Mennonite Historian Vol. 2 No. 1

1 Me.,.,oQite(Historia.,VolumeII,NumberIMa rch,1976 PublishedbytheHistory-ArchivesCommitteeo ftheConferenceofMennonitesInCanadaTheSim eonReesordiary:ToManitoba(1875)TheWestRe serveofsouthernManitobawasformallyestabl ishedbyanOrder-in-CouncilatOttawaonApril 25, ,byMennonitesoftheFuerstenlandcolonyinso uthRussia, (TheReesorswereanimportantfamilygroupamo ngthenineteenthcenturyMen-nonitesofOntar io, ,AustinD.,recentlyreported,"Wehaveareuni oneverydecade,anda genealogicalrecord,publishedin1950,lists some6000names."Lesswellknownisthestoryof thecontactsomeofthemhadwithMennonitesemi gratingfromRussiatoCanadain1874 MennoniteHistoriancontinuesTheintroducto ryissueofMennoniteHistorianappearedasa kindofprospectusinSeptember, , , ,buta , , , "winter" (Austin'sgreat-grandfather) memberoftheDerBoteindexThefirstvolumeofa nindextotheGerman-languageMennoniteperio dical,DerBote, $ ,thepaperbackvolumemaybeorderedfromCMBCP ublications,600 ShaftesburyBlvd.))

2 ,Winnipeg,Manitoba, ,Saskatchewan, ,andthenagreedtosignforaloanof$5000ashis shareina ,1874, , ,owningmanyfarmsaswellasflourandsawmills , 'scousin,Simeon,similarlyjoineda , (Manitobapor-tion)waspreparedforpossible publicationbyEmilyNighswander,ofStouffvi lle,On-tario,whodescribesherselfasa"four thgenerationdescendantofNoahReesor,broth erofSimeon."Notethatstyle,punc-tuationan dspellinghavebeenpreservedasaccuratelyas possibleinthedocument.**1875 May3 TodayI startedtoManitobaasinter-pretertotheRuss ianMennonitesWenttoTorontowith7 familieswhohadremainedwithusover winterMay4 $ (continuedonnextpage).. ' NipissingreferstotheTorontoandNipissintR ailroad(T&R), :EmilyNighswander,"TheDiaryofSimeonReeso r,May,1875",unpublishedtermpaper,ElimChr istianEducationCentre,Altona,Manitoba,Ap ril,1973; ,"BerichtueberdieMen-nonitischenBruederi nManitoba,"HeroldclerWabrbeit,XIV(Decemb er,1877), ;"TheMennonites",MarkhamEconomist, ,1874;"OntarioMen-nonitesgavegenerousass istancetoRussianimmigrantfamilies,"MenDO lliteReporter,IV,November25,1974, ; ,AdventureinFaith,Altona,Man.

3 ,1970; ,"Men-nonitestoManitoba,1874,"unpublishe dtypedmanuscript,ConferenceofMen-nonites inCanadaarchives,Winnipeg,Man., "non-Manitoba" ,thefamiliesofReesor' ' "Thesearethepar-tiesstoppedinOntariolast winter, ":JohanWiebe,JacobFriesen,PeterHader(Har der?),PeterEbb(Epp?),PeterDueck,PeterTow s(Toews),IsaacFunk,JohanNeufeld,AbrahamF riesen,AaronDueck,CorneliusDueck,HenryFa lk,PeterKoehler(Kehler?),HenryDoerksen,J ohannSchroeder,Widdow (sic)Unger,FranceSawatzki(FranzSawatzky? ),JohanSawatzki(Sawatzky?),JacobDoerksen ,PeterMartins(Martens?),JacobMartins,Pet erLoewen,PeterWall, "adults"(possiblymeaningadultequivalentf ares), groupsettledwithmanyotherfamiliesontheEa stReserveinManitoba."HenryWiebe",mention edaspreachingasermon,ispossiblytheBergth alminister{wholatermovedtotheWestReserve (Eden:burg) (1817-1901).}

4 Phototaken1899 * 'sexpensesincurredonajourneyasinterprete rfortheMennonitestoFortGarry,Manitoba,Ma y3, , & meals&bedWinnipegMay245 meals& ' "layover" WaitingPatientlyalldayweatherveryfinewor kis mentotheim-migrantShedsthatSchantzBuiltW herePeterBuhrlivesSent3 menaheadtotheSettlementforteamsand3 houseis wellsatisfiedwithhisSitua-tion,ifWheatgr owsthisSummer, (?)whereHWiebeDilivereda bulletinoftheHistory-ArchivesCommittee, editedb~LawrenceKlippensteinandpublished at600 ShaftesburyBlvd.,Winnipeg, ,Ont.( ,theMennoniteHistoricalSocietyofOntariob ecameinvolvedwiththerestorationprogramof a Pennsylvania- ,itwillI') ,anexcellentspecimenofPennsylvania-Germa narchitectureasamemorialtothePenn-sylvan ia-GermanMennonitepeoplewhopioneeredandd evelopedtheWOOacres, hillsothatentrancetothebasementmaybegain edongroundlevelonthesouthsideandentrance tothemainflooris " ,anda fireplacewhichwasusedfor.

5 Eavycooking,soap-making,heatinglaun-dryw ater,butchering, largepan-tryandkitchen-diningroomonthewe stsidewhileontheeastsidetherewasa ,providingamuseumtoportrayPennsylvania- ,oneofwhichprobablywasusedasa"rum-plesch tuup" ,SimeonMartin,wasengagedtohand-hewtimber sfromanearbyMennonitefarmer'swoodlot, ,usinghardwareretrievedfromsimilarhouses onotherlocations, 'sapartmentonthirdfloor,andwillsecurecus todialpersonnel, ,toestablisha reality, , ,RR2,NewHamburg,On-tarioNOB2GO,fora , ,Winnipeg,Man., , ,depictingrootsinGruenfeld, :PeterPaetkau,Sperling, ,Bismarck, :$ , ,Franklin, "omWeihnachtsmann,editedfora , ,600 ShaftesburyBlvd.,Winnipeg, :$ , ,Manitoba, , ,343 Helmsdale,Winnipeg, , , :$ :FellowshipBookcentre,302 Kennedy,Winnipeg, , ,Sask., :Cloth, ;Softcover,$ :JohnSchellenberg,Box297,Hanley, , , :$ :FellowshipBookcentre,302 Kennedy,Winnipeg, , , , :$ , ,Frank-lin, , ,Alberta, , :$ , ,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary, , ,119pp.

6 $ ,1708 WilsonCresc.,Saskatoon, ,Manitoba, , :RedRiverValleyEcho, , ! :NickJanzen,CedarHillsMennonite,Surrey, :Peters,FirstMennoniteGreendale,SardIS, ,WestAbbostfordMennonite,Abbotsford, ,UnitedMennonite,Mission, ,ClearbrookMennonite,Clearbrook, ,UnitedMennonite,Yarrow, ,CoaldaleMennonite,Coaldale, ,HillcrestMennonite,GrandePrairie, , Mennonite ,Rosemary, ,BergthalMennonite,Didsbury, ,Manitoba, ,204pp.,$ ' ,henotes,"towalkagainpathsIknewsowell",t ohelp"Mennonitehistori-ansofthefuture",a ndtosharethe"forceoftruth" quietvillageinsouthernRussia, ,theemergingNewOrderinwhichheservedasa Sovietof-ficialfora time, "newCanadian"-thedifficultiesofac-quirin ganotherlanguage,findingavocation,andget tinga ,AssociateProfessorofEnglishattheUnivers ityofWinnipeg,putsit aptlyinhisForeword;"Nowisthetimeforsuchb ooksofpersonalreminiscensesasthisone.

7 "Hopefullytherewillindeedbemanyotherswho cantakethetime, ,ofNutanaParkMennoniteChurch,Saskatoonis collectingmaterialonthecolonyofIgnatievo ,consistingofsevenvillages(1889-1942)int heDonetzBasin, ,per-sonalordocumentary,areaskedtowritet o2014 SommerfeldAve.,Saskatoon, ,ofSteinbach,Manitoba,headedbythelateArn oldDyck, , ,250 WaterlooSt.,Winnipeg, $ , $ $ $ $ :Hildebrand'sZeittafel,$ ,andSibirien,$ ,600 ShaftesburyBlvd.,Winnipeg, ,FirstMen-nonite,Saskatoon, ,HerbertMennonite,Herbert,Sask.:R~benWen dland,GraceMennonite,PrinceAlbert, ,GraceMennonite,Regina, ,OslerMennonite,Osler, ,AberdeenMennonite,Aberdeen, ,BethelMennonite,Win-nipeg, ,CarmanMennonite,Carman, ,GraceMennonite,Bran-don, ,SpringsteinMennonite,Springstein, ,SterlingMennonite,Win-nipeg, ,WinklerBergtbalerMen-nonite,Winkler, ,LeamingtonUnitedMen-nonite,Leamington, ,RockwayMennonite,Kitchener, :Ontario-7;Manitoba-17;Saskatchewan-13;A lberta-7;Britis !