Hooray, it's supposed to be nice on Saturday--see ya in Gilman, ok?
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(Click to enlarge).
Janson grandkids c 1919
(Click to enlarge).
Welcome!
Blogging about my dad's side of the family, we realized that mom's was almost neglected. Even tho the Janson family tree's been done back to the 1500's, we know surprizingly little about Jansons in the past 200 years.
This blog is an attempt to flesh-out those minimal facts, and to record what we discover.
The cool part of blogging about family history is that writing it down forces a certain clarity--facts need to be checked, dates need to mesh--and if I make mistakes, they can be changed later.
It's a win-win!
::::::::
By the way, "WE" is Larry, researcher extrordinaire, and Marlys, grandaughter of Anton Janson & Margaret Naber Janson.
This blog is an attempt to flesh-out those minimal facts, and to record what we discover.
The cool part of blogging about family history is that writing it down forces a certain clarity--facts need to be checked, dates need to mesh--and if I make mistakes, they can be changed later.
It's a win-win!
::::::::
By the way, "WE" is Larry, researcher extrordinaire, and Marlys, grandaughter of Anton Janson & Margaret Naber Janson.
My website has three coats of arms for the surname Janson.
ReplyDeleteJohn, if you have ANY coats of arms for Jansons, they have to be faked. My Janson ancestors were peasants. We both know that only the nobility bothered with coats of arms or seals or crests. Stop pawning off false information like this--it's ridiculous.
DeleteHi Marlys,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jim Janson. My great grandfather Johannes Janson brought his family to the US in 1891 emigrating from the village of Eschelbach, Germany in the state of Baden. The family settled in Cleveland, Ohio where I was born. I now live in Savannah, Georgia. Thus far, I have been able to trace my family back to the very early nineteenth century in Germany with not much detail as of yet to fill in the gaps such as occupations and the like although I do know that Johannes worked as a cigar maker in Eschelbach which was very exciting for me to discover. Would you have any information regarding Jansons in that area or perhaps where your family originated from if it was not even Germany at all. I suspect that the Jansons may have emigrated to Germany in the distant past possibly from Sweden given the spelling of the name. However, at this point, that is merely speculation on my part. That being said, any detail you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated. No rush in answering.
Thank you very much!
Jim
Hi, Jim! There are lots of reasons to think we're probably descended from the same family. I googled an Eschelbach map, and it's only a few miles south of where my Jansons came from (Balzfeld, Horrenburg & Dielheim). All four villages are near Heidelburg. The name John (Johann or Johannes) was certainly popular (I have 12 on my tree, from 1709 to 1924 ☺). We also figure the Jansons moved to Germany from a Scandinavian country (Denmark?), probably when the king there made Lutheranism the official religion (after 1536). Was your Johannes a Catholic? I figure anyone in southern Germany who spells JANSON that way is related. It's not a "German" word, I agree.
DeleteIf you research the conditions in Europe in the mid-1800s, it's no wonder our relatives left about the same time. We have some evidence they kept in touch with relatives back home, and of course, your great grands were contemporaries of my great grands. We've found that more and more genealogy websites are digitizing European church records. You might try FamilySearch and see what pops up...
How fun to meet a new relative!
Marlys
Hi Marlys,
DeleteI originally sent this as an email reply to you on January 18 and am wondering whether you had indeed received it. So I thought I would give it another try via your blogspot.
Certainly there is a Balzfeld link as my great great grandfather Leopold(us) Janson was born in Balzfeld on 11/14/1827. However, he did marry Rosina Reis on 7/9/1857 in Eschelbach so I presume the family had taken up permanent residence there in the interim from his birth to his marriage. In addition, Leopold's father Jakob , my great great great grandfather, married Barbara Krotz in Balzfeld on 2/3/1825. Although I do not know where Jakob was born I'm presuming it was in Balzfeld.
Pertinent to your Balzfeld research, do you have any specific sources in Balzfeld from which you have obtained information such as a civil registration office or church records? I did find out that the Catholic Church in Balzfeld is Holy Cross (Heilig Kreuz).
We are Catholic so what you say regarding the family emigrating from Scandinavia due to religious persecution makes perfect sense. However, rather than coming from Denmark as you suggest I would like to propose Sweden instead. The reason being is this. I teach art history at the Savannah College of Art and Design. A while back I had a student from Sweden of whom I inquired regarding the origin of our last name. She told me that the 'son' in Janson is of Swedish derivation. This was also verified to me a very long time ago by a fellow art historian H.W. Janson who was German by birth but upon my inquiry to him he also verified the Swedish name derivation. I will research Sweden in the 1800s to see whether the religious climate was similar to what you suggested regarding the king and Lutheranism in Denmark. I will report my findings to you in time.
At this stage in my research I am almost exclusively using Ancestry and Family Search and have made some nice progress. Yet I have much to do regarding church records as well as civic repositories. I have also just sent in my DNA sample to Ancestry so perhaps that avenue may link the family to Scandinavia and possibly even Sweden.
I recently researched the Geogen Surname Mapping site (legacy.stoepel.net) which suggested that although there are Jansons living throughout Germany, most Jansons can be found in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis (BW),where exactly 41 phonebook entries are listed. So this makes sense based upon what you stated reagarding Jansons living in the four villages you referenced in your email.
A final question: any Jansons that you are aware of that served in the German army during the two world wars?
One final note. Where in Minnesota do you live? I attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota a while back so I do have a connection to that state.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Jim