Historical Committee   Hist Mss 1-728 Lores E. Steury Collection, 1922- , on the Amish Christian Church, 1894-1937 / Reformed Amish Christian Church, 1937-1964 / and its Legacy, 1964-2002: Papers, 1894-2002 1 Box (Large)            Restricted Access until the year 2020 Scope and Content     This collection was compiled by Lores Steury from 1979-2002, with the encouragement of Leonard Gross. The first deposit of papers was made by Steury in 1985, and the collection was organized and cataloged in 1997. The purpose of this effort was to gather together available materials concerning the history of the Amish Christian Church (ACC) and its offshoot, the Reformed Amish Christian Church (RACC).  These efforts resulted in a book published on the The Amish Christian Church: Its History and Legacy, as written by Fredrick J. Schrock (Altamont, Tennessee: Ambassador Publishers, 2001).  Schrock had access to this collection, and to the Marie Eichenberger Collection (Hist. Mss. 1-512). Formed in 1894, the Amish Christian Church emerged from a small group of Swiss (Amish Mennonite Church) Amish, led by Joseph Schwartz. Church tensions precipitated the formation of a new congregation, and Joseph's son, David, was elected bishop of the ACC. Centered in Adams county, Indiana, the Amish Christian Church proceeded under David Schwartz's leadership until 1936, when a second fissure erupted. Schwartz's controversial leadership (endorsing polygamy, etc.) created enough disunity to prompt a second schism, led by David Graber and Enoch Habeggar, which resulted in the creation of the Reformed Amish Christian Church. The desire for private Amish schooling led them to Tennessee in 1946, the first in a series of relocation’s that would characterize the group. Remnants of the RACC formed temporary or permanent settlements in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, where the Reformed Amish Christian Church was eventually absorbed by other denominations including Old Order Amish, Mennonite, Evangelical, and Holdeman. Administrative Information Collection process and listed by Richard B. Sieber, Goshen College student, May 6, 1997.  Updates of folders 1/49 to 1/57 by Dennis Stoesz, January 7, 2003. Inventory Listing Box 1 (Large) 1/1     Notes by Lores Steury (regarding his ACC/RACC historical project) 1/2    General Background (ACC clippings, etc.) 1/3    Church Rosters (ACC, RACC, Scottsville Community) 1/4    History and Membership Record (ACC, 1894-1936) 1/5    Genealogies (Schwartz, Steury) 1/6    Swiss Ancestral Tree (Questionnaires, 1995-96) 1/7    Church Writings - Books:         - Die Frucht ist das Kennzeichen (1897) by David and Jacob Schwartz, Daniel Mazelin         - Geistliche Restitution (1913) [two copies] by David Schwartz         - Die zerfallene hutte Davids ist wieder gebant by David Schwartz (1915)         - Eine Sammlung von Briefen (1915) by Daniel Mazelin         - Katechismus (1925)  by the Amish Christian Church 1/8    Church Writings - Songbooks - Ausbund (1913) - Christliche Gesangbuch (1933) 1/9    Church Writings - School Notebooks (1906, 1915-16, etc. German) 1/10    Church Writings - Sermons, Songs, etc. (German), including David Schwartz’s story 1/11    Church Writings - Misc. (includes ACC bibliography, and name of church) 1/12    Church Writings - David Schwartz (includes confessional found after death; English and    German) 1/13    Church Writings - Amos B. Schwartz (ca. 1932; German) 1/14    Church Writings - Enoch Habeggar (German) 1/15    Church Writings - Titus Hoover (German and English), including Ordnung tract 1/16    "Holdeman Descendants" - Excerpts (1936) 1/17    "Christ's True Church" - John Hoover (1994) 1/18    Various Writings - Misc. 1/19    Interview - Jacob D. R. Schwartz (1979; Transcript) 1/20    Interviews - Cassettes         - Grandma Steury (1979)         - Lores Steury and Marie (and Virgil) Strahm (1993)         - Tennessee (1994) Box 1 (Large) (Continued) Autobiography, Lores E. Steury 1/21    Recollections - Lores Steury  Lores Steury, Goshen, Indiana, has sat down and written various memories of his growing up years with his family, with the Reformed Amish Christian Church, with his service in Civilian Public Service, and his 40 years with Martha, his spouse, and children.  Since these memories were written down at different times, some of the story may overlap in the various chapters.  Placing these materials in chapters may help organize this material.         Chapter 1  Childhood and Youth.  “This story started late 1800.”         27 pages         Chapter 2   Beginnings. “This story had a beginning in about 1900.”     9 pages         Chapter 3  Observation.  “There was some...”                 6 pages         Chapter 4  Parents.  “I would like to write a little about the early..”         7 pages         Chapter 5  Memories of our life as a family growing up.  “1892...”         7 pages         Chapter 6  Lores Steury’s C.P.S. Days  :”The last days of 1941..”        20 pages         Chapter 7  1947 and afterwards.  “The people that left Indiana 1947..”     4 pages         Chapter 8  The Steury Family.  “Chris and Amelia Steury..”             5 pages         Chapter 9  The School.  “The original place for the school..”        12 pages         Chapter 10  The Troyer Group.  “Mose Troyer was an Old Order Amish.”     1 page         Chapter 11  Tennessee.  “The people that had moved to Tennessee..”     3 pages         Chapter 12  Tennessee and Kentucky.  “What I heard in Tennessee..”     2 pages         Chapter 13  Imhoff.  “It is very good to be with our relatives”         6 pages         Chapter 14  Forty years of our life together, Lores and Martha Steury    134 pages 1/22    Recollections - Steury Family (stories, diaries, etc., including Mabel’s poem) 1/23    Recollections - Re: ACC (origins, etc., including those by Millard Habegger) 1/24    Recollections - Re: RACC 1/25    Correspondence - Titus and Fannie Hoover to "Tennessee People" (1950-51) Box 1 (Large) (Continued) 1/26    Correspondence - Enoch Habbegar to Titus Hoover Re: Worldliness (1951-52, German w/translations) 1/27    Correspondence - David and Martha Graber to Titus Hoover (1950-1965, German w/translations) 1/28    Correspondence - Titus Hoover Re: Church Problems (1960's, German and English), including his letters to church and Noah Hoover, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967. 1/29    Correspondence - Enoch Habeggar, Final Letters (1964, German and English) 1/30    Correspondence - Howard Habeggar (1989-1994) 1/31    Correspondence - Re: ACC and RACC (1989-1994) 1/32    Correspondence - Re: RACC (1989-1994), Bernard M., etc. al. 1/33    Correspondence - Re: RACC Ban and Baptism (1964-1966; 1995), including ban of Titus Hoover, and rescinding of ban to Titus, Viola, Nolts 1/34    Correspondence - Re: ACC Hymns (1979) 1/35    Correspondence - Re: Communal Living (1995) 1/36    Correspondence - Re: Mabel Steury and her diary (1994-95) 1/37    Correspondence - Re: Titus Hoover (1995) 1/38    Correspondence - Re: Fannie Hoover (German), regarding ban letter – this is the wife of Titus Hoover 1/39    Correspondence - Re: Tennessee Group (1989-1995) 1/40    Correspondence - Re: Pennsylvania Group (1989-1996) 1/41    Correspondence - Re: Missouri Group (1992-1996) 1/42    Correspondence - Re: Kentucky Group (1994-1996) 1/43    Correspondence - Re: Lores Steury's / Archives of the Mennonite Church Historical Project (1979-1994), including original thrust from Leonard Gross, and letter from Amos Hoover 1/44    Correspondence - Re: "Habeggar Book" (1992) 1/45    Correspondence - Re: Letter Translations (ca. 1994) 1/46    Correspondence - Re: Mennonite Christian Fellowship Churches (1993-1995) 1/47    Correspondence - Re: Wagner Mennonite Church Baptism: Titus Hoover versus Wenger 1/48    Correspondence - Miscellaneous Additional Materials deposited, 1997-2002 1/49    Letters and writings by Lores Steury, 1995, 1999.  Includes reunion 1999, Steury’s life story, letters concerning J. D. R.’s liberalization of the church, etc. 1/50    Correspondence, 1997-2000; photograph of David Schwartz (1931); my life story by Lores Steury (December 1999); letters by Fredrick Schrock, 1998-99, including account of 1964 division in Hoover Church 1/51    Correspondence, Lores Steury, 1999-2000 1/52    Binder of information, including copies of original documents, on Amish Christian Church, as found at the Berne Public Library, Berne, Indiana.  Borrowed and copied in July 2000. 1/53    Photograph, 1994, of Bernard and Lina Mazelin, and their children, Rosalyn, Julia, Robert and Herman; Map, 1995, of “Die Mennonitische Siedlung in der Allen Gft., Ky [Gemeindschaft, Kentucky]; two photographs, 1999, Habegger Reunion; calendar, 1990, of Scottsville Community, including list of individual Mennonite names, the community they are from, and their birth and wedding dates; Story, 1991, by Agnes Steury, which begins “The Doll”, etc.; Interview of Jacob D. R. Schwartz (who is the father of Marie Eichenberger; and who is the son of David Schwartz), August 24, 1979, by Leonard Gross, 25 pages. 1/54    Interviews on Amish Christian Church.  8 cassette tapes, dating 1979, 1993-94, 1999.  a) 1979 - Grandma Steury; Feb. 10,1993 – Interview with Lores Steury and Marie (and Virgil) Strahm, conducted by Leonard Gross; b) 1994 Group discussion at Holdeman Mennonite Church in Tennessee (2 tapes, recorded by Lores Steury (one tape may be an original, the other a copy); c) June 7, 1999 – Interview with Lores Steury by Leonard Gross; d) July 24, 1999 – Interview with Lores Steury and others, by Leonard Gross; e) December 3, 1999 – Interview with Lores Steury by Leonard Gross; f) December 8, 1999 – Interview with Lores Steury by Leonard Gross.  [These tapes may have already been listed as part of previous folders – would need to be placed there then.  These tapes were loaned out from 1999-2001.] 1/55    Diary, 1938, of Mrs. D. J. Graber, R. 1, Berne, Indiana (photocopy) 1/56    The Amish Christian Church, 1st Edition, 2001, by Frederick J. Schrock.  Includes list of additions made to 2nd Edition, 2002 1/57    Correspondence, Lores Steury, regarding Guenther, Peters, families from Saskatchewan. Name and Subject Tracings Amish Christian Church                  Passim Reformed Amish Christian Church           Passim Schwartz, David         Files 1/2 to 1/5, 1/7, 1/8, 1/12, 1/19, 1/23, 1/24, etc. March 30, 2004 / Updated by Helen Hostetler File: “HM1-728.doc” Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen, 1700 S Main St., Goshen, Indiana  46526 Back to Personal Collections Index

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