Free Mennonite Family History Articles

by Rodney G. Cavanaugh     The Oberholtzer family originated before the 15th century in the Swiss village of Ober, about 30 miles south of Zurich. On March 2, 1661, Marx/Marcus Oberholtzer, son of Martin Oberholtzer, was hosting an evening Anabaptist church service at his home when they were “visited” by raiders, and the authorities fined the persons who were present. They were also told that they could no longer hold meetings, and if they were caught again, they would lose their homes.    Marcus (1683-1726) and Elizabeth Oberholtzer and their children left their European homeland bound for the “new world.” They...

by J. Lemar and Lois Ann Mast    Upon arrival in present-day Berks County, Pennsylvania, what was life like for our Amish ancestors? Did they stand in awe among the tall trees and lush brush—the land that they would soon own?   What a relief these immigrant families must have exprienced after remembering the long difficult journey from their homeland that took more money from them than they had planned! It included passage fares on the boat down the Rhine River past 26 different toll stations where they were required to pay a sum to the municipalities on their way to...

  Grist mills became essential to the early pioneer families even though they were not yet built for most of our immigrants. Flour and cornmeal was a needed ingredient in every home to make bread, and the work of hauling wheat and corn to the mill and back was much preferred over laboriously grinding one’s own grain.       Pennsylvania was well known as the breadbasket of the thirteen colonies with more mills than in any other state. Many of the early mills were built by our Mennonite and Amish ancestors—some pictured on this page. Most are no longer working today,...

Journals are an amazing source of information. I was recently amazed to read an old journal written in the 1860s by Christian K. Nissley who lived in East Donegal Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa.   Christian was a single man who was only 14 years old when his mother died, and then he died at the young age of 28. His journal is an amazing window into the Civil War time period. In reading his journal, one can easily describe him as self-educated as he wrote in beautiful German Script, but also could write in English.   Christian chose to join...

    The Atlantic Ocean crossing was certainly very challenging for most of our immigrant ancestors. The desire to come to America must have been quite strong to cause our immigrants to take such huge risks. Not only were they leaving their homeland probably forever, they knew that some of their family members might die enroute.    A note thought to have been written by 1739 Immigrant Hans Lantz gives an ominous warning: “If you are in Germany, Switzerland, or Strasbourg, and have not the opportunity to follow our sect because of the government and you care for the salvation of your...