Second, many refugees have fled Venezuela to neighboring Colombia, hosted there by Anabaptist Mennonites. In an instance of the better angels of our nature<\/mark>, the rugged Union General Philip Sheridan invited Mennonites and other families who had been left desolate from the burning campaign to leave Virginia on a military-escorted wagon train to northern states. No one knows precisely how many Mennonites departed the Valley, but many did. Others, however, remained and weathered the brutal winter of 1864-1865 by sharing scarce food, huddling in the houses that Sheridan’s men did not burn, and surviving in the most primitive conditions imaginable.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n Third, there are parallels between how Mennonites in Virginia responded to the burning of the Valley in 1864-65 and how Anabaptist Mennonites in Venezuela responded to the 2026 bombings. While there was heightened anxiety in Rockingham County, and church life was disrupted, the continuities of nonviolence, peace, and community support remained steady. Today, Mennonites in Venezuela continue to trust in God, seek peace for their country, and do not want to leave unless they must.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n In my study of Mennonites during the American Civil War, the resilience of Catherine and Samuel Shank has inspired me. Even when Union soldiers burned their house and barn on October 6, 1864, they exhibited the better angels of their nature<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On that fiery day of burning, Catherine Rhodes Shank protected her five children, all under the age of ten. She watched her recently ordained minister husband race into the house to try to save a few things. He rescued a small table and the family Bible. To save him from burning, Union soldiers stopped him from reentering the inferno.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n During the winter after the burning, 1864-1865, the family first found refuge at Catherine’s brother’s home. Then the Shanks lived in their small spring house while they rebuilt. From a kiln they constructed and from clay they dug from their nearby orchard, they made bricks for their new home, which the family constructed. They also built a new barn. Catherine had one more child after the Civil War, born five years before she passed away in 1875, at the age of 43, from pneumonia.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n From the ashes of their farm rose a new house and a new barn. Catherine made all the family’s clothing without a sewing machine, and three of her sons were later ordained ministers in the Mennonite church. One of Catherine’s cousins, Henry E. Rhodes, was among a group of barn builders who worked hard in the years after the war, rebuilding barns from the ashes across the Shenandoah Valley, like flowers blooming in springtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite political turmoil, war, or economic uncertainties, we can exhibit the better angels of our nature<\/mark>, as Abraham Lincoln called for in his first inaugural address. Whether after Sheridan’s fires that destroyed barns, fences, mills, and houses, or amidst the uncertainties faced by Venezuelan Anabaptist Mennonites, we must choose how to respond. The better angels of our nature<\/mark>, including peace, nonviolence, trust in community, and faith in God’s providence, seem the better course to take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The story of how Mennonites in Virginia rebuilt out of ashes after their barns, mills, and houses burned in 1864 somewhat parallels the difficulties faced by Anabaptist Mennonite believers in Venezuela in 2026. First, the numbers are small. When Union General Philip Sheridan torched the capital resources of residents in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia … Continue reading Rebuilding out of the ashes<\/span> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/For-blog-site-211x300.jpg\")