THE VOLGA GERMANS IN PORTLAND
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Religion > People > Notables > Peter Heinrich

Peter Heinrich

Johann Peter Heinrich was born on February 20, 1874 in Norka, Russia, the son of Ludwig Heinrich (born 1850) and Magdalena Wacker (born 1851).

Peter immigrated to the United States with his widowed father and siblings, arriving in New York on December 8, 1886 aboard the steamship America, with a group of people from Norka.

By 1920, Peter was living in Portland at 334 Shaver Street and he worked in the icing department at a cracker baking company.

Peter married Barbara Harms on March 8, 1922.
Portrait of Peter and Barbara Heinrich. Source unknown.
Portrait of Peter and Barbara Heinrich. Source unknown.
Peter joined the First United Mennonite Baptist Church founded by Heinrich Helser who was succeeded by Heinrich Reisbich. Both of these men were also from Norka.

According to Kevin Enns-Rempel, archivist at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno, California, the Portland Mennonite Brethren Church was made up mostly of Volga Germans, and was therefore culturally different from the larger Mennonite Brethren Church. 

For many years, the congregation lacked strong resident leadership and for some years, ministers from the church in Dallas, Oregon preached regularly in Portland, as often as every other Sunday. Ministers Peter C. Hiebert (1907-1908) and Heinrich S. Voth (1909-1915) often filled the void.

Kevin Enns-Rempel found documentation in the archives that a lame baker, a single man named Peter Heinrich, would regularly send a long green box with two layers of cookies home with Rev. Heinrich Voth after his weekend in Portland. According the PDC yearbooks, Peter Heinrich served as the lay leader of the church from 1913 until 1926, often with an ordained preacher or two and a deacon. By 1926, church membership had declined to 10 people. 

Peter and Barbara moved to Fresno, California and operated a farm. In 1930 and 1940, he lived next to George B. Hiebert, a minister and evangelist, who was very possibly a relative of Peter C. Hiebert.

Peter died on December 17, 1941 in Fresno and was buried at the Reedley Cemetery. Barbara died in 1980.
Picture

Sources

Ancestry.com

​Kevin Enns-Rempel, archivist at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno, California
Last updated June 8, 2021.
Copyright © 1998-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About This Website
    • Reviews
  • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society >
      • Portland Volga Relief Society Subscribers 1921
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • Seventh-day Adventists
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Expressions
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Works Cited