©Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Last
updated August 4, 2011)
Klaassen, Jacob, 1867-1948
Retrieval numbers: Volume 3452, 5347 and 5556
Title: Jacob Klaassen fonds
Dates: 1913-1952
, predominant 1920-1947
Extent: 16 cm of textual records
Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives
Historical note
Jacob Klaassen (1867-1948) was born in Koeppenthal,
Am
Trakt Settlement, Russia to Martin and Maria (Hamm) Klaassen. In 1880
at age 13 he was part of the trek to Central Asia with the group of
Mennonites under the leadership of Klaas Epp. In 1884 he immigrated to
the USA with his widowed mother and other siblings, settling first in
Beatrice, Nebraska and later homesteading in Oklahoma. In 1895 he
married Katharina Toews, a sister of David Toews who later became the
long-time bishop serving the Rosenorter Mennonite Church of
Saskatchewan. Jacob Klaassen was ordained as a minister in 1904,
serving the Herold Mennonite Church in Oklahoma until he immigrated to
Canada where he served as a minister in the Rosenorter Mennonite Church
at Eigenheim from 1919 till 1944. His wife died in Oklahoma in 1908. He
retired from farming in 1928. He died at Eigenheim, Saskatchewan in
1948.
Scope and content note
This fonds consists of the personal writings of Jacob
Klaassen. There is a detailed account of the 1880 Mennonite trek to
Central Asia written in 1922, a few miscellaneous letters received, a
notebook containing a 50-page autobiography, plus eight (8) notebooks
containing diary entries from June 1, 1919 to May 23, 1947.
Index terms
Creators
Klaassen, Jacob, 1867-1948
Adjunct descriptive data
Finding aids
Inventory file list available
Notes
Custodial history
Some of the writing of Jacob Klaassen were passed
on to
his son John D. Klaassen of Laird, Saskatchewn, and subsequently
donated to the Mennonite Heritage Centre by his sons Eric V. Klaassen
and Dave Klaassen of Rosthern, Saskatchewan in 1987. A second section
was donated in 2008 by a grandson Henry Klaassen of Oshawa, Ontario,
son of Rev. Henry T. Klaassen, another son of Jacob Klaassen.
Language
Handwritten Gothic German script
Arrangement
Arranged and described by Alf Redekopp, Sept. 3,
2008; Aug. 2, 2011.
Restrictions on access
none to access
Other notes
Acc. No. 87-175; 2008-074; 2011-057;2011-058
Inventory File List
Volume 3452
(Acc. No. 87-175)
- Various letters – 1913, 1926, 1933, 19??.,
1952.
- Notebook (Description of trek to Central Asia):
Beschreibung
der Asienreise 1880-84. – 1922. – 169 pp. (Also,
“Kurze Uebersicht der Reisen der ins Turkestanische Gebiet
uebergesiedelten Mennoniten”. – undated.
– 4 leaves.
- Notebook (autobiography): “Erinnerungen und
Aufzeichnungen aus meinem Leben”. – undated and
unpaginated
(50 pages).
- Memories of a Journey / by Jacob Klaassen. (Acc. #
2011-057).
- Asienreise II: Jacob Klaassen 1880 to 1884 / translated
by Henry Klaassen. -- 2010. (Acc. #2011-058)
- Memories and Notations about my life: Jacob Klaassen 1867
to 1848 / translated by Walter Klaassen; re-edited and re-issued by
Henry Klaassen, Oshawa. -- 2010. -- 31 pp. (Acc. #2011-058)
- Tribute to Grandfather, Jacob Klaassen, as a Man of Faith
[presented by Henry Klaassen at a family reunion in 2011. -- 8
pp. (Acc. #2011-058)
- Oklahoma: Meditations on Home and Homelessness [written
by Roger Epp, Edmonton, AB]. -- 20--. -- 9 pp. (Acc. #2011-058)
Volume 5347
(Acc. No. 2008-074)
- Diary Book 1 (Jun. 1, 1919-Jan. 5, 1924)
- Diary Book 2 (Jan. 6, 1924-Sep. 13, 1927)
- Diary Book 3 (Sep. 14, 1927-Jun. 23, 1931)
- Diary Book 4 (Jun. 24, 1931-Oct. 26, 1935)
- Diary Book 5 (Oct. 27, 1935-Dec. 31, 1939)
- Diary Book 6 (Jan. 1, 1940-Mar. 18, 1944)
- Diary Book 7 (Mar. 19, 1944-Mar. 7, 1946)
- Diary Book 8 (Mar. 8, 1946-May 23, 1947)
Volume 5556
(Acc. No. 2011-058)
- Diary of Jacob Klaassen June 1, 1919-March 1934 / translated
by Henry Klaassen; edited by Marie (Klaassen) Spencer; typeset
by Lois Klaassen; re-edited and reissued by Henry Klaassen,
Oshawa, Ontario, 2010. -- 1-622 pp. 1193 pp.
- Diary of Jacob Klaassen 2 April 1934 to May 26, 1947 /
translated by Henry Klaassen; edited by Marie (Klaassen) Spencer;
typeset by Lois Klaassen; re-edited and reissued by Henry Klaassen,
Oshawa, Ontario, 2010. -- 623-1193 pp.