The Family Kalamazoo

After my last post was published, Elly and I conferred again about our Mulder family. We discovered that of the six children of Adriaan and Johanna (Mulder) Zuijdweg, we had two differences. First of all, Elly didn’t have a record of the first child, Kornelis, born in 1837. And I did not have another child who died at a very young age. Although I had on my tree, Johanna, born 1847, I did not know that there was an earlier Johanna, born in 1845, who died on 5 March, 1847. She passed away two months before her Grandfather Mulder died, and less than two years after her father applied for emigration.

Now we know why the newspaper account said there were 5 children and not 6–or 4. At the time of the application for emigration there were five Zuijdweg children. But afterwards, one died and two more were born.

So it seems likely that there really were seven in total, with one dying as a baby.

But that ain’t all, folks. There are two other exciting discoveries made by Elly.

First, she found an advertisement for Johanna Mulder Zuijdweg’s 70th birthday! Johanna’s family must have been proud of her living to that age. Elly says it is customary in the Netherlands, even today for some people, to advertise 50th, 60th, 70th, etc. birthdays. It might mean that her family and friends had a small party for Johanna’s birthday.

Look at that ad. Very very interesting. It says ZUIDWEG. Not Zuijdweg. What is up with that? I thought the boundary between the two spellings was the Atlantic Ocean. But now I see this spelling used in the Netherlands! ***

Second, Elly noticed a “coincidence” when we saw the name Hogesteger in more than one place and she checked it out. I noticed it and just assumed (you know what they say about that word, right?) that it was a coincidence. But it’s no coincidence.

Adriaan Zuijdweg and his wife, Johanna Mulder Zuijdweg, wanted to emigrate to the United States in 1845. He might have been part of the group seceding from the Reformed Church. His wife’s brother, Johannes Mulder was married to Henderika Johanna Hogesteger. Johannes and Henderika emigrated to Holland, Michigan, in 1857 with their three children. But ten years before that, Henderika’s brother Johannes Hogesteger emigrated in 1847 for religious reasons. He actually was one of the leaders of the movement that seceded from the Reformed Church.

In fact, you can read here in Michigan History about how Johannes Hogesteger, a Mulder in-law, figured into the history of Michigan.

The city of Zeeland has a rich history of Christianity, beginning with the first settlers who emigrated from the Netherlands due to persecution from the State Church.

The First Reformed Church of Zeeland was formed before the city of Zeeland was founded; it was organized in the Netherlands before the 457 immigrants sailed to the United States. It is thought that this was the only other group of people besides the Pilgrims that immigrated to the U.S. as an organized church.

Reverend Cornelius Vander Meulen

The first church service as a congregation was held three months after the arrival of the settlers, in the home of Jan Steketee. Many Sundays found the settlers worshipping outside, though in inclement weather they held services in one of the larger homes in the village. Rev. Vander Meulen was asked to be the pastor. Jannes Van de Luyster, who played an influential role in facilitating the immigration movement, was elected as elder, along with Johannes Hogesteger. Jan Steketee and Adrian Glerum were elected deacons.

In May 1848 the first church building was dedicated, but by the end of the year so many immigrants had arrived that it was necessary to build a new church. In 1849, the church recorded 175 families in the congregation.

What I get out of this is that my relatives were involved in the only other group besides the Pilgrims that moved an entire church to the United States. It seems that the Mulders (Johannes and Henderika) came ten years later than Henderika’s brother, but their 14-year-old son Karel arrived earlier. And Adriaan and Johanna never did make it to Michigan to join their fellow worshipers.

***

Info on Johanna from Zeeuw Archief