This archives contains the records that show Frederick Benner as a resident of Skanderborg.
Also shows his signature as a character witness for several marriages. (verified summer of
1988 by John A. Larsen).

FREDERICK BENNER

BENNER: Preliminary research findings;

TRADITIONAL DANISH NAMING PATTERN:
1st male - fathers father
2nd male - mothers father
1st female - mothers mother
2nd female - fathers mother

Only known ancestor is mother's father - Jesper Rasmussen
Second male child of Frederick Benner named Christian Ludvig - to that extent he did
not follow the traditional naming pattern. Second wife's (Christine Hedvig Nielsen)
father would have been Niels...... First son of that marriage was Niels Jesper Benner (a
combination of both father-in-laws first names.) A daughter by second marriage was
named Wiwiche - obviously after first wife Vibeche (a common Danish practice).
Second generation only partially followed the naming custom. Third generation
followed the custom to the letter. Fourth generation (Lars Johansen) modified it
somewhat.
CONCLUSION: Frederick Benner wasn't Danish. If he had followed the traditional
pattern his father would be Mathias Benner and his mother Anne ......

PATRONYMIC NAMING PATTERN;
None of Frederick Benner's children took the surname "Frederickson" (second
generation). The third generation began using a compound name - Christiansen Benner
after Christian Ludvig Benner. The fourth generation (i.e.. Lars Johansen) completely
dropped the Benner name.
CONCLUSION: Benner is not a Danish surname.

Other Danish Benner's. From IGI and Ancestral File, all individuals with Benner
surname are children or grandchildren of Frederick Benner EXCEPT: a Christian
BENNER (married about 1760)  and groups of Benners in Aabenraa and Copenhagen. (These are 
later generations.)
Christian Benner would have been born about 1735. He does not tie to Frederick Benner's
family chronologically.
CONCLUSION: Could have been a younger brother to Frederick Benner (needs to be
checked out.)

CENSUS EXTRACTS
From 1801 Census
Source: FT-1801
Name: Christian Ludewig Benner (grandson of Frederick Benner, son of Christian Ludvig
                                Benner, younger brother of Johan Conrad Christiansen
                                Benner)
Sex: M
Age: 32 (that would make him born in 1769; he was christened 6 Dec 1772)
Position in household: Mand
Marital Status: Gift
Occupation: Forpagter af Parcellen Sophienlund under Silkeborg med Jord
Parish: Linaa
District: Gjern
County: Skanderborg
Place name: Silkeborg Howedgaard
Household-/family no: 4
Marriage no: 1
Source entry no: B4109
Record no: 686
Comments: "med Jord"

Name: TSnke Benner (wife of above listed Christian Ludewig Benner; family group
                    records have her name listed as Tanke.)
Sex: K
Age: 41 (that would make her born in 1760)
Position in household: Koene
Marital Status: Gift
Occupation: Forpagter af Parcellen Sophienlund under Silkeborg med Jord
Parish: Linaa
District: Gjern
County: Skanderborg
Place name: Silkeborg Howedgaard
Household-/family no: 4
Marriage no: 2
Source entry no: B4109
Record no: 686
Comments: Tvivl om fornavn

Name: Christian Benner (Johan Conrad Christiansen Benner had a son named Christian
                        Christiansen who was christened 13 Dec 1792)
Sex: M
Age: 8 (that would make him born in 1793)
Position in household: Mandens Broder Son
Marital Status: Ugift
Parish: Linaa
District: Gjern
County: Skanderborg
Place name: Silkeborg Howedgaard
Household-/family no: 4
Source entry no: B4109
Record no: 686

From 1834 Census
Name: Christian Benner 
Sex: M
Age: 68 (that would make him born in 1766)
Marital Status: Enke(mand) [widower]
Occupation: Saddelmager, - logerende
Parish: Skanderborg Kobstad
District: Hjelmslev
County: Skanderborg
Place name: Skanderborg
Title no/address: Lillegade/78
Household-/family no: 107
Source entry no: B1843
Record no: 641

Name: Johann Christian Benner (Johan Conrad Christiansen Benner was christed 23 Oct 1768)
Age: 73 (that would make him born in 1761)
Marital Status: Enke
Occupation: Almisselem
Parish: Sindbjerg
District: Norvang
County: Vejle
Place name: Orum
Title no/address: Et hus
Household-/family no: 53
Source entry no: A2337
Record no: 736

UNRELATED BENNERS (at this point)
Christian Benner & Silla Heisel (Aabenraa)
   daughter: Elizabeth Christiansdatter Benner; christened 28 Jan 1753
Laurs Benner (Skanderborg)
   daughter Elizabeth Benner; christened 7 Mar 1770
Christian Antoni Benner & Margretha Mercken (Aabenraa)
   son Christian Rudolph Benn er; born 1 Dec 1776
   son Johan Christian Benner; born 9 Mar 1778
   son Christian Rudolph Benner; born 17 Mar 1780
   daughter Catharina Benner; born 27 Jul 1782
Hans Benner & Ane Margrethe Sloth (Kobenhavn)
   son Christian Magnus Hansen Benner; born 17 Feb 1795
Hans Benner & Grete (Sollerod, Kobenhavn)
   son Soren Hansen Benner; christened 28 Jun 1801
Christian Benner & Maria Catharina Lorentzen (Aabenraa)
   daughter Catharina Sophia Christiansdatter Benner; born 2 Jun 1838
   daughter Elisabeth Christiansdatter Benner; born 14 Jan 1840
   daughter Catharina Maria Christiansdatter Benner; born 29 Mar 1842
Christian Benner & Elizabeth Boiset (married 23 Jun 1791; Aabenraa)
Christian Benner & Botilla Brandt (married 5 Feb 1845; Aabenraa)
Johann C Benner & Anna Margretha Jessen (married 2 Aug 1805; Aabenraa)
Johann C Benner & Maria Cathrina Lundt (married 17 Apr 1807; Aabenraa)
Elisabeth M Benner & Andreas J Brodersen (married 29 Apr 1842; Aabenraa)
Anna Maria Benner & Rasmus Hansen (married 19 Dec 1757; Aabenraa)
Hedvig C Benner & Christian Bahenberg (married 25 Apr; Holbaek)
Bertha Sophie Benner & Johannes Carlsen Told (married 28 Oct 1824; Holbaek)
Johann Benner & Ingeborg Jensdatter (married 5 Feb 1773; Kobenhavn)
Hans Adolph Benner & Else Marie Thomsen (married 13 Sep 1811; Kobenhavn)
Rudolf K Benner & Laura J Jorgensen (married 17 Apr 1874; Odense)
Christentze Benner & Christen Christensen (married 3 May 1780; Skanderborg)




BENNER NAME: The spelling (Benner) with double n's does not seem to be inner-
mixed by locality with any of the other spellings (Bener, Benners, Behnert, Benne,
Bennert etc.)
CONCLUSION: Benner (spelling) is a stand-alone name.

MARKER NAMES: The following names given to Frederick Benner's children are
NOT
common Danish names:
Adolph
Amalie
Beathe
Conrad
Ludvig

IGI EXTRACTION: An extraction of IGI Benner given names with birthdates prior to
1735 (about the latest date a younger brother or sister of Frederick Benner could have
been born - after whom he might have named one of his own children) sorted by locality
showed that the majority of Benners came from Hesse-Nassau, near Darmstadt; about
170 miles directly south of Skanderborg, Denmark.
That area of Germany is also called the Palatine. The winter of 1708-1709 (the year
of Frederick Benner's birth) was said to be one of the most severe in that area in over a
century. Thousands of Palatines had gone to England (and later to Pennsylvania). Some
may have gone north to Denmark,
The Benner name (with family given names) - also shows up in the 1600's in Holland
and Zurich, Switzerland but mostly is confined to Germany.



Area in green is where most German Benner's are from



BENNER PLACE NAMES
(from U.S. Gazeteer of Germany)
1.) Benner-Berg (hill)  Hill
    near Paderborn (51 degrees 54 minutes N.; 9 degrees 8 minutes E.)
2.) Bennerscheid (hill, ridge)  Farm
    near Koblenz (50 degrees 42 minutes N.; 7 degrees 19 minutes E.)
3.) Bennerstedt, Forsterei (foresters home)  Building
    south of Luneberg, south of Hamburg (53 degrees 19 minutes N.; 10 degrees 29 minutes E.)
    Niedersachsen
4.) Rohn (Hill)
    (49 degrees 23 minutes N; 7 degrees 12 minutes E.)
    Saar (north of Saarbrucken)
5.) Rohn (populated place)
    (52 degrees 15 minutes N; 8 degrees 48 minutes E.)
     Nordrhein-Westfalen (near Bielfeld)
    

GERMAN EMIGRATION
(from American Passenger Arrival Records - pp.30 -31 by Mike Tepper [1988])

Strangely, the most extensive body of German emigration materials
of the period is found not in German archives but in the Public Record
Office at Kew, namely, papers relating to the distressed Palatine emi-
grants recently arrived in London from Rotterdam. Fleeing from a
country laid waste by a brutal winter (the winter of 1708-09 was said
to be the worst in over a century), and resolved at the same time to
escape the thralldom of petty princes and to distance themselves from
the havoc wrought by the French armies in the Rhine and Neckar
valleys, refugees from the Palatinate, along with others from Baden,
Bavaria, Alsace, and Wiirttemberg, poured into England via Rotter-
dam with the intention of settling ultimately in Pennsylvania or the
Carolinas. Initially, the English government encouraged them in their
designs, but before long a number of dissenting voices were raised—
first on behalf of English settlers already in the colonies,  then by
churchmen anxious about the number of Catholics among the Pala-
tines, and then by various political factions in this most factional of
ages—the result being that by the summer of 1709 thousands of desti-
tute Palatines were stranded in tented encampments around London
waiting leave to proceed on their journey to the New World.


GERMAN IMMIGRATION INTO DENMARK

{source of information}
Salt Lake Family History Library
Scandinavian Book Area Call No. 948.9/W2n/1984
Author - Jorgen Nielsen (1800 - 1880)
Title - De sydtyske kolonisters bosaettekse pa den jyske hede.
(Emigration of colonists from southern Germany to the moors of Jutland.)

The index contains about 320 families who came to Denmark about 1760 - 1763.
No Benners are listed and Skanderborg is not shown as a destination.
     The preface is reproduced (in Danish) at the end of this page.

 

Where they came from in Germany ... Where they went to in Denmark

BENNER FAMILY GIVEN NAMES
(Second Marriage Names in Parenthesis)
(Adolph)
(Amalie)
Anne Anna  possible mother of Frederick BENNER
Beate
(Cathrine)
Christine
Christence
Christian
[Christiane]
Conrad Conradt
Elizabeth Elisabeth
Fredericia
Frederick Frederik Freiderich
[Frederikke]
(Hans)
(Jesper)
Johan Johannes John
(Karen)
Laurits Lars
Ludvig Ludwig
Marie Maria Mary
Mathias Mathew  possible father of Frederick Benner
(Niels)
(Peder)
Regina
Vivike Viveke
(Wibech Wiwiche)

COMPOUND NAMES
Anne Elizabeth
Anne Marie
Christian Ludvig
Neils Jesper
Anna Cathrine
Amalie Karen
Hans Peder
Hans Adolph


FREDERICK BENNER
Family tradition and legend has It that Frederick Banner came to Denmark from
Germany. Several things would validate this assumption. The surname Benner does not
follow the Scandinavian system of patronymics, and there is no Danish word that even
resembles the word "benner". However, It still remains to eliminate Benner as a Danish
place name.  There are several Benner families who originate from Bavaria In Germany;
but that Is quite a distance from Denmark which would eliminate a casual migration or
boundary line shift. If Frederick Benner was transplanted, say from Bavaria, or some
other place In Germany, that might account for the fact that we do not know much about
him. Also at the time of Frederick Benner's birth, 1708, Frederick the Great was King of
Prussia which might have set a style in the naming of German boys after him. However,
the king of Denmark at the same time was named Frederick. Frederick Benner's birth
year has been determined by the fact that he was 70 years old when he died In 1778.
Another factor that would give credence to his German origin is the names given to some
of his children; names like Mathias, Elizabeth, Anne, Ludvig (especially) which are more
German than Scandinavian. The family group sheets of Frederick Benner list his
birthplace as "OF" Skanderborg, Skanderborg, Denmark. That preposition "of" Is used In
no other instance and would Indicate that he was not born in Skanderborg but had
probably lived there for a long time. We do know that he was married there in 1735 and
died there 43 years later. The question then arises, what of his life from 1708 until 1735
or roughly his first 27 years ? He did marry Vibeche Jesperssen, the daughter of the
shoemaker Jesper Rasmussen. Even though her birthplace is listed as "OF" Skanderborg,
her name does follow the patronymic system. We do know who her father was (Jesper
Rasmussen) and if he had been there long enough to become established as a shoemaker
by the time his daughter Vibeche got married to Frederick, they must have been local
Danish people for quite some time. The problem is then - how long would a German
Immigrant, Frederick Benner, have to live in Danish Skanderborg to be accepted by the
community, court and marry one of the local girls, all by the age of 27 ? He must have
left Germany at least In his early 20's, but old enough to live without his parents or any
other of his family. There is also a question as to Frederick Benner's occupation. Again
family legend has it that he was the king's hatter (hat maker). Now, if he made hats for a
German king it would mean one of two things; either Frederick Benner was doing an
export business or he was a very young (pre- 27 year-old) pre-immigrant hatter. On the
other hand he may have made hats for the Danish king, and would a Danish king let a
German make his hats ? Frederick Benner's oldest surviving son, Ludvig, took up the
trade of saddlemaker, which might have been a carry-over from his shoemaker
grandfather on his mother's side (Jesper Rasmussen). But who back then in a local area
such as Skanderborg could have afforded saddles for pleasure riding or hunting horses,
unless Ludvig had some contact with the nobility or wealthy classes, which might have
come from his father's hat making enterprise for the king. Also why would a Danish king
sponsor a German Immigrant hatmaker unless that German hatmaker had been In
Denmark a very long time, much more than just his early 20's - which case would mean
that Frederick Benner came to Denmark as a young child and presumably, with someone.
In summary then I would say this, Frederick Benner was from Germany, came to
Denmark at a very early age with someone other than his immediate family and under
more than casual migratory circumstances, settled In the area of Skanderborg, and was
gradually absorbed Into that Danish society. Dennis M. Larsen (6th great grandson).

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