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Researching Mennonite Genealogy: Books & Periodicals

About Genealogies and Family History Books

If you are just starting your search, it is helpful to see what other genealogists have already done!

Published Mennonite Genealogies

The Milton Good Library strives for a comprehensive collection of published Mennonite genealogies. Use the University of Waterloo's library catalogue to search a family name of interest, (e.g. "Epp family").

If you are aware of a published Mennonite-related genealogy that is not in our collection, please contact us.

If you are unable to visit our library, your local public or academic library may have these titles, or may be able to obtain them for you through their inter-library loan program. The Family Search Digital Library is another resource to explore.

Genealogy Resource Books

The Milton Good Library also collects genealogy handbooks and manuals, atlases, books on local history in areas with significant Mennonite populations, books on personal names (surnames), Mennonite congregational histories, biographies, etc. These are all searchable within the library catalogue.

HIstorical Background to Mennonite Families in Ontario and Canada

The following brooks provide historical background useful for undertaking Ontario Mennonite genealogy research. The Library strives to collect a comprehensive collection of published Mennonite histories. More can be found by searching the University of Waterloo Library catalogue.

  • Epp, Marlene, and Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. Mennonites in Ontario. Waterloo, Ont.: Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, 2012.
  • Steiner, Samuel J. In Search of Promised Lands : A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario. Kitchener, Ontario ; Harrisonburg, Virginia: Herald Press, 2015.
  • Epp, Frank H. Mennonites in Canada 1786-1920: The History of a Separate People. Canada: Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, 1993.
  • Epp, Frank H. Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People's Struggle for Survival. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1982.
  • Regehr, T. D. Mennonites in Canada, 1939-1970:  A People Transformed. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 1996.
  • Roth, Lorraine, The Amish and Their Neighbours: The German Block, Wilmot Township, 1822-1860. Waterloo, Ont.: Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, 1998.
  • Bloomfield, Elizabeth, Linda Foster, Jane Forgay, and Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation. Waterloo County to 1972: An Annotated Bibliography of Regional History. Waterloo, Ont.: Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, 1993.
  • Burkholder, Ruth. Pioneer Footprints in York County : Pennsylvania German Families Who Arrived in York County in the Early 1800s. Elmvale, Ontario: York Chapter of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario, 2015.

Mennonite Genealogical Periodicals (Journals and Magazines)

Mennonite Family History
Mennonite Family History is a quarterly periodical covering Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren genealogy and family history. Print copies (1982-present) are available at the Milton Good Library (call number: PER CS1.M4). Print indexes are are available for 1982-2002. To search by surname for all issues, use the search box on the magazine's website.

Ontario Mennonite History
Ontario Mennonite History
is the newsletter of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario (1983-present). Feature articles on families, individuals, congregations and communities are included. Back issues are available on the Society's Back issues are available on the Society's website. Print copies of back and current issues are available at the Library (call number: PER BX 8101.M362).

Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage
Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society’s quarterly magazine, focuses on the historical background (Europe and America), religious thought and expression, culture, and family history of Mennonite and Amish-related groups originating in Pennsylvania. Print copies are available at the Milton Good Library (call number: BX 8101.P44). Cumulative indexes are available on the journal's home page.

Mennonite Historian
Mennonite Historian
is the publication of the Mennonite Heritage Centre and Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies (both based in Winnipeg, Manitoba), with a primary focus on Russian Mennonite history. Print copies (1975-present) are available in the Milton Good Library (call number: BX8101 .M425); the journal is available electronically on its website.

Mennonite Life
Founded in 1946, Mennonite Life is now an illustrated online annual published by Bethel College that is devoted to exploring and developing Mennonite experience. Although its focus is not genealogy, it contain a wealth of information about Mennonite individuals and communities. Also available in print form at the Milton Good Library (call number: BX 8101.M44).

Mennonite Quarterly Review
Although MQR is primarily an academic journal, articles sometimes include genealogical information. Indexes are available on the journal's website and the ATLA Serials database. Also available in print form at the Milton Good Library (call number: BX 8101.M46). Of particular interest for Ontario Mennonite genealogy is the following article:

Fretz, J. C. "The Early History of the Mennonites in Welland County, Ontario (pdf)." Mennonite Quarterly Review 27 no 1 (Jan 1953): 55-75.