[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Birth Document

Richard O. Schienke otto at schienke.com
Sun Jan 15 10:17:34 PST 2017


> On Jan 15, 2017, at 11:13 AM, Sig Tullmann <sigtullmann at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> It looks like there were lots of Jahnke or Janke families in Poland. Holendry,
> Byton is, I assume, now Holendry Bytońskie,  west of Plock.  I believe
> Holendry is a reference to the dutch "Holland" and perhaps it was
> originally settled by Dutch settlers in the late 1700’s.
It would be more specific to refer to them as Frisians expressing ‘Frisian freedom’.
(Not all Frisians were Mennonites, not all Mennonites were Frisian)
Many were invited by polish nobility to settle the lowlands due to their knowledge of water control, soil management, animal husbandry, etc.. They did not settle under “German Town law” but were allowed to settle their villages using their democratic method of organization referred to by the Poles as Holendry. Many of the Germanic settlers and Poles also petitioned for same arrangements as holendry. Freedom.

> I believe Janke
> means "little Jan" in Dutch. And, I also read that "Yankee" may be derived
> from the same "Janke"  also appearing in New Amsterdam ( now New York).
The Dutch term for 'little John’ is “Jaantje”. Over time the Frisian diminutive suffix ‘ke’ in Holland began morphing into ‘kje’ and ‘tje’ due to the Dutch language. Janke is an authentic Frisian surname.  The spelling Jahnke is already evidencing Luther’s hilly Saxon influence. Be suffix conscious.  Follow settlements in the low or delta areas north to the Baltic then west to the North Sea. Much of Holland’s coastal area is still Frisian ethnicity.  Ostfriesland, East Frisia independence ended 1744 when it became part of Prussia. Wars keep changing boundaries.

My Dad’s (b. 1890) older sister Anna, married Albert Roll. Albert’s parents were Michael Roll and Susanna Janke.

“Wherever a boat could sail.”

> Sig Tullmann

   . . . Otto
        “The Zen moment. . . wk of January 1 2017
         _________________________________________
              "Answers out there . . .  Seeking us."



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