Mennonite Library and Archives

Bethel College

North Newton, Kansas

Manuscript Collections

Cornelius H. Wedel

An Inventory of His Papers

Overview of the Collection

Series number:    MLA.MS.131

Creator: Cornelius H. Wedel, 1860-1910.

Title:                    Papers.

Quantity:             4.75 cu. ft.

Location: 

Biography of Cornelius H. Wedel

C. H. Wedel was born in South Russia on May 12, 1860. He migrated to the United States in 1874 as part of the Alexanderwohl community, which settled north of Newton, Kansas. After attending public schools in Kansas, he studied at McKendry College and in the Presbyterian Seminary at Bloomfield, New Jersey. He also taught at the Seminary for two years before returning to Kansas to teach at the Halstead Seminary in 1890. When Bethel College opened in 1893, Wedel transferred to the college and remained there until his death on March 28, 1910.

In addition to his work as a teacher at the Halstead Seminary and Bethel College, Wedel was also active in the Western District Conference and other Mennonite organizations. He was also an historian. For further information, see the Mennonite Encyclopedia and E. G. Kaufman’s General Conference Mennonite Pioneers.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Very few of C. H. Wedel’s papers have survived. This collection consists primarily of three diaries and 13 school notebooks. Only a couple of letters by C. H. Wedel are located in this collection, but others may be found scattered in the collections of his contemporaries, as well as in the Bethel College archives.

Administrative Information

Accession Information:

Restrictions: None.

Processing Information: Processed by David A. Haury in November 1980.

Notes: Needs reprocessing. Lots to add.

Detailed Description of the Collection