is located along the Conestogo River west of St. Jacobs. It was first settled in 1839; a plan for a town was designed in 1856. In 1868 the Presbyterians built a church in the town. In 1925, after the merger of the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations, the church became part of the United Church of Canada. The building, at 15 Martha Street, was occupied by this denomination until 1946.

Heinrich Bergen was a blacksmith in the Mennonite town of Reesor, Ontario from 1933-1942.

The fonds consists of photocopied genealogical, biographical and photographic material on Heinrich Martens (1875-1938) and Helene T淳 (1878-1922) and their descendants. The material was compiled by a descendant, Johanna Fehderau Jenn.

Heinrich P. Unruh was born in 1845 in Alexanderwohl in the Molotschnaia settlement in Ukraine. He was an minister and elder in the Mennonite Church in Ukraine for 45 years. He died November 4, 1928. He prepared an autobiographical account in his later years; parts of the manuscript arrived in North America by various means. Herbert P. Enns translated the manuscript into English in 1988.

Helen Gimbel (1917-1998) was the daughter of Irvin Gimbel and Ada (Cressman) Gimbel. The family lived near Breslau, Ontario and were members at Breslau Mennonite Church. Helen married Urias G. Martin in 1943.

Helen Frances Critchison (born Mary Elizabeth Critchison) was the daughter of Norman Milner Critchison and Clara (Killer) Critchison. All three were members of Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church.

Helen Martens was born in Western Canada on February 21, 1928. She completed a Ph.D. in Music at Columbia University in New York. She was a member of the music faculty at Conrad Grebel College from 1965 until her retirement. Her speciality was Hutterite music.

Helen Thiessen (1904- ) was born in Muntau, Molotschnaia. She almost died of malnutrition during the difficult years. She married Gerhard Peters just prior to emigrating to Canada so that she could emigrate with his family. They arrived in Canada in 1924. They lived in Vineland and in Kitchener.

In 1923, Helena Pauls, her husband Bernhard, and their 6 children travelled from Chortitza, Russia to Canada.

Helene (Heese) Toews (1893-1983) was born in Chortitza, South Russia to Heinrich and Margarete (Peters) Heese. She became a student at the Chortitza Madchenschule (school for girls) and finished her education at the Weibliche Gymnasium (high school for women) in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine). She taught at the Madchenschule before marrying Bernhard Toews in 1913. The couple had three sons. The family immigrated to Canada in 1927, settling briefly in Niverville, Manitoba before moving to southwestern Ontario and then Vineland. In 1937 the family moved to the Virgil area. In 1944, after Bernhard's death, Helene moved to St. Catharines. 

Henry B. Pauls was born in Chortitza, Russia, on 28 Sept 1904 to Bernhard and Helena (Epp) Pauls.  He is a descendant of Jacob Hoppner (deputized to survey lands in Russia for Mennonite settlement) and David Epp (signator to the 1800 charter of privileges). He emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1923, living first at Hanley and Sonningdale, Saskatchewan, and second in Leamington, Ontario. He farmed for a living. On 1 July 1937 he married Sara Hildebrandt. They had six children.

 4 pages of textual records

Henry H. Janzen was born in 1901 in the Molotschna settlement in Russia and died on 4 March 1975 in Kitchener, Ontario. He immigrated to Canada in 1925 and began his public ministry in 1927. Janzen's pastoral ministry included the following Mennonite Brethren congregations: Kitchener (ON), 1932-1944; South End (Winnipeg, MB), 1947-1949; North End (Winnipeg, MB), 1953; and Clearbrook (BC), 1962-1964. He was moderator of the Ontario Mennonite Brethren Conference, 1932-1946, and was on the executive committee of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference, 1946-1949, 1951-1952, 1963. He was moderator of the North America Mennonite Brethren Conference, 1954-1957.

Series 3: Presidents
Subseries 8: Henry Paetkau (2003-2011)

Sub-subseries 1: General

1. 40^th anniversary of Conrad Grebel, 2003-2004
2. Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo (AFIW) meetings, 2003-2008
3. Alumni Committee correspondence
4. Brubacher House
5. Canadian Distance Education Institute, 2008

Henry Shantz (1804-1877) was the son of Christian and Hannah (Paul) Shantz. He married Lydia Martin in 1828; the couple had 10 children and farmed in the Roseville area. He served as a minister for four years and was ordained as bishop in 1842. Until his ordination, Benjamin Eby was the only bishop in the Waterloo district. Shantz was associated with the Detweiler congregation in Roseville, Ont.

Henry Yantzi (Dec. 12, 1913- July 12, 1995) was ordained as a deacon (July 16, 1940) in the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference, as well as a minister (Oct. 12, 1947), and as a bishop (May 30, 1948 by Samuel Schultz). He served in a total of eight congregations, and served several terms as moderator of the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference. At the time of his death, Yantzi was Pastor Emeritus at the Hillcrest Mennonite Church.

Herb Groh (1883-1971) was the eldest child of Anson and Lovina (Bechtel) Groh. He grew up in the Wanner congregation. He attended Ontario Agricultural College and the University of Toronto and became a civil servant, working for the Department of Agriculture except for a ten-year period (1911-1921) when he managed the home farm. The second half of his life was spent in the Ottawa area, though he maintained his membership in the Wanner congregation. He had a lifelong interest children's camps, helping to found the Woodland Camp in 1938. When living in Ottawa he attended a United Church.

Herbert P. Enns (20 January 1912-20 November 1999) was the son of Peter K. and Maria Enns. Peter was a schoolteacher in the Molotschnaia Colony of Ukraine. His family was part of the first group to emigrate to Canada in 1924, and came to Waterloo at that time. Herbert worked for the Bean Printing Company for many years. His interest in history made him a founding member of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. He was an active member of that society until a few years before his death. He wrote a number of historical articles, and was the key author of the history of the Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church.

Herbert Snider (1888-1973), the son of Samuel and Magdalena (Brubacher) Snider, was born in Waterloo, Ontario. He married Manda Binder (1890-1915) in 1914. Following Manda's death, he married Hannah Weber (1892-1987) in 1917. Hannah and Herbert had one child, Harold Samuel Snider. The family lived on the Snider family farm on Erb Street in Waterloo, and attended Erb Street Mennonite Church. Herbert conducted various businesses, including ice cutting and farming.

Herman W. Enns (7 April 1930-6 June 1977) was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His parents lived on a farm at Springstein, Manitoba, twenty miles west of Winnipeg. His father was a farmer-preacher in a Mennonite Church. Herman was the third child in the family. Ile had two older sisters and two younger brothers.

Herman Abram Sawadsky (1900-2003) was born in the village of Rosenhof, Alexandrovsk, South Russia. Rosenhof was considered to be part of the Schoenfeld Colony, a Mennonite settlement distinctive because it was spread over a wide area and interspersed with other German and Russian settlements. Herman was the child of Abram and Helena (Enns) Sawadsky, and the only member of his family to emigrate to Canada in the 1920s. He married Anna Berg (1903-2005) in 1929. The couple eventually settled in Vineland, Ontario where they farmed and had five children. Herman Sawadsky traveled back to Rosenhof in 1977.

In 2001, Hermann Schirmacher (1967-    ), a family history researcher in Germany who in 2003 was doing mission work with HCJB World Radio in Ecuador broadcasting in Low German, made available several collections of Mennonite genealogical material to the Mennonite Library and Archives at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas. Two of these collections were microfilmed in 2002 by the Kansas State Historical Society.

The fonds consists of minute books of the Hespeler Branch, Upper Canadian Bible Society.

Series 20: Director of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean
Sub-Series 3: Hildi Froese Tiessen, 1989-1999

1. Academic Advisory Committee
   1987-1990
   1990-1997 (not complete)
   1998-2000
2. Annual Reports (with appendices)
   1994/95- 1997/98
3. Centre for Church Ministries Proposal
   1992
4. Course Outlines
   pre-1988
   1988/89-1990/91
   1991/92-1993/94 (incomplete)
   Winter 1995-1998/99
   Note: Hist 247 distance education course is located in Hist.Mss.9.1.

The congregation began services and formally organized in 1964. The first building was occupied in 1964. Henry Yantzi is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through church planting from East Zorra Mennonite in 1964 due to the latter's increasing numbers

In 1957, representatives of various historic peace churches in Canada held a meeting to discuss matters of mutual interest. This was the first signficant national gathering of these churches in peace time.

The fonds consists of Horst Family in Canada, 1766-2002, a calendar prepared for the Horst family reunion in 2001.

The fonds consists of material removed from the Benjamin Horst (Sept. 18, 1837-Oct. 29, 1871) and Veronica Weber Horst (Nov. 25, 1840-Apr. 3, 1916) family Bible (Philadelphia : J. Kohler, 1856). They were married May 14, 1860. They had two children, Susannah and Mary. Susannah was the second wife of Bishop Jonas Snider. See Hist.Mss.2.55.

4 sleeves containing 90 35mm colour slides. These slides, sound track and narration are by Rob Gascho on the occasion of the House of Friendship's 50^th anniversary. The text of the script was prepared by Brice Balmer. Music on the sound track is by Durell Bowman. The content of the slides constitute a promotional audio-visual presentation for the House of Friendship. The cassette sound track is enclosed with the slides.

The "House of Friendship for All Nations" was a storefront mission founded by Joseph Cramer and others in Kitchener in 1939. Local Mennonite conferences and congregations lent their support by forming an advisory committee that became the first board. The first activities of the House of Friendship included providing shelter and meals to transients. In the ensuing decades, it grew into a community social service agency providing a wide range of services to low-income people in Waterloo Region. Its programs are no longer exclusively administered by the Mennonite community.

Howard Llewellyn Good (20 May 1925-25 December 1996) was a member of the Rockway Mennonite Church. He married Pauline (Polly) Virginia Cline on 26 June 1948 and had three sons and one daughter (Terry Eugene, Patricia Ann, Howard Douglas, and Edgar Reginald).

Howard S. Bauman (1919-2010), the son of Manassah B. and Selinda (Sitler) Bauman was ordained in 1945 at Elmira Mennonite Church after being chosen by lot. He served at Elmira until 1966 when he moved to Akron, New York where he ministered at the Clarence Centre-Akron Mennonite Church until 1977, and then from 1980 to 1987. He then returned to Elmira, and died in Kitchener in 2010.

Hubert Schwartzentruber (July 17, 1929-    ) was the youngest child of Joseph Schwartzentruber and Lavina Roth. He was born in Zurich, Ontario. On Sept. 15, 1957 he married June Lambke (June 13, 1932-July 9, 1984); they had two children. After June's death, Hubert married Mary Rittenhouse, a teacher from Pennsylvania.

The church is located at Site 1, Box 1, Camp 2, Frederickhouse, ON P0L 1K0; 8 km north of Highway 11 on Hunta Rd.

The Hymnal Council was formed in 1983 by representatives of the Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church, and General Conference Mennonite Church with the aim of co-publishing a hymnal by 1992. The Council divided its work among three committees: worship, music, and text. The Council completed its work in 1991; Hymnal : a worship book was published in 1992.

• Microfilm copies of census records (1842, 1851, 1861, 1871) for areas in Ontario with significant Mennonite populations.
• Microfilm copies of land transactions (surveyor's records and Upper Canada land petitions) from the Archives of Ontario and Library Archives Canada.
• Microfilm copies of the Einwandererzentralstelle (Immigration Center) files of the German government, containing information on approximately 2.9 million ethnic Germans who were processed by the center for immigration and naturalization during the war. These files include data on Mennonites who made their way to Germany in the Fall of 1943, as well as information on their immediate ancestors.
• Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization Ontario Sub-Committee Lists. Lists of Russian Mennonite immigrants arriving in Ontario in 1924, and their Swiss Mennonite hosts and billets, in pdf format.
• Use the Archives search page to locate other records within the Mennonite Archives of Ontario related to immigration, land transactions and census records.

Ingrid Steiner pursued graduate studies on Mennonites in Switzerland and the Netherlands before moving to Waterloo, Ontario.

The Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies (IAMS) was created by an action of the College's board of governors on 30 November 1973. IAMS is administered by the College. The institute was initially organized with a director, a directorial committee, and a group of associates from other academic institutions. It's initial purpose was: to encourage research and publishing in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, life and thought; to encourage publishing ventures; to attract research funds; collect resources pertaining to Anabaptist and Mennonite history; and to conduct seminars and conferences on these topics.

The Institute, known as IPACS, was formed in 1984 as an agency of Conrad Grebel College. The president of the college appointed the director and an advisory council. Research and public education undertaken by Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS, Series 23) were pursued under the organizational umbrella of IPACS.

The Inter-Mennonite Children's Choir (IMCC) was first proposed in 1966 under the leadership of Dr. Helen Martens, professor of music at Conrad Grebel College. In the fall of 1967 the choir began its first season. The choir consisted of children age 7-16 (since 2005, the age range has been 6-15). IMCC was originally sponsored by the Conrad Grebel Women's Association and utilized practice space provided by the college. The administrative responsibilities of the choir fell to a sub-committee of the Conrad Grebel Women's Association. Over time, choir administration shifted to a more independent committee of parents and volunteers, but still remains affiliated with the college.

Homer Witmer, camp director at Fraser Lake Camp in Bancroft, Ontario, founded the annual retreat in 1973. Initially relying on camp administration, the  event functioned with relative self-sufficiency after 1981 through an organizing committee. Its purpose was to bring together Mennonite single adults (18 years and older) from across the Mennonite Church, for fellowship, discussion and social activity. The average attendance from 1978-1993 was 59.

These interviews were conducted by Marlene Epp for research resulting in the publication of the following article:Epp, Marlene. "Alternative Service and Alternative Gender Roles: Conscientious Objectors in B.C. during World War II." BC Studies 105-106 (1995): 139-58.

Irvin Cressman, son of Amos and Clarice (Stager) Cressman earned his living in construction as a carpenter. He was married to Elaine (Schmucker) for 51 years. Cressman was ordained to assist Bishop Curtis C. Cressman at Biehn Mennonite Church in 1957. When Bishop Cressman left the Biehn congregation to join the newly-formed Conservative Mennonite congregation in New Hamburg, Irvin Cressman became Biehn's sole pastor and served in that capacity until 1974. He also served on the board of Rockway Mennonite School, the finance committee of the Ontario Mennonite Conference, and as a congregational overseer for the Wilmot (Western) District. Irvin Cressman died in Waterloo in 2005.

Isaac G. Martin (July 12, 1882-Jan. 15, 1964) was the son of Levi P. Martin (1844-1919) and Barbara Gingrich Martin. He was born in Wallace Township 8 miles northwest of Listowel, but the family moved to Woolwich Township in 1884. Isaac worked on his father's farm as a young man; he also worked for Daniel Cressman and Moses Weber, and also spent time in Michigan and Iowa. Isaac Martin married Nancy Martin (Mar. 4, 1884-Apr. 26, 1949) on Jan. 19, 1911. They lived with her parents for a time until they moved to Elmira in March 1912. He worked in a furniture factory (Snyder Furniture Co.) until it closed in 1933. In later years he worked as a laborer, at a planing mill, for Beaver Lumber and as caretaker of the Old Order/Markham Mennonite meetinghouse in Elmira. They had three sons -- Henry A. (July 28, 1912-Sept. 11, 1990), Jacob M. (May 26, 1916-Dec. 3, 1991) and David M. (July 29, 1919-     ).  

Isaac H. Moyer (March 10, 1836-July 26, 1902) was the son of Samuel B. Moyer and Magdalena Houser. He was born near Jordan, Ontario. He was a painter by trade. He married Esther Weber of Feb. 11, 1862 and they had six children. She died on April 7, 1886. He then married Sarah Schneider.

Date(s) of creation: ca. 1963; photocopied for Mennonite Library & Archives of Eastern Pennsylvania 1990; this photocopy photocopied for Mennonite Archives of Ontario 1991

Isaac L. High (Apr. 18, 1910-Nov. 10, 1986) was the son of Alfred L. High and Alda Culp. On April 30, 1949 he married Helen Betzner; they had no children. High was a farmer in the Vineland, Ontario community, and active at First Mennonite Church and numerous heritage organization.

The fonds consists of Isaac Moyer's reminiscences, photocopied in 1994 from the original in the collection of the Waterloo Historical Society, and Isaac Moyer's family tree.

Isaac Schneider Cressman (1830-1894) was born near Strasburg, Ontario, and lived on the Cressman family farm all of his life. In 1854, he married Barbara Schneider (1834-1864). The couple had 5 children. In 1865, he married again, this time to Elizabeth Schneider (1840-1910), a sister to Barbara. Together they had 8 children.

Isador Betzner Snyder (15 November 1859-18 April 1938) was the oldest child (of six) of Joseph C. Snyder (1837-1909) and Elizabeth Betzner Snyder (1839-1932). He was a farmer east of Berlin/Kitchener (where the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium is now located). On 19 November 1884 he married Hannah Bingeman (22 June 1860-13 April 1926); they had five children, including Earle Snyder.

Joseph Boyd Cressman (17 October 1896-19 July 1957) was the son of Menno C. Cressman and Mary Ann Nahrgang. He studied at Goshen College and the University of Michigan. He taught at Goshen College and served as Librarian there in the 1940s. He also was involved in his parent's business. He was an alderman for the City of Kitchener at the time of his accidental death in a collision with a train while on holidays.

These documents were given to J. Harold Sherk Jr. by land developer Dan McCleary in 1969, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. McCleary was developing land for building lots on the site of the Sherk farm. The documents were donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario by J. Harold Sherk Jr. in 2015.

J. Laurence Martin was born 20 December 1936 to Simon B. and Lydia Martin; he is the youngest of seven children. He married Marilyn Shantz in 1959; they have two children.

J. Lawrence "Larry" Burkholder (31 October 1917-24 June 2010) was ordained minister in the Mennonite Church in 1942. He taught at Goshen College (Indiana) and Harvard Divinity School, and served as president of Goshen College from 1971-1984.

J. Winfield Fretz was born in 1910. He received his B.A. from Bluffton in 1934, his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1938, his B.D. from Chicago Theological Seminary in 1940, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1941. He was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bethel College, 1942-47; Associate Professor of Sociology at Bethel College, 1948-50; Professor of Sociology and Chairman, Division of Social Sciences at Bethel College, 1951-63; Acting President, Bethel College, 1960-61; President, Conrad Grebel College, 1963-73; Professor of Sociology, Conrad Grebel College, 1963-79. He helped in the formation of the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale, the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union of Ontario, and the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. He died January 24, 2005 in North Newton, KS.

Files in Vol. 5 (26-39) were received in 2001, at a later date than the rest of the files, and processed by the Archives in 2018.

Joseph Martin Nighswander (1923-2006) was born on a farm in Pickering, Ontario to David and Nancy (Lehman) Nighswander. He and his wife Elsie had four children. He was an amateur historian, churchman, and administrator of Parkview Home for Senior Citizens.

They were donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario by Vera Boldt in 1991.

Jacob S. Brubacher (1818-1896) and Maria (Mary) Weber (1815-1888) were married in Waterloo County in 1840.They lived on a farm near Bridgeport for four years, then moved to a farm three miles west of Kitchener (part of lot 35). The couple had four children.

Jacob B. Mensch (April 24, 1835-Feb. 17,1912) was the son of Abraham Mensch and Mary Bechtel.  He married Mary B. Bower; they had three children. They lived in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In June 1867 he was ordained as a minister in the Franconia Conference of the Mennonite Church for the church at Skippack. He was conservative theologically, and had a wide correspondence with persons of like mind across the Mennonite Church. The collection includes the letters he received.

The fonds consists of a family register and other items in an 1854 family Bible published in in Reutlingen by B.G. Kurtz'schen Buchandlung. They are from the family of Jacob B. Roth (2 April 1852-2 June 1931) and Catherine Gordner (19 October 1849-6 August 1883). Roth also married Magdalena Eimer (22 February 1856-5 June 1892) and Veronica Streicher (5 June 1864-3 June 1936). Children are from the second and third marriages.

Jacob C. Fast (5 March 1901-13 May 1988) was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Canada in the 1920s.

Jacob C. Snider (1791-1865) was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In 1812, he was married to Elizabeth (1791-1879), daughter of John and Anna (Schowalter) Cressman. She was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Soon after marriage, they moved to a farm on Lot 22 of the German Company Tract; a 448 acre plot defined approximately by Erb and Glasgow streets in Waterloo, Ont. The couple had nine children.

The fonds consists of a family tree for Jacob Clemmer (1821-1892) and his two wives (Anna Lichty, 1827-1861) and Barbara Shirk (1827-1905)

Jacob D. Janzen (Feb. 2, 1895-Aug. 10, 1984) was born in the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine. On May 11, 1921 he married Elisabeth Unrau; they had seven children. They immigrated to Winkler, Manitoba in 1925 and the following year moved to Leamington, Ontario. He was ordained as a minister in 1926 and actively served for 45 years.

Jacob Detweiler was born about 1779 and immigrated to Roseville, Upper Canada after the turn of the nineteenth century.

Jacob P. Driedger (1901-1989) was born in the Mennonite settlement of Schoenfeld, South Russia to Peter A. and Maria (Dick) Driedger. Due to civil unrest, the family moved to Orloff, Molotschna for five years before immigrating to Canada in 1924. In 1924 the family settled on Pelee Island, Ontario. He married Agnes Dick (1902-1996) in 1927 and the couple began farming near Leamington. He was a member of Leamington United Mennonite Church.

Jacob E. Schwartzentruber (June 13, 1867-Dec. 15, 1957) was the son of Jacob Schwartzentruber and Jacobena Erb. On Feb. 21, 1893 he married Elizabeth Litwiller (Apr. 12, 1873-Mar. 31, 1929). The family lived in the original Peter Litwiller homestead north of St. Agatha, Ontario. The original two-story long hourse and barn remained on the property in 1999.

Jacob Gross (Dec. 22, 1780-) was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and immigrated to Clinton Township, Lincoln County, Ontario ca. 1815. He first married Anna Moyer on Dec. 18, 1817 and second married Salome Moyer on Aug. 23, 1830. He was ordained as a minister in the Mennonite church in Niagara in 1833 and was confirmed bishop in 1834. He left the Mennonite Church in 1849 and joined the Evangelical Association.

Jacob H. Enns (17 December 1911-18 January 2002) was born in Ukraine but emigrated to Canada with his family in 1924. He was among the group who arrived at the train station in Waterloo in July 1924 and walked to the Erb Street Mennonite Church where they were sent to local Mennonite homes for temporary housing. The Enns family stayed with their host family until Feb. 1925, when they moved to Manitoba. However by the fall they returned to Waterloo.

Contents of the Gnadenfeld score owned by Jacob Enns. Prepared by Peter Letkemann

Janzen was born in South Russia and immigrated to Canada in 1924. He was elder of the Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church, 1926-50 and Home Mission Worker in Canada, 1925-50.

The fonds consists of correspondence by Jacob H. Janzen (1878-1950). Janzen was born in South Russia and immigrated to Canada in 1924. He was elder of the Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church, 1926-50 and Home Mission Worker in Canada, 1925-50.

Jacob Johann Dyck (1884-1958) was born in Muntau, Molotschna, South Russia to Johann J. and Justina Dyck (or Dueck). He married Maria Willms (1886-1967) in 1912; the couple had five sons, four of whom survived infancy. Dyck became a teacher in 1903 and taught at Schoenfeld, Neu Schoensee and Halbstadt. During the First World War he was in Alternative Service (as a conscientious objector), serving on medical trains bringing the wounded back from the eastern front. The family immigrated to Kitchener, Ontario in 1924, lived briefly in Dominion City, Manitoba, moved to Vineland, Ontario in 1927, and to Virgil in 1936.

Jacob J. Rempel (1886-1957) was born in Rosenthal, Chortitza, South Russia and left for Germany in 1922. He married and had a daughter, Irene (Rempel) Puttkammer.

Jacob J. Rempel (1886-1980) was born in Tiegenhof. He married in 1912, but his first wife and two children died in 1921. In 1923 he married Lena Woelke. They immigrated to Canada in 1926. For sixteen years they lived in Grunthal, Manitoba, but later moved to Ontario.

The fonds consists of "Familien-Register" pages extracted from the Jacob Kuepfer family Bible and from a later family Bible. Jacob Kiper (May 3, 1798-Aug. 23, 1862) married Maria Lichti (Mar. 25, 1807-    ); they had twelve children.

Jacob Lehman (ca.1727-1796) was born in Europe and died in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He was married twice, to Catherine Longnecker, and Sara (surname unknown). Their daughter Elizabeth married Abraham Grove (1770-1836); this couple moved to the Markham area in 1803. Elizabeth's brother Abraham Lehman, his wife Maria Stewig and their children followed the Groves to Markham. Abraham and Maria's son John was a deacon in the Risser church. John mysteriously disappeared one Sunday about 1850.

Little is known of Jacob Oberholtzer, a Bertie Township farmer. He was arrested during the War of 1812 and sentenced to death for High Treason. It does not appear the sentence was carried out.

Jacob P. Dick was born in December 1905 in South Russia, and immigrated to Waterloo County, Ontario in 1925. He married Elfrieda Klassen in 1941; they had four children. Jacob died 2 February 2000.

 Jacob R. Bender (Aug. 8, 1875-Apr. 23, 1947) was the son of Jacob M. Bender and Maria Ruby. On Sept. 29, 1910 he married Veronica Swartzentruber; they had five children. On Oct. 21, 1914 he was ordained as a minister in the Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference. In 1932 he helped to start the first winter Bible school in the Ontario A.M. Conference. He also served on the Non-Resistant Relief Organization and the Military Problems Committee.

Jacob Regier was born in Omsk, Siberia on 3 December 1914 and died 17 March 1999 in St. Catharines, ON. In 1930 he emigrated to Brazil. He married Anni Wiens in Brazil; they had six children. The Regier family moved to Virgil, Ontario, Canada from Brazil in June 1964 after several years of  financial setbacks on their farm, and because Anni had siblings in Canada. In Canada he worked at Port Weller Dry Docks.

Jacob Schantz (1710-1781) arrived in Pennsylvania from Switzerland in 1737. His son Christian Schantz moved to Waterloo County in 1810, settling near Freeport. Following the death of Jacob's son Isaac, his widow Barbara (Reiff) and her children settled in Canada. One of Isaac and Barbara's sons was Christian R. Shantz.

Jacob Y. Shantz was born near Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, in 1822. He was married three times. In 1843 he married Barbara Biehn. In 1853 he married Nancy Brubacher. In 1871 he married Sarah Shuh. Two sons and three daughters were born of the first wife, and three sons and four daughters were born of the second wife. Shantz died in 1909. He lived his entire life in the Berlin area.

Jakob Neufeld (1906-1990) was born in Gregerowka, South Russia, the son of Johann and Susanna (Hiebert) Neufeld. His mother died shortly after his birth. In his youth he was a shepherd in Einlage, where he joined the Mennonite Brethren church. He later worked in the Caucuses region where he married his first wife who died in childbirth. He married for a second time in 1937 in Schoenhorst to Katharina (1908-2003); the couple would have five children. From 1941-1944 he worked as an interpreter for the German army. The family made their way to Germany, where Neufeld managed to evade capture by the Soviets until 1947 when he was sentenced to hard labour in Siberia. Neufeld was allowed to come to Canada in 1983 to rejoin his family. He died in Vineland, Ontario in 1990.

Jakob (or Jacob) Unger (1894-1959) was born in Novopodolsk (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine) to Jakob Unger and Anna (Epp). His maternal grandfather was Dietrich D. Epp, a superintendent of the Judenplan, an agricultural Jewish settlement. In 1912, Jakob began his teaching career. During the First World War, he served as a conscientious objector in the Forestry Service. In 1918 he married Anna Wiens (1898-1979) in Slavgorod; the couple had 13 children. The family crossed the Amur River into Harbin, China in 1930, and in 1932 settled in the Chaco, Paraguay. In 1957, Jacob, Anna and five of their children moved to Beamsville, Ontario to find work. In 1957 and 1958, Jakob recorded his life story, from his childhood in the Soviet Union to the family's journey to China, in notebooks. In 1959, the couple and two of their children returned to Paraguay.

Jakob Wiebe (1892-1967), the son of Jakob and Helene (Bergen)Wiebe, was born in Neuendorf, Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. The family later moved to Felsenbach, Borozenko Colony. He was widowed twice, by Susanna Krause and Maria Krause. In 1922, he married his third wife Katharina Hildebrandt, who survived him. He had six children. In 1943,the family became refugees on the Great Trek to Germany where they lived in several camps, spending most of their time in Bad-Driburg.

Series 20: Director of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean
Sub-Series 6: James Pankratz, 2006- Jun 2014

1. Course Outlines
   2006/07-2013/14
2. Academic Advisory Committee
   Apr 2006-Nov 2007, Sept 2008-Mar 2013
3. Academic Council
   Nov 2007-May 2010 (incomplete)
4. Sawatsky Visiting Scholar, 2011-2013
5. Bechtel Lectures, 2012-2014

James (Jim) Roger Reusser (1929-2017) was born to Harold and Lorena (Birky) Reusser in Berne, Indiana. His father was a minister of church music, serving at several congregations primarily in central Ohio. Jim graduated from Bluffton College and achieved a Master of Divinity degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He was an active participant in the Mennonite Central Committee Summer Service program, serving at the Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield (1950), as a leader in the London, Ontario unit (1951) and a leader at the Homewood Sanitarium unit in Guelph, Ontario (1953).

The Jane Finch Faith Community was first known as the Black Creek Faith Community.

Jaqueline Dirstein (1953-    ) was the youngest child of John L. Dirstein and Florence Bluhm. On Mar. 25, 1978 she married Allan Penfold. She has genealogical interests in the Dirstein/Derstine family and donated a collection of letters pertaining to the John Dirstein family.

Jesse Bauman Martin (also known as J. B. Martin) was the son of Daniel E. and Blandina (Bauman) Martin, members of the Martin Old Order Mennonite congregation north of Waterloo, Ontario. Martin joined the St. Jacobs Mennonite congregation of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario in his late teens. He attended at Hesston College and Bible School (1919-1923) and a short term at Goshen College (1924). He married Naomi Collier, from Carver, Missouri, in 1926. The couple had three children.
 

Johann Cornies (1789-1848) was a major leader in the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine in the first half of the 19th century.

The fonds consists of genealogical records.

Johann Schmidt (1888-1951) was born to Johann and Henriette Schmidt in Gnadenfeld, Molotschna, south Russia. He married Helene Riediger in 1911; the couple had four children.The family emigrated to Canada in the 1920s and farmed in Reesor, Ontario. Johann Schmidt died in Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1951. In his youth, Schmidt was a member of the Gnadenfeld church choir led by conductor Abram Braun and accompanied by church organist Johann Rempel.

Johann Jacob Friesen (19 March 1852-1931) in the Molotschna Colony in Ukraine. In 1878 he married a widow, Maria (Schroder) Unrau (25 November 1841-3 April 1911); she had a son Cornelius from her first marriage. Johann and Maria had one daughter, Maria, who was born 15 November 1879. He bought a farm in 1885 in Paulsheim, Molotschna, probably with the help of money his wife brought along from Germany. He began a diary in 1885, reporting mostly on everyday activities.

Johann "Hans" Janzen (1752-1823) was the first in this family line to immigrate from Prussia (Poland) to south Russia (Ukraine), in 1804. Johann married twice: to Maria Bergmann (1758-1808), and to Agatha Fast in 1809. The chart was creatd by a descendant, Rev. Abraham H. Epp (1882-1960) while he was living in the Niagara region. Katie Peters used the chart as the basis of her book, Genealogy of Johann Janzen, 1752-1823 (Winnipeg, Man.: E.J. Klassen, 1977).

Johanna Fehderau (June 14, 1925-    ) was born in Berdjansk, Ukraine to Johann Fehderau (Mar. 6, 1901-Aug. 5, 1938) and Olga Martens (Jan. 12, 1902-Nov. 19, 1946). She married Karl Jenn (June 1, 1925-); they had five children.

Johannes Bingemann (1783-1854) was married to Hanna Bergey (1787-1868) in 1805 in Providence (probably Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania). They were married by an Evangelical Lutheran minister. Twelve children are noted in the family marriage register, though Ezra Eby's Biographical History of Waterloo Township lists 14. They moved to Bridgeport, Ontario in 1825, and the following summer moved to a farm on the east side of the Grand River.

Johannes Gascho (21 February 1830-13 December 1909)  was born in Pennsylvania, the son of Christian Gascho and Christina Petersheim. On 21 September 1852 he married Barbara Erb from Waterloo County; they had eleven children. After her death he married another Barbara Erb. Gascho was ordained as a deacon in the Amish Mennonite Church in Wilmot Township in 1854, and as a bishop in 1872.

Johanness Friesen is the son of Kornelius Friesen and Maria (nee Enns). He was born in 1920 in the village of Dejevka (Zdanovka) in Orenburg Colony, taught school in the late 1930s, served in the Great Patriotic War (Second World War) and spend 14 years in a Soviet labour camp. He was released in 1956. He now lives in Tula, in the Russian Federation.

John M. Bender (1847-1917) and Catharina Ruby (1846-1927) married in 1871. The couple had five children and were members of the Amish Mennonite church. They farmed in Wilmot Township. Their families were among the first Amish immigrants from Europe to Wilmot. John M. Bender was a son of John B. and Catherine (Miller) Bender. Catharina was the daughter of Bishop Joseph Ruby and Magdalena (Roth) Ruby.

John D. Grove (1902-1990) is the grandson of Jacob B. and Mary (Lehman) Grove and the son of Jacob L. and Frances (Diller) Grove. He married Ada Hoover (1905-1980) in 1928; the couple had five children. John and Ada Grove farmed at Lot 32, Concession 7 in Markham Township and were members of Wideman Mennonite Church where he served as deacon. John D. Grove took a great interest in local history and gained a reputation as an amateur genealogist of Markham-area Mennonite families.

John B. (Jack) Brenneman (1899-1973) was born in Mornington Township. He married Lavina Brenneman (1903-1996) of East Zorra Township in 1923. The couple had eight children and were members of St. Agatha Mennonite Church. They lived in Baden and Milverton, Ontario.

John P. Driedger (1920-2010) was born in Ohrloff, Molotschna, South Russia. His family immigrated to Canada in 1924. Driedger was a conscientious objector, serving a term at the Montreal River Alternative Service work camp in 1943. He married Marianne (Rempel) in 1944 in Leamington, Ontario, and was ordained to the ministry at Leamington United Mennonite Church in 1970. He later preached at North Leamington United Mennonite, on a local radio station, and at the Leamington Mennonite Home. As a preacher he was self-educated; his main occupation was farming. John Driedger also served on the local school board.

The fonds consists ancestry material on John B. Gingrich (July 24, 1847-Oct. 29, 1919) and  Mary Ann Hembling (July 17, 1851-Nov. 1, 1928). They lived in Waterloo County until 1899 when they moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Also included are pages from John B. Gingrich's business ledger.

The fonds consists of two letters of invitation to John B. Schmitt family reunions.

John Baer (May 15, 1804-Dec. 24, 1894) was the oldest child of minister, Martin Bear, an immigrant to Canada in 1800. John Bear lived near Preston (Cambridge), Ontario. He was a contractor and builder, as well as farmer. On Feb. 11 1827 he married Anna Pannabecker (April 23, 1812-Feb. 16, 1875). They had thirteen children.

John Braun grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. He was baptised into the Mennonite Brethren church at age 16 and released from membership in the South Abbotsford MB Church at 21 for denial of Christ's divinity. He was instrumental in the formation of the Radical Mennonite Union in 1968. The group circulated a manifesto in 1969 calling for radical change in society, and the Mennonite church in particular.  The manifesto garnered attention, posititive and negative, in many Mennonite communities in Canada and the United States, and was followed a few months later by "A Radical Confession of Faith." In the summer of 1972, with a grant from the Opportunities for Youth program, Braun and five friends conducted a "Mennonite Dissidence Study." The group traveled the country interviewing a wide range of Mennonites. The project's final report was titled "New Wine for Old Wineskins, or Why Mennonite Young People are Leaving the Church." John Braun graduated from the University of Waterloo with an M.A. and later a Ph.D. in History. Since 1992, he has taught in various colleges in Oregon. 

John C. Shantz (23 Oct 1807-17 Apr 1875) was the son of Christian R. Shantz (13 Feb 1779-9 Nov 1856) and Magdalena S. Cressman (30 Jan 1783-13 Aug 1866). Shantz was a farmer and sawmill operator. He married Anna R. Detweiler (8 March 1816-17 February 1856) on 12 January 1833. They had twelve children

John Brubacher (1822-1902) first married in 1846 to Magdalena Musselman (1827-1877). After her death in 1882 he married Esther Musselman Martin (1842-1926), widow of Amos Martin. He had 14 children, all from his first marriage.

1. Arts 120/121, Focal issues in contemporary society, 1970-1972
2. Correspondence (John E. Toews), 1971-1973
3. Courses, 1968-1971
4. Courses, 1971/72
5. Courses, 1972/73
6. Courses, 1973/74
7. Music and Fine Arts memos, correspondence, 1963-1974
8. Policies, 1968-1971
9. R.S. 223 - History of the Ancient Church, 1970-1972
10. Relations with U. of Waterloo, memos, 1072
11. Soc. 342 - Industrial Sociology, 1971
12. Summer school memos, correspondence, 1971-1974
13. Educational Consultation, November 5, 1971
14. UGAG (Undergraduate Affairs Group) memos, etc., 1972-1973

Series 3: Presidents
Subseries 7: John E. Toews (1996-2002)

Vol. 1 - Working Notes for Public/Meeting Comments

1. Annual meetings, 1996-2000
2. Board meetings
   1996-2002
3. Development Committee, 1996
4. Opening Statements, 1996
5. Miscellaneous speeches / presentations at College, 1996-2002

The program was designed to encourage home missions. John Eby is the fictional name for a Mennonite man who has moved to the city from the country because of a job. The other characters in the script are also fictional. The sequence of slides in the set received by the Archives does not match the script in all respects.

The fonds consists of the records of the Hans (Johannes or John H.) and Veronica (Schwartzentruber) Erb family reunion held between 1934 and 1988. Included are minutes, programs, publicity, lists of attendees, etc. Appended are several pages of photographs of Hans Erb's wardrobe (closet).

Goessman, John (1786-1841) was a land surveyor and agent for German-speaking immigrants in Canada. He himself had arrived in Canada in 1819. He conducted surveys for the government, the Canada Land Company, and others. This survey work included the Township of Wilmot in Waterloo County. From 1828-1830 he conducted extensive correspondence on behalf of Amish & Mennonite settlers in Wilmot, when their land agreement with the government ran into some difficulties.

28 cm of textual records ; 2 scrapbooks ; 28 audio cassette tapes ; 7 reel-to-reel audio tapes ; 9 8mm film reels ; 5 audio compact discs ; 6 digital video discs ; 3 Mini-DVDs ; 13 video cassette tapes ; 250 photographs (col. slides) ; 1 photograph (digital)

John Enns was born 23 March 1910 in Ohrloff, Molotschna, Ukaine. In 1924 his family immigrated to Canada and came to Waterloo, Ontario. In 1926 the family homesteaded in what became Reesor, Ontario. In 1936 John Enns became the school teacher for the settlement. When the school closed in 1966, he taught in Kapuskasing until retirement in 1971. He was the last inhabitant of the Reesor community, and was the community's historian. He succeeded his brother Gerhard as caretaker of the Reesor Mennonite Cemetery in 1971, and was instrumental in the preservation of the cemetery and erection of a monument on the site in 1978.  He died on 28 August 1986.

John (Johann) Klassen (1914-1986) was born to Heinrich and Elisabeth (Rempel) Klassen in Ohrloff, Molotschna, South Russia. The family immigrated to Canada in the 1920s; John traveled alone from England separately from his family, arriving in Kitchener in December 1925. The Klassens settled in Reesor, Ontario. John attained a grade two education, then worked as a lumberjack in Reesor. He was a conscientious objector during the Second World War, serving as a farm hand. He was later a carpenter and farmer.

John L. Fretz (15 October 1919-9 August 2006) was the son of Joseph C. Fretz and Martha Reesor. He attended Eastern Mennonite and Hesston Colleges. He served in the Alternative Service Work Camps during World War II, and for two years was editor of the Beacon, the inter-camp newspaper. Immediately after the War he served in France as a relief worker. There he met and married Beulah Roth. After returning to North America they resided in Oregon, where John was involved in business.

John Lapp (June 22, 1798-Aug. 5, 1878) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He married Barbara Kurtz in 1818. To the union were born five sons and one daughter. He was ordained as a minister soon after 1828, and according to his obituary was ordained a bishop in 1839. He was in the lot with Jacob Krehbiel, when Krehbiel was chosen bishop in 1839. He and Krehbiel had a falling out and were not in fellowship with each other for some time. Lapp was not recognized as a bishop by the Ontario conference until after Krehbiel's death in 1860. He accused Krehbiel of not being in good fellowship with the church he left in Europe because of a bad debt. They apparently were reconciled late in Krehbiel's life.

These slides are of fraktur images used by John Ruth in a presentation on Pennsylvania Fraktur. An accompanying cassette tape is missing. These slides may not be reproduced, and are available only for research.

The fonds consists of family register pages from the Bible of John and Catharine Zehr, including marriage dates for the couple and their married children, and family birth and death dates. The pages were removed from the Bible by the Archives; the Bible itself was not kept.

John S. Coffman, pioneer Mennonite (Mennonite Church) evangelist, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, 16 October 1848, and died in Elkhart, Indiana, 22 July 1899.

John S. Hallman and Mary Clemens Hallman were married in 1852. They had 12 children. They farmed near New Dundee and later lived in Berlin, Ontario.

John T. Lapp was born in 1791 and died in 1863. He settled on Lapp's Point in Sherbrooke Township, Upper Canada, in 1822.

Jonas Snider (1858-1944), the son of Elias and Hannah Bingeman Snider, was ordained as a Mennonite minister for the Erb Street Mennonite Church on June 24, 1892; and as a bishop on Nov. 17, 1895. He married Lucy Ann Snider (1857-1886) in 1879. They had four children.  In 1887 he married Susannah Horst (1862-1933); they had nine children. He retired in 1935. For more information see the obituary for Jonas Snider in Gospel Herald, 37 (Sept. 22, 1944), 503

Joseph Bauman Snyder (20 Jan. 1854-25 Mar. 1938) was the son of Christian B. Schneider and Barbara Bauman Snyder. On 5 Dec. 1876 he married Veronica Weber (19 Jan. 1857-20 May 1934); they had twelve children. Their farm was near the present (2001) intersection of Country Squire Rd. and Northfield Dr. in Waterloo, Ontario.

Joseph Burkhart was born 8 April 1832; Sara Sittler was born 2 Jan 1837. The couple married in 1856. The manuscript records 11 children born to them.

Joseph C. Fretz (25 September 1885-22 August 1956) was the son of Manasseh Fretz and Mary Ann Cober. He was a member of the Shantz Mennonite Church, where he was ordained deacon in 1953. He served for many years as secretary of the Ontario Mennonite Mission Board, Mennonite Conference of Ontario historian, and manager of the Golden Rule Bookstore. He married Martha Reesor in 1918; they had four children. For more information see the obituary in the Gospel Herald, Sept. 11, 1956.

Joseph E. Schneider was born in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario in 1810; in 1834 he married Sarah Shantz (1816-1881). They moved to his father's homestead, now the Joseph Schneider Haus Museum and Gallery at 466 Queen Street S, Kitchener. He became a deacon at the Berlin Mennonite Church (now First Mennonite, Kitchener) in 1850. After the 1874 schism, he joined the Mennonite Brethren in Christ.

Joseph Leis ( Feb. 9, 1817-July 6, 1896) was born in Bavaria. He married Catharine Kennel on Mar. 19, 1844; they had 13 children. Leis immigrated to Waterloo County, Ontario; he became a farmer in Wellesley Township.

The fonds consists of photocopies from Joseph Leis' family Bible together with a English translation provided by Lorraine Roth.

Joseph Meyer Snyder (1877-1944) was a local historian and genealogist who collected historical and genealogical information relating primarily to the Joseph and Barbara (Eby) Schneider family. Much of this information was published in Hannes Schneider and his wife Catharine Haus Schneider: Their Descendants and Times, 1534-1939.- Kitchener, ON : Miriam Helen Snyder.- 1937 [sic; clearly published later]. Snyder was a life-long resident of Kitchener, a member of Bethany Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church, and was employed as an accountant by Kauffman Rubber.

Joseph Sherk (1769-1855) and Elizabeth (Betzner) Sherk (1773-1823) settled on Lot #11, Beasley's Broken Front, in what was to become Waterloo Township in the spring of 1800. The Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower is located adjacent to the site of their farm on land first settled by Samuel and Maria Betzner, Elizabeth's parents, and her brother, Samuel D. Betzner.

Joseph Smith was born 26 March 1897 to Jacob Smith (1870-1945) and Ella Lehman Smith (1872-1970). In 1918, he was assigned to basic training due to an administrative error. Preacher Thomas Reesor advocated on his behalf, and he was later released. On 26 March 1921 he married Sarah Reesor (2 August 1895-25 October 1998). They had five children. Joseph farmed in Scarborough Township in York County and retired in 1975 to Listowel, Ontario.

Joseph George Vale (1918-1998) was born a Lutheran of English heritage in Kitchener but joined the Mennonite community when his family moved to the Arthur area. From August 6 to December 6 1941, he was part of the third group of Alternative Service workers (conscientious objectors) serving at the Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp. From February to March 1947, he was a "seagoing cowboy" on the ship Plymouth Victory, sailing to Athens, Greece. The "cowboys" were men who volunteered to serve aboard cattle boats carrying livestock to war-torn parts of the world after the Second World War.

Josiah S. Moyer was born in 1845 to Henry and Catharine Schiedel Moyer on a farm near Breslau, Ontario. He married Lydia Ann Shantz in 1868. Ezra Eby's A biographical history of early settlers and their descendants in Waterloo Township (c. 1895 & 1896) lists him as farming in Remus, Michigan.

Jubilation Male Chorus began at Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church in October, 1994. This men's choir was organized by church member Jake Willms as conductor and Norman Giesbrecht as pianist. Several of the charter members were from Kitchener MB, and many others were from other churches in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Their purpose was to sing sacred music. By 2000, there were over 60 men in the chorus. Their ministry included singing at a variety of churches, in seniors homes, and at special occasions around southern Ontario. Every spring and Christmas season, the chorus would perform benefit concerts to raise funds for charity organizations in the Kitchener-Waterloo community. The Highland Baptist Church Bell Choir also played at many of the concerts. In 2011, Jake Willms resigned as conductor, though he remained as a singer. Carol Giesbrecht then became conductor. The choir concluded their "musical ministry" in 2013.

The fonds consists of an ancestor chart for Julia Ann Vanatter Honsberger (July 20, 1820-Aug. 1, 1868) back to Marinus Adriense (c. 1573).

The first two CDs were donated by Schürch Family Association in April 2007; additional donation September 2008.Also included is a letter from Stephen Shirk permitting free use of the material on the CDs. The set of CDs containing the newsletter were donated beginning in 2012. The genealogy by John Adams Becker was donated by Sam Steiner in about 2019.

Katharina (Heinrichs) Duerksen was the wife of Johann Duerksen, an estate manager for Terek settlement estate owner and industrialist Hermann Neufeld. The Terek settlement, a daughter colony of the Molotschna, was formed along the shores of the Caspian Sea in 1901. The Duerksens had 13 children. 

Katharina (Klassen) Penner (1866-1950) was the daughter of Peter Klassen and Helena (Hamm). Born in Chortitza, South Russia, she married Peter Penner, in 1890. The couple had ten children. Her husband died in 1922, and sons Jacob and Rudolf immigrated to Canada; Jacob in 1923 and Rudolf in 1926. In 1943, Katharina, her remaining children, and their families left the Soviet Union on the "Great Trek" of Mennonites following the German army to Poland. The family tried to continue on to western Germany, and became divided between those who made it west and immigrated to Canada in 1948, and those who were forcibly returned to the Soviet Union. One son, Georg (George) immigrated to South America. Katharina Penner died in Rosthern, Saskatchewan in 1950.

Obituary for Katharine Dyck drafted by Henry Regier; copy of "Denkschrift: den Mennoniten in Amerika - die Mennoniten in der Ukraine" ("Historical Memorandum to the Mennonites in America - from the Mennonites in the Ukraine"), Ohrloff, 1922. Above the title is a sketch of a man plowing with a tractor. The text discusses the situation of the Mennonites in the Ukraine following World War I and thanks the Mennonites in North America for their help in providing tractors ("Traktorhilfe"). It is signed by the members of the "Vorsitzende des Verbandes der Mennoniten" (executive members of the Association of Mennonites), B. B. Janz, J.H. (for Johann?) Cornies, H. Bartel and A. Fast. It was created by Hans Janzen and Peter Cornies. The date of this copy is unknown.

Kenneth R. Bender (1935-1991), commonly known as Ken Bender, was a pastor and counsellor. He served as pastor at Avon Mennonite Church (Stratford, Ontario) from 1962-1966. At the time of his death he was director of Addiction Assessment Care and Treatment Services and had a private counseling practice. He was married to Anna (Schwartzentruber) and had three children.

The house church began services in 1969, and formally organized in 1970. Walter Klaassen and John W. Miller are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by Mennonite and non-Mennonite individuals. The group is considered to be a congregation and a member of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, but in effect functioned as a cluster of individual house churches with a central meeting place where they gathered in alternate weeks. In 1988 there were four house churches.

The fonds consists of a three page narrative of the Kratz family in Vineland, Ontario, 1799-1812, written by Mrs. Simeon Kratz.

The fonds consists of microfilm records both from the Archives of Ontario (Reel 1) and the National Archives of Canada (Reels 2-4). The microfilms were gathered during research conducted by Reg Good.

The Mennonite Conference of Ontario, in response to a proposal from a number of concerned people, created a Land Use Task Force in 1975. Its purpose was to create a brief on the increasing attrition of agricultural land in Ontario, with the goal of making their concerns known to the government of Ontario. The brief was completed in 1976 (see Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec fonds, II-2.5.1).

The congregation began services in 1980 at the Grantham Mennonite Brethren Church, and formally organized in 1983. For many years it met at the St. Catharines United Mennonite Church. Southin Luangrath is considered the founding leader of the group. Its first pastor was Tong Chitchalerntham. The congregation originated through the efforts of a family of refugees who arrived in Canada in the late 1970s.

Laura Schwartzentruber (1904-1993) married Aaron Ruby (1903-1950) in 1933. She lived in East Zorra Township, Oxford County, Ontario.

Laura Shantz (1883-1969) was born near Haysville in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County to Noah S. and Susannah Shantz. In 1911, she joined Ida and Eva Bergey on a trip to California where the three worked as domestics. Laura Shantz married Tobias Shantz (1874-1944) in 1919 and Jeremiah Good (1873-1963) in 1950. Her residence for many years was 39 Rudy Street (39 Roslin Avenue South) near Erb Street Mennonite Church in Waterloo, where she was a member. She spent her later years at Fairview Mennonite Home.

The congregation began services in 1925, and formally organized in 1929. The first building was occupied in 1934, with a new building program in 1984. Jacob D. Janzen and Nicolai Schmidt are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from the Soviet Union. The congregation was initially scattered into smaller groups at Kingsville, Harrow, Windsor, Pelee Island, and Leamington until they were amalgamated in the early 1930s. The congregation was known as Essex County United Mennonite until 1958. It is the parent church to the North Leamington United Mennonite Church (1954), a division which occurred because of growing membership. The two churches were under one organization until 1981 when they became autonomous.

This series consists of miscellaneous legal documents not located in personal or institutional collections.

Biographical sketch:  Born in Waterloo Township, Leonard Albert Bechtel married Nora (Brubacher) in June 1941. As a conscientious objector, he performed Alternative Service in British Columbia, mostly at Alternative Service work camps at Emory Creek (summer 1942) and Cowichan Lake (1942-1943). He was assigned to Victoria and Vancouver to work on a project creating portable sawmills (winter 1942/1943). He returned home in November 1943 to Nora and his firstborn child David, who had been a baby when he left for British Columbia. After the war, he started L.A. Bechtel Construction and later Preston Building Supply. The couple had six children and died a few weeks apart in 2009.

Leona Cressman was born 25 May 1917 to Joseph and Malinda Weber Cressman in Crossfield, AB. Before the end of World War I the family had moved to Kitchener, ON

Leslie R. Gray was a former President of the Ontario Historical Society. He and his wife, Elma, had Pennsylvania German roots, and carried on significant research on Mennonite and Pennsylvania German history. A particular interest was fraktur art. A manuscript, "The cultural background of the Pennsylvania German Mennonites in Ontario" is housed in the collection of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. The first 21 chapters are by Mrs. Gray; the latter three chapters are by Leslie Gray. He was employed by Silverwoods Dairy in London, Ontario.

5 sleeves containing 95 35mm colour slides which were duplicated in the early 1970s. Included is a handwritten list prepared by Leslie R. Gray. The typed list also indicates with an asterisk which slides can also be obtained the Leslie R. Gray photograph collection (1986-2 and 1987-2).

The letter collection series is used for miscellaneous letter collections not included in manuscript collections. In many cases these are photoreproductions obtained from other archival centers, or from individuals.

Levi Groff (1854-1923)

Lewis Josephus Burkholder was born 15 June 1875 near Markham, Ontario to Abraham Burkholder (3 December 1829-26 November 1910) and Elizabeth Reesor Burkholder (18 August 1842-29 July 1897). He was the oldest of five children of Abraham Burkholder's second marriage. There were three older children from the first marriage.

Library

Vol. 1: Misc.,

1. Annual reports, 1973/74-1975/76
2. Acquisition lists and financial statements, 1974-1976
3. Workshop for Church Librarians, correspondence, 1975
4. Memos, 1974-1975
5. "No Smoking" sign
6. Library Accession Records, [196-]-1978

Magdalena Farney (Fahrni) and Joseph Lichti were both born in Alsace and were married in Canada in 1847. They had 11 children.

Located at 465 Maitland Ave. S., Listowel, Ontario, the congregation began services in April 1963 with three families that held services in the Listowel Memorial Arena auditorium. In the fall of 1963 the growing congregation moved to a building vacated by the Pentecostal Church which was moving to larger quarters. The congregation formally organized in 1964 and held a ground-breaking service for its new building in October 1965. The building was occupied in 1966 with a subsequent building program in 1981. 

The Living Water Community Christian Fellowship began services in 1981, and formally organized in 1982. The first building was occupied in 1983, with a subsequent building program in 1991. Wayne Wagler, Mahlon Wagler, and Elroy Gingerich are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by individuals and the Hillcrest Mennonite Church.

Lloyd L. Bender, the son of Solomon R. and Rachel (Iutzi) Bender, was born in East Zorra Township in 1912. He married Leona Bender in 1939; the couple had six children.The family farmed and raised cattle on Lot 29 and part of Lot 30, Concession 18, East Zorra. Lloyd died in 1998, and Leona in 2004.

The Local History collection includes programs, brochures, newspaper clippings, photocopy extracts from larger works, and other materials related to local history that have been gathered by Archives staff over the years. It is organized by township within geographic region.

Lorna Lucille Shantz was born 29 May 1921 in Wilmot Township, the daughter of Walter and Selina Shantz. She was the oldest of eight children. At age 12, she passed her high school entrance exams but left school to help at home. On 29 May 1940 she married David Dalton Bergey (1916-1980). They had two children, Edward and Robert.

Lorraine Marie Roth (1930-2013) grew up on a farm in South Easthope Township, Ontario, the daughter of Sydney and Violet (Brenneman) Roth. Her home congregation was East Zorra Mennonite Church. She attended Rockway Mennonite School, graduating in 1949. After two years of teaching in a country school, she attended Goshen College in Indiana. In 1952 she travelled to Switzerland to attend the Mennonite World Conference. In 1954, after graduating with a BA from Goshen, she accepted an assignment with the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and spent a year learning Spanish in Costa Rica followed by several years of teaching in a primary school in rural Honduras. Following two years at Goshen Biblical Seminary, she graduated with a Masters in Religious Education in 1964. Returning to Ontario, she was employed at Provident Bookstore in Kitchener and later Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. 

From her research files (see Series 4), Roth prepared summaries of Amish Mennonite genealogical information. The files are organized by surname.

Roth’s filing system made no distinction between personal and research files. This series was created by the Archives during processing from files identified as being of a predominantly personal nature. The series includes biographical materials, family papers, and documents relating to Roth’s education, mission and service in Honduras and Costa Rica, travel, employment, congregational memberships, people and current issues of interest, awards and recognitions. Correspondence files of a predominantly personal nature are filed here; however, many of her genealogy research files also contain correspondence of a personal nature. The files in this series have been clustered in approximate chronological and topical order.
 

Scope and content: Contains research notes on historical and genealogical topics of interest to Roth. Also includes genealogical correspondence with various individuals.

Scope and content: Contains photograph albums and scrapbooks created by Lorraine Roth.

This series consists of miscellaneous documents collected by the Mennonite Archives of Ontario relating to Low German Mennonites (including Old Colony Mennonites) and not located in personal or institutional collections.

Abraham H. Weber (1787-1867) was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; he married Elizabeth Cressman (1788-1847). They moved to Berlin, Ontario where their three children were born. Abraham C. Weber, their youngest son, married Judith Martin and was ordained as a Mennonite minister in 1850. Abraham and Judith had 16 children. One of the boys, Abraham M. Weber, married Susannah Cressman; together they had five children. Their daughter Lucinda (1873-1958) married Silas S. Good. Silas (1865-1938) was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Sittler) Good. Lucinda and Silas married in 1895, and homesteaded in High River, Alberta in 1900.

Biographical sketch: Lucy Braun (1928-2019) is the daughter of Peter and Katharina (Braul) Braun. Her given name is Elisabeth, but she was usually known by the German "Lusie" or later in Canada, the English "Lucy." Born in Wernersdorf, Molotschna, South Russia, she was the fifth of nine children.

The fonds was donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario by David Reimer in 1991.

Mabel Cressman was born 30 September 1914 to Isaiah and Lena Shirk Cressman. She grew up on a farm between Berlin (now Kitchener) and Breslau in a family of 15 children. The family was active in First Mennonite Church in Kitchener.

Bertha Mabel Dunham (1881-1957) was born on a farm near Harriston, Ontario. She was the daughter of Magdalena (Eby) and Martin Dunham. The family moved to Kitchener when Mabel was six. She completed a course in library science at McGill University and was chief librarian at the Kitchener Public Library from 1908-1944. She was the first chief librarian in Ontario to have received training as a librarian.

Mabel Groh (1884-1962) was the daughter of Anson Groh and Lovina Bechtel. She never married. For a number of years she wrote extensively for the Mennonite Church papers, including Youth's Christian Companion, Gospel Herald and Christian Monitor, especially in the 1920s.

Mahlon W. Shantz (Feb. 18, 1914-1 October 1999) was the oldest son and third child of Normas S. Shantz and Elmina Weber. On Nov. 19, 1936 he married Mary Cressman; they had seven children. He was a lay person with a strong interest in Mennonite history; served on the board of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario for many years.

6 sleeves containing 117 35mm colour slides. These slides and sound track and narration were done for Mennonite Central Committee Canada. The pictures and text were not credited. Music on the sound track is by the Rouge River Family Band. The cassette sound track is enclosed with the slides.

Located 0.5 miles west of Mannheim. The land for the first building was conveyed by Isaac Latschar in 1839; consequently the congregation was known as the Latschar Mennonite Church for many years. There were subsequent building programs in 1853, 1908 and 1980.

Maple View Mennonite Church is located 1.5 miles northwest of Wellesley on 3rd Line of Wellesley Township.

Maps and charts in this series are both published and unpublished. Most do not relate directly to other collections.

Maria Lichti (1819-1900) was the daughter of Christian J. and Magdalena (Litwiller) Lichti. The family came from Alsace to Wilmot Township when Maria was eight years old. They settled on Lot 10 South Erbs Road, near St. Agatha, Ontario. Maria was baptized in 1834 and married Joseph B. Zehr (1817-1905) in 1841. The couple had 10 children and farmed near Baden.

Marion Nafziger was born 10 August 1921 to Enos and Elizabeth Erb Nafziger. She was one of four children. Her parents were members at Erb Street Mennonite Church in Waterloo. She attended high school both locally and at Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The church is located at 4581-14th Ave., Markham, ON, L3S 3K2.

The Markham Mennonite Council grew out of cooperation between the Steeles Avenue, Cedar Grove, Wideman and Hagerman Mennonite churches. All were member congregations of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec.

The Old Order Mennonite (horse and buggy) Mennonite district conferences separated in Indiana and Ohio (1907), Pennsylvania (1927) and Ontario (1931) over the use of modern technologies. In Ontario telephones and automobiles were at the heart of the division. The more progressive group is known in Indiana and Ohio as the Indiana-Ohio Conference, in Pennsylvania and Virginia as the Weaverland Conference, and in Ontario as the Markham-Waterloo Conference.

Martha Baer (1919-1999) was the 12th child of Ephraim and Lovina (Nahrgang) Baer. She grew up on the family farm near New Hamburg, Ontario. Martha attended Eastern Mennonite Bible College in Virginia for two years. She then did city mission work in Scarborough, Ontario with the Mennonite Church. She later nursed at St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener, and worked in nursing homes in Kitchener, London and Tavistock. She was very active in church life at Wilmot Mennonite Church. In her later years she lived and worked at Nithview Home in New Hamburg.

Martin Frey (1914-2006) married Selina (Martin) Frey in 1939, and in 1941 purchased a property at the north end of St. Jacobs, Ontario. He started Frey's Hatchery Ltd. in 1946. 

Mary Ann Horst was born in 1931 on a farm near Hawkesville, Ontario and died in Elmira in 2014. She was the youngest of nine children of Eli and Malinda (Sittler) Horst. During her childhood, the family moved several times to different farms in the area, and lived briefly in the village of Floradale. The Horsts were Old Order Mennonites, but none of the children remained with this group. Mary Ann was baptized at Erb Street Mennonite Church in 1948, and became a member of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario mission church at Parker (later Berea Mennonite Church).

Mary G. Dick and Anna Dick were born in Southern Russia in the Molotschna Mennonite settlement. They experienced the Russian revolution, and immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. They lived in the Kitchener and Leamington areas.

Mary Groh taught in the Teachers Abroad Program (TAP), a project of Mennonite Central Committee, from 1962-1969. She taught at the Kahuhia Girls' High School near Fort Hall (Murang'a), Kenya. Rather than keeping a journal, she wrote letters home to her parents in Bloomingdale, Ontario, and other family members.

Mary Schwartzentruber (1870-1957) was the daughter of John B. and Maria (Bender) Schwartzentruber. In 1896 she married Jacob L. Wagler (1868-1939). The couple had four children. She lived in the Millbank, Ontario area, and after 1940 in the village of Millbank. Her husband was a deacon in the Mornington Amish Mennonite Church.

The M.A. in Religious Studies was proposed by the Religious Studies faculty of the University of Waterloo, included persons from the department based at Conrad Grebel. The programme was initially approved in 1989 by the University, but then foundered and was not implemented.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

Mattie Gerber (1904-1995) was born to Jacob B. (1873-1943) and Magdalena "Mattie" (Jantzi) Gerber (1873-1938) in Nobles County, Minnestoa. The family moved to West Branch, Michigan in 1907 or 1908, then to the Millbank, Ontario area in 1926. They were part of a cluster of Ontario Amish families who moved from Waterloo County to Minnesota beginning in 1891, then on to Michigan. Most, like the Gerbers, eventually moved back to Ontario. Mattie Gerber's account book shows she worked for several local families before her marriage. She married Solomon Kropp (1883-1954) in 1947.

The McArthur's Mills Christian Fellowship began as a church plant of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario in 1960. The first building was occupied in 1961. Elvin Burkholder is considered the founding leader of the group. The effort replaced work known as Little Ireland at McArthur's Mills.

Menno Brubacher (11 October 1874-14 December 1956) was born in Woolwich Township, Waterloo County, Ontario. He married Almeta Good in 1900; they had six children. He was ordained as a deacon in the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church in 1926.

Menno House opened in 1956 in a rented house at 551 Dovercourt Road in Toronto. It was formed by a group of young Mennonite men - university students and recent graduates who felt the need to establish a supportive organization while studying or working in the city. The twelve residents governed themselves through a Menno House Association; three interested churchmen acted as trustees. When more space was needed, a house was purchased at 479 Palmerston Blvd. In order to purchase the house, Menno House Realty Limited was formed and subsequently rented the new house to the Menno House Association. The Palmerston house had 15 residents, and five associated members lived nearby.

The group became involved in youth leadership at Toronto United Mennonite Church. Young Mennonite women attended events, though the residence remained open only to men. One resident estimated that "hundreds of people" lived at Menno House during its lifetime; in addition to the core group, some came for short-term courses or the MCC "Students-in-Industry" summer work-study program.

Menno Singers, a non-professional community choir, gave its first performance in December 1955. It was founded by Abner Martin, then 20 years old. It provided a vehicle for recent Rockway Mennonite School graduates to continue to sing high quality choral music. In time non-Mennonite choristers also participated in Menno Singers. Menno Singers has continued to the present.

Laureen Harder-Gissing was commissioned by the Mennonite Aid Union to write its history. The published books, We Bear the Loss Together, was published in 2007.

The Mennonite Aid Union (MAU) is the oldest Mennonite mutual fire and storm property insurance organization in North America. It was organized April 9, 1866 under authorization of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario given in 1864. It first served only members of the Mennonite Church, but in 1919 expanded to include other Mennonite groups. Its area of service also included Alberta and Saskatchewan (Northwest Mennonite Conference), Manitoba, British Columbia, Quebec, and some areas in New York State formerly connected to the Ontario Conference. In later decades, MAU was headquartered in Baden, Ontario.

In 1976, Newton Gingerich proposed that Mennonite Central Committee Ontario take the initiative to bring together the various Mennonite and Brethren in Christ conferences in the province to develop a shared resource centre. In 1981, the Ontario Mennonite Resource Centre was formed by MCC Ontario and the Inter-Mennonite Conference (later Mennonite Church Eastern Canada). The Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren joined in 1984. In 1992, the name of the centre was changed to Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Resource Centre to reflect the addition of the Canadian Conference of Brethren in Christ as a sponsor. The centre was housed in the MCC Ontario building at 50 Kent Avenue in Kitchener.

The Mennonite Bicentennial Commission was established as a separately incorporated body in 1983 by the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario for the purpose of planning a variety of special events, publications, etc. for the 1986 bicentennial of Mennonites in Canada. The Commission ceased in 1993 after establishing an endowment fund for the upkeep of the Bicentennial Memorial at Vineland, Ontario.Frank H. Epp was the organizational inspiration for the Commission, and served as its President until his death in January 1986.

The Archives does not deliberately collect Mennonite Brethren records. Larger deposits of Mennonite Brethren Church records are located at the church, and at the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Winnipeg.

The Missionary Church was formed in 1969 by a merger of the United Missionary Church (known by the name of Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church from 1883 to 1947) and the Missionary Church Association. The Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church was formed in 1883 by a merger of the Evangelical United Mennonite Church and a Brethren in Christ group known as the Swankites. The Evangelical Mennonites in turn had been formed in 1879 by a merger of the Evangelical Mennonites of Pennsylvania and the United Mennonites of Ontario. The latter group had been formed in 1875 by a merger of the Reforming/Reformed Mennonites and the New Mennonites.

Huron Cty. - Hay Twp. - Blake Amish Mennonite Cemetery, May 2009 ; Hist.Mss.5B.115

Kent Cty. (Michigan) - Oakfield Twp. White Swan cemetery , [partial listing]., 1928 ; Hist.Mss.5B.30

Cemetery records in the Archives

• Many cemeteries in Ontario with significant numbers of Mennonite burials have been identified and listed on our cemeteries page. For the cemeteries listed, we have transcribed copies in print form.
• A microfilm collection of some cemetery records is also available for viewing at the Archives.
• Use the Archives search page to locate other records within the Mennonite Archives of Ontario related to Mennonite cemeteries. Search using the terms "cemetery" and "cemeteries."

Mennonite Central Committee began in 1920 as an inter-Mennonite relief agency to provide assistance to Mennonites in the Soviet Union who suffered enormously in the wake of the Russian Revolution and the widespread famine in Ukraine afterwards.

In 1995 Mennonite Central Committee Ontario approved a project for writing the history of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario and its predecessor agencies. Lucille Marr, a Professor in the History Department of Augustana University College, Camrose, Alberta, was retained to write the history. These interviews were done in the research phase of the project. The interviews were conducted either by Lucille Marr, Linda Huebert Hecht or Laureen Harder.

These audiovisual presentations were produced and circulated by Mennonite Central Committee to showcase MCC programs and educate the MCC constituency. The packaged presentations could be shipped out and returned to MCC offices.

This description is not yet complete. Although the Archives is not an official depository for Mennonite Central Committee, it does accrue the records of this organization. Contact the archivist for more information.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada was founded in 1963 through the merger of several regional inter-Mennonite service organizations. The national offices were established in Winnipeg. In the late 1970s the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Winnipeg began the official depository for MCC Canada records. In 1978 the papers to be transferred were microfilmed to allow for broader circulation of the archives.

The Mennonite Archives of Ontario is the official repository for the records of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario.The fonds consists of a transfer of records in the early 1980s. A second major accrual occurred in 2015.

On 5 March 1979, Mennonite Central Committee Canada signed a refugee sponsorship agreement with the government of Canada. MCC Canada was to act as the umbrella organization for churches, organizations and individuals who sponsored southeast Asian refugees. MCC Canada administered this program, titled the Refugee Assistance Program, through its Overseas Services division. The majority of refugees under this program arrived in Canada between 1979 and 1980. In Ontario, the MCC Ontario Relief and Immigration Section supported the work of refugee sponsors. MCC Ontario also employed a settlement worker.

The Mennonite Choral Society was one of a variety of choral societies that emerged within the Mennonite community of Waterloo in the early to mid 20th century. The groups tended to cluster around a particular Mennonite leader. The leader of the society during the period of the fonds was Titus L. Kolb (November 7 1874-October 2 1949). Kolb was a son of Jacob Z. Kolb and brother of Aaron C. Kolb, another leader in the Mennonite choral community in the 1930s.

The formation of MC Canada was the culmination of a process that began in July, 1989 with the decision of two North American church bodies – the Mennonite Church (MC) and General Conference Mennonite Church (GC) – to explore integration. Discussions included the Conference of Mennonites in Canada (CMC), which had congregational and conference ties to the MC and GC bodies. A recommendation to proceed with integration was accepted at Wichita in 1995, with the stipulation that the CMC should be consulted at every step. Intensive consultation followed with the Canadian membership, whereupon proposals were brought to joint GC and CMC sessions in Winnipeg in 1997 and then to a meeting of all three delegate groups – CMC, GC and MC – at a joint assembly in St. Louis in 1999. At the St. Louis assembly, delegates adopted recommendations that led to the formation of MC Canada and MC USA, along with guidelines for partnership between these two denominations.

The Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada resulted from the merger of three Ontario Mennonite groups: the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (5,110 members, 1987), the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference (3,195 members, 1987), and the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario (5,192 members, 1987). The first two groups were conferences of the Mennonite Church (MC). The last was a provincial conference related to the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, which was one of the districts of the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM).

19 sleeves containing 369 35mm colour slides. Included is a typed 1983 script used with the slide set describing the congregations in 1983. The original script has been lost. The slide set and script were produced in 1974.

6 sleeves containing 102 35mm colour slides. Included is a typed script to be used with the slide set describing the congregations of the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference. The set and script were produced in 1974; many of the original slides in the set were returned to the congregations, thus the set is incomplete. In Oct. 1987 Fred Lichti produced an audio cassette to be used with the slides that remained. This was used at the time the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference final celebration at East Zorra Mennonite Church, Nov. 8, 1987. (The Western Ontario Mennonite Conference integrated into the newly formed Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada at this time.

The Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support formally began in 1987 as a cooperative effort of four Mennonite congregations in the Kitchener-Waterloo area: First Mennonite Church, Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church, Olive Branch Mennonite Church and Breslau Mennonite Church.

The Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (MCOQ) was founded in 1810. It was known as the Mennonite Conference of Canada until 1909 and the Ontario Mennonite Conference until 1982.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

The Mennonite Fellowship of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) began with informal house meetings as early as 1956 around two missionary families (Harold & Pauline Reesor and Tilman & Janet Martin) sent by the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. Individual contacts led to formation of a Mennonite Students Association; this association was regathered in 1970 by Joe Martin, MD.

The Mennonite Historical Society of Canada (MHSC) was established in 1968 (initially under the name Joint Committee on the History of Mennonites in Canada), convened by the Mennonite Historical Societies of Manitoba and Ontario to sponsor the writing of a history of the Mennonites in Canada.

The Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario held its first meeting on 8 May 1965, though it was not formally organized until the following month. The Society has been loosely affiliated with Conrad Grebel College since its inception. J. Winfield Fretz, the first President of the College, also served as the Society's president from its inception until 1977.

The Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario (MMBO) was organized on September 11, 1929 and chartered the same year. It was given jurisdiction over "the rural and city mission work, sewing circles, junior investments, finance board and the support of home and foreign fields" of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. The Board was formed to consolidate the work of the City Mission Board (1907), the Ontario Board of Mennonite Finance (1911) and Mennonite Board of Rural Missions (1915).

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm colour slides. This audio-visual presentation commissioned by the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec. The script and audio cassette for use with the slides have been lost.

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm colour slides. Included is a printed script for an audio-visual presentation commissioned by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario. The audio cassette for use with the slides is located at Hist. Mss. 9.52.3

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm colour slides. Included is a printed script for an audio-visual presentation commissioned by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario. The audio cassette for use with the slides is located at Hist. Mss. 9.52.2

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm colour slides. Included is a printed script for an audio-visual presentation commissioned by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario. The audio cassette for use with the slides is located at Hist. Mss. 9.52.1

In 1981 Adolfo Puricelli was invited by the Mission and Service Committee of the United Mennonite Conference of Ontario to study the needs of South and Central American refugees in Toronto. Adolfo and his wife, Betty, obtained visas to come to Canada for this purpose in 1982. The New Life Centre was established in 1983 and it operated out of the Puricelli home. It was recognized as a charitable institution in 1987.

The Mennonite Registered Nurses Association held its first meeting on 19 July 1944 when ten women gathered at the home of Reta Bean. Formal organization took place in 1945. The Association promoted a Christian philosophy of nursing, and provided an opportunity for fellowship among the nurses.  In 1966 the organization restructured under the name, "Christian Nurses Association."

In 1906, the Mennonite Conference of Ontario recommended the "organization of a Peace and Arbitration Association in each congregation for the circulation of Peace Literature and for advancing the cause of non-resistance in every legitimate way..." The committee ceased to function in 1922.

Chartered in 1875, the Mennonite Publishing Company was located in Elkhart, Indiana. A stock company, it was forced into bankruptcy in 1903 and sold its periodical publications (Herald of Truth andMennonitische Rundschau) to the Mennonite Publication Board of the Mennonite Church. The Company published both books and periodicals in German and English serving Mennonites and Amish Mennonites. It's charter ended in 1925. For more information see "Mennonite Publishing Company (Elkhart, Indiana, USA)" in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encylopedia Online.

With tourism increasing in the St. Jacobs and Elmira area in the 1970s, local entrepreneurs Laura and Milo Shantz were encouraged to develop an interpretive centre to describe Mennonite history and culture to visitors. Together with a group of interested people, they planned an information centre in a Shantz-owned building on King Street in St. Jacobs that would house a multi-media presentation. The centre opened in 1979.

These interviews are both in cassette and CD (wav audio format).

In 1979 the Multicultural History Society of Ontario provided a grant for an oral history project administered by Conrad Grebel College to interview Mennonites who immigrated/returned to Canada from Mexico in the 1950s-1970s. Ronald G. Sawatsky conducted the interviews during the summer of 1979. In all 48 interviews were conducted, primarily in German and Low German languages; some were in English.

These interviews are by Ellen Baar or Trudy Funk as part of a larger oral history project on the Niagara Peninsula. There is accompanying textual background for some of the interviews.

49 sleeves containing 980 35mm colour slides. These slides were taken by Reg Good and Kathy Shantz who travelled as Voluntary Service workers across Canada in celebration of the Mennonite Bicentennial in Canada in 1986. Most, but not all, pictures were taken by Kathy Shantz.

The fonds consists of a four-page genealogical register.

These slides are of fraktur images, many of them published in Ontario fraktur: a Pennsylvania- German folk tradition in early Canada (Toronto : M.F. Feheley, 1977) by Michael Bird (1941-2003). The slides are numbered 81-41 through 83-111. 

The Michael Schwartzentruber family was the first Amish family to arrive in the Waterloo region directly from Europe, in 1823. The family resided with Benjamin Eby in Waterloo Township until 1826, when they moved to Lot 9 on the south side of Snyder's Road, Wilmot Township. Schwartzentruber descendants lived on the farm for over 100 years.

he Military Problems Committee (MPC), also known as the Committee on Military Problems, was formed at the 22 Jul 1940 meeting of the Conference of Historic Peace Churches (CHPC). Each of the various groups represented on the CHPC were invited to appoint one member. By 1941, ten such members had been appointed.

Milo Daniel Shantz (1932-2009) was the son of Irvin and Lovina (Roth) Shantz. He married Laura Martin in 1955; the couple had five children. Shantz's business ventures included founding Hybrid Turkeys (a turkey breeding company) and developing the village of St. Jacobs as a travel destination. He was foundational in the creation of The Mennonite Story. He served on many boards and community organizations.

Agnes (Eby) Eby (1926-2022) grew up in Saskatchewan and moved to the Kitchener, Ontario area after her marriage to Milton Eby (1926-2002) in 1953.

The Milverton Mennonite Fellowship began as a church plant of the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference. Initially it rented space in a nearby church, and later in the upper floor of a business building. In 1991/92 it completed construction of its own church building at the edge of Milverton. On 30 June 2019 Milverton Mennonite Fellowship left Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, and became a part of Partners in Harvest, a charismatic Christian denomination with roots in the Toronto Blessing revivals of the 1990s. It changed its name to Milverton Christian Fellowship in fall 2018.

Minnie Amelia (Witmer) Hunsberger (1887-1987) was the daughter of Levi and Mary Witmer. She was married to Noah Hunsberger, who preceded her in death.

Miscellaneous CGC-Sponsored Public Events

1. Programs, 1965, 1978, 1979
2. Mennonite Folk Art exhibit, 1966
3. Spoon River drama correspondence, 1970
4. "Conrad Grebel, son of Zurich" by John Ruth manuscript, 1974
5. Menno Singers correspondence, 1974

Rudy Wiebe by Margaret Loewen Reimer and Sue C. Steiner, November, 1973

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

These recordings come from a wide variety of sources.

Recordings marked with an asterisk have been copied to CD in a wav file format.

3 sleeves containing 8 35mm colour slides. These slides represent three limited sets received from Conrad Grebel College. The photographs are not attributed.

This series includes printed letters from Mennonite missionaries to North American congregations. This was a common method for maintaining "ownership" in mission programs in local congregations.

The Mississauga Mennonite Fellowship in Mississauga, Ontario began services in 1980, and formally organized as a congregation of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario in 1981. It later became a part of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. The congregation came together to provide a Mennonite Anabaptist presence in Mississauga and drew members from Brampton, Georgetown, Milton, Mississauga, Oakville and Toronto. Many of its members had formerly been part of the Toronto United Mennonite Church.

The congregation, located at 64 Tiago St., Toronto, began services in 1946. A basement facility was constructed in 1950; the church building was completed in 1957. The congregation originated through outreach by Danforth Mennonite Church and Emerson McDowell, starting as a Sunday school. The congregation merged with the Danforth Mennonite Church in 1973. It had been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1946-1973). The language of worship was English.

Moses C. Bowman (1855-1933) was a Mennonite preacher at the Mannheim Mennonite Church. His ancestor Wendel Bauman (1681?-1735) was the first of the family line to emigrate from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. Moses C. was an uncle to Isaiah Bowman, a geographer, born in 1878 in the Waterloo region. Isaiah's father Samuel took the family to Michigan when Isaiah was 8 weeks old.

2 pages of textual records (photocopy)

Moses S. Bowman (Nov. 9, 1819-1898) was the eldest son of Benjamin Baumann and Susannah Bechtel. On Oct. 8, 1844 he married Anna Cressman; they had twelve children. He was farmer near Mannheim, Ontario where resided for his entire married life. On May 1, 1853 he ordained a deacon in the local congregation. He was ordained minister in January 1859. He was an early supporter of the Sunday school in Ontario, and was one of the first to invite U.S. Mennonite evangelists to serve in his congregation.

Moses S. Bowman (Mar. 12, 1899-Aug. 14, 1964) was the son of Moses C. and Lydia Shantz and the grandson of Moses S. Bowman (1819-1898). He married Mildred Schisler on March 4, 1926; they had three children. In 1939 he was ordained as minister at First Mennonite Church for service at the Roseville Mennonite Church. He also served briefly at the Blenheim Mennonite Church.

Moses Sherk (31 March 1849-18 December 1928) was the third child of Abraham Sherk and Lucy Buckler Sharick/Sherk. On 28 October 1873 he married Caroline Huber (d. 7 October 1891) in the Freeport United Brethren Church. He was a farmer, but also trained for ministry at the Freeport Academy. He was a fulltime minister in the United Brethen in Christ Church from 1874-1878, and served as a circuit minister for many years, (e.g. in the Shelbourne/Badjeros area and in Saugeen County, Ontario).

The church was loated 2 km (1 mi) east of Campden at the first intersection on the Fly Rd. The congregation dissolved in 1909. It had been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. Thus Mountain Mennonite was part of the Mennonite Church (MC) segment of the Mennonite "family." The language of worship was English; language transition from German occurred in the 1880s.

The Multicultural History Society of Ontario (MHSO) is a not-for-profit educational institution which collects, describes and maintains material related to the ethnic and cultural development of Ontario. In July and August 1981, researchers Louella Friesen and Ron Sawatsky recorded interviews with 15 Russian Mennonites in the Leamington  and Chatham, Ontario areas.

Courses in music were first offered by Conrad Grebel College for University of Waterloo credit in 1965 with the appointment of Dr. Helen Martens. Part-time instructors assisted in providing course offerings. A second full-time professor was appointed in 1972. In 1973, the University approved a three-year General Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (Music). The degree program was jointly administed by Conrad Grebel College and the Fine Arts department. In 1977, a third full-time appointment in Music was made. In 1979, the University approved the creation of an four-year Honours Bachelor of Arts in Music. Also in 1979, Grebel took over administration of the University of Waterloo's extra currciular music program.

The Music-Lecture series began in the 1966/67 academic year. Its purpose was "to provide wholesome and stimulating entertainment for adult members in the college constituency...[and] an opportunity for promising young artists, especially Mennonites, to be heard by a public audience" (J. Winfield Fretz, 13 July 1973). The series was planned by a committee of college and community representatives. It reported to the college board.

Tape prepared to Wired World Community Radio, 1972 by Ruth Klaassen, Marilyn Lambright and Orland Gingerich. It includes traditional hymns sung by an inter-church choir at Steinmann Mennonite Church; discussion of the hymns by Allan Yantzi, Mabel Litwiller and Orland Gingerich; also Ruth Klaassen interviewing Orland Gingerich, Lorraine Roth and Urie Bender

In the winter of 1947-48, several families from the Wellesley, Wilmot and East Zorra area with roots in the Amish-Mennonite Conference bought farms in the Ailsa Craig area with the goal of establishing a mission church. They purchased a Presbyterian church in Nairn with the assistance of the Conference Mission Board, and began worshipping there in 1948. Services were provided by the Mission Board until Wilfred Schlegel was ordained as the first minister on 6 Mar 1949.

Nancy Martin was born in 1883 and died in 1970. She was the daughter of Abram C. Shantz and Catharina Goetz

Nancy Stauffer (1843-1915) was the fourth of 13 children born to Jacob and Elizabeth (Mosser) Stauffer on a farm near Plattsville, Ontario. She married Joseph Kolb in 1866. They resided in Breslau and had five children.

Nancy-Lou Patterson was born 5 September 1929 in Worcester, MA. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Washington in 1951, afterwards working for two years as a scientific illustrator at the University of Kansas and at the Smithsonian and then for nine years as a lecturer at Seattle University. In 1962 she moved to the Waterloo Region with her husband, Dr. E. Palmer Patterson, who was to teach at the University of Waterloo. In addition to her position as Director of Art and Curator of the University's art gallery, in 1966 Professor Patterson taught the University of Waterloo's first Fine Arts course, and in 1968 she founded the Department of Fine Arts, twice serving as Department Chair (1968-1974, 1979-1982). She became an Associate Professor in 1972 and full Professor in 1981.

Program formation
By 1964, Mennonite Central Committee Canada was engaging in projects in Indigenous communities in Canada. In 1974, MCC Canada made working with Indigenous peoples and issues a program priority. Menno Wiebe was appointed as the first full time Director of Native Concerns.

Jacob Neufeld (1922-2009) was the son of Johann and Maria (Letkemann) Neufeld. The family immigrated from South Russia to Canada in 1925. Jacob was working in a felt factory in Kitchener in 1942 when he was sent to Montreal River Alternative Service work camp as a conscientious objector. He served at Montreal River in the winter of 1942-1943. Jacob married Justina Goetz in 1944. He was a member of Waterloo-Kitchener Mennonite Church.

Katharina Baergen was one of seven children born to Heinrich H. and Justina (Fast) Baergen. She was born in the Terek Mennonite Settlement in Dagestan in 1914. After a period of unrest due to the Russian Revolution, the family fled the area in 1918. The Baergens resided for a short time in Tiegerweide before departing for Canada in 1924. Settling briefly in Hershel, Saskatchewan, they soon joined the Reesor, Ontario settlement. Katharina married John Neufeld in 1939. In 1940, her parents left Reesor to farm in the Niagara area.

Christian Neuhauser (1767-1809) and Magdalena Zwalter (1772-1814) were married in Lorraine, France in 1794. The couple had five children; three (Christian, Magdalena and John) survived infancy and emigrated to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

Many of these clippings derive from a commercial clipping service that supplied clippings about Mennonites to the Mennonite Reporter, The Canadian Mennonite, and Mennonite Central Committee.This subscription ended in October 2001 Other clippings, were transferred by the Archives to this collection from the Frank H. Epp fonds (103 - H - MC), and cover the period 1873 - ca. 1970. Some clippings have come to the Archives through various sources, and were not attached to any other fonds or collection.

When searching for vital statistics, see also Birth, Baptism, Marriage and Death Records.

Newspapers are located in the Milton Good Library and searchable through the library catalogue.

Newton Laverne Gingrich (Oct. 13, 1925-Aug. 1, 1979) was born in Saskatchewan, the son of Ozias and Naomi Gingrich. He married Mary Sommers; they had four children.

The Niagara Township Credit Union was chartered in December 1944 in the Virgil, Ontario area. Initially, members were connected with agriculture in Niagara Township. Most were Mennonites, though the bond of association did not prohibit non-Mennonites from becoming members. A.P. Regier was the first manager. The organization experienced rapid growth; in 1975, it was the 12th largest credit union in Canada. In 1970, the name was changed to Niagara Credit Union. By 1980, its bond of association had extended to anyone living or working in Niagara Region.

The church is located 0.5 miles northeast of Virgil on the south side of Stone Road, in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Nicholas Fransen (1907-2000) was born in Mariawohl, Molotschna, South Russia. He immigrated to Canada in 1926 and became a farmer and minister in Vineland, Ontario

Nicolai ("Nic") Martens (1900-1950) was born to Jacob and Maria (Poetker) Martens of Wiesenfeld (Ekaterinoslav, South Russia), the first of eight children. He taught in the Molotschna Colony before immigrating to Canada in 1924 along with six siblings (his parents and a brother had died by 1923). He studied at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute in Gretna, Manitoba and became a teacher in Ontario. In 1926, he married Katharina Martens in Manitoba. 

Nicolaus Lichti (1811-1907) was born in Alsace, the youngest surviving child of John and Magdalena (Yoder) Lichti. The family immigrated from Alsace to Wilmot Township in 1825, settling on Lot 8, south side of Erbs Road, just west of St. Agatha. Married siblings of Nicolaus settled nearby. After his father's death in 1839, Nicolaus took over management of the family farm and began keeping meticulous records. He married Anna Ernst (1806-1871) in 1832; the couple had six children. It is evident from his notebook that Nicolaus had significant financial assets, as shown by the extensive loans he made to other members of the community.

Nith Valley Mennonite Church resulted from a merger of the Biehn Mennonite Church (see III-5) and the Blenheim Mennonite Church (see III-6) in 1975. The congregation uses the 1964 church building erected by the Biehn Mennonite Church three kilometers south of Highway 7 & 8 on Waterloo Regional Road 3.

Noah B. Martin was a minister in the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference, in the West Montrose area.

The diaries were donated to the archives in the 1990s.

Noah Sherk Hunsberger (14 December 1877-14 March 1958) was the ninth (of 12) child of Abraham Hunsberger and Elizabeth Sherk. On 1 March 1905 he married Mary Ann Steiner Shantz (17 October 1881-6 February 1925). Noah and Mary Ann had three children. After Mary Ann's death, on 8 September 1926 he married Minnie A. Cober Witmer (20 June 1887-25 December 1987). Noah and Minnie had two children.

The Non-Resistant Relief Organization (NRRO) was a fundraising organization created in 1917 by the several Mennonite and Brethren in Christ bodies in Ontario. The permanent organization was effected in Kitchener, Ontario on 16 January 1918. Membership eventually included the Mennonite Conference of Ontario, Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference, United Missionary Church (Mennonite Brethren in Christ at that time), Brethren in Christ (Tunker), Amish Mennonite, the  United Mennonites, the Mennonite Brethren, and Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church.

Nora Burkhart was born on 22 June 1915 in Waterloo Township. She was the eldest child and only daughter of Menno and Hattie (Lichty) Burkhart. After attending elementary school she did housework for a number of prominent families in Waterloo. She also assisted her mother in caring for her six brothers, Melvin, Mahlon, Eugene, Vernon, Ornan and Don. Early in her life Nora developed a keen interest in sports, probably because she grew up in a household of boys.

Norman Hervey High (15 June 1913-4 December 1974) was born in Lincoln County, Ontario.  High was the son of Alfred and Alda Culp High and the great grandson of Daniel Hoch. He studied at Ontario Agricultural College (BSA, 1940) and Cornell University (MS, 1941; PhD, 1950) in the fields of education, rural sociology, and agricultural economics.

Located Lot 6, Conc. 6, Mersea Township, R.R. 5, Leamington, Ontario.

The church was located on the west side of Bobcaygeon Rd. north of Minden.

2 sleeves containing 39 35mm colour slides. These slides done for the Inter-Mennonite Conference (Ontario). Photographs are by Sam Steiner. The printed identification list does not match the sequence of slides as received by the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

The Northwest Conference of the Mennonite Church has its origin in immigrants from Ontario who came to Carstairs and High River, Alberta. The first congregations organized in 1903 with the assistance of S.F. Coffman from Ontario. The name changed in 1971. Because of the familial relationships with Ontario, there were fraternal delegate visits with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec until that conference merged into the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada.

The first four microfilms contains documents found in 80 files dating between 1819 and 1833 that contain Mennonite related material that are found in the Odessa Region State Archives in Fund 6, Inventory 1. Fund 6 contains the records of the Guardianship Committee of Foreign Settlers in South Russia (Fürsorgekomitee für ausländische Ansiedler In Südrußland). The first four microfilms from Fund 6, Inventory 1 contain a total of about 10,000 frames made from a total of 7293 pages of original material. Most of the records are in Russian, but some of them are also in German. This material was microfilmed in 2002 at the Odessa Archives in Odessa, Ukraine. Tim Janzen provided the funding for this material to be microfilmed and copies to be provided to a variety of Mennonite Archives.

Bishop Johannes (John) Oesch (1791-1850) married Barbara Schultz (1803-1881) in 1820 at Rothsee, a former cloister farm southeast of Munich. They left for Canada in 1824, where they acquired land on Lot 15, North Snyder's Road near Baden. In 1829 John was ordained to the ministry in the Wilmot Amish Mennonite congregation and in September of the same year he was ordained to the office of bishop. In search of more land for their growing family, the couple left for Hay Township in about 1848 or 1849, where Johannes died shortly thereafter. The couple had 18 childen, not all of whom survived childhood.

The Old Order Amish in Canada descend from two streams of Amish Mennonites. The original Amish Mennonite settlers in Ontario arrived in the 1820s directly from Europe. At the end of the 19^th century there was a division between Amish who wished to retain the practice of meeting for worship in homes, and Amish who wished to build meetinghouses like their Mennonite neighbours. The “house Amish” came to be called Old Order Amish like their religious cousin the United States. They use horses and buggies for transportation and do not have electricity in the home. The primary settlement of this group is in the Milverton-Millbank area of Ontario.

"Old Order Mennonite" is a generic term for Swiss-Pennsylvania Mennonite groups who dress plainly and reject modern technologies that other North Americans take for granted. They put the disciplined church community, rather than individual religious experience, at the center of Christian faith. Ordnungen (orders) comprise the rules and regulations of the church community.

Olive Branch had its genesis in conversations within the Inter-Mennonite Service Board. Over a period of time, the feeling grew that a new Mennonite congregation was needed in Waterloo. In the spring and summer of 1984, a series of public meetings took place in order to determine who was interested and what their vision was for a new congregation. The first regular worship services were held at the Adult Recreation Centre in fall of 1984. The worshippers relocated to the lower level of Erb Street Church shortly thereafter. At the end of September 1985 the worshippers were ready to declare themselves to be a congregation. A covenanting service was held, in which sixteen persons committed themselves publicly to membership in the congregation. In the spring of 1986 the congregation was recognized as an emerging congregation by the Inter-Mennonite Conference.

The Ontario Mennonite Bible School (OMBS) began in 1907 and closed in 1969. OMBS was known as the Bible Study Class until the 1920s. “Bible school” was more common by 1930, and a new constitution in 1932 formalized the name Ontario Mennonite Bible School, sometimes referred to as the Kitchener Bible School. In 1951 a more advanced “Institute” was added, leading to the name Ontario Mennonite Bible School & Institute.

In 1978 the Mennonite Archives of Ontario received a grant from the Multi-Culture History Society of Ontario (MSR 9391 ; Microfilm #543) to travel to Mennonite congregations throughout Ontario and microfilm archival records that were made available. Rich Willms and Richard Neff were the students who undertook the project.

In the 1920s, many Low German-speaking Old Colony Mennonites from Manitoba and Saskatchewan moved to Mexico, primarily to avoid adhering to changes in the public school system in Manitoba. Mennonites in Mexico settled in a series of agricultural colonies, but within a couple of generations underemployment and landlessness drove many to return to Canada, at least temporarily. Mennonites began arriving in southwestern Ontario from Mexico in the 1950s to work in seasonal agriculture. By the 1970s, the number of arrivals (primarily from Mexico, but also from other Latin American Mennonite colonies) had increased dramatically. The newcomers faced challenges in obtaining secure legal status, learning English, adjusting to a different school system, finding employment, accessing Canadian social services, and generally adapting to a significantly different life in Canada.

The Ontario Mennonite Music Camp began in 1984 as an Inter-Mennonite Conference (Ontario) project relating to the Board of Congregational Resources. After the formation of the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada the camp related to the Education and Nurture Commission. The camp was always held for two weeks in August at Conrad Grebel College. A wide variety of persons provided leadership for the program.

The first publicized Mennonite relief sale was held in Pennsylvania in 1957. The first sale in Canada was held in May 1967 on the fairgrounds at New Hamburg, Ontario. This sale has been held on the last weekend in May ever since. The goal is to raise funds for the work of Mennonite Central Committee in Ontario and around the world. 

Collin B. Jutzi conducted these interviews in 1975 for a research paper. The paper, "The policy of the Ontario Mennonite community on the issue of conscription and military service during World War II" was submitted for a course at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in January, 1976.

Input by Epp, Klassen, Adolf Ens; discussion

Orland (Steinmann) Gingerich (12 Nov 1920 - 23 Jan 2002) was the oldest child of four born to John Z. Gingerich and Annie Steinmann. He grew up on a farm in Wilmot township in an Amish Mennonite home. As was typical for the Amish Mennonites at the time, he dropped out of school at age 14 in order to work on the family farm -- which he continued to do until age 24. He was baptized into the Amish Mennonite Church at the age of 17 or 18.

Orphen Wismer was one of nine children of Moses E. and Magdelina Snider Wismer. He was born in Waterloo Township and was a miller by trade. He married Sarah E. Bechtel (1871-1951) in 1892; they had eight children. The couple died ten months apart in 1951. Orphen was ordained in 1893 and served as minister of Shantz Mennonite Church until 1937. He was the first preacher at Shantz to preach and teach Sunday School in English.

The Orthodox Mennonite Church has its origins in a division from the David Martin Mennonites. When minister Elam S. Martin was excommunicated from the David Martin group, he gathered with other excommunicants in 1957 to form their own denomination. In 1962, the group was registered as the Orthodox Mennonite Church of Wellesley Township. A 1974 division weakened the group, and in 1978 they began to move from the Hawkesville to the Gorrie area. Their numbers have been strengthened by the return of some from the 1974 division and the addition of some Old Order Mennonites. Mennonites affiliated with the Orthodox have also settled in Kinloss Township and the Algoma District near Sault Ste. Marie.

The fonds consists on Ontario Genealogical Society ancestor charts for Osiah B. Martin (b. 21 May 1926) and Alma Clemmer Martin (b. 4 March 1928), as well as genealogical notes and copies of letters related to family history gathered by Osiah B. Martin. A separate mimeographed binder includes 62 poems, most written by persons of Woolwich Township, Ontario Mennonite background. Many are related to the death of a loved one. Authors include Anna L. Horst, Elixabeth B. Martin, Catherine B. Martin, Leah B. Martin, Peter B. Brubacher, Noah H. Martin, Amos Sherk, Betsy B. Martin.

Osiah Horst (1919-2005) was born in Florida where his parents Daniel and Annie Horst had moved for health reasons. Returning to Ontario in 1921, the family farmed near Elmira. After Alternative Service assignments during World War II, Osiah married Fern Dettwiler (1925- ) in 1945.

1. Printed Reports
2. Records
3. Programs, Releases, Correspondence
4. Congregations
   1. Sharon
   2. Holyrood
   3. Duchess
   4. West Zion
      Centennial celebration, 18-19 Aug 2001 (VHS tape)
      Custodial history: Received from the Archives of the Mennonite Church, 2013

Located at 1830 Kilborn Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, the Ottawa Mennonite congregation began services in 1959, and formally organized in 1963. The first building was occupied in 1965, with a subsequent building program in 1985. William Dick is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated Mennonites who lived and worked in Ottawa. The group was formerly known as Ottawa Mennonite Fellowship.

Velten Otterbein (1685-1743) was born in Nieder-Stoll, Vogelsbergkreis, Hessen, to Heinrich Otterbein. He married three times, to: Elisabeth Heil (d. 1716), Anna Catharina During (1696-1734) and Anna Kunigunda Lang (1694-1751). Twelve children were born from these marriages. The families listed below are believed to be descendants of Velten Otterbein, though the compiler notes that further research is required.

Otto Dirks is the grandson of the first Mennonite missionary from Russia to go abroad, Heinrich Dirks (1842-1915). Heinrich and his wife Aganetha "Agnes" Schroeder were missionaries in Sumatra from 1869-1881. Otto's father was Hermann Dirks, a teacher, who was arrested by the Soviet authorities in 1938 and not heard from again. Otto Dirks was born in Soviet Ukraine and came to Canada in 1948. He became a Mennonite pastor in Ohio and Ontario and spent 10 years as a missionary in Taiwan.

The Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) program at Conrad Grebel University College began in 1977. On 5 Aug 2014, the current PACS Director, Lowell Ewert, invited former directors, faculty members and undergraduate advisors to participate in a day-long oral history recording.

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm color, a script and a reel-to-reel tape of the presentation. The slides were of various projects supported supported by the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference Mission Board, including new churches at Millbank, Stratford, London, Ailsa Craig and Parkhill, nursing homes, and the London Rescue Mission. Not all slides have been identified and correctly placed in sequence. There is additional sleeve of 20 unidentified slides that came with the collection.

In 1994 Parkwood Manor became a division of Fairview Mennoninte Home of Cambridge. The Cardinal Crescent location was too small for badly expansion, and the home's small size made it uneconomic as an independent institution.The connection to Mennonites was attractive as a number of residents were members of the Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church located in downtown Waterloo.

Abraham Grove or "Groff" (1770-1836) was a Pennsylvania Mennonite minister who moved to York County with his wife Elisabeth (Lehman) in 1808. He was ordained as the first bishop for the area that same year. His son Jacob (1804-1863) was ordained as minister three weeks after his father's death, and later as bishop. His was married to Elizabeth Barkey. Their son, Jacob B. Grove (1835-1916), married Mary Lehman (1844-1880). The Groves all farmed in the Markham area.

By 1970, Conrad Grebel University College was offering courses related to peace studies. Donovan Smucker served as director.On 14 May 1974, the College's board of governors authorized the creation of an academic and research program in peace studies. Conrad Brunk became director in 1976. In 1977, the University of Waterloo formally approved the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) program. When classes began in the 1977/1978 academic year, PACS was the first peace studies program at a Canadian university. Students could take an option, minor or honours.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of MCC Ontario (PSCC) was formed in 1965 to liaise with the Peace Section of MCC Canada and the Mennonite Central Committee, and to serve the Ontario constituency by addressing issues of peace, social and economic concerns.

Pearl C. Brubacher (ca. 1896-1930) was the daughter of Martin M. and Catherine Brubacher. Her paternal grandfather was John E. Brubacher of Waterloo, Ontario. Martin and Catherine moved to Kansas in 1886. In 1910 they were located in Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas. Her school compositions reflect the ambition to be a writer. One of four children, Pearl was working as a teacher by 1920. She married Claude Hamilton, and died in childbirth in Kansas City, Missouri in 1930.

Pearl Eby was born 1905 in Huron County, Michigan to Amanda Otterbein Heckendorn and Moses Heckendorn, one of eleven children. The family returned to Ontario and bought a farm in Breslau in 1911. At the age of 15, she moved to Vineland to work "inside and outside." Three years later she returned to Kitchener to work, but always desired to continue her education. In 1932 she graduated from Eastern Mennonite School in Virginia. She married Gordon C. Eby (1906-1980) in 1935; they raised three children and farmed near Mannheim and Breslau/Shantz Station before moving to Kitchener in 1961.

The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario was formed on 2 October, 1951 at Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University), Waterloo, Ontario. Dr. G.E. Reaman was the first president. Subsequently, four chapters were founded in areas where Pennsylvania Germans had settled and where their descendants still lived. The chapters are: Niagara (the Twenty), founded in 1953, Guelph (1953), York (1954) and Waterloo (1956). The Guelph chapter closed after only a few years. The Society played a key role in the founding of the Ontario Genealogical Society in 1961. For a couple of years, these two societies held their meetings jointly.

19 sleeves containing 339 35mm colour slides. This multi-media slide presentation was used by the MennoVan Voluntary Service workers, Reg Good and Kathy Shantz, who travelled as across Canada in celebration of the Mennonite Bicentennial in Canada in 1986. Multiple projectors were used, consequently there are several numerical sequences to the slide set and some pictures are only partial with portions of the picture obscured. The presentation was prepared by the Image Corporation.

Percy Bender was born in 1918 to Peter Bender and Lydia Brenneman Bender near Tavistock, Ontario. He was married to Alma Catherine Catherine Rudisuela in 1941. He died in 1990. He was baptized in the Amish Mennonite Church at East Zorra in 1934 by Daniel S. Jutzi. However later in life he was active in the Evangelical Church (later Evangelical United Brethren Church). He is buried at the Grace United Church in Tavistock, Ontario.

Personal archival collections are collections of individuals or families. These collection may include genealogical materials (unpublished genealogical research, records of family reunions, etc.). However, most of these types of records are located in the Genealogical Manuscripts record group.

Peter Klaassen (1862-1930) was born in Tiegerweide, Molotschna and died in Lethbridge, Alberta. Anna Warkentin (1867-1933) was born in Ohrloff, Molotschna and died in Waterloo, Ontario. The couple married on 17 Aug 1889; they had 13 children, and immigrated to Canada in 1925.

Peter F. Neufeld (1918-1999) was born in Paulsheim, Molotschna, South Russia to Gerhard and Maria (Friesen) Neufeld. In 1926, as the family was planning to emigrate to Canada, Peter experienced the violent death of his father at the hands of bandits. The family arrived in Canada later that year, settling near Vineland. Peter was a conscientious objector during the Second World War and served at the Montreal River Alternative Service work camp. Kaethe Peters (1921-2013) was born in Davlekanovo, Ufa, Russia to Rev. Abram A. and Helena (Duerksen) Peters. The family immigrated to Canada in 1926, settling first in Manitoba and later in Vineland. Kaethe and Peter Neufeld married in Vineland in 1942. The couple farmed and were active members of Vineland United Mennonite Church.

The fonds consists of a photocopy of a family register printed by Heinrich Eby in 1847.

Peter Erb, the second son of Peter and Anna (Schäaeffer) Erb, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 13 Jan 1787.  On 14 Dec 1806, he was married to Susannah Bomberger (1787-1867). In 1807 they, with others, moved to Canada and settled in what is now Waterloo County, Ontario. They located on the west bank of the Grand River, about two miles north of Bridgeport. The couple had 11 children.

Peter G. Martin was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on 9 January 1816. Martin emigrated to Waterloo County, Upper Canada, with his parents in 1823. He married Maria Bauman on 15 November 1842. They farmed the north part of Lot 37, Woolwich Township.

Peter Gerhard Janzen was born 22 December 1903 in the Memrik Colony, South Russia. He emigrated to Canada in 1917. He married Elizabeth Tiessen (17 September 1907-28 February 1998) on 23 November 1930. They had two children. They lived on the Niagara Peninsula until their deaths. Peter was a gardener and nurseryman by profession. He died 27 January 1998 in Vineland, Ontario.

Peter Goetz (1917-2007), son of Henry and Justia Goetz, was born in Slavgorod, Russia and immigrated to Canada in 1929. Peter attended Kitchener Collegiate Institute where he met his future wife, Helena Warkentin. They had two children. During World War II, he served at an Alternative Service work camp in British Columbia. While working as an accountant with B.F. Goodrich, he attended art classes at Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University) and the Doon School of Arts where he studied with Frederick Varley of the Group of Seven and joined the Kitchener-Waterloo Society of Artists. He travelled widely with his exhibitions. His work is in the collections of Queen Elizabeth II, the City of Waterloo, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, the London Regional Art Gallery, the National Club in Toronto, the Universities of Guelph, Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier, Conrad Grebel University College, and many private homes.

Please see the published guide for this collection: Ingrid I. Epp and Harvey L. Dyck, The Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archives, 1803-1920: a research guide (Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1996). The guide provides a file list of the holdings, as well as an history of the collection.

Peter J. Dyck (1914-2010) was born in the Volga Region of Russia; he immigrated with his family to Saskatchewan in 1927. During World War II he had distinguished service with Mennonite Central Committee in England, and after the War in helping Mennonite refugees. He married Elfrieda Klassen, who he met during the England service.

Peter J. Dyck, Convocation address, October, 1974, University of Waterloo

Klassen was born on January 19, 1891 in Osterwick, South Russia and died on April 15, 1977 in St. Catharines, Ontario. He received an elementary education in his home village and then attended high school and a year of Bible school in Sagradovka. Subsequently he attended a Baptist Seminary in Hamburg, Germany for three years.

Peter Kroeker (1885-1952) was born in Schoenau, Molotschna, South Russia to Peter and Maria (Penner) Kroeker. The family later moved to the Terek Mennonite settlement in Dagestan.  He married Maria Willms (1889-1964) in 1911; the couple had six children. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, violence broke out and most Mennonites abandoned the settlement. Kroeker recounts the violence and the family's harrowing escape from the region in his 1917-1919 diaries. Two of the couple's children died in 1919. The family came to Vineland, Ontario in 1925 from Nikolaidorf, Molotschna. By 1931 they were living in Hespeler, Ontario and later moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Kroeker became the first lead minister at Niagara United Mennonite Church in 1938. He served until 1944. Peter Kroeker died in St. Catharines.

Peter Litwiller (8 Jan 1809-7 Jul 1878) was born in the Alsace, the second youngest (of 11) children of Jacob Litwiller and Maria Maurer. The Litwillers came to Canada in 1827 and settled in Wilmot Township. Peter Litwiller married Elizabeth Lichti in 1830; they had eleven children. He was ordained a minister in the Wilmot Amish Mennonite church in 1845, and as a Bishop in 1850.

Peter Nafziger was the son of John and Mattie (Gerber) Nafziger. He was born at Brunner, Ontario on 13 May 1886, and died 3 May 1969. He was married twice: to Christina Jantzi, and then to Elizabeth Jutzi. He had two sons and three daughters. He was ordained deacon of the Wilmot (Steinmann-St. Agatha) congregations in 1925. In 1938 he was ordained to the ministry and served the St. Agatha congregation until his retirement.

In 1961, several descendants of Peter Shirk met to plan a family reunion commemorating his arrival in Canada in 1862. Subsequently, reunions were held in 1961, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1982, 1988, and 1992.

Peter Tschanz was born about 1651 in Sigriswil, Bern, Switzerland. He married Anna von Gunten (c.1658- ).

The congregation, located in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, began services and formally organized in 1978. It was originally known as the "Mennonite Fellowship - Sussex." The congregation originated through colonization by individuals from the Nairn Mennonite Church in Ontario. The initial settlement began in 1977. Five families are considered the founding leaders of the group. The first building was occupied in 1995.

4 sleeves containing 77 35mm colour slides. These slides and sound track and narration were done by the Petitcodiac Mennonite Church for the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference in March 1983. The photographs are by J. Brown, D. Brubacher and Brian Elliot. Music on the sound track is by Zamfir. The script and cassette sound track are enclosed with the slides.

Philip S. Martin was born 27 August 1919 to Ezra and Judith Sauder Martin. He began as a farmer, but then became a carpenter, working for his brother, Menno S. Martin until he died from complications of diabetes at age 49.

Philip Wismer (Aug. 31, 1810-Mar. 14, 1897) married Margaret High on Jan. 20, 1836. They had five sons and seven daughters. Wismer was ordained as a deacon for the Vineland (or Jordan) congregation (now The First Mennonite Church, Vineland)  in 1851. He is described as an active deacon; with a stout build.

The church is located at 68 Biehn Drive, Kitchener, Ontario.  The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1842-1988), the Mennonite Church (1898-1999), Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada  (1995-). The language of worship is English; the transition from German occurred in the late 1800s.

The congregation was first known as the Mornington (after Mornington Township) Amish Mennonite congregation when the congregation began meeting in homes. The congregation resulted in 1874 from the natural growth into the area experienced by the East Zorra, Wilmot and Wellesley Amish Mennonite settlements.

In 1997 and 1998, an independent group of Mennonites held two consultations on "Power and Authority in the Mennonite Church" in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Leaders from many different Mennonite denominations participated. Participants included leaders in the church, business, the non-profit sector, students, academics and professionals.

Series 3: Presidents
Subseries 2: Frank H. Epp (1973-1979)

Vol. 1: 1973-1979, A-An

1. Academic Affairs committee correspondence, minutes, 1973
2. Academic Affairs committee correspondence, minutes, 1974,1975
3. Academic Affairs committee correspondence, minutes, 1976-1980
4. Administration, 1974, 1975, including minutes, job descriptions
5. Administration chart

At its earliest location, the Preston congregation was known as the Bechtel congregation. And Benjamin Eby made reference to a Bechtel meetinghouse built in 1824. The congregation then became known as Hagey's until it moved to Preston.

Sub-Series 1: Press Releases/Brochures/Posters

The church is located 5 km east of Selkirk, Ont., on the west side of Fisherville Rd.

Ralph Shantz and Dorothy Schmitt (1937-2021) were married for 59 years. The couple had two children. Dorothy was a schoolteacher and community volunteer who also ran a gift shop in St. Agatha called "Shantz's Country Cupboard." Ralph was a farmer and from 1968-2006, a municipal politician. During this time he served for ten years as the mayor of Wilmot Township.

Series 3: Presidents
Subseries 3: Ralph Lebold (1979-1989)

Vol.1: 1979-1989, Aca-Fac

1. Academic Affairs Committee minutes, 1980/81
2. Academic Affairs Committee minutes, 1984
3. Academic Dean, memos, etc., 1979/80
4. Academic Dean, memos, etc., 1980/81
5. Administrative Executive Council minutes, memos, 1976-1980
6. Administrative Stipends Committee minutes, report, 1979
7. Administrative Team minutes, memos, 1979/80
8. Administrative Team minutes, memos, 1981-1982
9. Advertising and Promotion, 1974-1981

The Provident Bookstore owned by the Mennonite Publishing House of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, was sold to a group of local mostly Mennonite investors in Waterloo Region in 1991. The new corporation was registered as Regional Books Incorporated. The operating name became Readers' Ink Bookshop in 1995. The bookshop was under-capitalized and struggled financially through its history. It discontinued business in 2000. Readers' Ink Bookshop was partially superseded by the privately-owned Bookshop at Pandora Press.Judith Jutzi was manager of Readers' Ink Bookshop throughout its history.

This series contains three-dimensional objects ("realia") produced for the College.

1. Mugs
2. Headband
3. Master of Theological Studies hood
4. Banners:
   4.1 Conrad Grebel College : University of Waterloo. --[19--].--with "CG" logo, felt on burlap ; 89 x 150 cm
   4.2 Conrad Grebel College. --[19--].--stained glass design in felt ; 120 x 250 cm
   4.3 Conrad Grebel college / Mary Lou Schwartzentruber.--Jul 1997.--quilted fabric ; 89 x 160 cm
5. Shovel used for ground-breaking ceremony on 5 Oct 1963, and for subsequent additions

The fonds consists of printed invitations to, and programs of, Reesor family reunions, as well as an undated notebook of genealogical data compiled by Samuel Reesor.

The Reesor United Mennonite congregation began services about 1926, and formally organized in May 1927. It was incorporated as the Reesor United Mennonite Church in 1932. The congregation originated through immigration from the Soviet Union, having originally arrived in Waterloo, Ontario in 1925. The settlement disintegrated as families moved away.

The Reformed Mennonite Church was founded by John Herr of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1812. In Ontario, it has remained a rural and small denomination.

Reinhold (Ray) Konrath (23 Jun 1930-12 Jun 2016) was an auto mechanic. He was born in Yugoslavia to German parents, and later immigrated to Canada, living in Kitchener, Ontario. He was a lay student of Hutterite history.

This series contains records of the Relief and Immigration Section and the Refugee Assistance Program.

Reuben Dettwiler was born in Brutus, Michigan in 1901 to Abraham K. and Veronica Sauder Dettwiler. The family moved to St. Jacobs where he married Ella Weber in 1923. They had three daughters: Fern, Leeta and Galdys. He was ordained as a deacon at Elmira Mennonite Church in 1929, and in 1935 he was ordained to preach at Elmira and Floradale. He also preached at Bethel, Glen Allan and Berea. Most of his ministry was at Floradale. In 1947 he was ordained bishop. Reuben Dettwiler died suddenly in 1951.

Reuben S. Oberholtzer (March 6, 1904-January 15, 1997 ) was a Waterloo County businessman and entrepreneur. For many years he worked for the J. M. Schneider Company. He was interested in the preservation of local history and assisted in the development of Doon Heritage Crossroads and the Waterloo County Hall of Fame (at Doon Heritage Crossroads). He was buried at the Hagey Cemetery in Cambridge, Ont.

Reuben Steinman (1919-2017) was the son of Abraham Steinmann and Mary (Roth) Steinmann. The family lived in the New Hamburg area. From August-December 1941, he was part of the third group of conscientious objectors to serve at the Montreal River Alternative Service camp, north of Sault Ste Marie. He was a member of Steinmann Mennonite Church. 

Richard Yordy was born on 8 October 1922 and died on 21 May 1995. On 3 June 1945 he married Ruth Miller. They had three sons. Yordy attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Goshen College. He graduated from Goshen Biblical Seminary in 1946 and was acting president at the seminary in the 1970s. His first pastorate was in Perryton, Texas, where he was ordained in 1946. For the next 25 years, he served churches in Illinois and for seven years he was conference minister of the Illinois Mennonite Conference. Yordy served five years at Hesston Mennonite Church before accepting an assignment at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. After his retirement in December 1989, he served as interim minister at five different churches in southern Ontario, New York and Calgary. Yordy also served on the boards of numerous Mennonite agencies.

Margarethe ("Rita") Rempel was born in Bachmut, Ukraine in 1903 to Dietrich Dietrich Rempel and Anna (Wiens). She married Heinrich Goossen in 1924 in Halbstadt. Heinrich Goossen was chief accountant for the town of Ladekopp; the couple had four daughters there. Heinrich died in exile in Siberia about 1942; Rita Gossen came to Canada with her children in 1948, settling in Kitchener, Ontario. In 1955, she married David Krueger in Leamington, Ontario. She died in Leamington in 1994.

The River of Life Fellowship at110 Fergus Ave in Kitchener, Ontario began services and formally organized in 1995. Wayne and Mary Wagler are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by Living Water Community Christian Fellowship and Hope Christian Fellowship.

The congregation was located at the west end of Millbank on Perth Line 72, Millbank, Ontario. The Riverdale congregation began as a church plant by the Maple View and Poole Amish Mennonite congregations in 1946. It was initially known as the Millbank Mission.

Robert (Bob) Leslie Hoover (1925-2017) is a descendant of Jacob (1728?-1810) and Barbara (Summers) Hoover. The family purchased land in Walpole and Rainham townships in the 1790s. Robert married Elizabeth (Betty) Todd in 1948.

Robert James was a student at the University of Waterloo, registered at Renison College.

Robert Leaman Bear, son of Jacob S. Bear, was born 16 February 1929, the third of five children. He was farmer and one-time member of the Reformed Mennonite Church in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was baptized into the church at the age of 22. He married Gale Gross in 1958; they had six children.

Robin Jutzi (1 April 1960-28 February 1998) was the son of Merlin R. and Grace (Bast) Jutzi. He was married to Tammi Coupland on 23 July 1992. They had no children.

The Rockway Mennonite congregation in Kitchener, Ontario began services and formally organized in 1960. The congregation met at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate until 2005. In that year, it moved to the Zion United Church in Kitchener where it occupied the former Zion Bible School at the rear of the building. In September 2016 it moved to a former United Church building at 47 Onward Ave. in Kitchener. It had purchased the building in July 2015.

These interviews were conducted by Sam Steiner for research for the book, Lead us on: a history of Rockway Mennonite Collegiate 1945-1995

The Mennonite Conference of Ontario established Rockway Mennonite School in 1945, although discussions of a Mennonite secondary school in Ontario began in the 1920s. The new school recognized the greater need for secondary education as Mennonite young entered more professions and sought to provide greater skills (such as nursing and teaching) to mission and service opportunities. At the same time the school intended to protect Mennonite students from the patriotism of post-war public secondary schools, as well as some teachings then found questionable, like evolution and physical education.

Series 20: Director of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean
Sub-Series 2: Rodney J. Sawatsky, 1974-1989

Sub-Series 2.1: Committees

1. Academic Dean Review Committee, 1984
   1a. Admissions Committee, 1974-1984
   1b. Arts Group Requirements, 1978-1982
2. Book Publication Committee, 1974, 1985
3. College Heads and Dean of Arts, 1974
4. Committee on Women Academics, 1984-1988; predominant 1984-1985
5. Development Studies sub-committee, 1981-1982
6. Internal Organizational Review, 1986-1987
7. Long Range Planning Committee, 1983-1984
8. Long Range Planning Committee, 1984-1986
9. Music Committee / Music Department, 1975-1980
10. Presidential Review Committee, 1975-1988
11. Graduate Program in Church Music, 1990-1991

Files from previous presidencies that were maintained during the Sawatsky years are filed here.

Joseph M. Ropp (1798-1877) was born in Luemschwiller, France to Joseph Ropp (1761-1813) and Anna (Murer) Ropp (1768-1845). Joseph M. married Magdalena Richardt (1805-1891) in Alsace-Lorraine. In 1853, Joseph and Magdalena and their seven children immigrated to Poole, Perth County, Canada West.

Church is located at 7452 Reesor Rd, Markham, ON L6B 1A8.

At the request of local families, the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (MCOQ) began providing visiting pastoral support in 1984. In 1985, Robert and Lois Witmer arrived and conducted regular meetings in their home. The congregation formed officially as an emerging congregation of MCOQ in 1986. French was the language of worship. Growth came initially from former members of a Plymouth Brethren church and others looking for alternatives to evangelical and Catholic churches. By 1988 there were 30 adults and as many children involved. The congregation rented space at All Saints Church in Noranda. Monthly ecumenical praise and prayer services were held in cooperation with three local Catholic parishes.

In the early 1990s, relationships with the small groups in both La Sarre and Val d’Or developed considerably, leading to Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) officially recognizing the La Sarre group as an emerging congregation. Witmer also supervised other MCEC work in Quebec and northern Ontario until his retirement.

In 1994, Daniel Genest, a former Mennonite Brethren pastor, was selected as the new pastor of the three groups in Rouyn-Noranda, Val d'Or and La Sarre. However, commitment of members and participants became less stable. By 1996 Genest returned to Montreal but continued as pastor till 1999. The congregation moved out of All Saints to save money. Strong lay leadership continued including Marie-Reine Morin, a former Roman Catholic nun who served in 2000 as a congregational leader while Benoit Laplante was the teacher. Several teens became quite committed through the Mennonite Central Committee Summerbridge programme. Nevertheless the group was too small to continue and voted to dissolve in 2001.

Roy Snyder (1915-2015) was born to Old Order Mennonite parents, Edwin and Leah Gingrich Snyder, and grew up on a farm halfway between Waterloo and Conestoga at the crossroads of Country Squire Road and Northfield Drive. When he was eleven years old, the family left the Old Order and joined the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. In 1944, he married Clara Weber (1919-2005). Following their marriage, he transferred his membership to Erb Street Mennonite Church. During World War II he did farm work as part of the Alternative Service program.

The fonds consists a series of ancestry charts prepared by Miriam Ruby Schneider (1941- )for her siblings and inlaws. Miriam is the daughter of Aaron Ruby and Laura Schwartzentruber Ruby.

The fonds consists of genealogical records removed from Jantzi's family Bible.

Rufus Jutzi (1915-2011) was the son of Simeon and Leah (Gascho). The family farmed in Wilmot Township. From June 1942- December 1943, Rufus Jutzi was a conscientious objector serving in Alternative Service camps in British Columbia. He served at Goldstream (Langford, B.C.), Cowichan (Lake Cowichan, B.C.) and Hill 60 (Duncan, B.C.). In October 1943, on leave, he married Ruth Good. The couple had five children.

Edna Mae Good was born in Waterloo, Ontario to Henry and Mary (Martin) Good. She was a member of Erb Street Mennonite Church. She attended Toronto Bible College and Goshen College, where she completed a B.A. in Social Work and Biblical Studies. In 1942, she began missionary work in Argentina with the Mennonite Board of Missions. She married Raul Ruibal of Carlos Paz, Argentina in 1960; they moved to Kitchener, Ontario in 1992. Raul died in Argentina in 2005; Edna Mae died in Simcoe, Ontario in 2013.

In 1976 Mennonite Central Committee Canada provided a grant to the Institute of Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel College for an oral history project to interview Mennonites who immigrated to Canada from Russia in the 1920s. The project was conducted under the direction of Walter Klaassen. Henry Paetkau and Stan Dueck conducted the interviews from 1976-1978. In all, 82 interviews were conducted in English, German and Low German. Transcripts of selected interviews were produced during the project.

1 sleeve containing 20 35mm colour slides. This slide set was prepared by Sam Steiner for an illustrated lecture on the life of Jacob Y Shantz to the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario in November, 1986. The scenes are from the city of Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario. The lecture was in association with writing the book: Vicarious pioneer: the life of Jacob Y. Shantz (Winnipeg : Hyperion Press, 1988).

Samuel Bechtel (1791-1861) was the son of Rev. Joseph and Magdalena (Allebach) Bechtel. He married Barbara Bauman (1799-1871) in 1819. They lived on a farm along the Speed River adjoining what became Hespeler, Ontario. In 1830, Samuel donated a small piece of the property for a union meetinghouse, school and burial ground.

Samuel B. Bowman (Bauman, Baumann), known as "Miller Sam," was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1802, one of thirteen children of Joseph (1766-1849, an ordained Mennonite minister) and Mary Bauman. The family moved to Blair, Waterloo County in 1816. Samuel married Elizabeth Bauman (1811-1865). Samuel and Elizabeth had seven children, farmed on his parents' homestead and also ran a mill. 

Samuel Wideman was born in 1861. He married Elsie Ann Hoover on 15 October 1890. They had six children. He died on 25 October 1938. He lived in Markham Township, Ontario. He was ordained preacher in the Mennonite Conference of Canada (later Ontario) in 1892 and confirmed bishop in 1895. He was relieved of his ministerial duties in 1912.

Samuel F. Coffman, also known as Fred Coffman, was born near Rushville in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1872. In 1901 he married Ella Mann. They had six children, one of whom died in infancy.

Samuel Goudie (1866-1951) was born near Hespeler, Ontario to David and Nancy (Wanner) Goudie. In 1889, Samuel married Elizabeth "Eliza" Jane Smith; the couple had one daughter and two sons.

Samuel J. Steiner (Sept. 18, 1946-    ) was the youngest child of David C. Steiner and Kathryn M. Smucker. He was born in North Lima, Ohio. He attended Goshen College from 1964-1967. During 1967-1968 he was military draft resistor against the Vietnam War, and immigrated to Canada in late 1968. From 1974-2008 he served first as Archivist, and later Librarian and Archivist, at Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario.

The fonds consists of the camera-ready manuscript for the 2001 [2nd] edition of The Samuel M. and Magdalena (Brubacher) Horst family book, 1841-1925 by Orvie Horst.

Samuel Meyer (4 Mar 1767-22 Aug 1844) was the son of Rev. Jacob Meyer and Barbara Dirstein. He was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. On 5 Nov 1789 he married Anna Bechtel; they had eight children. Meyer was a promoter of the emigration of some Mennonites to Canada in 1800. He settled at "The Twenty" on land purchased from William Wiers. Meyer served as a school teacher in "The Twenty" for many years, though he never attended an English-language school. After his first wife died in 1832, he married Katharine Bechtel on 11 Oct 1836.

Samuel R. Horst was born on 30 November 1903. He married Martha L. Martin on 1 November 1927 and they had three children. He was an Old Order Mennonite.

Sara Koop (1896-1971) was born in Alexanderkrone, South Russia, one of five children of Heinrich and Sara (Klassen) Koop. After her mother's death, her father married Helena Ediger. Margarete (Koop) Neufeld (1903-1998) was one of five children born to Heinrich and Helena to live to adulthood. The family immigrated to Canada in 1924, settling first in Saskatchewan and then in Vineland, Ontario.

The fonds consists of an ancestor chart for Sarah Ann Honsberger back to Jacob Hunsberger (1700-1748). Includes index.

Sarah Harder, the only daughter of Abram H. and Anna (Nikkel) Harder, was born in Pordenau (Molotschna Colony, South Russia) in 1903. She was the second child of eight.  She vividly remembers the events of the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

Sarah Snyder (June 1, 1845-Sept. 27, 1917) was born to Jacob E. Schneider and Elizabeth Clemens. On Oct. 3, 1886 she married Isaac M. Moyer, a widower with six children.

Johannes (d. 1817) and Catharine (Riehl) (c.1783-1851) Schmidt lived in Muhlhausen, Alsace; the couple had three children: John, George and Catharine. After Johannes' death, Catharine married Jacob Linhart, with whom she had four more children. In 1828, the family immigrated to Canada. George was ordained in 1840 and is considered the first minister of Shantz Mennonite Church.

5 cm of textual records

These slides are of the cover, pages containing genealogical information and several other pages. The slides are numbered 81-1 through 83-40

Abram Davis, "Interpretive Bible reading," Sept. 24, 1977

School of Adult Studies/Community Education Program

Vol. 1: 1962-1979

1. Registration for Sacred Music, Feb. 1966
2. Registration for "Religion and Psychiatry," Jan. 1966
3. CGC Evaluation Symposium, Feb. 1966
4. Registration for "Anabaptist view of scripture," 1966
5. Business Ethics seminar, Feb. 1966

The Schürch Family Association of North America was founded in 1982 near Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. It followed earlier Sherk/Shirk/Sherrick reunions in 1900, 1914, and 1928. A newsletter was established, and reunions began to be held every two years.

Scrapbooks unrelated to other fonds are gathered in this series. These consist usually of loose-leaf books in which clippings, articles, pictures are pasted by the scrapbook creator.

Family history...with Tim Janzen / compiled by Tim Janzen
This site contains Tim Janzen's compilation of genealogical resources valuable to those researching Low German Mennonite family history. He has divided these resources into categories under the heading "Mennonite Genealogy." Under each category heading is an outline of resources which includes links to various web sites.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

Seminars/Lectures

Vol. 1: Misc., 1968-1983, 1997

1. Report of Summer Graduate Seminar for Mennonite University Students, 1968
2. Brochure – Seminar on business ethics, 1970
3. Brochure, School of Adult Studies, 1971/72
4. "Consultation on the Historical Jesus," 1974/75 – correspondence, registration forms
5. Projected program, School of Adult Studies, 1976/77
6. Brochure – School for Ministers, 1979
7. Seminar, "Politics and religion," 1976 – correspondence, minutes, 1974-1976
8. Winter lecture by Walter Klaassen, 1981 – pamphlets
9. Career week, "Disabled Seminar," 1981 – minutes, brochures
10. Benjamin Eby lecture series, minutes of planning committee, correspondence, etc. 1981, 1982
11. "Sex roles in Society," 1983 – minutes, memos
12. Benjamin Eby lecture, "The promise of work, 1983"
13. John Howard Yoder, Transcripts of "The politics of Jesus revisited" lectures

Seniors for Peace grew out of a Christian Peacemaker Teams conference that Atlee Beachy attended in 1986 in Goshen, Indiana. He was instrumental in starting a local group whose purpose was to deepen peace awareness among seniors and increase peace witness through various methods.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

halom Counselling Services began in November 1982 as a project of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO). It was intended to make available professional counselling services in Ontario communities with a significant Mennonite population. In 1993 Shalom  was released from the Mennonite Central Committee Ontario structure and incorporated as a separate non-profit charity.

Shantz Mennonite Church probably held its earliest services in a schoolhouse on farmland owned by George Schmitt. That land is across the road and north of the present location of the church, close to Baden, Ontario.

Siegfried Haase (1916-1996) was born in Pomerania. He studied fine arts and graphics in Berlin before becoming a war artist during the Second World War. Born into a Lutheran family, he converted to Catholicism in 1953. He immigrated to Canada in 1952 and taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design from 1964-1982.  He spent time in the Cambridge, Ontario area in the 1970s before moving there in 1984, and in 1985 he opened a studio in Kitchener. In 1989, he moved to Ottawa. During and after his lifetime, he has been recognized as a Canadian artist of national prominence.

Simeon E. Martin was born on 5 June 1892.

Simeon Reesor was born 20 Apr 1896. He was the son of farmer Isaac and Emma (Rittenhouse) Reesor of R.R.#1 Markham, Ontario. Reesor applied for exemption from military service in 1917. Since he was an adherent of a Mennonite church but not yet a baptized member, his exemption was not clear. Although he spent most of the First World War on leave at home on the farm, he was required to report to the Niagara and Hamilton camps for brief periods. Following the war, he married Anna "Annie" Wideman. Simeon Reesor died in 1988.

Simon "Sim" Alvah Bergey was born 27 June 1883 to Nathaniel Bergey (1847-1929) and Leah Shantz Bergey (1852-1926). In 1918 he married Ethel Maude Carter (1882-1955). They had one child, Barbara Gertrude Bergey (1920-2007).

Listed below are slide sets donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, primarily around the theme indicated by the title. They may contain unique photographs of persons, congregations or institutions within the collecting interest of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario. A small percentage of these images are presently available online in the Mennonite Archival Image Database.

The fonds consists of photocopies of three newsclippings of a 1922 family reunion and a printed invitation to a Moses K. Snider family reunion ca. 1960.

The fonds consists of a printed invitation to a Snyder family reunion.

Absalom Bricker Snyder (1861-1936), farmer and preacher, was ordained in 1892 and married Mary Groff (1864-1949) the same year. He served as preacher of the Wanner Mennonite Church until  1932. In addition to duties at Wanner, he was also an itinerant preacher for the Rainham, South Cayuga and Puslinch congregations, and a member of the City Mission Board.

Solomon B. Gehman (1841-1912) was ordained a Mennonite preacher in 1882 for the Detweiler and Blenheim appointments. He lived in North Dumfries Township and was married to Angeline Shantz; the couple had six children.

"A Christmas Celebration in Words and Music" with poetry readings by Adrienne Clarkson and Eric Friesen, December 4, 2002. Held at the Altona Bergthaler Mennonite Church. This was a CBC 2 "In Performance" programme. Hosted by Eric Friesen. 2 CDs donated by Eric Friesen April 2003.

The church was located seven miles west of Dunnville on the Rainham Rd. at Fry's Corners.

The congregation is located at R.R. 2, Baden, Ontario, 1 km west of St. Agatha on Erb Street.

The church is located at 335 Linwell Rd., St. Catharines, ON, L2M 7M7.

John ("Johnny") Braun (1929-2016) operated recording equipment for St. Catharines United Mennonite Church. In this capacity he recorded many choir programs over the years. The congregation had a church choir, two ladies' choirs, a praise and worship choir, an occasional men's choir and a German choir. Braun also led a group of singers known as the "Johnny Braun group." Art Wall led the church choir for 50 years.

The St. Clair O'Connor Community is a seniors apartment project developed by Danforth Mennonite Church in cooperation with the Toronto United Mennonite Church. This intergenerational facility also serves a number of families, the handicapped, and those in need of nursing care. It was incorporated in 1981.

The congregation began services and formally organized in 1844. The first building was occupied in 1851, with subsequent building programs in 1915, 1936, 1949, 1977 and 1988. John W. Brubacher is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through immigration from Pennsylvania.

In 1962 the noted Mennonite historian Dr. David G. Rempel (1899-1992) had the opportunity to do research in the Russian State Historical Archive in St. Petersburg (known in Soviet times by its acronym TsGIA SSSR (Central State Historical Archive of the USSR) and since 1991 known as RGIA).  Among the holdings of this national repository are the archives of the Russian Senate (later referred to as the Duma) for the period 1789 to 1917.

Stanley C. Brubacher (Dec. 24, 1892-Jan. 11, 1986) was a life-long farmer in the Ayr, Ontario area. He was married to Bernice Shantz; they had four children. Brubacher was an active layperson in the Mennonite Conference of Ontario, particularly in the early years of Rockway Mennonite School.

With roots in Switzerland and the Palatinate, Stauffers first arrived in Pennsylvania around 1738 or 1739, settling near Lititz, Lancaster County. 

Located on Lot 1, Concession 2, Markham Township, Steeles Avenue Mennonite Church began services and formally organized in 1965. The congregation resulted from a division in the Reesor Mennonite congregation, a congregation of the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference. A majority of the members joined the new group. The two congregations continued to share the building until Steeles Avenue merged with the Cedar Grove Mennonite Church in 1986 to form the Rouge Valley Mennonite Church. 

This church was originally part of the Wilmot Amish district conference, organized about 1826. It is located at R.R.#2, Baden, Ont., NOB 1G0. Worship services were held in private homes until 1884 when a frame meetinghouse was built on land donated by deacon Daniel Steinmann. The original frame meetinghouse was replaced with a brick edifice in 1946. An educational wing was added in 1976.

On 3 August 1924 Bishop Jonas Snider excommunicated 154 members from First Mennonite Church, Kitchener. The question of headgear for women was the ostensible cause of friction. The real cause was the deeper one of church government. Those dissenting were opposed to episcopal authority in the Mennonite Church. What they desired instead was congregational rule. Most of the excommunicated members reorganized as an independent Mennonite congregation. The charter membership was 120. On 3 October 1924 a constitution was adopted, a church council was elected, Urias Weber was invited to assume the pastorate, and arrangements were confirmed for the construction of a church building. A church subsequently was built on the hill overlooking First Mennonite Church and dedicated on 1 February 1925.

This collection includes unpublished graduate and undergraduate papers on Mennonite themes that may be examined in the Archives.

Students

Sub-Series 1: Student directories

Vol. 1

1. 1964/65
2. 1965/66
3. 1966/67
4. 1967/68
5. 1968/69
6. 1969/70
7. 1970/71
8. 1971/72-1973/74
9. 1974/75
10. 1975/76
11. Student list, 1980
12. The People of Conrad Grebel College, 1981/82
13. The People of Conrad Grebel College, Fall, 1982
    Note: Subsequent issues of People of Conrad Grebel College will be found as a periodical in the Milton Good Library.
14. Student statistics, 1969-

Susan Clemmer (1947-2019) was born in Souderton, Pennsylvania to Lester M. and Martha (Dertstine) Clemmer. After earning a B.A. in English at Goshen College, she immigrated to Kitchener, Ontario where she married Sam Steiner, a college friend and Vietnam-era draft resister, in 1969.

This series is part of a transfer of records from Mennonite Central Committee Ontario in the early 1980s.

Susanna (Oesch Oesch) Kipfer was born near Zurich, Ontario. Also known as Susan, he was the second of nine children born to John and Anna (Theiler) Oesch. Susan married Aaron Eli Oesch (1897-1932), farmer, in 1921. She had three children.

Received from the office of the president in August 2016 and in 2017

Susannah A. Martin was born 9 June 1880 to Abraham B. Martin and Susannah W. Allgeier Martin. She was the seventh of ten children. She died 23 September 1951. She was never married. She lived with her half-sister, Angeline (Lena), who operated the Hawkesville General Store with her brother, Israel. Angeline maintained the diary after Susannah's death until several weeks after Israel's death on 11 March 1952. Susannah was a member of the Elmira Mennonite Church.

Susannah Betzner (8 June 1860-24 September 1948)  was born and raised in Waterloo County, the daughter of Jacob B. Betzner (5 September 1818- ) and Maria Bretz (5 February 1829- ). She married Ephraim S. Cressman (4 October 1855-26 February 1911); they had four daughters, including Florence Cressman, who married Earle Snyder. They were farmers. She moved to Berlin, Ontario (later Kitchener) after her husband's death.

The fonds consists of genealogical charts depicting the ancestors and descendants of Susannah Martin (1904-1976), Abraham R. Martin (1900-1930) and David A.B. Martin (1903-1969). The charts were prepared by Trevor Metzger, Kitchener, Ontairo

This congregation was formed in 1942 by the East Zorra Amish Mennonite Church. East Zorra was becoming overcrowded, and a number of members lived in the town of Tavistock. For almost eight years the new congregation met in a Presbyterian Church; it completed its own building in 1950, located at 131 Wettlaufer Street. A major renovation was completed in 1998.

The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (1820-1988), the Mennonite Church (1898-), the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1995-).

4 sleeves containing 80 35mm colour slides. These slides and sound track and narration were done by the Mission Committee of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec. The photographs are by Norma Reesor-McDowell nd Ray Battams. Music on the sound track is by Kathy Falconer. The script is by Elsie McDowell. Narration by Bill Wright. The script and cassette sound track are enclosed with the slides.

In 1974, Ferne Burkhardt and Elaine Cressman decided to plan the Wilmot district Winter Bible School around the theme of the 450th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement (1975). They chose to adapt Louise A. Vernon's The Secret Church, a historical novel for children about a family of early Swiss Anabaptists, as a drama. Following the six-week course for junior and junior high students, the local community expressed interest in seeing a production. Gladys Cressman stepped in as director. The cast was chosen largely from the Bible School participants.

In 1980, Frank H. Epp secured funding from the Multicultural History Society of Ontario and the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario for an oral history project focusing on Conservative, Old Order and Orthodox Mennonites in Ontario and their encounters with the state and society. Carolyn Musselman and Karey Musselman worked on this project through the summer of 1980.

Based in Stouffville, Ontario, Theatre of the Beat was founded in June, 2011. The company aims to "create thought-provoking theatre to educate, challenge and inspire a diversity of communities on socially relevant topics" (from the website). Founding members are: Katie Cowie Redekopp, Rebecca Steiner, Kimberlee Walker, Benjamin Wert, Johnny Wideman and Leah Harder Wideman. As of 2016, the company has performed over 200 shows. A significant portion of their work focuses on Mennonite themes and Mennonite audiences.

Thomas Brady, the Sather Professor Emeritus of History at UC Berkeley and his wife Katherine, an expert paleographer, spent decades studying the history of the Reformation(s) in Strasbourg and Reformation-era politics more broadly. During that time, they gathered a wealth of early modern primary sources on microfilm. Among Professor Brady’s best-known books are Ruling Class, Regime, and Reformation at Strasbourg, 1520-1555 (Leiden: Brill, 1978), Protestant Politics: Jacob Sturm (1489-1553) and the German Reformation (Atlantic Highlands, N.J., 1995), and German Histories in the Age of Reformations, 1400-1650 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Thomas Reesor was a minister, a founding member of the Non-Resistant Relief Organization of Ontario, a Mennonite immigration leader, and a farmer.  Born on March 18, 1867 in Scarborough Township, Ontario, Thomas was the fourth child of Christian Reesor and Esther (Hoover) Reesor. 

Solina Sitler (1897-1921) married Tilman M. Bowman (1890-1975) in 1918. She was the daughter of Wesley and Lydia (Heckendorn) Sitler; he was the son of Samuel B. and Judith (Martin) Bowman. Tilman was a blacksmith in St. Jacobs, Ontario.

Tilman Martin was born in 1840 and died in 1908.

The fonds consists of Tilman Martin's family tree.

Tina ("Tinchen") Matthies (ca. 1892-1928), daughter of Abram and Anna (Wiebe Reimer) Matthies, was born on an estate in the Kuban Mennonite Settlement (northern Caucasus, Russia). In 1911, she travelled to Germany where she attended a specialized school for a year. In 1917 the Reimer estate was plundered by the Red Army. Tina Matthies, with her brother Isaak Matthies and his family, emigrated to Mexico in 1924. The Mexican settlement was not satisfactory so after two years, most of the group immigrated to Canada or the United States. The Isaak Matthies family moved to a farm in Manitou, Manitoba. Tina Matthies found a job at a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients in Ninette, Manitoba. After a year she became ill and came to the Maedchenheim in Winnipeg, run by Anna Thiessen. She died in 1928 in Winnipeg.

Katharina (Kroeker) Neufeld (1911-2014), known as Tina, was the daughter of Anna (Friesen) and Jacob A. Kroeker. She was born in Liebenau, Molotschna, south Russia and died in St. Catharines, Ontario. She married Gerhard Neufeld (1911-2006) in 1947. The couple had no children.

Tong Chitchalerntham was born in Laos in 1945. He grew up in a Bhuddist home, but became a Christian in 1959. He left for Thailand in 1978 and immigrated to Canada in 1980. He became the pastor of a Laotian congregation in St. Catharines, Ont.

Tong Hang was born in Laos in 1959. He grew up in a Animist home, but his family became Christian in 1968. He left for Thailand in 1975 and immigrated to Canada in 1979. He became the pastor of a Hmong congregation in Kitchener, Ont.

In 1955, the General Conference Mennonite Church formed a Mennonite Boys' League to promote the formation of local boys clubs. At the same time, the Mennonite Church also encouraged congregations to form clubs for boys. In 1958, Mennonite Publishing House published a Torchbearer guide book and manual. Torchbearer clubs were meant to be a Mennonite alternative to scouting programs that promoted patriotism. Instead, they stressed "brotherhood, cooperation, mutual helping, and loyalty to the kingdom of God." In 1971, a group of concerned boys club leaders met in Waterloo to form a league of Torchbearers clubs in Ontario to improve the quality of local programs and sponsor joint events.

The congregation began services in 1979, and formally organized in 1980. The first building was occupied in 1989; for its first years it met at the Danforth Mennonite Church on Sunday afternoons. Winfred and Jean Soong are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach.

The Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre (TMTC) is a centre within the Toronto School of Theology (TST). It was originally sponsored by institutions and educational agencies of the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church. In 1998, the TMTC board asked if Conrad Grebel University College would consider taking on primary financial and administrative responsibility for the Centre as "steward" on behalf of Mennonite schools and agencies committed to graduate theological education within the context of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church U.S.A. This transition to Conrad Grebel oversight was completed in 2000.

The congregation began services in 1930s, and formally organized in 1948. The first building was occupied in 1956, with a subsequent building program in 1997. Prior to 1956 the congregation met in homes. H. A. Claassen is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through urbanization from rural Ontario beginning 1928. In 1997 Toronto United Mennonite shared space with the New Life Faith Community in a new facility.

Side 1: Ezra Brubacher, narrator; Walter Klaassen; Frank H. Epp; J. Winfield Fretz; Side 2: Ray Brubacher, Ezra Brubacher, John Brubacher, Mel Weber, Joe Snyder, Allen Martin, Terry Dugan, Muriel Bradley, Linda Snyder, Edwin Bearinger, David Frey, Gloria Martin

Tran Xuan Quang was born in Vietnam 4 February 1930. He grew up in a Christian home. He immigrated to the United States in 1975. He became the pastor of a Vietnamese congregation in Philadelphia, Pa. He died 20 September 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

These are self-standing interviews that were not included in a personal manuscript collection.

Tree of Life/Arbre de Vie resulted from a division in the Calvary Mennonite Church (Monetville) in 1997. More than half the congregation followed the pastor and elders into the new group that utliized a charismaticly oriented cell church model of church life.

Series 20: Director of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean
Sub-Series 7: Trevor Bechtel, 2014-2016

This microfilm collection from the Mennonite Library and Archives at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas comes from Ulrich Dueck (b. ca. 1920) of Germany, who published Die Familie Rahn von Tiegenhof (1986). The Dueck papers are a series of 11x17 charts which usually begin with a Mennonite ancestor in the 1700s and then show descendants down to the latter 20th century. There are a total of 454 charts, usually with 30-50 people on each chart. The charts seem to have been created during the last 25 years, and were not organized in any particular order. They have not been further organized at this time.

The fonds consists of one CD, Complete Sherk family history (Ulrich Schürch Code E line) by Douglas Sherk, Code E1484511.

Una Cressman was born 25 July 1905 to Isaiah and Lena Shirk Cressman. She grew up on a farm between Berlin (now Kitchener) and Breslau in a family of 15 children. The family was active in First Mennonite Church in Kitchener.

An unknown alumnus of Conrad Grebel College, created 12 pencil sketches in 1974, including J. Harold Moyer, Norman High, John W. Miller, William Janzen, John Rempel, Frank H. Epp, Irma Kadela, J. Winfield Fretz, Donovan Smucker and Walter Klaassen. They were originally credited to Gerry Sportack, but he has indicated he was not the creator.

Valentine Doerbecker (1820-1908) emigrated from Germany in 1841. He owned a farm in the St. Jacobs area, after living previously in Hamilton, North Easthope, and Elmira. He was a member of the Evangelical Association.

Valleyview Mennonite Church began services in 1953 and formally organized in 1962. Alvin Roth and Ralph Lebold were considered to be the founding leaders.

Valleyview Mennonite Church began services in 1953 and formally organized in 1962. Alvin Roth and Ralph Lebold were considered to be the founding leaders. The congregation established a voluntary service unit in 1966. Valleyview was affiliated with the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference from 1953-1988, and then became a congregation of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.

Verda Adell (Snider) Weber (1917-2010) was the daughter of Clemens Henry Snider and Samantha (Biehn). Her parents moved to Saskatchewan where the family farmed near Guernsey. She came to Waterloo, Ontario in 1939 and worked as a maid. She married Samuel W. Weber in 1944; the couple had 4 daughters. They bought a 60 acre farm on Lexington and Bridge streets in Waterloo in 1946. Over the years they subdivided their land as the city moved closer, and Sam quit farming to run an excavating business. In 1981 they sold their remaining 2 acre lot and moved into Waterloo.

Vernon Roy Leis, pastor, was born 23 November 1933 on a farm near Petersburg, Ontario to John S. and Catherine (Wagler) Leis. He was the oldest son and third child in a family of three daughters and two sons. On 2 July 1955 he married Arvilla Anne Schultz. They had four sons and one daughter. Leis died 26 February 1994 in a traffic accident near Baden, Ontario.

Vernon B. Zehr (1920-1999) was born in East Zorra Township, Ontario to Daniel Zehr and Annie (Brenneman) Zehr. Vernon was a conscientious objector during the Second World War, working on his parents' farm. He did not attend secondary school but read widely and took varous courses as an adult. In 1943 he married (Vera) Katie Bender. The couple farmed and had six daughters.

This collection consists  of non-commercial video recordings in a variety of formats. The content includes interviews, congregational or conference meetings, public events, etc. These materials may only be viewed at the archives on equipment supplied by the archives.

About 1000 Russian Mennonite immigrants arrived in Ontario in 1924 and were dispersed in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Markham and Vineland areas. After Jacob H. Janzen, already ordained as a minister, arrived in late 1924 there was interest in establishing a congregation. The "Mennonite Refugee Congregation in Ontario" was organized on June 21, 1925; it immediately sought affiliation with the General Conference Mennonite Church. The congregation changed its name in 1926 to "United Mennonite Church in Ontario". Initially it included all the membership of the congregations in Leamington and the Niagara Peninsula until they began their own church councils and took initial steps toward each group holding congregational status.

This collection consists of individual visual art pieces held by the Mennonite Archives of Ontario separately from other collections. These are not the only pieces of folk art owned by the Archives -- some are part of the Historical Library of published works like Bibles or hymnbooks; others remain part of manuscript collections.

Roughly between the years 1989 and 1995, interviews on volunteering were conducted by Calvin Redekop ("C"), Henry Regehr ("H"), Marc Gelinas ("M") and Victor Krahn ("V").

The congregation dissolved in 1902. It had been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario from 1864-1902. The language of worship was German.

Walter Klaassen (May 27, 1926-) was born in Laird, Saskatchewan. On June 7, 1952 he married Ruth Dorean Strange; they had three children.

Walter Sawatsky (b. 1945) was associate professor of church history at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Located on Beaverdale Rd. at the intersection of Maple Grove Rd, 1725 Beaverdale Rd., Cambridge, Ont.

Ward Amos Shantz, the son of Alfred and Cinetta Gimbel Shantz, was born in Waterloo Township in 1918 and died in Kitchener, Ontario in 1982. He married Erma Martin in 1942; the couple had four children. He was a member of Erb Street Mennonite Church. During World War II, Ward was among the first group of conscientious objectors assigned to Alternative Service at the Montreal River camp. Following his release, he worked on his father's farm. Later, he established his own farm and became the founding chairman of the Ontario Mennonite Relief Sale.

Warden Woods Community Centre began as a Mennonite Church response to the needs of residents in a new government housing project in southwest Scarborough. Built in the early 1960s to accommodate 347 families and 392 senior citizens, the Warden Woods project had no recreational facilities and few public amenities.

The Warden Woods Mennonite Church in Scarborough, Ontario began services in 1937, and formally organized in 1951. It is located at 74 Fir Valley Court, Scarborough. The first building was occupied in 1952, with a subsequent building program in 1970. Emerson McDowell is considered the founding leader of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by Danforth Mennonite Church.

Howard Charles, "Bible study on Acts"

Debra Meeks conducted research surrounding Mennonite hooked rug makers from 1982-1985. She spoke with Mennonite hooked rug makers from three Mennonite groups (Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Québec, Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference and Old Order Mennonites) in Waterloo County.

Waterloo North Mennonite Church began services in 1986, and formally organized in 1987. For the first years the congregation met in the chapel, then gymnasium, of Lutherwood, a residential facilitity for teenagers on the northern edge of the City of Waterloo.

The congregation is located at 15 George St., Waterloo, Ont. Russian Mennonite immigrants of "Kirchliche" background arrived in the Kitchener-Waterloo in 1924. They worshiped together with Mennonite Brethren immigrants initially, under the leadership of the Mennonite Brethren minister. After Jacob H. Janzen, already ordained as a minister, arrived in late 1924 there began to be interest in a separate congregation. The "Mennonite Refugee Congregation in Ontario" was organized on June 21, 1925; it immediately sought affiliation with the General Conference Mennonite Church. The congregation changed its name in 1926 to "United Mennonite Church in Ontario".

The Waters Mennonite congregation at 540 Regional Road 55, Lively, Ontario began services in 1948, and formally organized in 1959. The first building was occupied in 1955 with a subsequent building program in 1963. Thomas Martin and Mahlon Bast are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by the Ontario Mennonite Mission Board and individuals.

The fonds consists of a printed invitation to a Zehr family reunion.

The fonds consists of the John and Maria Weinland Family Tree with an explanatory note.

Craigwood (known as the Ailsa Craig Boys Farm until 1964), located 1.6 km south of Ailsa Craig, Ontario was a home for the rehabilitation of delinquent boys. The Craigwood provincial charter was issued on 21 Jun 1955. Mennonite Central Committee (the Canadian branch, located in Ontario) took over management of the project. Harvey Taves was made acting director, while Jack and Anne Wall took on the role of on-site house parents. Ed Driedger became director around the time of the departure of the Walls in 1959. Mennonite Central Committee Ontario assumed responsibility after its creation in 1964.

The church is located at 157 David St., Wellesley, Ontario. Wellesley Mennonite held its first service 5 September 1975 at the Fellowship Hall in Wellesley. On 2 May 1976 forty six people signed the membership covenant. In June 1976 the congregation purchased a property. Gerald Schwartzentruber, who was part of the emerging group, accepted an invitation to provide pastoral leadership in February 1977. An opening celebration in the new facility was held June 1977.

Werner O. Packull (b. 14 Jul 1941) was born in East Prussia, Germany. He has retired from the position of professor of History at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

George Wesley "Wes" Brown (10 November 1919- ) was a member of the United Church of Canada who as a pacifist served in the Alternative Service Work Camps at Montreal River in Ontario and in the British Columbia forestry camps during World War II. He also served as editor of the Northern Beacon in Ontario and Beacon in B.C. until his resignation in May 1943. As editor he received some exchange issues of publications from Civilian Public Service camps in the United States. These titles have been transferred to the rare periodicals section of the library. Titles included Irrigator, Mono Log, Sage O'pinon, Peacemaker, Plowshare and Olive Branch.

Wesley Brubacher (23 December 1915-10 August 1995) was a member of the Elmira Mennonite Church. He married Olive Bearinger in 1941 and had two sons. He was a carpenter by vocation.

4 sleeves containing 79 35mm colour slides. The slides were taken during Brubacher's term of service in the Netherlands (1946-1947) as a member of the Holland Reconstruction Unit under Mennonite Central Committee. Brubacher served as a Unit Project Foreman. Photos include many other members of the unit. Photos also include a trip taken in Europe following his service.

The West Hills Mennonite Fellowship in Baden, Ontario, Canada began services in 1991 and formally organized in 1994. The congregation originated through outreach by a group of interested individuals primarily from the Steinmann Mennonite Church.

The Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference had its origin in the Amish settlement in Waterloo County that began with the 1824 migration from Europe. Ministers met informally in the 19th century, but a conference structure did not begin until 1925 when a constitution was approved. It outlined no structure except for elected officers (moderator, assistant moderator, secretary and treasurer). Members of conference were all ordained men, but congregations could send lay substitutes if an ordained leader was unable to attend.The only standing committee was the executive committee -- all others were appointed by the moderator as needed. Committees of arbitration were elected by the members of conference. A resolutions committee began to function at each conference beginning in 1925. A missions committee also was appointed in 1925, primarily to raise funds to support Nelson & Ada Litwiller and Amos & Edna Schwartzentruber who served as missionaries in Argentina. The membership of the committee remained static until 1938, and was not expanded beyond three members until 1943. A Bible School board was first appointed in 1932. In 1942 a separately constituted Sunday school conference was established with its own constitution.

Located on the west side of Highway 48, south of 18th Avenue in Markham, Ontario, the congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario since 1820, the Mennonite Church since 1898, the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada since 1988, and Mennonite Church Canada since 1995. The congregation also participated in the Markham Mennonite Council.

Gerhard Wiebe, a teacher, was born in Russia. His father was also Gerhard Wiebe. In 1924 he married Agatha Peters, daughter of Peter and Susan Peters.The couple had three children: Siegfried, Hedy and Anna. In 1933, the family was able to immigrate to Canada, first settling on Pelee Island.

Wilhelm Janzen was born in Russia and migrated to Paraguay after World War II. He immigrated to Canada in 1955 and briefly studied at Canadian Mennonite Bible College.

The fonds consists of a photocopied, book-length, typescript compiled by George Martens and William Martens.

Martin was born on 8 January 1920 and grew up in Floradale, Ontario. He was a conscientious objector in World War II and served in the Montreal River, Ontario, alternative service camp.

Willard L. Snider was born in 1898 in Floradale, Ontario. He was the 10th child of Aaron Snider and Caroline (Reichert) Snider. He was a self-employed route salesman for various local bakeries; in 1931 he married Lydia Thur. Willard Snider had four children and died in 1983 at the Fairview Mennonite Home in Cambridge, Ontario. As a young boy he collected postcards sent from his father and older siblings on their various travels.

1. Alice Bachert
2. Nellie Bachert
3. Zelma Baer
4. Mary Bast
5. Ida Bauman
6. Ilda Bauman
7. Louida Bauman

Wilmer Ray Martin (1945- ) was born to Omar Martin and Anna (Kuhns) Martin near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was ordained by lot as a minister in the Chambersburg Mennonite Church in 1964, at the age of 18, to assist his minister father. On Oct. 2, 1965 he married Janet Ranck (1945-2016) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; they had two children—Janelle and Alan. Wilmer and Janet both attended Ontario Mennonite Bible School and Institute beginning in fall 1965. After graduation from OMBS & I in 1968, Wilmer served two pastorates in Ontario: Tavistock Mennonite (1968-1978) and Erb Street Mennonite (1978-1991). After this he became the President & CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada (1991-2000), located in Waterloo.

The Wilmot congregation was composed of the members of the Steinmann and St. Agatha congregations. It's roots were in the original Amish immigration to Wilmot Township that began in 1824. For the first decades of the community worship services were held in homes. However in 1884 the Wilmot congregation built a meetinghouse on the present Steinmann property, and a year later on the St. Agatha property. In the early years services would have alternated between the buildings. In 1957 ministers were stationed at the separate meetinghouses, and in 1959 separate business meetings were held. 

This group began meeting occasionally in the late 1940s to sing at Sunday evening services, and organized formally as the Wilmot Fellowship Chorus in 1953. Membership was drawn from the Mennonite Conference of Ontario churches in Wilmot Township.

Wilmot Mennonite Church resulted from a merger of the Geiger Mennonite Church (see III-14) and the Baden Mennonite Church (see III-2) in 1977. The church building, erected in 1979, is on the site of the former Geiger Mennonite Church near Wilmot Centre. Pastors have been Stanley Shantz, Will Stoltz, Jean-Jacques Goulet, Glyn Jones, Renee Sauder, Gary Horst and David Rogalsky.

The Windsor Mennonite Fellowship began as a church-planting project of the Conference of United Mennonite Churches of Ontario. Henry Paetkau, pastor of the Harrow United Mennonite Church, was appointed to lead the project. Bible studies began in 1981, and Sunday evening worship in November 1983. Sunday morning services began in January 1985; Henry P. Epp then provided leadership.

The slides were donated to the Archives in December 1974 by J. Winfield Fretz (1910-), Professor of Sociology and former President of Conrad Grebel College. The slides were gathered in the course of Fretz's research on the Old Order Mennonite community.

Winston James Martin was born in St. Jacobs 14 April 1939. His parents are Norman (Bowman) Martin (Jr.) and Gladys Koch. He married Betty Ann Lapp on 12 August 1967; they had two sons and two daughters. Martin obtained a B.A. in history from Goshen College, and a B.Th. from Ontario Bible College in Toronto. In 1970 Winston Martin was ordained as a Mennonite minister; he also worked for six years in the corrections system. As of 2003, Martin had served in 23 congregations -- in most cases as an interim minister. Beginning in 2000 he served as Secretary-Treasurer of Amish Mennonite Fire & Storm Aid. In 2003 the Martins lived in Milverton, ON.

The fonds consists of a printed invitation to a Witmer family reunion.

Joseph Witmer (11 July 1812-5 November 1896) married Susannah Groh (9 October 1817-30 January 1849) on 22 December 1834. They had five children. After her death he married Catharine Sherk (1 April 1826- ) ; they also had five children. They farmed near Hespeler (Cambridge) for many years. Their home was a meetingplace for the Tunkers (Brethren in Christ). The Bible remains in private hands, but items found in the Bible of historical significance were given for historical preservation.

These oral history interviews were conducted by Marlene Epp as research for her dissertation Women without men: Mennonite immigration to Canada and Paraguay after the Second World War (University of Toronto, 1996). Her dissertation was subsequently published as a book, Women without men: Mennonite refugees of the Second World War (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000).

Women's Association

Vol. 1: 1964-1985

1. Constitution
2. Correspondence, minutes, 1964-1974
3. Correspondence, minutes, 1975-1985
4. Hospitality for international students, 1975-1978
5. Information sheets, 1974-1984

In 1982, Mennonite Central Committee established a bi-national Committee on Women's Concerns. In 1984/85, Mennonite Central Committee Canada hired its first staff person for women's concerns, Peggy Regehr. In 1987/88, MCC Canada formed a Canadian Women's Concerns Committee to work specifically on Canadian agenda.This committee had representation from provincial MCC networks. In 1989, Kathy Shantz was appointed as staff person to the Canadian committee. In 1991, the bi-national Committee on Women's Concerns disbanded and separate MCC Canada and MCC US committees replaced it.

Mennonite women in Ontario began sewing for the needy as early as 1895. The first of the "sewing circles" in Ontario was organized at the Erb Street Mennonite Church in 1907 at the urging of Lena Weber, a worker with the Toronto mission. A second circle was organized at Berlin Mennonite Church (now First Mennonite, Kitchener), in 1908. In 1917, the "Ontario District" met for the first time and elected its first officers. In August of that year, at a meeting of women held in conjunction with the Mennonite General Conference, Mary Ann Cressman of Kitchener was chosen as the representative for the Mennonite Conference of Ontario to a new North American Mennonite women's organization. Also that same year, Mary Burkhart, a missionary on furlough from India, helped establish sewing circles in nearly every Ontario congregation. This activity was accomplished with the encouragement of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario.

The fonds consists of a mimeographed copy of the descendants of William Woolner and Woolner family reunion materials.

The following research project consists of 98 case files (CFs) containing the transcripts of court-martials involving 131 conscientious objectors court-martialed during W.W. I. The records are of the office of the Judge Advocate General (Army), record group 153, and a part of the National Archives of the United States. They were compiled during the summer of 1975 by Duane Goertz assisted by Carl Edwards.

Tape recordings of "typical" Sunday services are solicited by the Archives. A binder with the tapes includes the church bulletin/"Worship Service Description" form for each tape (when available).

The fonds consists of an invitation letter to the Zehr family reunion in New Hamburg, Ontario in 1957

Zion Mennonite Fellowship was a church plant initiated by the Northern District Ministerial of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario & Quebec and Elmira area Mennonite churches. Exploratory meetings began in 1985, and a local steering committee was put in place in 1986. Sunday morning services began in January 1987 at the Legion Hall in Elmira.The first building was occupied in 1996. Initial congregational leadership came from lay leaders.

In 1950 there were 143 members; in 1965, 140; in 1975, 185; in 1985, 233; in 1995, 268; in 2000, 276. The congregation has been affiliated with the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec (1908-1988), Mennonite Church (1908-1999), Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (1988-) and Mennonite Church Canada (1995-). The language of worship is English.