Spensts to Emmanual I Spenst
This follows my Spenst ancestors on Dad's side, up to the earliest one I know of at present.
My Parents
Elizabeth Kroeker, b.11/29/1918, d.11/10/1997 at home in Hague.
Heinrich H. Friesen, b.2/20/1916, d.2/24/2007 in Rosthern, Saskatchewan. He married Elizabeth Kroeker on 10/17/1947 (daughter of Gerhard Kroeker and Elisabeth Friesen).
My Grandparents
Heinrich W. Friesen, b.12/20/1886 in Morris, Manitoba, d.7/26/1977. He married Maria Spenst on 4/4/1915 in Herbert, Saskatchewan.
Maria Spenst, b.2/13/1893 in Langdon, North Dakota.(daughter of Gerhard Spenst and Elizabeth Veer. Maria d.9/6/1983 in Abbotsford, BC.
My Great-Grandparents
Gerhard Spenst, b.4/14/1866 in South Russia, d.11/20/1949 in Yarrow, British Columbia, buried in Yarrow, British Columbia. S1A142 says he was born 4/4/1867. The Fehr Register says he was born 4/11/1867. Gerhard was 83 years, 7 months and 6 days old. Gerhard and Elisabeth immigrated to Canada from North Dakota in the early 1900's. They lived in Saskatoon, SK. He married Elisabeth Veer on 12/14/1890 in Edenburg, West Reserve, Manitoba.
Elisabeth Veer, b. 5/4/1869 in Russia, d.12/26/1946 in Yarrow, British Columbia, buried in Abbotsford, British Columbia. (R283-3*. One record says she was born at Sergiofsky.)
My Great-Great-Grandparents
Jacob Spenst, b.11/17/1840 in Sparrau, Molotschna, South Russia, d.4/18/1916 in Waldeck, Saskatchewan, buried in Beaver Flat, Saskatchewan. Sommerfelder records say he was born 11/19/1840. He lived in Neulage in the Puchtin Settlement in Russia prior to immigrating to Canada per a note for him in the Chortitzer Gemeinde Buch and per a letter in the 7/15/1882 issue of the Mennonitische Rundschau (Church, Family, and Village, p. 34). He married Maria Kroeker on 2/2/1862.
Maria Kroeker, b.4/9/1841 in Konteniusfeld, Molotschna, South Russia, d.6/10/1923 in Langdon, North Dakota. (One record says her surname is Krahn).
3rd Great-Grandparents
Gerhard Spenst, b.1/26/1809 in Reimerswalde, Gross Werder, Prussia, d.3/6/1854 in South Russia. At the time of his baptism, he is listed as being from the village of Neuteicherwalde, Prussia. The information regarding this family was secured from RJS.The Fehr Register shows his birthdate as 12/25/1809. He married Anna Born on 2/21/1839 in South Russia.
Anna Born, b.3/12/1819 in Russia, d.11/11/1890 in Schoenau, Sagradovka, South Russia. One record says she was born 3/3/1819. Her death may be in Mennonitische Rundschau 1/21/1891, p1. She married (1)Gerhard Spenst, 2/21/1839 in South Russia. She married (2)Jacob Isaac Klassen, b.4/10/1809 in Lichtfelde, Stuhm, Prussia, d.1908.
4th Great-Grandparents
Gerhard Spenst, b.Abt 1785, d.1835 or 1847. He migrated from Neuteicherwald, Prussia to Sparrau, Molotschna, S. Russia in 1827 (P.Rempel, p.201, 208; B.H.Unruh, p.372). B.H.Unruh states that he settled in Fischau, but there is no indication from the 1835 Molotschna Census or from Peter Rempel's book that he ever lived in Fischau. In the 1835 Molotschna Colony Census he is listed at Sparrau #6, where he is said to have immigrated to Russia in 1827. His baptism record mistakenly calls him "Peter" probably naming his father in error! All other records call him "Gerhard". He married (1)Maria Steingard on 5/14/1807. He married (2)Catharina Suckau, 5/9/1813, b.Abt 1785, d.3/13/1826. He married (3)Maria Regier, 7/4/1826, b.Abt 1795, Maria: She was from the village of Czatkau, Prussia. (A noted added next to her name in the original 1835 Molotschna Colony Census gives the surname "Flaming", suggesting that sometime after the 1835 Molotschna Census was taken, her husband Gerhard Spenst died and she remarried to a Mr. Flaming. This was apparently Gerhard Flaming (b.10/17/1818), who is known to have married a Mrs. Spenst and who is also known to have moved to Sparrau #6, where he is listed in the 1847 Molotschna Colony Voters List.)
Maria Steingard, b.Abt 1782, d.6/5/1812 in Stobbendorf, Marienburg, Prussia. She was residing in Neustaedterwald, Prussia at the time of her baptism in 1797.
5th Great-Grandparents
Peter Spenst, b.Abt 1759, d.1/30/1813. He married Maria Hein in 1783.
Maria Hein.
6th Great-Grandparents
Gerhard I. Spenst, b.Abt 1740 in Neuteicherwalde, Gross Werder, Prussia, d.2/23/1820 in Neuteicherhinterfeld, Gross Werder, Prussia. He was 79 years 10 months at death. The birth records of his children show an unusual variety of birthplaces, all surrounding or implying closeness to Neuteich. Did he really move around so much, or was his residence in a place that could be described in multiple ways? He married (1)Sara Jantzen. He married (2)Sara Jantzen, Abt 1785, Sara: She was from the village of Neuteicherwald, Prussia. He married (3)Maria Janz, Abt 1797, b.Abt 1775, d.6/17/1815 in Neuteicherhinterfeld, Gross Werder, Prussia.
Sara Jantzen, d.1784.
7th Great-Grandparents
Emmanuel Spenst, b.Abt 1693, d.7/30/1760. He lived in the village of Reimerswald, Prussia. Edward Brandt (b.11/17/1931) #59123 says that the Spenst family had its roots in Fyfeshire, Scotland. A certain man named Spens (then the spelling of Spence) was a pre-British unification Scottish envoy to Sweden. He joined the Swedish army as a colonel and fought against Poland during one of the Swedish-Polish wars, apparently as part of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). This man named Spens reportedly died somewhere in the Vistula-Nogat Delta ca 1626-1627. He was likely an ancestor of Emanuel Spenst. He married _____ _____.
. _____ _____.
