David Stoesz family fonds. -- 1862, 1872-1896, 1908, 1913-1934. -- 53 cm of textual records.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

David Stoesz (1842-1903) was born in Schoenthal, Bergthal Colony, Russia as the youngest children of Jacob Stoesz and Barbara Wiens. In 1862 he married Maria Wiebe. He was elected as a minister in the Bergthal Colony in 1869. This family settled in Manitoba in 1874. David Stoesz was elected to serve as assistant Bishop of the Chortitzer Mennonite Church in Manitoba in 1879. In 1882 he succeeded Bishop Gerhard Wiebe. Bishop David Stoesz served the church with communion, baptisms and ordinations in various communities including Fargo, North Dakota and Saskatchewan. He died and is buried in the Bergthal village cemetery. His wife died in 1912.

David M. Stoesz (1870-1934) was the son of David Stoesz (1842-1903). He came to Canada in 1874 and settled in the village of Bergthal on the East Reserve. He married Agatha Kehler (1870- ) in 1890. In 1891 David and Agatha moved to the Mennonite West Reserve where land was better suited for farming, and bought eighty acres of and in the village of Gnadenfeld. David M. Stoesz was elected as a minister in the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church in 1912. In 1922 he emigrated to Mexico with portions of the Sommerfeld Mennonite church and founded the Santa Clara Colony. Dissatisfied with life in Mexico, he and his family returned to Canada within a year and settled in the village of Kronsthal, Manitoba

The David Stoesz family in Manitoba was an influential family with brother Cornelius W. Stoesz (1869-1925) a minister and brother Jacob Stoesz the Brandaeltester (fire chief). Other members of the extended Stoesz family chose to settle in Mountain Lake Minnesota.

CUSTODIAL HISTORY:

The records have come to the Mennonite Heritage Centre archives in five deposits. The first donation was the David M. Stoesz funeral sermon, brought by William and Trudy Harms of Altona, Manitoba in 1985 (Trudy was the granddaughter of David M. Stoesz.) The second donation was by W.J. Kehler, which included a cemetery index and a "General School Decree" (translated from the German "Allgemeine Schulverordnung". The third and largest, donation was made by William and Trudy Harms in 1988 and included Bishop David Stoesz' diary, sermons and other material. When son David M. Stoesz received the material from his father he continued to use the sermons and may have at times added to them. The fourth deposit came via Dennis Stoesz, archivist in Goshen, in August 1998. It consisted of an 1835 edition of the writings of Menno Simons which David Stoesz purchased in 1861. Dennis Stoesz had received this item from George Unger, a Stoesz descendant. The fifth deposit was added through the acquisition of a file in the Christian Heritage Library collected by David and Trudy Schellenberg of Winkler.

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

This fonds consists of two series. They include 1) David Stoesz materials and 2) David M. Stoesz materials. The contents of the materials are largely sermons written by the two men.

Other materials include a diary of David Stoesz, correspondence, church material and personal material. Some of the material has been microfilmed. See Microfilm # 91.

NOTES:

The majority of the materials are original documents in Gothic German handwriting.

Described by Conrad Stoesz July 1999. Updated by Sharon H.H. Brown, December, 2002.

Finding aid: Inventory file list.

Accession nos. 85-39; 85-42; 88-050; 99-021; 97-150.

Related material:

A.D. Stoesz fonds, C.G. Stoesz fonds, Microfilm #91.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

David Stoesz. -- 1834, 1862, 1872-1896. -- 19 cm of textual records.

This series contains a dairy by David Stoesz (1842-1903), several sermons, a wedding invitation from the Bergthal Colony, an early school organization record and a few books. Of special interest is a book bought by David Stoesz in 1861, published in 1834, originally written by Menno Simons and published in 1575.

Notes:

Most of the documents are in German Gothic handwriting.

Title based on contents.

Location: Volumes1559;1560; 3931:5

David M. Stoesz -- 1908, 1913-1934. -- 34 cm of textual records.

This series includes sermons written and preached by David M. Stoesz (1870-1934), wedding and funeral invitations, correspondence from Manitoba, Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, Brazil, and lists of baptisms performed and church meeting places.

Notes:

The documents are mostly in German Gothic handwriting.

Location: Volumes 1561-1563. See also Vol. 2121:2.