Codes: * Born; + Died; ++ Location Buried; oo Married; ~ Baptized; um: about a year or date
Aan Loge: 'Is or as stated' or ‘as is laid out’ (Legal Term)
Altref., Altreformierte Kirche: Old Reformed Church (The original Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands)
Auf See: At sea
Antwerpen: Antwerp (Belgium)
Arbeider: Worker
Auswanderer: Emigrant (noun)
Bauer: Farmer or peasant
Bauerschaft: Farm community
Beeldwoordenboek: Picture word book: Picture dictionary
Belmondich: Arable land (from Latin arabilis, "able to be plowed") capable of being plowed and to grow crops. This type of land was traditionally contrasted with pasture land such as heaths which was used for livestock grazing.
Beruf: Occupation, e.g. a vervener's occupation is fabric dyer
Capitulare: A text composed in c. 771–800 that guided the governance of the royal estates during the later years of the reign of Charlemagne (c. 768–814). It lists, in no particular order, a series of rules and regulations on how to manage the lands, animals, justice, and overall administration of the king's property and assets. This document was meant to lay out the instructions and criteria for managing Charlemagne's estates and was thus, an important part of his reform of Carolingian government and administration.
Colon (Kolon):
Colon is the term for an independent farmer who has inheritable rights to a piece of land, but not outright ownership of the land. Specifically, a Colon was a class of farmer who held permanent farmland leases from worldly and ecclesiastic aristocracies over many generations but were obligated to make payments and render services. The church or the nobility usually owned the land that was leased to a Colon.
A Colon could be a full farmer of an old, original farm or he might be someone who inherited a farm (Erbe). Under the feudal system, Colons were still regarded as serfs as they did not own their land. Instead, they were given hereditary rights to a piece of land. "Colon" goes back to the Latin term "colonus". In the times of the Roman Republic a Colon was a free Roman farmer who had settled in the newly conquered territories.
In Germany, a "Colon" was a farmer who lived in serfdom to his landlord but had a document (Colonatsvertrag) that gave him privileged inheritable rights. In general, this meant that the Colonatsvertrag could be passed to a spouse or to a daughter or son. The family was allowed to stay on their farm as long as there was a lawful successor in the family.
The farm name was the surname of the original owner named in the "Colonatsvertrag". Thus, the name of the farm never changed, even if it was purchased or inherited by someone outside of the family. Under this system, if someone outside of the family purchased the family farm, the new owners would change their last name to the name of the farm. If a daughter or widow inherited the farm and later married, her husband took her surname in order for the original farm name to remain intact. This happened a few times in the Kleine Masselink genealogy.
The occupational term 'Colon' is derived from the term 'Colonat', which is a full size farm, including housing, buildings, land, livestock and live-in laborers and other staff. Occupations such as cottager (Kötter, Koetter, Halbbauer) and tenant farmer (Heürling) could also be represented on a Colonat. The farm of a cottager was generally a sub-division of an old farm. The cottager may have held title to his property, but his land rarely provided for all the needs of his family. Therefore, the cottager usually had to supplement his income by working for his Colon or in some other trade. A tenant farmer leased a small house from his Colon and was obliged to work for his landlord in exchange for a small piece of land to be cultivated for personal use. The tenant farmer did not hold title to the property he worked. Several generations of Kleine Masseling's were cottagers and later, Colons.
Most of my ancestors were farmers and lived in Eastern Netherlands and the Bauerschaft of Hardinghausen, Germany. Bauerschafts are farm communities comprised of a number of Hofs (farms) which were numbered, similar to house numbers today. The church and the nobility owned the land, which was usually leased to a Zeller or a Colon (= an independent farmer). Colon is derived from Colonat (= a full sized-farm, including a farmhouse, land and living-in laborers and other staff). Occupations such as cottager (= Kötter, Koetter, Halbbauer), tenant farmer (= Heürling) also occurred. A tenant farmer leased a small house from the cottager and was obliged to work for his landlord, in exchange for a small piece of land to be cultivated for personal use. The terms Colon and Zeller are no longer in use. They can be compared to the current term Landwirt.
Colonat (Kolonat): The farmstead. If someone acquired the rights to a farm, their surname changed to that of the farm.
CRC: Christian Reformed Church
Deutsch: German
Echtgenoot: Husband
Eingew., eingewandert: To emigrate (verb)
Eltern: Parents
Erbe (Inheritance): A farm that that is inherited or inheritable. It might be an erbe (full inheritance of a farm) or a 3/4 erbe, 1/2 erbe, or 1/4 erbe based on how the original farm was split when it was inherited.
Erbkötter: A farmer who farmed inherited land
Erbtochter: Heiress; A daughter who inherited a farm
Erfnaam: (Dutch) Farm name; The surname workers who lived on a farm would take when they lived on that farm
Erve: From Middle Dutch erf, erve plot of ground, inheritance; akin to Old High German erbe
Ev. ref., Evangelische Reformierte: Evangelical Reformed (Church)
Francais: French
Geb., geboren: Born as; One's surname before marriage (i.e., née). Males in Germany would also change their surname to their wife's surname at the time of marriage if they moved onto their wife's farm after marriage; e.g. Albert Grote Masselink, geb. Jongerink (See Rufname)
Gen., Genannt: Stated, as when two last names are joined
Getauft: Baptized
Grafschaft: County
Groot: Big (great, large)
Grote (Grosse): Large
Heath: An upland moor or sandy area dominated by low shrubby vegetation including heather.
Heürling: Tenant farmer
Huguenot: French Calvinist
ing/ink: Suffix, meaning belonging to...often referred to a farm that was owned, e.g., Hesselink is a name of a farm.
Kleine: Small
Koopman: Merchant (Kaufman in German)
Korresp., Korrespondenz: Correspondence
Kötter (Cottager): A farmer with title to a small piece of farmland which is not self-supporting.
Ledemat: A register of all the members of a church. This term was often used in the Dutch Reformed Church.
L.D.S.: Licence/Licentiate in Dental Surgery (Eugene and Ben Masselink's father had this degree...see STORIES)
Masse: Variant of Mace 1. French (Picardy): Metonymic occupational name from masse ‘mace’, ‘hammer’. 2. French habitational name from places called Masse (Allier and Cô-d’Or), La Masse (Eure, Lot, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire) or French (Massé) habitational name from a place called Massé in Maine-et-Loire, so named from Gallo-Roman Macciacum (from the personal name Maccius + the locative suffix -acum). 3. Dutch: From Middle Dutch masse ‘clog’; ‘cudgel’, perhaps a metonymic occupational name of someone who wielded a club.
Masse d'armes (mace): A simple weapon that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows.
Markkötter: A farmer who's farm is made from communal land.
Moor(s): An area of open ground overlaid with wet peaty soils.
Nederlands: Dutch (as in Dutch language).
Neubauer (New farmer): A farmer with a farm made from reclaimed land or a name for a settler who is new to an area (from Middle High German niu (new) + ((ge)bure (settler, resident, peasant or farmer (Bauer)).
Pachter: The renter or tenant of a farm.
Plautdietsch; Plattdeutch: (Low German) The German dialect spoken by my Masselink ancestors in Grafschaft Bentheim.
Röm. kath., Römische Katholik: Roman Catholic
Rufname: The last name of a man who took his wife's last name when he got married; Her surname is his rufname (The last name he would go by after marriage)
sal. Abbreviation of the Dutch word "salig", meaning deceased.
Schipper: Skipper, the master of a ship
Stamboon: Family Tree (Dutch)
Steine altref.: Stone Old Reformed Church?
Timmerman: Carpenter (Dutch); Literally: room man (Zimmerman in German)
Vervener: One who's occupation is to dye fabric
Wohnort: Place of residence
Aan Loge: 'Is or as stated' or ‘as is laid out’ (Legal Term)
Altref., Altreformierte Kirche: Old Reformed Church (The original Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands)
Auf See: At sea
Antwerpen: Antwerp (Belgium)
Arbeider: Worker
Auswanderer: Emigrant (noun)
Bauer: Farmer or peasant
Bauerschaft: Farm community
Beeldwoordenboek: Picture word book: Picture dictionary
Belmondich: Arable land (from Latin arabilis, "able to be plowed") capable of being plowed and to grow crops. This type of land was traditionally contrasted with pasture land such as heaths which was used for livestock grazing.
Beruf: Occupation, e.g. a vervener's occupation is fabric dyer
Capitulare: A text composed in c. 771–800 that guided the governance of the royal estates during the later years of the reign of Charlemagne (c. 768–814). It lists, in no particular order, a series of rules and regulations on how to manage the lands, animals, justice, and overall administration of the king's property and assets. This document was meant to lay out the instructions and criteria for managing Charlemagne's estates and was thus, an important part of his reform of Carolingian government and administration.
Colon (Kolon):
Colon is the term for an independent farmer who has inheritable rights to a piece of land, but not outright ownership of the land. Specifically, a Colon was a class of farmer who held permanent farmland leases from worldly and ecclesiastic aristocracies over many generations but were obligated to make payments and render services. The church or the nobility usually owned the land that was leased to a Colon.
A Colon could be a full farmer of an old, original farm or he might be someone who inherited a farm (Erbe). Under the feudal system, Colons were still regarded as serfs as they did not own their land. Instead, they were given hereditary rights to a piece of land. "Colon" goes back to the Latin term "colonus". In the times of the Roman Republic a Colon was a free Roman farmer who had settled in the newly conquered territories.
In Germany, a "Colon" was a farmer who lived in serfdom to his landlord but had a document (Colonatsvertrag) that gave him privileged inheritable rights. In general, this meant that the Colonatsvertrag could be passed to a spouse or to a daughter or son. The family was allowed to stay on their farm as long as there was a lawful successor in the family.
The farm name was the surname of the original owner named in the "Colonatsvertrag". Thus, the name of the farm never changed, even if it was purchased or inherited by someone outside of the family. Under this system, if someone outside of the family purchased the family farm, the new owners would change their last name to the name of the farm. If a daughter or widow inherited the farm and later married, her husband took her surname in order for the original farm name to remain intact. This happened a few times in the Kleine Masselink genealogy.
The occupational term 'Colon' is derived from the term 'Colonat', which is a full size farm, including housing, buildings, land, livestock and live-in laborers and other staff. Occupations such as cottager (Kötter, Koetter, Halbbauer) and tenant farmer (Heürling) could also be represented on a Colonat. The farm of a cottager was generally a sub-division of an old farm. The cottager may have held title to his property, but his land rarely provided for all the needs of his family. Therefore, the cottager usually had to supplement his income by working for his Colon or in some other trade. A tenant farmer leased a small house from his Colon and was obliged to work for his landlord in exchange for a small piece of land to be cultivated for personal use. The tenant farmer did not hold title to the property he worked. Several generations of Kleine Masseling's were cottagers and later, Colons.
Most of my ancestors were farmers and lived in Eastern Netherlands and the Bauerschaft of Hardinghausen, Germany. Bauerschafts are farm communities comprised of a number of Hofs (farms) which were numbered, similar to house numbers today. The church and the nobility owned the land, which was usually leased to a Zeller or a Colon (= an independent farmer). Colon is derived from Colonat (= a full sized-farm, including a farmhouse, land and living-in laborers and other staff). Occupations such as cottager (= Kötter, Koetter, Halbbauer), tenant farmer (= Heürling) also occurred. A tenant farmer leased a small house from the cottager and was obliged to work for his landlord, in exchange for a small piece of land to be cultivated for personal use. The terms Colon and Zeller are no longer in use. They can be compared to the current term Landwirt.
Colonat (Kolonat): The farmstead. If someone acquired the rights to a farm, their surname changed to that of the farm.
CRC: Christian Reformed Church
Deutsch: German
Echtgenoot: Husband
Eingew., eingewandert: To emigrate (verb)
Eltern: Parents
Erbe (Inheritance): A farm that that is inherited or inheritable. It might be an erbe (full inheritance of a farm) or a 3/4 erbe, 1/2 erbe, or 1/4 erbe based on how the original farm was split when it was inherited.
Erbkötter: A farmer who farmed inherited land
Erbtochter: Heiress; A daughter who inherited a farm
Erfnaam: (Dutch) Farm name; The surname workers who lived on a farm would take when they lived on that farm
Erve: From Middle Dutch erf, erve plot of ground, inheritance; akin to Old High German erbe
Ev. ref., Evangelische Reformierte: Evangelical Reformed (Church)
Francais: French
Geb., geboren: Born as; One's surname before marriage (i.e., née). Males in Germany would also change their surname to their wife's surname at the time of marriage if they moved onto their wife's farm after marriage; e.g. Albert Grote Masselink, geb. Jongerink (See Rufname)
Gen., Genannt: Stated, as when two last names are joined
Getauft: Baptized
Grafschaft: County
Groot: Big (great, large)
Grote (Grosse): Large
Heath: An upland moor or sandy area dominated by low shrubby vegetation including heather.
Heürling: Tenant farmer
Huguenot: French Calvinist
ing/ink: Suffix, meaning belonging to...often referred to a farm that was owned, e.g., Hesselink is a name of a farm.
Kleine: Small
Koopman: Merchant (Kaufman in German)
Korresp., Korrespondenz: Correspondence
Kötter (Cottager): A farmer with title to a small piece of farmland which is not self-supporting.
Ledemat: A register of all the members of a church. This term was often used in the Dutch Reformed Church.
L.D.S.: Licence/Licentiate in Dental Surgery (Eugene and Ben Masselink's father had this degree...see STORIES)
Masse: Variant of Mace 1. French (Picardy): Metonymic occupational name from masse ‘mace’, ‘hammer’. 2. French habitational name from places called Masse (Allier and Cô-d’Or), La Masse (Eure, Lot, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire) or French (Massé) habitational name from a place called Massé in Maine-et-Loire, so named from Gallo-Roman Macciacum (from the personal name Maccius + the locative suffix -acum). 3. Dutch: From Middle Dutch masse ‘clog’; ‘cudgel’, perhaps a metonymic occupational name of someone who wielded a club.
Masse d'armes (mace): A simple weapon that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows.
Markkötter: A farmer who's farm is made from communal land.
Moor(s): An area of open ground overlaid with wet peaty soils.
Nederlands: Dutch (as in Dutch language).
Neubauer (New farmer): A farmer with a farm made from reclaimed land or a name for a settler who is new to an area (from Middle High German niu (new) + ((ge)bure (settler, resident, peasant or farmer (Bauer)).
Pachter: The renter or tenant of a farm.
Plautdietsch; Plattdeutch: (Low German) The German dialect spoken by my Masselink ancestors in Grafschaft Bentheim.
Röm. kath., Römische Katholik: Roman Catholic
Rufname: The last name of a man who took his wife's last name when he got married; Her surname is his rufname (The last name he would go by after marriage)
sal. Abbreviation of the Dutch word "salig", meaning deceased.
Schipper: Skipper, the master of a ship
Stamboon: Family Tree (Dutch)
Steine altref.: Stone Old Reformed Church?
Timmerman: Carpenter (Dutch); Literally: room man (Zimmerman in German)
Vervener: One who's occupation is to dye fabric
Wohnort: Place of residence