The earliest records for our BENNE ancestors note that they lived in Markendorf, a small town in the parish of Buer. These towns were in the former Kingdom of Hannover, 2.5 kilometers east of Buer and approximately 8.5 kilometers northeast of Melle. Markendorf and Buer are currently in the district of Osnabrück and state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). A 19th century American church record notes the place name as "Markendorf, Kirchspiel Buer, Landdrostei Osnabrück, Hannover."
In the fall of 1842, our ancestors, Johann Friedrich BENNE and Clara Maria LANGENHEDER, left Germany from the port town of Bremen and arrived at New Orleans on January 9, 1843. From New Orleans, they made their way north to St. Louis and finally St. Charles, Missouri. Seven other BENNEs also emigrated at the same time on the ship Agnes:
#74 was Ernst Heinrich BENNE, Johann Friedrich's brother, who should have been listed as 26 years of age. Ernst Heinrich's wife, Maria Ilsabein (née KÖTTER), #75 on the passenger list, was pregnant with son Wilhelm Heinrich at the time and her age was correctly listed. Maria Ilsabein was 14 years older than her husband, so there is a chance that Jobst Heinrich (#76) and Johann Friedrich (#77) may have been her children from a previous marriage; it was not uncommon for children to be listed with their stepfather's surname on some old records, notably passenger lists and census enumerations. This theory also makes sense because #78, Florentine Marie BENNE, was the daughter of Ernst Heinrich and Maria Ilsabein, but was listed after the two boys as if the first five BENNEs were a family unit. Florentine Marie was actually 2 years of age at the time.
It is not known who #79 is, but this woman could have been an unknown BENNE sister, cousin or in-law.
#80 and #81 were newlyweds Johann Friedrich and Clara Maria (LANGENHEDER) BENNE. At the time that the manifest was written, Johann Friedrich was just a few days past his 22nd birthday. Clara celebrated her 27th birthday later on the voyage. Ernst Heinrich, #82, was Johann Friedrich and Clara Maria's son.
Some old records show the surname spelled as BENE or BENNA, the latter of which may have resulted from a non-German speaker's phonetic spelling of the name's German pronunciation.