Mosimann (Mosiman, Mosemann, Moseman) family
Mosimann (Mosiman, Mosemann, Moseman), a Swiss Mennonite family. Between Signau and Lauperswil in the Emmental in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, there is a hill called Moosegg, meaning Moss Ridge, where the first traces of the Mosimann family appear. The first appearance of the family in the records as Anabaptists is in 1633, when Madlena and Elsbeth Mosemann were taken before the Bernese authorities for belonging to this forbidden sect. From that time until 1670 the Bernese records report nine similar cases against members of the Mosimann family. This is one of the few families that had members who remained in the Emmental region during the times of severe persecution; it is still found in the congregation. Until 1952 Fritz Mosimann was an elder in the Langnau congregation. Others moved to Alsace and Montbéliard in the first years of the 18th century. Fritz Mosimann of the Pfastatt-Mulhouse congregation (1954) was a popular painter of Alsatian landscapes.
From Alsace (and Switzerland) several families came to America and others moved to Germany. Several Mosimann families established their homes in America during the 19th century, locating in Lancaster County, PA., Butler County, Ohio, and central Illlinois. Among the outstanding Mosimann personalities have been Jakob Mosemann (1795-1876), who emigrated from the Trappstadt congregation, Germany, settling near Bowmansville, Lancaster County. He was ordained preacher (1822) and bishop (1825) in Germany and continued as bishop in the Lancaster Conference, where he was an outstanding preacher and teacher. His grandson John H. Mosemann (1877-1938) was also an outstanding bishop (preacher 1904, bishop 1926) in the Lancaster Conference. The latter's son John H. Mosemann was in 1956 a professor in the Goshen College Biblical Seminary and bishop of the Goshen College congregation. Another grandson of Jakob was David H. Mosemann, long a minister in the East Chestnut St. (MC) congregation in Lancaster. Samuel K. Mosiman (1867-1940) was president of Bluffton College in 1908-1935, and a leader in the General Conference Mennonite Church. Michael Mosimann, born ca. 1820 in Lorraine, came to the United States in 1831, became a leading bishop in central Illinois, later joining the Defenseless Mennonite Church.
| Author(s) | Delbert L Gratz |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gratz, Delbert L. "Mosimann (Mosiman, Mosemann, Moseman) family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mosimann_(Mosiman,_Mosemann,_Moseman)_family&oldid=119508.
APA style
Gratz, Delbert L. (1957). Mosimann (Mosiman, Mosemann, Moseman) family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Mosimann_(Mosiman,_Mosemann,_Moseman)_family&oldid=119508.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 757. All rights reserved.
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