© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated August 22, 2003)
Jacob Heinrich Thiessen (1830-1905) was born to Heinrich Thiessen (1794-1859) and Margaretha Siemens (1799-1881) in the Molotschna Colony, South Russia. When Heinrich Thiessen died, land was divided among his children Jacob, Peter, and Johann Thiessen, Susanna Martens, Helena Wiens, Margaretha Klassen and Maria Heese. Jacob married Katharina Martens (1823-1885) on November 25, 1848 and lived the village of Schoenau, Molotschna Colony South Russia where he operated a successful mill in Ekaterinoslav. Katherina's first married was to Abraham Peters (1821-1847) Together Jacob and Katherina had nine children. After Katherina died Jacob Thiessen married Aganetha Epp (1858-1937) in 1883 in the Lichentau Mennonite Church. Together they had six children. Jacob died in 1905 without a will. The property was divided between two parties, his widow and his children. The children then each received equal amounts of the estate. In 1915 Aganetha bought 535 desiatins of land in the Ufa colony, north east of the Molotschna colony near the Ural Mountains. In 1924 she moved to Waterloo Ontario with her son Gerhard, his wife Katharina and daughter Hilda. She died in 1937 in Vineland, Ontario.
This fonds contains legal documents related to the acquisition of Jacob Thiessen's estate, the division of his estate after his death in 1905 and acquisition of land by his widow Aganetha in 1915. Included are originals, photocopies, and some translations of the Russian documents into English. The materials show the distribution of land, inheritance practices, and a sense of life style of Mennonite landowners.
Finding aid consists of a file list.
Peter Heese fonds. (Jacob Thiessen is the great uncle to Peter Heese and is mentioned in Heese's writings).
The materials were brought to Canada with Aganetha Thiessen in 1925 and were passed through the family to her granddaughter Martha Thiessen, daughter of Gerhard Thiessen. Some of the materials were translated [199-?] and then donated to the archives in 2002.
Described by Conrad Stoesz August 11, 2003
Russian and English
The materials have been numbered [when they were translated?]. There does not seem to be an order to them. Because the translations use this number to identify documents the arrangement was kept.
No restrictions on access
Accession number: 2002-079.