New Mennonite Genealogy Series Coming

by Richard Thiessen

The Genealogy Committee of the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society has agreed to move ahead with plans to commence publication of a series of documents pertaining to Russian Mennonite genealogical research. The series, tentatively entitled Russian Mennonite Genealogy Series, is to be comprised of at least seven publications.

No. 1. Mennonite emigration from Prussia and settlement in Russia: 1789-1835, part 1, by Peter Rempel. This collection includes lists of settlers in Chortitza Colony from 1789-1796, census lists from 1797 and 1806, and lists of established households from 1803 to 1828. Much of this information is not in B.H. Unruh's Die niederländische-niederdeutschen Hintergründe der mennonitischen Ostwanderungen.

No. 2. Mennonite emigration from Prussia and settlement in Russia: 1789-1835, part 2. This collection includes additional immigration data for 1803 to 1835. Many of these documents are from the St. Petersburg arichives microfilm collection. They include lists of Mennonites who immigrated to Molotschna in the first half of the 19^th century and those who immigrated to other areas of Imperial Russia, such as Ostrog, from 1811 to 1819. The collection may also include some documents provided and transcribed by Adalbert Goertz that are Prussian in origin and listing Mennonites immigrating to Russia.

No. 3. Molotschna Colony 1835 Census, 2^nd edition, by Richard Thiessen. This will be a corrected revision of the 1^st edition of the census, and will also include annotations with additional information on the individuals located in the census. Annotations will be taken from previously published sources such as the B. H. Unruh study, items previously published in this new series, the GRANDMA database, and both published and unpublished genealogies.

No. 4. B.H. Unruh: Genealogical Documents. This would be basically a translation of significant parts of B.H. Unruh's Die niederländisch-niederdeutschen Hintergründe.

No. 5. The First Mennonite Settlers in Chortitza by Henry Schapansky. This would be a reworking of the individual articles written by Schapansky and first published in Mennonite Family History.

No. 6. Mennonites in Russia, 1835-1900. This would be a collection of a variety of documents taken from the Peter Braun (Odessa) and St. Petersburg collections, and perhaps even new items from the Odessa archives, if they become available. These documents include items from forestry records such as census lists, and school registers for Molotschna.

No. 7. Mennonite Church Documents of the 19^th century. This publication would include at least two documents: the Schoenhorst Church Register for the village of Schoenhorst, Chortitza Colony, and a baptism register for Fürstenland Colony.

Over the next several years, numerous other documents may very well be discovered and incorporated into this proposed series. Anyone interested in donating to this project may designate funds to the Genealogy Project. Richard Thiessen, Concord College, 169 Riverton Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2L 2E5.

In Memoriam

John, son of Katharina Wiebe and Peter J. Dyck, a teacher, was born on 10 August 1928 in the village of Neuhorst near Gretna. When he was almost five years old the family moved to Reinland, and later to Neubergthal.

Early on he worked in retail stores at Steinbach, and also in Gnadenthal, during which time he met and married Elma Penner.

In 1960 John, Elma, and family moved to Winnipeg where John worked in the farm machinery industry. He first worked at Nu-Way Distributors Limited, where he served a general manager for ten years, and then at Ajax Equipment Ltd.

For some time already, John had developed an interest in Mennonite history, and soon turned to writing. He began working as a researcher on several projects, whereby he was re-trained to develop his writing skills. Since that time he wrote numerous books, articles, and presented numerous papers at symposia and conferences. Some of the book titles are as follows: Oberschulze Jakob Peters 1813-1884: Manitoba Pioneer Leader; Working Papers of the East Reserve Village Histories 1874-1910; and Bergthal Gemeinde Buch.

John passed away on 22 June 1999. He will be greatly missed not only by his family and friends but by his colleagues in the historical field where he was so active and productive for fifteen years or more.