Jacob Y. Shantz

 Title: Jacob Y. Shantz fonds

Dates of creation: ca:1844-1988

Physical description: 68 cm of textual records

Biographical sketch: 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.

Shantz was an entrepreneur, civic leader and active church member (first of the Mennonite church, later of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ church). He is best known for his role in promoting the immigration of Mennonites from Russia to Manitoba in the 1870s. For further biographical information see Vicarious Pioneer: The Life of Jacob Y. Shantz / Samuel J. Steiner.- Winnipeg, MB : Hyperion Press, 1988.

Custodial history: The fonds was created by Lawrence Klippenstein and Samuel J. Steiner. Klippenstein began collecting material for a biography of Shantz ca.1974. In 1984 he gave this material to Samuel Steiner who collected more material for a biography of Shantz. Steiner subsequently completed a biography of Shantz that was published in 1988. In 1988 Steiner deposited the fonds in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Note: Original description created by Sam Steiner

File list:

Vol.1

1. Photocopies of various articles on Shantz
2. Photocopies of newsclippings on Shantz
3. Photocopies of correspondence, in German, with/by Shantz from Board of Guardians Collection, 1874-75, 1883, Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College
4. Material collected by Lawrence Klippenstein for the Jacob Y. Shantz Memorial Lectures at Steinbach Bible College, 5-6 December 1973
5. Melvin Gingerich correspondence on Jacob Y. Shantz research, from AMC
   Note: This file originally contained photocopies donated by Steiner and Klippenstein. In 2013, the Archives of the Mennonite Church (AMC) transferred the original correspondence to the Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
6. Minutes, financial records related to Steiner's biography of Shantz, 1982-85
7. Published materials and notes re: genealogy of Jacob Y. Shantz family
8. Bibliography of Mennonites in Manitoba by E.K. Francis, 1950, from AMC
9. Correspondence re: Klippenstein's and Steiner's research on Shantz
10. Misc. correspondence with Melvin Gingerich re: Shantz, ca.1950, from AMC
11. Notes, source material on Shantz, pre-1860
12. Biography of Jacob Y. Shantz by Moses B. Shantz, ca.1930
13. Notes of Berlin Town Council minutes, 1854-1888
14. Notes and source material, 1860-63
15. Notes and source material, 1864-67
16. Notes, clippings and source material, 1868-70
17. Notes, clippings and source material, 1871-72
18. Notes, clippings and source material, re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1873
19. Notes, clippings and source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1874
20. List of Mennonites moving to Manitoba in 1874, from MLA
21. Notes, clippings, source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1875
22. Notes, clippings, source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1876
23. Misc. Russian Mennonite immigration records
24. Notes, clippings, source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1877-78
25. Notes, clippings, source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1879
26. Notes, clippings, source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1881-82
27. Notes, clippings and source material re: Russian Mennonite immigration, 1886-90
28. Clippings of articles by Jacob Y. Shantz from Gospel Banner
29. Notes, photocopies of land transactions by Shantz, 1844- 1895
30. Indenture: Jacob Y. and Nancy Shantz to Samuel Y Shantz, 30 October 1854
31. Transcript of Jacob Shantz Sr.'s will
32. Victor Wiebe notes on translation of Shantz's manuscript on his trip to Manitoba, and its publication in theDer Deutsche in Canada in 1874

Vol.2

1. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1873-74
2. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1875
3. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1876
4. Notes, clippings, source material re: home, business and church life, 1880-82
5. Notes, clippings, source material re: home, business and church life, 1880-82
6. Pages from financial journal of business that did much work with Shantz, ca.1880-82
7. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1882-84
8. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1885-86
9. Notes, clippings and source material re: home, business and church life, 1887-89
10. Notes from business ledgers of button factory
11. Notes from 1890s, including Didsbury, Alberta settlement
12. Jacob Y. Shantz obituaries, 1909
13. History of button industry in Rochester, New York, by Paul Brebinger
14. Notes on the activities of Shantz's children
15. Copies of button patents by Dilman Shantz, 1885-1896
16. Misc. correspondence, clippings, addresses, 1985-86
17. Manuscript biography of Jacob Y. Shantz by Sam Steiner, 1986

Vol.3

1. Shantz family records compiled by Mrs. J. Munroe Shantz, pp.1-321 (pp.53-62 missing)
2. Shantz family records, pp.322-499
3. Shantz family records, pp.499-604
4. Shantz family records, pp.605-957
5. Shantz family records, pp.958-1199
6. The Jacob Shantz Family of Conneaut Lake, Pa. / Mrs. J. Munroe Shantz
7. Mrs. J.M. Shantz correspondence
8. Shantz genealogy notes
9. Shantz family photos

Vol. 4

1. Lawrence Klippenstein file
   Custodial history: A file given to the Archives some time after 1988 by Lawrence Klippenstein.
   Scope and content: Articles published about Shantz in the 1990s and materials regarding the Jacob Y. Schantz [sic] historic marker erected in Schanzenfeld, Manitoba in 1990.
2. File of biographical materials
   Note: Transferred to the Archives from the Archives of the Mennonite Church (AMC) in 2013. File was created by Melvin Gingerich.

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