Bernard Warkentin

Taken from Bernhard Warkentin Plaque at Warkentin Home, First Street, Newton, KS

This Victorian house was built for Bernhard and Wilhelmina Warkentin in 1886-87. Bernhard was born in 1847 in the Mennonite village of Altonau, Ukraine. His father was a prominent miller. In 1872 he came to the U.S. to find new land. His letters home made him a leader of the Mennonite migration from Russia; about 5000 Mennonites came to Kansas. In 1875 he married Wilhelmina Eisenmayer, from a German Methodist family in Illinois. Her father was also a miller. In Kansas, Warkentin operated several mills and promoted wheat growing, especially "Turkey Red" hard winter wheat. His work helped make Kansas the "Bread Basket of the World." He died by accidental gunshot on a trip in the Holy Land in 1908. Wilhelmina lived here until her death in 1932. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Erected in 1998 by the Warkentin House Association and the Harvey County Historical Society