© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated 2 January 2008)

Historical note

Jacob Gerbrandt was born on October 8, 1888, in Hillsboro, Kansas, to Rev. John Gerbrandt and Helena (Klassen) Gerbrandt. He was moved with his parents in 1905 to Canada where they homesteaded near Drake, Saskatchewan. He was baptized on 26 August 1906 becoming a member of the North Star Mennonite Church at Drake.  
Jacob Gerbrandt married Anna Marie Bartel on April 11, 1912, in Drake Saskatchewan. They had nine children.
Jacob worked as a teacher in rural Saskatchewan from 1908-1916, and then farmed and served as minister of the North Star Mennonite Church in Drake from 1917-1926. He was ordained as a minister in this congregation on 9 June 1924. Between 1927 and 1933, he was the representative of the Canadian Mennonite Settlement Board in Alberta, based out of Lethbridge. He assisted with the founding of the Coaldale Mennonite Church and served as its leader from 1929 to1932.  He again farmed in Drake from 1933 to 1945 and served the church  there. He moved to Rosthern in 1945 where he served as the secretary-treasurer of Rosthern Junior College.  He was a founding member of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization in 1923 and served as its secretary-treasurer from 1946-1960 in Rosthern and later in Saskatoon.   He served the Conference of Mennonites in Canada as secretary from 1923 to1930 and was also on the Emergency Relief Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church of North America in 1935. He became a member of First Mennonite Church in Saskatoon in 1960 and remained as a member of this congregation until he died on 30 May 1980.

Scope and content note

This fonds consists predominantly of materials concerning settlement work through the Canada Colonization Association, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, and the Mennonite Settlement Board. The materials are mostly correspondence and reports. Additional materials include correspondence, minutes and reports concerning various Mennonite conferences, relief work through the Mennonite Central Committee and the Emergency Relief Board, and the German English Academy, as well as sermons and some personal correspondence. Materials are both typewritten and handwritten.

Index terms

Subject terms

Adjunct descriptive data

Finding aids

Inventory file list available

Notes

Custodial history

This collection was received in 1979 from Eldon and Eunice Gerbrandt of Drake, Saskatchewan.

Language

English and German

Arrangement

Description completed by Joanne Moyer in February 2007, updated  January 2008 by Alf Redekopp.

Restrictions on access

None to access

Inventory File List

1. Leases, land listing form, sale agreements, and mortgage agreements, mostly in English with some German, ca. 1926-1929.
2. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, March 1 to May 12, 1927.
3. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, January 9 to May 6, 1929.
4. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, January 17 to May 17, 1930.
5. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, February 10 to June 12, 1931.
6. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, February 17 to June 10, 1932.
7. Form 22 ½ Canadian Pacific Railway Co., authorizing buying and selling of chattels, April 18 to May 10, 1932.
8. Form 22 ½ Canadian Pacific Railway Co., authorizing buying and selling of chattels, April 27, 1932, to June 14, 1932.
9. Form 22 ½ Canadian Pacific Railway Co., authorizing buying and selling of chattels, July 2, 1932 to April 8, 1933.
10. Form 22 ½ Canadian Pacific Railway Co., authorizing buying and selling of chattels, September 20 to November 19, 1932.
11. Form 22 ½ Canadian Pacific Railway Co., authorizing buying and selling of chattels, November 24, 1932, to May 29, 1933.

1. Canada Colonization Association correspondence, in English, from 1927-1931.
2. Settler reports, Canada Colonization Association, 1928-1929.
3. Cheque stubs from the Canada Colonization Association and the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, 1931.
4. Personal expense statements for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 1927-1931.
5. Automobile reports for the Canada Colonization Association, and other automobile documentation, 1929-1930.

1. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: correspondence, mostly in English with some German, 1922 to 1938.
2. Mennonite Land Settlement Board: correspondence and minutes, in German and English, 1926-1928.
3. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: minutes and other documents, in German and English, 1923-1930.

1. Canada Colonization Association: advertisements, reports, correspondence and minutes, mostly in English with some German, 1926-1929.
2. Mennonite Land Settlement Board: correspondence (mostly handwritten) containing land inquiries, mostly in German with some English, 1926-1927.
3. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: minutes, correspondence, notes, sale records, mostly in German with some English, 1926-1936. Also material relating to other church conference work.
4. Correspondence (duplicates of answered mail) regarding settlement work, handwritten in German and English, 1925-1927.
5. Canada Colonization Association: land applications and correspondence in English and German, ca 1929-1931.

1. Canada Colonization Association and Mennonite Settlement Association: settlement documents and correspondence in English and German, 1927-1930.

1. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, May 3 to July 20, 1927.
2. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, July 21 to September 3, 1927.
3. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, September 6 to November 25, 1927.
4. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, December 13, 1927 to February 27, 1928.
5. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, February 28 to April 28, 1928.
6. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, April 30 to June 28, 1928.
7. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, June 29 to September 8, 1928.
8. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, September 10 to November 7, 1928.
9. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, November 7, 1928 to January 8, 1929.
10. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, May 7 to September 14, 1929.
11. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, September 16, 1929 to January 15, 1930.
12. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, May 19 to October 6, 1930.
13. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, October 7, 1930 to February 10, 1931.
14. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, June 15 to October 23, 1931.
15. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, October 24, 1931 to February 16, 1932.
16. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, June 11 to August 8, 1932.
17. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, October 11 to December 10, 1932.
18. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, December 12, 1932 to February 11, 1933.
19. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, November 7, 1928 to January 8, 1929.
20. Daily Reports of Jacob Gerbrandt to the Manager of the Canada Colonization Association, February 13 to April 15, 1933.

1. Map of Western Canada showing part of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, ca 1930.
2. Canada Colonization Association and Mennonite Land Settlement Board: correspondence and minutes, mostly in English with some German, 1927-1930.
3. Canadian Pacific Railway Company: correspondence, 1929-1931.
4. Canadian Pacific Railway Company: correspondence, 1927-1929.
5. Correspondence with various agencies and individuals in German and English regarding settlement work, 1926-1931.

1. Distribution of chattel: records, reports and correspondence, mostly in English with some German, 1927-1932.
2. Correspondence regarding settlement work in German and English, 1929-1932.
3. Conference programs and other documents in German regarding Mennonites in central Canada, 1922-1929.
4. Commissioner to Administer Oaths: certificate (1922) and related forms in English and German.
5. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: Rules and Regulations, correspondence, in English and German, 1918-1931. Also contains correspondence from the Red Cross Society.
6. Land sale: purchase forms (1930) and sale agreement (1926).
7. Canada Colonization Association report, 1930.
8. Forms and contracts relating to land settlement, including Alberta Co-operative Wheat Producers Wheat Contract, Canada Colonization Association land listing form, and Notice of Transfer of Water Rights, 192-?.

1. Contracts and agreements: Chattel Mortgage and Commission Agreement, 19--.
2. Miscellaneous papers including correspondence, handwritten notes, booklet publication about Canada’s railway problem, Now publication, and a report from the British and Foreign Bible Society, ca 1924-1938.
3. General Conference Mennonite Church: session programs, reports, and songbook proposals, mostly in German with some English, 1927, 1929, and 1938. Also contains minutes in German from the Mennonite Church of Saskatchewan, 1941.
4. Mennonite Central Committee: Articles of Incorporation By-Laws and Digest of Policies, 1937.
5. Various papers concerning land settlement, including Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization Rules and Regulations, CPR maps, land listings, court records, receipts and customs declaration tags, 192-.

1. Personal Correspondence, handwritten in German, 1928-1929.
2. Conference work: correspondence, minutes and reports in German and English from various General Conference agencies, primarily regarding missions, 1924-1929, and 1938.
3. Canada Colonization Association: reports (mostly monthly reports to Mr. Bank) and correspondence, 1929-1933.
4. Miscellaneous papers including notices from the CPR regarding grain deliveries, a pamphlet from Enid, Oklahoma, and correspondence in German, 1928-1931.
5. Various maps and diagrams including township range diagrams, Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District and Alberta Associated Wheat Farms land, 19--.
6. Various legal documents and forms including land application forms, sale agreements, land assignment forms, water rights transfer forms, leases, and other contracts, 192- and 193-.

1. Land settlement work: correspondence, forms and records, 1929-1932.
2. Mennonite Land Settlement Board and Canada Colonization Association: contracts, correspondence and expense account reports, ca. 1926-1927.
3. Land prospects: sketches and descriptions of land, and Mennonite Land Settlement Board correspondence, 1926-1928.
4. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: correspondence and financial reports, 1926-1927. Also some material concerning the Canada Colonization Association.
5. Land offers: correspondence, 1926-1927.
6. Personal information regarding deals: agreements, forms and reports from the Canada Colonization Association and the Mennonite Land Settlement Board, 192-.
7. Canadian Pacific Railway lands: agreements, forms, maps, and newspaper clippings, 192-.
8. Completed deals: correspondence and sale records, in English and German, 1927.
9. Miscellaneous papers including a German form regarding Mennonite health care, a township and range diagram and German correspondence, 192-?
10. Miscellaneous papers including land property plans, information about the Galt Hospital, a British Reunion Association pamphlet, correspondence and lists of possessions, mostly English with some German, 192- and 193-.
11. Canadian Pacific Railway: agreements and correspondence about livestock, 192- and 193-.
12. Legal documents regarding land, 1924-1928.
13. Maps: the Lethbridge area and Canadian Pacific Railway Department of Natural Resources Plan Showing Distribution of Water in the Lethbridge Section, 1920-1922.
14. F. A. Bean Properties, Inc.: map, crop contacts, correspondence, mostly English with some German, 1914, 1925-1927.

1. Correspondence in English and German, and some legal documents, 1924-1930.

1. Correspondence and records regarding settlement, 1929-1930.
2. General Conference Missions: reports and correspondence in English and German, and German Sunday School material, 1944-1945.
3. Correspondence regarding visiting ministers in Saskatchewan in German and English, 1946.
4. Rosthern Academy: correspondence and reports, primarily concerning finances and admissions, 1945-1946.
5. Relief Work: correspondence, minutes and reports from the Mennonite Central Committee and the Emergency Relief Board, mostly in English with some German, 1935-1945.
6. Clippings from Der Bote and Christliche Bundesbote, 1933-1935.

1. German English Academy: correspondence, act of incorporation (1909), and Bethel College Bulletin, 1945-1946.
2. Questions concerning settlement (Siedlungsfragen): township and range diagrams, newspaper clippings and correspondence, German and English, 1934-1935.
3. Whitman Farm: financial records, correspondence and sale agreement, 1931.
4. Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization: minutes, reports, and correspondence in English and German, 1924-1943.
5. Conference Work: correspondence, minutes and reports, mostly concerning the Conference of Mennonites in Canada Program Committee and also concerning the Mennonite Central Committee, the General Conference Mennonite Church, and the Dumbarton Oaks proposals regarding a general international organization, 1940-1946.
6. Naturalization: correspondence, minutes and government reports in German and English, 1927-1944. Also some material concerning the Conference of Mennonites in Saskatchewan.
7. Relief Work: correspondence, minutes and newsletters in German and English from the Mennonite Central Committee and the Emergency Relief Board, 1940-1946.
8. Expanded Bible School (Erweiterte Bibelschule): correspondence and German English Academy Catalogue, in German, 1941-1943.

1. Military Problems: minutes, correspondence, and reports in German and English from the Conference of Historic Peace Churches, the Mennonite Central Committee, and the Committee on Military Problem, an issue of The Canada Gazette, and a publication about the National War Services Regulations for Recruits, 1940-1943.
2. Reports to W. R. Dick: correspondence in English and German, 1930-1932.
3. Newspaper clippings from the Lethbridge Herald and the National Home Monthly, 1932-1935.
4. Crowfoot Colony: correspondence and records, 1932-1933.
5. Relief Work: correspondence, minutes and reports from the Emergency Relief Board, the Mennonite Central Committee and the General Conference Mennonite Church, 1938-1947.
6. Mennonite Church, Coaldale: correspondence and minutes, in English and German, 1929-1932, 1951-1959.
7. Sermons in English and German, 1925-1965; correspondence, minutes and other documents regarding the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, and the Conference of Mennonites in Canada and in Saskatchewan, 1922, 1948-1958; and an incorporation document for the German English Academy, 1909.

1. Sermons, mostly in German with some English, 1914-1963.
2. Canada Colonization Association: reports, land applications, newspaper clippings, personal expense statements and correspondence; also some correspondence regarding the Bible College and personal matters, 1927-1938, 1954.
3. Church School (Gemeinde Schule): correspondence in German and English, 1934-1936.