175th Anniversary Historical Moments

Maryanne Szuck
May 10, 2009

A quilt is a work of art and heritage. There is a long history of hand - quilted quilts being made at Breslau Mennonite Church through the different women`s groups such as Charity Sewing Circle, Eventide Sewing Circle, WMSC and the Monday Night Quilters.

Many quilts have been made for relief and personal use over the years. This is a tradition here at BMC.

This quilt in front of us, named “Flower Garden” was pieced together by Eunice Burkhart`s mother Mary Ann Cressman approximately 75 years ago and never completed until this month.

June 21, 2009
Maryanne Szuck

This is a story of a young orphaned English Anglican boy who became a German Mennonite preacher in Breslau way back in the 1860s.

My great - great - great grandfather, Isaac Woolner was born in 1792 in the County of Suffolk in England. In 1812 Isaac Woolner and his brother, William, came to Canada to fight the War of 1812 between the colonies and Upper Canada. For their military services they were awarded land in this area.

Maryanne Szuck
July 19, 2009

Norma Dettweiler, a member of our church wrote a article for a Rural Sociology Course in 1957 - 1959 for her teacher`s degree. It was titled " Breslau - a Rural Community." She wrote about Breslau`s size and location, the people, religion, educational opportunities, industry, communication and transportation, local government, expansion, farming land, and social life.

Norma also started "The Branch" in 1985. Norma, now at age 81 lives at Fairview Mennonite Home.

From Norma`s article this is a comparison of 50 years, then and now.

Then

John Cressman
March 8, 2009

Reader 1: Here are a few glimpses from the Cressman and Breslau Mennonite Church Membership Directory. The first entries in the directory are in 1848, 18 years after the formation of the church, in 1834.

Reader 2: From 1848 until 1914, a span of 66 years, the directory is a simple record, listing membership in the church and the deaths of members.

Reader 3: In 1914, 80 years after the start of the church, two withdrawals of membership were listed. In 1915, two reinstated memberships were recorded.

Maryanne Szuck
June 2009

Here is a story about the Mennonite Coleus plant that I recently received. It is apparently a cutting of the original mother plant from Pennsylvania. Cuttings of this coleus were brought to Canada by the Cressmans who settled here in Breslau. This is a story told by Eben Cressman, a descendant of Nicholaus Cressman, father to John Cressman SR and passed on to others.

They probably brought other cuttings of plants such as geraniums to this country also.

John Cressman
May 10, 2009

1834 to 2009 defines the 175th anniversary of a Christian community enduring here at Breslau. (that’s according to our church records)

200AD to 2009AD defines the 1809th anniversary, only one of many, of women being recognized in Christian ministry.
(that’s according to a papyrus manuscript dating about 200 AD, which we know today as the book of Romans)

57AD to 2009AD defines the 1952nd anniversary, of the possible date of writing of the manuscript by Paul.

Phil Martin
May 3, 2009

In 1913 something important happened in Breslau. 1913 was the year Canada completed the National Transcontinental Railway from Moncton to Winnipeg. A November storm sunk 34 ships in the Great Lakes. Elsewhere in the world, clouds of a different sort were gathering. Just as fighting in the Balkans came to an end ~ when Greece, Serbia, Romania and Turkey defeated Bulgaria ~ the world edged closer to that terrible conflagration known as World War I.

So what happened in Breslau that was so important in the year 1913? A sidewalk was built.

Maryanne Szuck
March 15, 2009

The first church, a 1813 log structure served the needs of the congregation in Berlin until 1834 when it was moved to Christian C. Snyder farm. This first church in Breslau served the needs of the congregation until 1856 when a brick building was erected. This same log building was moved again to the village of Breslau and became the residence of Fred Schaefer, a brick maker who bricked the log building at a later date. The house is still standing at 18 Woolwich Street North.

Phil Martin
Feb 15, 2009

Mennonite settlers to Waterloo Township did not come to a land that was empty. This region was home to the Mississaugas, Ojibwa people who had lived here since midway through the 17th century.

Maryanne Szuck
Feb. 8, 2009

Preaching services in the early 1800s were held in German, the language of our early settlers.

At Sunday worship they used a formal German called High German, the language of their Bible and hymns.

In 1837 preaching services were held every 4 weeks. Then in 1867 services came bi weekly, and in 1894 the worship services were conducted weekly including some evenings.