Henderson (Nebraska, USA)
Henderson (Nebraska), was established as a Mennonite community in 1874 by 35 families (207 persons) coming from the Molotschna settlement, South Russia, who purchased land in York and Hamilton counties from the Burlington and Missouri Railroad Company. The first group of settlers bought 6,008 acres at $3-$9 per acre, reserving 900 additional acres for relatives. By 1882 some 140 families had settled there. In the 1950s the population was nearly 3,000 (in 2000 the popluation was 1,000). The first settlers lived in an immigrant house about a mile east of the present site of Henderson. Some sod houses were erected which were replaced after a few years. The first houses and villages were patterned after those which they left behind in Russia; but this practice was soon discontinued. In 1887 the Northwestern Railroad Company built a branch line running through the town of Henderson, which had been established in 1878 in the heart of the Mennonite settlement. All the business in the village in the 1950s was conducted by Mennonites. As a result of the severe drought and the depression following World War I many of the farmers began irrigation farming, which proved to be successful. Regarding education, religious life, and other questions pertaining to the settlement, see Bethesda Mennonite Church, Henderson Mennonite Brethren Church, Ebenezer Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church, Bethesda Preparatory School.
Bibliography
Friesen, J. J. "Remaking a Community—Henderson, Nebraska." Mennonite Life 5 (October 1950): 10 ff.
Schmidt, Theodore. "The Mennonites of Nebraska." Thesis, University of Nebraska, 1933: 13 ff.
Maps
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1956 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius. "Henderson (Nebraska, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Henderson_(Nebraska,_USA)&oldid=170382.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius. (1956). Henderson (Nebraska, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Henderson_(Nebraska,_USA)&oldid=170382.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 697. All rights reserved.
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