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Only top-level descriptions Mennonite Heritage Archives
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Mennonite Genealogy Inc. fonds

  • CA MHC ORG
  • File
  • 1556-2007, predominant 1958-2007

This fonds consists of a number of categories of materials created and collected by its founder Abram A. Vogt, and subsequent volunteer staff. The oldest item is a book by Menno Simons published in 1556 entitled Die Fundamente der seligmachenden Lehre unsers Hern Jesu Christi. Most of the published [Series 3] and unpublished genealogies and family histories were published in the 20th century with most of them bewteen 1960 and 2004. Collection contains a Historical Library of 1155 published titles related to Mennonite history and genealogy. Unpublished Mennonite genealogical collections is another category of materials [Series 1]. There are over 200,000 cards in a genealogy card index (entitled Kartei) [Series 4]. There is a substantial collection of biographical newspaper clippings (entitled the Aktei) and geographical/event newspaper clippings (entitled Chronik) [Series 2]. The MGI photograph collection contain photo of individuals, families and organizations [Series 5]. There are 37 maps related to Mennonite history. The collection contains the correspondence from the MGI Office with researchers [Series 6]. There are also electronic records -- both related to administration of the collection and also various genealogical databases in PAF and BK formats.
The MGI holdings also contained the following separate fonds or collections: a) Mennonite Benevolant Society - Bethania fonds, b) Agnes Kettler collection, c) Anna Vogt fonds, d) A.K. Friesen letter collection, e) Katherine H. Loewen collection (to be described separately).

Mennonite Genealogy Inc. (Winnipeg, Man.)

COE Slide Presentation - "The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs Mirror"

  • CA MHC 706
  • Collection
  • 1660-1973

This slide presentation provides historical overview of <i>The Martyrs Mirror</i>, first published in 1660, a significant document of the Mennonite Church, and specifically it includes reproductions of 38 etchings by Dutch artist Jan Luyken, as first published in the 1685 edition. Prepared with a written script to be read, as each image was projected with a Kodak slide projector.

Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas)

Peter Toews fonds

  • CA MHC PP
  • Fonds
  • 1683-1981 ; predominant 1843-1913

The Peter Toews fonds consists of a variety of materials, both published and unpublished. Among the published materials are a number of items of rare Mennonitica. Most notable among these are such works as:
-Johannes Decknatel, ed. Auszug aus den merkwuerdigsten Abhandlungen aus den Werken Menno Simons. Koenigsberg: D.E. Kanter, 1765.
-Confession oder kurze und einfaeltige Glaubens Bekaentnisse derer Mennoniten in Preussen (Confessio aut Breves ao Simplices Fidei Articuli illorum Mennonistarum in Borusia). Lublin, Poland: n.p., 1683.
-Peter Toews, ed. Das wachsame Auge Gottes: Aus den hinterlassenen Schriften des Johann Toews. Elkhart, IN: Mennonite Publishing Co., 1908.

Most of the other published items are less noteworthy than these three and seem to have been added to the collection by Peter's son Isaac Toews at a later date. The latter have some interest regarding subjects such as anti-Semitism, popular American theology, and historical theology of the Mennonites.

The fonds contains considerable diary/memoir material. The "Erfahrungen und Beobachtungen" are essentially letter-books compiled by Peter Toews. This material was largely written and collected in the mid 1890s. He deals with the period ca.1860-1890 in these booklets. The greatest amount of space is given to church issues. The diary material covers the years 1871-1878 and 1910-1914. The earlier diary also focuses heavily on church affairs. The later one is more like a scrapbook, with appended statements of his expenditures. It contains some comments regarding church affairs, copies of letters and documents written in this period, and poems he wrote (as well as some copied from other sources) during these years.

Another significant item in the Peter Toews fonds is the first Manitoba church membership register of the Kleine Gemeinde group. The register lists some people who stayed in Russia. For numerous families, the register lists both their Russian and Manitoba places of residence. Frequently, additional comments have been made about a given family, either pertaining to migration to Kansas, Nebraska, or Alberta, or about the circumstances surrounding the death of some family member. The register has not been consistently updated after 1879, which leads one to believe that a new register was begun at that time. For some families Toews made entries until the 1890s.

The fonds contains a handwritten volume on the history of the Kleine Gemeinde from its inception to the mid-1870s. (This manuscript has been translated and published in Plett's History and Events.) Much of the material pertains to elections of church officers (and in some cases removal of them), questions of faith and practice dealt with by the church, and discussions on non-resistance and emigration in the face of the threat of universal military service in Russia.

Peter Toews has also maintained collections of correspondence material. One group of letters dates from the period 1866-1872. The people with whom he corresponded were largely Kleine Gemeinde church members from the Molotschna and Crimean Mennonite settlements. Most of the letters pertain to the church affairs of the community.

In addition to this, he has correspondence which he copied out by hand into a small 17 x 11 cm booklet. These letters deal with a wide variety of subjects, some personal, and some church-related (e.g. discussions of church discipline). There are also a few letters from other time periods. It should be noted that this fonds does not contain all of Toews' original correspondence. At least some correspondence is deposited at the Mennonite Library and Archives in North Newton, Kansas.

Another significant category of material in this collection includes the manuscripts of a great number of the poems which Toews wrote. His poetry is almost exclusively religious and devotional in nature. One particularly interesting poem, his "Nachklang zum Empire Tag," is a reaction to the exaggerated patriotism which he observed in the Empire Day celebrations. The collection also contains a manuscript copy of Das wachsame Auge Gottes.

A small amount of material relates to World War I. The documents deal with the question of exemption from military service and with the 'Holdeman' people's refusal to contribute the National Patriotic Fund.

Finally there is an assortment of other material including a bologna recipe, an arithmetic notebook, a meditation on Psalm 90, a sermon on the reasons for leaving Russia, and several copies of his will (including an addendum regarding his literary estate).

This collection has a substantial number of potential research possibilities. In the first instance it provides much information on the faith and, to a lesser extent, the daily life of Mennonites in Prussia and Russia.

More noteworthy for Canadian studies is the fact that in this fonds one can examine the records of a leader involved in the emigration from Russia to Canada. It allows one to examine what motivated him to leave Russia - was it the "push" factor of new laws in Russia or was it the lure of economic opportunity in Canada.

The collection provides considerable scope for a study on the theology of the Kleine Gemeinde and 'Holdeman' churches, as well as Toews' personal theology. The large volume of poetry written by Toews allows one to study theological and other questions from a literary angle.

Peter Toews collected information on the history of the Kleine Gemeinde. These materials all predate the group's arrival in Canada, but they do provide a good insight into the historical evolution (both socially and intellectually) of this Mennonite group. The records further provide some useful materials for studying the Church of God (Mennonite) denomination in both the USA and Canada.

The church membership register could provide some possibilities for demographic studies of the Kleine Gemeinde during the early years of settlement in Manitoba. It can be used for reconstructing the statistical data of the original Kleine Gemeinde communities of the East Reserve and for studying migratory patterns during the 1870s. The register is also a valuable resource for genealogy and family history.

Eight types of materials been identified in this fonds as follows:
-1) Peter Toews writings (Volume 2208:4-9; 2781:2-6, 14-23, 25, 28; 588:3-4)
-2) Isaac Toews material (Volume 2208:1-3)
-3) Church matters (Volume 2781:7, 24, 26, 27)
-4) Wilhelm Giesbrecht material (Volume 588:1-2)
-5) Books and pamphlets (Volume 588:5,6; 2781:8-13)
-6) Johann Toews material (Volume 2781:1)
-7) Sermons (Volume 4237)
-8) Microfilm material (Microfilm # 223, 224)

Toews, Peter, 1841-1922

Gerhard G. Neufeld fonds

  • CA MHC PP
  • Fonds
  • 1752-1988

This collection is categorized into four series, reflecting different aspects of Rev. G.G. Neufeld's involvement as a minister at the Whitewater Mennonite church. The four series are: 1) Travel Journals of South America, 1948, 2) Church and Family History, 1752-1982, 3) Sermons and Church Related Material, 1927-1988, 4) Photographs from South America, 1948.

Neufeld, Gerhard G., 1902-1997

Jacob Fehr fonds

  • CA MHC PP
  • Fonds
  • 1773-2000 ; predominant 1773-1850, 1942-1955

This collection consists of photocopies of letters from Jacob Fehr Jr., a journal of Jacob Fehr Jr. recounting the immigration to Canada, a brief account of the immigration by Helena Fehr, and a register of letters that includes authors such as Aeltester Gerhard Dyck of Chrotitza, South Russia. I also includes a notebook of sermons. In addition to these primary documents there are copies of published translation and transcription of the journal of Jacob Fehr.

Fehr, Jacob, 1859-1952

Wiens family fonds

  • CA MHC PP
  • Fonds
  • 1787-2000; predominate 1787-1963

This fonds consists of two bound books and the loose papers that were found in one them, copies of the books, their translations, and copies of letters written by Jacob Wiens (1816-1888) that were published in the Mennonitische Rundschau .

The first book, the Wiens Family Diary, contains mathematical instructional material, fraktur art, a travel diary, recipes, poetry, and a record of events that took place in Prussia, Russia, and Canada. The second book, the Jacob Wiens Family Record, contains Wiens genealogical information and financial records.

This material is unique in that it spans a large time frame, following a family through three countries and contains entries by multiple members of the Wiens family. It shows a love for artistic expression. It shows complex mathematical problems and solutions as by a teacher. The material shows the writer's love for poetry, music, and the kind of medical practices in use by Mennonite people in Russia in the mid to late 1800s. A travel diary documents the trip from Russia to Canada in 1876. The materials give the reader a unique window into the life of a Mennonite community in Prussia, Russia, and Canada.

Location: Volumes 2252-2253, 4580, microfilm #785.

Wiens family (Descendants of Herman*1731)

Jacob D. Epp family fonds

  • CA MHC PP
  • Fonds
  • 1788-1986

This fonds consists of four series:
-1) Epp Diaries, 1837-1843, 1851-1986
-2) Epp Materials, 1788-1811, 1846, 1878-1955
-3) David G. Epp Family Farm Ledgers, 1927-1986
-4) Epp Family Photograph Collection, [1920's?]

Epp, Jacob D., 1820-1890

David G. Rempel St. Petersburg microfilm collection

  • CA MHC PP
  • Collection
  • 1789-1893 microfilmed in 1962

This collection consists of the 95 files which Dr. Rempel selected from the St. Petersburg Archive related to Mennonites which he requested to have microfilmed in 1962. The St. Petersburg (known as Leningrad at the time) Archive holds the documents of the Russian Senate (later referred to as the Duma) for the period of 1789 to 1917.

Rempel, David G., 1899-1992

Mennonite-Related Documents from the Zaporozhe Regional State Archive

  • CA MHC ORG
  • Collection
  • 1789-1941, microfilmed 1994-2001

This collection is divided into 3 parts (divisions of the State Archive of the Zaporozhye Region):
-A. Tsarist-Era (9 fonds selected out of 43 that were identified as having Mennonite-related documents)
-B. Soviet-Era (16 fonds selected out of 129 that were identified as having Mennonite-related documents)
-C. Communinist Party documents (4 fonds were selected)

Before 1917, five Mennonite multi-village settlements existed within the present-day Zaporozhe region, each constituting a separate administrative volost: the Khonitsa and Molochna
mother settlements; and the Mariupol/Bergthal (1836-1871), Nikolaipole (Yazykovo), and Schoenfeld daughter settlements. Many had their own volost couns, banks, hospitals, and educational institutions. Also dispersed throughout the region were private Mennonite khutor-farmsteads and estates. In villages, towns and cities Mennonites owned factories, plants, mills, were actively involved in the trades and handicrafts, and participated in town and uezd Zemstvo councils.

Special strengths of the Tsarist era fonds, which make up about 25 percent of all Mennonite-related fonds, pertain to: the Nikolaipole volost administration; Mennonite-owned
farm implement factories in the Khortitsa volost; afforestation programs dating from the 1840s to the early 20th century (including service records of the Forstei, the alternative state afforestation service program for Mennonites); uezd statistical and land survey materials for Khorutsa volost and for Mennonite estates; and Mennonite enrollment and attendance at secondary schools in Aleksandrovsk. The Archive also holds smaller fonds on institutions ranging from courts and banks to the Maria School for the Deaf and Mute in Tiege.

The Archive's Soviet-era holdings are divided into state administrative and Communist Party fonds. These materials were housed in separate archives until the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991, when the Party Archive was administratively integrated into the State Archive. In general it might be said that State Archive documents, generated by Soviet administrative organs, reflect what was happening in a region, while Party Archive documents often help to explain why.

State administrative fonds are richest for the period 1919 to the summer of 1930. The Civil War, the middle years of NEP, and the period of collectivization are especially well documented. The Khonitsa raion experience (including that of Mennonites of the former Nikolaipole volost) is extraordinarily well documented at all levels-okrug, volost/raion and village selsovet.

Turning to the Communist Party level, it should be noted that four significant fonds relating to the Mennonite experience exist. Indeed, such records for Khortitsa raion in the 1920s,
at the okrug, raion and selsovet levels, appear to have survived more or less intact. The sheer volume of such materials gives evidence of the preoccupation of the Party, from the central committees in Kharkov and Moscow to the Khortitsa raion, with Mennonites, who were a difficult ethno-religious minority for the Party to deal with given their relatively great social solidarity and resistance to the social-discriminatory and anti-religious facets of sovietization. Comparatively few Party records have survived for the Molochna Mennonites during the 1920s. Party records for the 1930s, on the other hand, are quite numerous for the Molochna Mennonite settlement, but virtually nonexistent for the Khortitsa raion. But such 1930s Party records are in general far less frank and revealing than for the preceding decade, the 1920s.

[excerpts from H.L. Dyck and A.S. Tedeev guide to the holdings, pp. xv,xvi].

Centre for Russian and East European Studies. University of Toronto

St. Petersburg Microfilming Project

  • CA MHC ORG
  • Collection
  • 1789-1917, microfilmed 1996-1997

The St. Petersburg microfilming project grew out of the discovery of a rich collection of documents relating to Mennonites for the period 1789 to 1917 which were housed in the Russian State Historical Archives in St. Petersburg. These documents relate to the Russian Senate and later the Duma.

Unknown

Guardianship Committee of Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia: Odessa Archives Fund 6 fonds

  • CA MHC ORG
  • Fonds
  • 1799-1877; filmed 2000-2010

This fonds contains the records of the Russian government department that was responsible for all issues related to the foreign settlers in Russia. The department was charged to ensure the success of the settlers. Of high interest to family historian are the vital records of births, marriages and deaths for the Chortitza Mennonite Colony for much of 1801 and 1802. There are also lists of children vaccinated (see 1809 and 1814 lists). A fair number of files relate to criminal cases or other situations where legal documents were generated due to some type of conflict in the colonies. Other files contain primarily statistical information about the colonies. The files also provide considerable information about how the Office of Guardianship governed the colonies.
The content is organized chronologically with file descriptions listed in eight (8) separate finding aids called inventories (i.e. Inventories no. 1, 1a, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8).
See "Fund 6 Overview chart" linked with this description and "Finding Aid Links" to inventory file lists and indexes.

Guardianship Committee of Foreign Settlers in Southern Russia

Evangelical Mennonite Conference (Kleine Gemeinde) Fonds

  • CA MHC EMC
  • Fonds
  • 1800-2015

The EMC Archives were intellectually arranged into 9 categories:

  • I. Archives
  • II. EMC Church and Conference (organized into 15 series) (ca. 580 files)
  • III. Congregations (organized by 9 regions) (ca. 360 files)
  • IV. Related Organizations (a number of larger and smaller entities totaling, ca. 280 files)
  • V. Person Collections (numerous collections) (ca. 2600 files)
  • VI. Mennonites in Manitoba (ca. 130 files)
  • VII. Other Materials. (ca. 110 files)
  • VIII. Small archives (pamphlets) (ca. 60 files)
  • IX. Newspapers (ca. 40 files)

Evangelical Mennonite Conference

Peter J. Braun Russian Mennonite Archive Collection

  • CA MHC PP
  • Collection
  • 1803-1920; microfilmed in 1990-1991

The Peter J. Braun Mennonite Archive collection is large and varied. It includes a selection of documents of the Halbstadt District from the period 1803-1820, the archive of the Agricultural Society [in Molotschna] since 1831, the papers of Johann Cornies (1789-1848), Moloschna Mennonite School records, records regarding the forestry service after 1880, and much more. One significant document included in this collection is a complete census of the Molotschna colony taken in 1835.

Braun, Peter J., 1880-1933

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