Con Hiebert

Note :

This photo of Cornelius Hiebert (left) and his brother John was taken around 1900. Provided courtesy oj Dr. Paul Hiebert. Carman, Manitoba.
Cornelius Hiebert: MLA (1905-1909)
Cornelius Hiebert (left, on photo) was born in 1862 in the Bergthal Colony (Schoenfeld) of south Russia. He came to Manitoba with his parents, Johann (1829-1904)and Helena Toews Hiebert (1830-1896), on the S.S. Sardinian, when he was 13 years of age (1876). Also with the family were nine brothers and sisters, Peter,Abram, Johann, Helena, Philip, Catherine,
Anna, Maria, and Julius.

The family first settled on the East Reserve, and then moved to the West Reserve where they took up a homestead in the school district of Neuhoffnung (now New Hope) about five miles west of Altona.
Two brothers of Cornelius, Peter and Johann (right on photo) taught school for several years, and the latter married Maria
Penner, a daughter of Erdmann Penner. Erdmann was a merchant from Tannenau near Niverville, who later opened up new businesses at Gretna, Rosenort, Morden, and other locations in the West Reserve.
Cornelius married Aganetha Dick in 1888, and they had three children, Anna Helen, John Cornelius and Metha. They lived for a time at Gretna and also Holland,Man. In the latter town C. Hiebert operated a mill. In 1900 the Hieberts moved to
Didsbury, Alberta, where Cornelius became a general merchant, dealing also in lumber and implements. From 1901-1904 he was
overseer (mayor) of the village of Didsbury. Anna, the older of the daughters, served as head nurse of the Children''s Hospital in Calgary for many years. Cornelius, Jr.,studied law and later became mayor of Nanton, Alta.
In 1905 Cornelius, Sr., became an MLA in the newly-formed Alberta legislature,serving the Rosebud constituency as the sole
provincially-elected representative of the Conservatives. Among other things, he supported prohibition and favored the flying of
the Canadian flag over every school.
Dissatisfied with various government measures, he ran as an Independent in his second term so that he would be better able to criticize government measures which he could not support. In 1909 he lost out to another Mennonite, J. E. Stauffer, of the
Mennonite Brethren in Christ, who represented the Liberals at that time.
Mr. Hiebert returned to Didsbury, and eventually moved to Calgary. For some years he was an active Mason. He passed away with cancer in 1919, and the burial took place in the Didsbury cemetery. An acquaintance had this to say after his passing,
"He was a friendly man as I can remember him. He came to my parents one day when they were butchering pigs, and we
youngsters had much fun with him that day." LK
Sources: The Didsbury Booster, Echoes of an Era. History of Didsbury and District (1969); Aron Sawatzky, "The Mennonites
of Alberta and their Assimilation", unpublished MA thesis, University of Alberta, (1964); the Mennonite immigrant passenger
lists (1874-1880); the church books of the Bergthaler Church of Manitoba; notes by Dr. Paul Hiebert, Carman, Manitoba;
Frank H. Epp''s book, Mennonites in Canada 1786-1929 (1974).

Citation :

Mennonite Historian Volume I, Number I, September, 1975. Published by the History-Archives Committee of the Conference of Mennonites 10 Canada Available at http://www.mennonitehistorian.ca/1.1.MHSep75.pdf