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One of those random questions that occur sometimes:

I wonder how many towns/communities were founded by an Anabaptist group that became permanent (though it may or not have remained Anabaptist in character)? I'm sure it would be difficult to enumerate just as it would be for such communities founded by Catholics.

I was just wondering though.

Good question.

Since the forming of a town is a civic endeavor...I doubt many were formally formed by Anabaptists. There are a number of things that would mitigate against Anabaptists founding a town including: 1) Their strong sense of eschewing civic involvement, 2) The cultural and linguistic barriers that were in place contributing to separation from the broader society, plus 3) The rural character of Anabaptist life.

That being said, Anabaptists were often early settlers in some areas, contributing to the need for civic organization. In other words, the Anabaptists would form Church communities that would grow and necessitate the formation of towns.

However, we probably were happy to leave the work of founding towns to the Calvinists.

Thank you; your word "settlers" is a better word for my intent in the query. Sometimes the caffeine just doesn't kick-in in the a.m.

Every Hutterite colony is effectively a 100-200 person sized "town".

But without stores and other independently owned businesses.

Your average Amish settlement is 100-200 people, though, and usually has some stores.

Sonnenberg, Ohio (now Sugar Creek) strikes me as a town founded entirely by Swiss Anabaptists. A number of other towns in Holmes County are as well.

There are new settlements that are entirely, 100% settled by Anabaptists. For example, Russell Creek, TN, near Lobelville. It has stores, a school, and a church house all entirely Anabaptist owned and operated (nobody else is much interested in living off a poorly maintained dirt road that doesn't have good electricity / cable Internet etc. run to it, when they could just live 3-4 miles up the road.)

Emigration, such as from Prussia to Ukraine, and later to Canada and Latin America, can result in settlements occupied almost exclusively by a specific group of Anabaptists. History tells us that it's very difficult to balance civil and church authority so that a group like this remains healthy and balanced for more than a generation or two.

It's risky to read current reluctance by conservative Anabaptists to participate in "civic life" back into history. Jean-Paul Benowitz wrote a very lengthy and interesting essay on "The Mennonites of Pennsylvania: A House Divided," published in the Autumn, 1996, issue of *Pennsylvania Folklife*, 2-19. It explores the history of Mennonite civic involvement, focusing mostly on what became the U.S. The article documents extensive Mennonite voting in support of Quaker control of the colonial government (which control ended in the 1750s), along with many other instances of civic involvement which "belie" the narrative of refusal to participate in civic life by Anabaptists.

By the way, there are probably many communities in Pennsylvania that were founded by Anabaptists way back when. And for Quakers, how about "Plymouth Meeting, PA?" Germantown PA was founded by 12 Quaker families and one Mennonite family, all descended from German Mennonites (from Krefeld, I think). When the Mennonite settlers "got their act together," most of these Quaker converts reverted to Mennonitism!

Back again before going to bed!

*Mennonite World Review* (or whatever it is called) ran a feature essay within the last year on the Mennonite colonies of Paraguay. As I recall, these colonies are very large and self-administered; they run their own governments. And, as Ohio Jones points out, reconciling their political life with their religious beliefs poses serious problems and calls for compromises which are problematic for Christians.