Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta

Photographs

If you're like me, you like to review your old photographs from time to time - to see if there's something new you can glean from them. 

Perhaps you recognize as one person has aged, they start to look more like a photographed ancestor.  Or you see a pattern of ear shape that you hadn't seen before.  Or the background on a photograph is EXACTLY like one you'd seen in another photograph in a Mennonite book or newsletter.

Then there are the completely elusive ones.  A picture on fine paper or even a postcard back or thick cardstock with a filmy tissue overlay.  And you just don't know who they are and you have no one to ask  (and it's possible they aren't even part of your family).

The MHSA has just launched a webpage where three such Mennonite photos are displayed on behalf of Sandra-Lynne Janzen.  I know that we'll find more than a few at the MHSA which we'll want to post, but you are also welcome to send us your photos for display. 

And, all of you should visit to see if you can help identify those portrayed as well.  See the Mennonite Photograph Identification Project! 

Surnames: DNA tools

Yet another twist.  Tim Janzen indicates that he turns to the new resources of DNA analysis and hopes to learn things there.

He writes (appealing to my own interest in the surname Rempel): 

REMPEL

In recent months I have particularly been looking at probable areas of origin of the Mennonite surnames based on the Y chromosome marker data available (see www.Mennonitedna.com).  At this point we have the Y chromosome haplotype available for only one male Rempel, specifically a descendent of Bernhard Rempel (b. 1763, d. 1806)(Grandma #101361).  This person's Y chromosome haplotype is in Haplogroup R1a.  Haplogroup R1a is common in Poland, and in fact 56% of males of Polish ancestry have this haplogroup (see Wikipedia on R1a and Semino, et al., (2000). "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans," Science, Vol. 290). 

Mennonites of Dutch ancestry frequently are of Haplogroup R1b or I.  Only 3.7% of a small sample of Dutch males (27 males), were R1a.  Thus, the Y chromosome results from the one male Rempel tested thus far are consistent with central European origin of the surname.  Hopefully, as more males in Europe have Y chromosome testing done it will become easier to pinpoint a probable area of origin for the Rempel surname. 

The closest matches I have been able to find thus far to the Rempel Y chromosome haplotype in the Sorenson database and in the Ysearch database are a Mr. MacDougall whose ancestors were from
Scotland and a Mr. Brandolino whose ancestors were from Italy, each matching 29 of 32 markers.

JANZEN

I have wondered exactly where my original Janzen ancestor was from for a long time.  The farthest that Glenn Penner and I have been able to trace my original Janzen lineage is back to a Jacob Janzen (b. ca
1730, GRANDMA #580914), whose father was a Franz Janzen and who was a member of the Orlofferfelde Mennonite Church in W. Prussia.  My Y chromosome haplogroup is J2a1k.  Haplogroup J2 is relatively rare in the Netherlands, and none were found in a relatively small sample size of 34 males from the Netherlands (Semino et al. (2004). "Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area," American Journal of Human Genetics, 74:1023-1034). 

The closest match I have been able to find in the SMGF and Y search databases is a Mr. Alexandratos whose ancestors were from Greece, matching 34 of 39 markers with my haplotype.  I wouldn't be surprised if my original Janzen progenitor never lived in the Netherlands and instead was from somewhere in central or southern Europe.

Hopefully, better sampling of European males will help provide some additional clues as to exactly where my Janzen progenitor was from.

In Kinship,
Judii

Surname: Hildebrand

Apart from Don Kauffman, Dave Hildebrand from Calgary also wrote - about his surname.  Dave recommends that we visit his website to get the full story, but let me tease and offer you his opening "dark and stormy night" sentence:

"Hildebrand is a name ancient in origin and steeped in legend, mystery and history."

Check it out!

In Kinship,
Judii

Swiss Mennonite Surnames

Don Kauffmann writes from Edmonton that his source for Swiss Mennonite names is by author Delbert L. Gratz, Was Isch Dini Nahme? What is Your Name? - A Collection of Swiss Family Names, 95 pp., index,  Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA., 1995, revised 1997 (catalog no. 1574 -- USD 8.95 + s&h.

Names are grouped in the following categories:
1. Family Names from First Names
2. Family Names from Place Names
3. Family Names from Characteristics
4. Family Names from Animal Names
5. Family Names from Occupations

Details of names generally are:
1. Name
2. Meaning of Name
3. Swiss Family Name
4. American Spelling(s)
5. Heimat (original location)

In Kinship,
Judii

Surname Meanings and Sources

I've been unusually fortunate in finding resources that speak to where my surname (Rempel) came from.  My first sources were the Mennonite Encyclopaedia and Mennonitische Namen/Mennonite Names (a bilingual book by Victor Peters & Jack thiessen published in 1987).  Both are in the MHSA library for anyone to consult.

REMPEL
In addition, however, I located a German-language article published by W.J. Rempel of Goettingen in Ostdeutsche Familienkunde (1960), which Ann Rempel translated, and then I edited it and placed it online.  The article is particularly interesting because it delves into the root of the name as a given name and explictly lists many of the early "name-bearers".

What have you found out about your own Mennonite surname (or other Mennonite surnames that you are researching) and what have your sources been?  The methods you've used and the resources you've uncovered may well be of great help to others.

In Kinship,
Judii

Untangling the Knots

Trying to sort out which source is THE one you should use and cite in your family history work?  Don't forget to consider which was documented at the time of the event, which has no vested interest, which has been double-checked....  I'm sure you all have a lot of things to add to the list.

Click on the picture (and choose 14 Feb 2007) to enjoy the 'toon.

In kinship,
Judii

Mennonite Village Names

In the last post, I talked about online resources to determine the germanicized or russified equivalent of a great many villages where Mennonites lived in the Russian Empire.

What I didn't say is that there is a great book that focusses on the same villages, but introduces the architecture that remains and incoporates a historical narrative as well.  The book I'm referring to is Building on the Past: Mennonite Architecture, Landscape and Settlements in Russia/Ukraine* by Rudy Friesen with Edith Elisabeth Friesen.

Rudy's book is organized by colony, with each colony section introduced with an equivalency chart.  The Chortitza Colony section starts:

Village	a.k.a./Later Named	Today
Chortitza	Menpark/Kapustyanka	No longer exists
Burwalde (1803)	Baburka	Baburka
Chortitza (1790)	Khortitsa	Verkhnyaya
Einlage (1790)	Kitschkas/Neu-Kitschkas	Kitschkas
Insel Chortitza	Kamp	Ostrov Khortitsa

etc.

Interestingly, today I was looking through some early copies of Mennonite Life and discovered a curious article by Gerhard Wiens "Village Nicknames Among the Mennonites in Russia" (October 1970, pp. 177-180).  I knew that many Mennonites had Low German/Plautdietsch nicknames, but never that our villages had nicknames!

Gerhard indicates that he knew firsthand of his own Molotschna village's nickname, but over time had forgotten the others he'd heard of. So he published an article in Low German "and gave it a title which would startle any old-timer from Russia into reading it:  'Rollkoakeschluckasch, Piezjeriedasch enn Prachabraodasch'" (Der Bote, October 31, 1961). 

With that, he received many handwritten submissions.  One included no stories or names, but chided him that it really wasn't befitting a scholar to pursue such a subject!  However, to our amusement and for our benefit, he persisted and shared what he learned with the readership of Mennonite Life (ML). 

Without giving it all away, I'll list a few of the Chortitza Colony equivalents:

Village	Low German Nickname	Translation into English
Chortitza	Hunsjsbraode	Roast Dog
Einlage	Welsgnoagasch	Catfish Gnawers/Chewers
Kronsweide	Poggeleidasch	Frog Leaders
Neu-Chortitza	Aufjebroakne Massasch	Broken-off Knives
Neuenburg	Deiwschlappasch	Dew Draggers

etc.

To the best of his ability, Gerhard attempted to determine when the nicknames (Auch-Name) were established:  during Podwodentiet ("carting time"), that is, during the Crimean War. He explains that there was more regular travel between the villages at that time, while the young men/boys were delivering food to the Russian army. Friendly rivalries started up, and foolish names were part of that.

If you are interested, do pursue a copy of the four-page article. Back issues of ML are readily available from Mennonite historical societies, and Mennonite school libraries, including the MHSA.  Some back issues are online.  In recent years, ML has ceased to print a paper version of the magazine; circulation is now exclusively and freely available online.

* Available for purchase from MHSA