Mennonite Church in the United States

United States  Church Records   Mennonite Church Records

History in the United States
The name of Mennonite came from followers of the former Catholic Priest, Menno Simons, who, during the 16th century, embraced the Anabaptist beliefs and became a religious leader. Because of persecution, many fled to America in the late 1600's and settled in Pennsylvania. Among the Mennonites emerged a group who followed a Swiss Mennonite Bishop named Jakob Amman; these became known as the Amish or Amish Mennonites. Eventually more variations of the European Mennonites began immigrating to the United States. In the early 1800’s Mennonites settled in Ohio and Missouri with Mennonites from Russia settling in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota in the 1870's.The Amish Mennonites settled mainly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, with some groups in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. For a time there were two main Mennonite groups in North America; the Mennonite Church, with roots in Pennsylvania, and the General Conference Mennonite Church which was began in Iowa in 1860 and included many of the Russian immigrants. Eventually, these two groups united in 2002 and became the Mennonite Church USA.

Mennonite Church Records

 * The Mennonite Church USA Historical Committe has put together a web page designed to assist those interested in Mennonite and Amish genealogy and family history. One of their major projects has been the Mennonite Obituary Index (mentioned below) and because of it's popularity, they have also created a page of information which will be valuable to the researcher.


 * For a directory of Congregations, see the Mennonite Church USA website.


 * Mennonite Obituaries Index 1930-2001 online. Index is from The Mennonitische Rundschau. Index covers the world and includes the following: • Surname • Given Name • Maiden Name • Birth Year • Death Year • Place of death • Country • Issue • Page


 * There is also a Mennonite Immigrants list for the years 1872-1904 The Index provides the following information: • Surname • Given Name • Sex • Estimated Birth Date • Arrival Age • Stated Occupation • Individual RIN • Spouse RIN • Parent RIN • Ship Name • Ship Code