Lehrerleut, one of the Hutterite kinship groups, so named because their founder, Jacob Wipf, was a teacher in Russia and also in South Dakota. His group of thirteen families (a few joined the other two groups in South Dakota on arrival) was the last to come from Russia to South Dakota, arriving in 1877, the other two, the Dariusleut and the Schmiedeleut, having come in 1874-1875. The Lehrerleut families all came from the village of Johannisruh, Molotschna, where they had not lived in community. In South Dakota they founded the Old Elmspring Bruderhof near Parkston, which they occupied until 1932. From this original single Bruderhof twenty-two colonies had sprung by 1950, for which statistics are given below. Although the Lehrerleut are organized as a unit with their own leader (Vorsteher), they differ from the other two kinship groups only in very minor points, such as the wearing of buttons by the men in place of hooks and eyes.

Census of Lehrerleut Bruderhofs -- 1 July 1957

Thus the 1957 total of Lehrerleut Bruderhofs was 31, with a total population of 3,400. The elder of the Lehrerleut in 1957 was Peter D. Hofer.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 315-316. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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