Johann Berends Haan
1857 - 1937 (80 years)
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Name Johann Berends Haan Born 30 Jan 1857 Pilsum, Germany 
Christened 5 Feb 1857 Hamswehrum, Hannover, Germany Gender Male Emigration 5 Apr 1882 Left the port of Bremen on a ship called the Hermann. Arrived in the US on 19 Apr 1882. It appears he immigrated by himself. Buried 1937 Died 20 Aug 1937 Rock Rapids, Lyon County, Iowa, USA Person ID I2234 Gerber Family Tree Last Modified 22 Jun 2025
Father Aisse Jansen Haan, b. 14 Dec 1819, Hamswehrum, Hannover, Germany , d. 13 Oct 1893, Germany (Age 73 years) Mother Aaltje Janssen-Bruuns, b. 5 Jan 1825, Germany , d. 10 May 1899, Germany (Age 74 years) Married 20 Mar 1853 Hamswehrum, Hannover, Germany Family ID F0341 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Hilka Theodorus Garrels, b. 23 Jun 1867, Wolthusen, Germany , d. 6 Jul 1937 (Age 70 years) Married 18 Aug 1887 Grundy Center, IA Children 1. Elizabeth Dehaan + 2. Altje Dehaan, b. 31 Aug 1888, d. 25 Apr 1976 (Age 87 years) + 3. John Dehaan, b. 01 Jul 1890, d. 14 Mar 1919 (Age 28 years) 4. Agnes Dehaan, b. 17 Dec 1892, d. 2 Jul 1973, Lyon County, Iowa, USA (Age 80 years)+ 5. Hilka Dehaan, b. 21 Oct 1895, Matlock, Sioux, Iowa , d. 30 Jan 1981, Rock Rapids, Lyon County, Iowa, USA (Age 85 years)+ 6. Anna Dehaan, b. 7 Sep 1898, George, Lyon County, IA , d. 15 May 1975 (Age 76 years)Photos 
Haan, John/Garrels, Hilka Photograph
John Haan and Hilka Garrels and son John
Haan, John Sr. and Jr. Family Photograph
Shows John Haan with Hilka Garrels Haan and their children. Already married is John DeHaan with Mabel Schlotfeldt.
DeHaan, John and Siblings
Photograph of John DeHaan and SistersHeadstones 
DeHaan Burial Monument
Photograph of DeHaan family monument at Riverside Cemetery, Rock Rapids, Lyon County, IA.Histories 
Haan, John and Hilka Garrels Marriage Record
Marriage record of John Haan and Hilka Garrels provided by descendent Lana Kratz.Last Modified 24 Mar 2011 Family ID F0123 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Event Map 
Born - 30 Jan 1857 - Pilsum, Germany 
Christened - 5 Feb 1857 - Hamswehrum, Hannover, Germany 
Married - 18 Aug 1887 - Grundy Center, IA 
Died - 20 Aug 1937 - Rock Rapids, Lyon County, Iowa, USA = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
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Photos Haan, John/Garrels, Hilka Photograph
John Haan and Hilka Garrels and son John
Haan, John (Jan) and Johann (DeHaan)
Photograph of brothers Jan and Johann, otherwise knows as Jan Haan and John DeHaan.
Documents 
Haan, Johann Berends birth record from Germany
Birth record of Johann Berends Haan (DeHaan) from Germany. Provided by Lana Kratz
Headstones 
Haan, Johann headstone photograph.
Photograph of John (Johann) DeHaan (Haan) at Riverside Cemetery, Rock Rapids, Lyon County, IA.
Haan, John Sr. Headstone
Headstone of John Haan (DeHaan) Sr.
Histories 
Haan, Johann Berends Obituary
Obituary of Johann Berends Haan (John DeHaan) provided by Lana Kratz
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Notes - Possibly born in 1867 as tombstone states.
John Haan changed his name to DeHaan due to mail delivery confusion. The 1910 shows another John Haan family a few houses down, likely the cause of the confusion.
From www.alaska.net/~dsewell/:
According to a article that I have called "A Short Survey of Friesian History by Bernard J. Fridsma, Sr.", the first recording of the Friesians was about 1,000 years ago when they were living on the coast of the North Sea between the Ems and Rhine Rivers. Where they came from is pretty foggy but that they started reclaiming the muddy land from the sea is evident. Eventually the country called Friesia covered the whole coast of what is now The Netherlands and Germany. For centuries they fought off invaders. Unfortunately when they weren't fighting with others they fought with each other over control. (Sound familiar?) Finally, after a series of name changes and being divided and re-divided between 1798 and 1810 under Napoleon, Friesia lost it's ancient name. It now remains only in the province (state?) of Friesia in the north west corner of The Netherlands and in our beloved Ostfriesland (East Friesia) in Germany.
IN THE USA
From 1850 to 1900 there was a mass immigration from this the Ostfriesland area of Germany due to war and wide spread hunger. It was a chance for the common man to improve his families lot in life. Most of this group settled in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin. In some of the German villages over half of the population departed. The port of entry for a large percentage of the immigrants was New Orleans. They then traveled up the Mississippi River to the Heartland of America.
For the settlement of the farm country of Illinois timing was everything. Much of this area was sparsely settled because the land was wet, heavy black gumbo, covered with deep rooted prairie grass. It was impossible to plow without stopping every few feet to clean the blade. Then the curved "self cleaning" plow was invented and perforated tile was installed around the fields and the land rush was on. A far seeing man named Scully bought a huge portion of the land and paid the fare for families from his native land to come and be tenant farmers. Of course many paid their own way and worked in other jobs.
This was an industrious group and they did well in their new land. For many years they kept their old customs and spoke Low German so named for the low, flat terrain of their native land, reclaimed from the North Sea. Then came WW1 and to be German was shameful in America. Everyone was anxious to appear patriotic so much of our heritage was lost. The few that appeared too loyal to Germany had their houses and fences painted yellow by "real Americans" in the middle of the night. My grandfather was one of them but his reaction was not of fear but of defiance (or stubbornness, depending on how you look at it). "If a yellow house means I'm German then I will show that I'm proud of it." he said (in German, of course). He painted the rest of the house yellow and that is the color it stayed until he died.
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John took the surname "DeHaan" when he arrive at Rock Rapids, IA. The story was passed down that this was done due to mail delivery problems with another John Haan family down the road. The census data confirms this was his first cousin married to Bessie Rieman.
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From "In and Around George" 1871-1912
John De Haan -- and his wife lived here from 1890 (perhaps earlier) until 1895. At. that time they lived near Lyon County First Presbyterian Church and near Rev. Henry Wortman's home. The children remember how often the Wortman children would stay with them when their parents were busy. In 1895 they moved to Riverside Township, and later they returned to George, living at 107 West Indiana Avenue. Their children were John (married Mabel Schlotfeldt); Ella (Mrs. Harm Meester); Agnes (Mrs. Harry Cone); Helen (Mrs. Charley Busch); Anna (Mrs. Charley Harms); and Elizabeth (Mrs. Elmer Williams).
On the picture with Mr. and Mrs. De Haan is their grandson Win Harms.
- Possibly born in 1867 as tombstone states.