Veer/Fehr to Jan de Veer
This follows my Veer/Fehr ancestors on Dad's side, up to the earliest one I know of at present - 14 generations back!
Note: some conflicting sources are quoted below. I generally go with the most recent discovery, but sometimes genealogists, and even church records have errors in their books. Always be alert to watch for confirmation of data.
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
Johann Veer, b.4/1/1847, d.12/1/1934. Listed in 1906 Saskatchewan census as John E. Fehr. Brother of Helena Deveer, second wife of Cornelius D. Giesbrecht. He married (1)Elisabeth Giesbrecht on 8/4/1867. He married (2)Maria Doerksen on 8/7/1883 in Rural Municipality of Rhineland, Manitoba. She was born b.2/14/1866, d.7/16/1906, Maria: Maria & Johann had 12 children, 8 grew to adulthood. Maria died in childbirth. He married (3)Maria Pauls on 10/27/1912, she was b.2/11/1845, Maria: R249-1. My Dad had personal memories of this Grandpa, which are recorded in my book, Grandpa's Stories. Also his Aunt Helen (Spenst) Friesen wrote of him in her "Kith & Kin" books in the 1960s.
Elisabeth Giesbrecht, b.6/1/1848 in South Russia, d.1/19/1883. She had nine children, of whom only three grew to adulthood.She died in childbirth. (Another source has birthdate as 5/1/1848 (West Reserve Bergthal Church Record [1885-1895] Vol. A, p.129).)
3rd Great-Grandparents
Cornelius Fehr, b.3/22/1818 in Chortitza Colony, South Russia, d.4/20/1900. R287-1. His n.s. birth date was 4/4/1818. He married Maria Schmidt on 7/15/1836. The first Veer/Fehr ancestor to come to North America!
Maria Schmidt, b.12/4/1808 in South Russia, d.1894. (One record says she was born 4 Dec 1818, but baptism at age 10 is problematic). Age 66 on ship passenger list, age 73 in 1881 Manitoba census. They had 8 children, but only 5 survived to adulthood.
4th Great-Grandparents
Jacob De Fehr, b.11/13/1780 in Krebsfelde, Gross Werder, Prussia, d.1823. He is listed in Neuendorf #6 in the 1802 Chortitza Colony Census. The 1808 Census states he came from Krebsfeld, Elbing District, Prussia in 1795 and lists him at #5 in Neuendorf with his parents (B.H.Unruh p.267). In the 1814 Census he is listed at #19 in Neu-Osterwick with his parents (B.H.Unruh p.284). A child, Peter (b.ca1791) is listed with him in the 1802 Census. How this child is related to him is uncertain, but he could be a son of Johann Driedger by a wife other than Maria (b.1780-81). A foster son named Cornelius, age 12, is listed with his family in the Oct 1816 Census. He married Maria Kristina Peters, Aug 1801 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, South Russia.
Maria Kristina Peters, b.3/1/1781 in Prussia. She married (1)Johan Driedger in 1801, d.6/ /1801 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, South Russia, Johan: In the 1776 W. Prussia Census he is listed in Lakendorf with 1 son and 1 daughter (H.Penner, p.427). He migrated from Prussia to Neuendorf, Chortitza, S. Russia in 1795 (P.Rempel, p.35). At the time of his death in 1801 he was living at Neuendorf #6 (B.H.Unruh, p.249). Reimer p.123: "So meldete sich [for emigration to Russia] beim Stadtgericht in Elbing 1793 der Einwohner Hans Driedger von der Zeierschen Campe..." She married (2)Jacob De Fehr, Aug 1801 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, South Russia.
5th Great-Grandparents
Benjamin De Fehr, b.Abt1733 in Klein Mausdorf, Gross Werder, Prussia, d.1822 in South Russia. A chart found in Folder 411 of the Hermann Thiessen Collection states that Benjamin Defehr (b.ca 1733) was first married to a Helena Bergen and that he was later married to Anna Waberstein, who was the mother of all of his known children. The Old Colony by Henry Schapansky on p.288 and p.448 says Benjamin Defehr (b.ca 1733) married Anna Bergen in Oct 1761 and that she was the mother of all of his children.
He lived in Klein Mausdorf, Prussia. He may have been the Benjamin De Veer who was a Lehrer (teacher) in Rueckenau, Prussia in 1771. He migrated from Prussia to the Chortitza Colony, S. Russia in 1789 (P.Rempel, p.36). In the 1795 Chortitza Colony Census he is listed at Neuendorf #8 (B.H.Unruh, p.240), in the 1801 and 1802 Censuses at Neuendorf #32 (B.H.Unruh, p.255), in the 1808 Census at Neuendorf #5 (B.H.Unruh, p.267), and in the 1814 and Oct 1816 Censuses at Neu Osterwick #19 (Unruh, p.284). The ages given in the various censuses don't all reflect a birth year of 1733. He may have come from Krebsfelde, Prussia, since his son Jacob is said to have come from there (B.H.Unruh, p.267). Cornelius A. DeFehr (b.10/6/1881) #201720, however, says he came from Heubuden (Memories of My Life, p.1). He married Anna Bergen, Oct 1761 in Prussia.
Anna Bergen, b.1736 in Prussia, d.Aft 1814 in South Russia. Her maiden name was reportedly either Waberstein or Bergen per Hannah Rempel's 6/30/1989 letter to Tim Janzen. John Howard de Veer states she married Cornelius B. De Fehr in 1802 and that Cornelius had a first wife whose first name was Helena. This is in disagreement with the 1795 census which states he was married to Anna in 1795 per B.H.Unruh p.240.
6th Great-Grandparents
Benjamin De Veer, b.1696 in Danzig, Poland, d.5/15/1743 in Stolzenberg, Danzig, Prussia. He was a haberdasher and lived in Schidlitz and Stoltzenberg by Danzig. He married (1)Barbara "Barbke" Momber on 9/27/1716 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland, b.6/24/1663 in Prussia, d.4/18/1726 in Danzig, Poland, Barbara: Hans & Barbke were married at Easter 1694. He married (2)Elisabeth "Liescke" Wiens on 11/12/1730 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland.
Elisabeth "Liescke" Wiens, b. 7/2/1709 in Danzig, Poland, d.9/17/1741 in Stolzenberg, Danzig, Prussia.
7th Great-Grandparents
Cornelius De Veer, b.Abt1663 in Danzig, Poland. He married _____ _____.
. _____ _____.
8th Great-Grandparents
Gysbert De Veer, b.2/23/1640 in Danzig, Poland, d. 8/20/1693 in Schottland, Danzig, Prussia. This man is said to be the ancestor of the DeVeers who migrated to Russia and later to North America. He married Catharina von Roy, 0n 11/17/1669 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland.
Catharina von Roy, b.Abt 1639 in Danzig, Poland, d.10/27/1718 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland. Died at age 79yrs. She married (1)Gysbert De Veer on 11/17/1669 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland. She married (2)Jacob Steboy, 12/1/1697 in Danzig-Stadtgebiet, Poland.
9th Great-Grandparents
Gysbert Gijsbertsz De Veer, b.11/7/1600 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, d.2/16/1646 in Poggenpfuhl, Danzig, Prussia. He married (1)Anna Von Buygen, 2/2/1625 in Danzig, Poland, b.6/8/1589, d. 2/15/1627 in Danzig, Poland, Anna: One record says she was born 6 Aug 1589 (8/6 vs. 6/8). He married (2)Maria van Dijck on 5/7/1628 in Danzig, Poland.
Maria van Dijck, b.7/31/1606 in Danzig, Poland, d.8/30/1676 in Danzig, Poland.
10th Great-Grandparents
Gijbert Jansz. de Veer, born at Schiedam 5/14/1556, koopman in granen te Dantzig en Amsterdam, poorter van Amsterdam 1601, + Dantzig 5/17/1615, tr. Amsterdam in 1580 Debora Harnasveger, geb. aldaar, + Dantzig 8/14/1627, dau. of van Claes Jacobsz. Harnasveger en Weyn Pieters.
Uit dit huwelijk:
Nicolaes (de Veer; zie voor hem en zijn nageslacht Nederl. Patriciaat 1968, jaargang 54. 2. Abraham, volgt IIa. 3. Anneke de Veer, geb. Dantzig in 1588, tr. Amsterdam (ondertr. Amsterdam 6 maart) 1612 Abraham van Amersfoort, geb. Dantzig 4/30/1565, zn. van Hans van Amersfoort en Cecilia Fijans en weduwnaar van Elisabeth Rijkaerts. 4. Hans, volgt IIb. 5. Cornelius, volgt IIc. 6. Jacob, volgt IId. 7. Gijsberf, volgt IIe.
English: He was the son of Jan deVeer. According to the Canadian Mennonite Encyclopedia, Gysbert Janszoon de Veer was a grain merchant, who ca. 1580 may have settled at Danzig, Prussia and then moved back to Amsterdam, where he obtained his citizenship in 1601. He returned to Danzig where he died. He married Debora Claesdochter Harnasveger, 1580 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.
Debora Claesdochter Harnasveger, b.1560 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, d. 8/14/1627 in Danzig, Poland. The following information is from Fred Tiedemann Croese's genealogy site at: http://users.bart.nl/~ftc/index.html
"Claesdochter" (Claes's daughter) is a patronymic, which was the usual Dutch naming method of the day. IX 485 Debora * Amsterdam um 1560, + Danzig 14.8.1627. oo Amsterdam 1580 Gysbert Janszoon de Veer.
11th Great-Grandparents
Jan De Veer, b.8/11/1521 in Veere, Zeeland, Netherlands. X Jan, lebte in Schiedam. (Mittlg. d. Sipp-Verb. Danziger Menn, Göttg. 1939).
An archivist in the archives office in Veere, Holland suggested that our DeVeer family could have originated in Schiedam where many Veere residents fled to after Veere came under the control of the Duke of Burgundy in the early 16th century (as a result of the Dowery of his new wife). He said these refugees usually adopted the name DeVeer.
In the tower of the local 500 year old City Hall there is a citizen registry book started in the 15th century. There is an entry for Janss Gysbrecht (Janss. Gijsbrecht), born 8/11/1521. The archivist speculated that this could be the father of our earliest known ancestor Gysbert Jansz DeVeer (1556-1615) if he had moved from Veere to Schiedam, as the name of the son then was usually the father's but reversed. Schiedam was a trading port under the control of one of the Mercantile Trading Companies established by the state and all the records about its citizens prior to approximately 1700 were taken to the state archives in Amsterdam where they remain. He married _____ _____.
____ _____.
