The DAHRENS surname is German, and the earliest ancestor in my branch of the family hails from near Grabow and Hohenkranig, in Brandenburg Province, Prussia, towns near the Oder River on the modern-day border between Germany and Poland. It appears to be a rare German name. I suspect that anyone with this surname is somehow related.
Through my research connected with the Deu-Nahausen list (Nahausen is a town in Brandenburg, Prussia near where the Gensmers, Metzkes, Kastners, Dahrenses, and others lived), I have discovered that there most likely is a connection between these two surnames--Dahrens and Dahrendt. In the U.S. Dahrendt has even been simplified to DORN.
In my family I have the following information:
Martin Friedrich DAHRENDT, b. 8 November 1800 Nahausen, Brandenburg Province, Preussen, d. 8 September 1866 Norton Township, Winona Co., Minnesota. He married Maria Dorothea Stargardt in 1838. She was b. 9 April 1815 Neu Rudnitz, Brandenburg Province, Preussen, d. 18 May 1898 Norton Township, Winona Co., Minnesota.
Their daughter was Amelia Dorothea "Maria" DORN, b. 11 May 1852 Nauhausen, Brandenburg Province, Prussia, d. 2 February 1918 Lewiston, Winona Co., MN. She married Paul FERDINAND Gensmer, Sr. on 15 June 1871 at Lewiston, Winona Co., MN. He was b. 31 March 1849 Dodge Co., WI, d. 1 September 1918 Norton, Winona Co., MN. Both Maria and Ferdinand Gensmer are buried at Norton Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Norton Twp., Winona Co., MN.
I have a couple other DORNs who lived near my Gensmer/Roemhildt/Kastner families in Dodge Co., Wisconsin, Winona Co., Minnesota, and Le Sueur Co., Minnesota.
I also have the following in my family:
Dorothea Louise Dahrens, b. Abt. 1730, d. 15 February 1761 Grabow, Brandenburg Province, Preussen. She married 2 June 1749 at Grabow Neumark, Brandenburg Province, Preussen to Christoph Metzke, b. ca. 1730, d. ?.
Their daughter was Dorothea Sophia Metzke, b. ca. 1761 Grabow, Brandenburg Province, Preussen, d. 26 September 1808 Hohenkranig, Brandenburg Province, Preussen. She married Johann Kastner, b. 1 August 1756 Swedt, Brandenburg Province, Preussen, d. 24 February 1805 Hohenkranig, Brandenburg Province, Preussen.
As you can see, these places of origin--Nauhausen, Neu Rudnitz, Alt Rudnitz, Swedt, Grabow, Hohenkranig, etc. are all in very close proximity. Descendants of these families ended up in Dodge Co., Wisconsin, then Winona Co., Minnesota, and then Le Sueur Co., Minnesota.
Since these are in 2 different family lines, I had not thought of the connection before. Now I think there is a connection between these different name spellings.
I started research on the Dahrens family in 1997 after corresponding through e-mail with a distant cousin, Kathy Zelus, who supplied all the information on the early generations of this family back in Prussia which comes from Lutheran Church records in Prussia . These were filmed by the LDS Church and are available on microfilm. Kathy sent me information on the LDS film numbers and the names and dates for the ancestors of Caroline (Kastner) Gensmer, generation #4, who is also her ancestor. Many thanks to Kathy for this valuable information.
Here is my DAHRENS lineage as far as it has been proven:
Last updated November 10, 2004.
Back to Glenn Gohr's Genealogy Page