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Samuel Bechtel (1791-1861) was the son of Rev. Joseph and Magdalena (Allebach) Bechtel. He married Barbara Bauman (1799-1871) in 1819. They lived on a farm along the Speed River adjoining what became Hespeler, Ontario. In 1830, Samuel donated a small piece of the property for a union meetinghouse, school and burial ground. After Samuel's death, the farm passed from son to son for several generations, including Samuel's son Solomon (married to Hester Clemens), Solomon's son Jesse (married to Rebecaa Cober), and Jesse's son Nelson (married to Martha Snyder). Nelson was the last owner of the intact farm. In 1956 it was annexed for the town of Hespeler.

A frame church building was erected in the town of Baden in 1913 by Peter Moyer, a member of the Steinmann Amish Mennonite congregation. Baden was a mission post until 1945. Beginning in 1930 a minister was supplied by the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario (Noah Hunsberger, Newton S. Weber). In 1940 it was agreed that the Sunday-school staff should be supplied by First Mennonite Church. In 1945 Baden organized as a formal congregation of the Mennonite Conference of Ontario. James Martin was the first pastor. Subsequent pastors were Urie Bender, Elmer Grove, Arnold Cressman and David Groh.

The congregation remained small in terms of membership , but held a very large Vacation Bible School program, with up to 300 pupils a year.

In 1966 Pastor David Groh left. Lester Bauman, pastor of the Geiger congregation, was invited to serve Baden as well. Many activities were then held jointly with Geiger. In 1971 Stanley Shantz served as pastor of both. The two congregations agreed to have Sunday services together, using the Geiger building because it was larger. In 1975 the congregations agreed to become one in all but name and membership. In late 1975 the Geiger building burned, and services were held in a renovated Baden building.

In September 1977 the congregations merged and became the Wilmot Mennonite Church at the Geiger location. In 1979 a new building was erected at the Geiger site.

This is the first meetinghouse built by the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference. Previously they shared meetinghouses with Old Order Mennonites. In 2009, due to growth, the congregation split into two: Montrose West and Montrose East. The two congregations continued to share the same building.

Roy Snyder (1915-2015) was born to Old Order Mennonite parents, Edwin and Leah Gingrich Snyder, and grew up on a farm halfway between Waterloo and Conestoga at the crossroads of Country Squire Road and Northfield Drive. When he was eleven years old, the family left the Old Order and joined the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. In 1944, he married Clara Weber (1919-2005). Following their marriage, he transferred his membership to Erb Street Mennonite Church. During World War II he did farm work as part of the Alternative Service program.

Snyder began working in the artificial insemination field in 1946 with the Waterloo Holstein Breeders Association, later called the Waterloo Cattle Breeding Association. This was the first organization in the world to use 100% frozen semen, which allowed for the export of semen anywhere in the world. In 1974, he became one of the founders of Semen Exports Canada, later called Semex Alliance. Roy Snyder died 11 February 2015.

Brubacher House is a restored 1850s Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmhouse at the University of Waterloo. Programming is administered by Conrad Grebel University College and the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. The house was built in the 1850s and was opened as a museum in 1979.

archivist, author, war resistor

Joseph C. Fretz was the son of Manasseh Fretz and Mary Ann Cober. He was a member of the Shantz Mennonite Church, where he was ordained deacon in 1953. He served for many years as secretary of the Ontario Mennonite Mission Board, Mennonite Conference of Ontario historian, and manager of the Golden Rule Bookstore. He married Martha Reesor in 1918; they had four children.

Samuel Lehman Hoover, produced a smaller number of hand-drawn records in the 1959-1960 period.

Christian Lehman Hoover. Deacon who served in the Wideman and Almira churches and Fraktur artist.

Prominent Waterloo County cabinet maker and fraktur artist.

Fraktur artist in Pennsylvania and Ontario

Born in Wilmot Township; farmed in East Zorra-Tavistock. Was a conscientious objector in Alternative Service at Montreal River, August 6-December 6, 1941.

Menno House opened in 1956 in a rented house at 551 Dovercourt Road in Toronto. It was formed by a group of young Mennonite men - university students and recent graduates who felt the need to establish a supportive organization while studying or working in the city. The twelve residents governed themselves through a Menno House Association; three interested churchmen acted as trustees. When more space was needed, a house was purchased at 479 Palmerston Blvd. In order to purchase the house, Menno House Realty Limited was formed and subsequently rented the new house to the Menno House Association. The Palmerston house had 15 residents, and five associated members lived nearby.

The group became involved in youth leadership at Toronto United Mennonite Church. Young Mennonite women attended events, though the residence remained open only to men. One resident estimated that "hundreds of people" lived at Menno House during its lifetime; in addition to the core group, some came for short-term courses or the MCC "Students-in-Industry" summer work-study program.