Notizen zu dieser Person
Epp, David Heinrich (1861-1934) David Heinrich Epp: teacher, minister, elder, and writer; born 30 May1861 in Chortitza, South Russia, the sixth child of Heinrich Epp(1827-1896) and Anna (Siemens) Epp (1831-1863). When David was lessthan two years old, his mother died of measles and his father marriedElisabeth (Perk) Lepp (1830-1904) in 1872. David married Anna Hamm (22February 1864-1934) and they had three children: Heinrich, David andGerhard (who died in infancy). David died 19 October 1934. David taught at Osterwick and Rosental, both villages in the ChortitzaColony, in 1878-1899. In 1886 he was chosen minister of the ChortitzaMennonite Church, and in 1899 accepted a call to the EkaterinoslavMennonite congregation. At the same time he taught in the elementaryschool at that place and also gave religious instruction in the localbusiness college. In 1912 he moved to Berdyansk and devoted all histime to co-publishing the Botschafter and to church work. For manyyears he served as chairman of the Kommission für kirchlicheAngelegenheiten (KfK), which was organized in 1910 to represent theMennonites in dealing with the government. In this office he performeda very valuable service. He made repeated trips to the capital andsecured more favorable conditions that made it possible for theAllgemeine Mennonitische Bundeskonferenz to continue to meet. In 1914 at the outbreak of World War I the Botschafter, like all otherGerman periodicals, was compelled to cease publication. He was thusdeprived of his livelihood, and he became impoverished. In 1923 theLichtenau-Petershagen Mennonite congregation (Taurida) invited him toserve as elder to re-establish the torn congregation. With clearvision, great skill, and much charity, he succeeded in thisundertaking. In 1927 he was called to his home congregation ofChortitza and served it as elder until 1931 with marked blessing, inspite of the most unfavorable conditions imaginable, for theCommunists hindered his every step. As one without any legal rights,as were all the preachers, he was so heavily taxed that neither he northe congregation was able to raise the funds. He therefore resigned in1931. He nevertheless continued his pastoral care privately, and wasable to strengthen and revive many an oppressed heart in thatdifficult time. D. H. Epp was the last ordained elder of the ChortitzaMennonite Church. Through his pastoral care of the mentally disturbed in the insaneasylum at Ekaterinoslav, he became aware of the need for a Mennonitemental hospital to give better spiritual and physical care to patientsin the brotherhood. By means of energetic appeals and propaganda inthe Botschafter, lectures and pamphlets, he succeeded in interestingthe congregations in the idea, and thus Bethania came into being,which was supported by all the Mennonites of Russia. He also saw theneed of a better education for girls and became a co-founder of theChortitza Mädchenschule (Girls' School). As an author David Epp also accomplished much. He wrote of himself,"My inmost feeling urged me to serve wider circles with a pen in myhand." By private study he acquired a good knowledge of Mennonitehistory, and as the first fruits of this study he published in 1889(for the centennial celebration of the founding of the Chortitzacolony) Die Chortitzer Mennoniten. In 1896 he wrote Kurze Erklarungenund Erlauterungen zum Katechismus. . . . This book was intended forthe "young men and women who are preparing for baptism, that it may bea good friend to them, in which they may be able to find inspirationand instruction, to bring to the sacred act a consecrated heart." Thebook was well received, and was published in a second edition in 1898.The third edition (1941) appeared after his death at Rosthern,Saskatchewan. In 1909 appeared his valuable biography, J. Cornies,Zuge aus seinem Leben und Wirken, the second edition of which waspublished in 1949 at Rosthern. In 1910 appeared his centennialbooklet, Die Memriker Ansiedlung. Before the founding of the Botschafter, David Epp was an activecontributor to the Mennonitische Blatter, and also to the OdessaerZeitung. Many of his articles appeared in the Mennonitisches Jahrbuch(H. Dirks) and in Unser Blatt. In the last years of his life he sentmany contributions to Der Bote of Rosthern. Bibliography GRANDMA = GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of MennoniteAncestry) Database, 5.00 ed. Fresno, CA: California MennoniteHistorical Society, 2006: #127002. Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon. Frankfurt& Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967, Vol. I: 597. Herald Press Information logo Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, andWaterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 235. Allrights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visitthe Herald Press website. ©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Allrights reserved. To cite this page: MLA style: Epp, Dietrich H. and Richard D. Thiessen. "Epp, DavidHeinrich (1861-1934)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite EncyclopediaOnline. 2005. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.Retrieved 28 July 2009 APA style: Epp, Dietrich H. and Richard D. Thiessen. (2005). "Epp,David Heinrich (1861-1934)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite EncyclopediaOnline. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 28July 2009
Charles
Hansen
