The Mennonite Sources and Documents series makes available significant primary sources pertaining to Mennonite and Amish groups in southeastern Pennsylvania. Occasionally sources from the Anabaptist period in Europe are also included. This series maintains scholarly standards of accurate description from the manuscript originals as well as faithful translation when required.
Intended for the church and the public, the series offers texts and images to nourish future generations. They invite the reader to enter authentically into the past to sample wellsprings of human motivation. Hopefully, more insightful understanding of Pennsylvania Mennonites and Amish will emerge from these efforts, and hopefully that understanding will help renew the faith to which these documents bear witness.
The books shown below can be purchased directly through our bookstore. Add $4.00 postage/handling for the first item and $1.50 for each
additional item. A surcharge of $10.00 per order will be added to all
international orders. Pennsylvania residents add six percent sales tax
to total cost of items and postage/handling.
Tennessee John Stoltzfus: Amish Church-Related Documents and Family Letters
Edited by Paton Yoder. Translated by Noah G. Good, et al., 1987. 296 pp. $24.95 (cloth). ISBN: 0-9614479-5-8.
Translated letters (1832-1887) by and to John Stoltzfus (1805-1887),
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Amish leader who moved to Concord,
Tennessee. Documents (125) usher the reader into mid-19th-century world
where a Great Schism occurred among Amish as the line between
compromise and rejection of religious conviction was passionately
debated. Includes accounts of ministers’ meetings, which attempted to
unite Amish church leaders of North America but failed to achieve
consensus on issues such as stream baptism, duties of full deacon,
church-wide ministers’ meetings, rebaptism of persons baptized as
adults, excommunication, and Sunday schools. Reveals communication
network stretching from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa to
Tennessee, where rural settings depict Amish folkways and family life.
Topics frequently include land and crops, sickness and health,
migration, reminiscences, and weather as well as an 1866 Amish woman’s
diary of travel to Midwest. Historical-geographical sketch of Amish
settlements, maps, illustrations, index.
Mennonite Confession of Faith
Adopted April 21st, 1632, at
Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and Widely Accepted in Germany, France,
Colonial Pennsylvania, the United States, Canada, and Elsewhere. Newly translated and edited by Irvin B. Horst, 1988. 80 pp. $9.95 (cloth), $5.95 (paper). ISBN: 0-9614479-6-6.
First translation of the 1632 Mennonite Confession of Faith from Dutch
directly to English and first English translation of 1633 preface. This
classic theological agreement of 1632 between various Mennonite groups
in the Netherlands has been widely accepted among Mennonites and Amish
in Europe, North America, and South America. Today, nearly four
centuries later, most groups of Mennonites and Amish still use it as a
reference point for their theological affirmations-for example, the
nature of God and Jesus Christ, Last Judgement, and coming of
Christ--and for their church practices-ministry, Lord’s Supper,
footwashing, marriage, civil government, oath-swearing,
excommunication, and nonresistance. Includes 18 articles of faith,
brief bibliography, facsimile of original text, list of all Dutch
editions and of translations in German, French, English, and Spanish.
A Chronicle or History Booklet About the So-Called Mennonite Church
Written by Jacob W. Stauffer. Translated by Amos B. Hoover. 1992. 199 pp. $9.95 (paper). ISBN: 0-9614479-8-2.
Basic theological treatise in 1850 (published in German, 1855) by
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, founder Jacob Stauffer (1811-1855) of
the conservative Stauffer (Pike) Mennonite Church. An Old Order
Mennonite defense of a disciplined church that maintains separation
from worldly influences. Ten articles of faith with accompanying
scriptural quotations. Interpretation of destruction of bride of
Christ, nature of ban, believers church and ban, repentance, "brother
sin," Matthew 18, separation, nonresistant church of God, historical
survey of Anabaptist and Mennonite church, rise of apostacy, rationale
for founding new Mennonite group, topical treatises, spiritual
admonition. Index.
Amish Folk Artist Barbara Ebersol: Her Life, Fraktur, and Death Record Book
by David Luthy, 1995. 128 pp. $19.95 (cloth). ISBN: 0-9614479-9-0.
Color and black-white illustrations of the folk art of Amish dwarf
Barbara Ebersol (1846-1922) of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, plus a
biography and her necrology of Amish relatives, friends, and
acquaintances from 1862 to 1915 (with author annotations). Over 75
color plates provide a veritable collectors’ guide to her needlework
and fraktur motifs, borders, and lettering styles, including those of
Ebersol imitators. Portrayal of Amish life along Mill Creek,
reflections on her art and on Amish sensibilities, translations of her
letters to cousins, bibliographical sources, index. Unprecedented
opportunity to view world of Old Order Amish through the eyes of one of
their own scholars. Widely featured in folk art magazines and
newspapers. Lovely gift item.
Menno Simons
Menno Simons: "Confession of My Enlightenment, Conversion, and Calling" and The New Birth and Who They Are Who Have the Promise, by Menno Simons. Translated and edited by Irvin B. Horst, 1996. 53 pp. $7.95 (cloth). ISBN: 1-884732-04-6.
Two works by Menno Simons (1496-1561), Anabaptist leader in the
Netherlands. Revised translation of his autobiographical "Confession"
(1554) tells story of his profound transition from Roman Catholic
priesthood to leadership of a persecuted minority during Reformation.
Now available in English for the first time, this personal account of a
dedicated teacher-reformer shows how he encountered Christ through
Scripture, became penitent, and subsequently changed his life course. The New Birth
(ca. 1539), in a new translation from the original Dutch, describes his
views on a crucial doctrine, about which he developed a unique
theological understanding. Introduction and notes by Menno Simons
scholar associated with University of Amsterdam.
Golden Apples in Silver Bowls: The Rediscovery of Redeeming Love
Translated by Elizabeth Bender and Leonard Gross. Edited by Leonard
Gross. 1999. 336 pp. (cloth) OUT-OF-PRINT. ISBN 1-884732-05-4.
First English translation of a foundational book of 17th-century Swiss
Anabaptist spirituality, first published in German (Basel, Switzerland,
1702), then reprinted at Pennsylvania's Ephrata Cloister (1745).
Wide-ranging compilation of texts which draws from martyr testimonies
of the 1500s, confession of faith, prayers, singing instructions, and
devotional admonitions. Treasured devotional literature of Swiss and
South-German Anabaptists that served as a classic for early
German-speaking Mennonites and Amish in North America. Includes an
extensive interpretive preface.
Occasional Publications:
The Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society either published or has
the only remaining stock of the following items. These are nonseries
titles that appeared on an occasional publication schedule.
The Early Years of Weaver Book Store
by Virginia Kreider Weaver. Revised ed. 1994. 35 pp. $1.00 (paper).
Locations, personnel, history, and human interest anecdotes of life in
literature ministry at what later became Provident Book Store in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Includes illustrations, poetry.
An Every-Name Index to a Genealogical History of the Cassel Family in America (1896), by Daniel Kolb Cassel
Genealogical Record of Reverend Hans Herr and His Direct Lineal
Descendants from His Birth A.D. 1639 to the Present Time Containing the
Names, Etc. of 13223 Persons . . . with Corrections and Supplemental
Data, by Theodore W. Herr and Phillip E. Bedient. 3rd edition. 1994
(originally published in 1908). 800 pp. $30.00 (cloth). Add $1.00
additional shipping.
New reprint of classic Mennonite genealogy with all-new, 1994 addenda
of additions/corrections to early generations, nos. 1-38. Major:
Bachman, Barr, Bowman, Brackbill, Breneman, Carpenter, Eckman, Forney,
Forrer, Frantz, Frick, Funk, Groff, Grove, Harnish, Hartman, Herr,
Hershey, Hess, Hoover, Kauffman, Kendig, Landis, Lefever, Long, Martin,
Metzler, Miller, Myers, Neff, Rohrer, Rudy, Shaub, Shenk, Snavely,
Strite, Weaver, Wilson, Witmer. Index; illustrations. ISBN
1-884732-03-8.
Glimpses Past
Glimpses Past: Annotations of Selected Social and Cultural History Materials in the Mennonite Herald of Truth, Gospel Witness, and early Gospel Herald, by Steven L. Denlinger, 1985. 155 pp. $18.00 (paper).
Thematically arranged article annotations in areas of arts, dress and
external conformity, education, emulation of other groups, sense of
heritage/history, migration, nationalism, nonconformity, pacifism,
political involvement, race relations, social attitudes, temperance,
urbanization and upward mobility, women’s role and identity.
Hans Herr: The Lancaster Mennonite Patriarch
by J. C. Wenger, 12 pp. $6.00 (paper).
Monograph on early Herr family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Tells
story of Swiss and Palatinate backgrounds of early area settlers,
colonial history, 1719 Herr House history and restoration vision;
chronological bibliography. Full-color illustration of Herr House
painting by Andrew Wyeth plus other black-white illustrations.