It was in 1812 that Mennonites withdrew from communion of the Mennonite Church and organized themselves into a compact group or congregation. They were nicknamed Kleine Gemeinde (Small Church) because they were actually only a small minority of the whole Mennonite Church of the Molotschna. By authority of the civil government, they were finally recognized as a separate Mennonite Church in 1843, and then adopted the name they had been called. The majority of the church moved to the new settlement of Borsenko not far from the city of Nikopol.

Then came an external danger which threatened to bring about the biggest change ever. The Mennonites all over the Ukraine were getting excited and alarmed about the intentions Of the Russian Government in regards to military service and a bigger Russian influence over their schools. These were two very fundamental threats against Mennonite Christian doctrine. Several Mennonite deputations to St. Petersburg returned with very vague answers. When emigration fever began to mount, the Canadian Government sent the German speaking Wilhelm Hespeler to Russia to invite them to come to Canada, particularly southern Manitoba, which had become the first western province in 1870, and was in very great need of good agricultural settlers.

Emigration to Canada became a reality. When the settlers moved in, they held their worship services alternating in different homes each Sunday. Then the services were held in the schools, as it was convenient to use the school benches for pews. Worship service was alternated in the two villages, because they were only one congregation.

(Source: Furrows in the Valley - A Centennial Project of the Rural Municipality of Morris 1880 - 1980, pp 329ff [Adapted])

The first burials in this unmarked cemetery in the Rural Municipality of Morris occurred in 1907 and its regular use had apparently ended around 1945. The site is near the location of the first school and church (established 1887) in the former village of Rosenhoff, established by Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites who settled the area in 1874.

The religious group associated with this cemetery has been referred to under three names since its inception. The group changed its name from Kleine Gemeinde to Evangelical Mennonite Church in 1952 and to Evangelical Mennonite Conference in 1959.

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD08-20-05-01-E1

A part of the town's story and those of its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1980 is told in the volume "Furrows in the Valley - A Centennial Project of the Rural Municipality of Morris 1880 - 1980", especially starting on page 329. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0507), transcribed by a member or members in 1990. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).

Additionally, the Manitoba Mennonite Society curates and makes available extensive records related to the communities established by the families of their faith who contributed to the story of Manitoba.