A Sailor’s Death, part II

February 7, 2018 by Luanne

Three years ago, I wrote about the youngest child of Johannes and Jennie Zuijdweg. I explained that Grandpa had told me that Lucas, age 21, was a sailor and, in a tragic accident, fell on the anchor of his ship and was killed.

Lucas was certainly a blue-eyed blond, like his sister, and looks remarkably like her and like Johannes, their father.

Since I had been writing about Johannes recently, I thought it fitting to revisit his son’s death.

On Zeeuwen Gezocht, I found the birth and death records of Lucas. I hoped to discover the cause of his death written on the documents.

And here is the cropped version.

Here is the death record.

Again, here is the cropped version.

According to a very nice member of a Facebook group, the translation is as follows:

Today, the 4th of April, 1894, appeared to me,
officer of the Civil Registry of the town of Goes

Jan Bruggeman, aged 56 years, profession : undertaker, living at Goes, not related (to the deceased),
and Hubertus van Liere, aged 53 years, profession : merchant, living at Goes, not related,
who have declared to me that on the 4th of April 1894 at 4 o’clock at night (AM) passed away
Lucas Zuijdweg, aged 21 years, born at Goes, profession : labourer, lived at Goes, son of
Johannes Zuijdweg, announcer, and of Jannegien Bomhoff, his wife.

And is immediately made up this record, which has been signed by myself and declarants after being read out.

Unfortunately, there is no record of how Lucas passed away. Well, I wonder. What if there is a newspaper article? I guess I need to learn Dutch and then learn how to search for newspaper articles in Dutch papers!

What does come to mind from this document is wonder that an undertaker was with him when he died. What in the world? Since Grandpa said this was an accident, I wonder in what bad shape Lucas was in and if he was taken, still alive, to a morgue? How can that be? And Hubertus van Liere might not be a relative, but of course, the daughter of Johannes and Jennie–Lucas’ sister–would marry Marinus Van Liere in 1900.

Also, it states that Johannes was an announcer. He has also been a crier in past records. But mainly he was listed as a merchant. So he was an announcer when Lucas died and a few months later, when he was sentenced, he was a merchant again? How did he accomplish these two occupations?

According to Dutch genealogist, Yvette Hoitink, there aren’t many Dutch graves on Findagrave. She suggests begraafplaatsen, which are the Dutch graves that have been put online. Lucas is not listed, and they are still looking for volunteers to photograph graves. I am not even sure how to find out where he is buried.

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Netherlands history, Photography late 19th century, Zuidweg | Tagged Adrian Zuidweg, Begraafplaatsen, Dutch Genealogy, Dutch history 1890s, Dutch sailor 1890s, family history, genealogy, Goes, Netherlands, the Netherlands, Zuidweg surname | 22 Comments

22 Responses

on February 7, 2018 at 7:51 am | Reply nwpaintedlady

I wonder if there are any nautical Dutch records that might lead to some answers on this. Enjoyed the post and such a precious photo!
- on February 7, 2018 at 9:53 am | Reply Luanne
  
  Sharon, thanks so much for your help on the other stuff! My mom is in town so will have to wait to do more searches with your leads, but excited to pick it back up again! Nautical records sounds like another good lead! Thank you!!!
on February 7, 2018 at 8:18 am | Reply Karen Clark

I think that the Mr. Bruggeman and Mr. van Liere are witnesses to the recording of the death of Lucas. It would be the same as having someone witness here, while signing in front of a notary. They weren’t there when he died.
- on February 7, 2018 at 9:53 am | Reply Luanne
  
  Ah, I see. So they are basically testifying that he is dead, not that they saw him die. Kind of like a coroner?
on February 7, 2018 at 9:10 am | Reply E.Bos-Mulder

Luanne,

One of your questions was about the undertaker. In Holland 2 “witnesses” had to sign (often this was done in the town hall)the death record.Often it was a person from the undertakers company, neighbours or family members. They had to identifie the deceased, but not necessarily be a witness on the moment he died.

I hope your other questions will solved one day.

Yours, Elly

>
- on February 7, 2018 at 9:57 am | Reply Luanne
  
  Elly, thank you so much. Yes, that does make sense. It certainly doesn’t give me any clue if Lucas really did meet a violent accidental death or not :/! Thanks for your email, too!
on February 7, 2018 at 12:22 pm | Reply Amy

I had the same thought as Karen and Elly—that the undertaker was just attesting to the fact that Lucas was dead, not that he saw him die. Like a doctor signing a death certificate after seeing the deceased even if not being there to witness the death. Poor Lucas. Very sad to die at 21 no matter what the cause of death.
- on February 8, 2018 at 12:53 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  I agree. And on this post I probably should have mentioned that the title of the post might even be incorrect. He could have been working the docks, loading the boats, you know? And not a sailor at all. No way to tell without an account of his death . . . .
  - on February 9, 2018 at 6:04 am | Reply Amy
    
    There have been so many times I wished for a “cause of death” on German and older US death records. So frustrating!
    - on February 10, 2018 at 2:46 pm Luanne
      
      It is so frustrating. It’s only 10% of the story to know when and where someone died.
on February 8, 2018 at 9:05 pm | Reply Sheryl

I found the comments to this post very interesting. It makes sense that the undertaker was just attesting to the fact that we was dead.
- on February 10, 2018 at 2:38 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  Yes, it does. I don’t know why I didn’t “read” it that way haha.
on February 9, 2018 at 2:18 pm | Reply Ann Marie Bryant

Hi. I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Your stories on your blog and your poetry has touched me, and I wanted you to know that your writings make me smile!
- on February 10, 2018 at 2:39 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  Thank you so much, Ann Marie! And congrats to you!
on February 12, 2018 at 12:04 pm | Reply edesorban

Thanks for stopping by my website (edesorbanfamily.wordpress.com). Your stories are very delightful, even when sad. I can totally relate to the the challenges of interpreting records in a different and unfamiliar language and culture. Keep up the good work!
- on February 12, 2018 at 1:06 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  Thank you so much!
on February 12, 2018 at 1:06 pm | Reply lawsonm29

Thank you so much for reading my blog post. I’m very new to this and really enjoy checking out other people’s sites for ideas. I love that your latest post is such a fascinating story, and that you are sharing it, even without all the answers. I will be following from now on to see what new stories you have to share!
on February 12, 2018 at 2:15 pm | Reply thegenealogygirl

How sad that his young life was cut short! I have never before seen this name – Jannegien, until reading this post. I love reading other people’s blogs for all of the bits and pieces I am exposed to. 😉
on February 15, 2018 at 9:16 pm | Reply pattimoed

Hi, Luanne. Great post. I’d agree that the undertaker was a witness to the death. It’s so sad that medical care was limited and he died so young. Again, great detective work!
- on February 17, 2018 at 2:19 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  Thanks so much, Patti. It is sad. I’m sure it affected the whole family a great deal. I see that now about the undertaker. It seemed worded odd, I guess!
on February 18, 2018 at 10:14 am | Reply Sheila Morris

I have a really good friend named Saskia Coenen-Snyder who is in Amsterdam on sabbatical for a year doing research on Jewish involvement in the diamond industry. She is Dutch but has married an American and lives here in Columbia. She is a Jewish history scholar and has a book published by Harvard Press on the architecture of Jewish synagogues. I have often thought how much you would enjoy doing the research work she does for her work!
She has to be a detective, too!
- on February 19, 2018 at 4:33 pm | Reply Luanne
  
  You’ve mentioned her before. What a fascinating career! In fact, I somewhat recently started a Pinterest thread where I am including lots of synagogue architecture. Such a beautiful range of styles.