HARDINGHAUSEN
Hardinghausen is my Masselink ancestral home
The Municipality of Gölenkamp is now comprised of Gölenkamp, Haftenkamp and Hardinghausen.
The distance from Hardinghausen to Gölenkamp is about 2 KM (1.2 Miles)
Hardinghausen is my Masselink ancestral home
The Municipality of Gölenkamp is now comprised of Gölenkamp, Haftenkamp and Hardinghausen.
The distance from Hardinghausen to Gölenkamp is about 2 KM (1.2 Miles)
My 'known by name' Masselink family roots go back many generations to the small farming community (Bauerschaft) of Hardinghausen, located near the town of Uelsen (Ülsen) in Grafschaft Bentheim (See map below). The local language on both sides of their shared German-Dutch border is called Plattdeutsch (low German) in German and Nedersaksisch (Lower Saxon) in Dutch. They did not learn how to properly speak the standard Hochdeutsch (high German) until they entered elementary school. Family baptisms, marriages and funerals took place at their church in Uelsen and these events were recorded in German at the Ülsen Town Hall. Uelsen lies about two miles south-southwest from Hardinghausen.
Most of the soil in this area is of poor quality. In some places it is uncultivated moor and heath (swamp and swale, which is a low or hollow place with a marshy depression between ridges). In the lower swampy sections, a thick fog arises from the frequent burning of the moors. In other places, it is a sticky muck that when dried is called peat and is used for fuel. Other areas are light and sandy - only suitable for raising sheep. Overall, the land is low, level, and does not appear to be very fertile except for the land near the Vechte River. As a result, most farmers there are not very prosperous.
Today, Hardinghausen is a Farming Community (Bauerschaft) known for its meadows and located in the County of Bentheim, State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany (Deutschland). A Bauerhof (farm) is defined as a tract of land with associated buildings used for agriculture. Throughout its history, Hardinghausen remained a small farming community with a population that rarely exceeded 100.
History of Hardinghausen
1700 BC Principal elders were "buried" here after the deceased were solemnly burned and their ashes were collected in urns. A simple hill indicated the place where the dead elders were interred. Such cemeteries still exist in Bentheim near Getelo and Hardinghausen. A gold cremation cup was found in this area (Gölenkamp) dating back to about 1700 BC.
Before 890 In the time of Charlemagne, "Hasungrun" (Hesingen), "Wllsehem" (Wilsum), and "Harthini" (Hard Ingen) were established villages in "Tuhiante" (the present Grafschaft Bentheim area).
Before 1660 Hardinghausen was founded when the descendants of the Hardi family split off from the Haftenkamp community (Abspliß von Haftenkamp, Häuser der Nachkommen des Hardi). Although the date of the split is unknown, we know it occurred before 1660.
1769 Tax records show that in 1769 the Hardinghausen community consisted of some 328 hectare (about 760 acres) broken into 1 whole farm, three 3/4 farms, one 1/2 farm. and three 1/4 farms. Speculation: Doing the math and allowing for roads and other land uses, a whole farm could have been about 160 acres, a 3/4 farm-about 120 acres, a 1/2 farm-about 80 acres, and a 1/4 farm-about 40 acres. Assuming that farms were not split more than once in Hardinghausen as part of an inheritance, two farms could have remained intact (the whole farm and the half farm) and three farms could have been split into six farms (e.g., three grote 3/4 farms and three 1/4 kleine farms).
1821 The population of Hardinghausen was 74
1895 Hardinghausen: Dorf / Landgemeinde in Deutschland, Königreich Preussen, Provinz Hannover, Regierungsbezirk Osnabrück, Kreis Grafschaft Bentheim
1910 December 1 The population of Hardinghausen is 57
1927 The population of Hardinghausen is 71
1929 April 1 Hardinghausen is incorporated into the district of Bentheim Gölenkamp. Since then, Gölenkamp, Haftenkamp, and Hardinghausen comprise the district of Bentheim Gölenkamp. Gölenkamp is now one of seven municipalities comprising the Uelsen collective municipality (Samtgemeinde). Source: Yearbook of the Home Club of Bentheim 1926 (Jahrbuch des Heimatvereins Grafschaft Bentheim von 1926) Submitted by Dirk Sichler
Most of the soil in this area is of poor quality. In some places it is uncultivated moor and heath (swamp and swale, which is a low or hollow place with a marshy depression between ridges). In the lower swampy sections, a thick fog arises from the frequent burning of the moors. In other places, it is a sticky muck that when dried is called peat and is used for fuel. Other areas are light and sandy - only suitable for raising sheep. Overall, the land is low, level, and does not appear to be very fertile except for the land near the Vechte River. As a result, most farmers there are not very prosperous.
Today, Hardinghausen is a Farming Community (Bauerschaft) known for its meadows and located in the County of Bentheim, State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany (Deutschland). A Bauerhof (farm) is defined as a tract of land with associated buildings used for agriculture. Throughout its history, Hardinghausen remained a small farming community with a population that rarely exceeded 100.
History of Hardinghausen
1700 BC Principal elders were "buried" here after the deceased were solemnly burned and their ashes were collected in urns. A simple hill indicated the place where the dead elders were interred. Such cemeteries still exist in Bentheim near Getelo and Hardinghausen. A gold cremation cup was found in this area (Gölenkamp) dating back to about 1700 BC.
Before 890 In the time of Charlemagne, "Hasungrun" (Hesingen), "Wllsehem" (Wilsum), and "Harthini" (Hard Ingen) were established villages in "Tuhiante" (the present Grafschaft Bentheim area).
Before 1660 Hardinghausen was founded when the descendants of the Hardi family split off from the Haftenkamp community (Abspliß von Haftenkamp, Häuser der Nachkommen des Hardi). Although the date of the split is unknown, we know it occurred before 1660.
1769 Tax records show that in 1769 the Hardinghausen community consisted of some 328 hectare (about 760 acres) broken into 1 whole farm, three 3/4 farms, one 1/2 farm. and three 1/4 farms. Speculation: Doing the math and allowing for roads and other land uses, a whole farm could have been about 160 acres, a 3/4 farm-about 120 acres, a 1/2 farm-about 80 acres, and a 1/4 farm-about 40 acres. Assuming that farms were not split more than once in Hardinghausen as part of an inheritance, two farms could have remained intact (the whole farm and the half farm) and three farms could have been split into six farms (e.g., three grote 3/4 farms and three 1/4 kleine farms).
1821 The population of Hardinghausen was 74
1895 Hardinghausen: Dorf / Landgemeinde in Deutschland, Königreich Preussen, Provinz Hannover, Regierungsbezirk Osnabrück, Kreis Grafschaft Bentheim
- Gesamtumfang (Total Area): 142,0 ha, (1895) comprising one Wohnplatz (Community) with eleven Gebäude (buildings)
- Zuständigkeit/Einrichtungen: Amtsgericht Neuenhaus, Standesamt Ülsen
- Population (Einwohner): 69
1910 December 1 The population of Hardinghausen is 57
1927 The population of Hardinghausen is 71
1929 April 1 Hardinghausen is incorporated into the district of Bentheim Gölenkamp. Since then, Gölenkamp, Haftenkamp, and Hardinghausen comprise the district of Bentheim Gölenkamp. Gölenkamp is now one of seven municipalities comprising the Uelsen collective municipality (Samtgemeinde). Source: Yearbook of the Home Club of Bentheim 1926 (Jahrbuch des Heimatvereins Grafschaft Bentheim von 1926) Submitted by Dirk Sichler
Google Map of Hardinghausen, Uelsen and the surrounding area
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.535806,7.00849,10z?hl=en-US
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hardinghausen(G%C3%B6lenkamp)+Transformator/@52.5281019,6.8987944,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47b7f7b132670029:0x45635e3e13f3acf4!8m2!3d52.528846!4d6.899878?hl=en-US
Map: The red arrow shows the location of Hardinghausen
-Zoom out to see the villages of Gölenkamp and Uelsen to the south.
-Zoom out to see the Dutch border to the north, south and west.
-The distance from Hardinghausen to Gölenkamp is about 2 KM (1.2 Miles).
-The distance from Hardinghausen to Uelsen is about 3 KM (1.8 Miles).
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.535806,7.00849,10z?hl=en-US
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hardinghausen(G%C3%B6lenkamp)+Transformator/@52.5281019,6.8987944,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47b7f7b132670029:0x45635e3e13f3acf4!8m2!3d52.528846!4d6.899878?hl=en-US
Map: The red arrow shows the location of Hardinghausen
-Zoom out to see the villages of Gölenkamp and Uelsen to the south.
-Zoom out to see the Dutch border to the north, south and west.
-The distance from Hardinghausen to Gölenkamp is about 2 KM (1.2 Miles).
-The distance from Hardinghausen to Uelsen is about 3 KM (1.8 Miles).
< KLEINE MASSELINK FARM IN HARDINGHAUSEN
After a year of correspondence between Edward H. Masselink in Michigan and his contacts in Grafschaft Bentheim, one still cannot be sure that these are the exact buildings of the Kleine Masselink farm. If not, the farm they did live on would have been very similar, to include the wooden shoes worn by the man holding the pitch fork (second from the right).
As described, the house and barn are combined in a single building made of brick. Since the barn is closest to the road, the family had to walk through the barn to reach their living quarters. The "living room" and kitchen are combined in a single room with a floor made of large slabs of stones which were covered in a thin layer of sand (which was supposed to make sweeping easier). The yard, however, looks neat and the buildings appear to be in good repair. The newer part of this homestead bears the date of 1904; No one knew if the older part of the building dated back to our ancestor's time. Off to the left side of the picture is a long tool shed, and some machinery to include a single horse drawn hay rake. The letter stated that the horses and pigs were kept in yards near the buildings and the cows were herded daily to a pasture about a mile away.
SPECULATION: Our ancestors probably descend from either the original owner of the Masselink farms located in present day Mander and/or Vasse, Netherlands, or more likely, from someone who worked on these Masselink farms. As was the custom then, anyone who lived and worked on a farm changed their last name to the name of that farm, which in this case was a farm named "Masselink". Sometime before 1660 (and probably before 1380 or 1407), it appears that at least one Masselink (either a direct descendant of the original Masselink farm owner, or more likely, someone not related by blood to the original Masselink but who had taken 'Masselink' as their own last name because they or their ancestors had lived and worked on the original Masselink farm located in Mander or Vasse) traveled some 10 miles north from Vasse and/or Mander to Grafschaft Bentheim and acquired inheritable rights to land that became the Masselink farm in Hardinghausen. They were probably regarded as "Neubauer" (new farmers) who established their farm out of recently dried out and uninhabited heath and moor land. We know the location of the Masselink farm in Hardinghausen.
Almost all Kleine Masselink’s lived, and died in or near their small farm community of Hardinghausen or if they moved to their spouses’ location, they generally lived and died there. The last known person with the surname "Kleine Masselink" was born in 1866 and there are no known people with the surname Kleine Masselink living today. The surname Masselink (Dutch spelling of the German 'Masseling') was used after they emigrated to the Netherlands, Michigan and other places as the title ‘Kleine (Small) Farmer’ only meant something in Grafschaft Bentheim (now part of Germany) and in the official Kleine Masseling(k) government records recorded in German at the Town Hall in Uelsen, Grafschaft Bentheim. Our ancestors were German by nationality, but Dutch by culture and language, as a Dutch dialect (Plattdeutsch) was the primary language spoken in Grafschaft Bentheim both at home and in the church. Their children did not learn how to speak proper German until they attended school.
Facts about the Masselink farm in Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim:
Before 1380 In 1801, J. D. von Steinen wrote a history of the Westphalia region in Germany entitled: "Fortgesetzte westphälische Geschichte" (Continuing History of Westphalia). In this book, he states that official records of Grafschaft Bentheim show that between 1380 and 1386 "Verkauf einer Markengerechtigkeit auf dem Gut Masselink" (A common area on the Masselink estate (or farm) was sold).
1407 Masling (Masselink) Hardinghausen Farm is first recorded in tax records. It is located in Herdinghuesen (Hardinghausen) in the farm community (buerscap) of Havekinnchem in the Parish of Uelsen, Grafschaft Bentheim in what is now western Germany and some 10 miles north of Mander and Vasse in eastern Netherlands. My ancestors held title to this farm in Hardinghausen until they emigrated to the Michigan in 1882. Hardinghausen was founded as the home of the Hardi descendants who split off from the community of Haftenkamp (date unknown). There is no known record of who owned the Hardinghausen land originally or with whom or when the Masselink farm was divided into two unequal shares as part of inheritance transfers. It is possible that when the Masselink's first arrived in the Hardinghausen area, that they moved onto raw land which they converted into a farm. Before the final inheritance split into two parts, this farm contained about 50 acres.
This Masselink farm is located some 10 miles north of the original Masselink farms established near Mander and Vasse in the early 800's in what is now in eastern Netherlands. Our ancestors held a leasehold title to this Hardinghausen farm until they emigrated to the United States in 1882. There is no record of with whom or when or how often this Masselink farm was divided into two unequal shares as part of an inheritance transfer. After the farms was divided by inheritance, the family that got the bigger share became known as Grote Masselink and the family who got the smaller share became known as Kleine Masselink.
About 1743: The Masselink is farm is split 3/4 - 1/4 as a result of an inheritance. The Grote Masselink farm is about 37.3 acres, and the Kleine Masselink Farm is about 13.2 acres. The Kleine Masselink farm remained in the family until Hendrick Kleine Masselink departed Grafschaft Bentheim with his wife and daughters for Michigan in 1882. Some buildings still remain today on what was Kleine Masselink farm. It appears that the Grote Masselink farm became the property of the Kaptain family sometime after Alberda Grote Masselink married her cousin Derk Hindrik Kaptain in Uelsen on 25 April 1908. After the birth of Geertjen Grote Masselink in 1907 (daughter of Geerd Grote Masselink b. 1859), there are no known descendants with the surname Grote Masselink.
HARDINGHAUSEN SCHOOL DISTRICT
< Hardinghausen Elementary School
My ancestor's elementary school
School History (Schulgeschichte) of the Gölenkamp Elementary School (Volksschule)
In 1800, Hardinghausen establishes its own school district with classes held during the winter months only. In order to improve the quality of lower education in the County, mandatory year around school taught by a qualified teacher was first required in 1824. In 1853, the municipality of Hardinghausen is unable to pay a teacher year around so it joins the Gölenkamp school district and the children then go to Gölenkamp in the summer and to Hardinghausen in the winter. This is supported by a yearly funding of 45 marks from the County.
Shown above is the Hardinghausen elementary school that was used for winter classes until 1885. While it is not known when it was founded, it is probably the oldest elementary school in Grafschaft Bentheim. Many thought that the school building looked like a barn for sheep. There were three or four tables with benches for seats. The narrow "class room" also contained a stove and a desk for the teacher, with peat and wood used as fuel for the stove located in the attic. This requires the teacher to use a ladder when the stove needed to be refueled. In 1885, the Hardinghausen School is closed and the children then attend school year around in Gölenkamp.
Source: Willy Friedrich, Niedergrafschafter School Yearbook 1973, page 3.
Uelsen: My Ancestor's Hometown
The community of Uelsen lies in westernmost Lower Saxony, on the border with the Netherlands. This is where our ancestor's births and deaths were recorded in German at the Uelsen Town Hall (the <white building in the picture). They were also baptized, married and buried in Uelsen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uelsen
Abt 690 Groundwork for the parish of Uelsen is laid, probably by the missionary Willibrord.
1131 Uelsen first mentioned in a document by the Bishop of Utrecht. At that time, Uelsen and Utrecht belonged to Twente (Now in the Netherlands).
About 1300, the castle of the Count ten Tooren or von Thurn stood in Uelsen, whose remains were used in the mid-19th century as a synagogue.
1312 Ownership of Uelsen passes to the Count of Bentheim.
1544 Reformation and the introduction of the Lutheran creed in Uelsen.
1546 Emperor Charles V seals border crossings and Uelsen is cut off from the Netherlands.
1580 Heavy fighting in the Uelsen woods in the Dutch Revolt between the Spanish and the Dutch.
1588 Reformed creed introduced.
1618-1648 Thirty Years' War. Even Uelsen was not spared the war’s fury. The County of Bentheim (Grafschaft Bentheim) was supposedly neutral ground. Nevertheless, the people suffered great hardships. Münster, Lüneburg, Hessian and Swedish troops all moved into billets in the community and extorted board and the people’s last belongings. My ancestor's birth, marriage and death records were destroyed by the invading armies during this Thirty Years War,
1636 As a result of the war, and also the widespread hunger, the plague broke out.
1650 Town hall built.
1655 Bernhard von Galen, Bishop of Münster, wages war against Holland. Once more, the County has fighting troops marching through it. In 1666, Bernhard von Galen concluded the Peace of Nordhorn. In 1672, however, the Bishop of Münster once again attacked the Netherlands after only six years’ peace.
1688 Count Ernst Wilhelm converts to the Catholic faith and the Reformed clergy is replaced by Catholic clergy. The Reformed pastors turn to the Netherlands and Dutch became the church’s language, and until the late 19th century, it was also used in schools. Church hymns were still partly being sung in Dutch as late as 1933.
1756 - 1763 Seven Years' War.
In the 19th century the Uelsen population fell from 1200 to 806, as working-class families moved to Nordhorn or Schüttorf to find work in the textile industry. Some families also moved permanently to the Netherlands or America.
1933 - 1945 Uelsen and its outlying centers are NSDAP (Nazi) strongholds.
1974 Uelsen becomes the seat of the Joint Community (Samtgemeinde) of Uelsen and the communities of Getelo, Gölenkamp, Halle, Itterbeck, Wielen and Wilsum.
2006 Uelsen marks its 875 years of existence with a festival.
GRAFSCHAFT BENTHEIM
< COAT OF ARMS WITH BOUNDARY MAP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_of_Bentheim
If you review the timeline above, you will see that Grafschaft Bentheim was once an independent country like Lichtenstein and later ruled by both the King of England and Napoleon before coming part of Prussia and later Germany.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Germany’s rural northwest faced an economic crisis. Places rented by the landless farm hands were controlled by “Colons,” the class of farmers who, for generations, had permanent leases from worldly and ecclesiastic aristocracies but were obligated to make payments and render services. [Generation 5, 6, and 7 of Kleine Masselings were Colons]. The underprivileged farm hands suffered much hardship in this hierarchy of dependencies, payments, and services. The land they were able to rent was too small for a sufficient harvest and livestock. Many families were forced to augment their meager income by engaging in cottage industry and handyman’s work. The dissolution of a community’s commons land (around 1800), on which the poor had the right to pasture and firewood, benefited only the “Colons,” not the poor “Heuerleute,” as they were called. Population increases resulted in an increase in poverty and misery, as was the case in most other European countries of the time.
In northern Germany, farms usually passed on to the next generation, either to the oldest or the youngest son. His siblings had to look for other sources of income. The right to marry was granted only to those who either owned or rented an abode. There were only few new opportunities for farm hands and rural handymen. The labor market in towns was equally inaccessible. The craftsmen there were organized in guilds which kept job seekers out. Manufacturing or industrial production had hardly known then. In the 18th century, many men began to perform seasonal work in the neighboring Netherlands. This temporary guest worker practice came to be known as “Hollandgängerei” (Holland goers). Some stayed there or even emigrated to other countries.
There was political and religious oppression as well. The common people were petitioning their monarchs for freedom from autocratic government and for written constitutions guaranteeing certain rights to the people. King Ernest Augustus of Hanover was one of the most autocratic and stubborn of these monarchs. He stamped out every attempt the people made for enlightened government during his reign from 1837-1861. In addition to the threat of war and demands for civil rights, was one even closer to the heart of our ancestors...the State Church was trying to hold down the growing religious revolt by enforcing strict laws at the liberal preachers of their congregation, the Seceders (the "Gereformeerde Kerk" or "Afgescheiding"). My Masselink ancestors were Seceders and that is one of the reasons they emigrated to Michigan in the late 1800's.
The "Hervormde Kerk" was governed by the State, and this brought much dissatisfaction. The main argument was that church government was political and aristocratic. A spiritual revival swept through the region attempting to bring back the old-time religion of Calvin's teachings. To stamp out the revival, the state made laws prohibiting crowds of over twenty to gather. Calvinistic preachers like De Cock would preach to larger numbers and was often disturbed by mobs throwing stones and many of the preachers were arrested, imprisoned and required to pay heavy fines. The troubles of the new congregations continued and finally Rev. Scholte took his followers to Pella, IA and Rev. Van Raalte emigrated a few years later and founded Holland, MI.
In addition to these difficult economic, civil and religious times, in 1866 Grafschaft Bentheim became part of Prussia when Prussia forces the Hanover military to surrender (That war ended so quickly, that a Masselink ancestor did not have time to report for duty in the Hanoverian Army). These incidents plus the end of the Civil War in America and the uncertainty of the times, letters written back from America and the 1865 published pamphlet called "The Emigrant's Guide to the State of Michigan" (with land priced at $1.25 an acre) resulted in a wave of German emigrants to locations across America. My Generation Seven and Eight ancestors were part of this emigration wave. They depart Grafschaft Bentheim forever for three reasons: Religious freedom, economic opportunity, and to avoid having their children drafted into the Prussian Army. My direct ancestor, Gerrit Hendrick (GH), his father Hendrik, his uncles Jan and Harm (all of whom had been drafted into the Hanoverian and/or Prussian Army), GH's sisters (Fenne, Hendrikjen, Harmina, and Aleida), and GH's future wife, Etta Poets (rhymes with boots), all emigrated to America in the second half of the 19th century. After their departure, there are no known people in Grafschaft Bentheim with the surname Kleine Masselink.
MAP OF GRAFSCHAFT BENTHEIM IN 1645 SHOWING WHERE THE FOUR KNOWN MASSELINK FARMS WERE LOCATED: TO THE NORTH OF THE "U" IN UELSEN IS HARDINGHAUSEN (HARDINCHUSEN), WHERE A MASSELINK FARM WAS LOCATED SOMETIME BEFORE 1407. TO THE NORTH OF THE "E" IN TUBBERGEN IS MANDER, WHERE A MASSELINK FARM WAS LOCATED SOMETIME AROUND THE YEAR 804. TRAVELING EAST FROM TUBBERGEN TO THE FIRST TOWN TO THE SOUTH IS GROTEN HESINGEN (VASSE) WHERE ANOTHER MASSELINK FARM WAS LOCATED SOMETIME BETWEEN 804 AND 1332. NORTH OF TUBBERGEN IN GRAFSCHAFT BENTHEIM IS GETELO, WHERE THE 4TH KNOWN MASSELINK FARM WAS LOCATED.
For a millennium, the above map depicts the universe of the known world of most of my ancestors,
...which was about a fifteen-mile radius around Uelsen.
Grafschaft Bentheim in 1789