(Ancestors of Anton Johnson)
Origins
The earliest members of this family were born in the Netherlands, in the Frisian province (also known as West Frisia), and later moved east to Groningen province and then a short distance away to the area around Emden in East Frisia that would eventually become part of Germany. They spoke a dialect of Frisian (a low-German language) and in least in later generations were culturally Frisian, not German.
Jan Jans Friese (b. 1710)
Jan Jans Friese was born about 9 January, 1710 in Dokkum, Friesland, Netherlands.
As an adult, he moved east to Groningen province. He married Frouwke Reinder on 23 May 1738 in Groningen.
A Catrijna Jan was christened with parents that had similar names on 6 April of that year, suggesting they might have had a child before they were married. Their other children were Reinder (1739), Jan (1741), and Trijntje (1744).
It’s typical for the first son to be named after the paternal grandfather, so it’s a bit odd that this family’s first son was Reinder (named after the paternal grandfather). Possibly he had an earlier unrecorded son named Jan who did not die until after Reinder was born.
There are no other records of children for this couple, and there are records of a man with the name Jan Jans Friese in Groningen having children with Aaltjen Arents in Groningen from 1748 to 1759. Those children were Arent (1748), Anna (1750-bef. 1752), Anna (1752-1753), Anna (1753-1823), Lambertus (1755), and Aaltjen (1759). So it seems likely that Frouwke died after 1744 and Jan remarried by 1748. He would then have been about 49 when his last daughter was born, presumably with a somewhat younger second wife.
Reinder Jans (1739-1810)
Reinder Jans was born in Herestraat, Groningen, Netherlands and christened 26 April 1739.
By 1763 he had crossed the border from Groningen into East Frisia, which in 1744 became part of Prussia after long being an independent principality (the County of East-Frisia). In that year he joined the Evangelical Reformed Church in Rysum, near Emden. He might have been in Freepsum, East Frisia, prior to that date.
On 15 September 1764, Reinder married Taalke Berents (b. 1744) in her native town of Hamswehrum. The same couple is recorded marrying in Rysum on 5 November 1764. Their children were Frauke (1766-1766), Frauke (2) (1767-1768), Jan (1769), Frauke (3) (1772), and Berend (1775).
In 1778, the family moved into house 75 in Rysum.
Taalke died in 1783.
On 24 May 1788 Reinder married Harmke Engberts (c. 1750-1813) in Rysum. Their children were Engbert (1790, named after her father or his patronymic because Reinder already had a son Jan named after his father), Roelf (1791-1792), Roelf (2) (1793), Hauke (1797), and Engbertje (1799). (Based on her age at death (63 in 2013), Harmke would have been 49 for the birth of her last child, so possibly her age was exaggerated and she was born more like c. 1755.)
Reinder died 30 November 1810 in Rysum.
Roelf Reinders Janssen (1793-1862)
Roelf Reinders Janssen was born 30 January 1793 in Rysum, and christened 3 February 1793.
Note that East Frisia was in political upheaval early in Roelf’s life. In 1806, East Frisia was annexed by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, then recaptured by Prussia in 1813, and finally ceded to the Kingdom of Hanover (whose king was George III of Great Britain) in 1815.
He also had personal turmoil, with his father dying in 1810 and his mother dying in 1813, such that he inherited the family home at age 20.
On 28 March 1816, he married Christina Hinderks Dose (b. 1816) in Wolthusen. Their children were Hindrick (1815, before his parents married and so named after his mother’s father), Reinder (1818), Beerent (1820), Geeske (1823), Harmke (1825), and Harm (1827).
Christina died in 1832. In 1833, Roelf married Anna Joosten Roscamp (b. 1810). Their children were Justus (1835), Taje (1838), an unnamed child likely dying at birth (1841), Geeske (1842), Bernhardina (1845), Hinderika (1848), and Honkea (1852).
Roelf died 17 July 1862, still living in the family home in Rysum.
Reinder Roelfs Janssen (1818-1904)
Reinder Roelfs Janssen was born on 23 May 1818 in Rysum, then in the Kingdom of Hanover during the declining years of its monarch George III of Great Britain.
On 16 October 1853, he married Geertje Dirks Kammenga (b. 1826) in Loquard u Norden. The same marriage is also recorded on 22 October 1853 in Rysum.
Shortly after marrying, they moved into house 78 in Rysum, as Reinder’s father was still living in the family’s home at house 75.
Their children were Christina (1854), Mareke (1857-1867), and Anna (1860).
His father Roelf died on 17 July 1862, with his younger brother Beerent inheriting the family home. His wife Geertje died 14 August 1862 in Rysum.
In April 1865, Reinder married Christina Edzards Göes (b. 1827 in Georgsheil). Like other marriages in this family, it is recorded twice: once on 3 April in Victorbur, and on 20 April in Rysum. Christina has a son Gön Albers from a first marriage (1854).
Their son Roelf was born 12 June 1866 in Rysum.
On 3 July 1868, Reinert (sic, age 50) and Christine (reported age 38; actually 41) and children Jone (13), Anna (7), and Rolf (0) are listed on the manifest for the Republik arriving in New York City. Those children seem to be Christina’s son Gön from her first marriage (actually age 13), Anna from Roelf’s first marriage (actually age 8), and Roelf (who was actually 2).
Note that his daughter Christina from his first marriage is not listed even though she was only 14 and still alive. The younger Christina (b. 1854) came to America about 1867 or 1868, lived in Titonka near her father from 1883 to at least 1902, married and had kids, and later had an obituary published for her father and his wife. Either she came with her father and was left out from that travel record (and the 1870 census) for some reason, or she came by herself for some reason.
By 26 August 1870 (at the time of the census), Reinder and his family were living in Etna in Hardin County, Iowa. Reinder was using the given name John and had Americanized his surname to Johnson, and Roelf had Americanized his name to Ralph. Anna was also living with the family, but Gön is not listed and his ultimate fate is unknown. Reinder was working as a laborer. His daughter Christina did not live with them.
In the 1880 census (on 15 June 1880) for Clay, Hardin County, Iowa, “R. R. Johnson” (age 60; actually 62) was living with “Stine” (49; actually 53) with children George (age 9) and Ralph (age 13). From this we can infer that they had a new son George born about 1871 (about which more below). Reiner is listed as a farmer.
Reinder’s obituary years later has him moving to Kossuth County, Iowa in 1883.
Reinder’s son Ralph married Katie Elman on 11 July 1889 in Algona, Kossuth County, Iowa, more than 150 miles west of Hardin. Reiner is listed as living in German township, but his wife/Ralph’s mother is listed as Zina Eldridge. Either she is listed in error, this is a different family with many similar names, or there’s some unusual relationship going on, but all later records show Reiner married to Christina until his death.
Reiner’s son George married Ella Pankuk on 27 June 1893 in German Valley (near Titonka), only a couple miles from German township. Reiner is listed as “Bane Johnson” with his wife “Christina Gons” and they are listed as also living in German Valley.
In the 1895 Iowa state census, Reiner is listed as living in German township.
In the 1900 US Census (on 6 June 1900), Reinder is listed as “Raymond” along with his wife Christine living in the home of his son George in German township, along with four grandchildren and a boarder.
From all this, we can summarize that Reinder and Christina first settled in Hardin County, and moved by 1889 to Kossuth County in the area between German township and German Valley, where they put down roots for a decade. The marriage records likely simply contain errors (possibly Zina Eldridge was a mistranscription of “Stina Edzards” and “Bane” was a mistranscription of “Reiner” or “John” or a nickname).
By 1904 Reinder, Christina, and their extended family had moved to North Dakota. They both died in Gwinner, North Dakota in May 1904 (Reinder on 1 May and Christina on 6 May) and are buried in Gwinner Cemetery.
Reiner and Christina’s deaths were recorded in a newspaper back in Rysum, Germany:
George R. Johnson (c. 1871-1939)
George Riner Johnson was born in Hardin County, Iowa on 6 April, likely in 1871.
He was not living as of the 1870 census (on August 26), so despite his tombstone having 6 April 1870 as the date, it was likely the next year. He could have been born as late as 1872. His family was living in Etna in the 1870 census, so he was probably born in that town.
By 1880 he was living in Clay (also in Hardin County), and by 1885 he and his parents and siblings settled in Kossuth County (first in Ramsey township, and then later somewhere between German Valley and German township).
On 27 June 1893, he married Ella Pankuk (1873-1968), whose family like his own came from the Emden area in East Frisia and immigrated in the wake of the Austro-Prussian War.
By 1895, George and Ella were living in German township.
Their children were Riner (1895, named after his father), Edith (1896, named after Ella’s mother), Anton (1898, named after Ella’s father), Ralph (1900, named after his brother), Christina (1901, named after his mother), George Jr. (1904), Ella (1906), Henry (1908, possibly named after his uncle Hinderk), Alice (1912, after Ella’s sister), and John (1913, after Ella’s brother). These names followed the typical naming convention of Frisian families.
All the children after Christina were born in North Dakota. The family was there by 1904, because George Jr. was born in Gwinner, North Dakota and both of George’s parents died and were buried in Gwinner that year.
By 1910 George and his family were living in Milnor (just 12 miles from Gwinner). He lived there until his death in Milnor on 27 September 1939.
Anton Johnson (1898-1991)
Anton Johnson was born 2 February 1898 in German township in Kossuth County, Iowa.
Some time between 1902 and 1904 he moved with his parents, paternal grandparents, two older siblings, uncle Ralph and aunt Katie, and six cousins to Sargent County, North Dakota. His family and his grandparents moved to Gwinner. His uncle’s family might also have moved initially to Gwinner, but by 1910 were in Whitestone Hill (also in Sargent County, North Dakota, just 3 miles from Gwinner).
By 1910 Anton’s family had moved to Milnor, some 12 miles east of Gwinner.
In September 1818 at age 20, Anton registered for the draft in WWI, but the war ended two months later before he could be drafted.
On 2 December (or possibly 12 February) 1919, he married Selma Halvorsen (b. 1899), the daughter of Norwegian immigrants from Gol, Norway who came to North Dakota about 1883. They were married in Wilkin County, Minnesota just over the state line which raises the possibility that they eloped.
By the 24th of January, 1920 (the date of the census), Anton and Selma were living with Anton’s family in Milnor. Anton like his father George is listed as a farmer (with his younger brother Ralph listed as a laborer).
Anton’s first daughter Bernice was born on 5 November 1920, eleven months after Anton and Selma were married. Their other children were Alice (1922), Deloris (1925), and Marlen (1928).
By 1930 Anton’s family had moved to Willey, also in Sargent County not far from Gwinner. Probably they moved there shortly after 1920. All four children were still living with them in 1940; by 1950 Anton and Selma were living alone in their home in Willey. (Bernice was in Rutland; Alice’s location is unknown; Deloris was married in Underwood, McLean County, North Dakota; and Marlen was in Milnor.)
Later in life, Anton and Selma moved to Des Moines, Washington, south of Seattle, probably to be close to their children (all four of whom would eventually move to the Seattle/Tacoma area).
Anton’s daughter Bernice died in Seattle in 1972 (leaving behind three of Anton’s adult grandchildren and five great-grandchildren).
Anton’s wife Selma died on 10 October 1975 in Seattle. He lived alone for several years, but near the end of his life moved to Winlock, Lewis County, Washington to be close to his daughter Alice. He died in Winlock on 17 April 1991.
Descent
Jan Jans Friese (b. 1710 in Dokkum, Netherlands)
m. 23 May 1738 Frouwke Reinder (1703-1746)
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Reinder Jans(sen) (1739-1810)
m. 24 May 1788 Harmke Engberts (c. 1750-1813)
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Roelf Reinders Janssen (1793-1862)
m. 1833 Anna Joosten Roscamp (b. 1810)
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Reinder Roelfs Janssen (1818-1904)
m. Christina Edzards Göes (1827-1904)
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George Riner Johnson (1871-1939)
m. Ella Pankuk (1873-1968)
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Anton Johnson (1898-1991)
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4 children (all passed) and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren
A Place to Call My Own 