Fonds CA MHC PP - Walter Schmiedehaus

Walter Hans Karl Adolf Schmiedehaus was born 28 August 1901 in Essen-Rüttenscheidt, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany to Hans Schmiedehaus and his second wife Margarete Aussum. He immigrated to the United States in 1920 with his family. He married Irene McMasters (1906-1984) on June 23, 1926 in Texas. She was the daughter of Joseph McMasters and Amy Elinor von Schoppe who became a concert pianist. Together they had one son, Theodore Schmiedehaus, born March 5, 1941 in Chihuahua, Mexico and died April 30, 2008 in Ingram, Texas.
Around 1932 Walter and Irene moved from El Paso, Texas to Chihuahua City, México, where he was appointed German consul in 1936. In the intervening years he worked as a banker. However, he writes that he came to San Antonio de los Arenales (Mexico) and encountered the Mennonites there for the first time in 1923. He witnessed the arrival of one of the immigrant trains and writes about how that scene of Low German speaking immigrants spilling out of the train under the moon struck him powerfully.
In 1948 he published Eine Feste Burg ist unser Gott - Der Wanderweg eines christlichen Siedlervolkes, a book about the Old Colony Mennonites of Mexico. In 1982 he published a revised edition under the title Die Altkolonier Mennoniten in Mexiko through CMBC Publications of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He also wrote numerous articles about the Old Colony Mennonites in various Mennonite periodicals. He served in the capacity of German consul in Chihuahua City from 1936 - 1966. In 1950 he became a Mexican citizen. In the 1960s he moved to Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, possibly after he retired from the German consulate.
His contribution to the Mennonite colonies was significant. He became Power of Attorney to represent the Old Colony Mennonites in their case against the agraristas who wanted the land owned by large estate owners to be redistributed to them and not sold to outsiders like Mennonites. In the mid 1950s he supplied hundreds of school books via his contact with the German Embassy in Mexico. He was an advocate and friend of the Mennonites. He also owned two pharmacies, one in Chihuahua City, and a large apple orchard which his wife Irene developed into a very successful business. Walter Schmiedehaus died on December 30, 1990 in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, México.