Scrapbooks and Autograph books

Title: Mennonite Archives of Ontario collection of scrapbooks and autograph books

Scope and content: 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.

File list:

1. "From Forest to City" / Ruth Cressman, compiler, n.d. -- Ruth Cressman was the daughter of Curtis Cressman. The scrapbook has a theme that traces the history of Kitchener, Ontario with text copied from other sources, clippings, photographs, etc. A bibliography is listed at the back
2. Anonymous, contains poems, cartoons, pictures, n.d.
3. Anonymous, contains poems, cartoons, pictures, n.d.
4. Verena Ida Witmer scrapbook, begun 1934. Includes poems; newsclippings, especially related to New Dundee area news; pictures, including many from Mennonite mission fields
5. Scrapbook presented to Mrs. L. Heckendorn by the Breslau Mennonite Church Joy Band girls, [19--]
6. Lorna Shantz Bergey scrapbook, 1930s. 
   Note: Listed in the Lorna Shantz Bergey fonds as Hist.Mss.1.151.6/22)
7. Pearl Eby scrapbooks.
   Note: Listed in the Pearl Eby collection, Hist.Mss.1.251.
8. Avon Mennonite Church Wayfarers scrapbook, [1961?].
   Scope and content: Contains assignments completed to receive Wayfarer badges, and an account of a Wayfarers trip to Detroit in October 1961. Scrapbook is accompanied by a Wayfarers vest with badges.
9. Orvie Horst scrapbooks.
   Custodial history: Donated by Orvie Horst about 2010.
   1. Obituaries, 1960-2009; 1980-2009 predominant (3 volumes)
   Index for 1960 to 1999
   Index for 1999 to 2003
   Index for 2004 to 2009
   Scope and content: Clippings of obituaries from local newspapers featuring people of Waterloo Region, many from Elmira and/or Mennonite. Some funeral service bulletins are included.
   2. "Notable" obituaries, 1977-2008; 1990-2008 predominant (2 volumes)
   Index for 1977 to 2001
   Index for 2002 to 2008
   Scope and content: clippings of obituaries of "notable" people from local newspapers, featuring people of Waterloo Region, many from Elmira and/or Mennonite. Also includes some world leaders. Some funeral service bulletins are included.
   3. People, places, events, 1970s-2009 (10 volumes)
   Scope and content: clippings of articles from local newspapers featuring people, places and events in Waterloo Region, with a focus on Elmira and Mennonites.
   4. Elmira history, 1960s-1990s (1 volume)
   Scope and content: Includes clippings from local newspapers on the St. Jacobs bridge, Homer Schwindt, Tailor Brown, D. Dreisinger, Dr. Wyatt, the Brubacher brothers, Brubacher Shoes, A.B. Brubacher family, Moses Eby house, changes to Elmira streetscapes, school photos, changes in the Old Order Mennonite community.
10. unknown, News clippings of Mennonite people in Waterloo County, 1945-1953
11. Ida Bearinger, Grandma's Clippings, [197-? -1991]
    Note: A bound photocopy of a scrapbook of news clippings evidently kept by Ida Bearinger, purchased by the Archives at the Wallenstien General Store in 2013. Clippings are predominantly from the Elmira area.
12. Autograph book of the ancestors of Sharon Mathies Berger, [1910]-[1935]
13. Autograph book of Beatrice (Pinkerton) Martz, 1913- [1930]; entires by relatives and friends largely in the areas of Elora and Toronto
14. Tavistock Mennonite Church family : 1968-1978
    Scope and content: A scrapbook made by families of the Tavistock Mennonite Church and presented to Wilmer Martin and Janet Martin on the conclusion of his pastorate at the church.
15. Mennonite Genealogy of Waterloo County (Vol. 3). By Isaac G. Martin and William A. McKinnon (compiler), 1970, 1971, 1974.
    Physical description: 4 cm of textual records ; ca. 150 photographs
    Custodial history: Purchased by David Luthy in 1990. Donated by David Luthy to the Archives in 2017.
    Scope and content:  Scrapbook contains genealogical information and pictures of Mennonite families, and pictures of cemeteries in Waterloo County. Family names in the book include: Isaac (Devitt) Martin, Eli B. Bauman and Catharine (Martin Brubacher) Bauman, Issac M. Brubacher, Jesse B. Bauman and Margaret (Black Craik) Bauman, among others. A selection of photographs of gravestones includes some from the following cemeteries: First Mennonite Church, Blair, homestead and gravestones of the Joseph O. Bauman family, Doon Pioneer Tower, Hagey Mennonite Church, Wanner Mennonite Church, Breslau Mennonite Church, Weber Mennonite Church (Strasburg), Mannheim Mennonite Church (Latschaw), Evangelical United Brethren Church (Wilmot Centre), Geiger Mennonite Church (Wilmot), Roseville Mennonite (Detwiler Meetinghouse), Blenheim Mennonite Church, Bloomingdale Mennonite Church (Snyder's), Conrad Stroh homestead, Wideman Mennonite Church (Markham). 
16. Ailsa Craig Boys Farm, 1956-1957
    Physical description: 1 photograph album ; 96 photographs
    Custodial history: Received from Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in 2016
    Scope and content: Photographs taken by Almeda (Bowman) Krieger while she was a cook at the Ailsa Craig Boys Farm in 1956-1957. Shows the activities of the staff and children.
17. Alternative Service in Imperial Russia, [ca. 1914-1917]
    Physical description: 1 photograph and postcard album ; 4 loose photographs
    Custodial history: Received from Linda Bergey in 2024. Had been in the possession of her parents William Penner (1910-2002) and Susanna (Tjart) Penner (1910-2007). The scrapbook's creator is unidentified, but is likely Wilhelm W. Penner (b. 1880), father of William, who was a cook in the Alternative Service.
    Scope and content: Photographs of men in Alternative Service uniforms in formal and informal poses. Some are beside Red Cross trains in a mountainous area. Postcards, most in colour, of scenes in Batum and other areas in the Caucasus mountains where the album's creator was stationed as a conscientious objector. The loose photographs are portraits of family members.