|
"The first John Hause was born in Germany in the year 1690, and when an infant, on account of Religious Persecutions, he was transported by his 'cousin', Queen Mary II, of Great Britain, House of Stuart, Daughter of James II and Anne Hyde, born 1662, married William, Prince of Orange at the age of 17, reigning 15 years, and died in 1694 of Small Pox, leaving no children. A kind, meek, and noble Queen."
—Family Bible of Joseph Hause of Ovid, New York, mid-1800's.
 Left-to-Right: (Back Row) Augustus Hause Jr., Laban Hause, and John Hause, in the late 1800's; (Middle Row) Sasha Larsen, Hal Larsen, Dylan Larsen, Carl Hause, Eric Hause, Mary Moonsammy Hause, Jeff Hause; (Front Row) Kathy Larsen, Camille Larsen, Martha Hause, Madeline Hause, Michele Hause, and Lori Ann Dotson in 2007. |
But family bibles are rare today (heck, BIBLES are rare today), so I guess the best, most modern way to chronicle a family history is like this—on a web page, where descendants, relations and other interested parties can view the family history for themselves.
So here, thanks to helpful relations, diligent researchers, underpaid genealogical experts, and INCREDIBLY patient curators, clerks and librarians, I have created a history of the Hause family—at least our line of the Hause family—although I'vealso detailed the other Hause notables and black sheep of each era.
Like most Early American families, for every Revolutionary War hero in our clan there was a brother who was a Benedict Arnold-like Loyalist... for every brave pioneer there was a greedy land grabber... and for every man of integrity there was the screenwriter of "Once Bitten."
Until 1100 AD, most people in Europe had only one name (in fact this is still true in some scattered areas). As infant baptism was an integral part of church rites, the common practice was that the baby would take the given name of its sponsor at the christening—which resulted in a very limited number of names being used. Six or seven for either sex would have covered 90% of the population of Germania—Margaretha, Elisabetha, Juliana, Katharina, Susanna, Dorothea, Konrad, Georg, Jakob, Philipp, Adam, and Johannes. Sometimes the name was preceded by a courtesy saint's name, which had to be Johann for boys and could be Anna or Maria for girls.
Soon tracking down a particular "Johann" in a large village became a nightmare. As the population began to grow in ever-expanding towns and villages, there needed to be a way to differentiate between all of the Johns, Williams and Roberts living in the same area.
To overcome this problem, the use of family names (or "surnames") came into vogue in the 14th and 15th centuries. Each family's name evolved from definable characteristics of the head member. For instance, if the tallest William in town was called "William the long fellow," then ultimately he became "William Longfellow." It was also common to select a term indicating the person’s location or occupation. So "John who lives by the apple orchard," eventually became "John Appleby" (which eventually became a very mediocre restaurant chain, but that's another story).
The "Hause" or "Hauß" surname is German in origin, and is a cognate of the Old English word "hus," meaning "house." According to the New Dictionary of American Names, by Elsdon C. Smith, the name is a locational term, meaning "dweller at" or "in a house for which money was paid." The name may have been initially borne by someone who owned his own house, or by someone who had some connection to the most important house in the town of origin ... Or maybe it just refers back to a village in the Netherlands, named Haus, Aas or Aus. In each of these areas, the name is pronounced differently. There were countless variations on the name in pronounciation and spelling from region to region—especially in Germany:
|
Modern English
|
Alsatian
|
High Alemannic
|
Standard German
|
Swabian German
|
|
Hause/House
|
Hüüs [hy-s]
|
Huus
|
Haus
|
Hous
|
 |
There were many Dutch and English variations on the Hauß name. But families using my line's Coat of Arms were first recorded during the early Middle Ages around the Rhine River, which was then the base of the Holy Roman Empire. They formed alliances with other influential families in the region and were given the Hauß surname. The bearers of that monicker and its many offshoots prospered in politics, religious careers and military service. By the 16th Century, the Hauß family had branched out into all parts of Europe—holding titles and estates in France, Germany, Prussia and Italy. The French branch was raised to nobility in 1722. The Prussian branch became Barons in 1814, and were joined by the German branch in 1868. Our line of the family wasn't so fortunate...
 The village chapel overlooking Großaltenstädten. |
Johann wasn't a Baron or a Noble—he was just a carpenter. He would struggle to survive through wars, plagues, environmental disasters, and purges for the next 45 years. (Which makes for a lot of steady rebuilding work if you're a carpenter. Unfortunately it also means that nobody can pay you for it.)
So, in 1709, Johann took his wife and his six-to-eight kids to the New World. He was already older than most when he made the trip—45 years was a long time to live in the 17th Century (especially in Germany). But he wanted to provide a safer, happier future for his sons and daughters.
The family would move several times in this fashion over the next few hundred years—always towards the untamed wilderness, searching for a better future for the coming generations. And somehow, 300 years later, here we are.
"In the census of 1713-1714 is shown that Christian Hauss and wife Maria Catherina together with eight children are living at New-Heesburg on the Hudson River. It can be easily seen that most of these children were by the first wife and bears out a tradition in the House family that six brothers came from England to America together."
—Melvin Rhodes Shaver, 1932
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View bookWe are the descendants of Johann—Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution (though family members fought on both sides as Patriots and Loyalists). We survived the French raids on the Palatinate, the War of 1812, the Civil War, two World Wars... heck, we even survived George W. Bush. We are teachers, writers, artists, store owners, carpenters and farmers, with a black sheep or two thrown in. We are German, English, and Dutch—with a little Indian mixed in. We traveled with the tide of American frontiersmen that streamed north from the Atlantic seaboard, up the forested basin of the Hudson to the Mohawk Valley, veered west into the Finger Lakes, flowed into the wilds of Michigan—and then trickled down to the coast of the shining Pacific Ocean.
We are the Hause family, damnit...hear us roar...or at least boast a little bit...
"I've seen lots of websites celebrating the 847 Palatine families who arrived in colonial New York in 1710 and can honestly say that yours is among the very best. Great work!"
—Henry Z. Jones, author of "The Palatine Families of New York - 1710."
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
COUSINS, COLLABORATORS & CO-CONSPIRATORS... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
... AND IN MEMORY OF THESE FINE FAMILY GENEALOGISTS... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Also, thanks to ANITA LABINSKI of the Memphis Historical Society, located at 81521 Belle River Road, Memphis, MI 48041. Mail: P.O. Box 41056, Memphis, MI 48041; Phone number: 810-392-2257.
The research on surname meanings was through the Dictionary of American Family Names, by the Oxford University Press.
|