Jacob's first marriage was to Anna Rempel (b. 28 Jun 1856 in Russia, d. 1905 in Kansas) around 1878. According to the 1900 census, they were the parents of 13 children with 8 living at that time. After her death, he married Sarah Toews (b. 8 Jan 1867 in Russia, d. 21 Aug 1940) on 29 Jul 1906 (probably in Kansas). They were the parents of one child together.
*****
Life sketch of Jacob Hoeppner, taken from his unpublished memoirs:
Jacob Hoeppner was born on August 14, 1856, in the village of Rosenthal, in the Chortitza Colony, a Mennonite settlement in South Russia, today Ukraine. Jacob had a twin brother Bernhard. His parents were Anton and Aganetha (Penner) Hoeppner. Soon after the birth of the twins their mother became ill and could not nurse or care for the infants. Bernhard was fostered by various families in the village and Jacob was taken to his paternal grandparents Jacob and Anna (Brandt) Hoeppner. He stayed with them until adulthood.
In his unpublished memoir, Jacob describes a difficult childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his grandfather and his uncles and aunts that were still living at home. As a small child he was neglected to the point of starvation, his grandmother only relenting after his mother came for a visit and shamed the grandparents into feeding him better. The youngest uncle and aunt, both in their teens, took delight in tormenting and terrifying him, at times scaring him so badly he fell down the wooden stairs. These events always ended with Jacob being punished with a “beating” while the perpetrators got off without so much as a scolding.
Jacob enjoyed and apparently excelled at school as he was fluent in German, Plattdeutsch, and Russian. However, at the age of fourteen he was removed from school and entered, as he states it, “a life of slavery.” Jacob was expected to help on the farm which he attempted to do. His uncle continued to treat him harshly, to the point that Jacob complained to his father one day when visiting his parent’s home. For this infraction he was severely beat by his grandfather with a steel and leather whip. He crawled into the shed and lay face down on a bed of straw in great pain. His grandfather found him there and began beating him again for “complaining.”
Eventually Jacob became an apprentice to a clock maker. This man turned out to be an alcoholic who also abused the young man. This job ended when the clock maker decided to move a long distance away, breaking their agreement.
At this point Jacob’s luck turned. He was offered a position as a clerk in a store in Zerson, 800 miles away from his family. The store owner wanted a young man who was fluent in all the languages Jacob spoke, which is how he got the job. Here he found a sanctuary, working for kind people who took care of him. After two years he received a letter from his father requesting that he rejoin the family as they were planning to emigrate to Canada. Jacob was loathe to leave the job he loved, but eventually gave in to pressure from his family and joined them in the trek to North America.
Jacob and his family arrived in Manitoba, Canada in 1876. Here they pioneered with other Mennonite emigrants. Jacob was baptized into his parent’s church soon after arriving. In 1879 he married Anna Rempel, daughter of Dietrich and Anna (Friesen) Rempel and started his own family. Three children were born to them in the first six years, but tragically the oldest two, Anna and Dietrich, both died a day apart of diphtheria. The third child, Agnes, narrowly survived, as did Jacob.
After these deaths Jacob and Anna began to question the beliefs of the church they were members of. He purchased a copy of John Holdeman’s book, The Mirror of Truth, and began to study it and the Bible. They also decided to move to a warmer climate at this time and journeyed south to Marion County, Kansas.
Making the decision to join the Holdeman Mennonite Church was very difficult for Jacob and Anna. While they felt a kinship with the doctrines of this new group, they were very reluctant to be re-baptized. Eventually, they overcame this hurdle and joined the Holdeman congregation at Hillsboro, Kansas.
A total of 10 children were born to Jacob and Anna, with eight of them living to adulthood. When the youngest was 8 years old, Anna died in 1905, after being sick for several years. Jacob soon found a wife in Sarah Toews, a single sister in their congregation. He had one more child with this new wife.
Several years after his second marriage, in 1911, Jacob, Sarah and their son Edward, moved to Winton, California. Here they lived the rest of their lives. Jacob died in 1920 and is buried in the Winton Cemetery. Sarah lived until 1940 and is buried beside him.
*****
Life sketch of Jacob Hoeppner, taken from his unpublished memoirs:
Jacob Hoeppner was born on August 14, 1856, in the village of Rosenthal, in the Chortitza Colony, a Mennonite settlement in South Russia, today Ukraine. Jacob had a twin brother Bernhard. His parents were Anton and Aganetha (Penner) Hoeppner. Soon after the birth of the twins their mother became ill and could not nurse or care for the infants. Bernhard was fostered by various families in the village and Jacob was taken to his paternal grandparents Jacob and Anna (Brandt) Hoeppner. He stayed with them until adulthood.
In his unpublished memoir, Jacob describes a difficult childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his grandfather and his uncles and aunts that were still living at home. As a small child he was neglected to the point of starvation, his grandmother only relenting after his mother came for a visit and shamed the grandparents into feeding him better. The youngest uncle and aunt, both in their teens, took delight in tormenting and terrifying him, at times scaring him so badly he fell down the wooden stairs. These events always ended with Jacob being punished with a “beating” while the perpetrators got off without so much as a scolding.
Jacob enjoyed and apparently excelled at school as he was fluent in German, Plattdeutsch, and Russian. However, at the age of fourteen he was removed from school and entered, as he states it, “a life of slavery.” Jacob was expected to help on the farm which he attempted to do. His uncle continued to treat him harshly, to the point that Jacob complained to his father one day when visiting his parent’s home. For this infraction he was severely beat by his grandfather with a steel and leather whip. He crawled into the shed and lay face down on a bed of straw in great pain. His grandfather found him there and began beating him again for “complaining.”
Eventually Jacob became an apprentice to a clock maker. This man turned out to be an alcoholic who also abused the young man. This job ended when the clock maker decided to move a long distance away, breaking their agreement.
At this point Jacob’s luck turned. He was offered a position as a clerk in a store in Zerson, 800 miles away from his family. The store owner wanted a young man who was fluent in all the languages Jacob spoke, which is how he got the job. Here he found a sanctuary, working for kind people who took care of him. After two years he received a letter from his father requesting that he rejoin the family as they were planning to emigrate to Canada. Jacob was loathe to leave the job he loved, but eventually gave in to pressure from his family and joined them in the trek to North America.
Jacob and his family arrived in Manitoba, Canada in 1876. Here they pioneered with other Mennonite emigrants. Jacob was baptized into his parent’s church soon after arriving. In 1879 he married Anna Rempel, daughter of Dietrich and Anna (Friesen) Rempel and started his own family. Three children were born to them in the first six years, but tragically the oldest two, Anna and Dietrich, both died a day apart of diphtheria. The third child, Agnes, narrowly survived, as did Jacob.
After these deaths Jacob and Anna began to question the beliefs of the church they were members of. He purchased a copy of John Holdeman’s book, The Mirror of Truth, and began to study it and the Bible. They also decided to move to a warmer climate at this time and journeyed south to Marion County, Kansas.
Making the decision to join the Holdeman Mennonite Church was very difficult for Jacob and Anna. While they felt a kinship with the doctrines of this new group, they were very reluctant to be re-baptized. Eventually, they overcame this hurdle and joined the Holdeman congregation at Hillsboro, Kansas.
A total of 10 children were born to Jacob and Anna, with eight of them living to adulthood. When the youngest was 8 years old, Anna died in 1905, after being sick for several years. Jacob soon found a wife in Sarah Toews, a single sister in their congregation. He had one more child with this new wife.
Several years after his second marriage, in 1911, Jacob, Sarah and their son Edward, moved to Winton, California. Here they lived the rest of their lives. Jacob died in 1920 and is buried in the Winton Cemetery. Sarah lived until 1940 and is buried beside him.
Jacob's first marriage was to Anna Rempel (b. 28 Jun 1856 in Russia, d. 1905 in Kansas) around 1878. According to the 1900 census, they were the parents of 13 children with 8 living at that time. After her death, he married Sarah Toews (b. 8 Jan 1867 in Russia, d. 21 Aug 1940) on 29 Jul 1906 (probably in Kansas). They were the parents of one child together.
*****
Life sketch of Jacob Hoeppner, taken from his unpublished memoirs:
Jacob Hoeppner was born on August 14, 1856, in the village of Rosenthal, in the Chortitza Colony, a Mennonite settlement in South Russia, today Ukraine. Jacob had a twin brother Bernhard. His parents were Anton and Aganetha (Penner) Hoeppner. Soon after the birth of the twins their mother became ill and could not nurse or care for the infants. Bernhard was fostered by various families in the village and Jacob was taken to his paternal grandparents Jacob and Anna (Brandt) Hoeppner. He stayed with them until adulthood.
In his unpublished memoir, Jacob describes a difficult childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his grandfather and his uncles and aunts that were still living at home. As a small child he was neglected to the point of starvation, his grandmother only relenting after his mother came for a visit and shamed the grandparents into feeding him better. The youngest uncle and aunt, both in their teens, took delight in tormenting and terrifying him, at times scaring him so badly he fell down the wooden stairs. These events always ended with Jacob being punished with a “beating” while the perpetrators got off without so much as a scolding.
Jacob enjoyed and apparently excelled at school as he was fluent in German, Plattdeutsch, and Russian. However, at the age of fourteen he was removed from school and entered, as he states it, “a life of slavery.” Jacob was expected to help on the farm which he attempted to do. His uncle continued to treat him harshly, to the point that Jacob complained to his father one day when visiting his parent’s home. For this infraction he was severely beat by his grandfather with a steel and leather whip. He crawled into the shed and lay face down on a bed of straw in great pain. His grandfather found him there and began beating him again for “complaining.”
Eventually Jacob became an apprentice to a clock maker. This man turned out to be an alcoholic who also abused the young man. This job ended when the clock maker decided to move a long distance away, breaking their agreement.
At this point Jacob’s luck turned. He was offered a position as a clerk in a store in Zerson, 800 miles away from his family. The store owner wanted a young man who was fluent in all the languages Jacob spoke, which is how he got the job. Here he found a sanctuary, working for kind people who took care of him. After two years he received a letter from his father requesting that he rejoin the family as they were planning to emigrate to Canada. Jacob was loathe to leave the job he loved, but eventually gave in to pressure from his family and joined them in the trek to North America.
Jacob and his family arrived in Manitoba, Canada in 1876. Here they pioneered with other Mennonite emigrants. Jacob was baptized into his parent’s church soon after arriving. In 1879 he married Anna Rempel, daughter of Dietrich and Anna (Friesen) Rempel and started his own family. Three children were born to them in the first six years, but tragically the oldest two, Anna and Dietrich, both died a day apart of diphtheria. The third child, Agnes, narrowly survived, as did Jacob.
After these deaths Jacob and Anna began to question the beliefs of the church they were members of. He purchased a copy of John Holdeman’s book, The Mirror of Truth, and began to study it and the Bible. They also decided to move to a warmer climate at this time and journeyed south to Marion County, Kansas.
Making the decision to join the Holdeman Mennonite Church was very difficult for Jacob and Anna. While they felt a kinship with the doctrines of this new group, they were very reluctant to be re-baptized. Eventually, they overcame this hurdle and joined the Holdeman congregation at Hillsboro, Kansas.
A total of 10 children were born to Jacob and Anna, with eight of them living to adulthood. When the youngest was 8 years old, Anna died in 1905, after being sick for several years. Jacob soon found a wife in Sarah Toews, a single sister in their congregation. He had one more child with this new wife.
Several years after his second marriage, in 1911, Jacob, Sarah and their son Edward, moved to Winton, California. Here they lived the rest of their lives. Jacob died in 1920 and is buried in the Winton Cemetery. Sarah lived until 1940 and is buried beside him.
*****
Life sketch of Jacob Hoeppner, taken from his unpublished memoirs:
Jacob Hoeppner was born on August 14, 1856, in the village of Rosenthal, in the Chortitza Colony, a Mennonite settlement in South Russia, today Ukraine. Jacob had a twin brother Bernhard. His parents were Anton and Aganetha (Penner) Hoeppner. Soon after the birth of the twins their mother became ill and could not nurse or care for the infants. Bernhard was fostered by various families in the village and Jacob was taken to his paternal grandparents Jacob and Anna (Brandt) Hoeppner. He stayed with them until adulthood.
In his unpublished memoir, Jacob describes a difficult childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his grandfather and his uncles and aunts that were still living at home. As a small child he was neglected to the point of starvation, his grandmother only relenting after his mother came for a visit and shamed the grandparents into feeding him better. The youngest uncle and aunt, both in their teens, took delight in tormenting and terrifying him, at times scaring him so badly he fell down the wooden stairs. These events always ended with Jacob being punished with a “beating” while the perpetrators got off without so much as a scolding.
Jacob enjoyed and apparently excelled at school as he was fluent in German, Plattdeutsch, and Russian. However, at the age of fourteen he was removed from school and entered, as he states it, “a life of slavery.” Jacob was expected to help on the farm which he attempted to do. His uncle continued to treat him harshly, to the point that Jacob complained to his father one day when visiting his parent’s home. For this infraction he was severely beat by his grandfather with a steel and leather whip. He crawled into the shed and lay face down on a bed of straw in great pain. His grandfather found him there and began beating him again for “complaining.”
Eventually Jacob became an apprentice to a clock maker. This man turned out to be an alcoholic who also abused the young man. This job ended when the clock maker decided to move a long distance away, breaking their agreement.
At this point Jacob’s luck turned. He was offered a position as a clerk in a store in Zerson, 800 miles away from his family. The store owner wanted a young man who was fluent in all the languages Jacob spoke, which is how he got the job. Here he found a sanctuary, working for kind people who took care of him. After two years he received a letter from his father requesting that he rejoin the family as they were planning to emigrate to Canada. Jacob was loathe to leave the job he loved, but eventually gave in to pressure from his family and joined them in the trek to North America.
Jacob and his family arrived in Manitoba, Canada in 1876. Here they pioneered with other Mennonite emigrants. Jacob was baptized into his parent’s church soon after arriving. In 1879 he married Anna Rempel, daughter of Dietrich and Anna (Friesen) Rempel and started his own family. Three children were born to them in the first six years, but tragically the oldest two, Anna and Dietrich, both died a day apart of diphtheria. The third child, Agnes, narrowly survived, as did Jacob.
After these deaths Jacob and Anna began to question the beliefs of the church they were members of. He purchased a copy of John Holdeman’s book, The Mirror of Truth, and began to study it and the Bible. They also decided to move to a warmer climate at this time and journeyed south to Marion County, Kansas.
Making the decision to join the Holdeman Mennonite Church was very difficult for Jacob and Anna. While they felt a kinship with the doctrines of this new group, they were very reluctant to be re-baptized. Eventually, they overcame this hurdle and joined the Holdeman congregation at Hillsboro, Kansas.
A total of 10 children were born to Jacob and Anna, with eight of them living to adulthood. When the youngest was 8 years old, Anna died in 1905, after being sick for several years. Jacob soon found a wife in Sarah Toews, a single sister in their congregation. He had one more child with this new wife.
Several years after his second marriage, in 1911, Jacob, Sarah and their son Edward, moved to Winton, California. Here they lived the rest of their lives. Jacob died in 1920 and is buried in the Winton Cemetery. Sarah lived until 1940 and is buried beside him.
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Jacob Hoeppner
Born Aug. 14, 1856
Died April 26, 1928
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