Difference between revisions of "Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936)"
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| + | Kornelius Epp, [[Ministry (Prusso-Russian Background Mennonites)|minister]], [[Bishop (Ältester)|Ältester]] and teacher, was born 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]]. He married Maria Bueckert (1855-1935) in 1885. In 1891 they moved to Canada, staying briefly in [[Manitoba (Canada)|Manitoba]] before continuing on to the [[Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada)|Rosthern]], [[Saskatchewan (Canada)|Saskatchewan]] area in 1892. Sometime after 1908 they moved back to Manitoba and then back to Saskatchewan again before [[Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s|emigrating]] to [[Mexico]] where he died on 12 June 1936 in the village of Blumengart in the Manitoba Colony. | ||
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| + | Kornelius Epp 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. | ||
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. | 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. | ||
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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]]. | 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. | + | 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. 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. |
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. | 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. | ||
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=Bibliography= | =Bibliography= | ||
Latest revision as of 23:11, 1 March 2026
Kornelius Epp, minister, Ältester and teacher, was born 1 July 1861 in the Chortitza Colony. As a child, he moved with his family to the Fürstenland Colony. He married Maria Bueckert (1855-1935) in 1885. In 1891 they moved to Canada, staying briefly in Manitoba before continuing on to the Rosthern, Saskatchewan area in 1892. Sometime after 1908 they moved back to Manitoba and then back to Saskatchewan again before emigrating to Mexico where he died on 12 June 1936 in the village of Blumengart in the Manitoba Colony.
Kornelius Epp made his most notable contribution to the Mennonite people by serving as the first Ältester of the Bergthaler church in Saskatchewan. He also served as a minor leader in the Emigration from Canada to Mexico and Paraguay in the 1920s.
The first groups of Mennonite settlers began moving to the Rosthern area of what would become Saskatchewan in 1891. They came predominantly from Manitoba’s West Reserve, some of them having only very recently arrived from Russia. In 1893, with Epp's prompting, the settlers sent a letter to David Stoesz, Ältester of the Chortitzer church in eastern Manitoba, asking for help organizing a church. Stoesz arrived in the summer of that year and 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, 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 Bergthaler church and ecclesially aligned with the Chortitzer and Sommerfelder churches in Manitoba, which had recently split from the Bergthaler church, had moved to the area around Hague and Rosthern. They wrote to 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 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 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. 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.
In the 1920s, many Mennonites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan moved to Mexico in response to changes to the education laws in those provinces that restricted the Mennonites’ 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 under the leadership of 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 village of Blumengart in the Manitoba Colony where he lived out his final years.
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 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.
| Author(s) | Gerald Ens |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 2025 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Ens, Gerald. "Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2025. Web. 16 Apr 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Epp,_Kornelius_(1861-1936)&oldid=181718.
APA style
Ens, Gerald. (2025). Epp, Kornelius (1861-1936). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Epp,_Kornelius_(1861-1936)&oldid=181718.
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