Jansen, Claes (1658-1745)
Claes (Klaas, Klaus, Nicholas) Jansen, one of the first Mennonite settlers in the United States, came to Germantown, Pennsylvania, from Krefeld, Germany, in 1685. Later he lived in the Skippack area where he became a trustee in the Mennonite congregation in 1708 and a preacher in 1717. The assertion (DB 1884, 75) that he was appointed minister in 1692 or shortly after to serve together with Rittenhouse is not attested by the old documents. It is very probable that Claes Jansen was the ancestor of the Johnson family which was very prominent in the Lower Skippack congregation in the 19th century furnishing three Henry G. Johnsons as ministers in succession and leading to the nicknaming of the congregation as the "Johnson Mennonites."
Bibliography
Bender, Harold S. "The Founding of the Mennonite Church in America at Germantown, 1683-1708." Mennonite Quarterly Review 7 (October 1933): 231, 234 f.
Hoop Scheffer, J. G. "Het Tweede Eeuwgetijde van de Vestiging der Duitschers in N.-Amerika." Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1884): 75.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Jansen, Claes (1658-1745)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jansen,_Claes_(1658-1745)&oldid=143619.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Jansen, Claes (1658-1745). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Jansen,_Claes_(1658-1745)&oldid=143619.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 91. All rights reserved.
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