Brackbill (Braechtbuehl, Brechbill, Brechbiel, Brechbuehl) family
Brackbill is a prominent family name in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference of Swiss origin. An outstanding figure in the family was Bishop Benedict Brechbuehl of Trachselwald in the Emmental, canton of Bern, Switzerland. He was arrested in 1709, imprisoned, and the next year banished from Bern. He was active in enlisting the aid of the Dutch Mennonites in behalf of his fellow Swiss exiles in the Palatinate. Married to Maria Herr, daughter of Bishop Hans Herr, he had four children, one of whom, Ulrich, succeeded him as a minister. In 1717 Bishop Benedict Brackbill, as the name has been anglicized, migrated to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and founded the Strasburg Mennonite congregation. He is said to have been an excellent singer and an able preacher. His death in 1720 marked the loss of the first Mennonite leader in the Pequea district. His son Ulrich was killed on the road to Philadelphia to which he was hauling farm produce in 1739. Sixth in line of descent from Benedict was Bishop C. M. Brackbill (1853-1936), also of the Pequea district of the Lancaster Conference. Other descendants include Minister Aldus Brackbill (1863-1941), his son M. T. Brackbill of the faculty of Eastern Mennonite College, and Minister Milton Brackbill of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. An Amish couple, V. Brechbiel and wife of France, settled in Henry County, Iowa, in 1855.
| Author(s) | John C Wenger |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Wenger, John C. "Brackbill (Braechtbuehl, Brechbill, Brechbiel, Brechbuehl) family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brackbill_(Braechtbuehl,_Brechbill,_Brechbiel,_Brechbuehl)_family&oldid=177093.
APA style
Wenger, John C. (1953). Brackbill (Braechtbuehl, Brechbill, Brechbiel, Brechbuehl) family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Brackbill_(Braechtbuehl,_Brechbill,_Brechbiel,_Brechbuehl)_family&oldid=177093.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 400. All rights reserved.
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