Mennonites are an Anabaptist faith group founded in 16th-century Europe under leaders like Menno Simons. They practiced adult baptism and strict pacifism, refusing military service. Persecution in Europe drove many Mennonites to seek religious tolerance and farmland abroad. The first organized Mennonite settlement in North America was in Pennsylvania: a Dutch-German group arrived at Philadelphia in October 1683 at the invitation of William Penn, who guaranteed religious freedom. (A second wave of Swiss-German Mennonites arrived in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.) These colonial-era Mennonites quickly moved out of the city into farm communities (Franconia, Lancaster County, etc.) to preserve their separatist lifestyle. By 1820 some 4,000 Mennonites (and about 200 Amish, who had split off in 1693) lived in eastern Pennsylvania. This early Pennsylvania base remained the cultural heart of U.S. Mennonites for generations.
Pennsylvania and Early Western ExpansionPennsylvania and Early Western Expansion
After their 17th-century arrival, Mennonites expanded within and beyond Pennsylvania. In the mid-18th century, a number of Pennsylvania Mennonites began moving south into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, attracted by open, fertile farmland. Local histories note that by the late 1700s Mennonite families (e.g. the Heatwoles) were settling Virginia’s Massanutten and Shenandoah regions. In the 19th century, Mennonites followed the general westward migration patterns of the young United States. For example, between 1817 and 1860 many Pennsylvania Mennonites moved northwest, establishing new congregations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa. By the turn of the 20th century, Mennonite communities had been founded as far west as Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, and California. Thus, an ancestor from Pennsylvania in the early 1800s might well have descendants or relatives in the Midwest by mid-century.
The colony of Pennsylvania itself grew markedly from immigrant influxes. During Queen Anne’s reign (early 1700s), tens of thousands of Palatinate Germans settled there. Of approximately 100,000 Germans who came to Pennsylvania in that period, about 2,500 were Mennonites (and 500 were Amish). Many of these Dutch-German/Swiss-German (often called Pennsylvania Dutch) Mennonites became farmers in Lancaster County and beyond. An example of their enduring presence is the Hans Herr House (built 1719 in Lancaster area), the oldest surviving Mennonite meetinghouse. Over the 18th and early 19th centuries, these Swiss-German Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania spawned branch settlements in Maryland, Virginia, and states like Ohio and Indiana.
The Russian Mennonite Migration to the Great PlainsThe Russian Mennonite Migration to the Great Plains
A second major wave came from Europe’s Russian Empire. In the late 18th century, Catherine the Great invited Mennonites to colonize new lands in south Russia (present-day Ukraine), promising freedom from military service and self-government. The original ~6,000 Mennonites there prospered and multiplied (to about 45,000 by 1870). However, after 1870 the Russian government ended their special exemptions. Mennonites fiercely resisted any role in warfare, and the prospect of universal conscription violated their pacifist faith. As one historian notes, roughly 18,000 Mennonites emigrated from the Russian Empire to North America in the 1870s “largely responding” to imposed military conscription.
Starting in 1873–1874, Mennonite delegates like Cornelius Jansen and Bernhard Warkentin surveyed land in the Americas. Their reports helped spur a mass migration. Between 1874 and 1880 about 16,000 Mennonites left Russia: roughly 9,000 went to the United States (mainly Kansas and Nebraska) and 7,000 to Canada (Manitoba). Kansas in particular became a center for Russian Mennonites. The state “had a larger Mennonite population than any other state west of the Mississippi,” largely from the 1870s migration from Russia (and nearby Prussian/Polish regions). Russian Mennonites brought with them innovations like hard winter wheat; their seed and farming techniques led Kansas to become a major grain-producing region. In fact, the Mennonites’ introduction of winter wheat and other methods had a huge impact on American agriculture.
Not all Mennonites came from Russia. Even before this, some Pennsylvania and Midwestern Mennonites were drawn to the plains by U.S. land policies. For example, the Homestead Act of 1862 enticed settlers (including Mennonites from Pennsylvania and Indiana) to claim prairie land in Kansas and beyond. In later decades, another impulse came after World War I. The Bolshevik Revolution and ensuing chaos prompted many Mennonites still in Ukraine to emigrate. Records note refugee flows in the 1920s from Soviet lands to the Americas (U.S., Canada, and Paraguay). Smaller groups also arrived from places like the Russian Volga region or from old Prussian colonies, but the dominant narrative remains the Kansas/Nebraska settlement in the late 19th century.
Old Order, Conservative, and Other Mennonite BranchesOld Order, Conservative, and Other Mennonite Branches
Within North America, Mennonites gradually diversified into several branches. In the late 19th century some conservative Pennsylvania Mennonites split off to form what are now called Old Order Mennonites. These groups resisted modernizing reforms such as revivalism, Sunday schools, and the use of the English language in worship. The Old Order movement in the U.S. can trace its roots to an 1872 schism in Indiana when Bishop Jacob Wisler was expelled for opposing innovations. The result was horse-and-buggy “Old Order” communities that maintained very traditional lifestyles. Today Old Order Mennonite settlements (often using Pennsylvania German dialect and no motor vehicles) are found in five main regions: Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario (Canada). (Note that while the Amish share common ancestry and a plain way of life, they are a distinct branch outside the Mennonite Conference.)
Meanwhile, in the 20th century new conservative-leaning Mennonite fellowships emerged. In the late 1950s a “Conservative Mennonite” movement began, when many congregations withdrew from larger Mennonite conferences to preserve traditional values. Beginning around 1958–1960, a number of churches formed independent bodies (later known as the Nationwide Fellowship Churches, Biblical Mennonite Alliance, etc.) because they believed the mainstream denominations were abandoning plain dress, headcovering, and other Old Testament-style practices. These Conservative Mennonite groups (found in parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario, etc.) typically embrace modern technology (automobiles, electricity) for work, but insist on modest lifestyle and community separation. In essence, Old Order Mennonites (like Old Order Amish) emphasize cultural separation (horse-and-buggy, German dialect), whereas Conservative Mennonites mix modern conveniences with a strong commitment to traditional Anabaptist values. Genealogically, knowing a family’s affiliation can help locate community records, since church group splits often align with county and settlement boundaries.
Motivations and Patterns of MigrationMotivations and Patterns of Migration
Across these waves, Mennonite migrations show common patterns. Religious and political factors were paramount. Early Dutch/German Mennonites fled European persecution and sought the religious tolerance promised by William Penn. Similarly, the Russian Mennonites’ move was triggered by state policies (the revocation of their military exemption) that clashed with their pacifist faith. Economic and social factors also drew them: the promise of cheap, fertile land on the American frontier was a powerful pull. One historian notes that 1870s migrants “sought cheap land, relative freedom from legal strictures, and state protection” against Native Americans. In practice, many Mennonite migrations occurred by chain migration. An advance party would send back reports, then whole congregations or kin networks followed. Thus entire villages from Russia reestablished themselves together in Kansas or Manitoba. In North America, Mennonite settlements tended to cluster by origin group and congregation.
In summary, Mennonite migration in the United States unfolded in distinct waves but with a persistent theme: seeking space to live out their faith. Beginning with colonial-era Swiss-German immigrants in Pennsylvania, followed by 19th-century westward moves and the great Russian exodus to the Plains, Mennonites planted farming communities across the continent. Their history is marked by a balance of adaptation and separatism – entering broader society for opportunity (land, work) while maintaining strong church and cultural ties. For genealogists and family historians, understanding these waves and settlements provides essential context when tracing Mennonite ancestors in records and archives.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about Mennonite migrationExplore more about Mennonite migration
- Plain Folk: Researching Amish and Mennonite Families webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Mennonites - The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
- Mennonites and Empire - The Anabaptist Historian
- Mennonite Migration Charts - Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College
- The Mennonites Come To Kansas - American Heritage
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