Mennonites

The Mennonite religion currently has about 1.5 million followers (2006). This anabaptist religion is named after Frisian Menno Simons, who was responsible for formalizing the teachings of other earlier Swiss founders. The Mennonites emigrated from Switzerland in several distinct groups, including those who went to Russia before coming to America and those who traveled down the Rhine to Holland, England, and then the United States.

The Mennonites are deeply involved in keeping records of their ancestors and descendants. An extensive collection of genealogical materials is maintained by the Mennonite Historical Society at its facility in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They also issue a monthly publication, which contains extensive articles about the early Mennonite ancestors and their religion.

The Mennonite ancestry is Celt, but these earlier peoples did not maintain a written language. The only records of them are those pieced together from the writings of their Roman conqueror, Julius Caesar and archeological findings. The earliest remains of any Celtic people is of those trapped in a salt mine near Zurich, Switzerland.

The FHL maintains copies of the family histories of many early Mennonite immigrant ancestors, as well as Milton Snavely Hershey, the founder of the confection and food company that bears his name.

In addition to many records from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which continues to have one of the largest populations of Mennonites and related religions (Amish, Dunkards, Church of the Brethren), there are two sites of particular interest to genealogists tracing 19th and 20th century Mennonite families. The first is the on-going collection of Mennonite Obituaries and the second, for locating Mennonite Congregations by name or location, is Mennonite.net.