Deacon John E. Brubacher^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]}

1793 - 1875  (82 years)

• Name	John E. Brubacher
  Prefix	Deacon
  Born	11 Jul 1793	Elizabeth Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania   [1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	pioneer, story
  Land	Bef 1831	Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 057, Waterloo County, Ontario   [13]
  Land	Bef 1831	Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 059, Waterloo County, Ontario   [13]
  Land	Bef 1831	Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 006, Waterloo County, Ontario   [13]
  Occupation	1861	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [14]
  	farmer
  Residence	1861	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [15]
  	Mennonite
  Occupation	1871	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [11]
  	Gentleman
  Residence	1871	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [11]
  	Mennonite
  Eby ID Number	00018-1389
  Died	10 Oct 1875	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 4, 12, 16, 17]
  Buried	First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [18]
  Person ID	I459	Generations
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2025

  
  

  Father	Jacob Brubacher,   b. 11 Jun 1758, of, Elizabeth Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 31 Aug 1793  (Age 35 years)
  Mother	Susannah Erb,   b. 17 Mar 1762, Warwick Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 22 Jan 1844  (Age 81 years)
  Married	1781  [4, 19, 20]
  Family ID	F156	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Catharine Shirk,   b. 11 Feb 1798, , Pennsylvania, USA ,   d. 8 Oct 1882, near, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 84 years)
  Married	6 Mar 1817  [1, 6, 16]
  Children	1. Jacob Brubacher,   b. 9 Apr 1818, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 6 Dec 1896, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 78 years)   2. Susannah Brubacher,   b. 28 Jun 1819, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 21 May 1891, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 71 years)   3. Elizabeth Brubacher,   b. 13 Dec 1820, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 22 Jan 1899, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 78 years)   4. John E. Brubacher,   b. 9 Aug 1822, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 24 Aug 1902, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 80 years)   5. Henry Brubacher,   b. 12 Feb 1824, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 5 Mar 1893, near, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 69 years)   6. Joseph Brubacher,   b. 27 Oct 1825, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 4 Mar 1841, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 15 years)   7. Christian Brubacher,   b. 27 Apr 1827, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 9 Oct 1848, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 21 years)   8. Samuel S. Brubacher,   b. 4 Jan 1829, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 2 Dec 1875, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 46 years)   9. Magdalena Brubacher,   b. 14 Jan 1831, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 23 Mar 1831  (Age 0 years)   10. Anna "Nancy" Brubacher,   b. 19 Sep 1832, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1 Oct 1870, Pottstown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA  (Age 38 years)   11. Magdalena "Polly" Brubacher,   b. 10 Mar 1834, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 12 Dec 1915, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 81 years)   12. Mary Brubacher,   b. 29 Aug 1836, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 23 Mar 1859, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 22 years)   13. Catharine Brubacher,   b. 5 Jul 1838, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 25 Sep 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 73 years)   14. Benjamin S. Brubacher,   b. 24 Apr 1841, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 23 Jan 1871, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 29 years)   15. Veronica Brubacher,   b. 16 May 1843, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 18 Nov 1935, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 92 years)
  Last Modified	29 Jan 2025
  Family ID	F1421	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  John Brubacher, "the youngest son of Jacob and Susannah (Erb) Brubacher, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, July 11th, 1793. In 1815 he came to Canada (See pages 45, 46 and 47) and selected his lot, No. 57, German Company's Tract, township and county of Waterloo, Ontario, a little to the east of Berlin. Here he had a small clearing made and a log shanty erected thereon. Late in fall of the same year Mr. Brubacher returned to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to make arrangements for moving to Canada the following spring. Early in 1816, he, in company with his mother, moved to this country and had their home with Bishop Benjamin Eby. As soon as the log shanty on his large farm was finished he started housekeeping for himself. His mother proved to be his female assistant for one year. On March 6th, 1817, he was married to Catharine, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Betzner) Sherk. She was born February 11th, 1798 and died October 8th, 1882. He died October 10th, 1875. When quite a young man he was ordained as deacon of the Mennonite Church for the Eby field of labor. This position he held until his death. To them was born a family of fifteen children" 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.]. ________________________________________________ October 10th, in Berlin, Canada, John Brubaker, one of the first settlers in this section, aged 82 years and 3 days. Death Announcement - Herald of Truth, November 1875 _____________ JOHN BRUBACHER John Brubacher came to Canada in 1816 and was accompanied by his widowed mother, Mrs. Susanna (Erb) Brubacher. She was a plucky woman and whatever she did was done aright. On the way over Mrs. Brubacher rode on a horse and killed a rattlesnake with her whip. Her son drove a heavily-laden Conestoga. Among other articles he brought in a churn. When they reached this settlment, their first meal was eaten off a pine stump. Mother and son then threaded their way through the woods to her son-in-law, Ben Eby's place, John Brubacher made a clearing on Lot 57 and erected a log home. His mother kept house for him until 1817, when he married Catherine, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Betzner) Sherk. Ezra Eby said that Mrs, Susanna Brubacher sold her son 896 acres for $672 and then returned to Pennsylvania. Later on John Brubacher. as has been said, bought the Elias Eby farm in the East Ward and built a home in Brubacher Street that is still in use. Eventually John is said to have acquired 3,000 acres of land and to have given each of his fifteen children a farm. John Brubacher was a short, dark man, and could lift a barrel of cider to his shoulder and take a drink out of the bunghole. His favorite saying was: Truth lasts the longest. His great-grand-father, also named John, when urged by his neighbors in Pennsylvania to build a gristmill declined, because he feared he might he tempted to take too heavy tolls. Mrs. John Brubacher dressed plainly and wore a white cap. Her descendants treasure the heirlooms she handed down. There were no locks on their doors and often at night Indians entered her kitchen and slept on the floor. Once she was alarmed at breakfast time when a squaw fed a young papoose a piece of liver-sausage. Fire was hard to make, for the settlers had no matches. A handful of dry cedar-bark was shredded and sparks struck from a flint with a piece of steel. Some families kept their fire burning the year round. One night an Indian buck rapped on John's window and pleaded for a drink of whisky, but the pioneer did not give him any. Wild animals were all too plentiful and wolves a menace. Occasionally he heard the squeal of a pig as it was dragged from its pen by a black bear. The Mennonites loved music. Once, while revisiting his old home in Pennsylvania, John Brubacher called on a man who owned a medodeon and had him play a hymn often sung in Ben Eby's church. As he listened tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. The pioneer walked with his head bent Ward Bowlby once met him in East King Street and said, "Mr. Brubacher, when walking you should keep your head up" John responded, "Mr. Bowlby, yonder is a field of wheat. Some of the stalks stand with their heads up those are empty; the bent heads only are filled with grain." Mr. Brubacher's youngest daughter, Veronica (Mrs. Moses Betzner) died in 1936, when in her ninety-second year. She was an early riser; ate whole-wheat bread and until her fortieth year never tasted tea nor coffee after that she drank milk or butter-milk. "Sunrise," said she, "has a virtue no other part or the day has. Work is a blessing. Without it He would not be worth living." "This community," she added, "was based on practical Christianity. The people were honorable and in business matters no writings passed among them It was all done by word of mouth and a man's Yes was binding." A History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937, pg 23, 24

  
  

• 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..., 345. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 238. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 38. [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..., 616. [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..., 268. [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..., 616-617. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 600. [S15] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Breslau - Breslau Mennonite CC#4579 Internet Link . Dedels/ Nancy Hallman/ wife of Henry Dedels/ died May 5, 1903 in her 42nd year/ Henry Dedels/ died Feb. 3, 1927 in his 68th year/ Nancy Burt/ wife of/ Henry Dedels/ died Aug. 19, 1948 in her 90th year [S123] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1861, Div 1 pg 1. John Brubacher Farmer Pennsylvania. MN 68 Cath. Brubacher Pennsylvania. MN 63 Sam. Brubacher Labourer UC MN 26 Benj. Brubacher Labourer UC MN 18 Ver. Brubacher UC MN 16 J.C. Platz Labourer Germany Religion: Lutheran deaf and dumb M. Platz Germany Religion: Lutheran [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851, Div 4 Pg 21. John BRUBACHER Farmer Birthplace: USA Age 59 Mennonite b. 4-Sep Katharina BRUBACHER Birthplace: USA Age 54 Mennonite b. 10-Oct Henry BRUBACHER Labourer Birthplace: Canada Age 27 Mennonite b. 20-Jul Samuel BRUBACHER Labourer Birthplace: Canada Age 23 Mennonite b. 30-Aug Benjamin BRUBACHER Birthplace: Canada Age 10 Mennonite b. 9-Apr Magdalena BRUBACHER Birthplace: Canada Age 17 Mennonite b. 24-Apr Maria BRUBACHER Birthplace: Canada Age 15 Mennonite b. 18-Mar Katharina BRUBACHER Birthplace: Canada Age 13 Mennonite b. 16-Mar Veronica BRUBACHER Birthplace: Canada Age 8 Mennonite b. 29-Aug It appears all the birthdates are wrong. The birth years are within acceptable limits, but the months and day are incorrect. Probably due to improper reporting. [S229] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1871, Div. 1, Pg. 68. [S7] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berliner Journal (1859-1917), 14 Oct 1875. Died 10 Oct 1875 In Berlin, John Brubacher, one of the first settlers in this district, died at the age of 82 years, 3 months. [S1322] Land - Founding Families of Waterloo Township 1800-1830, 17. [S123] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1861, Div 1 pg 1. [S123] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1861, Div 1 Pg 1. Fred Hohenstein Farmer Germany Baptist 35 Male absent El. Hohenstein Germany Baptist 33 Male absent Fred Hohenstein New York Baptist 11 J. Hohenstein UC Baptist 8 El. Hohenstein UC Baptist 3 Hen. Hohenstein UC Baptist 1860 El. Derbecker Servant Germany LU 26 [S32] News - Herald of Truth, Nov 15, 1882. Obituary of Catharine Sherk [S32] News - Herald of Truth, November 1875. Obituary of John Brubacher [S47] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - First Mennonite CC#4507 Internet link First Mennonite Cemetery online. [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..., 340. [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...

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 11 Jul 1793 - Elizabeth Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania Land - Bef 1831 - Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 057, Waterloo County, Ontario Land - Bef 1831 - Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 059, Waterloo County, Ontario Land - Bef 1831 - Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 006, Waterloo County, Ontario Occupation - farmer - 1861 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1861 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Gentleman - 1871 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1871 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 10 Oct 1875 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth