Martin B. FAST

Fast, Martin B. (1858-1949) Martin B. Fast, Krimmer Mennonite Brethren author and editor, was born6 January 1858 at Tiegerweide, South Russia, the son of Peter andAganetha (Barkmann) Fast. Here Martin attended elementary school. At19 years of age he joined the Mennonite Church at Rückenau. With hisparents he came to America in 1877 and settled near Jansen, JeffersonCounty, Nebraska, where he was converted, baptized, and received intothe fellowship of the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church, 23 May 1880.He married Elizabeth Thiessen of Jansen on 24 February 1884. In 1887he became a United States citizen. He served as editor of theRundschau, Elkhart, Indiana (later Scottdale, Pennsylvania),1903-1910, and as the first editor of Der Wahrheitsfreund, Chicago,Illinois, 1915-1917. In 1908 he made a trip to Russia, visitingrelatives and friends in the Molotschna settlement and elsewhere. InJune 1919 he made a trip to Siberia with clothing and money for therelief of the poor, and later sent many food drafts for Russianrelief. In 1929-1933 he served the Krimmer Mennonite BrethrenConference as chairman of the Board of Foreign Missions; and for sometime he was secretary of the Mennonite Aid on the west coast. He died15 March 1949 at Reedley, California, following a brief illness, atthe age of 91 years, and was buried in the Zion Krimmer MennoniteBrethren cemetery, Dinuba, California. Fast was correspondent to various German papers, and wrote numerousbooklets, including Mitteilungen von etlichen der Groszen unter denMennoniten in Russland und in America (1935); Meine Gedichte vom Jahre1880 bis jetzt (1943); Reisebericht und Kurz Geschichte der Mennoniten(1909); Geschichtlicher Bericht wie die Mennoniten Nordamerikas ihrenarmen Glaubensgenossen in Russland jetzt und früher geholfen haben(1919). Herald Press Information logo Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, andWaterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 316-317.All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopediavisit the Herald Press website. ©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Allrights reserved. To cite this page: MLA style: Plett, C. F. "Fast, Martin B. (1858-1949)." GlobalAnabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Global AnabaptistMennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 July 2009http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/fast_martin_b._1858_1949 APA style: Plett, C. F. (1956). "Fast, Martin B. (1858-1949)." GlobalAnabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist MennoniteEncyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 July 2009http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/fast_martin_b._1858_1949

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