Yontz, David (1873-1958)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jan 23 p. 3

Birth date: 1873

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Jan 30 p. 8

text of obituary:

DAVID YONTZ

In the early years of the 1850's a group of Mennonite families in Germany left their homeland to settle in South Russia upon an invitation of the Russian Government. They settled near Warsaw, Poland to put under cultivation a large area of wasteland.

It was among these groups that the Yontzon family found themselves in Russia. These German Mennonites, in the 20 years that followed, were blessed of God and their labor rewarded. Nevertheless, this was observed by the government and the bonds of religious freedom became tighter. Due to these trying circumstances in 1874 Henry Yontzon and wife decided to bring part of their family to America. An undertaking of this sort involved a lot of expense and to minimize the cost when applying for passport, Yontzon was shortened to Yontz, as a tax was levied on each letter.