Who is a Masselink?
Masselink is a place name of a farm. Since before 1332, Dutch tax records prove that two Masselink farms were located in what is now eastern Netherlands, one in Mander and one in Vasse. Both farms were probably founded by the same person as early as the year 804. Although everyone with the surname 'Masselink' shares this farm name, no known Masselink blood relationship exists with the person who originally founded these farms. Instead, most Masselinks are probably related to someone who took Masselink as their permanent surname when they worked on and/or left these farms. My ancestors kept their Masselink surname when they migrated a few miles northeast of Vasse and Mander and established a family farm in Hardinghausen (near Uelsen), in what is now Germany.
Are We German or Are We Dutch?
My Masselink genealogy is well documented after 1660, but we can only speculate about how a Charlemagne era individual became a Masselink in what is now the Netherlands and how our pre-1660 ancestors became a Masselink in Germany.
Our ancestors descended from either the original owner of the Masselink farms in Vasse and Mander founded around the year 804 (the first known Masselink) 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 the farm, which in this case was Masselink. Sometime around 1407 at least one Masselink traveled some 10 miles north from Vasse or Mander to Grafschaft Bentheim and acquired the Masselink (or Masseling) farm leasehold in Hardinghausen.
The German Connection
My known-by-name ancestors were not Dutch, but German by nationality and lived since before 1660 in Grafschaft Bentheim, which is now a German district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen). The Grafschaft is bounded (from the west and clockwise) by the Dutch provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the districts of Steinfurt and Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia. (In medieval days, the Grafschaft was sandwiched between Overijssel in The Netherlands to the west, and the lands of the Bishop of Münster to the east).
We say German by nationality, but Grafschaft Bentheim was also:
1. A part of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Charlemagne,
2. An independent country ruled by an Earl (Graf),
3. A part of the Kingdom of Hanover ruled by the King of England,
4. A part of France ruled by Napoleon,
5. A part of Prussia ruled by the Kaiser, and finally,
6. A part of Germany.
My ancestors used the German surname 'Masseling' for some two hundred years, but the Dutch surname Masselink was used when they emigrated to the Netherlands, Michigan and other parts of the world. It is interesting to note that after being so thoroughly immersed in both the Dutch culture in Grafschaft Bentheim and in the Dutch American culture of the Michigan colony, many Bentheimers in Michigan tended to forget their German origins. This genealogy should correct that misimpression.
The Dutch Connection
The “graafschap" (Grafschaft), as the Dutch simply call Grafschaft Bentheim, has a very different culture from the rest of Germany due to centuries of close linguistic and religious ties with the Netherlands. The Dutch even refer to this area as ‘das Niedersächsischen Holland’ (the Holland of Lower Saxony) as if this territory was actually a part of the Netherlands, and not Germany. But Grafschaft Bentheim was never a part of The Netherlands.
The Masselink name is first recorded in tax records since before 1332 after two farms in what is now the Netherlands were allotted as an inheritable leasehold to the first known Masselink by Charlemagne (directly or indirectly around the year 804) and/or by the Roman Catholic Church. Our Masselink surname can be traced to these farms.
Grafschaft Bentheimers
My direct Masselink family roots go back many generations from around 1407 to the small farming community of Hardinghausen, located near the town of Uelsen. Like present day Liechtenstein, this small northwestern territory in what is now Germany was once an independent sovereign nation. 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. Plattdeutsch is like German (but closer to Dutch) and is still spoken today, but the number of speakers is declining. My ancestors spoke Plattdeutsch at home and learned to speak the standard Hochdeutsch (High German) in elementary school. Masselink family baptisms, marriages and funerals took place at their church in the nearby town of Uelsen and these events were recorded in German at the Uelsen Town Hall.
Are We German or Dutch?
People from this region do not consider themselves to be either German or Dutch. They are German by nationality, but Dutch by language and culture, which is why the Grafschaft describes itself today as "the place where two great cultures combine". Grafschaft Bentheim and the Netherlands were both part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1579, and during the Napoleonic
era, Napoleon’s brother Louis ruled them both. After the French era, the Netherlands became an independent kingdom under the House of Orange and Grafschaft Bentheim became part of the Kingdom of Hanover under England’s King George III until Prussia took it over in 1866. To ask a native Grafschaft Bentheimer if he or she is Dutch is almost an insult. But the same question asked in America to a descendant of a Grafschaft Bentheimer could result in a long discussion, as Dutch was spoken in their homes and churches both in Grafschaft Bentheim and in America. If you ask Grafschaft Bentheimers in Germany today about their identity, they might tell you in Plattdeutsch:
“Wy bin’t Groofshappers” (We are Grafschafters)
So, my Masselink ancestors considered themselves to be neither German nor Dutch...
… they were Grafschaft Bentheimers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2t0AmAd4U
Video of the drive to Vasse and Mander, the Netherlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPzwbuLOUc
Star Wars in Plattdeutsch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UmQkIQRThc
Learn to speak Plattdeutsch
The Five Known Masselink Families
As shown below, there were three different Masselink families in Grafschaft Bentheim with three different surnames (Grote Masselink, Kleine Masselink and Masselink) plus one blood related Kleine Masselink family branch that emigrated back to the Netherlands with a surname that changed from Kleine Masselink to Maslink to Masselink plus one extended Masselink cohort who are descendants of other people who worked on the two original Masselink Farms in Vasse and Mander. There are also many other Masselinks and Masselings worldwide with no known blood relationship to my Kleine Masselink family.
1. The Kleine Masselink family. They lived mostly in the small farm community of Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim in what is now Germany. Over the centuries, the population of Hardinghausen remained at less than 100. No Kleine Masselink by known name were born in Grafschaft Bentheim before 1660 or after 1866. Some buildings still remain on the original 13.2-acre Kleine Masselink farm property. The Kleine Masselink surname died out after the Hendrik Kleine Masselink family emigrated from Grafschaft Bentheim to Michigan in 1882 as he changed their surname from 'Kleine Masselink' to 'Masselink' upon arrival in the USA.
There was also a Masselink Farm in Hardinghausen since before 1945 owned by a Gerrit Masselink (1903-1970). It was sold to a "non-Masselink" after Gerrit's death in 1970.
2. The Masselink (Masseling) family and farm near the village of Getelo, Grafschaft Bentheim. There are no known marriages between the Kleine Masselinks and these Masselinks, but one Masselink family did work and live on a Kleine Masselink farm in Hardinghausen. There are no known Masselinks from Getelo born before 1675 or after 1874. There is also a 1697 reference of a B. Masselink in Halle-Hesingen who was a Kötter, that is a farmer of a small piece of land that was not self-sustaining. This Masselink had to work elsewhere in addition to working on his own small plot of land in order to have enough food to survive. Halle-Hesingen is a short distance to the east of Getelo.
3. The Grote Masselink family of Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim. There are no known persons with the surname Grote Masselink born before 1725 or after 1908. There are no known marriages between the Grote Masselinks, the Kleine Masselinks and/or the Masselinks. The Kleine Masselink farm was a part of the original Masselink property before it was unequally divided by inheritance. The Grote farm ended up being about 37.3 acres while the Kleine farm was about 13.2 acres after the last 3/4 - 1/4 inheritance split occurred sometime around 1743. Another inheritance split of the Masselink farm may have also occurred before 1660, but this is not documented. The last known Grote Masselink married a 'Kaptein' in 1908, and the Grote Masselink surname died out with this marriage.
4. Maslink/Masselink is the Dutch Kleine Masselink relation from Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The first known Kleine Masselink Dutch ancestor, Jan Kleine Masselink, was born in Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim in 1779 and later emigrated to Hoogeveen, Netherlands where many of his descendants still live. In the Netherlands, his Kleine Masselink surname was first changed to Maslink and changed again within two generations to Masselink, both of which are the Dutch spellings of the German surname 'Masseling'. Jan is not listed in the German Kleine Masselink registry, but he is listed in the Masselink family tree as a son of Hendrik Kleine Masselink (1747). Jan's niece, Jenna Kleine Masselink, also emigrated to the Netherlands (then unmarried and with child) and thus established a second branch of my related Masselink family in the Netherlands. She also shortened her Kleine Masselink surname to Masselink after arriving in the Netherlands.
5. The 'Other Masselinks' must also be descended from of the original owner of the Vasse and Mander farms or from those people who changed their surname to Masselink when they worked on the two original Masselink Farms in Vasse and Mander. For example, there is an "Indiana Clan" of Masselinks who fit into this category.
WHAT IS A MASSELINK?
My Masselink ancestors were primarily farmers for over a thousand years, i.e., from around 804 until the 1930's.
The Masselink genealogy is well documented after 1660, but we can only speculate on how our pre-1660 ancestors became a Masselink in Germany. In “The Masselink Family Tree”, Edward H. Masselink speculated that our original Masselink ancestor was a Huguenot who, after the 1572 Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, fled from France to Grafschaft Bentheim. With the discovery of two Masselink farms in the Netherlands dating back to before 1332, the theory that the Masselink name originated with a Huguenot has been disproved. Why? Continue reading.
Speculation: Masseling/Masselink Name Meaning (Masse + ling/link)
Perhaps a quarter of all surnames in Europe were originally occupational. Masse is a metonymic French and Dutch medieval occupational surname meaning "mace" or a cognomen for someone who wielded a club or a mace-like weapon. The "Dictionnaire etymologyque de France" describes Masse as an occupational name and a short form of "masse d'armes" (macebearer).
The suffix "ling" or "link" translates as "belonging to" or "inhabitant of". Thus, we can speculate that a man named Masse had the suffix "ling/link" added to his occupational surname of Masse to denote the official and legal name of his farm. This farm name of 'Masselink' (the farm belonging to or inhabited by a man named Masse) then became his surname as well as the surname of his descendants and of those living and/or working on his farms.
* Masselink could therefore be the Dutch spelling of a place name that means: 'Mace-bearer's farm' or 'Mace-man's farm'.
* Kleine Masselink could therefore mean: 'Macebearer's' farm whose original farm was split into two unequal parts as part of an inheritance and my ancestor got the small (kleine) share'.
*Grote Masselink could therefore mean: 'Mace-bearer's' farm whose original farm was split into two unequal parts as part of an inheritance and my ancestor got the large (grote) share'.
* Masseling is the German spelling that means the same as the Dutch spelling of Masselink.
So based on the above, we can speculate that the first Masselink gained the name Masse because he was a converted pagan soldier or knight (or a descendant of this soldier or knight) from Saxony who around the early 9th century carried a mace-like weapon (see pictures below) and who later acquired two hereditary farm leaseholds (with the resultant farm name of Masselink) in what is now eastern Netherlands, possibly as a reward for his or his ancestor's prowess in battle and his ability to become a 'model farmer' of these leaseholds. Thus, this 'Masselink' farm name thus became his and his descendant's permanent surname as well as the permanent surname of some of the people who worked or lived on these farms. We have no way of determining who of us are blood related to this first Masselink who held a hereditary leasehold these farms. This story continues below.
Masselink is a place name of a farm. Since before 1332, Dutch tax records prove that two Masselink farms were located in what is now eastern Netherlands, one in Mander and one in Vasse. Both farms were probably founded by the same person as early as the year 804. Although everyone with the surname 'Masselink' shares this farm name, no known Masselink blood relationship exists with the person who originally founded these farms. Instead, most Masselinks are probably related to someone who took Masselink as their permanent surname when they worked on and/or left these farms. My ancestors kept their Masselink surname when they migrated a few miles northeast of Vasse and Mander and established a family farm in Hardinghausen (near Uelsen), in what is now Germany.
Are We German or Are We Dutch?
My Masselink genealogy is well documented after 1660, but we can only speculate about how a Charlemagne era individual became a Masselink in what is now the Netherlands and how our pre-1660 ancestors became a Masselink in Germany.
Our ancestors descended from either the original owner of the Masselink farms in Vasse and Mander founded around the year 804 (the first known Masselink) 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 the farm, which in this case was Masselink. Sometime around 1407 at least one Masselink traveled some 10 miles north from Vasse or Mander to Grafschaft Bentheim and acquired the Masselink (or Masseling) farm leasehold in Hardinghausen.
The German Connection
My known-by-name ancestors were not Dutch, but German by nationality and lived since before 1660 in Grafschaft Bentheim, which is now a German district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen). The Grafschaft is bounded (from the west and clockwise) by the Dutch provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the districts of Steinfurt and Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia. (In medieval days, the Grafschaft was sandwiched between Overijssel in The Netherlands to the west, and the lands of the Bishop of Münster to the east).
We say German by nationality, but Grafschaft Bentheim was also:
1. A part of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Charlemagne,
2. An independent country ruled by an Earl (Graf),
3. A part of the Kingdom of Hanover ruled by the King of England,
4. A part of France ruled by Napoleon,
5. A part of Prussia ruled by the Kaiser, and finally,
6. A part of Germany.
My ancestors used the German surname 'Masseling' for some two hundred years, but the Dutch surname Masselink was used when they emigrated to the Netherlands, Michigan and other parts of the world. It is interesting to note that after being so thoroughly immersed in both the Dutch culture in Grafschaft Bentheim and in the Dutch American culture of the Michigan colony, many Bentheimers in Michigan tended to forget their German origins. This genealogy should correct that misimpression.
The Dutch Connection
The “graafschap" (Grafschaft), as the Dutch simply call Grafschaft Bentheim, has a very different culture from the rest of Germany due to centuries of close linguistic and religious ties with the Netherlands. The Dutch even refer to this area as ‘das Niedersächsischen Holland’ (the Holland of Lower Saxony) as if this territory was actually a part of the Netherlands, and not Germany. But Grafschaft Bentheim was never a part of The Netherlands.
The Masselink name is first recorded in tax records since before 1332 after two farms in what is now the Netherlands were allotted as an inheritable leasehold to the first known Masselink by Charlemagne (directly or indirectly around the year 804) and/or by the Roman Catholic Church. Our Masselink surname can be traced to these farms.
Grafschaft Bentheimers
My direct Masselink family roots go back many generations from around 1407 to the small farming community of Hardinghausen, located near the town of Uelsen. Like present day Liechtenstein, this small northwestern territory in what is now Germany was once an independent sovereign nation. 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. Plattdeutsch is like German (but closer to Dutch) and is still spoken today, but the number of speakers is declining. My ancestors spoke Plattdeutsch at home and learned to speak the standard Hochdeutsch (High German) in elementary school. Masselink family baptisms, marriages and funerals took place at their church in the nearby town of Uelsen and these events were recorded in German at the Uelsen Town Hall.
Are We German or Dutch?
People from this region do not consider themselves to be either German or Dutch. They are German by nationality, but Dutch by language and culture, which is why the Grafschaft describes itself today as "the place where two great cultures combine". Grafschaft Bentheim and the Netherlands were both part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1579, and during the Napoleonic
era, Napoleon’s brother Louis ruled them both. After the French era, the Netherlands became an independent kingdom under the House of Orange and Grafschaft Bentheim became part of the Kingdom of Hanover under England’s King George III until Prussia took it over in 1866. To ask a native Grafschaft Bentheimer if he or she is Dutch is almost an insult. But the same question asked in America to a descendant of a Grafschaft Bentheimer could result in a long discussion, as Dutch was spoken in their homes and churches both in Grafschaft Bentheim and in America. If you ask Grafschaft Bentheimers in Germany today about their identity, they might tell you in Plattdeutsch:
“Wy bin’t Groofshappers” (We are Grafschafters)
So, my Masselink ancestors considered themselves to be neither German nor Dutch...
… they were Grafschaft Bentheimers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2t0AmAd4U
Video of the drive to Vasse and Mander, the Netherlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPzwbuLOUc
Star Wars in Plattdeutsch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UmQkIQRThc
Learn to speak Plattdeutsch
The Five Known Masselink Families
As shown below, there were three different Masselink families in Grafschaft Bentheim with three different surnames (Grote Masselink, Kleine Masselink and Masselink) plus one blood related Kleine Masselink family branch that emigrated back to the Netherlands with a surname that changed from Kleine Masselink to Maslink to Masselink plus one extended Masselink cohort who are descendants of other people who worked on the two original Masselink Farms in Vasse and Mander. There are also many other Masselinks and Masselings worldwide with no known blood relationship to my Kleine Masselink family.
1. The Kleine Masselink family. They lived mostly in the small farm community of Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim in what is now Germany. Over the centuries, the population of Hardinghausen remained at less than 100. No Kleine Masselink by known name were born in Grafschaft Bentheim before 1660 or after 1866. Some buildings still remain on the original 13.2-acre Kleine Masselink farm property. The Kleine Masselink surname died out after the Hendrik Kleine Masselink family emigrated from Grafschaft Bentheim to Michigan in 1882 as he changed their surname from 'Kleine Masselink' to 'Masselink' upon arrival in the USA.
There was also a Masselink Farm in Hardinghausen since before 1945 owned by a Gerrit Masselink (1903-1970). It was sold to a "non-Masselink" after Gerrit's death in 1970.
2. The Masselink (Masseling) family and farm near the village of Getelo, Grafschaft Bentheim. There are no known marriages between the Kleine Masselinks and these Masselinks, but one Masselink family did work and live on a Kleine Masselink farm in Hardinghausen. There are no known Masselinks from Getelo born before 1675 or after 1874. There is also a 1697 reference of a B. Masselink in Halle-Hesingen who was a Kötter, that is a farmer of a small piece of land that was not self-sustaining. This Masselink had to work elsewhere in addition to working on his own small plot of land in order to have enough food to survive. Halle-Hesingen is a short distance to the east of Getelo.
3. The Grote Masselink family of Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim. There are no known persons with the surname Grote Masselink born before 1725 or after 1908. There are no known marriages between the Grote Masselinks, the Kleine Masselinks and/or the Masselinks. The Kleine Masselink farm was a part of the original Masselink property before it was unequally divided by inheritance. The Grote farm ended up being about 37.3 acres while the Kleine farm was about 13.2 acres after the last 3/4 - 1/4 inheritance split occurred sometime around 1743. Another inheritance split of the Masselink farm may have also occurred before 1660, but this is not documented. The last known Grote Masselink married a 'Kaptein' in 1908, and the Grote Masselink surname died out with this marriage.
4. Maslink/Masselink is the Dutch Kleine Masselink relation from Hoogeveen, Netherlands. The first known Kleine Masselink Dutch ancestor, Jan Kleine Masselink, was born in Hardinghausen, Grafschaft Bentheim in 1779 and later emigrated to Hoogeveen, Netherlands where many of his descendants still live. In the Netherlands, his Kleine Masselink surname was first changed to Maslink and changed again within two generations to Masselink, both of which are the Dutch spellings of the German surname 'Masseling'. Jan is not listed in the German Kleine Masselink registry, but he is listed in the Masselink family tree as a son of Hendrik Kleine Masselink (1747). Jan's niece, Jenna Kleine Masselink, also emigrated to the Netherlands (then unmarried and with child) and thus established a second branch of my related Masselink family in the Netherlands. She also shortened her Kleine Masselink surname to Masselink after arriving in the Netherlands.
5. The 'Other Masselinks' must also be descended from of the original owner of the Vasse and Mander farms or from those people who changed their surname to Masselink when they worked on the two original Masselink Farms in Vasse and Mander. For example, there is an "Indiana Clan" of Masselinks who fit into this category.
WHAT IS A MASSELINK?
My Masselink ancestors were primarily farmers for over a thousand years, i.e., from around 804 until the 1930's.
The Masselink genealogy is well documented after 1660, but we can only speculate on how our pre-1660 ancestors became a Masselink in Germany. In “The Masselink Family Tree”, Edward H. Masselink speculated that our original Masselink ancestor was a Huguenot who, after the 1572 Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, fled from France to Grafschaft Bentheim. With the discovery of two Masselink farms in the Netherlands dating back to before 1332, the theory that the Masselink name originated with a Huguenot has been disproved. Why? Continue reading.
Speculation: Masseling/Masselink Name Meaning (Masse + ling/link)
Perhaps a quarter of all surnames in Europe were originally occupational. Masse is a metonymic French and Dutch medieval occupational surname meaning "mace" or a cognomen for someone who wielded a club or a mace-like weapon. The "Dictionnaire etymologyque de France" describes Masse as an occupational name and a short form of "masse d'armes" (macebearer).
The suffix "ling" or "link" translates as "belonging to" or "inhabitant of". Thus, we can speculate that a man named Masse had the suffix "ling/link" added to his occupational surname of Masse to denote the official and legal name of his farm. This farm name of 'Masselink' (the farm belonging to or inhabited by a man named Masse) then became his surname as well as the surname of his descendants and of those living and/or working on his farms.
* Masselink could therefore be the Dutch spelling of a place name that means: 'Mace-bearer's farm' or 'Mace-man's farm'.
* Kleine Masselink could therefore mean: 'Macebearer's' farm whose original farm was split into two unequal parts as part of an inheritance and my ancestor got the small (kleine) share'.
*Grote Masselink could therefore mean: 'Mace-bearer's' farm whose original farm was split into two unequal parts as part of an inheritance and my ancestor got the large (grote) share'.
* Masseling is the German spelling that means the same as the Dutch spelling of Masselink.
So based on the above, we can speculate that the first Masselink gained the name Masse because he was a converted pagan soldier or knight (or a descendant of this soldier or knight) from Saxony who around the early 9th century carried a mace-like weapon (see pictures below) and who later acquired two hereditary farm leaseholds (with the resultant farm name of Masselink) in what is now eastern Netherlands, possibly as a reward for his or his ancestor's prowess in battle and his ability to become a 'model farmer' of these leaseholds. Thus, this 'Masselink' farm name thus became his and his descendant's permanent surname as well as the permanent surname of some of the people who worked or lived on these farms. We have no way of determining who of us are blood related to this first Masselink who held a hereditary leasehold these farms. This story continues below.
ABOVE: THE FIRST MASSELINK? (A SOLDIER AND A KNIGHT WITH A MACE)
Some speculate that their families, to include the Masselink family, came to what is now eastern Netherlands because they were handpicked by Charlemagne sometime before his death in 814 to be model farmers in the region. They were all reported to have had large farms. The original Masselink farm in what is now Mander and Vasse in the Netherlands, which in the 800's was part of Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire and near the border of present day Grafschaft Bentheim, was indeed a large farm. The story goes that around the year 800, nine Christian families from Charlemagne's Saxony (converted pagans?) settled in Vasse. It is possible that these families were from those known as Charlemagne's "leading men" (optimates) or "faithful men" (fideles). These families all had names which became their farm names when they added the suffix "link" or "ink" to their previous surname, to wit: Geerdink (also known as Ensink), Lensink, Masselink, Mastink, Mensink, Teusink, Vrielink, Warmelink and Wigbelink. (The 'link' suffix is only used when a family name ends in a vowel, e.g., Masse + link) [The 'link' rather than the 'ink' suffix was added when the original surname ended in a vowel].
Sometime around 1407, it appears that at least one of my Masselink ancestors traveled some 10 miles north from either Vasse or Mander to Grafschaft Bentheim and acquired the hereditary leasehold to the Masselink farm in Hardinghausen. There were at least four distinct Masselink Farms in Grafschaft Bentheim: One in Hardinghausen, one in Halle-Hasingen, one in Getelo and another Masselink Farm owned in Hardinghausen from at least before 1945 until it was sold in 1970. That farm is adjacent to the original two Hardinghausen Kleine and Grote Masselink farms.
Sometime around 1407, it appears that at least one of my Masselink ancestors traveled some 10 miles north from either Vasse or Mander to Grafschaft Bentheim and acquired the hereditary leasehold to the Masselink farm in Hardinghausen. There were at least four distinct Masselink Farms in Grafschaft Bentheim: One in Hardinghausen, one in Halle-Hasingen, one in Getelo and another Masselink Farm owned in Hardinghausen from at least before 1945 until it was sold in 1970. That farm is adjacent to the original two Hardinghausen Kleine and Grote Masselink farms.
A Masse (mace) is a simple weapon that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows. It consists of a strong, heavy, wooden, metal-reinforced or metal shaft with a head made of stone, copper, bronze, iron, or steel. The head is normally about the same or slightly thicker than the diameter of the shaft and can be shaped with flanges or knobs to allow greater penetration of armor. The length of maces can vary considerably. The maces of foot soldiers were usually quite short (two or three feet) while the maces of cavalrymen were longer and designed for blows from horseback. During the Middle Ages metal armor and chain mail protected against the blows of edged weapons and blocked arrows and other projectiles. Solid metal maces and war hammers proved able to inflict damage on well armored knights, as the force of a blow from a mace is large enough to cause damage without penetrating the amour. Maces, being simple and cheap to make and straightforward in application, were common weapons. Peasant and conscript armies were often equipped with little more than maces, axes and pole arms.
WHERE IS A MASSELINK?
Most Masselink's are in the USA, the Netherlands, Canada and Germany
There is also a place known as Masselink, Germany. Google it.
Masselink is the 88,554th most common family name in America.
The White Pages listed some 325 Masselink records in America.
The Netherlands Census lists some 1,271 Masselink’s.
There are some 122 people listed in Germany with the Masselink surname.
Some 20 Masselinks in German phone books are in Grafschaft Bentheim, my ancestral Masselink home.
Today, there are known Masselink's in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA.