OLD POST: Iron Cutter

July 9, 2008

I have been able to dig up some of the original posts of this blog from before the re-launch using Google’s cached page feature.  I will be trying to re-post some of the more interesting ones as I find and sort through them.

Below is one of the first posts from this site’s previous incarnation.  It is titled Iron Cutter and was originally posted on June 20th of last year.  I think you will find it very interesting.

My grandmother gave me a photocopy of a short newspaper article about the surname Eisenhauer and its origins. Unfortunately I do not know the name of the paper it came from and all I know of the author is his name: John Foley. The text of the article is the following:

EISENHAUER

When Hans Nicholas Eisenhauer, the founder of a line which produced Dwight D. Eisenhower, migrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1741 he gave his surname as Hans Iron Cutter–that being the anglicization of Eisenhauer.

But it didn’t catch on for his progeny reverted to the German spelling Eisenhauer or one of a number of variations.

One source estimates the name is spelled 170 different ways. The most common forms besides Eisenhauer are Isenhaur, Isenhour (recorded in 1857 in Indiana) and the well known Eisenhower.

Like his famed descendant, Hans Nicholas bought a farm in Pennsylvania, but the Indians burned it down.

In Germany the name originally meant a maker of sabers called eisenhausers: it later came to stand for an iron cutter or minor.

BY JOHN FOLEY

Like I said, I unfortunately do not know the name of the periodical this was published in and I have no clue who John Foley is. As soon as I get my scanner hooked up I will upload a picture of the article for all to view. In the meantime, if anyone knows anything about the author of this article or the source he mentions that “estimates the name is spelled 170 different ways” I would love to hear from you.

Now as any of you long-term readers may remember, I had posted the scan of the article on the original blog.  Unfortunately, Google’s caching features does not store images. When I find it again on my computer I will be sure to post it once again.

Posted in Eisenhauers, Name Origins