The Menkens family genealogy page traces the descendants of Johann Menkens, born in 1615 in Bergedorf, Oldenburg, Germany; died March 25, 1674 in Landwehr, Ganderkesee, Oldenburg, Germany. Johann married Wunneke Osterloh (b. 1622, d. May 14, 1681) on December 3, 1643 in Doetlingen, Germany.
Johann and Wunneke had six children:
1. Menke Menkens, b. 1646, d. June 5, 1730; married Alcke Strodthoff
2. Johann Menkens, b. April 20, 1652, d. April ?; married Giesel Lange
3. Wunneke Menkens, b. March 7, 1655, d. August 13, 1714; married Tonjes Lindemann
4. Gesche Menkens, b. May 10, 1659, d. ?
5. Catharine Hedwig Menkens, b. May 15, 1663, d. ?
6. Hinrich Menkens, b. July 18, 1666, d. November 13, 1732; married Lucke Strodthoff
The descendents link at the bottom of this page lists the heirs of Hinrich and Lucke through present day.
Descendents of a separate Menkens family (apparently related distantly and only by marriage tracing back nine generations) may be found following the list of Hinrich and Lucke's descendents.
A second link below shows a timeline of major events in the life of Johann's great-great-great-grandson, Herman Menkens (b. December 14, 1812, d. December 3, 1870).
All names and dates shown as fact in the descendents list and the timeline are supported by documents such as birth or baptismal certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, census records, ship passenger lists, probate records, church records, and cemetery records. Those with unknown first or last names or approximate dates have been noted with a question mark. (Hopefully, all those question marks will eventually be replaced with facts!)
This project has been a fascinating and ongoing journey which has been much more than gathering names and dates. It is difficult to describe that journey without resorting to cliche phrases, so that description will have to be left to the reader's imagination. It would have been nearly impossible to have pulled this together without the help of others --- thank you to the many clerks in Knox, Cuming, and Dodge counties (Nebraska) for their patience and assistance; thank you to Claire of the Eastern Nebraska Genealogy Society; thank you to Earline at the Potter County (South Dakota) Museum; thank you to Peggy at the Potter County Library; thank you to Carolyn at the Lebanon, South Dakota Cemetery. A very special thank you to Dierk, the genealogist in Germany who supplied several generations of names and dates of ancestors born in Germany.
Perhaps the best part of this journey has been discovering a second cousin half way across the country who, by coincidence, was also working on the family history. A few months ago we each didn't know the other existed --- now I feel we've grown to be friends through sharing our discoveries (and defeats!). Thank you, Marlene, for your sense of humor and your email companionship!
Ceil Brown, Herman's great-great-granddaughter
Contact Ceil at the email address below.