Ris family

Ris, a widely ramified Dutch Mennonite family, many of whose members, usually conservatives, served the church as preachers and deacons. It seems to have had its origin in Hoorn, province of North Holland; branches of this family were found as early as 1650 at Westzaan and Krommenie in this province.

The most outstanding member of this family was Cornelis Ris (1717-1790), preacher at Hoorn 1747-90 and author of the Ris confession of faith (1766); his son Jan Ris (born 1756 at Hoorn, died 1784 at Hamburg) was a preacher of the Hamburg-Altona congregation in 1777-84, whose baptismal sermon preached at Altona on 28 March 1784, entitled De Christelyke waterdoop, was published at Hamburg in 1784. Cornelis Willemsz Ris was also a lay preacher at Hoorn 1766-85. Deacons at Hoorn were Gerrit Pieters Ris in 1646-69 and Pieter Ris (1742-1808), a brother of the preacher Cornelis Ris and married to Cornelia van Vollenhoven, from 1783 until his death. Pieter Ris, like his brother, ardently defended the old Mennonite principles, in the Waterlander (Rijper) and also in the Frisian conference. A number of his writings entitled Christelijke brieven en overdenkingen, were published after his death (Hoorn, 1812).

In Hoorn the Ris family was engaged in business and trade; they were among the most active owners of whaling boats and were well-to-do. This family has died out there.

At Wormerveer in 1675 Pieter Jans Ris, a member of the Waterlander congregation, together with some other members insisted that the confession of Hans de Ries should be maintained in the congregation, and that no preacher should be admitted to the pulpit who did not agree with the confession.

At Westzaan, Jan Willems Ris was an untrained preacher of the Frisian congregation in the early 18th century. His writings, Israels Blijdschap, Dank-Predikatie over den vrede van Utrecht (Haarlem, no date of publication indicated); Redenvoering, geschickt om in een Sterfhuys voorgedraagen te worden (Haarlem, no date of publication indicated, 1744); and Verzaameling van Boet- en Bedestoffen, of Bedestonds redenvoeringen, uitgesproken in de jaaren 1702 tot 1712 (Haarlem, 1747), were edited by Agge Wynalda, the Mennonite minister of Haarlem.

One of the descendants of Jan Willems Ris was Klaas Ris, born circa 1795 at Westzaan, died 1852 at Joure, who was trained for the ministry at the Amsterdam Lamist seminary and served the congregations of Makkum 1820-23 and Joure 1823-52. He published Naamlijst van allen, die . . . hunne studiën aan de Kweekschool begonnen en voleindigd hebben (Leeuwarden, no date of publication indicated-1841).

A. A. Ris was the sexton of the Haarlem Mennonite Church in 1900-29. Klaas Ris Taconis, born1844 at Nieuwe Niedorp, died 1876 at Graft, a son of Pastor Inne Taconis and Aagtje Ris, after studying at the Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary, served at Noordeind van Graft in 1872-76. He retired because of poor health. His farewell sermon, Laatste Toespraak, was published at Joure in 1876. He died soon after.

Bibliography

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1876): 129.

Doopsgezind Jaarboekje 1935): 34 ff; (1940): 57-63.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. I, Nos. 870, 900; v. II, 2, Nos. 125, 139, 168, 171 f., 199, 210.

Schagen, M. Naamlijst der Doopsgezinde schrifveren. Amsterdam, 1745: 83.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Ris family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ris_family&oldid=119556.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Ris family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ris_family&oldid=119556.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 338. All rights reserved.

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