David B. Martin: Pioneer of Mennonite Orthodoxy
David Bauman Martin (1838-1920), ancestor of many Old Order Mennonites in Ontario, Canada, was also the progenitor of what we today refer to as Mennonite orthodoxy, a movement which had its formal genesis in the mid 20th century. Indeed there today exists two branches of the Orthodox Mennonite Church in Ontario, churches created by his descendants.
Of the descendants of David B. Martin today, three are recognized leaders of Mennonite orthodoxy. Indeed, the movement may not exist today at all if Martin and his family had not taken a stand a century ago in 1917.
Family History
David B. Martin, born September 2, 1838, in Waterloo County, Upper Canada (now Ontario), was the son of Mennonite pioneer Jacob G. Martin and Esther Bauman. Jacob, born March 22, 1811, was only 9 years old when he emigrated with his family to the British province of Upper Canada, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Jacob's father David and his first cousin Peter Martin and their families were descendants of their common grandfather David Martin, an immigrant to Pennsylvania, whose family originated in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland.
Living during a time of many changes among the Mennonites in Waterloo County (now the Regional Municipality of Waterloo), as Jacob Martin grew older he became increasingly concerned about what he considered to be a drift away from their traditional Anabaptist roots.
History of Ontario Orthodoxy
Key Descendants
See Also
Bibliography
Peter Hoover: A Record of the Ancestors and Descendants of David B. Martin, 1838-1920, Wallenstein, Ontario (no date).
Donald Martin: Old Order Mennonites of Ontario: Gelassenheit, Discipleship, Brotherhood, Pandora Press, Kitchener, Ontario, 2003.
Amos Sherk: Unpublished History of the David Martin and Orthodox Mennonites, (Primary Source), no date.
