Joseph B. Hagey
bishop (1810–1876)

Joseph B. Hagey (11 June 1810 – 31 December 1876) was the Bishop of the Mennonite Church in Ontario from 1852 until his death in 1876. Bishop Hagey presided over a time of disagreement and schism within the Mennonite Church in Canada. He was married to Sophia Bricker, the daughter of notable Mennonite Samuel Bricker. Bricker, with partner Daniel Erb, arranged for the purchase of the large tracts of land around the Grand River from native leader Joseph Brant through Richard Beasley. This settlement became the city of Waterloo, Ontario. Bishop Hagey succeeded Bishop Benjamin Eby.
Early life
Hagey was born on June 11, 1810, in Franconia Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to Daniel and Elizabeth (Bergey) Hagey. Daniel Hagey's patrilineal ancestors had lived in Saxony before emigrating to the United States, and Ezra E. Eby claims that the family originated in southern Switzerland, which they left to flee religious persecution.
Joseph and his twin brother, Daniel, had an older brother Jacob, two younger brothers Isaac and Henry, and younger sister Sallie. In 1832, he married Sophia Bricker (December 20, 1810 – November 4, 1895).
“Joseph B. Hagey” enters the record as bishop (1810–1876). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Joseph, Hagey and bishop can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Joseph B. Hagey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.