Resources to Research Your Mennonite Family History
General Online Resources
• GRANDMA (Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) www.grandmaonline.org
• SAGA (Swiss Anabaptist Genealogical Association) www.saga-omii.org
• Find A Grave www.findagrave.com
• GAMEO (Global Mennonite Encyclopedia Online) www.gameo.org
• Records of Mennonites in Prussia, Russia, Canada and beyond www.mennonitegenealogy.com
• MAID (Mennonite Archival Image Database) https://archives.mhsc.ca/
• Dutch (Low German) Mennonite DNA project www.mennonitedna.com
• Swiss Mennonite DNA project https://www.familytreedna.com/project-join-request.aspx?group=Anabaptist-Swiss&projecttype=DG
• Directory of North American Mennonite Historical Agencies
• Mennonite maps http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/programs/archives/holdings/Schroeder_maps/mapindex.htm
Canadian Online Resources
• Mennonite Heritage Centre http://archives.mennonitechurch.ca/
• Manitoba local history books http://manitobia.ca/content/en/books/local_histories
• Some Manitoba newspapers http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspaperslist
• Canadian censuses: 1825-1921 http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx
• Mennonite Historian http://www.mennonitehistorian.ca/
• Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies http://cmbs.mennonitebrethren.ca/
• Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan http://mhss.sk.ca/
• Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta http://mennonitehistory.org/
• Mennonite Historical Society of BC http://www.mhsbc.com/
• Mennonite historical society of Manitoba www.mmhs.org
• Canadian immigration records http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/Pages/introduction.aspx
• Canada’s local history books online http://www.ourroots.ca/
• Probate records for Saskatchewan https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1918293
• Probate records for Manitoba https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1987562
• Manitoba vital statistics http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php
• Saskatchewan vital statistics http://genealogy.ehealthsask.ca/vsgs_srch.aspx
Published Church registers:
• Bergthal Gemeinde Buch (includes the Bergthal colony Russia, immigration lists 1874-1880, and more)
• Sommerfeld Gemeinde Buch
• Profiles of the Kleine Gemeinde
• Reinlaender Gemeinde Buch
• 1880 village census of the Mennonite West Reserve
• Rudnerweider Mennoniten Gemeinde
Other Hardcopy Resources to Consider
• Mennonite Historical Atlas (Kindred Productions)
• Census data, obituaries, immigration lists
• For published family histories see public libraries, college and Bible school libraries, Mennonite universities, provincial or state archives, and the various Mennonite archives.
Telling Your Family Story
If you have an interest in having your story or your family’s story preserved in writing, but need some help in doing so, Elsie Loewen is a writer who specializes in biographies. Contact her at ejloewen@telus.net or (403) 248-8549.
