Origin of the M*n*s Surname
There are many theories about the origin of the M*n*s surname. Here, I will attempt to lay them out for you so that you can decide for yourself.
Contents of this page:
The German
Theory
The England/Great
Britain Theory
George Monks
Coat of Arms
The French
Theory
Monicher (Munker) is a name first used in conection with the convent Meer near Krefeld in 1166. The Countess (Grafin) Hildegrunde from Liedberg/Meer bestowed the name upon the family who donated land to the convent in the year 929. In the year 1201 the land was returned to the Munker family. It is not stated why the land was returned.
By the year 1271, 20% of the Krefeld district was owned by the family MUNKER. Between 1201 and 1560 the family donated land to the church (es) in Siegen, Dillenberg, Weidenau, Bernberg, and Eisterfeld.
At least one member of each generation was usually a member of the priesthood, but not always in the Catholic Church. It appears that having a son in the church was a way to insure that the orders for iron and other ornamentation from the foundries kept coming to the family. The family was very well educated for their time, as well as preachers, the family were business men, teachers, lawyers and engineers. It was almost as if one section of the family supported the other. There was a lengthy lawsuit filed in Krefeld district court in 1544, which was not resolved until 1549. It concerned the quality of goods delivered to the Count of Dillenberg by the Munkershutte (Munkers foundry). The family won the lawsuit, but it was very expensive. They did not receive as much business as they were used to during the five year long legal battle.
It was during this time that the family branched out into the wine selling business, and bought several more foundries in the area, most were controlled by the family, however, the names of the foundries did not change until the lawsuit was over. The idea being to get the business, but not let everyone know who was making the money.
By 1559 the family had also purchased a GASTHAUS (Bed and Breakfast , with restaurant) in Weidenau, near Siegen. They were involved in a little bit of everything so to speak.
From 1475 to 1624 the STAMMVATER (guild leader) was always a member of the Munker family.
One of the earliest ironworks to give benefits to the workers was the Munkershutte, they paid better than most of the other foundries and supplied many of the employees with places to live. They even guaranteed a three month notice to workers if their services would no longer be needed.
The census listing for 1563 states that Jakob Muncker had the following:
one house one horse
his woman fourteen cows
one servant nineteen beef cows
six children six pigs
twenty four sheep three wagons
The law at the time stated that women could not own property when Thonges Munker disappeared in 1560, his share of the ironworks was inherited by his son-in-law Peter Flender, who by 1563 had legally changed his last name to Munker. This was probably due to pressure from the other owners of the foundry, who were either sons or brothers of Thonges.
There were several spellings in the family even as far back as the middle ages, among them:
MUNKER MONICHER
MUNCKER MENKELER
MONCKER MUENKER
MONCKERT MUENKERS
MONCKLER
I have tried to use MUNKER or stated "the family", as it tends to be somewhat confusing.
As of 1987, the city maps of Siegen show MUENKERSHUTTE to be an operating foundry still known by that name. Branches of the family are also involved in a brewery (Mounkes ) and furniture manufacturing (Munker) in Germany today.
The "ch" was dropped from the spelling of the name by 1785 except for a small branch that settled in Switzerland. This branch remains mostly Catholic while the remainder of the family is predominately protestant.
Most of the documentation comes from the ironworker and blacksmiths tax lists. Some of the family information comes from the elected historian of the MUNKER family in Germany.
By 1645 more than twenty foundries were owned wholly or in part by the family.
Records state that HEYNE MUNKER
owned or was in possession of more than 1200 measures (acres of land),
which at the time was a substantial amount. His grandson was the TILLMAN
MUENKER mentioned in the early family history.
---translated and compiled by
Larry and Dru Mounkes
This information comes by way of Earl Perry, taken from information found by Loleeda
NASSAU SIEGEN IMMIGRANTS TO
VIRGINIA
Tillman Muenker was born at Eiserfeld about 1475 and died at Muenkershuetten in the Weidenau township 1535/38. The name Muenker is perhaps derived from "Moencher" i.e. "Monk-Man", a person connected with a farm belonging to a monastery. Tillmann Muenker's father was Ewert Muenker of Eiserfeld (born ca. 1440/45) (D: after 1503) shown by the tax lists 1467-1503 as an owner of iron works property and son-in-law and heir of Tillmann Dilthey of Siegen, a prosperous ironmaster of Eiserfeld and Siegen. Tillman Muenker married before 1500, Treina (Catherina) (B: ca 1475-D: after 1538) daughter of Tonies Fick. Through her he inherited the Hammer founded by her great great grandfather Fick in the Wiedenau township, called Fickenhuetten in 1417, but later known as Muenkershuetten. Tillman Muenker was one of the wealthiest ironmasters of his day. By about 1530 he had bought out the other heirs and was sole owner of the Hammer which later bore his name. In 1512 he made a gift of iron for the repair of St. Martin's church in Siegen, and sold large amounts of iron to the county. In addition to the Muenkershuetten iron works, he also owned land in Weidenau and Eisborn, and houses in both Siegen and Krombach. In 1535 he was an Associate Justice of the Court of Hain (Siegen District Court) but was dead by 1538. Tillmann and Treina (Fick) Muenker had the following children: Jacob, Toenges (Anton), Jost, Hans, and Leisgen (Elizabeth) who married Tillmann Schuette, and probably Else, who married Herman Wenderer. The sons were quite prosperous, Jost being particularly so and becoming an Associate Justice of the Hain Court in 1563, the Chief Justice 1577/78. all the children lived at Muenkershuetten except the Schuettes, who lived at the Hardt.
This from
Loleeda Munkres Keeler
According to the History of
Northwest Missouri and information given by James Franklin Munkres the
Munkers family originated from Cornwall, England. I was also told by several
people from different branches of the family that they came from somewhere
in Europe, then Ireland and Scotland, then England and then to the United
States. In the Historical Index of Virginia and also in the Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography our family name is spelled Munkers.
To Give
Credibility to the Irish theory
My dad, Ronnie Theo Moncus, told me that his dad, Kermit Roosevelt Moncus, said that his great-grandaddy, James Logan Moncus, had such a brogue when he was angry that you could not understand him. (Ronnie> Kermit> Andrew Jackson> James Logan> Benjamin> Old William) This may not make sense considering he was at least two generations removed from the original immigration. Consider this, even today (and moreso in the earlier years of the US) people live in areas where everyone talks like them, like Germans might live in Germantown. Also, children tend to talk like their parents. Now does the theory gain more credibility? I have also pointed out to my dad that the accent could have been Scottish, since my Grandaddy was just a little boy at the time he could have been mistaken, wouldn't they both sound alike to a little boy? On the other hand, he might have been told by someone else (like his mom or dad) that the accent was Irish, because he always said that it was Irish.
This is a letter I got from
Bob Monks, who has extensive Monk material.
Hi Kim,
So far I haven't found any relationship
to your Moncus
family. If I do, I'll let you
know.
Thanks for the inquiry, and
happy hunting.
Bob Monk
Well, maybe this leads us further towards the England Theory! I just found this 1/21/2000
The Origin of Monkus
The very first record of the family name Monkus was found in Northumberland , which is located in the English and Scotttish Border Ridings. The Monkus family traces their ancestral roots back to Norman origin before the year 1100. From here they branched and migrated, gaining prosperity as a notable family of the English and Scotttish Border Ridings and later other countries. There is a connection between the surname and the Monks of early times.
Components of the monkus Family Name Coat of Arms
The Shield is: Purple
and green with a silver horizontal stripe on which there is a monastery
and in base three monks.
The Crest is: An arm
holding a sword emerging from a tower.
The motto is:
"Monachus Salvador"
Northumberland is the most northerly
county of England. It lies next to Scotland, on the German Ocean, and is
bounded by Durham and Cumberland. It extends about 70 miles in length,
and 50 in breadth; and contains 12 market towns, and 460 parishes. The
air is not so cold as might be imagined from the latitude in which it lies;
and the snow seldom lies long in Northumberland, except on the tops of
the hills, some of which are above 2000 feet high. The soil is various;
the eastern part being fruitful, having very good wheat and most sorts
of corn, with rich meadows on the banks of the rivers; but the western
part is generally barren, it being mostly heathy and mountainous. It yields
lead; and is one of the most productive and best coal-fields in England.
Iron and glass-works are its principal manufactories; and it has some fisheries.
This county is well watered by rivers, the principal of which are the Tyne,
Tweed, and Coquet. Alnwick is the county-town, but the largest and richest
is Newcastle. Population, 250,278. It returns 8 members to parliament."
[From Barclay's Complete and Universal English Dictionary, 1842]
I also got a letter from a member
of the Monkhouse family (she sent me a copy of our coat of arms, well a Munkus/Monkhouse COA)
She had this
to say about our name, if you go along with the fact that our name is Munkus/Monkus,
then
this seems to point to the
England Great Britain Theory (with a touch of Scottish, maybe, since the
Munkus surname started on the English/Scottish border?)
The origin of the Monkhouse name is Munkus, until the very late 1600s, although, obviously, the name is still being used. I have traced my line back to 1713 for sure, and possibly to about 1570. William is a very popular name among the Monkhouses, etc. I have no way to know where your William fits in. My line originates in Cumbria, near Hadrian's wall. Actually, I believe that most of the family originated there. However, you would be amazed to learn how popular the name really is in England. It is definately from the north. I have learned that the Monkhouses were either very well off or very poor. Mine were the poor ones. One strain The family owned the land they farmed and left estates. Mine were shepherds in the 18th century in Dacre, then weavers and miners in Ulverston in the 19th Century. My great-great grandparents came to NJ in 1866.
That was all of her letter to me, but it seems that she is pretty sure of the Monkhouse name being connected with the Monkus/Munkus surname. The big question then becomes, was the name originally spelled Monkus, Muncas, Muncus, or was the "r" sound present? If the "r" sound was there originally, then the name takes on a whole new meaning.(leans more toward the German Theory) The only I can see hampering this theory is that all the descendants of the known German version Munker/etc. is that none of them have an "s" on their name. (that I have found) The Moncus Ancestor I descend from was first found in VA. with the spelling Muncas/Muncus. In later times he was found as Munker, and even Murcur. Most of the time when I find an ancestor there is an "s" on the end of whatever spelling the (census taker, tax person, marriage recorder) person chose. This leads me to believe it was pronounced with an "s" from the very beginning.
I received
this letter from a French descendant of a French Moncus
Thank
you for your exposes on the family Moncus. He/it is very interesting but,
unfortunately, I possess less data that you on this name. For me
the Moncus is from Brittany, and more especially of the department of
Finistère (Region of Roscoff, Saint Pol of Léon, Island of
Batz). But can be that, while going back up sufficiently far, one
would find that this name comes from Big Brittany and was implanted
in France has the continuation of the successive invasions of the
English. If I learn something on this name I will transmit it to
you.
Here is another letter from a different French Moncus
Before
knowing you and your research I always thought -that my family came from
England but without any proof nor confirmation. But, you know, Clement
is a french name (we had a pope with this name in France in the middle
age I think). According to what my grandmother told me, "my" Moncus family
comes from Ile de Bath (Bath Island) in Brittany at the very west of France
near the town call Roscoff. She is a super old gaelic woman who speaks
more gaelic than
french
and it is a problem for me because I don't speak gaelic and she lost her
mind. I can confirm that a lot of Moncus different families are currently
living in this island. In the old times, there was a traditionnal trip
from Britanny to England for
poor
people of brittany to go to sell onions to english people and it is a possible
link between your family and mine.
So now, having read all of the above, draw your conclusions, if you can. I don't see any way to be positive of any of it without new evidence. If it is out there I will find it. If you know anything about it, please email me and tell me what you know!
