Henry B. Pauls

Title: Henry B. Pauls fonds

Dates of creation: 1812-1991

Physical description: 13 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: 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.

In 1974 Pauls began painting his childhood memories of Russia. Forty of these paintings, created between 1974 and 1989, are reproduced in colour in Hildi Froese Tiessen and Paul Gerard Tiessen, eds. A Sunday Afternoon: Paintings by Henry Pauls (Waterloo: Institute of Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies and Sand Hills Books, 1991). Henry B. Pauls donated 25 paintings, and copyright thereto, to Conrad Grebel University College on 28 April 1992. Pauls died 5 May 1995 in Leamington, Ontario.

Custodial history: Donations of materials came from Henry B. Pauls during his lifetime, and from the records of Conrad Grebel University College. The children of Henry B. Pauls donated subsequent materials in 2014; these materials were received from Henry Pauls, Jr.

Scope and content: The fonds consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, immigration documents, inventory lists, donation records, and other records of the Pauls family.

Notes: Original archival description by Sam Steiner in 2007; updated by Laureen Harder-Gissing in 2015.
Pauls' paintings are classified separately as part of the Conrad Grebel University College art collection (XXVI-27.3).
Search for photographs relating to this fonds in the Mennonite Archival Image Database.
Published books donated by the Pauls family are held in the Milton Good Library collection.
Further background on family members can be found in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.

Box 1

1. Scrapbook of David H. Epp's historical writing and poetry
2. Scrapbook of Henry B. Pauls' paintings with descriptive text
3. Nelson Scheifele correspondence file
4. Donor agreement, painting inventory/location file
   Note: Includes a list of paintings compiled by Henry Pauls Jr. in 2017 of Henry Pauls paintings in other collections
5. Familien Stammbaum / D. D. Epp, 1958
   Note: a copy is also located in the Milton Good Library
6. "Charter of Privileges granted by Tsar Paul I to the Mennonites in Russia, on the 28th Okt., 1800" copied by Henry B. Pauls
7. Inventory of the Jacob Hoppner farm, Aug 1800

Box 2

1. Genealogy
   Scope and content: Note from Henry Pauls, Jr. regarding genelogy of Henry B. Pauls; Notebook containing Hoppner genealogy
2. Henry B. Pauls' report cards from the Zentralschule, 1916/17, 1917/18
3. "Oster Predigt" sermon text by David Epp (1781-1843), 21 Apr 1812
4. Handwritten essays in German on child intellectual development, pedagogy and education, author unknown
5. Ziphern songbook belonging to Henry B. Pauls, Sonningdale, Saskatchewan, 1934
6. Two notebooks in Russian, author unknown
7. Bernhard Pauls family correspondence, predominantly re naturalization and sponsorship, 1929-1954
8. Bernhard Pauls family immigration documents, 1923-1924
9. Bernhard Pauls family Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization records, 1924-1944
10. Sara (Hildebrandt) Pauls immigration documents
11. Deed of Gift, 2014

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