Difference between revisions of "Brubacher House (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)"

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Brubacher House, formerly referred to as Schmidt Farmhouse and John E. Brubacher House, is a historic house museum in [[Waterloo (Ontario, Canada)|Waterloo]], [[Ontario (Canada)|Ontario]]. It is located on the Haldimand Tract and the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) peoples.<ref>"Territorial Acknowledgement,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/ territorial-acknowledgment.</ref> The farmhouse functioned as a residence for members of the [[Brubacher (Brubacker, Brubaker, Brubaher, Brupacher) family|Brubacher family]] during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a museum, Brubacher House has aimed to encourage dialogue about and educate the public on the history and culture of Mennonites in Waterloo Region.<ref>“About Us,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us.</ref>
 
Brubacher House, formerly referred to as Schmidt Farmhouse and John E. Brubacher House, is a historic house museum in [[Waterloo (Ontario, Canada)|Waterloo]], [[Ontario (Canada)|Ontario]]. It is located on the Haldimand Tract and the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) peoples.<ref>"Territorial Acknowledgement,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/ territorial-acknowledgment.</ref> The farmhouse functioned as a residence for members of the [[Brubacher (Brubacker, Brubaker, Brubaher, Brupacher) family|Brubacher family]] during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a museum, Brubacher House has aimed to encourage dialogue about and educate the public on the history and culture of Mennonites in Waterloo Region.<ref>“About Us,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us.</ref>
  
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In 1850, Brubacher House was built to be the family home of John E. Brubacher (1822-1902) and Magdalena (Musselman) Brubacher (1827-1877), a Mennonite couple with Pennsylvania German heritage. The two-storey fieldstone farmhouse was constructed in a Pennsylvania German, Georgian architectural style. Magdalena and John E. raised their fourteen children in Brubacher House until Magdalena’s unexpected death in 1877. In 1882, John E. married Magdelena’s widowed sister, Esther Musselman (1842-1946).<ref>“John E. Brubacher,” Waterloo Region Generations, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I560&tree=generations.</ref>  John E. passed away in 1902, leaving the farmhouse to Esther. From 1903 until 1954, ownership of Brubacher House shifted between various relatives and descendants of the Brubacher family. In 1954, the house was sold to Caroline and William Schmidt who had no direct familial ties to the Brubachers.<ref>“Brubacher House Indoor Panels,” 2021, Brubacher House, panel 5.</ref> Residents throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used the land surrounding the home for agricultural production. In 1965, the University of Waterloo acquired Brubacher House along with nine other farmhouses as part of the University’s campus expansion. In 1968, a fire significantly damaged the home’s interior. After substantial restoration work, Brubacher House was converted into a museum.<ref>“About Brubacher House,” <nowiki>https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-brubacher-house</nowiki>.</ref>  The farmhouse was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a site of “historic value and interest” in 1975,<ref>City of Waterloo, “By-Law No. 75-162, November 3, 1975,” Ontario Heritage Act Register, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/oha/details/file?id=4979, 1-2.</ref> and on 28 June 1979, Brubacher House museum opened to the public.<ref>Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, University of Waterloo, and Conrad Grebel University, “Public Invitation to the Opening of the John E. Brubacher House,” Letter, 1979, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, Mennonite Archives of Ontario.</ref> In 2019, Brubacher House was recognized by the City of Waterloo as an important Cultural Heritage Landscape.<ref>City of Waterloo, Cultural Heritage Landscape Inventory, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, 195-202, https://www.waterloo.ca/en/government/resources/Documents/Cityadministration/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Study/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Inventory.pdf.</ref>
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In 1850, Brubacher House was built to be the family home of John E. Brubacher (1822-1902) and Magdalena (Musselman) Brubacher (1827-1877), a Mennonite couple with Pennsylvania German heritage. The two-storey fieldstone farmhouse was constructed in a Pennsylvania German, Georgian architectural style. Magdalena and John E. raised their fourteen children in Brubacher House until Magdalena’s unexpected death in 1877. In 1882, John E. married Magdalena’s widowed sister, Esther Musselman (1842-1946).<ref>“John E. Brubacher,” Waterloo Region Generations, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I560&tree=generations.</ref>  John E. passed away in 1902, leaving the farmhouse to Esther. From 1903 until 1954, ownership of Brubacher House shifted between various relatives and descendants of the Brubacher family. In 1954, the house was sold to Caroline and William Schmidt who had no direct familial ties to the Brubachers.<ref>“Brubacher House Indoor Panels,” 2021, Brubacher House, panel 5.</ref> Residents throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used the land surrounding the home for agricultural production. In 1965, the University of Waterloo acquired Brubacher House along with nine other farmhouses as part of the University’s campus expansion. In 1968, a fire significantly damaged the home’s interior. After substantial restoration work, Brubacher House was converted into a museum.<ref>“About Brubacher House,” <nowiki>https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-brubacher-house</nowiki>.</ref>  The farmhouse was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a site of “historic value and interest” in 1975,<ref>City of Waterloo, “By-Law No. 75-162, November 3, 1975,” Ontario Heritage Act Register, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/oha/details/file?id=4979, 1-2.</ref> and on 28 June 1979, Brubacher House museum opened to the public.<ref>Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, University of Waterloo, and Conrad Grebel University, “Public Invitation to the Opening of the John E. Brubacher House,” Letter, 1979, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, Mennonite Archives of Ontario.</ref> In 2019, Brubacher House was recognized by the City of Waterloo as an important Cultural Heritage Landscape.<ref>City of Waterloo, Cultural Heritage Landscape Inventory, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, 195-202, https://www.waterloo.ca/en/government/resources/Documents/Cityadministration/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Study/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Inventory.pdf.</ref>
  
 
The establishment of Brubacher House as a historic house museum began with the advocacy of members of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and University of Waterloo faculty during the mid- to late-1960s. They proposed that the University of Waterloo preserve and restore one of the original farmhouses on their expanded campus due to the local historical, educational, and cultural value of the buildings.<ref>J. Winfield Fretz, “J. Winfield Fretz to Robert Gramlow,” Letter, 1974, Mennonite Archives of Ontario, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, 1-2.</ref>  After the University of Waterloo sanctioned the project, Brubacher House was selected for restoration.  The University of Waterloo, Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, and Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario collaborated to convert the home into a museum that depicted life in a Mennonite farmhouse from the 1850s-1890s. The Mennonite community in the region was instrumental in Brubacher House’s transformation. In fact, local Mennonite and expert craftsperson Simeon Martin led the restoration process. After the house opened as a museum, the University of Waterloo continued to own Brubacher House and managed the site alongside the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and Conrad Grebel University College.<ref>About Us,” https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us</ref> Live-in museum hosts were designated to conduct day-to-day programming and  to be responsible for the care of the historic house.<ref>“Hosts,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us/hosts.</ref>
 
The establishment of Brubacher House as a historic house museum began with the advocacy of members of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and University of Waterloo faculty during the mid- to late-1960s. They proposed that the University of Waterloo preserve and restore one of the original farmhouses on their expanded campus due to the local historical, educational, and cultural value of the buildings.<ref>J. Winfield Fretz, “J. Winfield Fretz to Robert Gramlow,” Letter, 1974, Mennonite Archives of Ontario, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, 1-2.</ref>  After the University of Waterloo sanctioned the project, Brubacher House was selected for restoration.  The University of Waterloo, Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, and Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario collaborated to convert the home into a museum that depicted life in a Mennonite farmhouse from the 1850s-1890s. The Mennonite community in the region was instrumental in Brubacher House’s transformation. In fact, local Mennonite and expert craftsperson Simeon Martin led the restoration process. After the house opened as a museum, the University of Waterloo continued to own Brubacher House and managed the site alongside the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and Conrad Grebel University College.<ref>About Us,” https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us</ref> Live-in museum hosts were designated to conduct day-to-day programming and  to be responsible for the care of the historic house.<ref>“Hosts,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us/hosts.</ref>

Latest revision as of 13:58, 21 August 2024


Brubacher House
Photo: Brubacher House Museum website

Brubacher House, formerly referred to as Schmidt Farmhouse and John E. Brubacher House, is a historic house museum in Waterloo, Ontario. It is located on the Haldimand Tract and the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) peoples.[1] The farmhouse functioned as a residence for members of the Brubacher family during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a museum, Brubacher House has aimed to encourage dialogue about and educate the public on the history and culture of Mennonites in Waterloo Region.[2]

In 1850, Brubacher House was built to be the family home of John E. Brubacher (1822-1902) and Magdalena (Musselman) Brubacher (1827-1877), a Mennonite couple with Pennsylvania German heritage. The two-storey fieldstone farmhouse was constructed in a Pennsylvania German, Georgian architectural style. Magdalena and John E. raised their fourteen children in Brubacher House until Magdalena’s unexpected death in 1877. In 1882, John E. married Magdalena’s widowed sister, Esther Musselman (1842-1946).[3] John E. passed away in 1902, leaving the farmhouse to Esther. From 1903 until 1954, ownership of Brubacher House shifted between various relatives and descendants of the Brubacher family. In 1954, the house was sold to Caroline and William Schmidt who had no direct familial ties to the Brubachers.[4] Residents throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used the land surrounding the home for agricultural production. In 1965, the University of Waterloo acquired Brubacher House along with nine other farmhouses as part of the University’s campus expansion. In 1968, a fire significantly damaged the home’s interior. After substantial restoration work, Brubacher House was converted into a museum.[5] The farmhouse was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a site of “historic value and interest” in 1975,[6] and on 28 June 1979, Brubacher House museum opened to the public.[7] In 2019, Brubacher House was recognized by the City of Waterloo as an important Cultural Heritage Landscape.[8]

The establishment of Brubacher House as a historic house museum began with the advocacy of members of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and University of Waterloo faculty during the mid- to late-1960s. They proposed that the University of Waterloo preserve and restore one of the original farmhouses on their expanded campus due to the local historical, educational, and cultural value of the buildings.[9] After the University of Waterloo sanctioned the project, Brubacher House was selected for restoration.  The University of Waterloo, Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, and Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario collaborated to convert the home into a museum that depicted life in a Mennonite farmhouse from the 1850s-1890s. The Mennonite community in the region was instrumental in Brubacher House’s transformation. In fact, local Mennonite and expert craftsperson Simeon Martin led the restoration process. After the house opened as a museum, the University of Waterloo continued to own Brubacher House and managed the site alongside the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and Conrad Grebel University College.[10] Live-in museum hosts were designated to conduct day-to-day programming and to be responsible for the care of the historic house.[11]

In 2024, visitors to Brubacher House could tour the kitchen, pantry, bedroom, and parlour on the main floor as well as a summer kitchen in the basement. Artifacts, such as furniture, textiles, and tools, from the Brubacher family and other local Mennonite families furnished these spaces. The historic house museum featured texts of Mennonite religious significance, including an 1814 copy of Martyrs’ Mirror and a copy of Die Gemeinschaftliche Liedersammlung, a hymnbook compiled by Bishop Benjamin Eby and published in 1836. Liedersammlung was the first book printed in Waterloo Region and an integral component of Mennonite faith practices across Ontario throughout the nineteenth century.[12] In addition to touring the interior of the home, visitors could explore Brubacher House’s grounds, which featured a nineteenth-century style four-square kitchen garden.[13] Brubacher House also hosted community events, featured an artist-in-residence program, and offered event space rentals.[14]

Brubacher House was built on Block Two of the Haldimand Tract.[15] The Haldimand Tract included six miles of land on either side of the Grand River. This land was pledged to the Six Nations of the Grand River in 1784 through the Haldimand Proclamation. It was agreed that the Crown would put the funds generated from surrendered blocks of the Haldimand Tract toward supporting the Six Nations; however, the Crown did not honour their commitment and most to all of the revenue never reached the Six Nations peoples.[16] In the early 1800s, a group of Mennonites from Lancaster County formed the German Company to purchase Block Two of the Haldimand Tract, which consisted of 60,000 acres of land that would eventually become Waterloo Township. The German Company acquired the land in 1805, stimulating a wave of Mennonite migration from Pennsylvania into the area during the early nineteenth century.[17] Susannah (Erb) Brubacher, John E. Brubacher’s grandmother, was one of the shareholders in the German Company, and Brubacher House was built on Lot 25 of the German Company’s holdings.[18] As part of Brubacher House’s efforts toward inclusivity in the early 2020s, programming was added to the site to acknowledge the Indigenous history of the land and reflect on the role that Mennonite land purchases and settlement in the Grand River Valley have played in the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.[19]

In 2024, Brubacher House was open to the public for tours on afternoons from Wednesday to Saturday, May through October.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Territorial Acknowledgement,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/ territorial-acknowledgment.
  2. ↑ “About Us,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us.
  3. ↑ “John E. Brubacher,” Waterloo Region Generations, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I560&tree=generations.
  4. ↑ “Brubacher House Indoor Panels,” 2021, Brubacher House, panel 5.
  5. ↑ “About Brubacher House,” https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-brubacher-house.
  6. ↑ City of Waterloo, “By-Law No. 75-162, November 3, 1975,” Ontario Heritage Act Register, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/oha/details/file?id=4979, 1-2.
  7. ↑ Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, University of Waterloo, and Conrad Grebel University, “Public Invitation to the Opening of the John E. Brubacher House,” Letter, 1979, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, Mennonite Archives of Ontario.
  8. ↑ City of Waterloo, Cultural Heritage Landscape Inventory, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, 195-202, https://www.waterloo.ca/en/government/resources/Documents/Cityadministration/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Study/Cultural-Heritage-Landscapes-Inventory.pdf.
  9. ↑ J. Winfield Fretz, “J. Winfield Fretz to Robert Gramlow,” Letter, 1974, Mennonite Archives of Ontario, Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2, 1-2.
  10. ↑ About Us,” https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us
  11. ↑ “Hosts,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-us/hosts.
  12. ↑ “Die Gemeinschaftliche Liedersammlung,” Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/milton-good-library/digitized-publications/die-gemeinschaftliche-liedersammlung#:~:text=The%20Liedersammlung%20was%20used%20by,an%20antique%20dealer%20in%20Guelph.
  13. ↑ “Four Square Garden,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/four-square-garden.
  14. ↑ “Event Space,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/about-brubacher-house/event-space; “Exhibits and Programs,” Brubacher House Museum, University of Waterloo, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/events/exhibits-and-programs.
  15. ↑ “Territorial Acknowledgement,” https://uwaterloo.ca/brubacher-house/ territorial-acknowledgment.
  16. ↑ Six Nations Lands & Resources Department, “Land Rights: A Global Solution for the Six Nations of the Grand River,” Web. 2019, 6. https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p80100/130877E.pdf.
  17. ↑ “A Brief History of the Land in Waterloo Region,” Waterloo Public Library, Web. accessed 2 July 2024, https://www.wpl.ca/content/brief-history-land-waterloo-region.
  18. ↑ “John E. Brubacher,” https://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca/getperson.php?personID=I560&tree=generations; City of Waterloo, Cultural Heritage Landscape Inventory, 196.
  19. ↑ “Brubacher House Indoor Panels,” panels 1-5; Laura, Enns, “A More Inclusive Story,” Canadian Mennonite Magazine, Web. 22 September 2021, https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/more-inclusive-story.

Bibliography

“Brubacher House Indoor Panels,” 2021. Brubacher House, Waterloo, ON., Canada.

Enns, Laura. “A More Inclusive Story.” Canadian Mennonite Magazine. Web 22 September 2021. https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/more-inclusive-story.

Fretz, J. Winfield. Letter. “J. Winfield Fretz to Robert Gramlow.” Letter, 1974. Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2. Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Six Nations Lands & Resources Department. “Land Rights: A Global Solution for the Six Nations of the Grand River.” Six Nations of the Grand River. Web. 2019. https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p80100/130877E.pdf.

Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, University of Waterloo, and Conrad Grebel University. Letter. “Invitation to the Opening of the John E. Brubacher House.” Letter, 1979. Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario Projects, XV-30.2. Mennonite Archives of Ontario.

Additional Information

Street Address: Frank Tompa Dr., Waterloo N2L 3G1

Mailing Address: BRH-200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1

Phone: 519-886-3855

Email: bhouse@uwaterloo.ca

Website: Brubacher House Museum


Brubacher House Hosts

Hosts Years
Nancy and Ted Maitland 1977-1982
Ida Habermehl and Dorothy Bean 1982-1986
Paul and Edna Hunsberger 1986-1991
Carol and Howard Gimbel 1991-1994
Arlyn and Judith Friesen Epp 1994-2000
Jennie and Colin Wiebe 2000-2004
Chris Steingart and Jillian Burkhardt 2004-2006
Bethany and Brandon Leis 2006-2009
Mark and Allison Brubacher 2009-2013
Jacquie and Karl Reimer 2013-2017
Joshua and Laura Enns 2017-


Author(s) Julia Nicolaisen
Date Published 10 Aug 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Nicolaisen, Julia. "Brubacher House (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 10 Aug 2024. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brubacher_House_(Waterloo,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=179491.

APA style

Nicolaisen, Julia. (10 Aug 2024). Brubacher House (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brubacher_House_(Waterloo,_Ontario,_Canada)&oldid=179491.



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