Written for the occasion of the American bicentennial in 1976, the original edition of John L. Ruth’s ‘Twas Seeding Time offered the first account of the Mennonite experience during the Revolutionary War. Ruth’s text not only complicated more celebratory historical narratives of the Revolution, but it also contributed to the growing scholarly trend of telling history from the perspective of marginalized groups. ‘Twas Seeding Time joined other Mennonite projects responding to the patriotic fervor of the bicentennial.[1] The event appears to be the first time that Mennonites engaged in a deliberate response to a national commemoration.[2] Ruth wrote for his own Mennonite community, and the book’s significance includes its comprehensive content, but also the way it captured the stories and concerns of southeastern Pennsylvania Mennonites around the American bicentennial.

A new edition of ‘Twas Seeding Time will be published in July 2025 in advance of the America250 commemoration next year. Fifty years after its initial publication, why release a new edition now? What does the book have to offer in this historical moment? I asked John Ruth for answers. He said it offers, “A look into the situation of polarization.” The Revolution was a time when divisions affected families and communities. Echoes of such discord appear today. Ruth hopes this book goes beyond the Mennonite community to reach a broader general audience who might find the experiences of Mennonites during the Revolution enlightening.

Along with its broader contributions, this revised edition of ‘Twas Seeding Time features new material unavailable to Ruth fifty years ago. It presents a closer look at the time Washington and his troops encamped at Pennypacker Mills. Another story added to the book is that of Henry Brachthauser, a Hessian soldier who married into the local Mennonite community before becoming a schoolmaster and fraktur artist. His narrative illustrates the ways the Revolution rippled through lives and communities even after the conflict ended.

To mark the publication of the revised edition of ‘Twas Seeding Time, the Mennonite Heritage Center has organized a book launch and talk in the Summit View Auditorium of Souderton Mennonite Home on July 18, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Join us for an illustrated explanation of the added chapter, as well as a conversation about the struggles, triumphs, and human foibles of a peaceful community caught in the crossfire of the Revolutionary War. Copies of the book will be available for sale for $13.95 plus tax.

This is a free, in-person event open to the public. No registration required

You may view the ‘Twas Seeding Time Program using this link: 7-18-25 MHC Seeding Time.

About the Author:

John L. Ruth was born and raised in the southeastern Pennsylvania Mennonite community. At the age of twenty he was ordained minister by the casting of lots for a mission in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In 1951 Ruth married Roma Jeanette Jacobs who became a well-known fraktur artist.

After graduating from nearby Eastern College (now University) in 1956, Ruth completed his PhD in English at Harvard University under Perry Miller in 1968. From 1962 to 1976 he taught literature at Eastern, with a 1968-69 sabbatical in Germany as Gastprofessor für Amerikanisches Literatur at the University of Hamburg in Germany.

In 1972 Ruth became an associate pastor at the Salford Mennonite congregation. A few years later, he accepted an invitation by leaders of the Franconia (now Mosaic) Mennonite Conference to work primarily on themes of Mennonite heritage and faith. He also served as one of the founders of the Mennonite Heritage Center in 1974.

A respected historian, author and speaker, Ruth makes significant contributions to the understanding of Mennonite history, faith and culture. He helped create films such as The Amish: A People of Preservation, alongside other local features with his son, Jay Ruth. Ruth is also the author of numerous books including the recent This Very Ground, This Crooked Affair: A Mennonite Homestead on Lenape Land (2021).

After residing on his ancestral homestead in Lower Salford Township for almost forty years, John and Roma now make their home in Landsdale, Pennsylvania.

[1] The late Eastern Mennonite College (now University) professor Grant Stoltzfus first put the question to John Ruth about how Mennonites might respond to the bicentennial. One way they did so was through the publication of several other pamphlets and books such as: A Dream for America (1976),  A Guide to Select Revolutionary War Records Pertaining to Mennonites and Other Pacifist Groups in southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland, 1775-1800 (1974), Conscience in Crisis: Mennonites and Other Peace Churches in America, 1739-1789: Interpretation and Documents (1979), and Our Star-Spangled Faith (1976). Mennonite artists, including Roma Ruth, also produced pieces highlighting the Mennonite perspective during the American Revolution. Finally, southeastern Pennsylvania entities such as Franconia Mennonite Conference and Christopher Dock High School created committees and classes specifically dealing with the American Revolution and Mennonite responses to it and the bicentennial. Many of the objects produced by Mennonites during the bicentennial period can be found in the Mennonite Heritage Center’s collections.

[2] The celebration of the American semi-sesquicentennial (1926) in Lancaster featured dramatizations of Mennonite figures spouting cliché patriotic and nonresistant lines. However, the Mennonite community largely did not participate in, nor were they consulted about, the interpretation of these stories for the broader public. John Landis Ruth, The Earth is the Lord’s A Narrative History of Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Studies in Anabaptist History no. 39 (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001), 909-10.