By Jared L. Olar
May 2020
Among the Low German speakers of Ostfriesland in northwest Germany, the surname Berends or Behrends is a patronymic indicating a family descended from a man named Berend, which is a form of "Bernhard" or Bernard, which literally means "Bear Strength." During the Middle Ages, the name "Bernard" and its variants became especially popular due to the fame and veneration accorded to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Our ancestor Berend was an Ostfriesisch German who lived about the mid-1700s. Unfortunately we know very little about him and his family. Everything we know or can infer comes from the 1799 marriage record of Berend's granddaughter Maria, as indicated here:
1. BEREND (NN), parentage and ancestry unknown, born perhaps circa 1725 probably in Aurich District of Ostfriesland in the Electorate of Hannover, in the Holy Roman Empire. Nothing is known of Berends apart from his name and the name of his son Hinrich Berends, which are attested in the 1799 marriage record of Berend's granddaughter Anna Maria Hinrichs, daughter of Hinrich Berends.
2. HINRICH BERENDS, born perhaps circa 1750 probably in Aurich District, Hannover.
2. HINRICH BERENDS, son of Berends, born perhaps circa 1750 probably in Aurich District of Ostfriesland in the Electorate of Hannover, in the Holy Roman Empire. Nothing is known of Hinrich apart from his name, the name of his father Berends, and the name of his daughter Anna Maria Hinrichs, which are attested in the 1799 marriage record of Hinrich's daughter Anna Maria.
3. ANNA MARIA HINRICHS, born circa 1781 in Aurich District, Hannover.
3. ANNA MARIA HINRICHS, daughter of Hinrich Berends, born circa 1781 in Aurich District, Hannover, died 17 Aug. 1816 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover, buried 21 Aug. 1816 in Walle. In the old Lutheran church registers of Ostfriesland, Anna Maria usually is called simply "Maria," but in the 1802 baptismal record of her son Hinrich, she is called by her other name "Anna." On 8 Nov. 1799 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover, Maria married PUPKE HINRICHS SCHWEERS, son of Hinrich Pupkes Schweers, born circa 1771 probably in Aurich District of Ostfriesland in the Electorate of Hannover, in the Holy Roman Empire, died 15 April 1832 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover, buried 19 April 1832 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover. Anna Maria and Pupke are known to have had at least one daughter and one son. Maria's death and burial were recorded in two different Lutheran registers.
This detail from a page of the marriage register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1799 marriage record of Pupke Hinrichs Schweers and Anna Maria Hinrichs. In the record, Pupke's father is identified as 'Hinrich Pubkes,' while Maria's father is identified as 'Hinrich Berends.'
This detail from page 420 of the burial register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1816 burial record of (Anna) Maria Hinrichs, wife of Pupke Hinrichs Schweers.
The known children of Anna Maria and Pupke were:
-- ANNA IKKE PUPKES HINRICHS SCHWEERS, born 15 Oct. 1800 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover.
-- HINRICH PUPKES SCHWEERS, born 26 April 1802 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover.
Berends Genealogy Resources:
The Reed Family Tree of Albuquerque, N.M., with Dirk Wobben Janssen descendants and Johnson and Oltman family photos. Find-A-Grave memorial: Fannie Ferden (sic - Marie) Oltman Johnson (1864-1933), with links of husband and children. Wikimedia Commons: Walle, collection of photos from the village of Walle in Ostfriesland, Germany. Map of Aurich District, showing locations of Extum/Haxtum and Walle in the District of Aurich, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Germany.