Troyer (Treyer, Treier, Dreier)

Troyer (Treyer, Treier, Dreier), a Mennonite family name of Swiss origin. Hans Treyer, an early Anabaptist leader and one of the first Anabaptists executed in Bern, died on 8 July 1529. Peachey also names a Hans Treyer, a peasant at Laufen, Baselland, active as an Anabaptist 1529-30, and an Anna Dreyer, the wife of a peasant, probably the wife of the former. Jakob Treyer was an early Anabaptist of Laufen, near Basel. The name was found among the refugees in the Palatinate after 1664 who later came to Pennsylvania. Beginning ca. 1733 some Treyers (now Troyer) from the canton of Bern, Switzerland, moved to Pennsylvania, settling in Berks County. These were all Amish. By 1752 the brothers Michael and Andreas Troyer were listed as members in the Northkill Amish congregation in Berks County. The Troyer family spread westward to Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and to Ohio and Indiana, in which states by far the heaviest concentrations of the family name are found, although Amish and Mennonite members of the family are also represented in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, as well as in Mennonite communities in at least six other states and in Canada. In 1957 at least 53 men bearing the name of Troyer were serving as ministers in Mennonite churches. Of these, 39 were Old Order Amish preachers, 25 of whom were in Ohio. Jonas Troyer (1811-1897) was a leading bishop in the Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference. David A. Treyer (Treier) was an Amish bishop, whose Hinterlassene Schriften were published in 1923 (repr. 1925). He also left a manuscript on the dissensions among the Old Order Amish 1850-1861 in Ohio. Amos P. Troyer (1856-1935) was one of the leading Mennonite (MC) bishops in the Pacific Coast conference. D. D. Troyer (1870-1953) of Goshen, Indiana, was a well known bishop and served as president of the Mennonite Publication Board (Mennonite Church). N. E. Troyer (1879-1954) of West Liberty, Ohio, was a bishop (MC) and an evangelist. Dr. George D. Troyer (1890- ) served as a medical missionary in India and served in the Puerto Rico Mennonite Mission (MC). His son Dr. Dana Troyer also served as a medical missionary in India. Emanuel Troyer (1871-1942) was for many years a leading bishop in the Central District Conference. His son Maurice Troyer was vice-president of International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Lotus Troyer is a Mennonite (General Conference Mennonite) minister at Meadows, Illinois, and served as president of the Central District Conference. Menno M. Troyer of Conway, Kansas, was a minister in the West Liberty (MC) church and was secretary of the South Central Conference.

Bibliography

Bender, Harold S. Two Centuries of American Mennonite Literature: a Bibliography of Mennonitica Americana 1727-1928. Goshen, IN : Mennonite Historical Society, 1929: 60, 84.Yoder, Kate. Descendants of Jephtha A. Troyer, 1825-1957. Berlin, Ohio, 1957.

Geiser, Samuel. Die Taufgesinnten-Gemeinden. Karlsruhe, 1932: 162, 170 f., 181.

Gratz, Delbert L. Bernese Anabaptists. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1953: 8, 16, 20, 168.

Peachey, Paul. Die soziale Herkunft. Karlsruhe, 1954: 45, 119 (No. 219), 140 (Nos. 707, 708).

Troyer, Eli J. Troyer Family record: Genealogy of David Troyer. Howe, IN, 1927.

Author(s)	Melvin Gingerich
Date Published	1958

Cite This Article

MLA style

Gingerich, Melvin. "Troyer (Treyer, Treier, Dreier)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1958. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Troyer_(Treyer,_Treier,_Dreier)&oldid=128286.

APA style

Gingerich, Melvin. (1958). Troyer (Treyer, Treier, Dreier). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Troyer_(Treyer,_Treier,_Dreier)&oldid=128286.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 750. All rights reserved.

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