By Jared L. Olar
May 2020
Among my wife's ancestral families from Ostfriesland in northwest Germany is a family of poor 17th-century farmers who successively bore the patronymics of Harms, Menssen, and Onken (which mean, quite simply, "child of Harm," "child of Mensse," and "child of Onke"). These at first were not hereditary surnames, but later on a branch of this family adopted "Menssen" as their hereditary surname -- the name Mensse being a variant of the Frisian name Meine, equivalent of the Old Norse name Magni, meaning "strong." My wife's branch of this family stems from the children of a man named Onke, which was a nickname form of the Frisian name Onno or One, which derived from the Old High German verb unnan, "to grant, to allow, to yield." The following account of our Harms-Menssen-Onken lineage is derived from Lutheran church registers of the districts of Wittmund and Aurich in the old Electorate of Hannover (now in the German state of Niedersachsen).
1. HARM (NN), parentage and ancestry unknown, born perhaps circa 1690 in Wittmund District of Ostfriesland in the Electorate of Hannover, in the Holy Roman Empire. Nothing is known of Harm apart from his name, which is attested as the patronymic of his son Mensse Harms in the 1779 record of the first marriage of Mensse's son Onke. The name "Harm" is a nickname form of "Harmann" or Herman.
2. MENSSE HARMS, born 17 July 1712 in Brill, Wittmund, Hannover.
2. MENSSE HARMS, son of Harm (NN), born 17 July 1712 in Brill, Wittmund District, Hannover, died 17 Jan. 1756 in Brill, Wittmund District, Hannover. Mensse's wife was named TAALCKE ONKEN, born 1714 in Ardorf, Wittmund District, Hannover, died 23 Nov. 1750 in Dunum, Wittmund District, Hannover, daughter of Onke (NN). Mensse and Taalcke had at least two children, including a son named Harm whose descendants in Germany adopted Harm's patronymic "Menssen" as their hereditary surname.
Mensse and Taalcke are known to have had two sons:
-- HARM MENSSEN, born 15 March 1746 in Dunum, Wittmund, Hannover, died 11 Jan. 1824 in Brill, Wittmund, Hannover, married Eedel Janssen.
3. ONKE MENSSEN, born 22 June 1750 in Dunum, Wittmund, Hannover.
3. ONKE MENSSEN, son of Mensse and Taalcke (Onken) Harms, born 22 June 1750 in Dunum, Wittmund District, Hannover, died 12 Nov. 1824 in Extum, Aurich District, Hannover. Onke married twice. His first wife, whom he married on 27 April 1779 in Walle, Aurich District, Hannover, was GERRELTJE JANSSEN ("Gerdje"), born 1740 in Rahe, Aurich District, Hannover, died circa 1782/3 in Walle, Aurich District, Hannover, widow of Behrend Janssen Cordes and daughter of Jann Gerdes. Onke and Gerreltje had a son named Mensse. After Gerreltje's death, Onke remarried on 13 June 1783 in Walle, Aurich District, Hannover, to CHRISTINA ERDWIENS, born circa 1756 probably in Aurich District, Hannover, died 19 Jan. 1839 in Extum, Aurich District, Hannover, buried 23 Jan. 1839 in Extum, daughter of Erdwien and Frerkje (Hinrichs) Janssen. Onke and Christina had a daughter named Frerkje.
This detail from page 192 of the marriage register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1779 marriage record of Onke Menssen (son of Mensse Harms) and Gerreltje Janssen (widow of Behrend Janssen Cordes). The 1762 record of Gerreltje's first marriage identifies her as a daughter of Jann Gerdes.
This detail from page 223 of the marriage register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1783 marriage record of Onke Menssen and Christina Erdwiens, identified in the record as the children, respectively, of Mensse Harms and Erdwien Janssen.
The known children of Onke Menssen by his two wives were:
-- MENSSE ONKEN, born 29 Sept. 1780 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover, died 17 May 1838 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover.
4. FRERKJE ONKEN, born 2 Feb. 1783 in Walle, Aurich, Hannover.
4. FRERKJE ONKEN, daughter of Onke and Christina (Erdwiens) Menssen, born 2 Feb. 1783 in Walle, Aurich District, Hannover, died 7 March 1860 in Extum, Aurich District, Hannover. Frerkje was baptised 3 Feb. 1783 in Walle. On 4 Sept. 1810 in Extum, Frerkje married JASPER DIRKS, son of Dirk Jaspers, born Oct. 1773 in Aurich District, Hannover, died 5 Dec. 1815 in Extum, Aurich District, Hannover, buried 12 Dec. 1815 in Extum. Frerkje and Jasper are known to have had at least one son and two daughters. Evidently some terrible tragedy overtook this family, for Jasper's life was cut short at the age of 42 years and 2 months, and his 5-year-old son Dirk also died the very same day -- Jasper and his son Dirk were buried together the same day.
This detail from page 62 of the baptismal register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1783 birth and baptism of Frerkje Onken, daughter of Onke Menssen and Christina Erdwiens.
This detail from page 997 of the marriage register of the Lutheran churches of Aurich District, Hannover, shows the 1810 marriage record of Jasper Dirks and Frerkje Onken, identified in the record as the children, respectively, of Dirk Jaspers and Onke Menssen.
The known children of Frerkje and Jasper were:
-- DIRK JASPERS, born circa 1810 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover, died 5 Dec. 1815 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover.
-- FENTJE JASPERS, born circa 1811 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover.
-- MOODJE JASPERS, born circa 1812 in Extum, Aurich, Hannover.
Onken 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.