 1834 - 1909
-
| Prefix |
Bishop |
| Born |
22 Feb 1834 |
Berlin, Ontario, Canada  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
23 Jan 1909 |
| Notes |
- Elias Weber: bishop and farmer; born 22 February 1834 in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario to David and Catherine (Eby) Weber. He was the oldest child in a family of five sons and six daughters. He was a grandson of Bishop Benjamin Eby. On 20 March 1855 Elias married Mary Shoemaker (6 April 1832-14 November 1921). They had six daughters and three sons. Elias died 23 January 1909.
By vocation Elias Weber was a farmer; he and his family lived west of the town of Breslau. His education was limited to the primary schools of his day.
As a young man Elias Weber joined the Cressman congregation at Breslau. In 1867 he was ordained as a deacon for the congregation, and in 1874 as a minister. After the death of Bishop Joseph Hagey, he was ordained in 1879 as the bishop for the Waterloo Township churches. The major crisis of his bishopric was the division within the Ontario Mennonite Conference that led to the formation of the Old Order Mennonite conference in the late 1880s. Abraham Martin was the conservative bishop in Waterloo County, who held responsibility for the congregations in Woolwich Township. In 1885 a number of converts resulted from a series of evening meetings in Woolwich Townships. Martin opposed these revivalistic-style meetings and refused to instruct or baptize the group of over 30 coverts. After some delay, Elias Weber agreed to baptize the converts, which he did in three different groups from May-July, 1885. A series of other issues found Bishops Martin and Weber on different sides, and in 1889 the division became final.
Elias Weber also helped to organize the Alberta Conference (later the Alberta-Saskatchewan Conference and still later the Northwest Mennonite Conference) in July 1903. He ordained Amos Bauman as the bishop for the three-congregation conference at that time.
Elias Weber was said to have a genial, but cautious, personality. He was not as gifted a speaker as some other leaders in the conference, nor did he leave a legacy of writings. But Weber provided moderate leadership at a time when more educated, aggressive Mennonite leaders from the U.S. were influencing the Ontario churches in more progressive directions.
[edit]
|
| Person ID |
I34842 |
Moon Anderson Family History & Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
4 Jan 2017 |
| Father |
David Weber, b. 22 Jun 1811, Lancaster Co., PA , d. 7 Sep 1877, Berlin, Waterloo Co., Ontario, Canada |
| Mother |
Catherine Eby, b. 25 Jul 1814, Berlin, Waterloo Co., Ontario, Canada , d. 30 Mar 1867, Berlin, Waterloo Co., Ontario, Canada |
| Married |
3 Feb 1833 |
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
| Family ID |
F12088 |
Group Sheet |
| Family |
Mary Shoemaker, b. 6 Apr 1832, d. 14 Nov 1921 |
| Married |
20 Mar 1855 |
| Children |
| | 1. Sarah Weber, b. 24 Jan 1856, d. 23 Aug 1860 |
| | 2. Lydia Weber, b. 24 Oct 1856 |
| | 3. Simeon Weber, b. 25 Dec 1858, d. 31 Jul 1860 |
| | 4. Lavina Weber, b. 20 Mar 1861 |
| | 5. Leah Weber, b. 21 Apr 1863, d. Apr 1863 |
| | 6. Nancy Weber, b. 30 Jun 1864 |
| | 7. Amos Weber, b. 26 Feb 1869 |
| | 8. Israel Weber, b. 28 Oct 1871 |
| | 9. Mary Weber, b. 20 Dec 1875 |
|
| Last Modified |
14 Oct 2017 |
| Family ID |
F4533 |
Group Sheet |
|
|
