Abraham Bowman Kolb^[1]

1862 - 1925  (62 years)

• Name	Abraham Bowman Kolb
  Born	10 Nov 1862	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Name	Abram Kolb
  Residence	1881	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	Mennonite
  Eby ID Number	00068-4121
  Died	15 Mar 1925
  Buried	Prairie Street Mennonite Church Cemetery, Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, USA
  Person ID	I14129	Generations
  Last Modified	12 May 2025

  
  

  Father	Deacon Jacob Ziegler Kolb,   b. 12 Apr 1832, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 3 Jun 1919  (Age 87 years)
  Mother	Maria Bowman,   b. 8 Dec 1839, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 17 May 1921, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 81 years)
  Married	5 Jul 1857	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 5, 6, 7]
  Family ID	F2282	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Phoebe Funk,   b. Abt 1862,   d. 12 Mar 1918  (Age ~ 56 years)
  Married	3 Jan 1893
  Last Modified	13 May 2025
  Family ID	F3848	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Kolb, Abraham B. 1862-1925.jpg https://www.gameo.org/index.asp?content=https://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/K6442.html

  
  

• Notes

  Abram B. Kolb, "was born November 10th, 1862. He followed teaching in our public schools for some years. In January, 1886, he retired from the profession and went to Elkhart, Indiana, where he was engaged by the Mennonite Publishing Co. as assistant editor of the 'Herald of Truth' and other papers published in their office. This position he still holds. He is married to Phoebe Funk." Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.]. _____________________________________ Kolb, Abram B. (1862-1925) "A. B." Kolb: teacher and publisher; born 10 November 1862 near Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario to Jacob Z. and Maria (Bowman) Kolb. He was the oldest son in a family of five sons and two daughters. On 3 January 1893 he married Phoebe Funk, the second daughter of John F. Funk . They had two daughters and two sons. Abram died 15 March 1925. Abram B. Kolb attended the Natchez school (Natchez was a small community now within the city limits of Kitchener, Ontario) and graduated from the Berlin High School. He attended Normal School and taught for four years -- one year in the United States when his pupils were said to include Orville and Wilbur Wright. It was while teaching that he was baptized into the Mennonite Church at the age of nineteen. In January 1886 Kolb moved to Elkhart, Indiana to become an assistant editor at the Mennonite Publishing Company owned by John F. Funk. He worked there many years in various editorial capacities including editor-in-chief, and was Vice-President of the company until a year before his death. At various times he edited the Words of Cheer and Herald der Wahrheit. He also translated many manuscripts being prepared for publication, among them the Enchiridion of Anabaptist leader Dirk Philips; a translation still widely circulated among the Old Order Amish.. Abram B. Kolb was also a leader when the Mennonite Church began to build mission and educational institutions. He was an early promoter of Sunday school conferences, and served as President of the Mennonite Evangelizing and Benevolent Board until it merged with the Mennonite Board of Charitable Homes and Missions, a predecessor to the Mennonite Board of Missions. Another passion of A. B. Kolb's was sacred music. He directed many choirs, and served as the first music instructor at the Elkhart Institute (later Goshen College). He wrote a number of hymns used in Mennonite hymnbooks; one still used in Hymnal: a Worship Book was "Christ Who Left His Home in Glory." After Phoebe's death on 12 March 1918 Abram Kolb's own health declined. He suffered a stroke in June 1923 and became increasingly incapacitated until his death. He was buried in the Prairie Street cemetery in Elkhart, Indiana. Abram B. Kolb was an important link between US and Canadian Mennonites within the Mennonite Church. Many of his Mennonite Publishing Company co-workers, including John S. Coffman and John F. Funk often visited Ontario, bringing American Mennonite theological influences to the communities in Canada. The Mennonite Publishing Company was a major unifying factor in the Pennsylvania German and Amish Mennonite communities; A. B. Kolb played no small role in that influence. Steiner, Sam. "Kolb, Abram B. (1862-1925)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2002. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 13 Nov 2005 <https://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/K6442.html>

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 115. [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 857. [S168] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo North - 1871, Div. 1, Pg. 6. [S224] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo North - 1881, Div 3 Page 20. [S6] Church Records - ON, Waterloo - Bindeman, F. W. - Card Index Kitchener Public Library. Jacob Kolb, farmer of Waterloo Twp, married 5 Jul 1857 in Waterloo Twp by banns to Maria Baumann of Waterloo Twp. wit: Samuel Betzner & Lea Baumann [S8] News - Gospel Herald, September 15, 1921 - Obituary of Maria Bowman Kolb. [S1573] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo City - 1891, Section 1 Page 2.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 10 Nov 1862 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1881 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Prairie Street Mennonite Church Cemetery, Elkhart, Elkhart, Indiana, USA  = Link to Google Earth