The MHC Quarterly is the quarterly newsletter of the Mennonite Heritage Center.  The MHC Quarterly includes articles of history and genealogy, upcoming events and exhibits, recent acquisitions, and other items of interest to MHC members.  To receive the publication, become a member of the MHC.

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Sample issues in PDF format. Articles may not be reproduced without permission.

Spring 2020

Winter 2019

Below is a list of feature articles in the MHC Quarterly and its predecessor, the MHEP (Mennonite Historians of Eastern PA) Newsletter.  Press Ctrl+f to open a search function. Email us at info@mhep.org if you’d like a copy of an article.

Some articles have been republished as blog posts, in which case the title links to the post.

MHEP Newsletter (1975-1997)

1975
Excerpts from a private diary [William Souder Hemsing]: “going to meeting” at Souderton, 1883-1902
A farmer shelters tramps for 40 years [Jacob B. Mensch] [reprinted from The Pennsylvania German]
Glimpses of ‘Skippack’ Mennonite life, 1745-1760 [from Sauer’s newspaper]

1976
Gehman gift spans 19th century Mennonite family
Drowning of Sara G. Landes, wife of Daniel Heebner [reprinted from Fretz’s Funk Genealogy]
Mennonites during the Revolutionary War
A dramatic funeral at Towamencin [General Nash, Oct. 1777]
Historian Daniel Kolb Cassel
Walter Rush–a saver
Remembering History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference: an interview with John C. Wenger

1977
Isaac Delp auction/vendue account, 1815
A pioneer of Gospel broadcasting: William G. Detweiler
A petition by church leaders at Deep Run and Plumstead during the 1847 division
Letter from Ada Landis to Fannie Landis, Aug. 26, 1893
A letter from Plumstead Township during the Civil War: William and Samuel Gross
List of conscientious objectors from the Bucks County Register, Sept. 16, 1862
Stories about our Canadian Mennonite relatives [reprinted from Fretz’s Moyer Genealogy]

1978
Notes from Ray Hacker’s “Adaptations of the Eastern District Conference during the first 50 years…”
Recipes from Henry and Mary Ruth
A Journey to Philadelphia: Enos S. Gehman, 1871
Excerpts from the diary of Susan Alderfer Landis (Mrs. Abram M.)
Recipes from Anna Kulp Bean
Civil War letter from Jacob Nold and wife to Johannes Gross and wife, October 18, 1863
Early church letter from Franconia Conference: Jacob Godshall
Recipes of Addie Baum Detwiler and Cora Detweiler Frederick
Excerpts from schoolbooks of Clara Gehman, Bally (1885-1958)

1979
Correspondence of John E. Lapp with Henry M. Gross, Director of Selective Service
Excerpts from “Powwowing: Folk Medicine or White Magic?” by Gerald Studer
A selected [eastern Pennsylvania] index of the Mennonite Quarterly Review
Autobiographical notes: Jacob Cassel Clemens (1874-1965)
A Quaker’s defense of nonresistance: Miers Fisher to John Hallowell, 1816

1980
Private Norman Derstine: a reluctant Mennonite soldier
A true story from 100 years ago: Henry Hagey, 1933 [reprinted from the Souderton Independent]
The Mennonite peace testimony in the 20th century
A partial [Mennonite] index of the Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA
A Russian Mennonite story: Abraham Sawatsky, alias Henry Berg

1981
Germantown congregation letters, 1790s
Ballade eines Sonderlings : Harvey Derstine [article in German by Julie Miller]
Abraham Gehman letter, 1778 [reprinted from the Gehman Family History]
Art with grit and fiber: fraktur work of John E. Lapp
Excerpts from the diary of Samuel G. Fly, 1888-1889

1982
The Pennsylvania German : a partial review

1983
Camp experiences of David H. Gehman during World War I
New discoveries in Godshalk-Godshall-Gottschall family research
Early years at Germantown
Inventory and appraisment of the estate of Henry Kolb, d. 1730
John B. Pennepacker [reprinted from S. W. Pennypacker’s Autobiography of a Pennsylvanian]
Funeral records kept by Jacob Mensch
Jacob Kolb (b. 1685) family record
Farewell letter of bishop Jacob Gottschall, 1845
Will of Andrew Lederach, 1759
Inventory and appraisment of the estate of Henry Ruth, d. 1757
Estate settlement papers of Christian Allebach, d. 1746

1984
Letter from minister John Geil to bishop Jacob Gottschall, 1822
John Custer funeral expenses, 1708
Dielman Kolb of Tinicum Township: the father of the first Mennonites in Canada
Towamencin Mennonite church records

1985
Letters from Herman Gottschall to Jacob Gottschall, 1819-1826
The story of the Martyr’s Mirror
A window on Franconia Mennonite character [manuscript notebook of Henry R. Bergey]
1896 preaching tour [diary] of evangelist John S. Coffman [entries relating to Franconia Conference]
Who was Jacob Bishopberger? [see follow-up article, 2009]
Several letters from bishop Jacob Gottschall (1769-1845)

1986
The life history of Susie Nice Freed Heebner and Abram Landes Heebner
The Salome Bergey Letter Collection
Life: reflections from the journal of Alma K. Ruth
Two ordinations in Franconia Conference: Christian Hunsberger, 1906 and John E. Lapp, 1933
Annual meeting of the Old Mennonites, 1877

1987
Diary of Elizabeth Cassel Clemens, 1909-1912
Excerpts from Poems, Songs and Prose Thoughts by Selma B. Bechtel, 1936
A five week trip to the West: Henry C. Krupp, 1891
Recipes from the turn of the century
Southeastern Pennsylvania Mennonite chronology: some events before 1803
Diary of Henry Detwiler, Souderton, 1875-1876
Our developing heritage: a brief survey of the history of Deep Run Mennonite Church East
Inventory of the estate of Andrew Kulp (Andreas Kolb) (1749-1811)
Settlement Mennonite Cemetery–what is its future?
A grandson’s memories of Elizabeth Cassel Clemens: Jacob C. Kulp
A letter recording the service of Andrew B. Shelly at the First Mennonite Church of Philadelphia, 1865-1887
Mary Bakewell and Wilhemina Kuyf: women in ministry at First Mennonite, Philadelphia
Marketmen of southeastern Pennsylvania: a beginning collection

1988
Samuel B. Musselman: coverlet weaver in Milford and Hilltown Townships, Bucks County
John Kaufman: coverlet weaver in Hilltown Township, Bucks County
”Planting a church” fifty years ago at Finland
“Good adwise” on scrapple, from the notebook of Henry R. Bergey (1843-1925)
The Martyr’s Mirror: a message for all time
Selections from “Parcemia, or the story of an obscure life” by Mahlon G. Moyer, 1928
An incomplete 1876 letter of deacon Isaac Longacre…on the Old School and New School Mennonites and Church People
Coverlet weavers of Bucks County: Michael Kaufman and Aaron Zelner
Salford Mennonite Trustees Record Book, 1818-1830
In memoriam: John E. Lapp (1905-1988) and Priscilla L. Delp (1910-1988)

1989
Mennonite hand towels and samplers
Finland congregation, 1939-1943
19th century worship in the Franconia Mennonite Conference
Charlestown Mennonite Meetinghouse rediscovered
Towamencin Literary Circle newsletters, 1884
Kulp-Moore fraktur and document collection placed in Heritage Center
Unidentified vendue list, circa 1840

1990
Two months in the life of preacher Jacob B. Mensch, 1898
From the boys at Camp Meade [conscientious objectors’ report to bishop Joseph Ruth, 1918]
Mary Latshaw Bower, historian
Samuel & Maria Gottschall Fly family record
Our rural Telford peddler
Zion Mennonite Church: how it came to be

1991
Lives of Butter Valley
1536 Froschauer Bible acquired
First Mennonite Church of Huntingdon Valley [Philadelphia]
Hans Meyer homestead
Priscilla Delp, a faithful servant
Kolb/Kulp genealogy
Hans Weyerman of Salford Township
Mennonites in the Chester Valley

1992
The “Shooters” of Hatfield Township [Sauter/Souder family]
The raising of Hatfield Township
Common threads: a perspective on Mennonite attire
Early Detweiler family record discovered
Hans Detweiler inventory, June 16, 1761
Mutual assistance in rural America: the birth of the Harleysville Insurance Company
19th century newspapers in Upper Montgomery & Bucks Counties
Revisiting Lenapehocking
What is a Mennonite quilt?

1993
Deacon Abraham Wismer travel record, 1846, 1854
The Manor of Richland
Letter from “behind the Blue Mountain, March 30, 1752”

1994
Early Sauter family Bible discovered
An unusual historical observance [D.A.R. dedication of Nash monument at Towamencin}
Zionsville Bible Fellowship Church
Diary of Mary Harley Cassel, Lower Salford Township, 1858
Hanna Rittenhouse Clemens (1880-1977), Lansdale, PA
Hettie Kulp Mininger & Annie Funk: two women dedicated to mission work
Peter Stauffer family Bible record discovered
The Notenbüchlein (manuscript songbooks) tradition in early Franconia Conference Mennonite Communities

1995
David Kulp, his hand and pen: the “Brown Leaf Artist” identified?
Things that people need: Ernest & Lois Gunden Clemens
Historical characters and itinerants of the Indian-Branch Creek Valley
A Mennonite letter of attestation for an immigrant family in 1719: Johannes & Barbara Roth
Early Mennonite “church records” in the [MHC] Historical Library

1996
David Kulp, his hand and pen, beet it if you can: schoolmaster David Kulp of Deep Run, the “Brown Leaf Artist” identified
Jacob Kulp’s wife and Grandmother Bechtel’s library: stories [of Mennonite women] from the Franconia Conference
The Upper Milford Mennonite controversy, 1859
Pennsylvania German furniture makers of Bucks and Montgomery Counties
Henrich Brachtheiser (1762-1788), “Hessian” mercenary turned schoolmaster & fraktur artist, of Lower Salford and Skippack

1997
Saying no and saying yes: John H. Oberholtzer and Andrew B. Shelly, early Eastern District Conference leaders
N. B. Grubb: a founder of an era
Allen M. Fretz (1843-1943), shepherd of souls, dean of ministers in the Eastern District Conference
The daughters of Peter Kolb (d. 1748) of Skippack Township

MHEP / MHC Quarterly (1998-

1998-1999
Letters from Abraham D. Hunsicker to John H. Oberholtzer, 1845-1851
Jacob Angene (1773-1816), Bedminster Township, Bucks County, family Bible record
1836 letter from Jacob Shoemaker, State Line, PA, to Michael Shoemaker, Franconia Township
Family record of John Frick (d. 1818) and Catharine Rohr Frick (1768-1830), Hatfield Township
Family record of Isaac & Sarah Fry Tyson, Skippack Township

1999
Feeling a call to the work: women in ministry in the Mennonite Brethren in Christ/Bible Fellowship Church
Fatherless, widowed, orphaned, strangers: origins of the Shisler family of Lower Salford and Franconia Townships
Remembering the 20th Century: memories of Paul M. Lederach, Iona S. Weaver, Norman R. Landis and Elmer G. Kolb
Documents relating to immigrant Johannes Roth (d. 1740) of Vincent, Chester County

2000
Called to Serve: Annie C. Funk
Family record of David & Elizabeth Hockman Bieler/Bealer, Milford Twp., Bucks Co.
Artifact collection donated by Hiram & Mary Jane Hershey
Courtship letters between Jacob B. Mensch and Mary Bower, 1858
A. B. Shelly’s address: “The future of our conference [1901]”
A working genealogical outline of the early Mennonite Angeny family in Bucks County
Rev. Anne Jemima Allebach (1874-1918)

2001
An account of the 1862 Civil War draft in Bucks County with a guide to its records
Brunk Revivals—fifty years ago!
Dear brother & sister in the Lord: William D. & Deborah Harley Moyer letters
John Derstine Souder, “local historian” and folk artist (1865-1942)

2002
The origins of Calvary Mennonite Church, Souderton, Pennsylvania
Gardens and gardening among the Pennsylvania Germans
Pennsylvania apple butter
The beginning of Mennonite Disaster Service of Eastern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania German decorative arts: a private collection from Bucks and Montgomery Counties
Christmas when I was a boy: Jacob C. Kulp
A 19th century Christmas dinner

2003
Struggles of conscience [local conscientious objection]
Heirloom vegetable varieties
Memories of Mennonite marketing in the Delaware Valley
Growing up on my dad’s poultry farm: Tim Rice
Community Cook Books
Symbols in Mennonite fraktur
December past, as recorded in local diaries

2004
A prayer for Pennsylvanians: stories of early leaders of the Eastern District Conference
Out of the earth, with understanding, the potter makes everything
A conference of reconciliation in Zurich: a short trip to Switzerland
Gratitude for the year’s harvest

2005
Entering the twentieth century
John Z. Gehman and his apples: …as gleaned from a 19th century Mennonite farmer’s diary
Dandelion–a “Spring tonic”
Yoder Road campus dedication
Remembering Claude and Naomi Shisler
Memories of everyday life in late 19th century Pennsylvania: interview with Hanna Rittenhouse Clemens
Pennsylvania German baskets

2006
Conscientious objection to World War I among Mennonites and others
The 1918 influenza epidemic
Connections and expressions of faith–Cheyenne, Arapaho, Mennonite: Journey from Darlington, Oklahoma
American Mennonite statements on war
Bake oven baking
Pennsylvania barns

2007
We are still farming: a report on Mennonite agriculture today in eastern Pennsylvania
God will take care of you: the story of the Irwin and Lizzie Derstine family
Remembering Wilmer L. Reinford
The Isaac Clarence Kulp Collection
The passing of Isaac Clarence Kulp
Early twentieth century Mennonite weddings: some stories

2008
Willem Rittinghuysen [Rittenhouse] as minister: a steady presence in an unsteady context
The weaver’s trade in southeastern Pennsylvania
The John E. and Edith Nyce Lapp Collection
More than clouds and lightening: the photography of Jonas Nyce of Vernfield and Souderton
Storied from our collection: family records
Remembering “Sunday dinner”
Stories from our collection: vintage toys

2009
Papers from the “Pilgrims on a Journey” symposium on Mennonite spirituality:
–How did our ancestors pray?: Mennonite spirituality in the first two centuries
–Glimpses of Mennonite spirituality in early Pennsylvania
–Becoming like Christ: twentieth century examples: Susan Landis Ruth / AMBS professors
–Bone of my bone: a Mennonite life: Mary Lou Weaver Houser
–Spirituality among Old Order and plain Mennonites
–My journey with Mennonite spirituality: Yvonne Platts
Bishop John E. Lapp: his life and work
Exploring the history and artistry of fraktur
Who was Jacob Bishopberger?: new pieces to the puzzle
The photography of Anna B. Guntz (1913-2005)

2010
Folk talk from the memory of Bessie Gottshall Kulp (1901-1986)
Scrapple and sausage traditions
No greater love: Church of the Brethren mission in China (1908-1949)
Excerpts from Paper, Quill and Ink by Brian Hagey

2011
Richard C. Detweiler: in his own words
Dressing the part: eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite attire over the decades
History, story and Nickel Mines [Amish school shooting]
Memorial service for Nelson Souder, May 13, 2011
Paul Nyce memorial service, May 19, 2010

2012
Life milestones: observances in Mennonite family and church life
Interpreting the “1847 Division”—165 years later
Pennsylvania German barns

2013
Surveying nineteenth century Mennonite meetinghouses
Conrad Grebel: his life and significance
Postcards and early 20th century Blooming Glen
A selection of Mennonite fraktur from the Gov. Samuel W. Pennypacker Collection at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center

2014
Our farming traditions: honest poultry men
Bishop Warren G. Bean
Worshipful hymns or light songs: singing traditions in Franconia Mennonite Conference
Corn husking and sauerkraut
Some words for living history [Lutheran-Mennonite reconciliation]

2015
Memories of Ralph W. Berky and his “Larkland”
Lost in Allentown: Glenn H. Landis
The life and migration of Dielman Kolb
Tongues shall fail [excerpted from John Ruth’s manuscript Listening to Salconia]

2016
Footwashing memories
Mennonite emigration to Pennsylvania… [reprinted from Pa. Magazine of History & Biography]
Amish and Mennonite interrelationships in the Chester Valley 1770-1835
Summer and winter food

2017
Turning to missions in the Franconia Mennonite Conference: 1917-1958
Our immigrant heritage: some Germantown families
A glimpse into the life of Catharine Mensch Stubblebine…1870-1911
The traditional pattern of communion and feet-washing in the Franconia Conference

2018
An Excerpt from Time and Memory: Life in a Small Place by Joyce C. Munro
Treasures [reflections by Eva Beidler on sorting her parents belongings]
The Eastern PA Mennonite Conscientious Objectors’ World War I Experience
From the Blog: Henry & Florence Keeler Family Photos

2019
“As a Son to a Father”: Gross Family Correspondence, 1890s
Sufficient for Their Necessity [18th century inheritance]
Joseph and Ida Gottschalk: Their Mission to India 1892-1902
Lawyers and Activists: The Harley-Britten Family

2020
Rockhill Mennonite Church: Some Themes from the Congregation’s 275+ years
Latshaw’s Bakery
Beginnings of Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Mennonite Church
Letters from Mother: Hannah Cassel Shisler writes to her children