A Living Village
A Lasting Story

In 1938, Peter P. Thiessen and Maria Peters Thiessen purchased this 1938 McLaughlin Buick from the GMC/Buick dealership in Altona. The elegant vehicle was used for more than just special outings. It took the family to church and to visit friends and family, was used to teach the children to drive, and was even put to work pulling a trailer when hauling pigs to market.

Years later, in 2003, after the car had sat in the family farmyard, Peter Thiessen’s grandsons, Don and Elmer, made the decision to restore it. Elmer fondly recalls taking his mum, Agathe, for a ride in the vehicle that she learnt to drive in.

In the summer of 2026, Elmer donated the beautifully preserved vehicle to MHV so it could be seen and appreciated by the many visitors to the museum.

Read more about this artefact in our Village News.

This clock originally hung in a Canadian Pacific Railway station in Saskatchewan, telling its visitors both the time and date. When the station was decommissioned, it was taken by William Meisner from Regina, Saskatchewan, who was responsible for cleaning up the old station buildings.

As a clock maker and restorer, Meisner repaired the clock and gifted it to his sister, Esther Meisner. Esther displayed it until she passed it on to her son, Doug Rempel, who later donated it to MHV at the end of summer 2026.

Jakob Hoeppner (1748-1826) was a delegate chosen by Prussian Mennonites to investigate lands in Imperial Russia offered by Empress Catherine II. Along with Johann Bartsch, Hoeppner inspected various sites in 1786 and negotiated an agreement for the Mennonites if they were to emigrate to Imperial Russia. Hoeppner led seven families there in March 1788, but upon their arrival to Kremenchug, Hoeppner was informed that the Mennonites would not be able to settle on the agreed land due to hostilities occurring between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Instead, the families settled near the Chortitza River, on land that was not as desirable as they had hoped, which led to tensions between Hoeppner and those he led there. As a result, Hoeppner was expelled from his congregation, accused of misappropriation of funds, and imprisoned. He was later pardoned and released back to Kronsweide where he lived until his death in 1826.

This wallet belonged to Hoeppner and was most likely acquired after his settlement in Chortitza, as it is stamped with the year 1790, two years after the families left Prussia.

2026 marks the 200^th anniversary of Jakob Hoeppner’s death. Although a somewhat controversial figure, his contributions ensured a place for the Mennonites in Imperial Russia. His wallet represents his journey and the hopeful intentions of the immigration experience.

To learn more about Jakob Hoeppner, you can also view his Bible in MHV’s permanent gallery and his memorial located near the Old Colony Worship House on MHV’s grounds.

Talitha (Taleta) Tiessen was the youngest of four, born in 1930 in Leamington, Ontario, to Anna and Cornelius Tiessen. After coming from Tavistock, Ontario, where they shared a two-bedroom farmhouse with other families, the Tiessens played a significant role in founding a Mennonite Church in Leamington.

This pajama set was handmade by Anna Tiessen in 1940 for her youngest daughter Taleta, who kept it as a memory of her mother after her mother passed away in 1942 at the age of 43.

This artefact was donated by Taleta’s son, Trevor Shamas, in December 2021 on behalf of the Cornelius Tiessen family.

This wood carving of a squirrel was part of a “Reverse Care Package” sent in the late 1970s that also included a samovar and several other Russian folk carvings. The package was named as such because it mirrored care packages sent by Canadian Russlaender to relatives who remained in the Soviet Union.

This parcel was sent to Canada to the families of George Jacob Krahn and his brother Isaak Krahn by their cousin Katharina Krahn Sawatzki and her husband Franz Sawatzki. The Sawatzkis sent the gift in appreciation for the care they received from the Krahn family.

Edward G. Krahn donated this quaint sculpture in the spring of 2026.