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Advance Comment
The Merging
"Mumaw has produced a family
treasure, one not to be measured by financial worth. Rare
is the person who can make the mighty leap from the
present day to an ancestor nine generations and 370 years
earlierand have information of his incarceration
for his faith in an old castlethen build that
bridge from Anabaptism to current American Mennonitism.
Did the process of fleeing persecution from Switzerland
to the Palatinate and finally to America unconsciously
generate a wanderlust? Even here in America the
generations kept moving from one community to another,
seeking fellow believers, a new start, looking for that
place God tells them to settle. Finally, the Mennonite
woman and Amish Mennonite man meet, form a union and a
family, and stay settled.
"The author communicates
sensitively and well. This is the stuff of local history,
of nearby history, of everyday faith and life, as she
described her childhood. It triggered long-forgotten
memories of the one-room country school and farm life
this reader experienced. But it is much more than a
pleasant jaunt down memory's lane. Alongside happy family
living, we observe how fire, illness, death, and church
problems looked to an observant child, who is now a
senior saint possessing a keen memory and a flair for
writing."
James O. Lehman, Director of Libraries
Emeritus, Eastern Mennonite University, Archivist and
Local Historian
"Mumaw began writing her family
story to help nieces and nephews keep the memory alive.
Although disclaiming historical training, she carefully
and unobtrusively signals both the oral and written
sources and her own creative musings which shape the
narrative. Here is a specific story of family roots
traced from generation to generation. Through this
telling of one familys particular experiences of
themes common across our many families, we are all
invited to share in the reunion.
Nate Yoder, Associate Professor of Church
History, Eastern Mennonite Seminary
"Like a housewife in the garden
picking the best fruit, Mumaw has filled her basket of
memories with forward-looking stories of her Anabaptist
ancestors, poignant tales of family wanderings, deaths
and illnesses and delightful vignettes of her own
childhood. She adds photographs and genealogies to
garnish her rich harvest."
Katie Funk Wiebe, Professor Emerita of Tabor
College, Hillsboro, Kansas
The Merging
orders:
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