Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)

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Johann P. Wall was one of the foremost leaders of the Reinländer (also known as Old Colony) Mennonite Church in the early and mid 20th century, serving as a minister for the Hague-Osler settlement in Saskatchewan for 23 years and for the Durango Colony in Durango, Mexico.

Wall made significant contributions to his people during three critical moments in their history. First, he served as the chief delegate for the Hague-Osler settlement to the provincial and federal governments during the public schools crisis in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from 1916-1926. Second, he was perhaps the most uniquely consequential member of the land-seeking delegations sent by the Reinländer from 1919-1921, which paved the way for the emigration of around half of the Reinländer from Canada. Third, he represented the Durango Colony, and was again uniquely important, during the Reinländer negotiations with the Mexican government from 1935-1936 when their educational rights were once again under threat.

Wall was born in the Fürstenland daughter colony in Russia (present day Ukraine) on 16 June 1875 to Peter Wall and Aganetha Vogt. In 1891 he immigrated with his parents to Manitoba, settling in the village of Neuhorst and joining the Reinländer church. In 1899 he moved to the new settlement of Hague, Saskatchewan and in 1903 was elected as a minister. He moved to Mexico in 1926. Wall married three times: to Anna Wiebe on 11 November 1894, to Anna Klassen (the widow of fellow delegate Johann J. Wall) in 1921, and to Anna Goertzen in 1944. He was the last surviving member of the land-seeking delegations of 1919-1921, and the interviews he provided to North American scholars in his later years became an important source of knowledge regarding the Mennonite immigration to and settlement in Mexico. When he died on 16 June 1961 he had over 350 living descendants and had preached 1536 sermons, married 162 couples, and officiated at 217 funerals. His command of languages — he was at the end of his life fluent in High German, Low German, Russian, English, and Spanish — made him a natural choice as a representative of his community before various outside authorities.The house-barn Wall built in Hochfeld is on display on the yard of the museum in Hague, Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan-Manitoba Schools Crisis

Some degree of tension had existed for decades between the Mennonites living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and their provincial governments over the Mennonites’ extensive operation of elementary private schools and the rejection by many, led by the Reinländer, of the public school system. Beginning 1916-17, both provinces conducted extensive campaigns of legislation and enforcement to dismantle the Mennonite private school system and integrate Mennonite children into public schools.

During these years, Wall played a leading role in the appeals Mennonites made to the provincial and federal governments and to the Canadian legal system. Wall argued the legal position of the resisting Reinländer before a Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1918. He later unsuccessfully asked for a temporary suspension of the law while his community was making preparation to emigrate. Adolf Ens identifies him as the “chief government contact person” of all Saskatchewan Reinländer during the schools crisis.[1]

Land-Seeking Delegations and Migration to Mexico

When negotiations and legal appeals failed, the Reinländer leadership decided to leave Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Wall was a leading proponent of emigration and a prominent member of several land-seeking delegations sent by the Reinländer from 1919 to 1921. It was the Hague-Osler group on its own, with Wall as its chief delegate, that first identified Mexico and explored settlement options there, with some accounts identifying Wall as the first person in the Reinländer community to get wind of the Mexican opportunity.[2]

An incident involving Wall significantly changed the trajectory of the immigration to Mexico. While participating in a delegation sent to purchase land in Mexico, Wall clashed with Manitoba delegate Klaas Heide, the conflict coming to a head one evening at the Hotel Posada Duran in the Durango province in the spring of 1921. The Swift Current and Manitoba settlement representatives were concerned about the Hague-Osler group’s ability to fulfill their financial obligations in a planned joint purchase in Durango. When Wall heard about this concern, he confronted the other delegates, instigating the incident with Heide. By some reports, Heide and Wall had previously clashed, both men possessing strong personalities.[3]

There were several ramifications. Wall pulled his group’s commitment from the arranged purchase in Durango, scuttling the deal. The Swift Current and Manitoba groups quickly purchased land in the state of Chihauhau instead. Meanwhile, the emigration plans of the Hague-Osler group were delayed by several years. In 1924 they purchased land at the site of the previously arranged purchase in Durango. By this time, obstacles to emigration had increased and enthusiasm had waned. Wall himself, hoping to sell all church members' land in a single block sale, played a prominent role in a disastrous land-sale scheme wherein all members signed their individual titles over to him and vorsteher Benjamin Goertzen. When a sale failed to materialize, the result was further hassle and confusion, impoverishment of many members (who found it difficult to regain title to their land), and distrust on the part of some towards their leaders. Three quarters of the Hague-Osler settlement ended up remaining in Canada, much more than in the other Reinländer settlements; this included Wall’s co-delegate, Johann Loeppky, who had earlier been an enthusiastic proponent of immigration to Mexico. Wall never forgave Loeppky for this perceived betrayal and took the opportunity to condemn him at numerous points throughout his life.

Mexican Schools Crisis

Wall remained an influential leader in Mexico and recurs in the record as the chief person of contact, administration, and decision-making in the first decades of the Durango settlement.[4] He played his most significant role when outside authorities once more threatened Mennonite autonomy over the operation of their schools.

In May 1935, the Mexican government suddenly and unexpectedly closed the Mennonite schools in the state of Chihuahua; the Durango schools remained open, though also subject to inspection and threatened with closure. The Mennonites’ initial appeals proved ineffective. New Mexican laws soon cast further doubt on the legality of Mennonite religious organizations. According to one commentator, it appeared that the government was prepared to renege on the Privilegium in its entirety.[5]

During this crisis Wall forcefully and persistently advocated for remaining in Mexico and vehemently opposed a return to Canada. This effectively shored up the resolve of Mexican Mennonite leaders in both Chihuahua and Durango.

Wall furthermore worked as the Mennonites’ lead negotiator with the government. In the fall of 1935, Wall, along with two other delegates, went to Mexico City, hoping to meet with Mexican President Cárdenas. They were unable to gain an audience, but the German Consulate, acting on their behalf, was able to learn that President Cárdenas was strongly opposed to any special privileges, seeing them as a breach of the country’s constitution and, furthermore, as politically untenable. Wall’s companions despaired of the situation and departed. Wall remained and eventually not only succeeded in meeting with President Cárdenas, but managed to persuade him of the Mennonites’ position. Cárdenas instructed the regional authorities to permit the resumption of private Mennonite education in December 1935. When the regional authorities hesitated, Cárdenas issued categorical instructions the following month. The schools re-opened and the crisis passed. Wall had been the Mexican Mennonites' chief representative every step of the way.

See Also

Notes and References

  1. ↑ Ens, Subjects, 142. See also 133, 163, and 164n7.
  2. ↑ Krahn, 186.
  3. ↑ Sawatzky, 43n36.
  4. ↑ E.g., Sawatzky, 89, 150, and 182; Plett, 105; and Janzen, Altester Johan M. Loeppky, 7.
  5. ↑ Sawatzky, 152.

Bibliography

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Doell, Leonard. "The Mennonite Problem: Public Schools in Saskatchewan." Preservings 45 (Fall 2022): 19-22.

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. 386-387.

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Ens, Adolf. "A Second Look at the Rejected Conservatives." In Old Colony Mennonites in Canada, 1875-2000, edited by Delbert F. Plett. Steinbach: Crossway, 2000.

Ens, Adolf. Subjects or Citizens? The Mennonite Experience in Canada, 1870-1925. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1994. Pp. 105-230.

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Janzen, William. "Government Pressure, Mennonite Separateness, and the 1920s Migration to Mexico and Paraguay." Preservings 28 (2008): 8.

Janzen, William. "Stories from the Life of Abram Janzen of Blumenheim." The Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian 27, no. 2 (2022): 29-37.

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Janzen, William. The 1920s Migration of Old Colony Mennonites from the Hague-Osler Area of Saskatchewan to Mexico. Hague: Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan, 2006.

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Krahn, Cornelius. “Johann P. Wall, 1875-1961.” Mennonite Life 16 (October, 1961): 185-192.

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Plett, Delbert. “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality: The Pastoral Vision and Challenges of the Conservative Mennonite Ministerial/Lehrdienst.” Preservings 21 (December 2002): 94-108.

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Author(s) Gerald Ens
Date Published 2024

Cite This Article

MLA style

Ens, Gerald. "Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2024. Web. 1 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wall,_Johann_P._(1875-1961)&oldid=180419.

APA style

Ens, Gerald. (2024). Wall, Johann P. (1875-1961). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 1 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wall,_Johann_P._(1875-1961)&oldid=180419.



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