Prussian records provide the earliest known record of our family tree. Although not all the surnames are represented in the following sections, some of the more prominent and well known names have been highlighted. Some of the surnames would require a far more extensive study than is possible within the scope of this project. It should be clarified that the information in these paragraphs will probably continue to be modified as more information comes to light. The absence of detail in no way indicates the information can not be discovered.

"Hoada", as it was pronounced in Low German, is an occupational name referring to one who is herder of sheep and cattle. According to Horst Penner, head of the Mennonite Research Centre in Weierhof, Germany, the name is native to West Prussia. His research indicates the following: in 1654 a Hans Harder becomes the son-in-law of the Mennonite by the name of Harem Wiens. Three years later this same Hans Harder is baptized as a Mennonite. Both authorities on Prussian Mennonite history, Stumpp and Unruh list about 40 families named Harder who emigrated from Prussia to Russia.

It should be noted here that there is substantial evidence that the Harder surname was common to other parts of Europe as well. A complete Harder family tree has been traced to one Jacob Harder, born in 1516 in the city of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Another family tree has been traced back to Johann Peter Harder, born ca. 1643, who lived in Chumbt, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Children of Peter Hepner (abt 1650- ?) and Aganetha Wilke
Anton Heppner	Born Sep 25, 1672
Aganetha Heppner	1685
Sara Heppner	1695
Anna Heppner	1698	Apr 10, 1744

Children of Anton Hepner (1672- ?) and Maria Jacobs (abt 1675- ?)
Peter Heppner	Born 1700
Jacob Heppner	Sep 25, 1711
Anthon Heppner	Sep 25, 1711	Sep 30, 1773

Children of Jacob Hepner (1711- ?) and Christina Bentz (1720- ?)
Jakob Hoeppner	Born Jan 3, 1748	Died Mar 4, 1826
Peter Hoeppner	1752
Anton Hoeppner	1762

Anton Hepner, variously spelled Heppner, Hoeppner, and Hopfner, was born in the Prussian community of Klein Mausdorferweide in Kreis Elbing in 1762. He subsequently married Katharina (surname unknown) in 1812. They had two children before emigrating with the first groups of settlers to go to south Russia. They were accompanied by brothers Jacob and Peter Hepner, to the same destination of the village of Insel Chortitza in the new Chortitza colony. Anton's brother, Jacob, was the same Jacob Hepner (b. 1748) that along with Johann Bartsch, led the first emigrants from Danzig to the new location in south Russia where they established the Chortitza colony in 1789 (see "Mennonites in the Ukraine", The Chortitza Colony).

Children of Anton Hepner (1762- ?) and Katharina ? (1760- ?)
Katharina Hepner	Born 1781
Anna Hepner	1785
Johann Hepner	1790
Jacob Hepner	Mar 3, 1792	Jun 15, 1857
Helena Hepner	1794
Abraham Hepner	Dec 18, 1801	Nov 23, 1855

The earliest Janzen family to know to date is the marriage of Abraham Janzen and Maria Cornelsen. Records indicate they were born in Prussia, although an exact location is not given. This is confirmed by the fact that the following generations were born in Prussia as well.

Children of Abraham Janzen (1724-1761) and Maria Cornelsen (1723- ?)
Maria Janzen	Born Oct 17, 1755
Abraham Janzen	Feb 24, 1759	Aug 1, 1842

Abraham was born in Thiergartsfelde, Kleinwerder, Prussia. He married Anna Froese (b. 1748) sometime between the years of 1779 and 1783. Two children were born to them before emigrating to the Ukraine. Karl Stump indicates an Abraham Janzen leaving Tiegenhof, Prussia in 1788 to move to the Chortitza colony. Four more children were born to them in the intervening years in the Chortitza colony. In 1794 Anna passed away in the village of Kronsweide, Chortitza colony, Ukraine. Abraham remarried three times after his first wife passed away. He married Maria Wiebe in 1795, Susanna Quiring in 1810, and Maria Krahn in 1811. Given the difficulties of those first 20 years in the Chortitza colony it is likely that hardship would take a high toll on families in the colony. For more information on the Janzen family see "Our Family in the Chortitza Colony."

Children of Abraham Janzen (1759-1842) and Anna Froese (1748-1794)
Abraham Abraham Janzen	Born Oct 30, 1784	Died 1856
Cornelius Abraham Janzen	Oct 1, 1786	1855
Johann Janzen	Dec 26, 1788	Feb 20, 1789
Jacob Janzen	Dec 27, 1788	Jan 16, 1789
Wilhelm Janzen	Mar 31, 1790	1841
Heinrich Janzen	Sep 9, 1793

The Quiring (Quiering) surname, pronounced "Tjwiering" in Low German, first occurred as a Christian name in Quirin van der Meulen (d. ca. 1600). He was the second elder of the Danzig congregation succeeding Dirk Philips. As a contemporary and friend of Menno Simons, he came to the Danzig area to help lead and nurture the young congregation during its infancy. His letters that were preserved in the records of the Heubuden church were signed by his Flemish name Cryn Vermoolen. He latinized his name Kryn or Cryn to read Quirin. The final "g" is the patronymic (equivalent of saying 'son of'). Hence, Quiring means son of Quirin.

The earliest origin of this name seems to be Quirinal, name of the former royal palace in Rome, so named for the god of war in Roman mythology. Subsequently record is found of a St. Quirinus, an early Christian martyr, whose remains were moved to Neuss in the 11^th century. This was the one probable reason why the name became popular in the lower Rhine region. The book Martyrs Mirror names a martyr in Amsterdam, Quirinus Pieterss.

The Quiring name was common in the churches of Ladekopp, Orlofferfelde, and Tragheimerweide. The Mennonite Encyclopedia says many preachers and deacons in the early Mennonite church since 1650 had this surname. For more information on this family see "Our Family in the Molotschna Colony."

The name Rempel is unusual among Mennonites, in that it does not derive from the European lowlands where the majority of Mennonites claim their origins. Not even circumstantial evidence can be found for even an isolated appearance of Rempels in the low-German linguistic regions.

The generally-held view is that the name Rempel derives from the Gothic "Raganbold/Ragenbald", but this view could be challenged. Regardless of the view one chooses, however, we are talking about an early Germanic name. This name (that is, Raganbold/Ragenbald) is one of those that identifies a lot of unrelated people, because it was a baptismal name, not meant for identification of separate persons, but for a whole group of people. The name Rempel, must also have been inherited, however, because after Raganbold/Ragenbald disappeared as a baptismal name, it suddenly reappeared in the 13^th or 14^th century as a first name. The only reasonable explanation for the survival of what earlier was a baptismal name, is that it not only became inherited, but became one of the characteristically assigned names for that generation.

It seems that Petershagen (Prussia) was the oldest of the settlements where Rempels are found. If this is correct, it is unlikely that it was due to four separate families with the Rempel surname living there in 1700, i.e., that it was a coincidental immigration. Rather, there must have been at least one previous generation that appeared in 1650-1660. That is, one Rempel family must have settled in Petershagen.

For more information on this family see "Our Family in the Bergthal Colony."

The Sawatzky (Sawatzki, Sawadsky, Sabatzke) surname is most likely of Slavic origin. It was common in the churches of Tiegenhagen, Ladekopp, Rosenort, Furstenwerder, and Elbing.

"Sawautztje", as it would be pronounced in Low German, may have been introduced to the Mennonite community in Prussia by Johannes Zawacky, a Polish nobleman, who had close contacts with the Prussian Mennonites in 1640. Stumpp lists 15 Sawatzky families that migrated from Prussia to Russia, beginning in 1789.

The earliest mention in Mennonite records appears to be in 1743 when the name of Han Sawatzky, a preacher in Elbing district of Marienwerder is mentioned in relation to a Frisian Mennonite congregation.

Children of Hans Sowatzki (abt 1680- ?) and Johanna Wiens (? )
Thomas Sawatzky	Born 1720

Children of Thomas Sawatzky (1720- ?)
Peter Sawatzky	Born Jul 4, 1760	Died May 19, 1843

Peter Sawatzky is the first Sawatzky documented in our family tree. He was born on July 4, 1760, in Prussia. Peter lived in Blumenort and Zeyersvorderkampen, Prussia for a part of his life. He married Helena Penner about 1784. They, together with three children, Peter, Johann, and Helena, immigrated to the Chortitza colony in the Ukraine in 1793, just 4 years after its founding. According to the Chortitza Census of 1797 they had another daughter after arriving in the colony. His wife Helena passed away in April of 1801, at age 37. In May of that same year Peter married Margaretha Rempel (b. 1780) by whom he had eight more children, including Franz, one of our direct ancestors. For additional information on this family see "Our Family in the Chortitza Colony."

The Siemens (Siemons, Simon, Siemen, Ziemens) surname is first noted in the Danzig church records in 1665. It is assumed it was originally derived from Simon, a common German name. Another possibility raised by Peters & Thiessen in their research, is that it developed from the Germanic name Sigmar into the patronymic (reference to father) Siemers. Since both the names Simon and Sigmar were common in the border region common to both Germany and the Netherlands, they may have blended together. It was common in the churches of Elbing, Konigsberg, Tiegenhagen, Rosenort, Furstenwerder, and Tragheimerweide. For more information on this family see "Our Family in the Molotschna Colony."

The Unruh (Unru, Unrau, Onrouw) surname is first recorded in 1568. It was common in the churches of Schonsee, Przechovka, Jeziorka, Konopath, Kazum, Tragheimerweide and Thiensdorf. Whether all Mennonite Unruhs have the same ancestor is not known. Some sources trace the first Unruh back to Saxony when a high ranking military officer joined the Mennonites and became non-resistant.

According to Horst Penner, the Mennonite branches of the Unruh family most likely came from Silesia; the name first appeared among Danzig Mennonites in 1568, as mentioned. Four Unrau and two Unruh families migrated from Prussia to Russia, per Stumpp.