© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated March 27, 2007)

  • Friesen, Abraham D., 1886-1975


    Retrieval numbers: Volume 647, 3240, Cassette tape 29-30

    Title: Abraham D. ("A.D.") Friesen Fonds
    Dates: 1874-1965 , predominant 1942-1975
    Extent: 11 cm of textual material
    Extent: 2 audio cassettes
    Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives

    Historical note

    Abraham D. Friesen was born on June 11, 1886, in Schönsee, East Reserve, Manitoba, to David and Anna (Klassen) Friesen. He married Anna Gerbrandt on December 30, 1906. Throughout his life, A. D. alternated between farming and various business ventures in Altona, including a saddlery and harness business, a dray and livery business, and an insurance and real estate business. Between 1925 and 1931, he was appointed by the church to manage the Bergthaler Waisenamt. He was active in both civic and church activities, serving as school trustee, town councilor, co-founder of Bethania Hospital, member of Rhineland Agricultural Society, and collecting agent for the Mennonite Aid Society. In the church, he was a song leader, chairman of the Young People's Endeavor, church statistician, and Sunday School teacher and superintendent. His wife, Anna, died in 1947, and he was married to Margaret Harder later that year. Margaret died in 1970 and he remarried again to Mrs. Anna (Braun) Schellenberg, who survived him. A. D. died on December 6, 1975.

    Scope and content note

    This fonds contains some personal correspondence, a record book of bread loans (Brotschuld) in 1874 and 1875, a document concerning Mennonites and the conscription law in Saskatchewan in 1918. There are also a number of scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings of Mennonite individuals and events from between 1924 and 1975. Two tapes contain an interview with A. D. Friesen in 1973 and his funeral service in 1975.

    Index terms

    Subject terms

  • Friesen, A. D., 1886-1975

    Creators

  • Friesen, Abraham D., 1886-1975

    Adjunct descriptive data

    Finding aids

    Inventory file list available

    Notes

    Language

    German (some in Gothic script) and English

    Arrangement

    Description completed by Joanne Moyer in February 2007.

    Restrictions on access

    None to access

    Immediate source of acquisition

    donated by sons D. G. Friesen and Cornelius N. Friesen

    • Inventory File List

    Volume 647
    1. Church reports regarding the Sunday School (195-) and the Young People’s Endeavor (1923) in German.
    2. Mennonites and conscription: a document addressed to the Governor General by Mennonites in Saskatchewan in 1918.
    3. Church matters: receipts, letters and picture from the General Conference Mennonite Missions Mission to the Lepers in India, 1938-1939, and correspondence and poetry in German and English (1958).
    4. Record booklet from Brotschuld (bread loans), 1874-1875.
    Volume 3240
    1. Newspaper clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly in German with some English, 1924, 1939-1954.
    2. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly English with some German, 1964-1967.
    3. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly English with some German, 1966-1968.
    4. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly English with some German, 1964-1968.
    5. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly English with some German, predominantly from 1969, also 1951 and 1967.
    6. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, mostly English with some German, 1955-1957, 1973-1975.
    7. Scrapbook containing clippings of obituaries and profiles of Mennonite individuals, and articles about events and activities, in English and German, 1974-1975.

    Cassette Tape 29
    Interview with A. D. Friesen, taken by Lawrence Klippenstein, in Altona, Manitoba, on August 16, 1973.

    Cassette Tape 30
    Funeral service for A. D. Friesen at Altona Bergthaler Church, on December 9, 1975, at 2 pm.