© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated Nov. 17, 2009)

  • Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company.

    • Retrieval numbers: Volumes 4653-4667

    Title: Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company fonds.
    Dates: 1879-1997
    Extent: 2 meters of textual records.
    Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives

    Historical note

    The establishment of the Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company can be traced back to practices of the Mennonites in Prussia and Russia, where they had developed the Waisenamt (administrative office which cared for orphans and widows and their inheritance funds) and the Brandordnung (organization responsible for fire losses).
    Between 1874 and 1876 large groups of Mennonites immigrated from Russia to Canada and filled the townships that were set aside by the Manitoba Government for the Mennonites in the area designated as the Mennonite East Reserve. The two main groups which settled in these townships were Bergthaler Mennonites (originating in the Bergthal Colony in Russia) who settled around the areas of Grunthal, Rosengart, Chortitz (Randolph), and Niverville areas, and the Kleinegemeinde group (originally from the Molotschna Colony) who settled around Blumenort, Steinbach, and Hochstadt. Each group organized their own Brandordnung. One was referred to as the Molotschnaer Brandordnung and the other as the Bergthaler Brandordnung. Each of these organizations had their own Brandältester (general manager), who was responsible for the maintenance of the organization, and each village had a Brandschulze (agent). Eventually the Bergthaler Brandordnung served as a the leader in coordinating activities between the various Mennonite Brandordnung offices. With head offices in Steinbach, the policyholders took the necessary steps in December 1940 to move toward incorporation. By the end of February 1941 the company was fully established as the Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company.
    The men who served as Brandältesters from the beginning were Jacob Dueck (1874-1879), Jacob Stoesz (1879-1891), Heinrich Harder (1892-1916), Johann Doerksen (1917-1929) and Jacob B. Peters (1930-1939). J.H. Peters was the first president of the Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company and stayed in this position from 1943-1977. He was succeeded by A.G. Kehler (1977-1989), John K. Friesen (1989-1994) and Delbert Plett (1994-1997).
    Over the years there were several times when the company had offers of amalgamation. These offers were turned down until 1997 when it was decided that it was in the best interest of the policyholders, as well as the business, that an amalgamation process take place. It was in April of 1997 that the Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company (MMMI) amalgamated with the Red River Mutual Insurance Company (RRMI) in Altona, Manitoba.

    Scope and content note

    This fonds consists minutes (1940-1997), correspondence of P.P. Friesen from the Niverville office with the Brandältesters of the various regions (1939-1947), correspondence and reports of losses from the various regions ( 1923-1949), financial information (1892-1959) such as income and expenses, early working papers of the Brandordnung (1879-1890), documents which record the total insured value by districts (1884-1943), documents which record the insured inventory of individual policy holders (1881-1942) (arranged by village), and records of policyholders (1893-1958) and some miscellaneous MMMI materials.

    Index terms

    Creators

  • Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company.
  • Bergthaler Brandordnung (Manitoba)
  • Molotschnaer Brandordnung (Manitoba)

    Adjunct descriptive data

    Finding aids

    Inventory file lists available

    Notes

    Custodial history

    Following the merger of Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company(MMMI) with Red River Mutual Insurance Company (RRMI) in April 1997, the records were transferred from the Steinbach office to Altona, Manitoba. Hans Werner, a member of the RRMI Board of Directors facilitated the transfer of these records to the Mennonite Heritage Centre on August 1, 1997.

    Language

    Some in German

    Arrangement

    Arranged and described by Iris Hiebert in July, 1998. Reviewed and revised by Alf Redekopp, Oct. 2006.

    Restrictions on access

    none

    Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company fonds file list

    (inventory by subject description category)
    Minutes

    Volume 4653
    1. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1940-1960.
    2. Minutes of a meeting held with all regions. – 1946.
    3. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings (unsigned copy). – 1961-1969.
    4. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings (signed copy). – 1961-1970.

    Volume 4654
    1. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1971-1976.
    2. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1976-1984.
    3. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1984-1988.
    4. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings; includes minutes from building committee meetings. – 1989-1991.
    5. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1992-1993.
    6. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1994-1995.
    7. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings; includes amalgamation processes and agreements. – 1996-1997.

    P.P. Friesen correspondence with the Brandältesters of the various regions

    Volume 4666
    1. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.K. Doerkesen. – 1939-1940.
    2. Correspondence written by P.P. Friesen. – 1940.
    3. Correspondence between Brandältester, P.P. Friesen and J.S. Neufeld of Gouldtown, Saskatchewan. – 1940-1948.
    4. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and P.P. Epp of Waldheim/Laird , Saskatchewan. 1940-1941.
    5. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.L. Zacharias, secretary of the insurance co. in Waldheim Saskatchewan. – 1940-1946.
    6. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and F.J. Koehn of Dolton South Dakota. – 1940-1948
    7. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.J. Schultz, of Mountain Lake, Minnesota. – 1940-1947.
    8. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and the Brandältesters of the various regions. – 1941.
    9. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and A.G. Redekopp of Kelstern, Saskatchewan. – 1943-1948.
    10. Correspondence (copies) written by Brandältester P.P. Friesen to the Brandältesters of the various regions. – 1944-1947.

    Correspondence and Reports from the various regions

    Volume 4667
    1. Correspondence regarding policyholders, endorsements, and claims. – 1923, 1929-1949.
    2. Correspondence to MMMI Co. – 1939-1940; predominantly 1940.
    3. Correspondence and reports from the various regions to MMMI Co. head office (Niverville). – 1941.
    4. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1942.
    5. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1943.
    6. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1944.
    7. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1945.
    8. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1946.
    9. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1947, 1948; predominantly 1947.
    10. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1948-1949.
    11. Correspondence between the MMMI Co. head office (Niverville) and the branch office (Altona). – 1948.

    Financial Information

    Volume 4655
    1. Accounting and correspondence regarding payments, losses, etc. with districts and villages. – 1905- 1917.
    2. General ledger with fire insurance totals by districts; losses described in detail; correspondence to and from districts. – 1911-1917.
    3. Financial record; list of all correspondence. – 1918-1935.
    4. Income and expenses. 1920-1941.
    5. Cash book for the Niverville area. – 1932-1940.
    6. Receipt books. – 1939-1943, 1942-1947.
    7. Premium payments by policyholder (west reserve). 1942-1946.
    8. District financial records. – 1941-1947.

    Volume 4662
    1. Financial Records (west reserve). – 1941-1956.

    Volume 4661
    1. Financial records. – 1941-1959.

    Volume 4655
    1. Financial assessments; financial data. – 1940-1953, 1941-1959.
    2. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1945.
    3. Receipts of individual policy holders (west reserve)
    4. Receipt and expense book. 1947-1948.
    5. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1948.
    6. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1948-1949.
    7. Accounts with district offices. – 1948-1961.
    8. MMMI Co. bank book. – 1949-1959.
    9. MMMI Co. bank book. – 1951-1953.
    10. Lists of claims not having been paid for since the previous payments. – 1892-1926, 1930-1931.
    11. MMMI Co. cash statements. – 1930, 1945, 1946.

    Early working papers of the Brandordnung

    Volume 4656
    1. Records of how much insurance each village invested in. – 1879-1887.
    2. Correspondence to Jacob Stoesz regarding payments of policyholders and new members. – 1880-1890.
    3. “By-laws” incorporated in 1883 by the Brandordnung. – 1883.
    4. Protokol of a meeting held in 1890. – 1890.

    Total Insured value by district

    Volume 4653
    1. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1884-1887.
    2. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1892-1894.
    3. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1894-1897.
    4. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1897-1998.
    5. Total insured value by district. - 1898-1904.
    6. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1904-1907.
    7. Total insured value by districts; correspondence with districts. – 1907-1911.
    8. Correspondence regarding losses within the districts. – 1934-1943.
    9. Total fire and storm insurance; correspondence with the regions. – 1917-1926, 1918-1934.

    Insured inventory of individual policy holders according to village

    Volume 4656
    1. Index to the 1881-1884 insured value summary according to village. – [1881-1884?]
    2. Insured value summary by village. – 1881-1884.
    3. Insured inventory by individual policy holders, according to village. – 1885-1889.
    4. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1889-1895.
    5. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1896-1906.
    6. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1906-1912.

    Volume 4665
    1. Insured inventory by policyholders according to village; total insured value by district, according years. – 1913-1918.

    Volume 4656
    1. Insured inventory by policyholders according to village. – 1918-1926.

    Volume 4663
    1. Insured inventory by policy holder and village summaries. – 1927-1938.

    Volume 4659
    1. Insured inventory by policyholder according to village (20 in Manitoba and Rennet BC); total insured inventory by regions. 1938-1941, 1938-1942.

    Records of policy holders

    Volume 4657
    1. Inventory and adjustments for the villages Kleefeld, Heuboden, Neuanlage, Blumenort, Prairierose, Blumenhof, Steinbach, and Gruenfeld. – 1893-1929.
    2. Individual policies; payments by individual policyholders, church levies. – 1927-1940.
    3. Osterwick: school insurance (1897-1932), individual insurance policies (1931-1941), individual church levies (1943-1948), Osterwick “total” (1930-1940). – 1897-1948.
    4. Steinbach: individual policies. – 1927-1939.
    5. Ebenfeld: individual insurance policies. – 1928-1940.

    Volume 4658
    1. Niverville: individual insurance policies. – 1929-1938.

    Volume 4657
    1. List of policyholders and their insured inventory for: Steinbach, Blumenort, Blumenhof, Neuanlage, Prairierose, Kleefeld, Heuboden, Fischau,. 1929-1936.
    2. Individual insured inventory according to village; receipts by policyholders. – 1936-1949.

    Volume 4660
    1. Lists of policyholders and inventory lists for: Prairierose, Stuartburn, Fischau, Heuboden, Roblin, Gruenthal, Kleefeld, Blumenhof, Neuanlage, Lorette, St. Anne, Gardenton, Tolstoi, Niverville, Roblin, Giroux, Hochstadt, Morris and Steinbach. – 1940-1941.

    Volume 4657
    1. Individual losses; amounts and correspondence. – 1943-1958.
    2. Lists of policyholders immigrating to South America with their policy cancellations. – 1946.
    3. List of policyholders (west reserve). – n.d.
    4. Assessment and premiums assessed for fire and storm insurance (west reserve). – n.d.

    Volume 4664
    1. Cards holding policyholder information (west reserve). – n.d.

    Miscellaneous materials

    Volume 4666
    1. Lists regarding travel mileage of the Brandordnung employees. – 1905-1929.
    2. Losses had and paid according to regions. – 1913-1945.
    3. Notice of new regulations in the east reserve Feuerversicherungsgeselschaft. – 1927.
    4. Amount of insurance claimed from 1892-1929 (includes business and personal losses). Johann K. Doerksen. - [1929?].
    5. Claims paid from 1913-1943 in the various regions. – [1943?].

    Volume 4667
    1. Index to policyholders before the card catalogue was implemented in March of 1960. – before 1960.
    2. “Index No. 2 for the book that has 500 pages”. – N.D.
    3. Ken Kehler. “History of MMMI Co. up to 1970”, 1984.
    4. Manuscript of John Dyck’s . “Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance – Part of a 400 Year Tradition of Service to the Community”, Steinbach. 1995.

    Manitoba Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company fonds inventory file list

    (box volume inventory)
    Volume 4653
    1. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1884-1887.
    2. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1892-1894.
    3. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1894-1897.
    4. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1897-1998.
    5. Total insured value by district. - 1898-1904.
    6. Total insured value by district; correspondence with districts. – 1904-1907.
    7. Total insured value by districts; correspondence with districts. – 1907-1911.
    8. Correspondence regarding losses within the districts. – 1934-1943.
    9. Total fire and storm insurance; correspondence with the regions. – 1917-1926, 1918-1934.
    10. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1940-1960.
    11. Minutes of a meeting held with all regions. – 1946.
    12. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings (unsigned copy). – 1961-1969.
    13. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings (signed copy). – 1961-1970.

    Volume 4654
    1. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1971-1976.
    2. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1976-1984.
    3. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1984-1988.
    4. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings; includes minutes from building committee meetings. – 1989-1991.
    5. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1992-1993.
    6. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings. – 1994-1995.
    7. Minutes of MMMI Co. meetings; includes amalgamation processes and agreements. – 1996-1997.

    Volume 4655
    1. Accounting and correspondence regarding payments, losses, etc. with districts and villages. – 1905- 1917.
    2. General ledger with fire insurance totals by districts; losses described in detail; correspondence to and from districts. – 1911-1917.
    3. Financial record; list of all correspondence. – 1918-1935.
    4. Income and expenses. 1920-1941.
    5. Cash book for the Niverville area. – 1932-1940.
    6. Receipt books. – 1939-1943, 1942-1947.
    7. Premium payments by policyholder (west reserve). 1942-1946.
    8. District financial records. – 1941-1947.
    9. Financial assessments; financial data. – 1940-1953, 1941-1959.
    10. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1945.
    11. Receipts of individual policy holders (west reserve)
    12. Receipt and expense book. 1947-1948.
    13. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1948.
    14. Receipts of individual policyholders. – 1948-1949.
    15. Accounts with district offices. – 1948-1961.
    16. MMMI Co. bank book. – 1949-1959.
    17. MMMI Co. bank book. – 1951-1953.
    18. Lists of claims not having been paid for since the previous payments. – 1892-1926, 1930-1931.
    19. MMMI Co. cash statements. – 1930, 1945, 1946.

    Volume 4656
    1. Records of how much insurance each village invested in. – 1879-1887.
    2. Correspondence to Jacob Stoesz regarding payments of policyholders and new members. – 1880-1890.
    3. “By-laws” incorporated in 1883 by the Brandordnung. – 1883.
    4. Protokol of a meeting held in 1890. – 1890.
    5. Index to the 1881-1884 insured value summary according to village. – [1881-1884?]
    6. Insured value summary by village. – 1881-1884.
    7. Insured inventory by individual policy holders, according to village. – 1885-1889.
    8. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1889-1895.
    9. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1896-1906.
    10. Insured inventory by individual policy holders according to village. – 1906-1912.
    11. Insured inventory by policyholders according to village. – 1918-1926.

    Volume 4657
    1. Inventory and adjustments for the villages Kleefeld, Heuboden, Neuanlage, Blumenort, Prairierose, Blumenhof, Steinbach, and Gruenfeld. – 1893-1929.
    2. Individual policies; payments by individual policyholders, church levies. – 1927- 1940.
    3. Osterwick: school insurance (1897-1932), individual insurance policies (1931-1941), individual church levies (1943-1948), Osterwick “total” (1930-1940). – 1897-1948.
    4. Steinbach: individual policies. – 1927-1939.
    5. Ebenfeld: individual insurance policies. – 1928-1940.
    6. List of policyholders and their insured inventory for: Steinbach, Blumenort, Blumennhof, Neuanlage, Prairierose, Kleefeld, Heuboden, Fischau,. 1929-1936.
    7. Individual insured inventory according to village; receipts by policyholders. 1936-1949.
    8. Individual losses; amounts and correspondence. – 1943-1958.
    9. Lists of policyholders immigrating to South America with their policy cancellations. – 1946.
    10. List of policyholders (west reserve). – n.d.
    11. Assessment and premiums assessed for fire and storm insurance (west reserve). n.d.
    12. Individual losses; amounts and correspondence. – 1943-1958.

    Volume 4658
    Niverville: individual insurance policies. – 1929-1938.

    Volume 4659
    Insured inventory by policyholder according to village (20 in Manitoba and Rennet BC); total insured inventory by regions. 1938-1941, 1938-1942.

    Volume 4660
    Lists of policyholders and inventory lists for: Prairierose, Stuartburn, Fischau, Heuboden, Roblin, Gruenthal, Kleefeld, Blumenhof, Neuanlage, Lorette, St. Anne, Gardenton, Tolstoi, Niverville, Roblin, Giroux, Hochstadt, Morris and Steinbach. – 1940-1941.

    Volume 4661
    Financial records. – 1941-1959.

    Volume 4662
    Financial Records (west reserve). – 1941-1956.

    Volume 4663
    Insured inventory by policy holder and village summaries. – 1927-1938.

    Volume 4664
    Cards holding policyholder information (west reserve). n.d.

    Volume 4665
    Insured inventory by policyholders according to village; total insured value by district, according years. – 1913-1918.

    Volume 4666
    1. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.K. Doerksen. – 1939-1940.
    2. Correspondence written by P.P. Friesen. – 1940.
    3. Correspondence between Brandältester, P.P. Friesen and J.S. Neufeld of Gouldtown, Saskatchewan. – 1940-1948.
    4. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and P.P. Epp of Waldheim/Laird , Saskatchewan. 1940-1941.
    5. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.L. Zacharias, secretary of the insurance co. in Waldheim Saskatchewan. – 1940-1946.
    6. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and F.J. Koehn of Dolton South Dakota. – 1940-1948
    7. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and J.J. Schultz, of Mountain Lake, Minnesota. – 1940-1947.
    8. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and the Brandältesters of the various regions. – 1941.
    9. Correspondence between Brandältester P.P. Friesen and A.G. Redekopp of Kelstern, Saskatchewan. – 1943-1948.
    10. Correspondence (copies) written by Brandältester P.P. Friesen to the Brandältesters of the various regions. – 1944-1947.
    11. Lists regarding travel mileage of the Brandordnung employees. – 1905-1929.
    12. Losses had and paid according to regions. – 1913-1945.
    13. Notice of new regulations in the east reserve Feuerversicherungsgeselschaft. – 1927.
    14. Amount of insurance claimed from 1892-1929 (includes business and personal losses). Johann K. Doerksen. - [1929?].
    15. Claims paid from 1913-1943 in the various regions. – [1943?].

    Volume 4667
    1. Correspondence regarding policyholders, endorsements, and claims. – 1923, 1929-1949.
    2. Correspondence to MMMI Co. – 1939-1940; predominantly 1940.
    3. Correspondence and reports from the various regions to MMMI Co. head office (Niverville). – 1941.
    4. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1942.
    5. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1943.
    6. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1944.
    7. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1945.
    8. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1946.
    9. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1947, 1948; predominantly 1947.
    10. Correspondence to and from MMMI Co. head office (Niverville); reports from the various regions. – 1948-1949.
    11. Correspondence between the MMMI Co. head office (Niverville) and the branch office (Altona). – 1948.
    12. Index to policyholders before the card catalogue was implemented in March of 1960. – before 1960.
    13. “Index No. 2 for the book that has 500 pages”. – N.D.
    14. History of MMMI Co. up to 1970 by Ken Kehler. – 1984.
    15. MMMI Co. history by John Dyck, Steinbach. – 1995.