1 Bishop Benjamin Eby

Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Benjamin Eby (1785-1853) was a Mennonite preacher and leader of the settler community in Ebytown, Upper Canada (Ontario). Increased harassment of pacifist Mennonites in the United States following the American Revolution (1775-83) led Eby and a group of German-speaking Mennonite settlers to emigrate from Pennsylvania to Waterloo Township, Upper Canada in 1807. Ordained in 1809, Eby was a leader in the community and helped to erect a school and meeting house (called Ben Eby’s Church). In 1813, he was elected Bishop of Waterloo County. He oversaw religious conferences, mediated local settler disputes and elected new bishops in neighbouring districts. The settlement was named Ebytown, later renamed Berlin (Kitchener) in honour of the community’s German heritage. Eby actively promoted German-language education and religious services, publishing several primers, hymnals and texts in German.

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