Way back at the first of the year, I mentioned I had mailed myself boxes of “archival treasure“from Mom’s place regarding Dad’s side of the family, as she was anticipating moving and wouldn’t have room for it. When I got home and received the boxes, I removed the files/piles, stacked them on the floor of a spare bedroom, then felt completely overwhelmed with them every time I looked at the stacks. I just didn’t know where to start or how to plan my approach, so I closed the door to the room and avoided the nagging project.
(Later, it occurred to me I’d have a free storage tub that holds hanging files, if only I would scan, then shred 25 years’ worth of tax returns. I did that little by little over the months and just finished a couple days ago. Quite a trip down memory lane. Then, ta-da, a free tub.)
Last evening, knowing I’d be having overnight company in about a month so needed to clean the spare room, I decided not to go through all the files and documents, but to at least file them in the tub, according to family branches–Janzen, Dirks, etc. Even though I was not methodically examining all the documents, some were not in labeled file folders and simply in loose piles, requiring me to sort through them to determine family branch.
Well, just as a taste of revelations to come, once I do get around to examining all the individual documents in detail, I discovered an executive-size piece of letterhead with some amazing information typed on it I’d been wondering about for decades: the maiden surnames of each of my great-great-grandmothers on the Janzen-Reimer side, as shown below. Above the typewritten portion, my father’s sister had handwritten that Opa Peter had provided the information for my cousin’s baby book.
The wife of Johann Janzen, who I’d only known the first name of, Elizabeth, was Elizabeth Friesen. The wife of Gerhard Reimer (first name unknown), had the surname of Karber! I will be adding this information to the Janzen-Reimer page at the left shortly.
Opa Peter was big on typing correspondence on a typewriter, and both he and Oma Mary were big on typing/writing information and correspondence on random small pieces of paper or card stock. I guess it was a thrifty Low German/refugee/Depression survivor thing.
family janzen 