View source for Hildebrand, Peter (1754-1849)

Peter Hildebrand: a [[Frisian Mennonites|Frisian Mennonite]] [[Preacher|preacher]] in the [[Kronsweide Mennonite Church (Kronsweide, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Kronsweide congregation]]; born 3 March 1754 in [[Bröske (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)|Broeske]], Prussia to Michael Hildebrand and Maria (Börends) Hildebrand, who were Lutheran. Peter married Helena Höppner (11 May 1775, [[Brodsack (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)|Brodsack]], Prussia - 18 June 1833, [[Insel Chortitza (Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Insel Chortitza]], Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, South Russia), the daughter of deputy [[Höppner, Jakob (1748-1826)|Jakob Höppner]]. They were married on 8 February 1793 on Insel Chortitza, Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, and had nine children in total. After Helena's death by drowning, Peter was married for the second time on 10 August 1834 to Aganetha (Braun) Friesen (9 July 1781, [[Laakendorf (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)|Lakendorf]], Prussia - 17 August 1851, Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, South Russia). Peter died on 27 March 1849 at his home on Insel Chortitza, Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, where he was buried.

Peter was in the first group of immigrants from [[Danzig (Poland)|Danzig]], and was one of the six men who went ahead of the party to [[Dubrovna (Vitsebsk Voblast, Belarus)|Dubrovna]] with Jakob Höppner to make preparations for the group. Hildebrand was baptized into the Mennonite faith in 1791 and ordained to the ministry in the Kronsweide Mennonite Church on 10 July 1810.

Peter's impressions were published in 1888 in <em>Erste Auswanderung der Mennoniten aus dem Danziger Gebiet nach Südrussland. </em>As an eyewitness and participant in the historical events of the settlement on the Dnieper in 1789 his accounts are important source material for the student of [[Mennonite (The Name)|Mennonite]] history. He relates in the introduction to his book how he came to put down in writing the events of those years: "Several persons expressed the wish to have the most exact information possible concerning the initial steps and the further course of the emigration from Danzig to Russia. ... I myself also wanted to record it as a memorial for my descendants. . . ." Thus Hildebrand became the first [[Historiography: Russia|historiographer]] of the Mennonites of South Russia.
= Bibliography =
GRANDMA (The <strong>G</strong>enealogical <strong>R</strong>egistry <strong>an</strong>d <strong>D</strong>atabase of <strong>M</strong>ennonite <strong>A</strong>ncestry) Database, 6.02 ed. Fresno, CA: <span class="link-external"><span class="link-external">[http://calmenno.org/index.htm California Mennonite Historical Society]</span></span>, 2010: #174696.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em> Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 313.

Hildebrand, Peter. <em>Erste Auswanderung der Mennoniten aus dem Danziger Gebiet nach Südrussland: aus den nachgelassenen Papieren des verstorbenen Kirchenlehrers Peter Hildebrand. </em>Halbstadt: P. Neufeld, 1888. 111 pp.

Hildebrand, Peter. <em>From Danzig to Russia.</em> Translated by Walter E. Toews with Adolf Ens. Echo Historical Series 14. Winnipeg, MB: CMBC Publications and Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2000. 62 pp.

Peters, Victor, ed. <em>Zwei Dokument: Quellen zum Geschichtsstudium der Mennoniten in Russland</em>. Historische Schriftenreihe des Echo-Verlags 14. Winnipeg, MB: Echo-Verlag, 1965. 58 pp.
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