1896 preaching tour of John Coffman

Written by Forrest Moyer on November 6, 2019

John S. Coffman (1848-1899) of Elkhart, IN was one of the first evangelists to hold a series of meetings in Franconia Mennonite Conference, in November 1896. His tour lasted three weeks, during which he preached in all but one congregation in the conference. In his diary, he recorded impressions of the places and people he met, giving us a rare view of local Mennonite culture. The diary is archived at the Mennonite Church USA Archives in Elkhart and was published

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New acquisition: 19th-Century Obituaries

Written by Forrest Moyer on August 22, 2019

In January 2018, the MHC received a surprise package in the mail from Lois Beun Callaghan of Santa Fe, NM, a descendant of John Meyer/Moyer (1799-1877) of Skippack Township. It contained several 19th century German newspapers with Meyer’s name on them — Der Morgenstern (Doylestown, PA), Der Neutralist (Skippack, PA), and Montgomery County Presse (Lansdale, PA) — and a separate file of hundreds of obituaries (and some marriage notices) clipped from these papers in the years 1844-1893. We’re thankful to

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Recipes from Anna Kulp Bean

Written by Forrest Moyer on October 4, 2018

This article was first published in the MHEP Newsletter in June 1978. Photos are from Willoughby Moyer’s booklet on the Bean family (1975), unless otherwise noted.

Introduction

Anna W. Kulp was born October 7, 1865 near Harmony Square, later known as Creamery, in Skippack Township. Her parents were Isaac K. Kulp (1822-1892) and Susanna H. Williams (1823-1871). When she was six years old, her mother died, and young “Annie” went to live with Isaac K. Gottshall and his wife, Sarah B. Kulp,

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Autobiographical notes: J. C. Clemens

Written by Forrest Moyer on April 5, 2018

Jacob Cassel Clemens (1874-1965) was pastor of Plains Mennonite Church and a well-known evangelist in Mennonite circles. In 1979, the MHEP Newsletter published his autobiographical notes written in 1954. The manuscript is in his papers archived at the MHC (Hist. Mss. 3).

Clemens’ reflections on the first half of the 20th century, as he experienced it, are illuminating. They remind us how much has changed in the last century, but also that many of our ancestors’ experiences are similar to ours—love

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Our Immigrant Heritage: Bean

Written by Forrest Moyer on April 5, 2017

This series of posts highlights families descended from 18th-century Mennonite immigrants to eastern Pennsylvania, in connection with the MHC’s exhibit Opportunity & Conscience: Mennonite Immigration to Pennsylvania, on display through March 31, 2018. The stories reflect the enrichment brought to communities over centuries by the descendants of immigrants.

There are two Mennonite Bean families, one descended from John Bean (Johannes Biehn), immigrant of 1709 who settled in Worcester Township, Montgomery County; and the other from John Bean who immigrated thirty years

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