Accession nos. 82-56; 94-076, 94-153, 97-087, 01-027, 97-150
Abraham Doerksen (1852-1929) was born in the village of Schoenthal, Bergthal Colony, Russia to Abraham and Katherina (Friesen) Doerksen. His father was a manufacturer of plows, wagons and other machinery. He married Maria Dueck in 1872. They left Russia in 1874 and settled in Manitoba. After living on the Mennonite East Reserve for a short time, they relocated to the village of Sommerfeld on the Mennonite West Reserve..
The church on the West Reserve became divided over the issue of higher education. The majority disagreed with the newly elected bishop Johan Funk who promoted the school of higher learning and the development of the Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) in Gretna. Mediation with the mother church from the East Reserve under the guidance of Bishop David Stoesz was not able to bring the two parties together. After Funk and his supporters parted (retaining the name Bergthal Mennonite Church), the larger group was left without a bishop until Bishop David Stoesz ordained Abraham Doerksen on Palm Sunday March 18, 1894. This group eventually adopted the name Sommerfeld Mennonite church because Doerksen was from that village. Bishop Abraham Doerksen made numerous trip to visit the adherents of the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church as they spread to various regions in western Canada. In addition to his normal church work, he was on a committee of church leaders that negotiated with the Canadian government for military exemption for Mennonite men during the First World War. When the Canadian government withdrew some school priveleges after the war, Doerksen was among a group of about 600 Sommerfeld church members who immigrated to Mexico in 1922 where he settled in the Santa Clara colony, north of Cuauhtemoc. Bishop Doerksen died in Mexico in 1929.
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This fonds consists of a ledger and some loose papers. The ledger includes lists of sermons preached by Abraham Doerksen and lists of baptisms. The loose papers include correspondence, baptismal records, church meetings and obituaries. The documents from the Christian Heritage Library include a book entitled "The Family Tree of Abraham Doerksen, Regina Hoeppner and Descendants", as well as writings, sermons and his certificate of baptism which exempted him from military service in World War I.
Jake Peters, William Kehler, John L. Klassen, Peter Bergen and David and Trudy Schellenberg.
The Abraham Doerksen papers were passed on to surviving descendants and various other interested individuals. Jake Peters of Winnipeg, Manitoba borrowed them from Bishop Jacob Doerksen, Blumenthal, Mexico, a grandson of Bishop Abraham Doerksen, in 1982 and photocopied them for the Mennonite Heritage Centre. In 1994 William Kehler of Altona translated one sermon by Doerksen which he donated along with other translated sermons. It is unclear where the original is. The new year's sermon was donated and transcribed by John L. Klassen of Altona. Peter Bergen, author of the Sommerfeld Church History acquired a sermon from the son of minister Peter A. Friesen . The Heritage Centre received other Abraham Doerksen papers via the Christian Heritage Library founded by David and Trudy Schellenberg of Winkler.
-Abraham Doerksen Sermons in Christian Heritage Library collection (Vol. 2105-3)
-D.W. Friesen, Series 1: Correspondence and church matters
Inventory file list (Volume 2230, 4370:22; Microfilm 351)
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one ledger (photocopied 1982)
Microfilm 351 (same as Vol. 2230:1-3)
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Microfilm 351 (same as Volume 2230:1-3)
(Acc. 94-153)
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photocopied
Microfilm 351 (same as Vol. 2230:1-3)
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(Acc. 97-087)
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William Kehler was born in Hochstadt, Manitoba to Gerhard Kehler and Katharina Janzen as the 7th of eight children. He was a member of the Sommerfeld Mennonite church at Schoenthal where he was baptized in 1930. During the Second World War he served as conscientious objector in a lumber camp (1942) and from 1943-1945 in the Manitoba School for Mentally Defectives in Portage la Prairie, MB. After the war he started work at the Co-op Vegetable Oils plant in Altona where he worked until his retirement in 1972. In retirement he took up photography, translating German documents, computers, and a founding member of the Altona Senior Citizen's Club. William Kehler was never married.
Abraham Doerksen (1852-1929) was born in the village of Schoenthal, Bergthal Colony, Russia to Abraham and Katherina (Friesen) Doerksen. His father was a manufacturer of plows, wagons and other machinery. He married Maria Dueck in 1872. They left Russia in 1874 and settled in Manitoba. After living on the Mennonite East Reserve for a short time, they relocated to the village of Sommerfeld on the Mennonite West Reserve..
The church on the West Reserve became divided over the issue of higher education. The majority disagreed with the newly elected bishop Johan Funk who promoted the school of higher learning and the development of the Mennonite Collegiate Institute (MCI) in Gretna. Mediation with the mother church from the East Reserve under the guidance of Bishop David Stoesz was not able to bring the two parties together. After Funk and his supporters parted (retaining the name Bergthal Mennonite Church), the larger group was left without a bishop until Bishop David Stoesz ordained Abraham Doerksen on Palm Sunday March 18, 1894. This group eventually adopted the name Sommerfeld Mennonite church because Doerksen was from that village. Bishop Abraham Doerksen made numerous trip to visit the adherents of the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church as they spread to various regions in western Canada. In addition to his normal church work, he was on a committee of church leaders that negotiated with the Canadian government for military exemption for Mennonite men during the First World War. When the Canadian government withdrew some school priveleges after the war, Doerksen was among a group of about 600 Sommerfeld church members who immigrated to Mexico in 1922 where he settled in the Santa Clara colony, north of Cuauhtemoc. Bishop Doerksen died in Mexico in 1929.
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