Tschetter, Paul (1842-1919)
Paul Tschetter (1842-1919) was born in Blumenort, Molotschna settlement, South Russia. He became a member of the Hutterian Brethren in 1860. In that year he was married to Maria Walter. Five sons and five daughters were born to this union, among whom was Joseph W. Tschetter, for many years a minister of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren in Chicago. In 1866 he was ordained to the ministry and in 1883 to the office of elder. He is buried in the Neuhutterthal cemetery, located 45 miles northwest of Yankton, South Dakota, on the homestead that he took when he came to America.
In 1873 Tschetter was a member of the delegation sent to St. Petersburg in the matter of continued exemption from military service. Because the answer was not satisfactory a delegation of twelve Mennonites and Hutterites visited the American frontier in 1873 to investigate the possibilities of emigration. Among the twelve were Paul Tschetter and his uncle Lorenz Tschetter, both of Hutterthal. Tschetter appeared before President Grant to plead for exemption from military service for his people who were to settle in America. The diary of his deputation journey to America in 1873 presents a keen analysis of the work and observations of the Russian delegation. In 1874 Tschetter brought his family to America and settled in South Dakota. He never lived in a Bruderhof and thus did not practice the Christian communism of the Hutterian Brethren. He was a leader in the group that joined the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Conference.
Bibliography
"The Diary of Paul Tschetter, 1873." Mennonite Quarterly Review 5 (1931): 112-127, 198-220.
| Author(s) | Melvin Gingerich |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Gingerich, Melvin. "Tschetter, Paul (1842-1919)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Tschetter,_Paul_(1842-1919)&oldid=143773.
APA style
Gingerich, Melvin. (1959). Tschetter, Paul (1842-1919). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Tschetter,_Paul_(1842-1919)&oldid=143773.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 753. All rights reserved.
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