The legend of the origin of the Enns family dates back hundreds of years ago, when an abandoned young boy was found beside the Enns River in Austria, and was named after that river. In other variations of this legend, two boys were found, but only one survived to reach adulthood. Also, that Dutch Mennonites found the boy(s) and brought them back to the Netherlands.

The origin of the name is not clear; it may have been derived from the Germanic name "Anshelm", "God's defender" (cf. Anselm, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, 1033-1109); possibly also a place name: Enns is a tributary of the Danube and the name of the oldest city in Austria.

According to Penner the name is most likely of East Frisian origin, where Enno and Enne are common as first names. In that case the name Enns in its various forms would be patronymic. Stumpp lists 50 Enns families that migrated from West Prussia to Russia. In Canada, Gerhard Ens (1864-1952) is regarded as the founder of the town of Rosthern, Sask. [Mennonite Names, Victor Peters/Jack Thiessen, 1987 M 929.4 page 53]

This Mennonite family name was originally found in the rural Flemish congregations of West Prussia. Members of this family migrated to Russia and North America. While in South Russia the family mostly adopted the spelling form Enns. Most Mennonites with this family name are now located in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Kansas, California and Arkansas. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

The family ENTZ (Ens) probably comes from East Friesland. In East Friesland the name Enno or Enne is rather usual. Under the menonites of the early 17th century there is Enne Dyrks, Enne Ribs. In the East Frisian menonite community Neustadt-Gödens nearby Wilhelmshaven the name Enno appears more frequent as first name. According to the Frisian patronymic naming the name is also inflected as a surname used weakly, like the form "of the boy". The mennonites were called there not Ennes or Ens, but Ennen. In 1734 the menonite Jacob Ennen died in Neustadt-Gödens, another was called Albert Ennen, the third Gerrit Ennen. The municipality which experienced their biggest blossom in the 17th century, has surely delivered some emigrants to West Prussia. But also the strongly inflected form by the name of Enno appears in East Friesland like we will see below. The name has an strange effect if strong and weak flection are used together. So there is in the consignment of 1776 a shopkeeper and a menonite dressmaker in Marienburg which lead the name En-s-en. To the strong form Ens an "en" was suffixed. Perhaps they or their ancestors have immigrated from the provincial town Neustadt-Gödens to Marienburg. We found 1654 in Orloff the strongly inflected form Hans Ensz (Ens zoon). Around 1610 Jan Ents from Veenhuisen is named in East Friesland (near to the estuary of Ems). He was a representative of the so-called "Hard Frisians ". Further on also in West Prussia the name was written with "t". In 1709 Anke Entzen was buried in Orloff. In 1701 Jacob Entz on Tiegerweide is named. 16 "Entz" families which are known in 1727 between the Vistula and Nogat, all were written with "tz". In the consignment of 1776 all representatives of this family registered like this: Ens. [Die Ost-Und Westpreussischen Mennoniten In Ihrem, Horst Penner, 1978 page 260, translated into English (with much thanks) by Andreas Enns]

This link also establishes that the Enns name is of Flemish origin, and generally this group of people lived in the Delta area of Prussia before migrating to Russia.

The most common theory for the origin of the Enns family involves the city of Enns, Austria (see legend above). This was the best (and only) theory until recently.

Enns (ens) (KEY) , town (1991 pop. 8,111), Upper Austria prov., N central Austria, on the Enns River near its confluence with the Danube. Enns manufactures glassware, jewelry, and roofing. It is also home to several major breweries. One of Austria's oldest towns, it was established as a fortress in the 10th cent. and was chartered in 1212. The picturesque town retains part of its medieval walls, a 16th-century fortress, and a Gothic parish church (13th-15th cent.). The former town hall (16th cent.) now houses a museum that includes Roman relics. Lorch, incorporated into Enns in 1938, is on the site of a Roman camp established (c.A.D. 170) by Marcus Aurelius. Near Enns is the Augustinian monastery of St. Florian. Columbia Encyclopedia

Here are some other sites (some in German) which talk about the city of Enns:

• Enns- Älteste Stadt Österreichs
• Enns

The newest theory for the origin of the Enns family involves the ancient (now non-existant) village of Ens, Netherlands. This village was on the Island of Schokland until the island itself was abandoned in 1859, by order of King William III. This is a new theory that was suggested by the research of Gary Strahl.

There is a town called 'Ens' in Flevoland (but this is a new town only created in 1942). The 'Museum Schokland' kindly provided the following info:

• The area was an island until the Zoy Der Zee was reclaimed.
• The name 'Ens' originated over 1000 years ago from the word for 'Duck Lake', changing over the centuries. It was common for families to take the name of their town or village as their surname, and because of the Mennonite history/Low German langurage connection, it is very possible that the 'Enns' family originally comes from this area.
  • Year 793 = Anudseae (Anud = DUCK, Seae = LAKE)
  • Year 800/900 = Anudse
  • Year 1000 = Anusse
  • Year 1400 = Enusse
  • Year 1500 = Ennse
  • Year 1600 = Ens

Some information of Ens: The name comes from Ednessee -- eendenzee (sea for ducks). Ens was a part of the island Schokland. Before 1750 there was no name Schokland, only Ens and Emmeloord. Ens was Protestant (religion) and Emmeloord was Catholic. Ens had three places where the inhabitants could live. The Middelbuurt, Zuidert and the Zuidpunt. In total there were 350 people in Ens and 350 people in Emmeloord. Now we used the name Ens for a modern place in the Noordoostpolder. [thanks to William Vercraeye for providing this information!]

I used the InterTran translation engine to convert the words mentioned above:

• Middelbuurt = Middle vicinity
• Zuidert = South
• Zuidpunt = South Tip

Here are some old maps that show the village of Ens before it was submerged forever:

• Flevoland by Janssonius (1658)
• The Netherlands by De Vyerighe Colom (1660?)
• The Duch of Guelre by De Vyerighe Colom (1660?)
• Schokland by G. de l'Isle
• Netherlands (1559-1609)
• Schokland
• Schokland (1773)
  

(Thanks to Bruno Klappe for this most-detailed map of Schokland produced in 1733 by Jan Christiaan Sepp)

Here are some other sites (some in Dutch) which talk about Ens and Schokland Island:

• Emmeloord and the Green Villages
• Museum Schokland
• Schokland
  
• Answers.com
• Wikipedia
• Explore the Dutch Islands
• Radio + TV Noord-Holland
• VirtualTourist.com
• Flevoland History
  

One radical offshoot of the idea of the Enns family originating from the village of Ens is that it may also be the origin of the English non-Mennonite Ensign family!

Many Mennonites left Prussia at the end of the 18th century and moved to the Ukraine area of Southern Russia. Family records show that Jakob Enns was born in 1796 in Prussia and came with his family to Russia in 1797.

In 1823 Jakob married Susanna Harder, who had been born in Prussia in 1797, and had come with her parents to Russia as a newborn baby. Initially they lived in the Chortiza colony where they had grown up, but later they moved to the Bergthal Colony that was established in 1836.

Jakob and Susanna (Harder) Enns had seven children, two of who died as infants. No information is available on any of these children except for the youngest, Franz, who was born in 1845. It is his story that we will follow next. Jakob died in Russia in 1863 at the age of 67, and Susanna died there in 1872 at the age of 75.

Franz Enns was born on May 24, 1845 to Jakob and Susanna Enns in South Russia. He was educated in a private German school. it is believed that he was an ardent student, as some of his German handwritten dccuments would indicate.

Franz Enns was baptised and became a member of the church in 1866. In this same group was Justina Unger, who was soon to become his bride. They were married on August 2, 1866. Justina's birthdate was January 3, 1847.

It is believed that Franz Enns and Justina Unger met and started their courtship when Justina was working on the neighboring farm to the Enns's as a maid (Knackshi).

Franz and Justina Enns started their first years of marriage with quite a struggle as economic conditions changed dramatically and land was not easily obtained. They built their house, called an "Erd Semlin", or a house built of mud blocks and pole rafters, with a sod roof, thatched with tall grass that grew in the lower swamp lands. This first home was built in the side of a hill, which sometimes created problems in the winter when snow would keep blowing into the entrance. A string from the house to the barn would serve as a guide during a severe winter storm.

Some of the more established Mennonites, with land already in their possession, had become outstanding people who were operating their own flour and feed grinding mills, blacksmith shops, raising grains, cattle and large gardens.

Approximately one-third fo the Mennonite population were landless squatters (Anwohner) and working for the wealthier farmers. This was also the case of the Franz Ennses. Their house had been built on a river bank which was crown land. Their first child, Helena, was born here.

In the spring of 1869 they were able to purchase an acreage consisting of seven acres, a house constructed of wood and a barn. They were now able to keep a few head of cattle and had a large garden. They also built a shop where neighbours would have their harnesses repaired. This became a career for Franz Enns and helped greatly with their livelihood.

In 1876 Franz and Justina joined those Mennonites dissatisfied with the Russian government who decided to move to North America.

Franz and Justian sold those possessions that they could not take with them. Their land and house were sold to a neighbor who let them stay until they were ready to leave for Canada. They began their overland journey to Hamburg in early May 1876 with their five children all under the age of eight; Helena (b. 1869), Franz (b. 1870), Heinrich (b. 1871), Gerhard (b. 1873) and Justina (b. 1875). Before they reached Liverpool, England, their sixth child, Anna, was born on May 21, 1876.

In mid-June the Enns family boarded the S.S.Quebec No. 22 in Liverpool for the approximately ten-day voyage to Quebec City. All told, there were 33 Mennonite families on board, totalling 225 persons. The group leaders were Franz Froese and David Giesbrecht.

It was between Liverpool and Quebec that one-year old Justina suddenly became ill and died within hours. She was placed in a makeshift wooden coffin and buried at sea. On June 23, 1876 the ship docked at Quebec City. The group now travelled by train to Collingwood, Ontario. Here they embardked on a lake barge which transported them across Lakes Huron and Superior to Duluth, Minnesota. There they took a train to Moorehead, on the Red River, where they switched to a paddle wheeler. The trip to Canada down the Red River took about three days. At the junction of the Red and Rat Rivers, the settlers disembarked and walked to the immigration sheds, five miles to the east.

Although they had finally arrived in Canada after two months of travel, the journey was not yet over. Most of the group was destined for the West Reserve, which required a further journey of 50 miles. By July 20, 1876 the Franz Enns family had arrived at the village of Eichenfeld, ten miles south of Morden, Manitoba.

Franz and Justina had three children born to them in Canada; Jacob (b. 1878), Abraham (b. 1880) and Maria (b. 1883). Their first-born daughter Helena (b. 1869), however, died before 1881, not having reached the age of 13. In April 1883 Franz Enns become a naturalized British subject. He and all his family were now Canadian citizens. This detail becomes important later in our story.

For two years the Enns family lived in the village of Eichenfeld, and then in 1878 Franz built a 20x28 house and a 20x12 stable on SW 14-T1-R5W. On September 17, 1879 he formally entered a homestead on this quarter section, and by April 1883 he had 45 acres in crop. On May 11, 1886 Franz was granted title to his land. Franz was 56 years old when he died on July 22, 1901. His wife Justina died in 1909 at the age of 62. A Canadian Story by Gary W. Strahl (Pages 63-65)

NEW! Using the amazing 'PhpGedView' application by John Finlay, here is the starting page to view my family tree GEDCOM file, containing 1487 individuals!

For an online version of Dare's entire Enns/Guenther GEDCOM database containing 1487 people (with dates for living folks suppressed), please visit here. This site was created by 'gedcomToHTML.pl' developed by Dan Pidcock.

The GEDCOM was editted and cleaned up by another Linux program called 'FTree' written by Clive Stubbings.

Much thanks go to the Toews and Giesbrecht Family Tree webpages for their goldmine of related family tree information!

The following complex chart shows the basic genealogical line of Dare:

The following PNG image shows more detailed genealogical line of Dare and his Cats (the nifty utility that created this is called 'dot', and is part of the 'graphviz' package found at http://www.graphviz.org/ )