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leaders in this conflict in a neighboring state. Bishop John M. Brenneman of Elida, Ohio, had tried carefully to advise Funk to handle the situation with tact. Isaac Hoffer of Williams County, Ohio, became party to Wisler's interests by restoring him to his church office. A committee of five who in 1869 carried on conciliatory measures had on it two Ohio men, Hoffer from Williams County and Peter Troxel from Wayne County. The Ontario Mennonite Conference assumed that the Ohio Conference would be called upon to adjudicate but urged Indiana to settle its own affairs. John M. Brenneman in August of 1870 even achieved a kind of healing and another temporary peace followed. In 1871 a committee of six worked on the problem and on this committee four were from Ohio: John M. Brenneman of Allen County, Isaac Hoffer of Williams County, John M. Greider of Green County, and George Brenneman of Putnam County. This committee relieved Wisler of his bishop office and the schism became final in January of 1872._`

It is clear from the above that the Ohio Mennonite churches were not removed from the controversy. What were its effects on the congregations of the Ohio Mennonite Conference? It is important to see first of all that the Wisler schism had its impact even in eastern Pennsylvania. Here the Lancaster Conference was supportive of the decision of the six bishops. The effects of the schism in Ohio were then only a part of a larger picture, for the Wisler schism reverberated in all the states where there were major Mennonite settlements, including the province of Ontario.

Bishop Jacob Wisler, convinced that he was true to Mennonite tenets, proceeded to strengthen his following. In the spring of 1872 he went to Wayne County, Ohio, where he organized a conference with bishops, ministers, and deacons. He attended the Ohio Conference at its spring session at Leetonia in 1872 but did not find any support and so he withdrew."

That Jacob Wisler did gain a following in Ohio is clearly seen in the fact that a number of bishops and ministers united with his group. The bishops were Abraham Rohrer (1788-1878) of Medina County; John Shaum (1797-1882) of Wayne County; Peter Imhoff (1806-93) of Ashland County; Isaac Hoffer (1799-1880) of Williams County; John M. Greider (1823-91) of Green County, and Isaac Kilmer of Crawford County. The ministers who followed Wisler were Isaac Rohrer (1814-96) of Seneca County and Jacob