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Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)

2025-04-10T21:17:09Z

AileenFriesen: Major changes by Gerald Ens

__NOTOC__
Klaas Heide was a notable leader of the [[Reinlander Mennoniten Gemeinde (Manitoba)|Reinländer]] church community in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]], [[Mexico]] in the 1910s and 1920s. He served as a significant member of the [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegations]] sent from 1919-1921 by the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer]] in central [[Canada]]. He was also an important architect of the Manitoba Reinländer settlement plan in Chihuahua.

In 1916, the Manitoba government began [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|a concerted campaign]] to close the private Mennonite elementary schools in order to use the public school system as a tool for cultural and religious assimilation. After failed negotiations, the Manitoba Reinländer, with their co-religionists in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]], began to explore emigration options and sent delegations to various countries in [[South America|Latin America]], to [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]], and to [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] over a three year period. Heide was one of the more important members of these delegations. Records are incomplete, but according to family history Heide was a member of every single delegation sent by the Manitoba Reinländer and may have been the designated financial expert of these groups.<ref>Harms, 117 and 120. See also Sawatzky, 57.</ref> He also played a leading role in the decision to purchase land in Chihuahua after a previous deal in the state of [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]] fell through. Heide is a prominent figure in the journals of his fellow delegates and recurs as a primary person of contact in the archival record during this critical juncture of the Reinländer church.

Heide was involved in an incident that significantly changed the trajectory of the Reinländer [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigration from Canada]]. In the spring of 1921, at the Hotel Posada Duran in Durango, [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler]] delegate [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] confronted Heide and the other delegates over their concerns that the Hague-Osler group could not be relied upon for their portion of a joint land purchase. Both Heide and Wall possessed forceful personalities and clashed over the issue. As a result, the Hague-Osler group withdrew from a planned joint purchase in Durango, delaying their emigration to Mexico until 1924. Meanwhile, the Manitoba and [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]] groups redirected to settlement opportunities in the state of Chihuahua, contracting to purchase land there in September 1921.

Heide continued to provide leadership during the settlement of the Manitoba and Swift Current Reinländer in Chihuahua. He accompanied the Mexican land surveyers for the planned land purchase and measured the land into two square kilometer blocks, drawing up a comprehensive settlement plan. He was intimately involved in the purchase of land and its distribution to the Manitoba Reinländer, who undertook this process via two land holding companies, one of them in Heide's name, rather than via individual title.

Heide then served as one of the chief administrators during the critical early years of the [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba Colony]]. He was, along with his friend [[Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990)|Walter Schmiedehaus]], one of the point persons in dealing with the problem of local farmers who claimed the Mennonites' newly purchased land as their own under Mexico's land redistribution laws. Together with Schmiedehaus, Heide was able to move the state and federal government to both protect the Mennonite settlers from the "agraristas" and then, at the end of 1925, persuade them to largely resolve the crisis by compensating the agraristas with land elsewhere. When a new Mexican president, Elías Calles, made noise in 1925-26 about removing the Mennonites' special privileges, colony leadership again delegated Heide and Schmiedehaus, who together successfully represented the colonists' interests before government officials. In his written work, Schmiedehaus singles out Heide's impact, leadership, and personality as "towering above" all others in the first years of the Mennonite settlements in Mexico.<ref>Schmiedehaus, 67; cf. p. 27.</ref>

Klaas Heide was born in Schönneberg, [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza Colony]], [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]) to Peter Heide and Helena Loewen on 14 May 1859. When he was young, his family moved to Rosenbach in the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland Colony]]. In 1875 he immigrated to Manitoba, Canada with his parents. He married Maria Driedger in 1877 and they settled in Grunthal in the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]]. Heide and his family moved to Blumenort in the Manitoba Colony in 1922. He died on 19 October 1926.

=See Also=
*[[Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)|Johann J. Friesen]]
*[[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|President Álvaro Obregón]]
*[[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990)|Walter Schmiedehaus]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 201-230.

Harms, Sally. "Klaas Heide (1859-1926), Delegate, Schoneberg, Imperial Russia, to Grunthal, W.R. Manitoba, to Blumenort, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico." In ''Old Colony Mennonite in Canada: 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2001. Pp. 116-121.

Kouwenhoven, Arlette. ''The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration'', translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. Pp. 143, 190-91.

[[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Loeppky, Johann]]. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

[[Rempel, David (1869-1949)|Rempel, David]]. “Diary of his Trip to South America and Mexico in 1919-1921.” Trans. Jake K. Wiens. Volume 5015, Small Archives. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley, Calif.; University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 31-52 and 57-59.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico''. Translated by Erwin Jost. Edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021. Pp. 20-27, 67-70, 86-92, 148.

Werner, Hans. "Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.

Werner, Hans. "Restoring the Commons: Land Deals and the Migration of Manitoba Mennonites to Mexico in the 1920s." ''Agricultural History'' 87, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 452-472.

Wiebe, John F. D. et al. “Correspondence with J. F. D. Wiebe, 1922-1931." Mexico Mennonite Files, 1875-1931, vol. 4297 no. 12. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.
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Isaac, Jacob F. (1883-1970)

2025-04-10T01:05:35Z

AileenFriesen: Minor changes by Gerald Ens

[[File:IsaacMariaDueck2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Bishop Jakob F. Isaac and Maria

Dueck Isaac with sons Levi and

Alvin, Meade, Kansas, 1941.

Source:Centre for MB Studies

(Winnipeg) NP139-01-71.'']] Jacob F. Isaac: [[Kleine Gemeinde|Kleine Gemeinde]] [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] and farmer; born on 7 April 1883 to Abram P. and Margaretha (Friesen) Isaac, near [[Jansen (Nebraska, USA)|Jansen]], [[Nebraska (USA)|Nebraska]], the fifth of eight [[Children|children]] in the [[Family|family]]. He was [[Baptism|baptized]] and joined the church on 2 June 1901. On 10 November 1901, he [[Marriage|married]] Katharina J. Friesen, daughter of Cornelius L. and Sara (Janzen) Friesen, in Jansen. The couple had 5 children. Katharina died on 30 July 1936, and on 6 December of that year, he married [[Isaac, Maria Dueck (1898-1975)|Maria Dueck]], daughter of Heinrich R. and Katharina Dueck. The couple had two sons. Jacob died on 14 August 1970 in [[Meade County (Kansas, USA)|Meade]], and Maria died on 10 March 1975.

As a child, Jacob lived on a [[Farming Among Mennonites in North America|farmstead]] near the town of Jansen. In 1892, Jacob’s family moved to [[Colorado (USA)|Colorado]] to look for land but returned to Jansen in 1897 because of a drought. Soon, however, a lack of land for young people to buy in Nebraska led community members to consider leaving for [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]]. The first migrants moved in 1906, and others followed in the next few years.

Meanwhile, Jacob met and married Katherina J. Friesen and married her on 10 November 1901 in Jansen. The couple soon moved to a farmstead six miles (10 km) from the town. In 1907, Jacob and Katherina joined others from the community in moving to Kansas, arriving at their new farmstead 20 miles (32 km) from Meade on 9 March.

No church had been built in Meade when Jacob and his family moved there, and services were held in a home at first. Later on, the Kleine Gemeinde congregation [[Meade Kleine Gemeinde Mennonite Church (Meade, Kansas, USA)|built two churches]], one at each end of the town, with [[Worship, Public#Prussian-Russian Tradition|services]] alternating between them. After [[German Language|German]] instruction in schools was discontinued following the [[World War (1914-1918)|First World War]], the church began to hold [[Sunday School|Sunday school]] classes to teach German to the children.

Jacob worked as a farmer, adapting his crops to the climate of Kansas, the drought of the 1930s, and the improved conditions in later years. In the fall of 1911, he was elected minister of the church in Meade, and in 1914, he became an [[Bishop (Ältester)|elder]]. When members of the church began to consider [[Migrations#Dutch-North German Mennonite Migrations|immigration to Mexico]] after the First World War, Jacob was one of the [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegates]] who explored the option, although he and his family stayed in Kansas.

On 30 July 1936, Jacob’s wife died, leaving him with five children still at home. When Jacob later traveled to [[Kleefeld|Kleefeld]], [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]], to visit a church leader there, he proposed to the minister’s eldest daughter, Maria. Jacob and Maria were married on 6 December 1936 before returning to Meade.

For some time, discontent had been growing in the church where Jacob was an elder, and people soon began to leave for other churches despite efforts at [[Reconciliation|reconciliation]] and a series of [[Revival Meetings|revival meetings]]. Jacob was asked to resign as elder of the church but refused to do so, staying to conduct negotiations with a new group that had formed. Eventually, Jacob and his family all began attending the [[Emmanuel Mennonite Church (Meade, Kansas, USA)|Emmanuel Mennonite Church]], formed from the North church. Late in the 1950s, Jacob and Maria sold their land and moved into Meade, where they were joined by several family members. Jacob died there on 14 August 1970.

Jacob F. Isaac was a dedicated leader whose commitment to the church helped him through some very difficult times. Despite the struggles in his life, he tried to remain true to his calling and beliefs, helping to set an example for others to follow.

= Bibliography =
Loewen, W. Merle, Lee Isaac, and Al Isaac. “Ältester Jacob F. Isaac (1883-1970): The Last Kleine Gemeinde Aeltester in Meade, Kansas: Selected Writings, Personal Memories and Reflections from Relatives & Acquaintances.” Preservings 26 (2006): 46-52.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert F]]. “1922 Delegation to Mexico.” ''Preservings'' 14 (June 1999): 104-105.
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Engen, Fred (1863-1929)

2025-04-02T21:56:19Z

AileenFriesen: article revised by Gerald Ens

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Fred Engen was a [[Canada|Canadian]]<ref>Loewen, curiously, once describes him as an [[United States of America|American]] (p. 33) and once as a Canadian (p. 63); other sources describe him as Canadian-Norwegian (e.g., Stoesz, 27).</ref> of Norwegian extraction who played an important role in the [[1920s Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay#Paraguay|settlement of Mennonites]] from [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] in [[Paraguay]] in the 1920s. Engen was a [[Pacifism|pacifist]], an explorer, and a land agent who dreamed of creating a country of pacifists. By the time of his death in 1929 he had become a beloved friend of the Canadian Mennonites who moved to Paraguay.

Engen’s work with Mennonites began after he lost his fortune and entered into the service of [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|Samuel McRoberts]], a New York banker with [[Business|business]] connections in [[South America]]. This was around the same time that the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer (also known as Old Colony)]] Mennonites contacted McRoberts, asking for his assistance in their efforts to [[1920s Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay|emigrate from Canada]]. McRoberts commissioned Engen, who was already familiar with the Canadian Mennonites, to search for an appropriate site. Engen spent nearly a year exploring South America, including a June-July 1920<ref>Stoesz, 27 contains a misprint locating this expedition in 1921.</ref> expedition into the forbidding Paraguayan [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]]. He was so impressed by its [[Economics|economic]] and [[Farming and Settlement|agricultural]] prospects that immediately upon his return he wired McRoberts with the message that he had “found the promised land.”<ref>Friesen, 14.</ref>

From this point on McRoberts remained focused on Paraguay as the best [[Colonization|settlement]] option for the emigrating Mennonites. The Old Colony Mennonites [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922#Reinländer Delegations|decided]] to move to [[Mexico]] instead, but a federation of [[Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian)|conservative]] [[Bergthal Mennonites]] looking to emigrate contacted McRoberts soon afterwards and he directed them to Paraguay. For the rest of the decade, Engen served as the primary point person between McRoberts and this group of emigrating Mennonites.

In April 1921 Engen led a [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegation]] sent by the Bergthal groups on a tour of the Chaco. The tour left a very favourable impression on the delegates. By now a trusted companion, Engen accompanied this delegation on their return to Manitoba and strongly promotred a move to Paraguay.

The first shipload of Mennonite immigrants to Paraguay was only able to leave several years later. They arrived in [[Buenos Aires (Argentina)|Buenos Aires]] at the end of 1926 where Engen met them and brought them both the legal documents necessary to enter Paraguay and apples to help the children celebrate Christmas. At the end of December, the group disembarked at [[Puerto Casado (Departamento de Alto Paraguay, Paraguay)|Puerto Casado]], still 200 kilometers away from their newly purchased land.

At this point, the immigration ran into a series of unexpected and severe difficulties. Their land had not been surveyed or demarcated, there was no mode of transport to their land, and the temporary accommodations were grossly inadequate. The results were devastating. During the 16 months of waiting before the immigrants could establish their new settlement an epidemic broke out; out of a total migrant population of 1785, around 185 people died and around another 350 returned to Canada.

As the representative of the [[Corporación Paraguaya]], founded by McRoberts to facilitate the Mennonites’ settlement in Paraguay, Engen was responsible for overcoming these obstacles, at least until McRoberts himself arrived in Puerto Casado in June 1927.
Engen organized and led several initial forays into the Chaco beginning in January 1927 and that these explorations resulted in several important [[Pozo Azul (Paraguay)|temporary farming sites]]. Engen also managed to bring a much needed doctor to Puerto Casado in September 1927. And once survey work began, Engen appears to have played a leading role with the survey teams on the ground.<ref>E.g., Friesen, 69.</ref>

Engen died in 1929 in Puerto Casado, shortly after the establishment of [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]] in 1928. He was greatly mourned by his many Mennonite friends. The Chaco [[Railroads|railway]] station at Kilometer 145 and the main street of [[Loma Plata (Menno Colony, Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Loma Plata]] in Menno Colony are both named after him.

=See Also=
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)]]
*[[Corporación Paraguaya]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 209-216.

Ens, Adolf and Ernest N. Braun. "Emigration to Paraguay 1926 to 1927." In ''Settlers of the East Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2009. P. 321

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1953. Pp. 12-18.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 33-8, 57, 63, 72.

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.

Redekop, Calvin. ''Strangers Become Neighbors: Mennonite and Indigenous Relations in the Paraguayan Chaco''. Herald Press, 1980. Pp. 97-98.

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 27-39

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 1-4, 17-36.
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Carlos Casado Company

2025-04-02T21:14:13Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

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The Carlos Casado Company is an international agriculture company based in [[Argentina]]. By the 1920s it owned three million acres of land in the [[Chaco (South America)|Paraguayan Chaco]], the largest tract of privately owned land in the world. In 1926, it sold 463 387 acres<ref>Stoesz and Stackley (27) and Stoesz (33) erroneously provide much smaller figures, mistakenly describing the smaller amount of land initially sold to the Mennonites as the amount of land purchased from Casado.</ref> of this land to the [[Corporación Paraguaya]], founded to facilitate Mennonite immigration to [[Paraguay]]. The Corporación Paraguaya resold this land to the Mennonite immigrants who formed [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]], [[Fernheim Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Fernheim Colony]], and other Paraguayan colonies.

The company was most directly involved with the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|first Mennonite settlers in Paraguay]], the [[Canada|Canadian]] Mennonite who founded Menno Colony. José Casado, the head of the company at the time, spoke fluent German and was well-positioned to promote his land. He met with the 1921 [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegation]] of [[Bergthal Mennonites]] searching for a suitable homeland and organized a tour of the Chaco for them. The delegates, who received the tour in April when conditions in the Chaco are at their best, were impressed. Before the delegates left Paraguay, José Casado gave them a letter charging them to “change these lands…into a garden…so that you and your followers can be blessed, through your efforts and live in peace and good fortune.”<ref>Stoesz, 28.</ref> In September, Casado visited the Mennonites in Manitoba to further promote settlement in the Paraguayan Chaco.

Before the Bergthal delegation left Paraguay, it received assurances from Paraguayan President [[Gondra, Manuel (1871-1927)|Manuel Gondra]] that a [[Railroads|railway]] would be built to the site of their new settlement, 200 kilometers into the interior from [[Puerto Casado (Departamento de Alto Paraguay, Paraguay)|Puerto Casado]], the outpost of the Casado Company. At the time, the Casado Company owned and operated a narrow-gauge railroad that went only the first 72 kilometers towards the settlement site. It was, however, never settled whether it was the responsibility of the Paraguayan government or the Casado Company to complete the railroad and it never was completed. This came as a great shock and caused much hardship to the Mennonite immigrants who started arriving in Puerto Casado at the end of 1926. [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|Samuel McRoberts]], who financed the migration, blamed Casado for the incomplete railroad.<ref>Stoesz, 38-39.</ref> Between 1926 and 1928, the company did extend the railroad from 72 to 104 kilometers.

The new arrivals remained stuck at Puerto Casado for 16 months while they conducted the work necessary to settle their land. In the meantime, the settlers had considerable interaction with the company's many employees and establishments. All purchased goods from the Casado store and some found temporary employment in the tannin factory. The company's doctor served them until they acquired the Corporación Paraguaya acquired its own doctor in September 1927. The Corporación Paraguaya (on behalf of the Mennonite settlers) purchased from the Casado Company much of the equipment, animals, and some of the labour power needed to venture into, survey, and settle the Chaco. The settlers also made great use of the company’s narrow-gauge railway, which extended 145 kilometers from Puerto Casado by 1930, the nearest it ever got to Menno Colony. Mennonites from all of the Paraguayan colonies continued to interact with the large agricultural holdings of the Casado Company throughout the years, purchasing goods, equipment, and farm animals from it.

=See Also=
*[[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)]]
*[[Corporación Paraguaya]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 1953. pp. 14-16, 24, 37, 43, 218.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009. Pp. 15, 25-32, 43, 56-57, 60-61

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 34-76.

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 26-41.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 18-27.
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Peters, Klaas (1855-1932)

2025-04-02T21:09:10Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Klaas Peters was a Canadian land agent, Swedenborgian minister, [[Business|businessman]], and [[Politics|politician]]. In all these capacities, he made a significant impact on Mennonite communities in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]]. As a land agent, he played a particularly important role in the 1891-1906 “late Kanadier” [[Migrations#From Europe to the Americas|emigration]] from [[Russia]] to [[Canada]] and in the early Mennonite [[Farming and Settlement|settlement]] of what is today Saskatchewan.
__FORCETOC__
__TOC__

Peters was born to Klaas and Agatha (Dyck) Peters on 22 September 1855 and raised in Friedrichsthal in the [[Bergthal Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Bergthal Colony]] in Russia (present day [[Ukraine]]). With the rest of the Bergthal Colony, he came to Canada in 1875. His family was poor (his mother was twice widowed) and would not have been able to afford the move, but the Bergthal church pooled and shared its resources so that all of its members could take part in the migration. After a few years of living in Manitoba's [[East Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|East Reserve]], Peters moved to the [[Gretna (Manitoba, Canada)|Gretna]] area of the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]]. He later spent much of his life living in various communities in Saskatchewan. Peters married Katharina Loewen on 12 June 1881; she was his life-long companion and together they had nine children. Peters died on 23 June 1932 in Waldeck, Saskatchewan.

=Land Agent=
By the end of the 1880s the Mennonites in western Manitoba were running out of land and in 1888 some constituency of Mennonites<ref>The historical record does not specify further.</ref> sent two men, Klaas Peters and Jacob Wiens, with publicly raised funds to investigate the possibility of settlement in [[Oregon (USA)|Oregon]]. Peters gave a lengthy and highly positive report on his findings; however, he cautioned that those without the financial means should move instead to the newly opened Canadian Northwest (present day Saskatchewan and [[Alberta (Canada)|Alberta]]) where they could obtain land for free. A small group of Mennonites followed Peters’s recommendation and moved to Oregon. Some of these pioneers succeeded and established Mennonite communities that endure to this day, but most returned to Manitoba within a few years, many of them destitute and some blaming Peters for their trouble.

In 1890, the Canadian government was looking for land agents to recruit [[Europe|European]] settlers to the Northwest Territories; Peters, with his facility in [[English Language|English]] and experience in Oregon, received the assignment. On 14 November 1890 he left on the first of five trips to Europe, visiting a variety of Mennonite colonies in imperial Russia. His work carried a degree of risk since Russian officials did not want foreigners poaching Russian subjects. Peters was able to drum up significant interest, especially in the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland Colony]]. In the fall of 1891 nineteen families made the move to Canada with several others following shortly thereafter.

Peters spent the next decade working for Canadian federal and provincial governments, private real estate and legal firms, and the [[Canadian Pacific Railway Company|Canadian Pacific Railway]], helping people to settle in western Canada and traveling abroad recruiting people to Canada. Between 1892 and 1903 he visited Mennonites around the world (often multiple times), including in [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]], [[Nebraska (USA)|Nebraska]], [[Oregon (USA)|Oregon]], [[Prussia]], and imperial Russia. In imperial Russia, his activity was a significant factor in sparking the “Late Kanadier” migration of the 1890s and early 1900s that brought roughly 2000 Mennonites from Russia to Canada, though Jacob Peters finds that, after his initial 1891 visit, his trips to that country “had minimum impact on the out-migration.”<ref>J. Peters, 134.</ref>

At the same time, Peters helped to settle new immigrants in the areas around [[Didsbury (Alberta, Canada)|Didsbury]], [[Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Rosthern]], [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]], [[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Lake,_Saskatchewan Duck Lake], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldeck,_Saskatchewan Waldeck]. By many accounts he was a persuasive promoter of land in these areas. He also helped new settlers to select their land and arranged transportation, lodging, and supply deliveries. His impact on Rosthern and surrounding area was pronounced: he first selected the Rosthern area for settlement and brought its first settlers to live there in 1891 and 1892 as well as additional settlers in subsequent years.

Towards the end of [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]], Peters resumed his interest in resettling Mennonites and founding new Mennonite communities, though this time with limited results. His 1919 expedition to [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], and [[Uruguay]] is notable for being the first of many post-war [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegations]] sent by Mennonites from Canada looking to find a homeland where they could maintain autonomy over their children’s education. A few years later, some 8000 Mennonites [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigrated]] from Canada, settling in [[Mexico]] and [[Paraguay]]. During this time, Peters made an attempt to found a Mennonite settlement in [[Florida (USA)|Florida]]. He secured an invitation from the governor and settled there himself for a few years. He was, however, unable to attract any Mennonite immigrants, who feared that their group [[Privileges (Privilegia)|privileges]] would be abrogated without a legal document, and returned himself to Saskatchewan after a short time.

=Pursuits in Business, Politics, and Writing=
For most of his life, Peters was involved in both business and politics. In his first years in Canada, while teaching and farming in the East Reserve, he operated a side business as a book seller. In Gretna, he operated a store that specialized in the import of European goods. When he settled in Waldeck, Saskatchewan in 1903 he dreamed of turning the hamlet into a major commercial centre. He bought much of the land on the north side of the [[Railroads|railway]] and founded a lumberyard and a hotel and saloon, which he persuaded his son to operate. The saloon was initially very profitable, but later became challenging to operate and in 1915 [[Alcohol (1958)#Temperance in North America|prohibition]] forced its closure. Peters’s dreams for Waldeck did not materialize and by the end of his life he had lost his investments.

In federal Canadian politics, Peters actively campaigned for the Conservative party in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Locally, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1908 and elected as the first reeve of the Rural Municipality of Waldeck in 1909. People increasingly perceived conflicts of interest between Peters’s political positions and business activities and by the end of his political career he was a divisive and controversial figure.

Peters was a voluminous writer. He enjoyed an extended correspondence, contributed articles to [[periodicals]] like the ''Rundschau'', and wrote everything from travel reports to [[poetry]]. His most enduring work is an account of the [[Bergthal Mennonites|Bergthaler Church]] that focuses on the migration from Russia to Canada. Peters first published this account in several installments in the ''Rundschau'' in 1890. In 1925, Peters republished it as a book and it has since been reprinted and also translated into English under the title ''The Bergthaler Mennonites''.

=Religious Activity and Theological Views=
Peters was born and later [[Baptism|baptized]] into the Bergthaler church. He was likely an influential figure in leading the newly founded [[Bergthal Mennonite Church (Didsbury, Alberta, Canada)|Mennonite church in Didsbury]] to associate with the progressive Bergthaler in Manitoba rather than the more conservative Sommerfelder.<ref>This is P. Dyck's suggestion (see p.7).</ref>

Peters was, however, critical of what he saw as the church’s low regard for education and appears also to have felt unsupported in his business activities and intellectually and spiritually stifled by the church. He wrote in the 1890s that the while the Mennonite [[catechism]] and articles of faith were correct and praiseworthy, Mennonite life was often stagnant. Reimer observes that he was critical of his own people for their stubbornness, self-interest, and suspicion of outsiders.<ref>Pp. 4-5.</ref>

Peters was drawn to the teachings of the Swedenborgian church (officially the Church of the New Jerusalem) and dropped his membership in the Bergthaler church in 1897 after a private conversation with Bergthaler Ältester [[Funk, Johann (1836-1917)|Johann Funk]]. Peters later wrote that it was Swedenborgian [[Biblical Interpretation|biblical hermeneutics]], what he called the "spiritual sense of the Word," that most attracted him.<ref>See Doell and Ens, 111.</ref> According to Swedenborgian teaching, the [[Bible]] is neither literal description of actual facts nor myth; instead, it provides clues and insights into the spiritual plane of existence and the correspondences between the spiritual and the material plane. Peters was also persuaded by unorthodox Swedenborgian doctrines, including [[Grace|judgement according to works]] and an account of salvation that rejects the end time [[resurrection]] of the dead.

In 1902, while living in Didsbury, Peters was [[Ordination|ordained]] as a Swedenborgian minister. Peters was zealous for his new church and spread his beliefs everywhere he went. According to Doell, he was largely responsible for initiating and developing the many Swedenborgian churches that sprang up in many of the Mennonite settlements in western Canada in the early 20th century.<ref>Doell,"Biography," 75.</ref> Paul Dyck finds that Peters's conversion caused strain in the new Mennonite church in Didsbury.<ref>P. Dyck, 7.</ref>

=Pacifism and World War I=
Unlike some Mennonite Swedenborgians, Peters remained an ardent [[Pacifism|pacifist]]. During World War I he argued that anyone who had come to Canada under Mennonite designation and also their children should be protected from [[Military Participation|military conscription]]. In January 1917, a Mennonite delegation went to Ottawa to advocate for and clarify the position of unbaptized Mennonite youth, who were in danger of conscription. Peters was part of this delegation, representing the Mennonites in the Herbert area. Peters’s pacifist stance caused widespread anger in the large Anglo-Saxon community in Waldeck and appears to have shuttered his political career. At the war’s end, a large crowd burned an effigy of Peters in Waldeck’s main street.

Peters’s most controversial activity during World War I was signing exemption cards. To receive exemption from military conscription, Mennonite men required the signature of a Mennonite [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]]. Peters signed several of these cards even though he was not a Mennonite minister; additionally, some of the exemptions he signed were for men who were not part of the Mennonite church even though they were of Mennonite descent. For these actions, Peters was charged, found guilty, and sentenced a $200 fine, plus $149.75 in expenses. Both [[Toews, David (1870-1947)|David Toews]] and [[Ens, Gerhard (1864-1952)|Gerhard Ens]] testified against him. Peters's defence was that he had always considered himself a Mennonite and considered himself a minister of the church of [[Christology|Christ]], not of any particular sect. The Swedenborgian church was not pacifist and distanced itself from Peters at this time.

=See Also=
*[[Ens, Gerhard (1864-1952)]]
*[[Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada)]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. “Klaas Peters (1855-1932): A Biography.” In ''The Bergthaler Mennonites'', by Klaas Peters, translated by Margaret L. Reimer. CMBC Publications, 1988.

Doell, Leonard. "Klaas Peters: A Pioneer Entrepreneur." In ''Historical Sketches of the East Reserve, 1874-1910'', edited by John Dyck. The Hanover Steinbach Historical Society, 1994.

Doell, Leonard and Adolf Ens. “Mennonite Swedenborgians.” ''Journal of Mennonite Studies'' 10 (1992): 101-117.

Dyck, John. “The Oregon Trail of Manitoba Mennonites.” ''Mennonite Historian'' 14, no. 3 (September 1988): 1-2.

Dyck, Paul I. ''The Bergthal Church in Didsbury, Alberta''. Self-published, 1995.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 87, 97-98, 174, 180, 202-203, 206, 210.

Guenter, Jacob. G. et al. “Mennonite Homesteading in Saskatchewan.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. P. 21.

Guenter, Jacob. G. et al. “The Hague-Osler Reserve.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. P. 26.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Harder, Delores L. ''Dedicated to Heinrich Loewens and Sara Toews''. Self-Published, 1998. Pp. 5-6 and Chap. 4-5. Available at the [https://www.mharchives.ca/ Mennonite Heritage Archives]. Pp. 5-6 and chap. 4 and chap. 5.

Klassen, Abram W. "Settling Alberta." In ''Mennonite Memories: Settling in Western Canada'', edited by Lawrence Klippenstein and Julius Toews. Centennial Publications, 1977.

Klassen, Isaac P., David Friesen, et al. ''Chronicles and Genealogy of the Abram Edmund Klassen Family, Insel Chortitz, Ukraine''. Self-published, 1988. P. 121.

Peters, Klaas. ''The Bergthaler Mennonites'', translated by Margaret L. Reimer. CMBC Publications, 1988.

Peters, Jacob E. “The Forgotten Immigrants: The Coming of the "Late Kanadier", 1881-1914.” ''Journal of Mennonite Studies'' 18 (2000): 129-145.

Reimer, Margaret L. Translator’s preface to ''The Bergthaler Mennonites'', by Klaas Peters. CMBC Publications, 1988.

Thorpe, Ralph and Delores L. Harder. ''List of the Descendants of Katharina Loewen (1859-1930) and Klaas Peters (1855-1932)''. Self-published, 2002.

Unlisted Author, "North and West: Homesteading at Rosthern." In ''Mennonite Memories: Settling in Western Canada'', edited by Lawrence Klippenstein and Julius Toews. Centennial Publications, 1977.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Goertzen, Benjamin (1873-1929)

2025-04-02T20:50:01Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Benjamin Goertzen was the [[Oberschulze|vorsteher]] (secular administrator) for the [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler Reserve]] in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] from 1916-27 and a member of many Reinländer [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegations]] from 1920-21.

As part of his administrative role, Goertzen was in charge of the church money collections and together with his wife, Justina, he exhibited much concern for [[Poor, Care of|provision for the poor]] in their community. One of Justina’s enduring legacies was a successful scheme to procure land for Mennonites who were living on the road allowances.

Much of Goertzen’s time as vorsteher was spent dealing with the Saskatchewan government’s attempt to impose secular, [[English Language|English language]] [[Public Schools|public schools]] upon the Mennonites. Goertzen then became a leader in the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|migration]] to [[Mexico]] when the church decided to emigrate in response to the [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|loss of their autonomy over their children’s education]]. Goertzen was a member of many of the most important delegations that found a new homeland for the church in [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], Mexico.

During the emigration process Goertzen was also, together with minister [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]], in charge of a disastrous land-sale scheme that significantly impacted enthusiasm for the migration and was partially responsible for the fact that only a quarter of the church ended up leaving [[Canada]]. The church wanted to sell all of their members’ land in a single block sale. To facilitate this, it had all church members sign over their titles to Wall and Goertzen. A sale failed to materialize and many found it difficult to reclaim title to their land, which caused confusion, impoverishment, and resentment.

Benjamin Goertzen was born in [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland Colony]] in [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]) to Gerhard Goertzen and Helena Redekop in 1873. His family moved to Canada in 1875 and settled in the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]]. He married Justina Teichroeb in 1893. They moved to the Hague-Osler Reserve in 1899 and to Durango, Mexico in 1927. In the spring of 1929, while living in Mexico, Goertzen and his family were robbed by bandits at gunpoint. Goertzen died a few months later of illness. After his death, Justina returned to Canada along with her six unmarried children.

=See Also=
*[[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Durango Colony, Mexico]]
*[[Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)|Jacob Wiens]]
*[[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]]
*[[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler Reserve]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]

=Bibliography=
Braun, Dick. “Justina Teichroeb Goertzen (1876-1957).” ''Flight and Resilience: Mennonites of Saskatchewan (1895-Present)''. Diefenbaker Centre of Canada at the University of Saskatchewan, 2021. [https://diefenbaker.usask.ca/exhibits/online-exhibits-content/flight-and-resilience.php Link].

Doell, Leonard and Annie (Goertzen) Braun. “Gruenfeldt Village.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 81-85.

Goertzen, Peter. “Benjamin Goertzen (1873-1929), Delegate.” In ''Old Colony Mennonite in Canada: 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2001. Pp. 122-124.

Goertzen, Peter. ''Goertzen: Northbound ‘93 Edition''. Self-Published, 1993. Pp. 113-144.

Guenter, Jacob G. Et al. “Village Administration.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 34-35.

Janzen, Abram G. ''Altester Johan M. Loeppky, 1882-1950: As I Remember Him''. Hague: self-published, 2003. Pp. 4-6.

Janzen, William. "Stories from the Life of Abram Janzen of Blumenheim." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 29-37.

Loeppky, Johann. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

Werner, Hans. "Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Wiebe, John F. D. (1872-1941)

2025-04-02T20:37:04Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

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John (occasionally known as Johan) F. D. Wiebe was a prominent community member of [[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert]], [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] and an important figure in the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Old Colony Mennonite]] [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|migration to Mexico in the 1920s]].

Originally a member of the [[Krimmer Mennonite Brethren]] church (his father, [[Wiebe, Jakob Abram (1836-1921)|Jakob]], was the church’s founder and leader) in [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]], Wiebe moved to Herbert in 1906. There he established himself as a successful land agent, [[Business|businessman]], and community leader, playing a leading role in the town’s incorporation in 1912 and serving as its first mayor.

By one account, Wiebe instigated the [[Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian)|conservative]] Canadian Mennonites’ interest in [[Mexico]].<ref>Sawatzky, 36. Other accounts tell the story of how the Old Colony first became aware of Mexico differently. It seems likely that there were a number of instigations in a short timeframe. See Ens, 208 and 226n46 for an overview.</ref> The Old Colony Mennonites had for some time been looking for a new homeland in response to the loss of autonomy over education in [[Canada]] but had been stymied at every turn, when Wiebe, aware of the land reforms about to take place in post-revolutionary Mexico and seeing entrepreneurial opportunities therein, traveled to Mexico. He established positive contact with Mexican stakeholders and then informed the Old Colony about the opportunity. Wiebe then accompanied the January 1921 Old Colony [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegation]] to Mexico that received a [[Privileges (Privilegia)|Privilegium]] from President [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|Álvaro Obregón]], paving the way for immigration. During this trip Wiebe aided the delegates by helping them translate documents from German into English — "his English was better than his German," quips [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|one]] of the delegates<ref>Loeppky, 39.</ref> — and appears to have acted as something of a guide, utilizing his contacts to help arrange the itinerary and gain audiences with stakeholders.

Wiebe continued to be involved with many aspects of the Old Colony migration to Mexico. He assisted the Old Colony in their efforts to sell their land in both [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and Saskatchewan, soliciting buyers on his journeys. Setting up temporary shop in El Paso, Wiebe became the agricultural agent of the Northwestern Railway of Mexico, enabling him to obtain free transportation on U.S. and Mexican [[Railroads|railways]] for himself and for Mennonite delegates. When the Old Colony unilaterally [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)#Land-Seeking Delegations|withdrew from a contract]] to purchase land in the state of [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], it was was Wiebe who pointed them to the Zuloaga estate in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]] where the Mennonites founded the [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba]] and [[Swift Current Mennonite Settlement (Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico)|Swift Current]] colonies. Wiebe also smoothed over some of the ill will on the part of Mexican financiers and businessmen that resulted from the abrogated Durango contract and thereby may have saved the Mennonite immigrants significant legal and financial trouble.

After the migration, Wiebe briefly established himself in San Antonio de los Arenales (later renamed [[Cuauhtémoc (Chihuahua State, Mexico)|Cuauhtémoc)]]. He built the town’s first grain elevator and intended to set up business as a grain merchant for the Mexican Mennonites. This venture appears to have met with limited success and Wiebe returned to Herbert some time around 1925, though his son, Jakob, went on to become an important banker in Cuauhtémoc. One source states that Wiebe became a [[Bishop (Ältester)|bishop]] for the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren church in Herbert in 1930, but this is hard to verify.<ref>Plett, 114. Plett does not provide his source for this information and there is no other mention of Wiebe taking on church leadership roles at any point in his life. In addition, one obituary describes Wiebe as settling into a time of much needed rest and semi-retirement after his return from Mexico, quite a departure from the life of an Ältester (Joel Wiebe, 60). There is also almost no record of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren church in or nearby to Herbert. When the thorough Herbert town history book lists the churches in town and surrounding areas operative in 1926 and 1940 it makes no mention of a Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church (Hall, 255-256 and 435). The 1941 edition of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren yearbook lists (but does not otherwise mention) a church in existence in the Herbert area, with John M. Rempel serving as its minister (pp. 82-83). Few of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren yearbooks from before 1941 are extant and none were available for this study. A different John Wiebe did take over as the lead pastor of the local [[Mennonite Brethren Church|Mennonite Brethren]] church in 1930 (Redekop, 10-11) and it is possible that this is a source of confusion.</ref>

Wiebe was born on 28 February 1872 in Annenfeld, [[Crimea (Ukraine)|Crimea]], [[Russia]] (present day occupied [[Ukraine]]). He moved with his family to Kansas in 1874. He was married twice, to Anna Groening (1875-1920) and to Sarah Loewen (1889-1963), and had six surviving children. He died on 11 October 1941 in Herbert, Saskatchewan. One source remembers him as one of Herbert’s “most outstanding citizens.”<ref>Hall, 71.</ref>

=See Also=
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 201-230.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Hall, Bettie, Buhr June, et al. ''Bittersweet Years: The Herbert Story''. Herbert Book Committee, 1987. Pp. 33, 49, 63-64, 75, 78, 85, 99, 103-107, 115, 119, 127, 137, 140, 145, 187, 202, 255-256, 435, 458-459.

''Jahrbuch der Zweiundsechzigsten Konferenz der Krimmer Mennoniten Bruedergemeinde von Nord Amerika abgehalten in der Gnadenau Kirche zu Hillsboro, Kanasas''. 1941.

Loeppky, Johann. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 53-54.

Plett, C.F. ''The Story of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church''. Kindred Press, 1985. P. 114.

Redekop Anna, et al. ''The History of the Herbert Mennonite Brethren Church, 1905-1908''. Mennonite Brethren Church, 1980. Pp. 9-11.

Rempel, David. “Diary of his Trip to South America and Mexico in 1919-1921,” trans. Jake K. Wiens. Volume 5015, Small Archives. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 36-37, 44-45, 78-79.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico''. Translated by Erwin Jost. Edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021.

Werner, Hans. "Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.

Werner, Hans. "Restoring the Commons: Land Deals and the Migration of Manitoba Mennonites to Mexico in the 1920s." ''Agricultural History'' 87, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 465 and 471n25.

Wiebe, Joel A. et al. ''The Groening/Wiebe Family, 1768-1974, 2nd ed. Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1974''. Pp. 52-61

Wiebe, John F. D. et al. “Correspondence with J. F. D. Wiebe, 1922-1931." Mexico Mennonite Files, 1875-1931, vol. 4297 no. 12. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)

2025-04-02T18:57:03Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Jakob Wiens was the first [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] of the Reinländer (also known as [[Old Colony Mennonites|Old Colony]]) church in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]], serving in that capacity in the [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler]] settlement from 1900 until 1926 when he [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|led part of his congregation to a new home]] in [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], [[Mexico]].
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__TOC__

Wiens was born to Jacob and Anna (Friesen) Wiens in 1855 in the [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza Colony]] in [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]), where his father was a [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]]. In 1875 he [[Migrations#From Europe to the Americas|immigrated]] with his parents to [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]], settling in the village of [[Reinland]] in the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]]. He was baptized on 21 May 1877 and married Helena Wall on 4 April 1880, with whom he adopted four children. Wiens was elected and [[Ordination|ordained]] as a minister on 25 October 1888. Wiens served the church as a minister for twelve years and as an Ältester for 31 years. During this time he [[Preaching|preached]] 1577 sermons, conducted 370 [[funerals]], baptized 1396 people, and married 184 couples. He [[Death and Dying|died]] on 14 April 1932 in Reinland, Durango, Mexico and was succeeded by Peter Wiens.

=Hague-Osler=
In 1895, the [[Canada|Canadian]] government opened the Hague-Osler reserve in present day Saskatchewan for Mennonite settlement, which attracted many Reinländer Mennonites from Manitoba’s crowded West Reserve. In 1899, [[Wiebe, Johann (1837-1905)|Johann Wiebe]], Ältester of the Reinländer, who had been serving the church in Saskatchewan as well as Manitoba, persuaded Wiens, already a respected minister, to move to the Hague-Osler settlement and become their new religious leader. Wiens agreed and in July 1900 Wiebe ordained him as the new Ältester for the Hague-Osler Reinländer.

Over the next twenty years, Wiens oversaw the tremendous growth and material development of the Reinländer church in Hague-Osler. In addition to his ministerial role, Wiens (well-known for his love of animals) served the community as a veterinarian and [[Health Services|chiropractor]] and was well-regarded as an expert in home [[Medicine|remedies]] for both people and animals. Wiens was also an excellent farmer who was sought out for his agricultural knowledge. Wiens's wife, Helena, was sickly and often bedridden and Wiens devoted much time and energy to her care.

As a leader, Wiens determinedly sought to prevent [[Worldiness|worldly influences]] in the church. For example, under his direction the Hague-Osler Reinländer decided that they would not allow church members to use [[Automobile|automobiles]]. Wiens enforced this and other [[Ordnung (Order)|rules]] with dedication; there are accounts of him refusing rides in cars even in cases of emergency. Alongside the other Reinländer Ältesten (in [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]] and Manitoba) but unlike other Canadian Mennonite leaders, Wiens instructed his congregants not to fill out the Canadian government’s national registration cards of 1917 despite government assurances that Mennonites would be [[Privileges (Privilegia)|exempt]] from any draft.

Wiens’s greatest battle against worldliness was over [[Public Schools|public education]]. The Reinländer in Saskatchewan privately operated a network of religious, [[German Language|German-language]] [[Elementary Education#North America|elementary schools]] while the Saskatchewan government increasingly sought to force the Mennonites to adopt provincial standards. Some describe this effort by the province as an effort to improve the quality of education while others describe it as part of a [[Nationalism|nationalist]] programme by the Saskatchewan government, meant to [[Acculturation|assimilate]] Mennonites into anglo-Canadian society.<ref>See Doell, "Ältester Jakob Wiens," 16 and 18; Doell, ''The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan'', 22-24; Doell, "The Mennonite Problem"; Ens, ''Subjects'', 131-133; H. Friesen, 58-63, 77-78, and 92; and Quiring, 20-21.</ref> Wiens was uncompromising on the issue. He refused provincial curriculum, any [[English Language|English language]] instruction, and accredited teachers. His obstinance appears to have, in part, pushed the Saskatchewan government into the more extreme and coercive action they would take at the end of [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]].

When the [[Russian Revolution and Civil War|Russian Civil War]] brought famine and great suffering to the Mennonites in Russia, Wiens appealed to his church to generously support the [[Famine Relief|relief]] being prepared for them by [[North America|North American]] Mennonites.

=Durango=
By 1918 the Saskatchewan government was rapidly ramping up its policy aim of mandating public schools for Mennonite children and started aggressively fining and in some cases jailing those who refused to comply. Resistance to the schools initially held among the Hague-Osler Reinländer, with Wiens [[Excommunication|excommunicating]] those who yielded, and many people in Wiens’s congregation were reduced to abject poverty. By 1919, the Hague-Osler Reinländer, alongside their co-religionists in Swift Current and Manitoba, decided that emigration was their only option. They began [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|searching for a new homeland]] and found one in Mexico, which was willing to grant them special privileges, including autonomy over the education of their children. A financial dispute with the Swift Current and Manitoba groups delayed the emigration of the Hague-Osler Reinländer and the first trainload only left for Durango, Mexico in 1924. Only about a quarter of Wiens’s church moved with him to Mexico. After the school fines, a botched land-sale scheme that impoverished many and resulted in a distrust of leadership, and the post-war economic downturn, many were simply too poor to move.

Wiens left for Mexico in 1926. He returned in both 1927 and 28 to provide baptism and [[communion]], ordiances that only the Ältester could offer. He intended to travel back to Canada again in 1929 but was prevented from doing so by his wife’s poor health and remained for the rest of his life in Mexico. Like the other Reinländer Ältesten, Wiens refused to ordain a successor for those who remained in Canada. In his view, the entire church was moving to Mexico and those who remained behind had cut themselves off from the church in their disobedience. The Reinländer church was left in considerable disarray before it managed to reorganize as the Old Colony church under the leadership of [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950|Johann Loeppky]].

By Harry Sawatzky’s account, the [[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Durango Colony]] adapted more quickly to their new conditions in Mexico than other Mennonite immigrants in part due to Wiens’s leadership and agricultural ability.<ref>P. 123.</ref> Under Wiens’s direction, the Hague-Osler settlers immediately adopted indigenous crops (e.g., beans and corn) and farming methods suitable to Mexico.

=Leadership and Standing=
Ältester Wiens was highly respected and beloved by many.<ref>E.g., Janzen, "Johan M. Loeppky," 9; Janzen, "Stories," 30; and Doell, "Ältester Jakob Wiens," 15;.</ref> He was an effective speaker with a powerful voice and the community greatly valued his opinion. It was his distinction to be chosen to preach at the funerals of both Johann Wiebe in 1905 and Peter Wiebe in 1913, the Ältesten of the West Reserve Reinländer. His memorial service (held in Blumenthal, Mexico) was filled beyond capacity and the people in Hague-Osler also held a well-attended memorial despite their misgivings and resentments regarding the migration to Mexico.

For others, Wiens’s leadership brought bitterness and division. He aggressively used the [[ban]], which included devastating economic boycotts, to enforce the church’s policy on education and other matters such as voting, operating businesses, or using automobiles. Some testimony additionally reports petty and vindictive use of his church authority.<ref>See Doell, "Ältester Jakob Wiens," 16-17.</ref> Wiens faced legal trouble on at least one occasion when a businessman successfully [[Lawsuits|sued]] him for conspiracy resulting in economic loss resulting from the ban; Wiens refused to appear in court, maintaining that Christians should not resolve their differences via [[Law, Attitudes toward Civil and Criminal|secular law proceedings]]. It was also disgruntled former Reinländer who first brought the province’s attention upon the state of the Reinländer Mennonites’ private schools in 1908, when they appealed to the government after being excommunicated for sending their children to public schools.

During Wiens’s tenure in Hague-Osler the Reinländer had an antagonistic relationship with the (similarly conservative) [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Saskatchewan Bergthaler]] and automatically excommunicated any member of their congregation who married a member of the Bergthaler church. This was one of the first practices to change when Wiens moved to Mexico and Johann Loeppky reorganized the church.

A number of Wiens's contemporaries declare that the minister and leader [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] was the real leader and decision-maker of the Hague-Osler Reinländer.<ref>E.g., Plett, 105 and Kouwenhoven, 193. Janzen, 7.</ref> Some of these sources suggest, in particular, that Wiens was sympathetic to the plight of those who were too poor to move to Mexico and that it was Wall who maintained their excommunion with the church.

=See Also=
*[[Wiebe, Johann (1837-1905)|Johann Wiebe]]
*[[Wiebe, Abraham (1871-1925)|Abraham Wiebe]]
*[[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler Reserve]]
*[[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Durango Colony]]
*[[Old Colony Mennonites]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. "Ältester Jakob Wiens (1855-1932).” ''Preservings'' 29 (2009): 14-19.

Doell, Leonard. "Hague Osler Old Colony Mennonite Church." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 142-151.

Doell, Leonard. ''The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, 1892-1975''. CMBC Publications, 1987. Pp. 13-34, 109.

Doell, Leonard. "The Mennonite Problem: Public Schools in Saskatchewan." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 19-22.

Doell, Leonard. “The Move to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 386-393.

Dyck, Isaak M. “The Mennonite Emigration from Canada to Mexico: A Memoir by Isaak M. Dyck,” translated by Robyn Sneath. ''Preservings'' 44 (Spring 2022): 3-71. Translation of first part of ''Auswanderung der Reinländer Mennoniten Gemeinde von Canada nach Mexico''. Cuauhtemoc: Zweite Ausgabe, 1971.

Elias, Peter A. ''Voice in the Wilderness: Memoirs of Peter A. Elias, 1843-1925'', edited by Adolf Ens and Henry Unger. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2013. Pp. 70-71, 80.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 109, 121-122, 174-175, 211, 275.

[[Epp, Frank H. (1929-1986)|Epp, Frank H]]. ''Mennonites in Canada, 1786-1920: The History of a Separate People''. Macmillan, 1974. Pp. 350-380.

Friesen, Henry A. ''The Swift Current Mennonite Reserve, 1904-1927''. Self-published, 2022. Pp. 58-83, 94-102.

Guenter, Jacob G. “Mennonite Migration to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 372-377.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Janzen, Abram G. ''Altester Johan M. Loeppky, 1882-1950: As I Remember Him''. Hague, SK: unpublished, 2003. Pp. 6-9. See the copy in the [https://www.commonword.ca/ResourceView/82/7934 Mennonite Historical Library] at [https://cmulibrary.on.worldcat.org/discovery Canadian Mennonite University].

Janzen, John J. ''As I Remember It...: Neuanlage, 1895-1995''. Self-published, 1995. Pp. 12-13, 20, 22.

Janzen, William. "Stories from the Life of Abram Janzen of Blumenheim." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 29-37.

Janzen, William. "The 1920s Exodus to Mexico of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague Osler Area of Saskatchewan." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 5-13.

Kouwenhoven, Arlette. ''The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration'', translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. Pp. 185-211.

Petkau, Irene F. and Peter A. Petkau. ''Blumenfeld: Where Land and People Meet''. Blumenfeld Historical Committee, 1981. P. 39.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert]]. “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst.” ''Preservings'' 21 (December 2002): 94-108.

Quiring, David M. ''Mennonite Old Colony Vision: Under Siege in Mexico and the Canadian Connection''. Crossway Publications, 2003. Pp. 20-21.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 31-50, 122-123.

Wall, Andrew, dir. ''Conform: The Mennonite Migration to Mexico of the 1920s''. Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, 2022. 17:00-20:00.

Wiebe, Abraham. “Altester Abraham Wiebe, 1871-1925: Life’s Pilgrimage of our Altester Abraham Wiebe (1871-1925), Rosengard, Manitoba, and Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and Swift Colony, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico: An Autobiography,” translated by Ingrid Lamp and edited by Delbert F. Plett. ''Preservings'' 20 (June 2002): 98-100.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936)

2025-04-02T16:59:03Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

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Kornelius Epp was a [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] and [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] who lived in imperial [[Russia]] (present day Ukraine), [[Canada]], and [[Mexico]]. He made his most notable contribution to the Mennonite people by serving as the first Ältester of the [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Bergthaler church in Saskatchewan]]. He also served as a minor leader in the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|1920s migration to Mexico]].

The first groups of Mennonite [[Migrations#Within North and South America|settlers]] began moving to the Rosthern area of what would become Saskatchewan in 1891. They came predominantly from Manitoba’s [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]], some of them having only very recently arrived from Russia. In 1893, with Epp's prompting, the settlers sent a letter to [[Stoesz, David (1842-1903)|David Stoesz]], Ältester of the [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]] church in eastern Manitoba, asking for help organizing a church. Stoesz arrived in the summer of that year and [[Ordination|ordained]] Kornelius Epp as their minister. Two years later, however, this church dissolved when many of its members wanted to re-organize under the leadership of the local Ältester, [[Regier, Peter (1851-1925)|Peter Regier]]; Epp wanted to remain under Stoesz’s leadership and moved back to Manitoba where he worked as a teacher.

By 1900 many more people with origins in the [[Bergthal Mennonites|Bergthaler]] church and ecclesially aligned with the Chortitzer and [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] churches in Manitoba, which had recently split from the Bergthaler church, had moved to the area around [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]] and Rosthern. They wrote to [[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]], the newly elected Ältester of the Sommerfelder church, for help in organizing a church. Doerksen persuaded Epp to return to Saskatchewan to serve as this church’s minister. In 1902 Doerksen ordained Epp as the Ältester of the Bergthaler church in Saskatchewan.

Epp’s church members came from disparate Mennonite backgrounds and geographic locations, making church unity a challenge. Epp took controversial stands against involvement in municipal politics and the use of public buildings for church services. Worldly [[dress]] was a particularly vexed matter and ended up undoing Epp’s leadership. In 1908 Epp refused to [[Marriage|marry]] a couple whom he thought were dressed too ostentatiously for the occasion. Many of his congregants disagreed with the stand he had taken and Epp left the church. He was replaced by [[Zacharias, Aron (1871-1928)|Aron Zacharias]].

For the next decade and a half Epp moved around a variety of Saskatchewan locations, including Aberdeen, Lost River, and Hague, always serving as the leader of a small congregation, sometimes called the New Bergthaler Church.<ref>Doell, “Bergthaler Mennonites in the Carrot River Valley,” 172.</ref> At least one anonymous, contemporaneous source describes him as a weak leader and a poor farmer, with his congregants frequently choosing to join other churches.<ref>Unlisted, 177.</ref>

In the 1920s, many Mennonites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan moved to Mexico in response to [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|changes to the education laws]] in those provinces that restricted the Mennonites’ [[Elementary Education#North America|private elementary schools]]. In June 1922, Kornelius Epp led a small group of followers to the state of Chihuahua in Mexico together with a small group of Sommerfelder Mennonites from [[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert]], Saskatchewan under the leadership of [[Zacharias, Johann (1868-1954)|Johann Zacharias]]. There are different, and often vague, accounts of where Epp and his followers initially settled in Chihuahua. By the late 1920s most of Epp's church members had returned to Canada and there appears again to have been some controversy involving his leadership. At this point Epp moved to the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Old Colony]] village of Blumengart in the [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba Colony]] where he lived out his final years.

Epp was born on 1 July 1861 in the [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza Colony]]. As a child, he moved with his family to the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland Colony]]. In 1891 he moved to Canada, staying briefly in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] before continuing on to the [[Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Rosthern]], [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] area in 1892. He was married to Maria Bueckert (20 October 1855 to 11 February 1935). He died on 12 June 1936 in Blumengart in the in Mexico.

=See Also=
*[[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Saskatchewan Bergthaler]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Zacharias, Aron (1871-1928)|Aron Zacharias]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. “Bergthaler Mennonites in the Carrot River Valley.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 167-180.

Doell, Leonard. “Carrot River Settlement.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. P. 432.

Doell, Leonard. "Hage Osler Old Colony Mennonite Church." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 142-151.

Doell, Leonard. ''The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, 1892-1975''. CMBC Publications, 1987. Pp. 1-17, 96-97.

Doell, Leonard. "The Bergthaler Mennonite Emigration to Mexico and Paraguay." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 13-21.

Doell, Leonard. “The Move to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 386-389.

Ens, Adolf. “Sommerfeld Mennonites at Santa Clara, Mexico.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. P. 187.

Peters, Jacob E. “Ältester Abraham Doerksen, 1852-1929.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 112-115.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 52 and 73.

Unlisted Author, "North and West: Homesteading at Rosthern." In ''Mennonite Memories: Settling in Western Canada'', edited by Lawrence Klippenstein and Julius Toews. Centennial Publications, 1977.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Gondra, Manuel (1871-1927)

2025-04-02T16:56:01Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Manuel Gondra Pereira was the president of [[Paraguay]] from 25 November 1910 to 11 January 1911 and again from 15 August 1920 to 31 October 1921. During his second tenure, and in close collaboration with Senator [[Ayala, Eusebio (1875-1942)|Eusebio Ayala]], he extended an invitation to [[Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian)|conservative Canadian Mennonites]] looking for a new homeland and oversaw the political process whereby the Paraguayan congress guaranteed Mennonites special group privileges. These developments were essential to the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|immigration]], in 1926-27, of the 1785 Canadian Mennonites who founded [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]], itself an important factor to the coming of many Mennonite [[Refugees|refugees]] from the [[Soviet Union]] in [[Fernheim Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|1930-32]] and [[Neuland Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|1947-48]].

Gondra’s dealings with Mennonites began on a three-week steamship journey from [[New York (USA)|New York]] to [[Buenos Aires (Argentina)|Buenos Aires]] after his election as president on 28 June 1920 but before he was sworn in on 15 August 1920, when he, along with Senator Ayalo, by chance met with the financier General [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|Samuel McRobert]], who had just been commissioned by the [[Old Colony Mennonites]] of [[Canada]] for assistance in seeking out a new homeland. McRoberts told the Paraguayan officials about his mission and both officials expressed enthusiasm about welcoming the Mennonites. Between 1881 and 1921, millions of people had flocked to Paraguay’s neigbours, but Paraguay itself had received only thousands. Gondra wanted immigrants to help his country develop economically and especially to secure its northern border with Bolivia by settling the severely underpopulated Gran Chaco. At this point, McRoberts was proceeding to [[Argentina]] and was not looking at Paraguay as a settlement option, but Gondra made a case for his country and extended an invitation to McRoberts should his calculations change.

McRoberts soon learned that Argentina was not receptive to the Mennonites’ request for [[Privileges (Privilegia)|special privileges]] and then received a report from his associate, [[Engen, Fred (1863-1929)|Fred Engen]], that the Paraguayan [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]] looked promising for [[Farming and Settlement|settlement]]. He thereupon took up Gondra’s offer, visiting him in Paraguay at the end of August. Gondra did his utmost to impress McRoberts, providing a large feast in his honour and taking him and Engen on a two day tour up the Paraguayan River on the presidential yacht. Both Gondra and Ayala assured McRoberts that they would gladly grant the Mennonites’ request for special privileges.

By this time, the Old Colony Mennonites who had first contacted McRoberts had decided to move to Mexico, but McRoberts was able to interest a coalition of [[Bergthal Mennonites|Bergthal Mennonites]] who were also looking to leave Canada. They dispatched a [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegation]], which arrived in [[Asunción (Paraguay)|Asunción]] at the end of March. Gondra made a good impression on the delegation with a magnanimous and friendly greeting. He also assured them that his country would grant them all the privileges they requested.

The delegation met again with Gondra after their tour of the Chaco. They were enthusiastic about the prospects of settling there, but had two concerns. First, they were worried about the indigenous people still living in the area. Gondra assured them that they were unlikely to be a problem because they were nomadic, but if necessary could always be moved into reservations. Second, the delegation stipulated that a [[Railroads|railway]] to their lands would be essential to any settlement effort. The Mennonites came away from the meeting convinced that a railway would be built; however, they found this was not the case when they arrived in Paraguay five years later, a reality which caused great suffering among the new immigrants. It is not clear whether miscommunication, bad faith negotations, or incompetence and political instability led to this broken promise. It may not have been clear whether the Paraguayan government or the [[Carlos Casado Company|Casado Company]], which owned the land in the Chaco, was responsible for building the railway.

Shortly after the delegation left Paraguay, Bill 514, guaranteeing the Mennonites their requested special privileges, passed through the Paraguayan parliament with a thirteen to five vote.

The Paraguayan Civil War forced Gondra to resign from office on 31 October 1921. He died on 8 March 1927.

=See Also=
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Ayala, Eusebio (1875-1942)]]

=Bibliography=
[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009. Pp. 13-19

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 1953. Pp. 13-15.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 33-39.

Mullenbach, Mark et al. "Western Hemisphere Region: 6. Paraguay (1904-Present)." Part of the Dynamic Analysis of Dispute Management (DADM) Project at the University of Central Arkansas, Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024 [https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/western-hemisphere-region/paraguay-1904-present/ Link]

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 29-33.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 7-27.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)

2025-04-02T16:52:28Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Johann P. Wall was one of the foremost leaders of the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer (also known as Old Colony)]] Mennonite Church in the early and mid 20th century, serving as a [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] for the [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler settlement]] in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] for 23 years and for the [[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Durango Colony]] in [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], [[Mexico]].
__FORCETOC__
__TOC__

Wall made significant contributions to his people during three critical moments in their history. First, he served as the chief delegate for the Hague-Osler settlement to the provincial and federal governments during the [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|public schools crisis]] in Saskatchewan and [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] from 1916-1926. Second, he was perhaps the most uniquely consequential member of the [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegations]] sent by the Reinländer from 1919-1921, which paved the way for the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigration]] of around half of the Reinländer from [[Canada]]. Third, he represented the Durango Colony, and was again uniquely important, during the Reinländer negotiations with the Mexican government from 1935-1936 when their educational rights were once again under threat.

Wall was born in the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland daughter colony]] in [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]) on 16 June 1875 to Peter Wall and Aganetha Vogt. In 1891 he immigrated with his parents to Manitoba, settling in the village of Neuhorst and joining the Reinländer church. In 1899 he moved to the new settlement of [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]], Saskatchewan and in 1903 was elected as a minister. He moved to Mexico in 1926. Wall married three times: to Anna Wiebe on 11 November 1894, to Anna Klassen (the widow of fellow delegate Johann J. Wall) in 1921, and to Anna Goertzen in 1944. He was the last surviving member of the land-seeking delegations of 1919-1921, and the interviews he provided to [[North America|North American]] scholars in his later years became an important source of knowledge regarding the Mennonite immigration to and settlement in Mexico. When he [[Death and Dying|died]] on 16 June 1961 he had over 350 living descendants and had [[Preaching|preached]] 1536 [[sermons]], married 162 couples, and officiated at 217 [[funerals]]. His command of languages — he was at the end of his life fluent in [[German Language|High German]], [[Plattdeutsch|Low German]], Russian, [[English Language|English]], and Spanish — made him a natural choice as a representative of his community before various outside authorities.The [[Barns|house-barn]] Wall built in [[Hochfeld]] is on display on the yard of the [[Museums|museum]] in Hague, Saskatchewan.

=Saskatchewan-Manitoba Schools Crisis=
Some degree of tension had existed for decades between the Mennonites living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and their provincial governments over the Mennonites’ extensive operation of [[Elementary Education#North America|elementary private schools]] and the rejection by many, led by the Reinländer, of the [[Public Schools|public school system]]. Beginning 1916-17, both provinces conducted extensive campaigns of legislation and enforcement to dismantle the Mennonite private school system and integrate Mennonite children into public schools.

During these years, Wall played a leading role in the appeals Mennonites made to the provincial and federal governments and to the Canadian legal system. Wall argued the legal position of the resisting Reinländer before a Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1918. He later unsuccessfully asked for a temporary suspension of the law while his community was making preparation to emigrate. Adolf Ens identifies him as the “chief government contact person” of all Saskatchewan Reinländer during the schools crisis.<ref>Ens, ''Subjects'', 142. See also 133, 163, and 164n7.</ref>

=Land-Seeking Delegations and Migration to Mexico=
When negotiations and legal appeals failed, the Reinländer leadership decided to leave Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Wall was a leading proponent of emigration and a prominent member of several land-seeking delegations sent by the Reinländer from 1919 to 1921. It was the Hague-Osler group on its own, with Wall as its chief delegate, that first identified Mexico and explored settlement options there, with some accounts identifying Wall as the first person in the Reinländer community to get wind of the Mexican opportunity.<ref>Krahn, 186.</ref>

An incident involving Wall significantly changed the trajectory of the immigration to Mexico. While participating in a delegation sent to purchase land in Mexico, Wall clashed with Manitoba delegate [[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaas Heide]], the conflict coming to a head one evening at the Hotel Posada Duran in the Durango province in the spring of 1921. The [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]] and [[Reinlander Mennoniten Gemeinde (Manitoba)|Manitoba]] settlement representatives were concerned about the Hague-Osler group’s ability to fulfill their financial obligations in a planned joint purchase in Durango. When Wall heard about this concern, he confronted the other delegates, instigating the incident with Heide. By some reports, Heide and Wall had previously clashed, both men possessing strong personalities.<ref>Sawatzky, 43n36.</ref>

There were several ramifications. Wall pulled his group’s commitment from the arranged purchase in Durango, scuttling the deal. The Swift Current and Manitoba groups quickly purchased land in the state of [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihauhau]] instead. Meanwhile, the emigration plans of the Hague-Osler group were delayed by several years. In 1924 they purchased land at the site of the previously arranged purchase in Durango. By this time, obstacles to emigration had increased and enthusiasm had waned. Wall himself, hoping to sell all church members' land in a single block sale, played a prominent role in a disastrous land-sale scheme wherein all members signed their individual titles over to him and vorsteher [[Goertzen, Benjamin (1873-1929)|Benjamin Goertzen]]. When a sale failed to materialize, the result was further hassle and confusion, impoverishment of many members (who found it difficult to regain title to their land), and distrust on the part of some towards their leaders. Three quarters of the Hague-Osler settlement ended up remaining in [[Canada]], much more than in the other Reinländer settlements; this included Wall’s co-delegate, [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Johann Loeppky]], who had earlier been an enthusiastic proponent of immigration to Mexico. Wall never forgave Loeppky for this perceived betrayal and took the opportunity to condemn him at numerous points throughout his life.

=Mexican Schools Crisis=
Wall remained an influential leader in Mexico and recurs in the record as the chief person of contact, administration, and decision-making in the first decades of the Durango settlement.<ref>E.g., Sawatzky, 89, 150, and 182; Plett, 105; and Janzen, ''Altester Johan M. Loeppky'', 7.</ref> He played his most significant role when outside authorities once more threatened Mennonite autonomy over the operation of their schools.

In May 1935, the Mexican government suddenly and unexpectedly closed the Mennonite schools in the state of Chihuahua; the Durango schools remained open, though also subject to inspection and threatened with closure. The Mennonites’ initial appeals proved ineffective. New Mexican laws soon cast further doubt on the legality of Mennonite religious organizations. According to one commentator, it appeared that the government was prepared to renege on the [[Privileges (Privilegia)|Privilegium]] in its entirety.<ref>Sawatzky, 152.</ref>

During this crisis Wall forcefully and persistently advocated for remaining in Mexico and vehemently opposed a return to Canada. This effectively shored up the resolve of Mexican Mennonite leaders in both Chihuahua and Durango.

Wall furthermore worked as the Mennonites’ lead negotiator with the government. In the fall of 1935, Wall, along with two other delegates, went to Mexico City, hoping to meet with Mexican President Cárdenas. They were unable to gain an audience, but the German Consulate, acting on their behalf, was able to learn that President Cárdenas was strongly opposed to any special privileges, seeing them as a breach of the country’s constitution and, furthermore, as politically untenable. Wall’s companions despaired of the situation and departed. Wall remained and eventually not only succeeded in meeting with President Cárdenas, but managed to persuade him of the Mennonites’ position. Cárdenas instructed the regional authorities to permit the resumption of private Mennonite education in December 1935. When the regional authorities hesitated, Cárdenas issued categorical instructions the following month. The schools re-opened and the crisis passed. Wall had been the Mexican Mennonites' chief representative every step of the way.

=See Also=
*[[Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)|Jacob Wiens]]
*[[Goertzen, Benjamin (1873-1929)|Benjamin Goertzen]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Durango Colony]]
*[[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve]]
*[[Old Colony Mennonites]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Braun, Dick. "Mexico Mennonite Stories." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 26-29.

Doell, Leonard. "Hague Osler Old Colony Mennonite Church." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000.

Doell, Leonard. "The Mennonite Problem: Public Schools in Saskatchewan." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 19-22.

Doell, Leonard. “The Move to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 386-387.

Dyck, Isaak M. “A Letter from the Ältester,” translated by John J. Friesen. ''Preservings'' 29 (2009): 27-28.

Ens, Adolf. "A Second Look at the Rejected Conservatives." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 105-230.

Friesen, John J. “Johann P. Wall - Life and Service: Introduction.” ''Preservings'' 29 (2009): 19-20.

Guenter, Jacob G. “Mennonite Migration to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 372-385.

Guenther, Bruce L. ''The Ältester: A Mennonite Leader in Changing Times.'' Regina: University of Regina Press, 2018. Pp. 47-61, 276-279.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Janzen, Abram G. ''Altester Johan M. Loeppky, 1882-1950: As I Remember Him''. Hague: self-published, 2003. Pp. 4-8.

Janzen, John J. ''As I Remember It...: Neuanlage, 1895-1995''. Self-published, 1995. Pp. 12-13, 20.

Janzen, William. "Government Pressure, Mennonite Separateness, and the 1920s Migration to Mexico and Paraguay." ''Preservings'' 28 (2008): 8.

Janzen, William. "Stories from the Life of Abram Janzen of Blumenheim." ''The Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 29-37.

Janzen, William. "The 1920s Exodus to Mexico of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague Osler Area of Saskatchewan." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 5-13.

Janzen, William. ''The 1920s Migration of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague-Osler Area of Saskatchewan to Mexico''. Hague: Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan, 2006.

Kouwenhoven, Arlette. ''The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration'', translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. Pp. 185-211.

[[Krahn, Cornelius (1902-1990)|Krahn, Cornelius]]. “Johann P. Wall, 1875-1961.” ''[[Mennonite Life (Periodical)|Mennonite Life]]'' 16 (October, 1961): 185-192.

Patkau, Peter A. "Aeltester Isaak, M. Dyck (1889-1969)." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert]]. “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst.” ''Preservings'' 21 (December 2002): 94-108.

Sawatzky, Harry L. They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico. University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 32-35, 42-45, 89, 150-156, 182.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico'', translated by Erwin Jost and edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021.

Wall, Andrew, dir. ''Conform: The Mennonite Migration to Mexico of the 1920s''. Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, 2022: 47:00-50:00.

Wall, Johann P. “Two Letters,” translated by John J. Friesen. ''Preservings'' 29 (2009): 24-27.

Werner, Hans. "Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Zacharias, Aron (1871-1928)

2025-04-02T16:06:33Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Aron Zacharias was an [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] of the [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Saskatchewan-Bergthaler]] in the [[Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Rosthern]], [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchwan]] region. Elected in 1908, he led part of his church to [[Paraguay]] in 1926, but died before he could reach the new colony.

Zacharias was born on 24 January 1871 in imperial [[Russia]] (likely in either the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland]] or [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza Colony]]). In 1876 he [[Migrations#From Europe to the Americas|came with his parents]] to the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]], [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] where they were members of the [[Reinlander Mennoniten Gemeinde (Manitoba)|Reinländer]] church. In 1893 he was [[Baptism|baptized]] and [[Migrations#Within North and South America|moved]] to the Rosthern area of what later became Saskatchewan. In 1895 he [[Marriage|married]] Margaretha Bergen and in 1903 he was [[Ordination|ordained]] as a [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] in the newly formed Bergthaler church in Saskatchewan.

In 1908, the Ältester of the Rosthern Saskatchewan-Bergthaler, Kornelius Epp, left the church in Rosthern after a controversy over the adoption of modern [[Dress|clothing]]. The church elected Zacharias as a successor and Ältester [[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]] of the [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] ordained him in the fall of 1908.

As an Ältester, Zacharias attempted to lead his church in a selective [[Acculturation|accommodation]] to a [[Modernity|modernizing]] world. Adoption of [[Automobile|automobiles]] and telephones were particularly thorny matters. In consultation with the Ältesten of the [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]] and Sommerfelder churches in Manitoba, and unlike the Reinländer (also known as [[Old Colony Mennonites|Old Colony]]) church in both provinces, Zacharias’s church complied with the [[Canada|Canadian]] government in its registration of adult males during [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]], after assurances from Canadian officials that Mennonites would not be subject to a draft. However, alongside the Reinländer, he resisted pressure from the Saskatchewan government around the same time to introduce any [[English Language|English]] into the private, [[German Language|German-language]] [[Elementary Education#North America|elementary schools]] the Mennonites in Saskatchewan operated; some sources suggest that the extent of this recalcitrance was likely part of what motivated the Saskatchewan government to act as coercively as it did in the coming years on the school issue.

In addition to his ministry in the Rosthern area, Zacharias played a leadership role in the first few years of the newly founded Mennonite Church at [[Lost River Bethany Church (Lost River, Saskatchewan, Canada)|Lost River]]. After he nullified a congregational vote over where to build a new church building in 1914 a church split took place. Zacharias presided over the formation of a new Saskatchewan-Bergthaler church in the area and ordained its new ministers.

In 1917 the Saskatchewan government passed mandatory school attendance legislation and then in 1919 began a [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|concerted campaign]] to shut down the Mennonite private schools, thereby forcing Mennonite children to attend [[Public Schools|public]] and secular English-speaking schools with a [[Nationalism|nationalistic]] and militaristic curriculum. The Reinländer church strongly opposed these schools and [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] [[Church Membership|members]] whose [[Children|children]] attended them, despite the fact that they faced steep fines when their children did not attend, to the point that some families were near to starvation. Under Zacharias, the Saskatchewan-Bergthaler in Rosthern opposed the public schools but did not excommunicate their members who complied with them.

In the response to the education crisis many Mennonite groups sought to relocate to a new homeland where they would have autonomy over the schooling of their children. In his exploration of the emigration option, Zacharias worked together with the Chortitzer and Sommerfelder churches in Manitoba, which shared an [[Bergthal Mennonites|ecclesial lineage]] with the Saskatchewan-Bergthaler. Zacharias organized the Saskatchewan portion of a joint [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegation]] with these two churches which investigated [[Colonization|settlement]] opportunities in both Paraguay and [[Mexico]] in 1921. The delegation returned with the recommendation that the church remove to Paraguay. This recommendation swayed Zacharias, while most other [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigrating groups of Mennonites]] from Saskatchewan chose Mexico.

Delays with [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s#Paraguay|financing the emigration]] pushed back its beginning until the end of 1926, which dampened enthusiasm for the migration. On 14 December 1926, Zacharias led 195 of his followers to Paraguay, another 32 following behind shortly thereafter, a total of approximately eighteen percent of Zacharias's church.<ref>By some calculations this figure represents a higher percentage of the church's population at that time. See Ens, 215 for discussion.</ref> A series of delays and disasters beset the new immigrants when they disembarked at [[Puerto Casado (Departamento de Alto Paraguay, Paraguay)|Puerto Casado]], some 200 kilometers away from their new land. It took sixteen months before the immigrants could begin to settle their land and in the meantime an epidemic broke out and nearly 200 people died. Another 350 people or so returned to Canada. Zacharias himself died on 10 October 1928 while ''en route'' to the new colony.

Accounts of this trying period for the Mennonites in Paraguay make almost no mention of Zacharias’s leadership or activities, a contrast to the many sources that offer significant comment on and praise for the leadership of [[Friesen, Martin C. (1889-1968)|Martin C. Friesen]], Ältester of the much larger Chortitzer group (and ''de facto'' leader of the Sommerfelder). While we do not know what role Zacharias may have played, we do know that, as difficulties mounted, discord grew between the different Mennonite groups gathered at Puerto Casado and that those from Saskatchewan remained separate from the rest of the settlement after the establishment of [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]], all of them settling in the new village of Bergthal and maintaining a separate church organization. It may also be noteworthy that a highly disproportionate number of those immigrants who returned to Canada before the new colony was established were part of the Saskatchewan Bergthaler group.

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. "Bergthaler Mennonites at Carrot River." In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001.

Doell, Leonard. "Emigration to Paraguay, 1921-1930: Preserving the Faith." In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 390-391.

Doell, Leonard. ''The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, 1892-1975''. CMBC Publications, 1987. Pp. 13-34, 109.

Doell, Leonard. "The Bergthaler Mennonite Emigration to Mexico and Paraguay." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 13-21.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 214-217.

Ens, Adolf and Ernest N. Braun. "Emigration to Paraguay 1926 to 1927." In ''Settlers of the East Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2009. Pp. 323-324.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009. Pp. 27-28.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Kouwenhoven, Arlette. ''The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration'', translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. P. 174.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. P. 28

Toews, Bernhard. "Life and Travel Remembrances of Bernhard Toews," translated by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert Plett]]. ''Preservings'' 16 (June 2000): 33-37.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Zacharias, Johann (1868-1954)

2025-04-02T16:03:00Z

AileenFriesen: New Article by Gerald Ens

In 1907 Johann Zacharias became the first [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] of the [[Sommerfeld Mennonites]] in the [[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert]] and Gouldtown area in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]]. He later served under David Doerksen, who became the [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] of the Herbert Sommerfelder in 1911.

In 1922, Zacharias led a small group of followers to [[Mexico]] together with a group of [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Saskatchewan Bergthaler]] under the leadership of [[Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936)|Kornelius Epp]], part of the larger [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|migration]] of [[Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian)|conservative Mennonites]] from [[Canada]] to [[South America|Latin America]] in the 1920s. There is little information on what happened to this small group of immigrants. Many appear to have first established themselves on a small settlement at Milpillas, with the nearest government offices at Cusihuiriachic, about 25 kilometers distance from [[Cuauhtémoc (Chihuahua State, Mexico)|Cuauhtémoc]], [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]]. This settlement soon failed and most of the Herbert Sommerfelder who moved to Mexico returned to [[Canada]] within a few years; other Mennonite settlements in the region apparently absorbed the few who remained. Zacharias returned to Canada in 1929 and settled in the Meadow Lake area in north-central Saskatchewan.

Zacharias was born to Abraham Zacharias and Maria Klassen on 19 November 1868 in the [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza Colony]] in [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]). He immigrated to Canada in 1876, settling in the [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]] and then moving to Herbert sometime around 1906. He married Elizabeth Rempel (1869-1959) on 29 November 1888 and had 12 children with her. Zacharias died in Meadow Lake in July 1954.

=See Also=
*[[Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936)|Kornelius Epp]]
*[[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]]
*[[Sommerfeld Mennonites]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Herbert (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Herbert, Saskatchewan]]

=Bibliography=
Bergen, Peter, comp. ''History of the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church''. Sommerfeld Mennonite Church, 2001. Pp. 57-59, 213.

Doell, Leonard. "The Bergthaler Mennonite Emigration to Mexico and Paraguay." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 13-21.

Doell, Leonard. ''The Bergthaler Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, 1892-1975''. CMBC Publications, 1987. P. 17.

Ens, Adolf. “Sommerfeld Mennonites at Santa Clara, Mexico.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. P. 187.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Hildebrand, Lydia et al., ed. and comp. ''The History of Gouldtown and Districts''. Gouldtown History Book Committee, 1973.

Peters, Jacob E. “Ältester Abraham Doerksen (1852-1929).” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', ed. Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. P. 121

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 52 and 73.
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Russek, David S. (1888-1950)

2025-04-02T00:24:06Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

David S. Russek was a [[Mexico|Mexican]] banker and landowner who played a significant role in the the [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|migration]] to the [[Santa Clara Sommerfeld Mennonite Settlement (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Santa Clara settlement]] in Mexico in the 1920s.

Russek was one of the heirs to the massive Santa Clara estate in the state of [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]]. Concerned about the liquidation of his family’s holdings in the land reforms being prepared in [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|post-revolutionary Mexico]] and aware of the [[Canada|Canadian]] Mennonite emigration movement, he traveled to [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] in the winter of 1921-22 to promote sale of his family’s land to the Sommerfelder Mennonites. Russek met with [[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]], [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] of the Sommerfelder, who found him persuasive; before this, the Sommerfelder had been focused on [[Paraguay]] along with their co-religionists, the [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]], in [[East Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|eastern]] Manitoba. With Doerksen now in favour of a move to Mexico, the Sommerfelder conference split. Some followed Doerksen to Mexico and some went to Paraguay; most simply remained in Canada.

Russek visited Manitoba several times in 1922 and also sent representatives to continue to promote Mexico. That summer he led Sommerfelder delegates on an inspection tour of land in Mexico and sold them 12 000 acres from the Santa Clara estate in Chihuahua. He also sold 3125 acres from the Zuloaga estate, close to [[Cuauhtémoc (Chihuahua State, Mexico)|Cuauhtémoc]], to a small Sommerfelder group headed by Jacob Sawatzky and John Fehr.

When the first Sommerfelder immigrants arrived at the end of 1922, they discovered that the land they had purchased had insufficient water. It is unclear what misconceptions or deceptions may have taken place to cause this, given that the delegates reported that the land Russek had shown them did have sufficient, operable wells. The water shortage threw the Sommerfelder settlement plans into disarray and caused an early halt to the migration. At this point Russek intervened to save the settlement, purchasing a drilling machine and drilling three deep wells (over 150 meters deep), one at the existing village of Neuanlage, and the other two at the future sites of Sommerfeld and Silberfeld.

By 1922 Russek had also established a bank in San Antonio de Los Arenales (present day Cuauhtémoc) to serve the financial interests of the immigrating Mennonites. At the time Russek’s banking operation was the largest in Chihuahua. When his bank failed due to political instability in late 1923, Mennonite depositors lost several hundred thousand pesos. This added significantly to the Mennonites’ hardships during their early years of settlement in Mexico.

=Bibliography=
"Residence of D.S. Russek." Mennonite Heritage Archives webpage. [https://www.mharchives.ca/a-picture-from-our-history/residence-of-d-s-russek/ Link]

"David Simon Russek Ramirez." FamilySearch webpage. [https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LVGT-LTG/david-simon-russek-ram%C3%ADrez-1888-1950 Link].

“Ein Bild aus Unserer Geschichte." ''Die Mennonitische Post'' 43, no. 17 (February 7, 2020).

Russek, David. "David S. Russek and Co. Correspondence." Mexico Mennonite Files, 1875-1931, vol. 4297 no. 11. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 50-57, 71-73, 125-129.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico''. Translated by Erwin Jost. Edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Wiebe, Abraham (1871-1925)

2025-04-01T23:10:53Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

__NOTOC__
Abraham Wiebe (also known as Abram) was the first [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] of the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer]] church in the [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current Mennonite Reserve]] in [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]]. In the early 1920s he led part of his church to a new homeland in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]], [[Mexico]].

Wiebe’s father, [[Wiebe, Johann (1837-1905)|Johann]], was the Ältester of the Reinländer church in Manitoba and before that in the [[Fürstenland Mennonite Settlement (Kherson Oblast, Ukraine)|Fürstenland Colony]] in [[Russia]] (present day [[Ukraine]]. In 1895, Wiebe was elected as a [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]] under his father. In his autobiography, Wiebe describes a period of fraught inner struggle before he was able to accept this call receive [[ordination]] on 26 July 1896.

The [[Canada|Canadian]] government established the Swift Current Mennonite Reserve in 1904 for Reinländer Mennonites who had run out of land in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]]. In 1907, Wiebe accepted the call of the church to move to Swift Current and serve the church there as a minister. He again describes the process leading up to this move as one of prolonged struggle before accepting a heavy burden. On 18 July 1911 he was ordained as the Ältester of the Swift Current Reinländer; before this, the Reinländer Ältester from Manitoba had served Swift Current.

In November 1916, Wiebe traveled to Ottawa with the other two Reinländer Ältesten to receive assurances that men belonging to their church would be exempt from a general draft. When the Canadian government issued general registration cards in 1917, Wiebe and the other Reinländer Ältesten returned the cards sent to their communities without filling them out.

Education was a major issue during Wiebe’s tenure in Swift Current. Wiebe worked to ensure the existence of a private, [[German Language|German language]] [[Elementary Education#North America|elementary school]] with a religious curriculum in each of the newly established [[Villages (Holländerdörfer)|villages]]. At the same time, the newly established provincial government of Saskatchewan was looking to expand the [[Public Schools|public education]] system into the Mennonite settlements. Wiebe, along with the Reinländer in [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler]] and Manitoba, completely rejected the public education system, seeing it as an intrusion of the [[Worldiness|secular world]] into the faith community and threatening of their way of life.

In 1917, the Saskatchewan government introduced legislation requiring attendance at provincially authorized schools and enforced this law with imprisonment and heavy fines. Despite this, Wiebe continued to excommunicate any members of his congregation that sent their children to the public schools.

In 1919, the Reinländer decided that [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigration]] was their only recourse and began sending [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|delegations]] to search for a new homeland, some of which included Wiebe. In 1921, the Reinländer received a [[Privileges (Privilegia)|Privilegium]] from President [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|Obregón]] of Mexico and between 1922 and 1927 approximately 1200 Swift Current Reinländer, 37 percent of the population,<ref>This figure is from Ens, 214. Friesen (83, 107) tallies 1892 emigrants, but (citing Ens) maintains that this represented 37 percent of the population.</ref> moved to a [[Swift Current Mennonite Settlement (Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico)|new settlement]] in the state of Chihuahua.

Wiebe took a strong stance on emigration and told his congregants that moving to Mexico was necessary in order to remain true to their [[Baptism|baptismal]] vows. Like the other Reinländer Ältesten, Wiebe refused to ordain any successor to serve those who remained behind when he migrated in 1924, regarding them as cut off from the church. The Reinländer church in Swift Current fell into disarray after their leaders left for Mexico and never reorganized; many Swift Current Reinländer ended up joining the local [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder church]].

Wiebe’s autobiography provides rare insight into the self-understanding of Mennonite ministers around the turn of the 20th century. [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert Plett]], for example, relies on Wiebe’s writings to argue that the “ministerial office was not seen as a great glory…[but] as a heavy burden and sacred responsibility.”<ref>Plett, "Lonely Ohm," 98.</ref>

Wiebe was born on 26 August 1871 in the Fürstenland Colony. In 1875 his family moved to Canada and settled in Manitoba’s [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]]. He was baptized on 18 May 1891 and on 26 November 1893 he married Aganetha Ginter (1873-1913), with whom he had seven children, three of them surviving into adulthood; after she died, he married Anna Harder (1881-1973) and had three [[children]] with her, with one surviving into adulthood. Wiebe moved to Mexico in 1924. He [[Death and Dying|died]] on 10 November 1925 in Neuhoffnung, Swift Current Colony. During his ministry he [[Preaching|preached]] 1119 [[sermons]], conducted 207 [[funerals]], baptized 408 people, and married 188 couples.

=See Also=
*[[Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)|Johann J. Friesen]]
*[[Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)|Jacob Wiens]]
*[[Wiebe, Johann (1837-1905)|Johann Wiebe]]
*[[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. "Swift Current Old Colony Mennonite Church." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 152-155.

Elias, Peter A. ''Voice in the Wilderness: Memoirs of Peter A. Elias, 1843-1925'', edited by Adolf Ens and Henry Unger. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2013. P. 135.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjcets or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 203-204, 214-217.

[[Epp, Frank H. (1929-1986)|Epp, Frank H]]. ''Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982. Pp. 94-138, 197-201.

Friesen, Henry A. "Mennonites from the Swift Current Mennonite Reserve Migrate to Mexico." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 21-26.

Friesen, Henry A. ''The Swift Current Mennonite Reserve, 1904-1927''. Self-published, 2022. Pp. 32-33, 49, 58-78, 82-84, 88, 96

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2006: #157879.

Plett, Delbert F. "The Family of Aeltester Johann Wiebe (1837-1905)." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. P. 50.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert]]. “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst.” ''Preservings'' 21 (December 2002): 94-108.

Wiebe, Abraham. "Ältester Abraham Wiebe, 1871-1925: Life’s Pilgrimage of our Ältester Abraham Wiebe (1871-1925), Rosengard, Manitoba, and Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and Swift Colony, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico: An Autobiography,” translated by Ingrid Lamp, edited by Delbert F. Plett. ''Preservings'' 20 (June 2002): 98-100.
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Pozo Azul (Paraguay)

2025-04-01T22:32:43Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

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The first [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|Canadian Mennonite immigrants to Paraguay]] disembarked at the end of 1926 in [[Puerto Casado (Departamento de Alto Paraguay, Paraguay)|Puerto Casado]], still 200 kilometers away from their new land. Facing a major delay until a land survey could be completed and other obstacles overcome, the settlers quickly began establishing temporary farming settlements in the Paraguayan [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]], beginning with Pozo Azul on 17 February 1927. The settlement disbanded in 1928, its inhabitants settling into the new, permanent villages of [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]].

[[Engen, Fred (1863-1929)|Fred Engen]] of the [[Corporación Paraguaya]] led the first Mennonite expedition into the Chaco in the middle of January 1927, a few weeks after the first settlers landed. They travelled 72 kilometers on the [[Carlos Casado Company|Casado Company]]'s narrow gauge [[Railroads|railway]] and conducted the rest of their venture in a Chevrolet truck purchased from the Casado Company by the Corporación Paraguaya. They achieved their goal of finding a suitable location for a temporary farming site and relay station at Hoffnungsfeld, which later became the settlers' second temporary settlement.

A month later, a group of six families equipped with axes, spades, and plows made a five day journey by rail and ox cart (driven by employees of Casado) and founded Pozo Azul. The location was somewhere in between the end of the Casado railroad and the site of their newly purchased land, perhaps 25 kilometers short of what would become Menno Colony.<ref>Different sources provide somewhat varying information as to the precise location of the settlement. See Friesen, 22, Loewen, 57, and Quiring, 40.</ref> Small groups of new arrivals continued to grow the settlement until May. Other temporary sites established later included [[Loma Plata (Menno Colony, Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Loma Plata]] and Palo Blanco. The new residents immediately planted crops, dug wells, and built temporary shelters.

By May the crops in Pozo Azul were producing good yields. This showcased the viability of agriculture in the Chaco to the dispirited immigrants waiting in squalid conditions in Puerto Casado and later provided an early model for how to successfully conduct tropical agriculture. The temporary settlements also became important stations for others venturing into the interior, for those conducting the survey work, and for when people began settling the permanent villages.

Temporary settlements also helped reduce the population pressure in Puerto Casado. Many immigrants were eager to escape the idleness, discontent, and poor accommodation in Puerto Casado and flocked to the temporary settlements. Royden Loewen in particular presents evidence of an accelerated exodus through the first half of 1927 to the temporary settlements; in his account, by the middle of 1927 Puerto Casado was "nearly emptied of Mennonites."<ref>P. 58.</ref> Many of those who went into the interior did so in an effort to flee the epidemic that had broken out in Puerto Casado, but often illness followed them: seventeen people died in Pozo Azul during the year and a half of its existence.

=See Also=
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Loma Plata (Menno Colony, Boquerón Department, Paraguay)]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Braun, Ernest N. "There and Back Again: A Tale of Two Decisions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 29-34.

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdale: Herald Press, 1953. Pp. 17-18.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 54-65.

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.
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[[Category:Place]]

Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)

2025-04-01T22:18:27Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

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Johann Loeppky was the first [[Bishop (Ältester)|bishop]] of the [[Old Colony Mennonites|Old Colony Mennonite Church]] in [[Canada]] after the [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigration]] of almost the entirety of the church’s [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|leadership]] in the 1920s. An minister since 1909, Loeppky represented the [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler settlement]] on several [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|land-seeking delegations from 1919-1921]], which paved the way for the movement of around 8000 [[Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian)|conservative Mennonites]] from Canada to [[Mexico]] and [[Paraguay]]. Loeppky himself, however, remained in Canada and was significantly responsible for the continuity and successful reorganization of the Old Colony Church there. From 1948-1950, he led a small portion of his church in another migration to Mexico.

Loeppky was born in Blumenhof, in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]]’s [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|West Reserve]] in January 1882. He moved to [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] around 1900, settling just north of the town of Osler. He married Anna Neudorf in 1903. When she died in 1909, he married Helena Janzen. In the same year, he was elected as a minister. He became the bishop of the Old Colony Church in Canada in 1930 and continued to serve in that capacity until his [[Death and Dying|death]] in 1950. In his lifetime, he [[Preaching|preached]] 2103 [[sermons]], [[Baptism|baptized]] 797 people, and officiated at 198 [[weddings]] and 549 [[funerals]].

=Land-Seeking Delegations and Decision to Remain in Canada=
In 1916-17, both the Manitoba and Saskatchewan governments attempted to dismantle Mennonite private schools and integrate these children into English-speaking public schools. Among the different groups of Mennonites in these provinces, the Old Colony Mennonites most forcefully resisted the public schools. Their leadership determined in 1919 that they would need to emigrate to preserve their way of life.

From 1919-1921, the Reinländer settlements in Manitoba, [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]], and Hague-Osler sent out a number of land-seeking delegations to seek a homeland that would allow them exemption from military service and autonomy in education, alongside other [[Privileges (Privilegia)|group privileges]]. Loeppky was an enthusiastic and effective proponent of emigration in his community and a member of many of these delegations. As a member of the Hague-Osler settlement, he played an important role in the initial identification of Mexico as a potential option for settlement. In his 1921 diaries, he describes being overcome with emotion upon receiving the desired privileges from Mexican President [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|Álvaro Obregón]] after a long and discouraging search.<ref>Loeppky, 43.</ref>

The emigration of the Hague-Osler Reinländer ran into a series of problems, which resulted in Loeppky remaining in Canada along with around three quarters of the church. In 1921, a financial dispute between [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] from [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]], Loeppky’s forceful and influential co-delegate, and the delegates of the other settlements resulted in the Hague-Osler group withdrawing from a planned joint land purchase in Mexico. It took until 1924 before Hague-Osler’s leadership was able to regroup sufficiently to buy land in Mexico. By that time, deteriorating economic conditions made a move to Mexico much more challenging for many and impossible for some, especially without financial support forthcoming from the church. Many had, ironically, been so impoverished by fines for refusing to send their [[children]] to public schools that they were unable to afford the move. A botched group land-sale scheme (once again led by Wall) further impoverished many and led to much distrust and ill-will among the rank and file towards their leadership. In addition, as the years passed, many people became acclimatized to their children attending public schools; they also heard unfavourable reports about Mexico from those who had moved there ahead of them.

By 1926 it was apparent that most of the Hague-Osler Reinländer would be remaining in Canada and it is around this time that Loeppky appears to have decided against emigration. We do not know with certainty all of his rationale for this decision. However, his great [[Poor, Care of|care and concern for the poor]] is well-documented, and some sources plausibly state that Loeppky, himself never particularly well-off, would have felt compelled to continue to offer pastoral care and leadership to the (mostly poorer) members of his congregation who could not move to Mexico.<ref>A. Janzen, 5-6; Guenther, 50-51; W. Janzen, ''The 1920s Migration'', 39; and Petkau and Petkau, 39.</ref>

Those who went to Mexico severely criticized Loeppky and many never forgave him. The conviction of the leadership of all three Reinländer settlements was that the church in its entirety was moving; in their view, those who did not move to Mexico had cut themselves off from the church. Loeppky was estranged from his half-brother, Isaak M. Dyck, minister and later bishop of the [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba Colony]].<ref>Contrast this with the evident affection between the two as recorded in Loeppky's 1921 diaries. See Loeppky, 37-38.</ref> Johann P. Wall, in particular, saw Loeppky as a betrayer, responsible for the fact that so many remained in Canada, and took opportunity to publicly and privately condemn him, even decades later.<ref>Guenther, 278n20 and A. Janzen, 6-7.</ref>

=Reorganization of the Old Colony Churches in Canada=
In both the Manitoba and Swift Current settlements, all the Old Colony leadership emigrated, and the church essentially ceased operation for a time. In the Hague-Osler settlement, Loeppky and another minister, Abram Wall, stayed in Canada and together kept the churches open on a part time basis. [[Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)|Jacob Wiens]], the bishop of the Hague-Osler Old Colony, emigrated in 1926, but returned for spring visits in both 1927 and 1928 to conduct baptisms and serve [[communion]], essential [[Ordinances|ordinances]] that were the bishop’s exclusive domain. The bishops of all three settlements refused to [[Ordination|ordain]] any successor bishops or new ministers among those who remained in Canada.

In 1929, Jacob Wiens canceled a planned visit to Hague-Osler because of his wife’s illness; he never again returned to Canada. The need for reorganization in Canada was now acute. On 20 March 1930, Loeppky and Abram Wall convened a church meeting with 176 delegates from Hague-Osler, 80 delegates from Manitoba, and eleven delegates from Swift Current. At this meeting, delegates elected Loeppky as their bishop. They also officially adopted the name Altkolonier Mennonitengemeinde, or Old Colony Mennonite Church (previously their formal name was the Reinländer Mennonite Church). Cornelius Hamm, bishop of the [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Saskatchewan Bergthaler]] presided over the meeting and ordained Loeppky.

Loeppky immediately attended to the rebuilding of the Old Colony Church, ordaining sufficient ministers for regular [[Worship, Public#North America|services]] to resume in Hague-Osler area and presiding over baptisms and communion in both Manitoba and Hague-Osler. The Old Colony Church in Swift Current, however, ceased to function, its membership mostly joining [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] congregations. In 1937, Loeppky ordained [[Froese, Jacob J. (1885-1968)|Jacob Froese]] as the bishop of the Manitoba Old Colony Church, the second post-migration Old Colony bishop in Canada. He also regularly travelled to the new Old Colony settlements in the [[Peace River Old Colony Mennonite Settlement (Alberta, Canada)|Fort Vermillion, AB]] and [[First Mennonite Church (Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada)|Burns Lake, BC]] regions to provide them with spiritual leadership and baptism and communion services until these settlements too received their own bishops.

=Bishop of the Old Colony Mennonites=
Loeppky was a popular leader with a cheerful and friendly disposition and a tolerant, pastoral leadership style. He was well-known as a gifted orator and strong [[Singing, Old Colony Mennonite|singer]], with a powerful voice and a passionate, emotive speaking style. In the record, his congregants attest to his abilities as a uniter, practical problem solver, and peacemaker who cared deeply about provision for the poor. Some were, however, critical of him for being too lenient when it came to matters of [[Discipline, Church|church discipline]].

Immediately upon his election as bishop, Loeppky discontinued the previous Old Colony policy of [[Excommunication|excommunicating]] anyone who married a member of the Saskatchewan Bergthaler. He oversaw policies and practices of increased toleration towards [[voting]] in elections, owning [[Automobile|cars]], and operating [[Sunday School|Sunday Schools]]. He personally assisted many young men in obtaining [[Conscientious Objection|Conscientious Objector]] status during World War II; unlike his Old Colony predecessors during [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]], he cooperated with the [[Conference of Mennonites in Canada|Canadian Conference Mennonites]] in working with the Canadian government on this issue. Loeppky was also influential in leading the Old Colony to accept the Canadian Government’s Family Allowance programs, begun in 1945, arguing that it was an important provision for the poor where the church had not done its part. In the final months of his life, Loeppky oversaw a controversial change to a faster and more melodic style of singing in Canadian Old Colony worship.

=1948 Emigration=
In 1948 Loeppky led another migration of the Old Colony Church to Mexico. While the migration was small and only partially successful (most of the Old Colony migrants, including Loeppky, returned to Canada within a few years), it resulted in the establishment of the [[Los Jagueyes Mennonite Settlement (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Los Jagueues Colony]] in the state of [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]], 20 kilometres west of the [[Santa Clara Sommerfeld Mennonite Settlement (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Santa Clara Colony]].

An array of factors appear to have motivated Loeppky to attempt this migration, including a desire to reunite the divided Old Colony Church and disquietude over the [[Alternative Service Work Camps (Canada)|alternative service]] Canadian Conscientious Objectors had been obliged to perform during World War II. Many of his congregants, motivated by memories of the brutal 1930s in Saskatchewan and more recent crop failures, apparently pushed for the migration, but then failed to follow through on their desire to move once Loeppky organized the venture. Loeppky also had word from the colonists in Mexico that many of them yearned for Loeppky's leadership, desiring his preaching and his tolerant leadership style

Loeppky joined together with a group of Manitoba [[Kleine Gemeinde]] and organized a migration that began in 1948; the Kleine Gemeinde had the funds necessary for the migration and Loeppky had the leadership, organization, and Mexican contacts. By the end of 1952, 595 Kleine Gemeinde, 116 Manitoba Old Colony, 130 Saskatchewan Old Colony, and a small number of Old Colony people from Burns Lake had, at least at one point, moved to Los Jagueyes. Loeppky moved in December 1948. Complications and financial shortfalls immediately beset the Saskatchewan portion of the settlement, whose migrants had come with few financial resources. Additionally, the leadership of the older colonies in Mexico refused to accept the new arrivals because they had used automobiles to make the trip; they went so far as to excommunicate anyone from their group who joined Loeppky's worship services. The southern portion of Los Jagueyes, where the Old Colony had settled, soon dissolved; of the eighteen families who moved to Mexico from Saskatchewan, ten returned to Canada within a few years. Loeppky himself returned in February 1950, discouraged and disappointed. When Loeppky left, the Old Colony Mennonites from the established colonies in Mexico whitewashed the walls of the buildings in which he had preached.

When Loeppky returned to Canada, the Hague-Osler Old Colony Church accepted him again as their bishop. He died six months later when something got caught in his throat while he was eating in a [[Saskatoon (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Saskatoon]] restaurant.

=See Also=
*[[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]]
*[[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922]]
*[[Wiens, Jakob (1855-1932)|Jakob Wiens]]
*[[Froese, Jacob J. (1885-1968)|Jacob Froese]]
*[[Old Colony Mennonites]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Doell, Leonard. “Altester Jakob Wiens (1855-1932).” ''Preservings'' no. 29 (2009): 14-19.

Doell, Leonard. "Hague Osler Old Colony Mennonite Church." In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert F. Plett]]. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 142-151.

Doell, Leonard. "The Migration to Mexico." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 24, no. 2 (Summer 2018): 8-9.

Dyck, Netha F. “Aeltester [[Froese, Jacob J. (1885-1968)|Jacob J. Froese]] (1885-1968), Reinfeld, West Reserve, Manitoba.” In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 134-136.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 199-230.

[[Epp, Frank H. (1929-1986)|Epp, Frank H]]. ''Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982.

Guenter, Jacob G. "Homesteaders of the Great Peace (Carcajou and La Crete)." In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 409-413

Guenter, Jacob G. “Mennonite Migration to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 372-385.

Guenther, Bruce L. ''The Ältester: A Mennonite Leader in Changing Times''. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2018. Pp. 43-111.

Janzen, Abe. "Low German Speaking Mennonites in Alberta." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 37-42.

Janzen, Abram G. ''Altester Johan M. Loeppky, 1882-1950: As I Remember Him''. Hague, SK: unpublished, 2003. See the copy in the [https://www.commonword.ca/ResourceView/82/7934 Mennonite Historical Library] at [https://cmulibrary.on.worldcat.org/discovery Canadian Mennonite University].

Janzen, William. "Stories from the Life of Abram Janzen of Blumenheim." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 29-37.

Janzen, William. "The 1920s Exodus to Mexico of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague Osler Area of Saskatchewan." ''Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian'' 27, no. 2 (2022): 5-13.

Janzen, William. ''The 1920s Migration of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague-Osler Area of Saskatchewan to Mexico''. Hague: Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan, 2006.

Klippenstein, LaVerna, trans. and ed. "A Tribute: The Diary of Tina Schulz." In ''Mennonite Memories: Settling in Western Canada'', edited by Lawrence Klippenstein and Julius Toews. Centennial Publications, 1977. P. 227.

Loeppky, Johann. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: 'Canadian' Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 27-34, 113.

Petkau, Irene F. and Peter A. Petkau. ''Blumenfeld: Where Land and People Meet''. Blumenfeld Historical Committee, 1981. Pp. 38-41.

Petkau, Peter A. “Aeltester Isaak M. Dyck (1889-1969).” In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. P. 127.

Plett, Delbert. “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst.” ''Preservings'' 21 (December 2002): 107-108.

Rempel, Abraham E. “Old Colony Mennonite Church in Manitoba.” In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 139-141.

Rempel, David. “Diary of his Trip to South America and Mexico in 1919-1921,” trans. Jake K. Wiens. Volume 5015, Small Archives. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry L. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 31-97.

Werner, Hans. "Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions." ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.
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[[Category:Persons]]

Zacharias, Johann (1868-1954)

2025-04-01T20:18:37Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922

2025-04-01T20:00:26Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

From 1919-1922 various groups of [[Kanadier|Kanadier Russian Mennonites]] living in central [[Canada]] sent out a number of delegations to search for a new homeland. These Mennonites were reacting to the [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|loss of autonomy over the education of their children]] as a result of a series of assimilationist reforms, restrictions, and penalties introduced by the governments of [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] during and after [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]]. In all cases, the delegations sought from governing bodies [[Privileges (Privilegia)|exemption]] from [[Military Participation|military service]] and from [[Oath|swearing oaths]], the right to administer their own [[Inheritance|inheritance]], [[Property|property]], and [[Mutual Aid|mutual aid]] laws, and the right to control without restriction the [[Education, Mennonite#Canada|education]] of their children, including the continuing use and nurture of the [[German Language|German language]]. They also looked for land that would be suitable for agriculture and available for purchase in [[Villages (Holländerdörfer)|large plots]]. These delegations ultimately negotiated conditions satisfactory to them in [[Mexico]] and [[Paraguay]], which led to the [[Migrations#Dutch-North German Mennonite Migrations|emigration]] of nearly 8000 Canadian Mennonites from Canada during the 1920s.
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=Reinländer Delegations=
[[Old Colony Mennonites|Reinländer]] leaders began seriously considering and threatening emigration with the passage of mandatory school attendance laws in 1916 in Manitoba and in 1917 in Saskatchewan. In early 1919, as negotiations between the church and the provincial governments broke down, [[Peters, Klaas (1855-1932)|Klaas Peters]], a businessman and land agent from Waldeck, Saskatchewan, led a semi-official delegation to [[South America|Latin America]] to look for immigration options, negotiating without success with officials from [[Brazil]], [[Uruguay]], and [[Argentina]], and also making an initial contact with the Paraguayan government.

In meetings held in July 1919, all three Reinländer groups – [[West Reserve (Manitoba, Canada)|western Manitoba]], [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague-Osler]], SK, and [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]], SK – determined on a course of emigration. On 6 August, they dispatched a delegation of six men with the aim of finding a single tract of land suitable for the entire Reinländer body.

This delegation went first to Ottawa to attain proper travel documentation and to again attempt, unsuccessfully, to gain concessions from Canadian officials. They then travelled to Brazil and Argentina. They knew Argentina was looking for settlers and had a substantial German population. Meanwhile, a Brazilian railway agent had instigated interest in his country with a visit to the Swift Current settlement. However, neither government was interested in granting special concessions to settlers and the delegation returned unsuccessful at the end of November. Delegate Johann J. Wall from Hague died and was buried in Brazil after a week long illness.<ref> See Braun.</ref>

In early 1920 a land agent from [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]] approached the Reinländer with an offer of 200 000 acres of land. A delegation immediately set out to investigate; they met with the governor who promised satisfactory concessions. Subsequent delegations confirmed these concessions and entered into an arrangement to purchase 125 000 acres of land, which the Reinländer membership ratified in a 1 June meeting. The church prepared a down-payment and in early June sent it with a delegation of four to complete the purchase. In a surprising turn of events this delegation was turned back at the Canada-U.S. border for reasons that remain mysterious; after examination of the available evidence, Adolf Ens concludes that it was most likely the arbitrary decision of an individual Immigration official.<ref>''Subjects or Citizens?'', 205.</ref> The Reinländer considered this an act of God's will and it ended their attempts to move to Mississippi.

By this point Reinländer leaders were under pressure and the unity and resolve of the Reinländer community was fracturing. The Manitoba and Swift Current groups sent a series of delegations to [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] after learning that that province was looking for settlers in the Abitibi region of the Great Clay Belt. However, despite an initially promising meeting with Quebec officials on 19 August, concessions were not forthcoming and the delegates judged the land unsuitable for farming.

Meanwhile, the Hague-Osler settlement independently decided to follow up a lead they had in Mexico,<ref>There are conflicting accounts of the source and nature of this lead. Cf. Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', 208 and 226n46; Dyck, 43; and Sawatzky, 36.</ref> where stakeholders had their own set of interests<ref>See esp. Wall, 32:00-38:00.</ref> in attracting white farmers and land-owners. Another delegation from Hague-Osler investigated Paraguay, following up on the initial contact made by the very first delegation, but their report of the environment was not encouraging. The Mexican delegation returned on 9 October with an optimistic report, which immediately caught the attention of other Mennonite groups, including the two other Reinländer settlements.

Representatives from Manitoba were unable to join the next delegation to Mexico because their passports were not in order, but all three groups sent delegates to Mexico in January 1921. They received a warm welcome into Mexico and had a series of productive negotiations with [[Obregón, Álvaro (1880-1928)|President Obregón]] and his Minister of Agriculture in mid-February. Mexican officials were initially unwilling to allow the Mennonites to run their schools in German, but the delegation eventually achieved the desired concessions and received a Privilegium dated to 25 February 1921. After touring land in the state of [[Durango (Mexico)|Durango]], they returned to Canada in March.

A delegation returned to Mexico in April with the intention of completing a land purchase. They initially worked out a contract to purchase land in the Valle de Guatimape in Canatlan, Durango. The delegation had to cancel this deal when the Hague-Osler representatives withdrew following a rupture between [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] of [[Hague (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]] and the delegates from the other two groups. Wall’s strong personality had reputedly clashed with the equally forceful [[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaas Heide]] of Manitoba, and a conflict between the two erupted when Wall was offended by the suggestion that the Hague-Osler group might be unable to meet their financial obligations for the purchase.

The delegates from Swift Current and Manitoba immediately turned their attention to the Hacienda Bustillos in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]] and became enthusiastic about agricultural prospects there. Another delegation representing the two settlements purchased 225 000 acres in Chihuahua in Sept. 2021 and quickly negotiated government approval of the purchase. In the meantime, the Hague-Osler group saw its emigration plans disrupted and delayed. It was only in 1924 that the Hague-Osler Reinländer purchased 35 000 acres in the [[Durango (Nuevo Ideál) Colony (Durango, Mexico)|Valle de Guatimape]] (where the original deal had fallen through), by which time enthusiasm for migration had substantially soured. Three-quarters of the Hague-Osler Reinländer [[Old Colony Mennonites#Canada|remained in Canada]], including one of their chief delegates, and later their [[bishop|Ältester]], [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Johann Loeppky]].

=Other Canadian Mennonite Delegations=
The [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] and [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]] churches, with [[Bergthal Mennonites|common origins]] in the [[Bergthal Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Bergthal Colony]] in imperial [[Russia]], cooperated in their approach to the schools crisis in Manitoba. They reached a decision to emigrate in late 1920, only after repeated attempts at a compromise position with the Manitoba Government. These groups, along with their [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|Bergthaler kin in Saskatchewan]], assembled a six man delegation to Latin America that left on 11 February 1921. It would be gone for more than six months.

Their first destination was Paraguay. Reinländer delegations had made the acquaintance of [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|General Samuel McRoberts]], a [[New York (USA)|New York]] banker with business and political connections in Latin America who played a critical role in encouraging and facilitating Mennonite immigration to Paraguay. Commissioned by the Reinländer, McRoberts had determined that the Paraguayan [[Chaco (South America)|Chaco]] was the best option for Mennonite resettlement, and when the coalition of emigrating Bergthal Mennonites contacted him, he pointed them to that country. The delegation conducted productive negotiations with Paraguayan President [[Gondra, Manuel (1871-1927)|Manuel Gondra]], receiving a satisfactory Privilegium on April 4 and permission to settle in the Chaco. McRoberts's associate, [[Engen, Fred (1863-1929)|Fred Engen]], took the delegates on a tour of the Chaco in late April, precisely when conditions there (widely considered utterly inhospitable at the time) are at their best. They were impressed with what they saw. Even before the delegation visited Mexico, [[Pries, Johann (1874-1945)|Johann Pries]], the spokesman for the delegation, wrote that Mexico was "very unattractive" in comparison with what they had seen in Paraguay.<ref>Ens, ''Subjects'', 211.</ref>

Before the delegation had left Manitoba, positive news from the Reinländer delegation to Mexico reached Sommerfelder Ältester [[Doerksen, Abraham (1852-1929)|Abraham Doerksen]] and he instructed his delegates to investigate that country as well. A Chihuahua banker and member of a landholding family also visited Doerksen in Manitoba, hoping to find buyers for his family’s land and directing the Sommerfelder’s attention to the Hacienda [[Santa Clara Sommerfeld Mennonite Settlement (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Santa Clara]]. After the delegation's visit to Paraguay, the Saskatchewan delegates returned home while the Manitobans continued to Mexico. The delegation gave a glowing report on the prospects of settlement in Paraguay and a discouraging one on Mexico.

This report on Mexico was discordant with the reports of both the Reinländer delegations and that of private individuals. Doerksen was suspicious and rallied the Sommerfelder and Chortitzer to send a second delegation to Mexico with specific instructions to seek a Privilegium. This delegation conducted successful negotiations with President Obregon who explained that the earlier delegation had not asked for concessions but for changes to Mexico’s laws. He granted them a Privilegium dated 30 October 1921.

After this Abraham Doerksen was persuaded to the Mexico option. The Sommerfelder thus sent a delegation to Santa Clara to purchase land in the summer of 1922. In what Harry Sawatzky describes as a "baffling" move, this delegation selected land with an inadequate water supply, much of which was, in addition, extremely stony; whether and how this delegation may have been deceived remains a matter of speculation.<ref>Sawatzky, 71.</ref> Regardless, they successfully made a contract to purchase 12 000 acres with an option on an additional 50 000. The Chortitzer, Saskatchewan Bergthaler, and a few Sommerfelder chose immigration to Paraguay instead.

In 1999, [[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Delbert Plett]] identified the existence of a 1922 delegation to Mexico, representing the [[Kleine Gemeinde]] communities in Manitoba and Kansas.<ref>Plett, 104-105.</ref> Three Kleine Gemeinde families from [[Kansas (USA)|Kansas]], including some of these delegates, ended up immigrating to Mexico from 1924 to 1926, but no Kleine Gemeinde from Canada emigrated at that time.

=Table: Reinländer Delegations=
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Reinländler Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1921<ref>Adapted from Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', pp. 203-204. See also Sawatzky, 31-45.</ref>
|-
! Date !! Destination !! Groups Represented !! Delegates<ref>The names provided for the offical 1919 delegation to Latin America and the Jan. 1921 delegation to Mexico are comprehensive of all the official delegates; in other cases, the lists may be, and in some cases certainly are, incomplete. Cf. Sawatzky, pp. 31 and 37 and Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', p. 204.</ref>
|-
| Feb. 1919 || [[Brazil]] [[Uruguay]] [[Argentina]] || unofficial || [[Peters, Klaas (1855-1932)|Klaas Peters]] Johann Hamm Johann Heinrichs
|-
| Aug. 4-Nov. 24, 1919 || Ottawa Argentina Brazil || [[Hague and Osler (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Hague]] [[Reinlander Mennoniten Gemeinde (Manitoba)|Manitoba]] [[Swift Current (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Swift Current]] || Johann J. Wall [[Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)|Johann P. Wall]] [[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaas Heide]] Cornelius Rempel Julius Wiebe [[Rempel, David (1869-1949)|David Rempel]]
|-
| Jan. 15-29, 1920 || [[Mississippi (USA)|Mississippi]] || Hague Manitoba Swift Current || Jacob E. Peters Franz F. Froese Peter P. Harms Julius Wiebe [[Wiebe, Abraham (1871-1925)|Abraham Wiebe]]
|-
| April 12-29, 1920 || Mississippi || Hague Manitoba || Johann P. Wall [[Goertzen, Benjamin (1873-1929)|Benjamin Goertzen]] Franz Peters [[Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)|Johann J. Friesen]] Cornelius Rempel Johann W. Rempel
|-
| May 14-25, 1920 || Mississippi || unkown || unknown
|-
| Early June || Turned back at the Canada-U.S. border || unkown || four members, unknown
|-
| Aug. 13-end Aug. 1920 || [[Quebec (Canada)|Quebec]] || Manitoba Swift Current || Johann J. Friesen Abraham Wiebe Jacob Friesen David Rempel
|-
| Sept. 8-Oct. 9, 1920 || [[Mexico]] || Hague || Johann P. Wall Benjamin Goertzen ? Klassen
|-
| Fall 1920 || Quebec (multiple delegations) || Manitoba Swift Current || unknown
|-
| Oct. 9-Dec. 1920 || [[Paraguay]] || Hague || Abram Klassen Jacob Friesen Franz Dyck ? Wiens
|-
| Nov. 11-end Dec. 1920 || Mexico || Hague Swift Current || unknown
|-
| Jan. 24-Mar. 12, 1921 || Mexico || unaffiliated Hague Manitoba Swift Current || [[Wiebe, John F. D. (1872-1941)|John F. D. Wiebe]]<ref>See Loeppky.</ref> [[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Johann Loeppky]] Benjamin Goertzen Julius Loewen Klaas Heide Cornelius Rempel David Rempel
|-
| April 5-May 9, 1921 || Mexico || Hague Manitoba Swift Current || Johann P. Wall Klaas Heide 
|-
| July 1921 || Mexico || Manitoba Swift Current || Abram Giesbrecht ? Peters ? Baumann ? Klassen Julius Wiebe David Rempel
|-
| Aug. 12-Sept. 10, 1921 || Mexico || Manitoba Swift Current || unknown
|}

=Table: Other Canadian Mennonite Delegations=
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Other Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922<ref>Adapted from Ens, ''Subjects or Citizens?'', p. 210. See also Plett, 104-105.</ref>
|-
! Date !! Destination !! Groups Represented !! Delegates<ref>Lists of delegates may be incomplete.</ref>
|-
| Feb. 11-Sept. 2, 1921 || [[Paraguay]] [[Mexico]] || [[Bergthal Mennonites#Saskatchewan Bergthaler|SK-Bergthaler]] [[Christian Mennonite Conference|Chortitzer]] [[Sommerfeld Mennonites|Sommerfelder]] unaffiliated || Jacob W. Neufeld Johann J. Friesen Jacob Doerksen [[Toews, Bernhard (1863-1927)|Bernhard Toews]] Isaak Funk [[Pries, Johann (1874-1945)|Johann Pries]]
|-
| Feb. 1921 || Mexico || SK-Bergthaler || Heinrich A. Neufeld Johann C. Schellenberg Peter Epp Peter H. Goertzen Cornelius F. Andres Heinrich H. Reimer Benjamin E. Redekop
|-
| Oct.-Nov. 1921 || Mexico || Chortitzer Sommerfelder || A. Doerksen<ref>This delegate was not Abraham Doerksen, Ältester of the West Reserve Sommerfelder.</ref> Dietrich Doerksen Abram Hiebert
|-
| Early summer 1922 || Mexico || Chortitzer Sommerfelder || D. Doerksen Julius Harder Franz Voth
|-
| Aug. 1922 || Mexico || Kleine Gemeinde, MB Kleine Gemeinde, KS || [[Reimer, Heinrich R. (1876-1959)|Heinrich R. Reimer]] Heinrich R. Dueck Cornelius L. Plett Heinrich K. Friesen Jakob J. Reimer Cornelius J. Classen [[Isaac, Jacob F. (1883-1970)|Jakob F. Isaac]] Peter F. Isaac
|}

=See Also=
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Migrations]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Braun, Dick. "Remembering Johann Wall in Brazil." ''Preservings'' 41 (2020): 47-50.

Dyck, Isaak M. “The Mennonite Emigration from Canada to Mexico: A Memoir by Isaak M. Dyck,” translated by Robyn Sneath. ''Preservings'' 44 (Spring 2022): 3-71. Translation of first part of ''Auswanderung der Reinländer Mennoniten Gemeinde von Canada nach Mexico''. Cuauhtemoc: Zweite Ausgabe, 1971.

Ens, Adolf. “Sommerfeld Mennonites at Santa Clara, Mexico.” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 181-188.

Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 201-230.

[[Epp, Frank H. (1929-1986)|Epp, Frank H]]. ''Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982. Pp. 94-138.

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 1953. Pp. 12-16.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009.

Guenter, Jacob G. “Mennonite Migration to Mexico.” In ''Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve, 1895-1995'', edited by Jacob G. Guenter et al. Hepburn: Hague-Osler Reserve Book Committee, 1995. Pp. 372-377.

Harder, David. “Schools and Community: Remembrances of School Teacher David Harder (1894-1968),” translated by Delbert Plett et al. ''Preservings'' 23 (December 2003): 9-23.

Harms, Sally. “Klaas Heide (1859-1926), Delegate.” In ''Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000'', edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000. Pp. 117.

[[Krahn, Cornelius (1902-1990)|Krahn, Cornelius]]. “Johann P. Wall, 1875-1961.” ''Mennonite Life'' 16 (October, 1961): 185-192.

[[Loeppky, Johann (1882-1950)|Loeppky, Johann]]. “Journal on a Trip to Mexico, 1921.” ''Preservings'' 26 (2006): 37-44.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 14-39.

Peters, Jacob E. “Ältester Abraham Doerksen (1852-1929).” In ''Church, Family and Village: Essays on Mennonite Life on the West Reserve'', ed. Adolf Ens et al. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2001. Pp. 109-124.

[[Plett, Delbert F. (1948-2004)|Plett, Delbert F]]. “1922 Delegation to Mexico.” ''Preservings'' 14 (June 1999): 104-105.

[[Quiring, Walter (1893-1983)|Quiring, Walter]]. “The Canadian Mennonite Immigration into the Paraguayan Chaco, 1926-27.” ''The [[Mennonite Quarterly Review]]'' 8, no. 1 (January 1934): 32-42.

[[Rempel, David (1869-1949)|Rempel, David]]. “Diary of his Trip to South America and Mexico in 1919-1921,” translated by Jake K. Wiens. Volume 5015, Small Archives. [http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/index.htm Mennonite Heritage Archives], 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Rempel, David, various writings. Walter Schmiedehaus fonds, vol. 4395 no. 3 & 5. Mennonite Heritage Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 31-52 and 71-75.

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 21-32.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 1-4, 17-22.

Toews, Bernhard. "Life and Travel Remembrances of Bernhard Toews," translated by Delbert Plett. ''Preservings'' 16 (June 2000): 33-37.

Wall, Andrew, dir. ''Conform: The Mennonite Migration to Mexico of the 1920s''. Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, 2022: 31:30-40:00.

Wall, Johann J. "Diary of the Trip to South America," translated by Hans Claassen and Anne Falk. Volume 4041, Small Archives. Mennonite Heritage Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 600 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Man., R3P 0M4.

Werner, Hans. "Restoring the Commons: Land Deals and the Migration of Manitoba Mennonites to Mexico in the 1920s." ''Agricultural History'' 87, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 452-472.
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Schmiedehaus, Walter (1901-1990)

2025-04-01T18:19:26Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens and Conrad Stoesz

__NOTOC__
Walter Schmiedehaus was a legal representative for, and chronicler of, and longtime friend to the [[Old Colony Mennonites]] in [[Mexico]].

Schmiedehaus was born in [[Germany]] on 28 August 1901. In 1920 he moved to the state of [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]] in Mexico where he operated a [[Medicine|pharmacy]] and was involved in the banking industry, working for Chihuahua bankers like [[David Russek]] and P.E. Melendez who offered their services to the new Mennonite [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|immigrants]]. He married the [[United States of America|American]] Irene McMaster on 23 June 1926 in [[Texas (USA)|Texas]] and the couple spent several years living in El Paso. In 1932 the Schmiedehaus family moved full-time to Mexico and from 1936 to 1966 Schmiedehaus served as the German consul to the state of Chihuahua.

In 1923 Schmiedehaus witnessed a trainload of Old Colony Mennonite immigrants arrive at the [[Cuauhtémoc (Chihuahua State, Mexico)|Cuauhtémoc]] rail station. He very quickly became their advocate and friend. Isaak Dyck recalls Schmiedehaus personally visiting every house in Rosenfeld in the [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba Colony]] only a few months after its founding. The Old Colony Mennonites granted him Power of Attorney to represent them in their 1924-25 dispute with the agraristas, local farmers who had occupied and claimed the same land the Mennonites had purchased from the Zuloaga estate. With his help in securing the goodwill of the Mexican government and the Zuloaga family, the Mennonites successfully resolved their conflict with the agraristas in 1925.

Schmiedehaus continued to act as a benefactor to and advocate for the Mennonites. His facility with Spanish and knowledge of Mexican law proved a great asset to the Mennonites on numerous occasions and he assisted them in many negotiations. In the mid 1950s he supplied hundreds of school books via his contact with the German embassy in Mexico. Isaak Dyck remembers Schmiedehaus as an amiable man, but businesslike and to the point.

Schmiedehaus also became a chronicler of the Old Colony experience in Mexico, positively portraying them in many articles and, most notably, in his 1948 book ''Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott: Der Wanderweg eines Christlichen Siedlervolkes'', revised and republished in 1982 under the title ''Die Altkolonier Mennoniten'' and translated into [[English Language|English]] in 2021. The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico republished ''Eine Fest Burg is unser Gott'' in 2021, evidence of its standing in their self-articulation and of Schmiedehaus’s enduring legacy among them.

Some scholars have critically noted Schmiedehaus’s ties to Nazi Germany. Schmiedehaus joined the Nazi party on 1 April 1936, presumably when he was made German consul. He appears, in addition, to have had at least some role in spreading Nazi propaganda; American Intelligence believed him to be one of the most active Nazis in the state of Chihuahua. The extent of his activities in pursuance of Nazi agendas and the extent of any impact these activities may have had upon the Mennonites of Mexico is unclear.

Walter Schmiedehaus died on 30 December 1990 in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, México. He spent his final years with his Mennonite friends, living in the home for the aged in the Manitoba Colony.

=See Also=
*[[Heide, Klaas (1859-1926)|Klaus Heide]]
*[[Russek, David S. (1888-1950)|David S. Russek]]
*[[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]]
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]

=Bibliography=
1930 U.S. Census, El Paso, Texas. Populations schedule. Enumeration District no. 71-59, Supervisor's District no. 20, Sheet no. 6-A. Dwelling no. 68, Family no. 144, Walter and Irene Schmiedehaus.

Goossen, Benjamin W. “Mennonites in Latin America: A Review of the Literature.” ''The Conrad Grebel Review'' 34, no. 3 (Fall 2016): 236-265.

Kouwenhoven, Arlette. ''The Fehrs: Four Centuries of Mennonite Migration'', translated by Lesley Fast and Kerry Fast. Leiden: Winco, 2013. Pp. 185-187.

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 44-45.

Quiring, David M. ''Mennonite Old Colony Vision: Under Seige in Mexico and the Canadian Connection''. Crossway Publications, 2003.

Sawatzky, Harry L. ''They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico''. University of California Press, 1971. Pp. 61-62, 70, 125-126.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. “Der Verfasser.” In ''Die Altkolonier-Mennoniten in Mexiko'', by Walter Schmiedehaus. CMBC Publications, 1982.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''Ein feste Burge ist unser Gott: Die Altkolonier-Mennoniten in Mexiko''. Museo y Centro Cultural Menonita, A.C., 2021.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. “Mennonite Life in Mexico.” ''Mennonite Life'' 2, no. 2 (April 1947): 29-38.

Schmiedehaus, Walter. ''The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico'', translated by Erwin Jost and edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021.

Schmiedehaus, W. Trent. Email Correspondence with Conrad Stoesz. 5 November 2021 — 1 March 2022.

Thiessen, John D. ''Mennonite and Nazi? Attitudes among Mennonite Colonists in Latin America''. Pandora Press, 1999. Pp. 43-46.

Unlisted. “Contributors in this Issue: Walter Schmiedehaus.” ''[[Mennonite Life (Periodical)|Mennonite Life]]'' 2, no. 2 (April 1947): 2.
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Ayala, Eusebio (1875-1942)

2025-04-01T18:08:16Z

AileenFriesen: New article by Gerald Ens

Eusebio Ayala Bordenave was a [[Paraguay|Paraguayan]] politician who played a pivotal role in welcoming [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|Mennonite immigrants to Paraguay]] in the 1920s. A senator, agricultural minister, foreign minister, and two time president (from 7 November 1921 to 12 April 1923 and again during the [[Chaco War (1932-1935)|Chaco War]] from 15 August 1932 to 17 February 1936), he was often present during meetings between the [[Canada|Canadian]] Mennonites [[Canadian Mennonite Land-Seeking Delegations, 1919-1922|looking for a new homeland]] and their [[McRoberts, Samuel (1868-1947)|representatives]] with President [[Gondra, Manuel (1871-1927)|Manuel Gondra]]. Ayala's facility with [[English Language|English]] and [[German Language|German]] was a great asset. Among other contributions leading to the Mennonites’ settlement in Paraguay, Ayala was the person primarily responsible for shepherding the Mennonites’ request for [[Privileges (Privilegia)|special privileges]], including exemption from [[Military Participation|military service]] and autonomy over the [[Elementary Education#North America|education]] of their children, into official law in 1921. He translated the Mennonites’ request into Spanish, drafted it into a bill, and advocated for the law, against stiff opposition, in the Senate where it passed by thirteen to five vote. The reorganization of [[Menno Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Menno Colony]]'s governance structure in 1934-35 was conducted during his presidency and with his official permission.

=Bibliography=
Ens, Adolf and Ernest N. Braun. "Emigration to Paraguay 1926 to 1927." In ''Settlers of the East Reserve'', edited by Adolf Ens et al. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2009. P. 321.

[[Fretz, Joseph Winfield (1910-2005)|Fretz, Joseph W]]. ''Pilgrims in Paraguay: The Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 1953. pp. 13-15.

[[Friesen, Martin W. (1912-2000)|Friesen, M.W.]] ''Canadian Mennonites Conquer a Wilderness: The Beginning and Development of the Menno Colony, First Mennonite Settlement in South America''. Translated by Christel Wiebe. Historical Committee of the Menno Colony, 2009. Pp. 13-19

Loewen, Royden. ''Village among Nations: "Canadian" Mennonites in a Transnational World, 1916-2006''. University of Toronto Press, 2013. Pp. 33-39, 71.

Mullenbach, Mark et al. "Western Hemisphere Region: 6. Paraguay (1904-Present)." Part of the Dynamic Analysis of Dispute Management (DADM) Project at the University of Central Arkansas, Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024 [https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/western-hemisphere-region/paraguay-1904-present/ Link]

Stoesz, Edgar. ''Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay''. Scottdate: Herald Press, 2008. Pp. 29-33.

Stoesz, Edgar and Muriel T. Stackley. ''Garden in the Wilderness: Mennonite Communities in the Paraguayan Chaco, 1927-1997''. Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1999. Pp. 7-22.
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Black, John H. (1866-1935)

2025-04-01T17:42:48Z

AileenFriesen: Created page with "__NOTOC__ John H. Black was a lawyer based in Morden, Manitoba who was a trust..."

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John H. Black was a [[Law, Attitudes toward Civil and Criminal|lawyer]] based in [[Morden (Manitoba, Canada)|Morden]], [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] who was a trusted friend to and advocate for the [[Old Colony Mennonites]] in the region. Black often assisted the Old Colony with legal matters and was a point person in the Manitoba Old Colony’s effort to sell their land during their [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|1920s migration to Mexico]].

Black was born on 15 July 1866 in Kildonan, Manitoba to John Black and Henrietta Ross. His father was a Presbyterian minister, the first to serve in [[Canada]] west of the Great Lakes. His mother was the daughter of a fur trader and his Okanagan wife. Black practiced law in Morden from 1891 until his death on 3 January 1935 with the law firm established ten years earlier by J. B. McLaren, later known as McLeod, Black, and McAuley. Black was active in the local community and served for many years as an elder and leader of the Men's Bible Class in the Presbyterian and later the United church.

Black had a good relationship with many individual Old Colony Mennonites and frequently provided legal services for them and their institutions. When the provincial government attempted to close the network of private [[Elementary Education#North America|elementary schools]] the Mennonites ran and force their [[children]] into [[English Language|English language]], secular [[public schools]], Black’s law firm “faithfully served the interests of [the] Old Colony Mennonites in [the] prolonged conflict” that ensued.<ref>Werner, "Land Transactions," 24.</ref> When the Old Colony decided to leave Manitoba and move to [[Mexico]] over the [[Old Colony Mennonites#The School Question|school issue]], they turned to Black again to assist them with the migration.

The Old Colony hoped to sell all of their Manitoba land in a single block sale, which would allow them to redistribute resources among their community and also allow the leaders to exert social control over the emigration. However, such a sale faced many impediments (it never in fact materialized) and the Old Colony was in need of assistance. They therefore appointed Black in 1921 to be their exclusive agent to sell their land in a block sale. A sign of their trust in him was that they gave him sole authority to negotiate the price of the sales. Black worked diligently at achieving a sale for over three years, long past the point when it was clear that conditions made such a sale impossible.

Black assisted the Old Colony in other ways during this challenging time in their history. On 5 March 1924 he represented those Mennonites who had faced heavy fines for refusing to send their children to public schools before Manitoba’s Minister for Education and obtained for them a ten month reprieve from prosecution, thereby giving them some time to put their affairs in order for emigration. Black's firm also procured Certificates of Naturalization for emigrating Mennonites and assisted many individual Old Colony members with land sales when it they realized that a single block sale was not forthcoming. The Manitoba Old Colony leadership also persuaded Black to take charge of the assets in their [[Waisenamt]], which put him in regular contact for many years with Mennonites in Mexico who had outstanding accounts. When it later became apparent that the finances of the Waisenamt were irredeemably underwater, Black reportedly oversaw the [[bankruptcy]] proceedings with compassion and integrity. For many years after the emigration, Black acted as (and others perceived him as) the Mexican Old Colony Mennonites’ representative.

In 1926 Black visited the Old Colony Mennonites in [[Chihuahua (Mexico)|Chihuahua]], primarily, he wrote, in order to enjoy the intercourse of his many friends who had departed from Manitoba. When he returned he wrote a letter to the Morden Times explicitly to counter the negative view held by many of those Mennonites who had emigrated. Bruce Wiebe comments that the letter “speaks for itself and clearly reveals his appreciation for and positive relationship with the Old Colony Mennonites.”.<ref>"A Letter From John Henry Black," 10.</ref> Black remained in close personal communication with the Mennonites in Mexico for the rest of his life.

=See Also=
*[[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s]]
*[[Old Colony Mennonites]]

=Notes and References=
<references />

=Bibliography=
Ens, Adolf. ''Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925''. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 126-127, 183.

Lechner, Bernice et al. ''Morden; Mort Cheval; Pinancewaywinning; Lake Agassiz''. Morden Centennial Committee, 1981. P. 154.

Werner, Hans. “Old Colony and Russlaender Land Transactions.” ''Preservings'' 45 (Fall 2022): 23-28.

Werner, Hans. "Restoring the Commons: Land Deals and the Migration of Manitoba Mennonites to Mexico in the 1920s." ''Agricultural History'' 87, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 452-472.

Wiebe, Bruce. “A Letter from John Henry Black.” ''Preservings'' 28 (2008): 10-13.

Wiebe, Bruce. “The Move to Mexico: The Sale of Three West Reserve Villages.” ''Preservings'' (2010): 35-46.
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Janz, Benjamin B. (1877-1964)

2024-11-30T01:40:46Z

AileenFriesen: changed "the Ukraine"

[[File:bbjanz.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''B. B. Janz'']] Benjamin B. "B. B." Janz: Mennonite Brethren minister; born 25 September 1877 in [[Konteniusfeld (Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Konteniusfeld]], [[Molotschna Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Molotschna Mennonite Settlement]], South [[Russia|Russia]]. He was the eldest child of Benjamin Janz (4 April 1852 – 8 January 1932) and Helena (Penner) Janz (14 April 1854 – 8 April 1941). On 25 September 1905 Benjamin married Maria Rogalsky (14 April 1879, Kowalicha, Schoenfeld, Russia – 12 October 1953, Coaldale, Alberta, Canada). She was the daughter of Peter Rogalsky (11 May 1852 – 5 December 1930) and Getrude (Wiens) Rogalsky (b. 3 December 1849). Benjamin and Maria became the parents of six children: Peter, Helena, [[Wiens, David B. (1908-1981)|Gertrude]], Maria, Jacob and Martha. Benjamin died 16 October 1964 in Abbotsford, British Columbia and was buried in Coaldale, Alberta.

Benjamin, or "B.B." as he was often known, was an influential leader in the Mennonite world, particularly during [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]] and during the large Mennonite migration from [[Russia|Russia]] to [[Canada|Canada]] from 1923 to 1926. His entire life, noted for its integrity and tenacity, was dedicated to the support and guidance of Mennonites by his active involvement in their institutions, boards, and agencies. He was known as a "conference man," who promoted a strong church and a belief in nonresistance.

After a lengthy spiritual crisis, he was baptized by immersion on 10 August 1897 in Alexanderthal, Molotschna, South Russia, joining the Mennonite Brethren Church. As a consequence of his own long experience, he frequently spoke of being "in [[Conversion|conversion]]." He remained faithful to the Mennonite Brethren throughout his life, for he saw in them a voluntary body of believers, practicing radical ethics and strong [[Discipline, Church|church discipline]] and promoting thorough Bible study.

In 1905 Benjamin married Maria Rogalsky. Maria's "quiet, patient, praying, concerned, active support" (Toews, Courage, 142) of his ministry made difficult decisions and circumstances bearable for him. He was ordained in his early teaching years (1909), and soon moved into church work as leader and preacher. During World War I he served in the forestry service ([[Forsteidienst|Forsteidienst]]).

In 1921 he began the first of many tasks which would bring him into contact with government officials as negotiator and diplomat on behalf of the Mennonites. He was asked to negotiate the release of Mennonite young men who had been conscripted into the Red Army. This was followed by a request that he assist in negotiating with American Mennonites for help for the famine-stricken colonies in [[Ukraine|Ukraine]]. He was among the first to seriously explore emigration as a possibility for the Mennonites, rejecting the possibility that reconstruction was possible in Ukraine.

In 1926 as an immigrant farmer in the Coaldale, Alberta area, he was soon elected leader of the [[Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church (Coaldale, Alberta, Canada)|Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church]]. Before long he was again involved in the larger church constituency, serving with the [[Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization|Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization]] in an appeal to American Mennonites to help the sick among the Canadian Mennonite immigrants. He helped the board liquidate the travel [[Debts|debt]] (Reiseschuld) accumulated with the [[Canadian Pacific Railway Company|Canadian Pacific Railway]] by the immigrants.

When he saw that Mennonite young people needed better preparation to enter secular society, he devoted his energies to developing institutions, becoming instrumental in founding the [[Coaldale Bible School (Coaldale, Alberta, Canada)|Coaldale Bible School]] and the [[Alberta Mennonite High School (Coaldale, Alberta, Canada)|Coaldale Mennonite High School]].

During the years after World War II, he spent time in [[South America|South America]] in a ministry of reconciliation and resettlement for displaced persons, becoming known for his oft-repeated phrase, "Ich suche meine Brüder" (I am looking for my brethren).

Throughout his life he maintained a wide-ranging correspondence, admonishing, correcting, and encouraging. As a man caught between the Russian and Canadian cultures, his ministry, seen as being traditionalist, gradually became obsolete. Yet a mythology developed around his personality that indicated his voice was one that could not be regarded lightly.

Almost until his death he continued to be active in various boards and committees, e.g., the Board of Reference and Counsel and the Board of Welfare and Public Relations of the [[Mennonite Brethren Church|Mennonite Brethren General Conference]], Board of Reference and Counsel of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference, Board of [[Mennonite Brethren Bible College (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)|Mennonite Brethren Bible College]] (now Concord College), Mennonite Central Committee, [[Mennonite Central Relief Committee of Western Canada|Mennonite Central Relief Committee]], Board of Christian Press Limited, Committee on Nonresistance (conducting an extensive pastoral ministry to young men in alternative service), and a member of Dienst am Evangelium.
= Bibliography =
Epp, Frank H. Mennonite Exodus. Altona, MB: Canadian Mennonite Relief and Immigration Council, 1962.

Toews, John B. With Courage to Spare: The Life of B. B. Janz (1877-1964). Winnipeg: General Conference Mennonite Brethren Churches, 1978.

Toews, John B. Lost Fatherland: Mennonite Emigration from Soviet Russia, 1921-1927. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press 1967.

Toews, John A. History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, ed. A. J. Klassen. Fresno, CA: Mennonite Brethren Board of Literature and Publication, 1975, index.

=== Archival Records ===
The [http://www.mbconf.ca/mbstudies/ Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies ]in Winnipeg houses the B. B. Janz Collection.
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[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Ministers]]
[[Category:Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches Ministers]]
[[Category:Alberta Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches Ministers]]

San Luis Potosí (Mexico)

2024-10-17T19:54:37Z

AileenFriesen:

==Introduction==

San Luis Potosí (officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí) is one of the thirty-two states that make up nation of [[Mexico]]. Located in east-central Mexico, it is bordered by Nuevo León to the north, Tamaulipas to the northeast, Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Guanajuato to the south and Zacatecas to the northwest. The state covers 61,137 square kilometres and in 2020 had a population of 2,822,255.<ref>“San Luis Potosí State,” Gobierno de México, accessed Aug 30, 2023. https://www.economia.gob.mx/datamexico/en/profile/geo/san-luis-potosi-sl</ref>

==First Mennonites==

In 1944, six [[Old Order Mennonites|Old Order Mennonite]] and [[Old Order Amish]] families settled in the state, led by Aaron Martin of [[Lancaster County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Lancaster County, Pennsylvania]]. The settlement was something of an act of protest against the militarization of the [[United States of America|United States]]. However, the colony was short lived; Martin died in 1946, prompting the colonists to return to the US.

==Old Colonists from Mexico==

The next attempt at settling in San Luis Potosí was made by [[Old Colony Mennonites]] from [[Manitoba Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|Manitoba Colony]]. Contrary to prior reports of good agricultural land, the soil was too calcified for growing crops. Like the previous group, minister-leader Franz Loewen’s death left the group ill-prepared to continue and they returned to Chihuahua state.

In the 2000s, there have been fresh attempts to start daughter colonies in the state and these attempts have been successful thus far. [[Las Grullas Colony (San Luís Potosí, Mexico)|Las Grullas/Rio Verde]] was formed in 2006 by people from [[Nuevo Progreso Colony (Campeche, Mexico)|Nuevo Progreso]], [[Chavi Colony (Campeche, Mexico)|Chavi]], [[Yalnón Colony (Campeche, Mexico)|Yalnón]] and [[El Sabinal Colony (Chihuahua, Mexico)|El Sabinal]]. [[Huizache Colony (San Luís Potosí, Mexico)|Huizache]] was established 2008 and is a daughter colony of [[Zacatecas Colonies (La Batea, La Honda, Campeche, Mexico)|La Batea]].<ref>Yann le Polain de Waroux, “Data for ‘Pious Pioneers: The Expansion of Mennonite Colonies in Latin America’,” Borealis V1, accessed Aug 23, 2023. https://borealisdata.ca/file.xhtml?fileId=130565&version=1.1</ref>

==Notes==
<references />

= Bibliography =

De Waroux, Yann le Polain.“Data for ‘Pious Pioneers: The Expansion of Mennonite Colonies in Latin America’.” Borealis V1. Accessed Aug 15, 2023. https://borealisdata.ca/file.xhtml?fileId=130565&version=1.1

“San Luis Potosí State.” Gobierno de México. Accessed Aug 30, 2023. https://www.economia.gob.mx/datamexico/en/profile/geo/san-luis-potosi-sl
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