Janssen

Enno Janssen and Entje Tejen b. 1810

/ Kirstin Miller

Enno and Entje Janssen, my 4th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

Enno Hinrichs Janssen was born in 1810 and Entje Tejen was born in 1812. They married, attended church and raised their family in Eilsum, a village in Krummhorn, a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Eilsum is at the northernmost edge of Germany. Eilsum, in the Middle Ages about 500-1500, was a ‘super regional trading center’ on the Wadden Sea, and the North Sea. The area for a long time was known as East Frisia, Ostfriesia. My grandpa Roose’s ancestors, so far, are all from this area in Germany, of about 1000 square miles.

At FamilySearch.org, a free online family history site with billions of historical records recently added big batches of “Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971” records. The records are handwritten in the German language, indexed by volunteers who transcribe then translate the records into English. These records led to many Roose family ancestors. The only record, so far for Enno and Entje is their marriage record of 1833. It’s likely they didn’t live to see their daughter, Kuna, in 1883 at age 50 migrate to America, where she, husband Casjen Frerichs , and kids made their home in Butler County, Iowa.

The Janssen family’s Eilsumer Church was built around 1230 with major renovations in the 1990s. The baptismal font was made by, “Barthold Klinghe the Elder, 1472, Four deacons carry the basin, on the wall of which Christ, Mary and the apostles appear.” The Klinghes were famous for their ‘bronze casting’.

Sources

Garbrand Roos and Teentje Janssen b. 1764

/ Kirstin Miller

Garbrand Roos and Teentje Janssen 5th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

Garbrand Harms Roos and Teentje Dirks Janssen lived in Niedersachsen- English language, it’s Lower Saxony- a German state. Aurich is a district in Lower Saxony which contains the municipality of Krummhörn, that includes the little village of Visquard. Visquard is on the north western coast of Germany, on the Wadden Sea, part of the North Sea.

Google Maps, Visquard, a photo of the little village

Garbrand was born around 1764, Teentje was born on April 18, 1775. Garbrand and Teentje married around 1797 and had at least 3 children: Maria Garbrand Roos, Jan Garbrand Roos and Harm Garbrand Roos.

Garbrand has a definition in ceramics as the final firing. “Garbrand garbrand (keramik) Definition of garbrand (keramik) in German English dictionary: finishing firing (ceramics)”. And “Probably an altered spelling of North German Garbrand or Gerbrant, from a Germanic personal name, composed of the elements gar, ger ‘spear’, ‘lance’ + brand ‘fire’, ‘flame’.

Germany, the place and the people, have thousands of years of complex history, a person could spend a lifetime learning and understanding. Lower Saxony, the Roose family probable ancestor home, included chieftains, counts and countesses, kings and queens, and Paleolithic reindeer hunters. France, Holland, Napoleon, Prussia, Russia, the Kingdom of Hannover, the Roman Empire, and more were rulers of the area through the years.

There are several records for Garbrand and family, from church registers, hand written, in German. This record is indexed as a burial record for Garbrand, he died on April 1, 1817 then was buried on April 9, 1817. “Garbrand Harms d. 1 Apr 1817, spouse Teetja Janssen, burial 9 Apr 1817 in Visquard, Krummhörn, Amt Aurich, Königreich Hannover, Deutsches Reich, original place name Visquard, Visquard, Hannover, Deutschland. Page 241 of Staatliche Archivverwaltung Der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Church Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Visquard (Kr. Emden). Note: Taufen, Heiraten u Tote 1726-1839”.

Sources

Kuna Kuntje Jansen b. 1833

/ Kirstin Miller

Kuna Kuntje Enen Jansen 3rd great grandmother

Kuna or Kuntje also known as Katie came to America when she was 49 years old. She made a quick stop at the New York harbor then landed in Baltimore in 1883.

From Baltimore she, husband Casjen and children Enno, Gerd, Entje and Hilke moved on to Iowa and settled in Butler County. The 1890 census was lost in a fire, the first record of the Kuna is the 1900 census. She lives with her son Enno and his family including 8 year old Mary Viola Frerichs, who would marry George Gerald Roose 12 years later. Kuna and Casjen share a beautiful handcarved headstone in the Parkersburg Oak Hill Cemetery.

Frerichs family emigrates in 1883

/ Kirstin Miller

In 1883 Enno Frerichs (2nd great grandfather) and family sailed from Bremen, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland. From Baltimore they would have taken a train to Freeport, Illinois joining friends and family already settled in America. Railroad companies produced pamphlets many in  German, advertising the lands for sale in the Plains: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska. Local agents were listed along with details about crops, social life, religion and the financial make up of the specific towns. Railroads and the Making of Modern America University of Nebraska Lincoln is an educational site with plentiful sources.