Wiebe (Wieb) family

A Mennonite family name of Dutch origin, Wiebe is derived from the Christian name Wiebe or Wiebke. The name among Mennonites spread from Holland to Prussia, then Poland, then Russia, and finally to North America. In 1616 Adam Wiebe came to Danzig from Harlingen, Holland. The name was found in Tiegenhagen, Ladekopp, Rosenort, Fürstenwerder, Heubuden, Elbing, Neunhuben, and Königsberg. Horst Penner has written a detailed account of the early history of this family. According to Franz Crous in his article "Mennonitenfamilien in Zahlen," the name Wiebe ranked second to Penner in frequency among the Prussian Mennonites (366 bearers) before World War II. Herbert Wiebe was the author of Das Siedlungswerk niederländischer Mennoniten im Weichseltal ... (Marburg, 1952). The name was also very common in the Mennonite settlements of Russia and is still widespread among the Mennonites of Canada, and United States, and South America. In Russia, Dietrich Wiebe was a well-known bonesetter from Lichtfelde, Molotschna Colony.

Who's Who Among the Mennonites (1943) listed 14 ministers of the Wiebe family in the United States and Canada, among whom were D. V. Wiebe, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren (KMB) minister and educator, Frank V. Wiebe, KMB preacher at Gnadenau Church and missionary to China, Henry D. Wiebe, Mennonite Brethren (MB) pastor at Shafter, California, J. F. D. Wiebe, KMB minister in Herbert, Saskatchewan, and John A. Wiebe, MB missionary in India. A. J. Wiebe was a pioneer minister for the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM) at Paso Robles, California; Peter Wiebe was a bishop of the Mennonite Church (MC) near Goshen, Indiana; Orlando Wiebe, an Evangelical Mennonite Brethren (EMB), was a teacher at Grace Bible Institute; Arno Wiebe was an EMB pastor at Dallas, Oregon; H. P. Wiebe was an EMB pastor at Abbotsford, British Columbia. GCM Pastors included Abe Wiebe at Freeman, South Dakota, Willard Wiebe at Mountain Lake, Minnesota, and Ed Wiebe at Ringwood, Oklahoma. Pastors of the Mennonite Brethren church were J. J. Wiebe at Kelowna, British Columbia, W. J. Wiebe at Morden, Manitoba, Anton Wiebe at Niverville, Manitoba, H. G. Wiebe at Leamington, Ontario, and J. P. Wiebe at Hepburn, Saskatchewan. In 1957 there were 40 active Mennonite ministers in North America representing this family. Of this 40, there were 23 in Canada and 17 in the United States distributed as follows: British Columbia 7, Saskatchewan 5, Manitoba 9, Ontario 2, California 8, Oregon 2, Kansas 2, and one each in Indiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Distributed by affiliation the MB conference had 24 ministers with this name, GCM 7, EMB 4, KMB 1, MC 1, and Church of God in Christ 3.

Bibliography

Crous, Franz. "Mennonitische Familien in Zahlen." Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter 5 (1940): 41.

Penner, Horst. "Die Wiebes." Mennonitisches Jahrbuch (Newton, 1951): 14-20.

Reimer, Gustav E. Die Familiennamen der westpreussischen Mennoniten. Weierhof, 1940: 120.

Schröder, H. H. Russlanddeutsche Friesen. Döllstädt, 1936: 99.

Töws, A. A. Mennonitische Märtyrer I. Clearbrook, BC, 1954: 86-89.

Author(s)	Cornelius Krahn
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Krahn, Cornelius. "Wiebe (Wieb) family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wiebe_(Wieb)_family&oldid=119085.

APA style

Krahn, Cornelius. (1959). Wiebe (Wieb) family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wiebe_(Wieb)_family&oldid=119085.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 943-944. All rights reserved.

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