John Lapp

Title: John Lapp fonds

Date of creation: 1850

Physical description: 1 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: 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.

Custodial history: Donated to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario on an unknown date.

Scope and content: Letter from John Lapp to Jacob Stauffer, 1850, in which Jacob Krehbiel situation is discussed

Notes: For more information see the biography in Mennonite cyclopedic dictionary, p. 205; L.J. Burkholder, A brief history of the Mennonites in Ontario, p. 298; "Tod des Bruder John Lapp," in Herold der Wahrheit (Sept., 1878), p. 157-158. See also L.J. Burkholder Old Letters Collection (part of Hist.Mss. 1.4)

Original archival description created by Sam Steiner

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