View source for Neufeld, Peter J. (1823-1909)

Peter J. Neufeld was an educator and printer of the Mennonites of [[Russia|Russia]]. He was born at [[Ladekopp (Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Ladekopp]], [[Molotschna Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Molotschna]], on 23 December 1823. From the age of 11 or 12 to 18 he attended the [[Halbstadt Zentralschule (Halbstadt, Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Halbstadt Zentralschule]], after which he succeeded his teacher, Johann Voth. In 1843 he succeeded [[Franz, Heinrich (1812-1889)|Heinrich Franz]] in the Gnadenfeld school. In 1841 Neufeld was baptized. In 1847 he married Laura Lange, the daughter of the Elder Wilhelm Lange of [[Gnadenfeld (Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Gnadenfeld]]. He was greatly influenced by the spiritual and cultural life of the Gnadenfeld community. In 1851 Neufeld resigned his position at Gnadenfeld and spent six years as a teacher in Odessa to perfect himself in the Russian language and to obtain a Russian teacher's certificate. In 1857 he became the teacher of the Steinbach school sponsored by [[Schmidt, Peter (1817-1876)|Peter Schmidt]]. After nine years of teaching he studied photography in [[Kharkov (Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine)|Kharkov]]. In 1866 he returned to Halbstadt, gave private instruction, and functioned as a photographer until 1870, when he returned to Steinbach for one year of teaching. In 1871-74 and 1878-86 he taught at the Halbstadt Zentralschule and in 1876-77 at the [[Gnadenfeld Zentralschule (Gnadenfeld, Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Gnadenfeld Zentralschule]]. In 1886 Neufeld retired from teaching and established a print shop in [[Halbstadt (Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Halbstadt]], which he sold in 1897 to H. J. Braun and Company, which later became the Raduga Publishing Company. His wife died in 1900. They had 13 children. His son Wilhelm P. Neufeld was educated in Germany and was a minister and teacher in the Gnadenfeld and Halbstadt Zentralschulen. Peter J. Neufeld died at Halbstadt on 22 November 1909.
= Bibliography =
Dirks, H. "Peter Neufeld."<em> Mennonitisches Jahrbuch</em> 1910 (Berdyansk, 1911): 78-91.

Friesen, Peter M. <em>Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Russland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte</em>. Halbstadt: Verlagsgesellschaft "Raduga,” 1911: 597-99.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em> Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 211.
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