Preservings $20 Issue No. 26, 2006 - Home at Plett Foundation

mass emigration. In 1872 Jansen published a
collection of writings regarding the dangers facing
nonresistance in Russia and the prospects of
settlement in America. 10
Early Kleine Gemeinde Leadership Development
After the death of Klaas Reimer in 1817,
his brother-in-law Abraham L. Friesen was
chosen as Ältester, serving until his death in
1849. Johann Friesen, a nephew was chosen and
installed by his uncle to be the new Ältester in
1847. Through numerous leadership challenges
and changes, Abraham Friesen was the catalyst
that directed his group to Nebraska when they
emigrated in 1874. According to Plett, another
influence that persuaded A. L. Friesen to settle
in Nebraska was Cornelius Jansen. Jansen was a
Mennonite grain merchant from Berdiansk who
had been exiled from Russia in 1873 because of
Jansen’s strong activities in promoting Mennonite
emigration…. During these months Cornelius
Jansen and his son Peter travelled extensively
in the American West, and promoted this area
to various Mennonite groups, one of which was
A. L. Friesen’ group. A. L. Friesen’s father was
a cousin to Mrs. Cornelius Jansen…. About 30
families of A. L. Friesen’s group left Borosenko
in the middle of June of 1874. They travelled by
riverboat from Nikopol to Cherson, and from
Cherson to Odessa on a large ship. From Odessa
to Hamburg the group travelled by rail…. In
Hamburg they embarked on the S. S. Hammonia
bound for New York. … Waiting to greet these
families on their arrival were Cornelius Jansen
and his son Peter. 11
The Kleine Gemeinde settlers immediately
began the search for land, sending a number of
men with Peter Jansen to inspect available land in
Kansas and Nebraska. … They chose to negotiate
for 15,000 acres of land that was owned by the B.
& M. Rail Road near Fairbury, Nebraska. …On
August 11, 1874 a Memorandum of Agreement
was drawn up and signed by M.M.R.R. Land
Commissioner, A. E. Touzalin and Jakob Fast [my
grandfather Heinrich F. Loewen’s uncle & adoptive
father] and Peter Heidebrecht of the Kleine
Gemeinde. . . The cost to the Kleine Gemeinde
was between $3.51 and $3.75 an acre. 12
The Jansen, Nebraska years
Jacob F. Isaac was born in Jefferson County,
Nebraska on April 7, 1883 on a farmstead about
a mile and a half east of Jansen along what became
known as “Russian Lane” in the village of
Rosenort. He was the fifth of eight children born
to his parents. The three oldest had been born in
Russia before their parents (his mother Margaretha
Friesen was born in Blumstein, Molotschna
Colony) had immigrated to America almost nine
years earlier.
A local history of the town highlights the
Mennonite origins of Jansen.
“The town Jansen was named in honor of
Peter Jansen, a Mennonite colonizer, farmer,
politician, diplomat and traveler…. On August
28, 1886, he purchased eighty additional acres
of land on which the town of Jansen was to be
located. On October 1, 1886, it was deeded to
the ‘Town of Jansen.’ … In less than a year, thirteen
distinct businesses were operating. Among
these were hardware and implement stores, a
lumberyard, grain elevator, hotel, general store
and bank. . . Shortly after the turn of the century
there were six Mennonite churches . . . in the
Jansen community.” 13
The Kleine Gemeinde Church in Jansen
After initially meeting in homes for group
worship after emigration, the Rosenort school
house east of Jansen was built and Ältester Abraham
L. Friesen’s KG group shared the building
with other Mennonite church groups for separate
worship services. The first KG church building
was located in the village of Heuboden [built
in 1883] and became known as the ‘Heubodner
Gemeinde’. This village area was located about
three miles west and four miles north of Jansen.
Sunday morning services then rotated between
Heuboden and Rosenort. “Serious problems
arose in the Heubodner Gemeinde shortly after
the 1877 [minister and deacon] election which
resulted in members leaving the Kleine Gemeinde
and joining Isaac Peters’ church. … On
December 5, 1878, 39 baptized believers joined
Isaac Peters group.” 14 The Isaac family was part
of the controversy and for a number of years
they (the Abraham P. Isaac family) “belonged to
Peters church, but were later again accepted into
the Kleine Gemeinde.” 15 “In many ways Peters’
understanding of doctrine and teaching was similar
to that of the Kleine Geimeinde. He rejected
baptism by immersion and the doctrine of the
Millenium, but held fast to the doctrine of nonresistance.
In practice he differed from the Kleine
Gemeinde. He placed a greater emphasis on the
new birth experience through repentance and the
knowledge of sins forgiven, and “recognized all
evangelical means to this end: live preaching,
indoctrination of youth, study of the Bible and
congregational prayer meetings.” 16 Slowly the
KG congregation started to recover from the severe
upheavals of the late 1870s. “Young people
were still joining the church. On December 12,
1880, A. L. Friesen baptized 6 persons in the
Rosenort schoolhouse. There also seems to
have been a continual transfer of membership
between the Peters’ church and the Kleine Gemeinde.
Neither church rebaptized transferred
members…. Spiritually too, the church was
making some progress.” In early 1883 the Nebraska
and Manitoba Kleine Gemeinde formally
merged. “In 1885 there was a need to increase
the ministerial. Two deacons and one minister
were elected.” 17 “Three years after his election
[1888] the new minister, Heinrich Ratzlaff, had
a sharp disagreement with the Aeltester A. L.
Friesen, and he, together with a number of members,
left the Kleine Gemeinde and joined Isaac
Peters’ church.” 18 “Earlier history indicates that
ministers were at times removed from office for
what we today might consider very minor errors
in judgment. Probably Ratzlaff’s criticism of
the Aeltester Friesen was the improper behavior
that precipitated this split…. The years 1887 to
1906 were relatively quiet years for the Kleine
Gemeinde in Nebraska” 19
Ministerial Conference of 1889
In 1889 the Kleine Gemeinde developed
doctrine and practice resolutions that were
revised in 1899 in Blumenort, Manitoba, and
adopted on July 1, 1901 by all the Manitoba &
Nebraska ministers for their constituency. They
were as follows:
“First: . . . it is resolved to on the basis of
the following scripture passages not to hold any
office, nor to vote. . .
Secondly: On the basis of God’s words our
members are not permitted to attend services
led by other ministers except for those worship
services recognized and attended by our ministerial.
…
Thirdly: On the basis of God’s word we do
not recognize marriages not performed in the
Lord. …
Fourthly: We believe that Sunday school as
well as singing practice, particularly the four-part
harmony practice, will do us more harm than
good. They will lead us away from the simplicity
in Christ. …
Fifthly: We consider portraits and photographs
to be unscriptural. First, they serve to
honor mortal and worldy-minded men: secondly,
they lead to idolatry… and thirdly they lead to
adultery and non-christian marriages. …
Sixthly: Except for an ordinary sermon, we do
not consider it scriptural to adopt the new practices
in our funeral services. …We do not accept
as scriptural the singing, prayer and preaching at
the graveside as practiced these days. . .”
To what extent the resolutions mirror the
thinking of the Nebraska group is not clear…. It is
clear, though, that the articles discussed dealt with
issues of that day and were directed particularly at
areas where other local churches seemed to take
greater Christians liberties. Both the Manitoba
as well as the Nebraska Kleine Gemeinde had
suffered numerical losses by the fact that their
members were attracted to the preaching and
practices of other churches. The resolutions were
an attempt to stop this migration. Both the Sunday
school and singing practice were seen by the
Kleine Gemeinde ministerial as tools that would
mar the thinking of their young people and would
ultimately lead them astray…. The resolutions of
1899 are also of interest in what they do not refer
to. No reference is made in the articles concerning
dress, jewellery or styles…. All churches that
were competing for their members were united in
practicing a very conservative life style.” 20
Emigration Again Beckons
“After farming in the Jansen area for a number
of years Abraham [Jacob F. Isaac’s father & family]
went to Colorado in 1892 to look for land.
Evidently he was well pleased since he homesteaded
half a section there. However, drought
brought them back to Jansen in 1897.” 21
“The concern for their young people was the
motivating factor that forced the Kleine Gemeinde
church to consider a colonization program
in the early nineteen hundreds. Basically, two
concerns were evident. When Peters’ church also
started Sunday School in 1890, followed by “Jugend
Verein,” the Kleine Gemeinde young people
were attracted to these activities. These methods
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