Schmiedeleut
Schmiedeleut, one of the three Hutterite kinship groups (the other two being the Dariusleut and the Lehrerleut, so named because its founder, Preacher Michael Waldner, was a blacksmith (Schmied) in Russia. Michael Waldner was the first to re-establish communal living in Bruderhof form, which he did in 1859 in one end of the village of Hutterdorf in the Ukraine (see Dariusleut). The Waldner Bruderhof migrated to South Dakota in 1874 and settled the Bon Homme Colony near Yankton. This was the first Hutterite Bruderhof in America and is commonly, though wrongly, thought of as the mother Bruderhof of all Hutterites in America. The second kinship group, the Dariusleut, which was established in 1860 in the same Hutterdorf village in Russia, arrived in South Dakota later in 1874 and did not establish its first Bruderhof (Wolf Creek) until the next year, 1875. In the late 1950s the Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs in the United States were all in South Dakota, and those in Canada were all in Manitoba, and they were the only group having Bruderhofs in these two locations. Their leader or bishop was Peter Hofer, James Valley Colony, Starbuck, Manitoba, who was chosen in 1951. Following is a list of the Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs as they existed in 1957.
Census of Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs
| Name of Colony | Address | Founded | Pop. 1957 | Head Preacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs in South Dakota | ||||
| Bon Homme | Tabor | 1874 | 90 | Jacob Waldner |
| Glendale | Frankfort | 1949 | 130 | John Waldner |
| Gracevale | Winfred | 1948 | 104 | Sam Wipf |
| Huron | Huron | 1944 | 135 | Jacob Wollmann |
| Jamesville | Utica | 1937 | 95 | Paul Wurz |
| Maxwell | Scotland | 1949 | 113 | Joseph Hofer |
| Millerdale | Miller | 1949 | 74 | John Waldner |
| New Elm Spring | Ethan | 1936 | 145 | Sam Wollmann |
| Pearl Creek | Iroquois | 1949 | 130 | Michael Waldner |
| Platte | Academy | 1949 | 102 | Joseph Waldner |
| Riverside | Huron | 1949 | 80 | John Waldner |
| Rockport | Alexandria | 1934 | 123 | Dan Wipf |
| Rosedale | Mitchell | 1945 | 114 | Joseph Waldner, Sr. |
| Spink | Frankfort | 1945 | 142 | John Wipf |
| Tschetter | Olivet | 1942 | 144 | David Decker, Sr. |
| Clark | Raymond | 1955 | 75 | Fred Waldner |
| Blumengard | Wecota | 1950 | 73 | Jacob Hofer |
| Total | 1,869 | |||
| Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs in North Dakota | ||||
| Forest River | 1950 | Closed in 1955 | ||
| Schmiedeleut Bruderhofs in Manitoba: census data as of April 1958 | ||||
| Barickman | Headingly | 1920 | 124 | David Hofer |
| Bloomfield | Westbourne | 1954 | 65 | John R. Hofer |
| Blumengard | Plum Coulee | 1922 | 107 | Jacob Waldner |
| Bon Homme | Elie | 1918 | 155 | Joseph Wollman |
| Crystal Springs | St. Agathe | 1954 | 91 | Jacob Kleinsasser |
| Elm River | Newton Siding | 1934 | 105 | Jacob Z. Hofer |
| Gruenwald | Dencross | 1956 | 92 | Joseph P. Hofer |
| Huron | Benard | 1918 | 123 | Joseph Glanzer |
| Iberville | Headingly | 1919 | 131 | Andreas Gross |
| James Valley | Starbuck | 1918 | 98 | Peter Hofer |
| Lakeside | Headingly | 1946 | 126 | George Wipf |
| Maxwell | Headingly | 1918 | 135 | George Waldner |
| Milltown | Benard | 1918 | 84 | Michael Waldner |
| New Rosedale | Portage la Prairie | 1944 | 191 | Jacob Maendel |
| Oak Bluff | Morris | 1954 | 89 | David J. Hofer |
| Poplar Point | Poplar Point | 1938 | 151 | Fred Waldner |
| Riverdale | Gladstone | 1946 | 140 | David Wurz |
| Riverside | Arden | 1934 | 81 | John J. Hofer |
| Rock Lake | Gross Isle | 1947 | 124 | Michael Gross |
| Rosedale | Elie | 1918 | 206 | Jacob K. Hofer |
| Spring Valley | Brandon | 1956 | 87 | Jacob Waldner |
| Sturgeon Creek | Headingly | 1938 | 104 | Samuel Kleinsasser |
| Springfield | Anola | 1950 | 126 | Samuel Waldner |
| Sunnyside | Newton Siding | 1940 | 125 | Joseph Kleinsasser |
| Waldheim | Elie | 1935 | 106 | Michael Waldner |
| Rose Valley | Graysville | 1958 | 69 | David Waldner |
| Total | 3,035 | |||
| Grand Total | 4,904 | |||
| Author(s) | Harold S Bender |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. "Schmiedeleut." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schmiedeleut&oldid=117529.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. (1959). Schmiedeleut. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Schmiedeleut&oldid=117529.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 467-468. All rights reserved.
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