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The bulk of the materials in this collection consist of sermons, poems, songs, and catechisms, a church register, and other religious writings documenting Mennonite church and community life in Balk, Friesland (The Netherlands) during the first part of nineteenth century, 1786-1850. The papers also include sermons, poems, correspondence, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to Balk Mennonite life in New Paris, Indiana.

Most materials are in Dutch. Available English translations are noted in the detailed collection description.

The collection is organized into series, most of which are groups of documents associated with the Smid Family siblings and the wife of R. J. Smid. Series include:

(1) Background Articles and Information on Balk Mennonites, 1948-2006

(2) Early Materials, 1786, undated

(3) Obe Johannes Smid, 1815-1849

(4) Akke Johannes Smid, 1820-1828

(5) Jacobjen Johannes Smid, 1822-1836

(6) Ruurd Johannes Smid (R. J. Smith), 1822-1893

(7) Grietje Jacobs Symensma (Margaret J. Smid), 1845-1895

Miscellaneous materials collected by genealogist Eunice Deter to document the history of the Deter and Longanecker families.  Materials include photographs, correspondence, maps, financial and land records, wills and obituaries, biographies, diaries, and genealogy notes.  Other materials include various editions of the Longanecker family history written by Deter.

This collection is divided into 4 series:

1) General Correspondence

2) Family Correspondence

3) Correspondence to M. S. Steiner

4) Diaries and Miscellaneous

These papers consist primarily of photographs, diaries, and miscellaneous personal papers of Emma Smith Schertz.  Land records from her husband's family document the donation of property from the Schertz family to the Mennonite Board of Missions and the Roanoke Mennonite Church in Roanoke, Illinois.  The photographs depict Emma and Ben Schertz, Ruth Schertz, C.F. and Gertrude Derstine, and other members of the Schertz family.

These personal papers include autobiographical writing, photographs, slides, and ephemera pertaining to Nafziger's work as a Mennonite medical missionary in India.  They also contain some Nafziger family records, specifically a farm journal created by Christian Nafziger II.

This small set of personal papers includes a diary documenting Bauman's service at the Youngstown Mission in Ohio from 1912 to 1913.  Also included among the papers are manuscripts of her essays and devotional writings, miscellaneous correspondence and family papers.

Papers of a Goshen Academy alumna (1922), long-time member of the Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart, Ind.), and missionary to Dhamtari, India later in life.  Contains a remarkable run of diaries, nearly unbroken, from 1910 to 1989, in which Smucker provides brief descriptions of her daily activities.  Also includes scrapbooks, postcard albums, her father's autograph book, and miscellaneous materials.

Personal papers, mostly diaries, of a domestic mission worker of the (old) Mennonite Church.  Leaman, sister of Clara Eby Steiner, served the Mennonite Home Mission (Chicago, Ill.) with her husband, Amos Hershey Leaman, for twenty years.  The diaries are a rich source of information about Leaman's mission service, spiritual life, and personal experiences.  Among other topics, she describes her work as a teacher and mission worker, experiences with Chicago's immigrant community and new converts to Christianity, her engagement and marriage, various illnesses and deaths in the family, Women's Missionary Society and Sewing Circle Meetings, and disagreement among mission staff over a church organ. Her diaries cover the years 1894-1902, 1904-1926, and 1931-1937.

Other materials in her papers include a book of clippings, poetry and prose collected by the Leamans, drawings of Amanda and Amos Leaman, and miscellaneous correspondence and ephemera found in her diaries and other journals.

The collection consists of a copy of a diary kept by Ida Beidler from January 1, 1898 until December 29, 1898. The entries chronicle daily weather and domestic activities on a farm.

Papers of a female missionary worker (nurse) in India (1931-1939).  Includes diaries, extensive correspondence with family and friends in the United States, and with Indian friends and colleagues she met in the course of her mission work.  Also includes elementary school, Sunday school, and college notes, diplomas, a scrapbook made by Prairie Street Mennonite Church for her time in India, Christmas letters from missionaries and missionary families, and miscellaneous annotated publications and clippings.

Personal papers documenting the early life and education of an (old) Mennonite pastor's wife.  Materials include a diary, correspondence, essays apparently written while studying at the Elkhart Institute and Goshen College, and miscellaneous materials.  The essays represent the richest source of information in this collection, as they provide insight into Johns's thoughts on a variety of subjects -- motherhood, marriage, temperance, modest dress, mission and evangelistic work, prayer, suffering, and so forth.  Some of the essays are brief fiction pieces, and researchers will also find original poetry among the essays.

The collection includes a diary 1905-1907; Diary 1907-1909; Diary 1909-1910; and diary 1913-1915. Also included is a diary 1910-1912, a diary 1922-1925, and a variety of correspondence with people involved in mission activities. The diaries from 1905-10 were written when Agnes was single, and when she was between the age of 17 and 23, while living in Illinois.  Her diaries tell of every day events in her life including weather, school work, funerals, visitors, church services in English and German and sermon texts, chores, anxiety over church dissensions, concern for starving in India, great interest in missions, a trip to Oregon, California, and Oklahoma, train ride over Rocky Mountains, and the Inauguration Day of President Taft.  Taken from  “A Guide to Mennonite Women’s Diaries (1840-1950), by Anne Yoder, Mennonite Quarterly Review, October 1996, page 488.

Emma Oyer’s collection contains many of her writings, including essays, poetry, and her diaries.  Her work as a Home Missionary is well documented in her diaries, which provide brief summaries of her daily activities. While these diaries do not document her entire life, her earliest years are represented at the Mennonite Home Mission, as well as her latter years as an author and essayist.  Her essays and poetry provide insights into her theology and faith. Also included is a 1951 edition of Missionary Sewing Circle Monthly dedicated to Emma Oyer, with eight tributes to her by Mennonite women.

This collection chronicles the early life of Elizabeth M. Yoder Woodiwiss (1889-1986), who homesteaded in North Dakota from 1907-1910. Her diaries (photocopies of originals) record her experiences as a homesteader, as well as a few years after she returned to Pennsylvania.  Articles about Elizabeth are also in the collection, alongside her own recollections. There are also photographs depicting her as a homesteader and later in life, as well as photographs of the homesteading community.

Diaries created by two sisters who lived near Lima, Ohio.  Include brief entries about church services and meetings, Bible school, household chores, funerals, calling on friends, marriages, and  domestic activities. 

Mary Brenneman's diaries document the following years:  1909, 1915, 1964-1965, 1968-1970.

Martha Brenneman's diaries document the following years: 1915, 1936-1974.