Tak (formerly Tack), a widely ramified Dutch Mennonite family, found from the 16th century at Zierikzee, from about 1600 also at Vlissingen, Brouwershaven, and particularly at Middelburg, all in the province of Zeeland. In the course of the 17th century its members moved to Rotterdam and Haarlem. Abraham Jansz Tack, b. 1562 at Zierikzee, moved to Vlissingen about 1590, where he married Maeyken Jan Denysdochter and probably operated a grocery. His grandson Jan Samuels Tack (Vlissingen, 1629-97), a buckwheat miller, was a preacher of the Vlissingen Mennonite congregation from 1673 until his death. His sons and grandsons were grocers. In the early 18th century the Tacks moved from Vlissingen to Middelburg, where they were grocers, grain merchants, and manufacturers of tobacco products and chocolate; one branch owned an ironworks at Middelburg from cl740. In the 19th century some Taks were lawyers and government officials. Hemerijk Tak and De Maret Tak are side branches from 1774 and 1805 respectively. Many of the Taks until recent times served the church as deacons at Vlissingen, Zierikzee, Middelburg, Brouwershaven, Rotterdam, Leiden, Koog-Zaandijk, and Nijmegen. Samuel Adriaansz Tak (1737-1808), of Vlissingen, was trained for the ministry at the Amsterdam Lamist seminary and served from 1765 until his death as the (last) pastor of the Mennonite congregation at Zierikzee. Abraham Tack, who about 1675 was a preacher of the Huiskoopers (Danzig Old Flemish) congregation at Haarlem, probably was a member of the same family.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 682. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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