1783–1826 · event
Mennonite migration into Canada
Revolution, conscience, and the search for farmland contributed to Mennonite and Amish settlement in Canada.
Also searchable as: Nova Scotia · Niagara Peninsula · Waterloo · Ontario
The American Revolution raised difficult questions of allegiance and conscience for some Mennonites. The exhibit follows settlers who moved into Canada after the war, first toward Nova Scotia and the Niagara Peninsula, and then to the Waterloo area around 1800. These movements enlarged the northern geography of congregational life.
A later Amish migration is associated with Christian Nafziger. He traveled from Germany to America in 1821, reached Waterloo in 1822, and explored the procedures for establishing a settlement. Returning to Germany, he recruited families who arrived in Canada in 1826 and began building homes and clearing land. The two movements share a Canadian destination but arose at different times and should not be collapsed into one arrival.
Sources for this history: [1] [2]
