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This book is a history of all branches of Mennonites (including the Amish) from their first arrival in the state of Illinois around 1830 to the present. It deals briefly with Mennonite origins in Europe in the 16th century, points out how the Amish split off from the Mennonites in the 1690s, and depicts Mennonite-Amish migrations to America, especially those who came in the 19th century and settled in Illinois. The work portrays the divisions that developed, mostly after the Civil War, and how the story became more complex. It describes the effect of the AwakeningÓ and the influence of Fundamentalism and other forces on the Illinois Mennonites, including the pressures toward American acculturation. The author points out also the significant trend toward cooperation and unity in recent decades, especially among the (Old) Mennonites and the General Conference Mennonites. Smith is uniquely qualified to write this book. He is a native of Illinois with a thorough knowledge and understanding of the customs and beliefs of Illinois Mennonites. His family was among the early Mennonite settlers in the state, and active in the spiritual life of their community. Smith himself has studied and thought history for many years, has written many historical articles, and is the author or several books. As a professor at Goshen College, he had the support of other Mennonite historians and ready access to library and archival material relating to Illinois Mennonites.
Although the story of the religious life of the Mennonites may be told in few words, yet they have been the founders of the first German colony in America and have been among the pioneers in many of the frontier settlements in the westward expansion of the American people. And for this reason their history is of interest also to the student of general American history. I have attempted therefore to trace in this volume not only the history of the Mennonite church but also the complete life story of the Mennonite people, and have treated such phases of the subject as I could find material for. I have attempted further to cover the entire field of American Mennonite history and have tried to place every event of importance in its proper perspective. So far as possible I have tried to be impartial toward the various branches of the church and have given each the amount of space which according to my judgment is importance deserved. --from the Introduction
What does it mean to be Mennonite in the modern world? And what is the witness of a peace church that is always at risk of splintering? C. Henry Smith—son of an Amish family, erudite historian, urbane bank president, and pioneer of Mennonite scholarship—sought answers to these questions in the middle of the 20th century, and his answers reverberate through the church to this day. In this engaging narrative biography, historian Perry Bush chronicles Smith’s childhood in an Illinois farming community, his youthful turn toward intellectual inquiry, and his confidence that Anabaptist faith and life offer gifts to the wider world. By recounting the story of one of the foremost Mennonite intellectuals, Bush surveys the storied terrain of 20th-century Mennonite identity in its selective borrowing from wider culture and its tentative embrace of progressive reforms and higher education, and growing conviction that Anabaptism served as a taproot of Western civilization. Bush argues that Smith’s body of historical writing furnished a new generation of Mennonites with both an understanding of their shared past and the tools to navigate an ever-shifting present. Volume 49 in the Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History Series.