Christian Gordon "Gordon" Eby^{[1, 2]}

1890 - 1965  (74 years)

• Name	Christian Gordon "Gordon" Eby
  Born	6 Sep 1890
  Gender	Male
  Birth	20 Sep 1890	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  Interesting	story
  Residence	1891	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [6]
  	Mennonite
  Military	1914	WW1   [7]
  	WW1, 108th Regiment, Service #126368
  Military	1914	WW1   [8]
  	WW1, Private, 108th Regiment / 118th Battalion
  Name	Christian Gordon Eby
  Name	Gordon C. Eby
  Name	Gordon Eby
  Residence	409 Mill St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Residence	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [8]
  Eby ID Number	00023-1793.7
  Died	17 Aug 1965	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I24357	Generations
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2025

  
  

  Father	Christian S. Eby,   b. 15 Dec 1842, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 25 Aug 1920, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 77 years)
  Mother	Catharine Clemens,   b. 10 Apr 1848, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 21 Feb 1918, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 69 years)
  Married	24 May 1868	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 9, 10]
  Family ID	F4487	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elsie Maude Hewitt,   b. 4 Oct 1900,   d. 16 May 1974  (Age 73 years)
  Children	1. Annie Elsie "Anne" Eby   2. Ruth Catharine Elsie Eby   3. Gordon Albert Christian Eby   4. Harold Ward Alexander "Ward" Eby   5. Louella Jean Mae Eby   6. Gary Norman Edward Eby   7. Timothy Wayne Frederick Eby   8. Foster David Clemens Eby,   b. 31 Jan 1931, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 27 Sep 2000, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 69 years)
  Last Modified	4 Mar 2025
  Family ID	F52155	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Gordon Eby sitting in camp Mennonite Archival Image Database. (2016). Archives.mhsc.ca. Retrieved 11 July 2016, from https://archives.mhsc.ca/image-129

  
  

• Notes

  Eby, Gordon C., son of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Eby, was born at Kitchener, Ont., Sept. 21, 1890; died at the K-W Hospital, Kitchener, Aug. 17, 1965; aged 74 y. 10 m. 27 d. In 1921, he was married to Elsie Hewitt, who survives. Also surviving are 4 sons (Ward, Foster, Gary, and Timothy), 3 daughters (Ruth - Mrs. Murray Hill, Anne - Mrs. Douglas Millar, and Louella), and 16 grandchildren. One son preceded him in death. Two months previous to his death he renewed his faith in Christ. Funeral services were held at the First Mennonite Church, Aug. 20, in charge of C. F. Derstine. Gospel Herald - Volume LVIII, Number 37 - September 21, 1965 - pages 841, 842 ______________________ Gordon Eby's diaries shine a light on Kitchener's past KITCHENER Berlin was to become a city at the stroke of midnight, and young Gordon Eby did not want to miss the chance to record history in the making. He loaded his gramophone into the back of his horse-drawn wagon, and headed downtown to record the celebrations. There was to be music, fireworks and parties, and Eby aimed to capture it all. But he was left heartbroken instead. "I started setting up the machine, while putting the horn on I bumped my coat pocket against the side of the rig, smashed the blank record which was in it … that of course put an end to record-making tonight," he wrote in his diary in June 1912. Berlin, as Kitchener was then known, was a happening place in Eby's time. Electricity had only arrived two years earlier, and Eby - a Mennonite farmer who'd spent almost four months wages on his beloved gramophone - was busy documenting the exciting changes in his hometown.... Eby's diary entries are full of his observations on everyday life in Waterloo Region more than a century ago. While his father, a traditional Mennonite "charmer" was a remnant of different era, Eby was intrigued by anything new. "He turned his back in some ways on his Mennonite heritage. He spent most of his time going to movies and plays," said Harper, a teacher at Elmira District Secondary School who also works with the Rural Diary Project at the University of Guelph. Like a lot of citizens at the time, Eby was swept up the city's emerging status, with its growing population of 15,000 and bustling factories. "Berlin was coming into its own," she said. "We see Kitchener become a city through his eyes. He was very excited about it." Eby didn't just document early Kitchener with his diary entries. He also took hundreds of photos of people and things he saw, and owned one of the city's first flash-photography cameras while still in his early 20s. Eby, who earned his living collecting manure and growing vegetables on land that is now Rockway Golf Course, used new technology as a social outlet, Harper said. His camera and gramophone were novelties, and drew crowds wherever he went. What he didn't realize is how he was helping historians more than a century later....by Greg Mercer "Gordon Eby'S Diaries Shine A Light On Kitchener'S Past". Therecord.com. N. p., 2016. Web. 9 July 2016. __________________________ Eby, Gordon C., son of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Eby, was born at Kitchener, Ont., Sept. 21, 1890; died at the K-W Hospital, Kitchener, Aug. 17, 1965; aged 74 y. 10 m. 27 d. In 1921, he was married to Elsie Hewitt, who survives. Also surviving are 4 sons (Ward, Foster, Gary, and Timothy), 3 daughters (Ruth - Mrs. Murray Hill, Anne - Mrs. Douglas Millar, and Louella), and 16 grandchildren. One son preceded him in death. Two months previous to his death he renewed his faith in Christ. Funeral services were held at the First Mennonite Church, Aug. 20, in charge of C. F. Derstine. Gospel Herald - Volume LVIII, Number 37 - September 21, 1965 - pages 841, 842 __________________________________ Kitchener Pioneer's Kin Dies Gordon C. Eby, 74, the last surviving great-grandson of Kitchener pioneer Benjamin Eby, died today at K-W Hospital after an illness of several months. Mr. Eby was born in Kitchener, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Christian Eby. He lived at 409 Mill St. He was a member of First Mennonite Church, the first church in the community, founded by Bishop Eby in 1813. Mr. Eby unveiled a plaque commemorating Bishop Eby at the church six years ago. Kitchener got its original name, Ebytown, from the bishop. Mr. Eby was an assistant foreman at J. M. Schneider Ltd. for 34 years until his retirement in in 1960. He was a member of the Schneider's Veterans Club and the firm's 20 Year Club. He served overseas with the 118th Battalion from 1915 to 1919, and after the armistice served in Germany as an interpreter, using the High German he learned in the Mennonite school that his great-grandfather founded. He was a member of the Kitchener branch of the Canadian Legion and the Waterloo Historical Society. Mr. Eby's main hobby was gardening, and he developed a new type of apple that is now being tested at the University of Guelph, the Vineland experimental nurseries and Stark Nurseries in the United States. Surviving are his wife, the former Elsie Hewitt whom he married in Kitchener in 1921; four sons, Ward of New Westminster, B.C., Foster of Baden, Gary and Timothy of Kitchener; three daughters, Mrs. Murray (Ruth) Hill of Blair, Mrs. Douglas (Anne) Millar and Loella of Kitchener and 16 grandchildren. One son predeceased him. The body is at the Schreiter Sandrock Funeral Home until Friday when removal will be made to the First Mennonite Church ofr a service at 2: 30 p.m. with Bishop C.F. Derstine officiating. Burial will be in East End Mennonite cemetery. Contributions to the crippled children's centre will be accepted as expressions of sympathy.

  
  

• 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..., 424. [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..., 556. [S137] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1901, Berlin (Town/Ville) A-9 Page 13. [S157] Military - Canada - World War I - Attestation papers. Gordon Christian Eby Birth Date: 6 Sep 1890 Birth Location: Berlin, Ontario, Canada Relative: Christian Eby Relationship: Father Regiment Number: 126368 Eby, Gordon Christian - Attestation Papers pg 1.gif Eby, Gordon Christian - Attestation Papers pg 2.gif [S655] z Vit - ON - Birth Registration, birth certificate 35215 (1890), Christian Gordon Eby. Gordon Christian Eby, b. 20 Sep 1890 Berlin, s/o Christian Eby (market gardener) & Catharine Clemens. [S1592] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1891, Section 3 Page 56. [S157] Military - Canada - World War I - Attestation papers. [S1890] Military - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Kitchener Public Library WW1 Soldiers Card Index Soldier Information Cards - World War One. [S5] Vit - - ON, Waterloo - 1858-1869 Marriage Register. Christian Eby aged 24 res Waterloo born Waterloo son of Isaac and Frane (Shoemaker) married 24 May 1868 to Catharine Clemmens aged 20 res Waterloo born Waterloo daughter of Abraham and Motte? (Eby) [S7] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berliner Journal (1859-1917), 28 May 1868. 24 May 1868 Christian Eby was married to Catharina Clemens, both of Waterloo Township.

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 20 Sep 1890 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - - 409 Mill St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 17 Aug 1965 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth