Peters, Jakob W. (1869-1936)
Jakob W. Peters: farmer and businessman; born on 5 May 1869 in the Bergthal Colony, Russia, to Peter and Helena (Wiebe) Peters. Jakob was the eldest of 13 children. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1875, settling near current-day Mitchell, Manitoba. He was baptized 26 May 1890 into the Chortitzer Mennonite Church. Jakob married Helena Doerksen (1879-1937), daughter of Johann and Anna (Kehler) Doerksen on 10 April 1899. The couple had 11 children, ten of whom survived childhood.
Jakob and his brother Peter took over the operations of the family farm when their father died in 1913. Jakob kept animals, grew grain crops and did blacksmithing and carpentry work. He was able to expand his farm and to purchase a feed grinder and other machinery, becoming fairly wealthy even as a young man. He was an investor and bought land in Saskatchewan, besides lending money to other businessmen. Jacob involved himself in public matters as well, although he never took office. One of his concerns was the management of a trust company for widows and orphans.
Jakob W. Peters collected devotional writings and religious tracts which he used in notes to his family and as a spiritual encouragement to members of his Mennonite community that moved to Paraguay in 1926 and 1927. Each winter, he maintained a skating rink in his yard where neighbors and friends as far away as Steinbach could skate and play hockey. Jakob died of asthma on 6 October 1936.
Bibliography
GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.03 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2007: #220417.
Peters, Erdmann D. “Jakob W. Peters (1869-1936), Vollwerk.” Preservings No. 13 (December 1998): 74-79.
| Author(s) | Susan Huebert |
|---|---|
| Date Published | November 2007 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Huebert, Susan. "Peters, Jakob W. (1869-1936)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2007. Web. 25 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Peters,_Jakob_W._(1869-1936)&oldid=96002.
APA style
Huebert, Susan. (November 2007). Peters, Jakob W. (1869-1936). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Peters,_Jakob_W._(1869-1936)&oldid=96002.
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