Abraham Erb (12 July 17726 September 1830), sometimes called the founder of

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the c ...

, was the first

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

settler from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. His brother John is considered the founder of the

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

community in

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge ...

. Abraham offered help to many immigrants from his native Pennsylvania area through the means of education, shelter, and employment as they chose to move from the United States to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of t ...

. He was married to Magdaena and had one biological child, who died at the age of seven, and two adoptive children. His adopted son was named Barnabas, a noted land speculator. Erb also built what is now known as the Erb-Kumpf House in c. 1812, making it likely the oldest home in Waterloo or one of the oldest homes in Waterloo.

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* People from Waterloo, Ontario Canadian Mennonites American emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario History of Waterloo, Ontario 1772 births 1830 deaths Canadian city founders American emigrants to Canada People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Christians from Pennsylvania American Mennonites Burials at First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Ontario {{Canada-bio-stub