Family Photos: Hawaii

Now that we have completed the Bullers in The Mennonite series, I plan to direct our attention to various family history items (mainly photographs and letters) that Carolyn (Peters) Stucky provided to us. This post features two photographs taken in Hawaii.

Before we turn to those photos, we need to set the context. We begin with a December 2015 post about Peter P Buller’s younger brother Jacob (here). J. P., as he was commonly known, taught in public schools in Nebraska, Texas and Idaho, then moved to Hawaii in the early 1920s and worked in the public school system there as a teacher and a principal until he retired in 1942.

We caught a hint of J. P.’s Hawaiian residency in a post earlier this year that reproduced Henry’s remarks at the 1990 family reunion (here). Specifically, Henry spoke of a 1936 vacation that Peter P, Margaretha, Sara, and Maria enjoyed in Hawaii; Henry does not mention why they traveled to Hawaii, but it was almost certainly for Peter P to visit his younger brother. According to Henry, the four made their voyage to Hawaii before completing their move to California.

Yet another post, this one from August 2016 (here), offers further details about the Hawaiian trip. That post features the trunk that the travelers used on their voyage, which is now on display in the Immigrant House at the Mennonite Heritage Park in Henderson, Nebraska. Although the year listed on the placard for the trunk is incorrect (the trip was not in 1940), the rest of the information appears to be correct.

All that background leads us to the photographs that are the subject of this post. The photos themselves are quite small: 2.5 x 1.75 inches. As you can see below, one is set landscape, and one is portrait. Both photos have captions on the back, one clearly written by Maria and the other probably so.

Maria wrote the following on the back of this photograph: in Hawaii on the steps [scribbled out] Uncle J. P. and Mrs Buller and we four Dad and Mother Sara and myself Maria in 1936.

J. P.’s wife was Elizabeth Gordon Buller; then thirty-eight, she was eighteen years younger than her fifty-six-year-old husband. Peter P and Margaretha were sixty-six and sixty-five, respectively; Sara was thirty-six and Maria twenty-seven.

The back of the second photograph reads: Mother and Dad at Uncle J. P. Buller’s home in Hawaii 1935 and 1936.

The reference to 1935 is new and leads one to ask when exactly the trip was made. Fortunately, the online availability of ship manifests (passenger lists) from this time provide a clear and simple explanation.

The ship manifest shown below (for a larger image, see here) is for the family’s voyage from San Francisco to Hawaii. We learn from this manifest that they sailed on the S.S. Mariposa (see here), leaving port on 10 December 1935.

The 2,100-mile trip typically took five to seven days at that time (see here), so we can safely assume that they arrived in Honolulu around mid-December 1935. In other words, the caption on the back of the second photo offers more accurate information than we have previously had: the Hawaiian adventure began toward the end of 1935 and extended into 1936.

This begs the question, of course: When did the trip to Hawaii end? Family Search’s database of ship manifests comes to the rescue once again. As indicated in the manifest shown here, the family left the port of Honolulu aboard the S.S. Lurline (see further here) on 21 March 1936 and arrived in San Franciso five days later, on 26 March.

The length of their vacation in Hawaii—three months!—provides insight into why the family needed a trunk to carry their clothes and other necessities. This was no short spur-of-the-moment trip but rather a lengthy excursion that must have required a substantial investment of time and money. It seems to have been a final splurge, as it were, before Peter P and Margaretha sold the farm and retired to California in August 1936 (see here). I can only hope that somewhere down the line we discover more photographic or perhaps even journalistic evidence about this amazing trip.

Bullers in The Mennonite 13

This series on members of the family who appeared on the pages of The Mennonite has understandably focused on Henry and Bea, since their work with the MCC put them in the public eye in various ways. However, other family members also received at least passing mention in one or more issues. 

After noting a final reference to Bea, this post will collect all other Buller references in The Mennonite, to give a sense of the type of news and information that was reported. But first, an additional notice about Bea’s deep involvement with Mennonite peace initiatives. In the same issue in which Bea’s “ The Christian and the Jew” appeared (see here), we read of her participation in a Mennonite inter-college peace conference.

The first Mennonite inter-college peace conference was held in Chicago on Thusday, December 30, 1948. The purpose of this meeting was to see what college peace organizations can do to work together more closely. To become more acquainted with the work of the Peace Section of the Mennonite Central Committee and the fellowship together also fitted into the purpose of the meeting. … After some introductory remarks, reports were given from the various colleges represented [Tabor College, Freeman Jr. College, Hesston College, Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Goshen College, Bluffton College, Messiah Bible College]. Beatrice Buller reported for Bethel College.…

Later in the article we read that Bea reported during the evening sessions for the “findings committee” that met during the conference. That committee offered twelve suggestions for further action, such as “That special emphasis be given to peace education for ‘teen agers’” and “That we help in establishing the Peace Center in Europe and that we encourage some students to study in some European universities a year, giving part-time service to the Mennonite Central Committee Peace Section.” I imagine that there is more to the story of Bea’s peace work, but for now the trail ends here.

One interesting feature that The Mennonite included was a report of donations given to one or another of the ministries of the General Conference of the Mennonite Church of North America. Several members of our family are mentioned in this context. 

  

According to the 17 August 1943 issue (page 4 here), Peter P and Margaretha donated $3.00 to The Peace Committee and $51.00 to the Emergency Relief Board. Their donations would be equivalent to $54.37 and $924.33 in today’s economy. Peter P and Margaretha were not the only family members to offer financial support to Mennonite ministries. Maria donated to the Foreign Mission Board several months later, as shown in the extract below from the 19 October 1943 issue (page 3 here).

Maria’s donation of $20.00 would be equivalent to $362.48 today, but the size of the gift is not what is most striking. Rather, it is her location, which is given as the Mennonite Hospital in Beatrice, Nebraska. This reflects the fact, of course, that Maria received her nurse’s training at that hospital, a fact that had been previously announced in the 7 September 1943 issue (page 16 here, lower right column):

—Miss Marie Buller of Upland, California, and sister to Henry Buller, former relief worker in France, has gone to the Mennonite Hospital, Beatrice, Nebraska, to take a two-year course in community nursing.

Given the date of the article, 7 September 1943, the description of Henry as a “former relief worker in France” seems a little odd. Granted, Henry was not engaged in actual relief worker at that moment, but that was only because he (and Bea) were interned in the Baden-Baden hotel. The mention of Henry does serve as a useful reminder of the context in which Peter P, Margaretha, and Maria made their donations: they did so while their son/brother and his wife whom none of the family had ever met were held captive under the watchful eyes of the Gestapo.

Maria is also mentioned in 1946, 1947, and 1948 issues of The Mennonite. Her first appearance is an article and photo in the 9 July 1946 issue (page 8 here) announcing her graduation from the nursing program.

A little less than a year later, in the 17 June 1947 issue (page 9 here, upper right) we read of “thirty-six young people” serving in one of four General Conference summer work units. Listed among the group serving at the Canadian Youth Farm at Rosthern, Saskatchewan, is one Marie Buller of the First Mennonite Church in Upland, California. According to the 10 February 1948 issue (page 14 here, upper right), Maria volunteered to serve at the same Canadian Youth Farm the following summer.

The next two appearances of family members involve Peter and/or Margaretha. In the Jottings section of the 14 March 1950 issue (page 176 here, lower left), the First Mennonite Church of Upland, California, offers the following report:

Our congregation has recently been having the privilege of having a number of Estonian families attending our church services. Church night was held March 1. Our Estonian friends were invited as special guests. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Buller celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary Febraury [sic] 27.—Mrs. Fred Yoder, Corr.

The second notice, in the 18 September 1951 issue (page 595 here, lower right) reports sadder news:

MARGARETHA EPP BULLER, a member of the First Church, Upland, California, was born October 1, 1870 and died August 19, 1951

Her death was reported again in the 20 November 1951 issue (page 739 here, lower right). 

Seven months later, another death (24 June 1952, page 416 here, upper left): 

—Bethesda Church, Henderson, Nebraska: The Salem Male Chorus of Freeman rendered a special musical program on May 25, in the evening. Baptismal services were conducted Pentecost Sunday morning, June 1. Twenty seven candidates received baptism. Funeral services for Benny Buller Jr. were held on Monday, June 2. He was employed by the Gravel Co. as a truck driver. On May 28, 1952, he was taken very suddenly by drowning in a sandpit while at work. He had reached the age of 20 years. Holy Communion was observed on Sunday evening, June 8.—Mrs. P. L. Wall, Corr.

Benny was the son of Peter P and Margaretha’s fourth child (Grandpa Chris was child number eight), Benjamin. 

The final mention of a family member in The Mennonite brings us back around to Bea. The 22 February 1955 issue (page 126 here, upper left) reports: 

Bethel College will offer a total of seven courses in such varied departments as Bible, Education, English, History, Industrial Arts, and Health as night classes during the spring quarter, as announced by the office of the registrar, Eldon W. Graber. A new course will be “Methods of Teaching Foreign Language in Elementary School,” to be taught by Mrs. Beatrice Buller. … All classes will meet from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., with most three hour courses meeting once each week. Classes are open to students and to the public.

While this end to our family’s appearances on the pages of The Mennonite might seem anticlimactic, I think it provides a fitting conclusion to this chapter of our family story. If you recall, this series began with a 1939 mention of twenty-three-year-old Henry beginning or continuing (we could not tell which) his studies at Bethel College (here). Now, sixteen years later, we find ourselves back where we began, with Henry’s wife Bea closing the circle, as it were, by teaching others at that same college.

During those sixteen years the family faced many challenges and changes: from Henry sailing across the Atlantic into the heart of World War II to Bea meeting and marrying Henry, then spending the first year of their marriage in German captivity, from family members back home serving in their own ways and giving what they could to Bea and Henry’s release and return and the warm welcome of Bea into the family, from Henry’s and then Bea’s return to MCC service in the European theater to the completion of their MCC appointments but not their service to the church, from the celebration of anniversaries to the inevitable mourning of deaths. Those sixteen years of our family’s story as glimpsed on the pages of The Mennonite enrich our knowledge of and appreciation for those who have gone before—and leave us hungry to explore other chapters of our shared history.

Bullers in The Mennonite 12

The previous post (here) noted that, during Bea’s time as a faculty member and student at Bethel College, she devoted herself to, among other things, Mennonite-based peace initiatives. This post sheds light on another of Bea’s concerns in the late 1940s. 

We learn about this concern in the 1 March 1949 issue of The Mennonite (page 13, here), which contains a passionate article written by Bea about Jewish-Christian relations. Oddly enough, nowhere does the article list Bea as the author. That identification did not come until four issues later, in the 29 March issue (page 5 here, lower right):

Due to an inadvertant [sic] oversight, we failed to acknowledge the article, “The Christian and the Jew,” found on page 13 of the March 1, 1949, issue of THE MENNONITE, as being written by Mrs. Henry Buller, of Bethel College, who is herself of Jewish extraction.

Given the point of the article, Bea’s identity as a Jew who had become a Christian was crucial. One can only hope that the article’s effectiveness was not blunted by the tardy disclosure of that personal information. 

In the end, of course, what is of enduring significance is the article itself, and through that article Bea speaks a message that is just as relevant today as it was in 1949. 

“The Christian and the Jew”

…and hath broken down the middle wall of partition…

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, … and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby.…” (Ephesians 2:13–16).

DO WE AS CHRISTIANS really believe that Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile? Of course, we do! Why then are we building it up again? Why are we building it higher and better than ever? Is that the type of reconstruction in which we engage? How can we say that we are followers of Christ and at the same time hate anyone? How can we believe that He by His Cross has slain the enmity between Jew and Gentile, and yet talk about the Jew and treat him as one of our real enemies?

What do you think of when you read in the daily paper that a certain Solomon Levi has donated a big sum of money to Joeville Junior College? What are the mental pictures that hurry through your mind? Solomon Levi … a second-hand, clothing store … where you could get cheap suits if you were ready to “out-jew” the Jew … or (if you live in the city) maybe the shabby, little fellow trotting through the streets with a pushcart, selling peaches, pears, grapes, tomatoes, oranges—according to the season. Or does your stereotype of Solomon Levi represent him as a Hollywood movie magnate, overdressed with slick black hair, crooked nose, sly eyes, a sparkling diamond-tie-clasp, pigskin gloves and spats? When you read about this donation, do you think to yourself: “No wonder, he gave away that money; he had to ease his conscience because of the crooked way in which he had gotten it”? Or, “Maybe, it was cheaper than paying income tax”?

Let us not engage in unwarranted generalizations. Have you heard of a Jew who lowered himself to shrewd and tricky business practices? That does not necessarily mean that ALL Jews will pull the wool over your eyes when you deal with them. Not any more than you would suspect ALL businessmen in Centerville to be dishonest, because one merchant of that town resorted to unethical methods. I believe that as Christians we should never permit ourselves to generalize about people: “All Negroes like watermelons.” “You have to be careful with Italians, they’ll stab you in the back!” “Of course, he is lazy, he’s a Mexican.” “All Japanese are twofaced.” These and similar statements which one hears from time to time—even in Mennonite families—are not only incorrect, unscientific, and harmful. They are unworthy of a Christian! James tells us clearly, that any man who can control his language, can bridle his whole body.… “Behold we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.” We definitely need to cleanse our vocabulary of slanderous untruths, we need to purge our thoughts of two-edged stereotypes. They are an evidence of uncleanliness in our own hearts and help to rebuild, bit by bit, this middle wall of partition which Jesus tore down.

Having personally witnessed the growth of anti-semitism in Germany, I have often asked myself just where we can make a contribution—we, as American Mennonites—so that such a plague might never find fertile ground in a country where we have the liberty to speak, write, and teach as God leads us. If one surveys the field objectively, one must admit that already some roots of anti-semitism have found a receptive soil even in our Mennonite brotherhood. I wonder whether in some of our Sunday school teaching and preaching we are not inculcating into our children ideas of hate and distrust of the Jew. Yes, it is true, many passages of the Bible lend themselves to anti-Semitic trends. Israel is not always the hero of the Old Testament, but sometimes the villain. The Hebrew prophets, all our Scriptures unflinchingly expose the weaknesses and flaws of even a Moses, a David, the Pharisees. Are we, therefore, justified to arouse in young minds a distrust or dislike for the Jew? Maybe we hear too often that the JEWS crucified Jesus—remember, the Apostles, Paul, and Jesus Himself were Jews.

As children of God we desire sincerely to be peacemakers, and as peacemakers we will have to learn to understand those people who do not recognize Jesus as the Christ. It seems to me that the Jews are the stepchildren in our efforts of evangelization. We do not understand them and we make little attempt to reconcile them unto God into one body with the Gentiles. Persecutions have never destroyed the Jews physically, even if millions have perished at the hands of so-called Christians in Spain, in Poland, in Russia or in Germany. Even if mass persecutions have not wiped out the Jewish people, spiritually they have suffered very severely from these waves of hate that swept over them again and again. Whenever suffering has befallen them, bitterness has crept into their inner life and they have emerged with renewed clannishness and a poisoned outlook on life. What have we done, what are we doing to show them a better, clearer way? Jesus says: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The twentieth century Jew truly is weary and heavy laden, and asks for nothing more instantly than for rest and peace of mind.

Who is that present-day Jew? What kind of a person is he? Is he the spiritual descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? No, we are much too narrow in our criteria if we consider only the believing, observant Jew. There are at present three branches of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed (or Liberal), it is true. Outside of the adherents to these three religious communions there are large numbers of Jews who belong to the Jewish family only by ethnic or cultural tradition. Can you imagine the confusion and bitterness of this latter group? A Jewish scholar puts it this way: “Ideas cannot be inherited like a hooked nose. They can be acquired only in the way one acquires a broken nose.…“ In our approach to these folks then, we cannot go back to ther [sic] Messianic hope, for they have no such hope. We will have to deal with them as we would with any agnostic or even atheist. If they are to be won, it will be only if by the grace of God, our Christianity can reveal itself as more than saintly words and shallow rites—if Jesus lives in us and we in Him.

I never had the privilege of knowing Bea, but if I had I think I would have liked her very much. She was, as we see in this article, a clear and careful thinker and a forceful communicator. As a result, her words retain a timeless truth and relevance even today, as we witness yet another surge in anti-Semitic sentiment and rhetoric.

Bullers in The Mennonite 11

After Bea and Henry completed their European relief work and returned to the States on 18 August 1947 (see here), they did not suddenly disappear from the pages of The Mennonite or drop out of active service. In fact, over the coming months we frequently encounter reports of Henry and Bea’s activities. For example, the 14 October 1947 issue (page 12 here, upper right column) contains a report from Mrs. Ruben Friesen, correspondent, about various activities at the Bethesda Church in Henderson, Nebraska:

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Buller, former relief workers in France, and also Mr. and Mrs. Peter Dyck, refugee workers in Europe were special speakers in our church. It is planned to have the Ministers’ Conference of the Northern District in our church from October 28 to 30. Our special meetings with Rev. Willard K. Claassen of the Salem Church, Freeman, South Dakota, will convene from October 12 to 17. The ordination of Aaron Epp into the full ministry will take place on the evening of October 19. Dr. Henry A. Fast of Bethel College will deliver the ordination sermon. Aaron has accepted the pastorate of the Inman Mennonite Church, Inman, Kansas.

If you recall, Peter P and Margaretha Buller and their unmarried children (including Henry) had moved to California in 1935. Twelve years later, Henry returned to his former home with Bea on his arm and an important story to share.

Bethesda was not, however, the only venue where the couple ministered:

• Bea was a guest speaker at Immanuel Church in Los Angeles (2 December 1947, here);
• Henry and Bea both spoke on 30 November 1947 at the Bergtal Church in Pawnee Rock, Kansas (30 December 1947, here);
• On 17 March 1948 Bea gave a talk titled “Missionary Aspects of Relief Work” at the program for women during the Bethel College Bible Week (24 February 1948, here; 30 March 1948, here);
• Henry spoke at the Young People’s C.E. program in the Alexanderwohl Church in Goessel, Kansas (20 April 1948, here);
• Bea and then Henry and Bea spoke at the Zion Church in Elbing, Kansas (27 April 1948, here);
• Bea and Henry shared their experiences at the First Mennonite Church in McPherson, Kansas (14 September 1948, here);
• Henry and Bea both spoke at the 31 October 1948 Mission Festival at Bethel Church, Inman, Kansas (16 November 1948, here);
• Bea spoke at a Bethel-sponsored peace program at Tabor Mennonite Church in Newton, Kansas, on 23 January 1949 (1 February 1949, here);
• Bea, “a Jewish Christian and German refugee,” spoke at the Mission Society of Emmanuel Church in Moundridge, Kansas, the following year (21 February 1950, here)

It is noteworthy that, apart from one speaking engagement in California, all the others took place either in Nebraska (at Bethesda) or Kansas. The reason for this is evident in yet another report about Bea and Henry. In the 9 December 1947 issue of The Mennonite (page 11 here, middle right column), we read:

The Henry Bullers now live on the Bethel College campus. Mrs. Buller has accepted a position on the faculty as instructor in French, while Mr. Buller has accepted a teaching position in a rural school north of Goessel. Mrs. Buller is also enrolled as a student in the college. Both Mr. and Mrs. Buller have had extensive experience as M.C.C. relief workers in Europe.

 One final report from 1949 sheds light on what appears to have been a growing concern for the couple, or at least for Bea. Above we noted that Bea spoke at a peace program in late January 1949. Several weeks later, she participated in a similar conference on the same topic:

Bethel College

An inter-collegiate peace conference was held at the Friends University church, Wichita, on Saturday and Sunday, February 12 and 13. The program was arranged by a committee of members from Friends University, Wichita; McPherson College, McPherson; and Bethel College. Several of the Bethel faculty and students participated in the conference. Dr. J. Winfield Fretz led the opening session and he and Prof. J. Lloyd Spaulding were used as resource leaders. Students active in the program were Mrs. Henry Buller, Edith Claassen, Bertha Fast, Helen Tieszen, Harris Waltner, Leo Miller and Rev. Floyd Nunley. Over-night lodging and meals were provided by Wichita youth. (15 February 1949, page 11 here, lower right column)

It is not hard to imagine that Bea’s (and Henry’s) experiences during World War II, and particularly her identification with the Mennonite church, led her to advocate for peace in whatever way she could. But this was not Bea’s only concern or cause. We will read of another—in her own words—in the next post in this series.

Bullers in The Mennonite 10

As indicated toward the end of the previous post in this series (here), Henry and Bea’s names appeared much less frequently on the pages of The Mennonite after they began the last phase of their relief work in early 1946. We pick up our story with the couple recently reunited, as Bea had just arrived in the Mennonite Relief Center in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The next report in The Mennonite, although published in early 1946, recounts an episode from late 1944 and the state of the relief work in mid 1945.

15 January 1946 (page 13 here, upper left column):

Clothing Distribution in France

The distribution of clothing has been a problem in France throughout the war. With one exception, early in the war, our own delegates have been unable to distribute personally any clothing in France. In November, 1944, during the Rundstedt offensive in the Ardennes Forest, four tons of clothing were shipped to Paris. When Sam Goering and Henry Buller arrived there to claim the shipment, it was gone. Due to the general confusion, the shipment had been erroneously distributed either by military orders or through the regular channels of Entr’Aide Francaise, a national relief organization. Although the clothing was likely distributed to needy persons, the E. F. officials were greatly concerned about the error and promised an allotment of clothing to make up for the “Loss”; in July, 1945, they made good this promise. Mrs. M. C. Lehman is now at the French Centre directing the clothing program; final distribution to needy cases is made through Mennonite workers and responsible persons such as ministers, school teachers and social workers.

Clothing was not the only resource provided to those who had suffered great loss during the war. The next mention of Henry (in the 7 May 1946 issue, page 4 here) concerns a shipment of flour. The entire article is well worth reading, as it details both the incredible need and MCC’s gracious provision for the poor in Egypt, England, France, Holland, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, and even Germany. I quote below only the paragraph that refers to Henry.

Gave Over Million Dollars Worth for Relief

by Atlee Beechy

…

The reports from the fields indicate that the goods are arriving in good condition and are much appreciated by those who receive them. We quote the following from one who has received: “And you send us the dresses in the name of Christ; therefore we are very thankful. If we did more in this world in the name of Christ, it would be very much better everywhere. We feel our brothers and sisters far away helped us”; and from a letter of a governmental official—“Will you kindly thank your committee and all the donors for the splendid work they have been doing for our poor Dutch people. I can assure you that we all are extremely thankful to find such a Christianity among our American friends.” Henry Buller, M.C.C. relief worker, writes: “John Fretz, who was in charge of the unloading, estimated that about five percent of the sacks (617 bag shipment) had holes in them. Further he estimated that probably in all about one sack full of flour has been lost as a result of spilling through tears.”

Although there are no published reports to document it, we can imagine that Bea and Henry, like MCC workers in other locations, distributed the food, clothing, tools, and kitchen utensils that the Mennonite churches of Canada and the United States had so graciously given. 

The one report published during this time deals not with the distribution of specific goods but with a restructuring of the broader relief work (14 January 1947, page 11 here, upper right column):

Leaders of Mennonite Congregations in France Meet

About twenty-five representatives of French and Alsace Mennonite congregations met with five of our relief workers in Chalon on December 10, 1946, to learn more about the American Mennonites and the relief program in Europe. Our relief workers first contacted the French Mennonites in 1945 when Henri Volkamar Sr. of Colmar learned about our relief work.

The devotional period of the meeting was led by Bro. Walter Gering who spoke in the German language using as text Matt. 4:18. Henry Buller explained the background and work of the Mennonite Central Committee, the C. P. S. program, and the work of the Peace Section. A historical sketch and review of the relief work in France was also given. The French-Alsace delegates formed a liaison committee to represent relief and such concerns as would be mutually beneficial.—News release of December 27.

It is not obvious in this report, but this gathering of leaders of Mennonite congregations and the French MCC workers involved more than fellowship and mutual encouragement. In fact, the assembly signaled a decisive change in relief strategy: the MCC workers were informing the French and Alsace delegates about the relief work so that the latter could assume responsibility for coordinating it (see further Heisey and Heisey 2015, 113–14). The MCC would continue to engage in relief work, but the workers in the field would increasingly be Mennonites native to the region being served, not North Americans assigned there for limited periods of time.

So it was that, shortly after that December gathering in Chalon-sur-Saône, Henry and Bea traveled to the Lavercantière home for children, where they greeted the new year (see the end of the post here). They were on their way to a new assignment in the French occupation zone of Germany (see the map here). The couple was not happy about the reassignment and wrote to Elsie Bechtel that they were “sad … to leave France so suddenly” (Heisey and Heisey 2015, 117). Still, leave they did, to enter a new phase of their work. It is during the next few months, I should add, that Bea appeared on the dock at Bremerhaven, as she and other MCC workers said bon voyage to Russian Mennonite refugees bound for Paraguay (see here).

None of this is reported in The Mennonite. What we read next about Bea and Henry is a short notice in the 2 September 1947 issue (page 15 here, lower left column).

Relief Workers Recently Returning

Henry and Beatrice Buller returned on August 18 from service in France and the French Zone of Germany; Mary Miller and Ella Schmidt have returned from service in France.

Just like that, Henry and Bea’s European ministry was over. However, that was not the end of their story. There are several more notices about Bea and Henry on the pages of The Mennonite in the years after their return from active duty. We will pick up those reports—and more—in the remaining posts in this series.

Work Cited

Heisey, M. J., and Nancy R. Heisey. 2015. Relief Work as Pilgrimage: “Mademoiselle Miss Elsie” in Southern France, 1945–1948. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Family Photos: Anna’s organ

One of the best things about blogging is the opportunity it offers to learn so many things I would never have otherwise known. Tonight’s post is a perfect example. Earlier this week Kristi Buller (see also here) forwarded a photograph of an antique organ currently owned by Karen Buller Dick.

The organ was owned, I am told, by Anna Poetker Buller, the wife of Abraham P Buller, who was the ninth child of Peter D and Sarah Siebert Buller; in other words, Abraham was Peter P’s younger brother. When and how Anna acquired this organ I do not know. All I can say with certainty is that Don Buller, her grandson, purchased it at her auction (when she was still alive? after she passed away in 1972?), who then passed it on to his daughter Karen Buller Dick.

We can learn a little more about the organ by examining the photo closely and conducting some online research. The first thing to note is the manufacturer name written above the keyboard: this is a Burdett Organ. According to the Reed Organ Society (here), the Burdett Organ Company was established in 1867 in Chicago. Four years later,

the Chicago factory burned in the Chicago fire.… [The business was] started again at 12th and Walnut Streets in Erie, PA in partnership with C.C. Converse 1872–1888; then moved to Freeport, IL in 1894. [In] 1898 … the factory was moved to the Johnson Wheel Co. building in the Northwest part of Freeport, where it had a capacity of 400 organs per month. In 1901 the property and name were acquired by the Hobart M. Cable Co., and the piano scales were acquired by the Edna Organ Co. In 1907 Cable sold the Burdett Organ Co. to S. N. Swan & Sons.

From this brief account we learn that the organ pictured above was probably built between 1867 and the early 1900s, when the Burdett brand seems to have been absorbed into S. N. Swan & Sons. If the organ in question has a serial number or place of manufacture, we might be able to narrow the date range further. (The Reed Organ Society lists the following serial numbers; 1871: 17331; 1877: 32267; 1898: 58021; 1903: 74297; 1904: 84806.)

A closer look at the area behind the stool reveals two pedals, which indicate that this is a pump organ, also known as a reed organ. The organ player pumps the pedals to force wind over a bank of vibrating metal reeds, thus producing sound. Pump Organ Restorations (here) identifies thirteen different types of pump organs. The Burdett organ pictured above is a parlor organ, which is the most common type of reed organ. Parlor organs are easily identifiable by their ornate designs. The Antique Piano Shop writes that the organs build in the last twenty-five years of the nineteen century “were some of the most elaborate and lavish instruments money could buy. [They] often had very high backs with carved panels, shelves, mirrors, etc. They were truly a hallmark in Victorian design” (here).

The ornate hutch (upper portion) with mirror on Anna’s organ organ helps us to identify this as a parlor organ, which indicates that it was manufactured for home use; pump organs intended for church use generally did not have a hutch at all. We also see that the organ has fifteen stops (the white knobs above the keyboard), which enabled the organ to make different musical sounds. Pump Organ Restorations explains that organs with more than eleven stops are typically higher quality than organs with fewer stops (here). One final observation: this organ has sixty-one white and black keys on the keyboard; from this we can deduce that there are around 122 reeds within the interior of the organ. If you crave still more arcane information about parlor organs, see the informative questions-and-answers section at Pump Organ Restorations (here).

How might this general information inform our understanding of the history of the organ in question? This organ was of higher-than-average quality, as evidenced by the number of stops it has and the ornate cabinetry of the hutch. Whether Anna acquired it new or used is open to question. Anna and Abraham were married in 1905, so it is possible that she received it as a wedding gift; of course, that is nothing more than a guess, and she could have acquired it long before or much later than her wedding day. Without knowing the date (or place) of manufacture, there is little that we can know with confidence. Perhaps it is enough to know that Anna seems to have been an accomplished organist, to have owned an instrument this fine. 

If anyone has additional information about this organ, please contact me, and I will update this post. In addition, I understand that the organ is for sale, if any member of the family or any other reader would like to add this beautiful piece of Buller history to his or her home.