Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)
Johann J. Friesen: minister and Ältester, immigration delegate; born 6 December 1869 in Russia (likely in the Fürstenland Colony), the eldest of nine children of Jacob Friesen (21 August 1840–12 February 1927) and Helena (Siemens) Friesen (13 July 1846–21 February 1923). Johann married Maria Fehr (19 September 1879–13 May 1931), daughter of Abram Fehr (6 September 1856–10 August 1922) and Maria (Doell) Fehr (9 June 1858–7 October 1888) on 16 July 1899 and they raised six foster children: Abraham Klassen, Johann Klassen, Peter Hamm, Elisabeth Hamm, Cornelius Loepki, and Agatha Loepki. After Maria's death, he married Sara Loewen (b. 16 August 1901) on 24 December 1931 in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacob Loewen (22 July 1865–14 July 1941) and Katharina (Harms) Loewen (3 February 1870–12 March 1942). Johann and Sara had one child, Jacob. Johann died 2 August 1935 in Chihuahua.
Johann moved to Manitoba with his parents in 1875, settling in the West Reserve. He was elected Ältester of the Reinländer Church in 1913 and continued in that capacity until his death; Isaak Dyck, who had been elected assistant Ältester due to Friesen's failing health two years prior, succeeded him.
As the Ältester of the Reinländer Church during World War I, Friesen resisted the mandatory registration of adult males required by the Canadian government in 1916-1918, even though many other Mennonite groups willingly participated in this registration. Friesen, along with other Mennonite leaders, received personal assurances from Prime Minister Robert Borden that Mennonites would not be conscripted into the armed forces. Nevertheless, Friesen remained concerned about the implications of a general registration and initially persuaded his congregation to resist this measure, though he and the congregation eventually relented.
Friesen was a fierce advocate for emigration in the face of new education policies in Manitoba. These policies, beginning in earnest in 1916, required children's attendance at public schools, which at the time had an assimilationist and militaristic curriculum. Friesen was also concerned by what he saw as increasing affluence and accommodation to the world among his church members, especially in their adoption of automobiles and fashionable dress, and saw emigration as an answer to such issues.
During the public schools crisis, Friesen told a government official that retention of the German language was not the issue at hand. Instead, Friesen argued, the church was concerned about their children being indoctrinated into the twin ideologies of nationalism and militarism, as represented by the Union Jack, which was now flown at every school. Many historians cite this exchange in accounting for the motivations of the emigrating Mennonites.[1]
Friesen served on land-seeking delegations to Mississippi, Quebec, Mexico, and Paraguay in 1920 and 1921. By the beginning of 1922, the Reinländer Church had determined upon a course of migration to Mexico, but enthusiasm among church members was waning. In response, Friesen canvassed the community, requiring that all members affirmatively state their intentions to emigrate by re-registering with the church. He excommunicated those who refused. Sixty-four percent of the Manitoba Reinländer ultimately moved to Mexico, by far the highest percentage among the emigrating Canadian Mennonite groups. Like the other two Reinländer Ältesten in Saskatchewan, when Friesen moved he refused to ordain a successor. In his view, the entire church had moved and those who did not move had cut themselves off from it. This left the remnants of Reinländer Church in Manitoba in disarray until they eventually reorganized under the leadership of Jacob Froese in the 1930s.
Friesen moved to Mexico in 1923, one year after the founding of the first villages of the Manitoba Colony. He was aware that settling in Mexico would likely involve much hardship and sought to encourage and fortify his people during and after the migration. Walter Schmiedehaus recounts Friesen working tirelessly to help his flock establish themselves during the difficult early years in Mexico.[2] During his first few years in Mexico, Friesen devoted much of his energy to resolving a conflict with agraristas, peasant farmers who claimed as theirs the Old Colony's newly purchased lands under the Mexican government's land redistribution scheme. Friesen was ultimately able to safeguard his people's right to and security within their land via repeated appeals to the state and federal governments, and with the notable assistance of Walter Schmiedehaus and Klaas Heide.
Friesen is remembered in the written record for his conscientious fulfillment of his duties as a church leader, for his gentle yet persistent and direct demeanor and approach to leadership, for his ability to persuade and motivate his congregants, and for the hardline stance he adopted towards those who did not immigrate with the church to Mexico.
Notes
Bibliography
Dyck, Isaak M. "The Mennonite Emigration from Canada to Mexico," translated by Robyn Sneath. Preservings, no. 44 (Spring 2022): 11-71.
Dyck, John, and William Harms, eds. Reinländer Gemeinde Buch 1880-1903. Winnipeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 1994.
Elias, Peter A. Voice in the Wilderness: Memoirs of Peter A. Elias, translated and edited by Adolf Ens and Henry Unger. Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2013: 16, 71, 83, 88, 99, 113-115, 136-138.
Ens, Adolf. "A Second Look at the Rejected Conservatives." In Old Colony Mennonites in Canada: 1875-2000, edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach, MB: Crossway, 2001: 27-32.
Ens, Adolf. Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994: 156, 174, 204, 216.
Ens, Gerhard J. The Rural Municipality of Rhineland, 1884-1984. Altona, MB: R.M. of Rhineland, 1984: 126-128.
Epp, Frank H. Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People's Struggle for Survival. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982: 94-138.
Friesen, John J. "Reinländer Mennoniten Gemeinde: Reinländer Mennonite Settlement on the West Reserve, 1870s-1920s, also known as the Old Colony Church." In Old Colony Mennonite in Canada: 1875-2000, edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach, MB: Crossway, 2001: 3-19.
Locke, Philip C. "Mennonites and the 1918 General Registration." In The Outsiders' Gaze: Life and Labour on the Mennonite West Reserve, 1874-1922, edited by Jacob E. Peters et al. Altona, MB: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society, 2015.
Peters, Jakob. "My Experiences in Mexico." Preservings, no. 20 (June 2002): 102-103.
Plett, Delbert. "The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst." Preservings, no. 21 (December 2002): 94-108.
Sawatzky, Harry Leonard. They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
Schmiedehaus, Walter. The Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. Translated by Erwin Jost, edited by Glenn Penner. Mennonite Heritage Archives, 2021: 15-17, 20, 65-66, 86-92.
Zacharias, Peter D. Reinland: An Experience in Community. Altona, MB: Reinland Centenial Committee, 2001.
| Author(s) | H. H. Hamm |
|---|---|
| Richard D. Thiessen | |
| Gerald Ens | |
| Date Published | January 2006 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Hamm, H. H., Richard D. Thiessen and Gerald Ens. "Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2006. Web. 19 Jan 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friesen,_Johann_J._(1869-1935)&oldid=180923.
APA style
Hamm, H. H., Richard D. Thiessen and Gerald Ens. (January 2006). Friesen, Johann J. (1869-1935). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 January 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friesen,_Johann_J._(1869-1935)&oldid=180923.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 405. All rights reserved.
©1996-2026 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.