Written by Forrest Moyer on May 15, 2017
Former MHC intern Dan Sigmans, who grew up in Bucks County, now lives and works in Philadelphia. Recently he helped with a successful application to add the old First Mennonite Church building at 513 Diamond Street (built in 1881) to the city’s Register of Historic Places. I asked him a few questions about the process and the historic site. You can view the full application here. It was approved March 10th.
2020 update: Unfortunately, the building has not survived, despite being
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Written by Forrest Moyer on May 10, 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.
Viewing comets in Kriegsheim
Hupert Cassel, an immigrant bachelor who came to Pennsylvania in 1717, and his brothers Yellis and John, who came ten years later, were from a pious Mennonite family of Kriegsheim,
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Written by Steve Diehl on May 4, 2017
The 2017 Heritage Banquet was held on Friday, April 28th at the Heritage Center
“Let us walk again the pilgrim path.”
With these words from the invocation of Steve Kriss, Executive Minister of the Franconia Conference, 80 guests headed down that path. One storyteller was Friedrick Alldörfer, whose passage was across the Atlantic in 1733. Friedrick was portrayed by Heritage Center historian Joel Alderfer, an actual descendant. He hosted guests in the cross-section of his ship, the focal
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Written by Forrest Moyer on March 8, 2017
In 1976, MHEP Newsletter editor Joyce Munro interviewed John C. Wenger about his memories of writing the book History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference in 1936. It’s fascinating to read about the process of creating this substantial book that is still in 2017 the best source for information on some aspects of Franconia Mennonite history, including ministers who have served in the conference. The book is available for purchase at the Mennonite Heritage Center.
We’re forty years too late
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Written by Forrest Moyer on January 11, 2017
Christopher Sower’s printing house, Germantown, Pa.
As announced, one feature of this blog will be the republishing of articles from past issues of the MHEP Newsletter and Quarterly. One of the first significant articles published in the Newsletter, when it began in 1975, was a translation by John Ruth of Mennonite-related material published in Christopher Sower’s German newspaper, 1745-1760. We present it here again for your enjoyment and education. Editor’s notes are original to the Ruth article.
Christopher Sower‘s newspaper, Pensylvanische Berichte
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