Classification scheme:
VIII-1
Administrative history: "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.
For further reference see Amos B. Hoover. "Old Order Mennonites, Pennsylvania." Mennonite Encyclopedia, V:654; and Sandra Cronk. "Ordnung (Order)." Mennonite Encyclopedia, V:662 at www.gameo.org.
Old Order (Wisler horse and buggy) Mennonites are found in five major settlements in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario. They trace their origin to 1872, when bishop Jacob Wisler of Elkart, Indiana was expelled from the Old Mennonite Church because of his opposition to innovations (e.g. Sunday schools) and organized separate district conferences in Indiana and Ohio. This split was followed by the organization of affiliated district conferences in Ontario in 1889, in Pennsylvania in 1893, and in Virginia in 1901.
For a history of events leading to the division in Ontario see E. Reginald Good. Frontier Community to Urban Congregation: First Mennonite Church, Kitchener 1813-1988. Kitchener: First Mennonite Church, 1988; and Isaac R. Horst. Close Ups of the Great Awakening. Mount Forest: privately printed, 1985. For a description of Old Order Mennonite lifestyle see Isaac R. Horst. Separate and Peculiar. Mount Forest: privately printed, 1983; and J. Winfield Fretz, The Waterloo Mennonites: A Community in Paradox. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier Press for Conrad Grebel College, 1989.
File list:
Box 1
- Maps of Old Order Mennonite farmsteads:
Waterloo County/Waterloo Region, 1944, 1969, 1974 (located in map case), 1984, 1990, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2016
Mount Forest 2006
Chesley 2006
Kinloss Township, 2017 - Sociological Research Questionnaire, n.d.
- Newsclippings, 1967-1970, 2021
- Newsclippings about Compensation Plan Exemption, 1969-70
- Letter to Minister of Education, 1964
- Map of "country shops" in Waterloo and Wellington counties and surrounding areas (mostly Old Order)
- Alson S. Clemmer, 2004
- Country shops and map directory: a map directory of local Waterloo/Wellington country shops and the surrounding area / Janice Marshall, 2013. - Brochure on Old Order Mennonites published by Visitor Centre in St. Jacobs, 2007
Box 2
- Baptismal Records Compiled by Isaac Horst, 1842-1980
- Photocopy of Baptismal Register, 1865-1962
- Baptismal Records Compiled by Mrs. Elam Bauman, 1865-1938
- Membership List, ca. 1970
- Ordination Records, 1964-77
- Ordnungen, 1985 or 1986
- Levi P. Martin deacon's book (photocopy), 1873-1915
Box 3
- Death Register Compiled by Oziah M. Bearinger, c.1900-1974
- Death Register, 1935-1967
- Funeral Sermons for Edward G. Martin (22 November 1903-5 February 2006) (Transcript / summaries of funeral sermons) by Elmer Shantz, Alvin Gingrich & Maynard Martin
- Old Order Mennonite Parochial School Constitution, 2000
- Agreement with David Martin Old Order Mennonites re Three Bridges Public School
Custodial history: Received from Angelica Allen in 2013.
Scope and content: Also includes documents from the Waterloo Region District School Board's 2013 accommodation review. - List of David Martin meetinghouses, 2019
Box 4
- History textbook manuscripts, 1992, 1993
Scope and content: Four Old Order ministers worked on these two history textbooks for Old Order Schools. Draft manuscripts were circulated to the community for comment. The published versions are located in the Milton Good Library.
"A Goodly Heritage," Waterloo-Wellington-Perth Parochial Schools, 1992.
"Pleasant Places," Waterloo-Wellington-Perth Parochial Schools, 1993.
Box 5 (map case)
- Old Order Mennonite newsclippings collected by David Luthy, 1926, 1967-1968, 1970, 1973, 1978-1986, 1989-1990, 2000, 2002-2004