When Peter Mulder contacted me, he had a treasure that involved Jan Mulder and also my great-great grandfather, Pieter Mulder. After the death of his wife Neeltje, Pieter wrote to his brother Jan in the Netherlands. And here is the beautiful and heart-breaking letter.
Since the letter is written in Dutch, here is a translation that Peter provided for us:
October 23 1932
Beloved brother,
It is with sadness and a heavy heart that I must tell you my wife has died October 12th.
It’s a heavy day for me Jan, there I have a daughter who always must be under my eye . She is not trusted to just go out unless a person familiar is with her. Oh, what I am missing Neeltje, she was everything to me. As children, we came together and we have been almost 48 years together, so we shared so much in life.
Now I am just about to the end all alone. Fortunately that Neeltje has passed away with the assurance that she went to the father House above. Often, she prayed for salvation of this earthly life, yet she could not leave us because she knew I would be left behind with our daughter.
God gives my strength to the heavy loss.
I can not go longer Jan, write soon back to your brother. I’m moved now and living with my oldest son on the farm that gives me a little resistance.
My address is now
P Mulder
Caledonia
I will admit that this letter made me cry. I felt so bad because it sounds like Neeltje had suffered for a long time, which was why she prayed for salvation. Also, that Pieter felt worried about his youngest daughter. And I was so happy to see that Pieter felt close to Jan, his younger half-brother, even though they had been separated as children and had not seen each other in decades (because Pieter was in the U.S. and Jan was not). I was also happy to hear that he was content living in my great-grandfather Charles Mulder’s home.
Thinking about Neeltje’s health caused me to look for her death certificate, but I do not have it. If I can’t find it online, I might have to order it.
Pieter and Neeltje’s daughter must come in a later post as I have much to research about her. Pieter himself died in 1953 after moving between his children’s homes for 21 more years.
The Family Kalamazoo 
Thank You for posting the letter. We forget at times what it was like back in the day when communication was not as readily available. One small letter could mean so much in the lives of a distant relative.
Jose, it’s so true. Because communication is so “instant” today it is hard to remember what it was like even when I was a kid and everybody had a telephone!
What a heartbreaking letter. I hope you can learn more about Neetje. It sounds like it was a wonderful marriage. Did you know your great-grandfather at all? If so, did he ever talk about Pieter and Neetje? I am often surprised by how moved we can be by the stories of people we never knew.
I ordered both Pieter and Neeltje’s death certificates, as well as information about their daughter Nellie. I did know my great-grandfather! He was wonderful. I even got to stay with him and his 2nd wife for a week in the summer once :). I don’t remember him talking about his parents, sadly. I didn’t even know he wasn’t born in the United States (stupid kid).
Don’t you want to kick yourself for not asking more questions? I think about my grandmother and my aunt and wonder what other family myths and stories they took with them to the grave. Sigh….
Yes, I can’t believe what a dumb kid I was. My great-grandfather died when I was about 12, and there were others, too, who I could have asked questions of–like my great-grandmother’s sister!
If only we had time machines….
Priceless artefact!
It is!
I wish I had such letters from my great-grandfather Stanislas.
I wish you did, too, Pierre. But I had no idea this letter even existed until Peter sent me the images. You never know who might find your blog and send you a letter someday!
This is why I write so much. People will find my addiction, and share.
That’s the biggest benefit of genealogy blogging, I think–the sharing!
You have to be patient.
Such a treasure and so sad. Is this the first letter written by your great grandfather that you have seen? I imagine that despite the tears it was wonderful to feel connected to him by his words.
Great great G. YES! I have seen photos of him, especially after a 2nd cousin sent me some last year that I posted on here, but nothing that showed his personality like this! Or the hardships he felt. So wonderful. I am so grateful that Peter contacted me.
Such a sad letter! But so wonderful that it is has been saved! We don’t often can be connected in such a direct way with our ancestors!
What a blessing that Peter’s family saved the letter! And how wonderful the internet for making these connections! You have sent me information that I plan to put into future blog posts, but that is going to take some more work. I can’t wait to get back to it!
Wow! What a wonderful surprise to arrive in you email. So sad for what it said. Priceless for you!
Yes, the letter is heart-breaking. I am thrilled to read it, but sad that Pieter had tragedy involving my great great grandmother and his daughter Nellie.
The letter reminds me of my parents marriage of over 50 years and how lost my father was when my Mom passed. I can imagine a more desolate life described in your letter, with less ability to connect as we can today. The loss must be even more awful. I hope to hear more about Neetje.
I’m sorry your dad had to go through that. When you think of how small their lives were years ago, it does seem desolate. Maybe more meaningful in some other ways, but still small. Pieter moved to his son’s farm, and would have had to be driven into town to talk with other people outside of the immediate family living on the farm. Spyro, I ordered Neeltje’s death certificate, as well as Pieter’s, so we will see what I can find! Thanks for stopping by.
What a sad story all the way around — except that Mr. Mulder shared this history with you.
WJ, I’m so grateful to Peter for writing to me and sharing. Yes, Jan’s story was so sad, and Pieter’s also. I wonder how he fared living over two decades past Neeltje.
What a heartbreaking letter. You can feel Pieter’s pain and loss as if it were fresh today. The beauty of genealogy is that we get to honor our ancestors by making connections with “long lost” family and by strengthening the bonds that connect us all.
Beautifully put, Karen. Thank you for reading!
This is so sad. There is so much family history in this short letter and of family members looking after each other.
Yes, so sad. It really is a remarkable letter.
Letters sometimes had to convey such sad news in the days before modern technology.
Imagine how long they often had to wait for news like this!
[…] Jan was my great-great grandfather Peter (Pieter) Mulder’s half-brother and you might remember the heart-breaking letter Peter wrote to Jan after the death of his wife Nellie. You can read it in The Treasure that Arrived in an Email. […]
[…] The Treasure that Arrived in an Email This letter was written by Peter after Nellie passed away […]
[…] by family in the Netherlands who shared with me a letter from Pieter to his half-brother Jan: The Treasure that Arrived in an Email. Then I could see that the siblings kept in touch. That was wonderful […]