“Friesen” is like “Smith” for Mennonites. There are several derivatives of the root name “Fries”: Friesan, Friessan, Friessen, etc.
Fries Name Meaning and History
“Ethnic name for someone from Friesland. The name of this region is ancient and of uncertain origin; the most plausible speculation derives it from an Indo-European root prei- ‘to cut’, with reference to the dikes necessary for the cultivation of low-lying land. There is archaeological evidence of the construction of ditches and dams along the southern shores of the North Sea from at least the time of Christ.
“Occupational name for a builder of dams and dikes. The word was used in this sense in various parts of Germany during the Middle Ages, and is probably a transferred use of the ethnic term, dike building being a characteristic occupation of Frieslanders.
diminutive of Friedrich.” —Ancestry.com
Our branch were forcibly evicted with most of the other Mennonites from Holland and invited to Prussia to drain marsh/swampland there, due to their experience with diking in Holland. Legend has it that a nobleman called von Riesen was so impressed with their hard work and religious convictions that, when the swamps had been converted to incredibly productive farmland and the Mennonites were again being violently persecuted for their beliefs (chiefly their pacifism), he abandoned his titles and lands and moved with some of them to Russia, where Catherine the Great had invited them to transform more desolate land into farmland.
Our branch left Russia sometime before the Bolshevik revolution (and subsequent violent persecution—again) and came to America, some settling in North Dakota and others in Saskatchewan. My grandfather was born in Saskatchewan.
“The first Mennonites came mainly from Swiss and German roots, with many of the important martyrs of the early church coming from the area around Zurich. To escape persecution, many Mennonites fled western Europe for the more accommodating religious climate of the Americas or Catherine the Great’s Russia, giving these two groups distinctly different cultura l heritages. When the Russian Mennonites were eventually forced out of Russia in the last half of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century, many migrated to the western states and provinces, where today there is a large Mennonite population. Many people in the older generation of this group continue to speak a low german dialect called “Plautdietsch” and eat traditional foods. Swiss German Mennonites migrated to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, settling first in Pennsylvania, then eventually across the Midwestern states. They too brought with them their own traditions, including hearty foods and the German language. Today large Mennonite populations can be found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas, although Mennonites live in all parts of the United States and the world.
“The Amish, who separated from the Mennonites in the late 1600’s, are widely known for their plain dress and rejection of modern technology and conveniences. Unlike the Mennonites, they form an exclusive and tight-knit community, with the church dictating much of what may or may not be done: for example, each local church district would dictate rules regarding the use of telephones, if indeed they are permitted at all. While certain conservative branches of the Mennonite church still dress simply and require women to wear head coverings, Mennonites generally are not culturally separatist, choosing to embrace the larger communities outside of their church rather than forming a separate community around the church. Where the Amish believe in keeping themselves spiritually focused by limiting their interaction with modern society, Mennonites believe in practicing Jesus’ teaching of service to others in a broader context.”—http://history.mennonite.net/
