The flag of Grafschaft Bentheim, Germany
The County (Grafschaft in German) of Bentheim is a district (landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany, right on the German-Dutch border. It borders the Dutch Provinces of Overijissel (home of my TerVree ancestors) and Drenthe (home of my Strick ancestors). Back in the days of the Holy Roman Empire, the territory that is now Grafschaft Bentheim was a State of the Empire known, not surprisingly, as the County of Bentheim.
The County has a turbulent history, and according to Harger, "the people of Bentheim have never lost their independence. They became Hanoverians; they were invaded by Napoleon. Prussia took them over in 1866. They lived under the Kaiser and under Hitler. Through all this they came with good courage. If you ask them today about their identity, they just might tell you, 'Wy bin't Groofschappers' (We are from the County)." Some important events in Bentheim history include:
100 AD: Twente was part of independent Frisia. The Tubanti tribe lived in this area.
719: Charles Martel conquered most of the area and incorporated it into the Carolingian empire.
828: A northern section split off of Twente and became an independent state called Bentheim, having their own counts to rule them almost as a separate country. The rest of Twente is now a part of the Netherlands.
1116: The castle of Bentheim is mentioned for the first time, its wooden structure being completely destroyed in a war between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Duke of Saxony. It was quickly rebuilt.
1277: The county is divided into Bentheim-Bentheim and Bentheim-Tecklenburg.
1312: Uelsen is taken from Twente & added to Bentheim.
1544: Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt united the counties of Bentheim and Steinfurt, a county just south of present Bentheim. He also made the county Lutheran. Churches turning from Catholic to Lutheran included the ones in Veldhausen, Uelsen and Neuenhaus.
1613: Count Arnold Jobst established the Reformed Church as the religion of the area, most churches then becoming Reformed. They remain Reformed to this day.
1618: The Thirty Years War brought a financial crisis; many towns were plundered by unpaid Catholic Spanish soldiers, seen as a punishment for the area becoming Reformed.
1636: The Plague hits the Bentheim; between fleeing to the Netherlands & dying from the plague, 2/3 of the people of Bentheim vanished.
1643: The county split in 2 again, our half being Bentheim-Bentheim.
1688: Count Ernest Willem became Roman Catholic which caused a fierce crisis. All Reformed pastors were expelled.
1702: Ernest Willem's son, Count Ernest, converted to Lutheranism. A new constitution was written up in favor of the Reformed churches.
1752: The Electorate of Hanover seized the county after 700 years of its fierce independence. Thus the King of England ended up ruling it from very far away.
1803: The house of Bentheim-Bentheim became extinct, and the count of Bentheim-Steinfurt obtained it, including the castle. This family owns the castle and rights to much of the land to this day.
1806: Bentheim spent 10 years being swapped from country to country. In 1806 it was incorporated into Prussia. Then in 1810 it was added to Napoleon’s empire. In 1815 Bentheim returned to Hanover.
1846: Many people who had joined a more conservative Reformed church joined many Dutch people in immigrating to America to worship the way they wanted. This immigration lasted through the 1880's.
1866: Bentheim and Hanover were incorporated into Prussia, then Germany.
Source: Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim, WikiTree One Place Studies Project
The County of Bentheim is composed largely of fenland, a type of peat-accumulating wetland, and early settlement was concentrated along the banks of the rivers which pass through the county. In culture and language, the Bentheim shares more with Dutch culture then German, which is probably why many Bentheimers in the United States listed their native land as the Netherlands. One longstanding tradition in the Bentheim is that of arranged marriages. In the old days, the parents arranged for their children to marry a distant relative. Weddings lasted three days with each invited guest giving about 100 DM ($50 in 1988) to the newly married couple. The couple signed the marriage contract before the ceremony. The presentation of the dowry and hope chest was part of the ceremony.
In my Genealogical research, my Bentheimer ancestors have been among my most complicated.
GROTE
For the longest time, my 3rd great grandmother, Jennie Grote, was one of my more confusing ancestors. Her birth date was always changing around, but for now it seems she was born on February 14, 1872, and baptized on the 23rd in Uelsen, Grafschaft Bentheim. She was also married three times, which always complicates things.
Her parents were Jan Hendrik Grote and Geertje Laarman, who both appear in the "Emigrants from Grafschaft Bentheim List" compiled by the Bentheimers International Society:
Groote, Jan Hendrik—born 1835, married Geerdjen Laarman, from Haftenkamp to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1881
Laarman, Geerdjen—born 1845, married Jan Hindrik Grote, from Haftenkamp to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1881
The couple apparently immigrated to the United States of America in 1881, probably for religious reasons, and settled in Allegan County, Michigan. They appear to have lived in Allegan County for the rest of their lives, as Jan Hendrik died in Fillmore, Allegan on December 4, 1915 and Geerdjen died in Fillmore on January 17, 1922. With the limited information available on this couple, we can draw up a basic family tree. The couple married in Wilsum, Grafschaft Bentheim on January 31, 1864 and had at least three children born in the County before emigration. Their ancestry can be traced to their parents, but no further at the moment. Jan Hendrik was the son of Berend Grote and his wife Janna, and Geerdjen was the daughter of Hendrik Laarman and his wife Miena. This family is definitely a subject of future research, as it appears they moved around quite a bit in the Bentheim- baptizing children in Uelsen, marrying in Wilsum, and apparently residing in Haftenkamp as well.
HARMSEN
Even more complicated then the Grote family has been the origins of my great-great grandmother, Minnie Harmsen, wife of the notorious Albert Ver Hoef. Until last summer, her origins were basically one of my biggest brick walls. My research as of last summer showed that she was born circa September 1882 in the Netherlands, and was the daughter of Lucas Harmsen, who is named in her marriage record to Albert. A family reunion document in the possession of my maternal grandfather lists her mother as Zwenna Huls. She emigrated to the United States around 1890-1892, my final immigrant ancestor, and according to her obituary was 8 when she came to this country. In 1900 she was living in Saugatuck, in Allegan County, Michigan, as a servant girl for the Rogers family. On September 4, 1903 she married Albert Ver Hoef and from there her life is pretty well documented.
However, I could never find any possible candidates for her parents. No births on WieWasWie that could possibly match her, either. So I posted on the Genealogy Subreddit hoping somebody could help me break this brick wall, and it seems we did- she was born in the Bentheim!
From research conducted by a user named Contraseign, it appears that she was baptized as Harmina on September 9, 1880 in Itterbeck, Grafschaft Bentheim, a daughter of Lucas Harmsen and Swenne Hülshuis. This seems to match well with the family reunion documents mentioned earlier, that record that Minnie was a descendant of a Gerrit Jan Vos- apparently, that is her maternal grandfather! He was apparently born in Höcklenkamp, Grafschaft Bentheim in 1835. I also remember seeing some DNA matches that appeared to come from this family, so it seems like we've finally found her origin!
Although more research is needed, particularly into her cause for emigration (possibly coming from the fact that both of her parents were dead by the time that she was 11, and she was in the hands of step-parents), it appears fairly certain that her ancestry can be traced in the Bentheim back to at least the 1700s on a couple of lines. The source I used for much of research however, the "Ortsfamilienbuch Uelsen Familienbericht" seems to lead to more questions then answers. For example, why do a lot of children seem to be taking their mother's names? More research is needed.
THE BENTHEIMER ANCESTRY OF MY GIRLFRIEND
In doing Toni's genealogy, I have discovered that Bentheimer ancestry is fairly well distributed among the community of Dutch Americans in West Michigan. She descends from the following emigrants listed in the "Emigrants from Grafschaft Bentheim List":
- DeGroot, Hindrikje—born 1832, married Hermannus Timmer, from Vorwald to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1872
- Jacobs, Jan Hendrik—born 1867, married Anna Timmer, from Uelsen to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1885
- Lubbers, Berend—born 1802, married Jenne Miskotten, from Neuringe to Ottawa County, Michigan, emigrated 1857
- Lubbers, Hendrik—born 1837, married Zw. Schrotenboer, from Neuringe to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1856
- Miskotten, Jenne—born 1813, married Berend Lubbers, from Tinholt to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1857
- Speet, Gerrit Jan—born 1825, married Zwantje Kropschot, from Bahne to Allegan County, Michigan, emigrated 1847
- Timmer, Hermannes—born 1833, married Hendrikje DeGroot, from Vorwald to Ottawa County, Michigan, emigrated 1872
While I still know very little about the Grafschaft Bentheim or her culture and history, I am still proud of my origins there, and it is an integral part of my ancestry. Our ancestors came from this rich and vibrant land, located in Germany but of Dutch culture, fiercely independent, of a checkered religious history, but still a glorious land. One day hopefully I will visit this land. Until then, I hope to eventually find a copy of Ludwig Sager's eminent book, "Die Grafschaft Bentheim in die Geschichte" (County Bentheim in History, or The History of The County of Bentheim). It would be excellent reading material.
SOURCES:
https://bentheimheritage.com/ The Bentheimers International Society
https://bentheimheritage.com/resources/emigrants-from-grafschaft-bentheim/ Emigrants from Grafschaft Bentheim List
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Landkreis_Grafschaft_Bentheim Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim
https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/gk16e5/help_breaking_through_a_break_wall_2x_great/ Help breaking through a brick wall (2x great grandmother, Michigan/Netherlands)
https://www.grafschafter-geschichte.de/ Die Grafschaft Bentheim in der Geschichte (The Grafschaft Bentheim in History)
“The Vechte River in Summer” by Gary Gemmen
The Emlichheim Baptismal Font (Taufstein)
Long Live the County of Bentheim!
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