The current microfilming project in the Russian imperial archives in St. Petersburg, spearheaded by St. Petersburg Christian College, promises a rich supply of documents for future historians and genealogists. The first microfilm reel from this project contained an unexpected surprise for researchers interested in the early Mennonite Brethren Church. On this reel were two membership lists for that group: the first compiled on February 29, 1860, and the second on January 5, 1861.
We have always know about some of the founding persons thanks to documents published by Franz Isaac and Peter M. Friesen.1 Our only knowledge of the other earliest Mennonite Brethren members, however, derives from the eighteen signatories to the secession document of January 6, 1860, and the fifteen additional names attached to the March 30 letter addressed to the leadership of the Ohrloff and Halbstadt churches.2 These two documents account for all but one of the names--Johann Hubert of Wernersdorf--compiled on the newly-discovered list of February 29, 1860. In the patriarchal fashion of the day, district officials listed only the male heads of families, but it seems reasonable to believe that their wives shared their convictions. The register, while containing mostly known names, nevertheless provides new perspective--the early Mennonite Brethren Church did not consist of 25 family heads, but of 130 persons, both male and female. Obviously there were other "mothers in Christ" like Katherine Reimer Claassen (the wife of Johann Claassen), some of whose letters were published by P. M. Friesen.3 We can only speculate what role the wives of Abraham Cornelsen, Dietrich Klassen or Jacob Reimer played in discipling their large families to become the next generation of Mennonite Brethren.
The listing of February 29, 1860 clearly delineates the demographics of the early Mennonite Brethren movement. Most of the dissidents were concentrated in the southeastern villages along the Jushanlee River: Elisabethtal, Schardau, Marienthal, Rudnerweide and Pastwa. Three of the four families in Waldheim and Gnadenfeld are connected with Gottlieb Strauss. His two sons, Friedrich and Johann, signed the letter of March 19, 1860, while daughters Karolina and Wilhelmine married David Duerksen and Jacob Reimer respectively.4 "Outposts" like Liebenau and Wernersdorf had increased their numbers by 1861, but geographically the 1861 listing shows that the distribution of church members had changed little. Two villages--Grossweide, where the January 6, 1860 signatory Abraham Cornelsen relocated, and Sparrau--were added to the sphere of Mennonite Brethren influence. Rather astounding are the number of families in Rudnerweide by 1861.
The 1861 compiler specifically commented on seven single Mennonites joining the Brethren. He also found it significant that the new movement was causing family divisions: three men joined without their families, and a wife joined without her husband. In the case of Anna Penner, her son Bernhard--already a member in February 1860--obviously provided spiritual direction.
There are some unexplained omissions in the 1861 list. The original signatories Peter Stobbe, Jakob Wall and Martin Klassen, as well as the adherent Jakob Kroeker, are not mentioned. The omissions must have been an oversight on the part of the volost secretary. Peter Stobbe's signature appeared on several official Mennonite Brethren documents dating from 1860 to 1863.5 Similarly, Jakob Wall,6 Martin Klassen7 and Jakob Kroeker8 likewise continued to be active. The 1861 compilation should therefore list 34 families and 190 people.
These early Brethren listings possibly allow two further observations. First, the early Brethren primarily functioned in the context of village house churches, which expanded very gradually. Second, the Brethren initially constituted a very small movement. Little wonder that district authorities tried to squelch the dissidents through civil law.
The compilers of these documents obviously took some liberties with the spelling of personal and village names. The original spellings have not been changed in the translation.
1. Franz Isaac, Die Molotschnaer Mennoniten (Halbstadt: H. J. Braun, 1908), 174 ff.; Peter M. Friesen, Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Bruederschaft in Russland, 1789-1910 (Halbstadt: Raduga, 1911), 189 ff.
2. Friesen, 198-199.
3. Ibid., 313, 331, 355.
4. See Alan Peters, "Brotherhood and Family: Implications of Kinship in Mennonite Brethren History," in P. M. Friesen and His History: Understanding Mennonite Brethren Beginnings, ed. Abraham Friesen, Perspectives on Mennonite Life and Thought, no. 2 (Fresno, Calif.: Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies, 1979), 35-60. There has been some speculation that there were two Johann Strausses among the early Brethren. The 1860 and 1861 registries would seem to suggest that there was only one. See James Urry, "The Social Background to the Emergence of the Mennonite Brethren in Nineteenth-Century Russia," Journal of Mennonite Studies 6 (1988): 27.
5. Friesen, 192, 199, 295, 337, 343, 364.
6. Ibid., 192, 199, 202. See also John B. Toews, ed. and trans., "Mennonite Brethren Founders Relate Their Conversion," Direction 23 (Fall 1994): 31-37.
7. Friesen, 191, 199, 295, 338, 350.
8. Ibid., 199, 295, 338, 343.
John B. Toews is Professor of Church History and Anabaptist Studies at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Name and place of residence | Place of official registry | No. of families | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elisabeththal | |||||
| Abraham Cornelson | Grossweide | 1 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Isaak Coop | Elisabeththal | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Cornelius Wiens | Elisabeththal | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Franz Klaassen | Rudnerweide | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Abraham Wiens | Elisabeththal | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Lichtfelde | |||||
| Martin Claassen | Fuerstenau | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Abraham Wiens | Muntau | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Jakob Kroeker | Blumstein | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Schardau | |||||
| Daniel Hoppe | not registered | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Rudnerweide | |||||
| Jacob Bekker | Waldheim | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Pastwa | |||||
| Isaak Regier | Rudnerweide | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Andreas Voth | Walheim | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Jacob Wall | Lichtfelde | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Liebenau | |||||
| Johann Klaassen | Sparau | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Heinrich Huebert | Muensterberg | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Ladekop | |||||
| Peter Stobbe | Shardau | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Abraham Peters | Blumenort | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Marienthal | |||||
| Dietrich Klassen | Sparau | 1 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| Schardau | |||||
| August Strauss | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Waldheim | |||||
| Gottlieb Strauss Johann Strauss Friedrich Strauss |
Waldheim | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| David Durksen | Lichtenau | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Gnadenfeld | |||||
| Jacob Reimer | Schoensee | 1 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Bernhard Penner | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Berdjansk | |||||
| Wilhelm Bartel | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Wernersdorf | |||||
| Johann Huebert | Wernersdorf | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 25 | 72 | 58 | 130 |
Note: In addition to those mentioned here, the movement is said to consist of additional members, concerning whom the district office awaits further information.
District Head--David [Friesen]
District Council Member--Heinrich [Wiebe]?
Secretary--?
| Name and place of residence | Place of official registry | No. of families | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elisabeththal | |||||
| Kornelius Wiens | Elisabeththal | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Isaak Koop | Elisabeththal | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Abraham Wiens | Elisabeththal | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Franz Klaassen | Ruderweide | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Shardau | |||||
| Daniel Hoppe | Fuerstenau | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| August Strauss | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Heinrich Flaming | Marienthal | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Waldheim | |||||
| Johann Strauss | Waldheim | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Gottlieb Strauss | Waldheim | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| David Durksen | Lichtenau | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Liebenau | |||||
| Johann Klaassen | Sparau | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Benjamin Bekker | Liebenau | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Simon Harms | Shardau | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Heinrich Huebert | Muensterberg | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Gnadenfeld | |||||
| Jacob Reimer | Schoensee | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Susana Unruh | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | ||
| Agatha Pankratz | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | ||
| Elizabeth Pankratz | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | ||
| Anna Penner and son--Bernhard daughter--Anna |
Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Heinrich Bartel | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ladekopp | |||||
| David Klaassen | Sparau | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Abraham Peters | Blumenort | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Grossweide | |||||
| Abraham Kornelsen | Grossweide | 1 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Gerhard Wall | Grossweide | 1 | 1 | ||
| Rudnerweide | |||||
| Jacob Bekker | Waldheim | 1 | 1 | ||
| Isaak Mathies | Rudnerweide | 1 | 1 | ||
| Siebert Goerz | Rudnerweide | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| David Block | Franzthal | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| Abraham Regier | Rudnerweide | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Peter Regier | Rudnerweide | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Marienthal | |||||
| Dirk Klaassen | Sparau | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Wernersdorf | |||||
| Johann Hubert | Wernersdorf | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Peter Dueck | Neukirch | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Sparau | |||||
| Johann Thiessen | Sparau | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Johann Neufeld | Sparau | 1 | 1 | ||
| Pastwa | |||||
| Agatha Schmidt | Shardau | 1 | 1 | ||
| Isaak Regier | Rudnerweide | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Andreas Voth | Waldheim | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Abraham Dueck | Pastwa | 1 | 1 | ||
| Lichtfelde | |||||
| Abraham Wiens | Muntau | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Berdjansk | |||||
| Wilhelm Bartel | Gnadenfeld | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Total | 30 | 81 | 88 | 169 |
Observations:
1. The Mennonites in the following colonies are single: Gnadenfeld, Susan Unruh, Agatha and Elisabeth Pankratz, Heinrich Bartel; Schardau, Agatha Schmidt; Pastwa, Abraham Dueck; Waldheim, Benjamin Bekker.
2. The Mennonite Anna Penner in the colony Gnadenfeld has joined the new sect with a son and daughter but without her husband.
3. The Mennonites in the following colonies have joined the new sect without their families: Grossweide, Gerhard Wall; Rudnerweide, Isaak Mathies; Sparau, Johann Neufeld.
4. The Mennonite in the colony Waldheim, Jacob Bekker is a widower and has no children.
Last modified: 4/2/96