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People > Notable Norkans > Rev. Heinrich Helser

Rev. Heinrich Helser

Heinrich Hölzer was born January 17, 1844 in Norka, Russia. Heinrich married Christina Ross who was also born in Norka (in 1843). According to his great-granddaughter, Loretta Woodward, Heinrich Hölzer became a Mennonite minister in Russia. Heinrich and his wife left Norka in 1878 bound for America. They first settled in Hastings, Nebraska where they lived in a Mennonite commune. The commune had a large central house surrounded by cottages. The 1880 U.S. Census shows Henry and Christina Helzer living in the Lincoln Precinct of Clay County, Nebraska. Henry's occupation is shown as "farmer". The family would later migrate west to Portland, Oregon in November 1891.
Picture
Photograph of Heinrich Helzer (seated in the wheelchair) next to his wife Christina (nee Rosh or Ross) in Portland, Oregon.
Heinrich and Christina were part of a large group of immigrants from Norka that settled in Portland's Albina neighborhood. 

According to the limited documents that are available, the a Mennonite congregation founded by Rev. Helzer (later Helser) began meeting in the Albina area of Portland by 1891, ten years after the arrival of the first Volga Germans in Portland. By 1892, the church had 22 members. By 1895 there were 38 church members. 

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.

Some of these Volga Germans joined the Mennonite Brethren Church in Russia and others did so after the migration to North America in the 1870s. The Sutton and Hastings, Nebraska Mennonite Brethren Churches were made up almost entirely of such Volga German converts to the Mennonite Brethren Church. It appears that a large percentage of the Portland Mennonite Brethren Church may have come from Sutton or Hastings. 

Mr. Enns-Rempel states that there is little known about the Portland Mennonite Brethren Church. The church was never large, was geographically isolated from other Mennonite Brethren congregations, was culturally distinct from the larger Mennonite Brethren Church and seems have left behind little documentary evidence from which historians might work.

Rev. Heinrich Helser died on March 30, 1904 and he was buried at the Columbian Cemetery in North Portland.
Picture
Tombstone of Henry and Christina Helser at the Columbian Cemetery. The inscription for Henry reads: "In deine hände befehle ich meinen geist; du hast mich erlöst, du treuer Gott." This roughly translates to: "Into your hands I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O faithful God."

Sources

Lind, Hope Kauffman. Apart and Together: Mennonites in Oregon and Neighboring States, 1876-1976, Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1990

75 Years of Fellowship: Pacific District Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches 1912-1987, Fresno, Calif.: Pacific District Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches, 1987.

Mennonite Library and Archives - Fresno Pacific University.
Last updated April 16, 2016.
Copyright © 2002-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About
    • Reviews
    • Contact
  • People
    • Founders
    • Personal Histories
    • Notable Norkans
    • Stories
    • Photo Identification
    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Prayers
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Communion
    • Weddings
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johannes Baptista Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
    • Related Links