They emerged in 1872, when there was a wave of modernization, led by Daniel Brenneman and John F. Funk.
Jacob Wisler (1808-1889), bishop in Indiana since 1851, was a staunch conservative who clashed with the modernizers, who tried to silence him.
In 1872 Jacob Wisler and preachers Christian Bare and John Weaver were expelled from the Indiana Mennonite conference.
[1] In 1907 the Old Order Mennonites of Ohio and Indiana split into two factions.
The central conflict was about telephone use and the English language in preaching, which a majority of the Wisler group wanted to be allowed.