Benjamin Eby
{{short description|Canadian minister}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Bishop
| name = Benjamin Eby
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1785|5|2|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Hammer Creek, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1853|6|28|1785|5|2|df=yes}}
| death_place = Berlin, Canada West
| occupation = Mennonite minister
| burial_place = First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Mary Brubacher|1807|1834|reason=her death}}
- Magdalena Erb
}}
| children = 11
| father = Christian Eby
| mother = Catharine Bricker
| known_for = Founder of Ebytown
}}
Bishop Benjamin Eby (2{{nbsp}}May 1785{{snd}}28{{nbsp}}June 1853) was a Canadian minister, schoolteacher, farmer, author, and community leader. He was a pioneer of the Mennonite community in Canada
{{cite book| author=B.J. Boyd Cressman|chapter= Eby, Benjamin|title=Mennonite Encyclopedia, II| pages = 138–139|year=1956}}{{cite journal |author=J.Boyd Cressman |title=Bishop Benjamin Eby |journal=Waterloo Historical Society |issue=29 |year=1941 |pages=152–158 |url=http://www.whs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1941.pdf }}{{cite book|author=Ezra E. Eby and Eldon D. Weber|title=A Biographical History of Early Settlers and their Descendants in Waterloo Township|year=1971|pages=136–137}}
and a strong proponent of nonresistance.{{sfn|Josephson|1985}}{{sfn|Epp|1974}}
Biography
Benjamin Eby was born in 1785 at a homestead on Hammer Creek, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Epp|1985}} He emigrated to Upper Canada in 1806 and purchased a large tract of land in what would later become Kitchener, Ontario.
{{cite web |url=http://www.whs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1930.pdf |title=History |author= |date=1930 |website=Waterloo Historical Society 1930 Annual Meeting |publisher=Waterloo Historical Society |access-date=13 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227233215/http://www.whs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1930.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2017 |df=dmy-all }}[http://www.waynecook.com/awaterloo.html Plaque 21] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312051921/http://www.waynecook.com/awaterloo.html |date=12 March 2017 }} He became a Mennonite preacher in 1809, and by 1811{{cite news |url=https://www.therecord.com/living-story/7022105--benchi-bishop-benjamin-eby-was-a-builder-and-berlin-booster/ |title='Benchi' – Bishop Benjamin Eby was a builder and Berlin booster |date=17 December 2016 |first=Rych |last=Mills |work=Waterloo Region Record |access-date=2017-06-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328004435/https://www.therecord.com/living-story/7022105--benchi-bishop-benjamin-eby-was-a-builder-and-berlin-booster/ |archive-date=28 March 2018 |df=dmy-all }} or 1813 {{sfn|Josephson|1985}} had built a log Mennonite meeting house used as a school house and for religious services. He was Bishop from 1812 and was responsible for the growth of Mennonite Church Canada in Waterloo County.{{cite journal |author=Ira D. Landis |title=Bishop Peter Eby of Pequea, 1765-1843 |journal=Mennonite Quarterly Review |issue=14 |year=1940 |pages=41–51}}
Eby authored numerous published works including a hymn book, catechism, several school texts, and a church history. His church history in particular demonstrated "the nonresistant stance and his belief that war is unacceptable in the Kingdom of God".{{sfn|Josephson|1985}}
Eby encouraged manufacturers to his settlement known as "Ebytown". He is credited with encouraging the peaceful coexistence of Mennonites with the rest of the community, and promoted reconciliation and unity on an international scale as well.{{cite news|author=Melvin E. Gingerich|title=Gospel Herald|date=2 March 1965|pages=178}}{{sfn|Josephson|1985}}
{{Blockquote
|text="He freely opened his church to non-Mennonites and developed warm friendships with local businessmen of different faiths. He donated some of his own land to two men who wished to establish a furniture factory, and gave encouragement and financial aid toward the creation of a printing and publishing business. Hoping to create an international Mennonite fellowship, Eby cultivated a relationship, through correspondence, with church leaders in Europe and America. His rapport with non-Mennonites and his leadership and oratory skills undoubtedly contributed to the gains made by Mennonites in consolidating their peace position in Canada."
|author=Harold Josephson
|source=Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders (1985){{sfn|Josephson|1985}}
}}
In his mid-forties, Eby's settlement was renamed from Ebytown to Berlin, and in the year of his death Berlin became the county seat of the newly created County of Waterloo, elevating it to the status of Village. (It was designated a city in 1912[http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/aboutkitchener.asp About Kitchener],{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206203014/http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/AboutKitchener.asp |date=6 February 2017 }} and renamed as Kitchener in 1916.)
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist}}
=Sources=
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFEpp1985}}
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last=Epp |first=Frank H. |title=Mennonites in Canada, 1786–1920: The History of a Separate People |year=1974 |location=Toronto |publisher=Macmillan |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sites/ca.grebel/files/uploads/files/mic_i_contents_1.pdf}}
- {{Cite DCB |last=Epp |first=Frank H. |title=Eby, Benjamin |volume=8 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/eby_benjamin_8E.html}}
- {{Cite book |last=Josephson |first=Harold |title=Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders |year=1985 |location=Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=0-313-22565-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_q1j1}}
{{refend}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eby, Benjamin}}
Category:People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Category:History of Kitchener, Ontario
Category:19th century in Kitchener
Category:Christians from Pennsylvania
Category:American people of Pennsylvania Dutch descent
Category:American emigrants to Canada
Category:American people of German descent
Category:Canadian people of German descent
Category:Canadian city founders
Category:Burials at First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Ontario