Harder, David E. (1872-1930)
David E. Harder, a Mennonite (Krimmer Mennonite Brethren) teacher and minister, was born 2 April 1872, in the village of Annenfeld, in the Crimea, South Russia, the youngest of the six children of Johann Harder and Elisabeth (Fast) Harder. In 1874 the family joined the Russian Mennonite migration to America and settled in the village of Gnadenau, which was established near Hillsboro, Kansas, under the leadership of Elder Jacob A. Wiebe, the founder of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church. When the village system of life was found impracticable in America, the Gnadenau village was dissolved and the Harder family moved to their farm 2.5 miles south of Hillsboro.
David Harder received his elementary education in the parental home where his father conducted a private school until school districts were formed and public schools organized. When he reached the age of 15, he attended the Hillsboro High School for a few months. He obtained a teacher's license, and began to teach in a rural school near Goessel, Kansas. For several spring and summer terms he attended McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas. During the school years 1898-1900 he attended Bethel College, and in 1927 he received his Master's degree at the University of Oklahoma. In June 1897 he was married to Margaret Flaming. To this union five children were born - Menno, David, Rozella, Theodore, and Joseph.
David E. Harder served on the faculty of a number of Mennonite colleges: Tabor College, 1909-22; Bethel College, Newton, Kansas, 1922-27; Freeman College at Freeman, South Dakota, 1927 until his death in October 1930. He served the teaching profession 35 years.
As a minister Harder was in great demand. In 1914 he became moderator of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Conference, and was re-elected to this position 12 consecutive times. Under his leadership the Conference experienced growth in membership and great extension of its services. His "History of the Hutterian Brethren" was still an unpublished manuscript in the late 1950s.
Bibliography
GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.05 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2008: 18895.
Mennonite Life I (July 1946).
Tabor College Herald (November 1930).
| Author(s) | Menno S Harder |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Harder, Menno S. "Harder, David E. (1872-1930)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Harder,_David_E._(1872-1930)&oldid=81713.
APA style
Harder, Menno S. (1956). Harder, David E. (1872-1930). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Harder,_David_E._(1872-1930)&oldid=81713.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 659-660. All rights reserved.
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