I am moving backward in time now to my 3x great-grandparents. Three sets of my 3x greats were immigrants to the United States. For this couple, sadly, only Teunis left the Netherlands for the United States with the couple’s children. Jacoba passed away in 1865 in the couple’s hometown of Lexmond, which is in the province of Utrecht and is not part of Zeeland. I guess you could say only 2 1/2 sets immigrated.
I do not believe I have photos of Teunis and Jacoba. They were born in the 1820s, and she died before the age of 50. To supplement for that, I will post here a painting of a family in Utrecht from 1849 signed by David van der Kellen III, 1827-1895, Utrecht.
The first child of Teunis and Jacoba, Joost (later, in America, George) was born in 1850, so this is pretty close in time.
So what do I have on this couple and what am I missing?
For Teunis (or Tannes or Tennes or Thomas) and Jacoba, I have their birth records (born in 1822 and 1824). I also have their marriage record for 1848.
Yvette Hoitink was able to discover for me that Teunis was not called to the military. From his military physical description, we can see what Teunis looked like. He was a blue-eyed blond with a round face.
One thing I want to note about the surname is that in the Netherlands the records show Teunis with the surname Peek. Once the family was in the United States they tended more toward Paak.
There are birth records for their children, so I know that Teunis was a farmer in the Netherlands. One large gap for me is that one of their daughters, Willempje, was born in 1856, but I cannot find a death record for her in the Netherlands. Since I do not have immigration and naturalization information yet, I didn’t know if she came to the United States or passed away as a child.
In 1865, both Jacoba and Teunis’ mother passed away. Teunis brought his family to the United States in 1868, where they lived in Cooper Township for over a decade. I could not find them in the 1870 census. But I have them in the 1880 census in Cooper, where Teunis was a farmer.
Then an amazing thing happened: Amberly found an 1870 census that just has to be them, although the names are a little screwed up.
In this census record the family surname is Pick, but Willempje is listed, albeit as a male (William). However, Alice is listed as Ellis and a male. There are a lot of errors, but it’s doubtful that anybody else in Cooper Township fit the general “shape” of this family the way Teunis’ would. Keep in mind that the census taker, a man named Smith, probably didn’t understand Dutch or the Dutch accent or types of names very well. The family had only been in the country two years at the time of the census.
So this census tells me that Willempje probably did immigrate with her father and siblings, and sometimes between the 1870 and 1880 census takings, she passed away.
My great-great grandmother Alice named my great grandmother Cora after her mother Jacoba. Cora was a nickname for Jacoba. But she also named her daughter for Willempje because Cora’s middle name was Wilhelmina. In this way Alice memorialized her sister.
The 1870 census also initiates a new mystery: who is listed in the “wife position,” keeping house for the family?! Her name was ostensibly “Perina Pick.” This names doesn’t fit a sister for Teunis, and there is no record of him remarrying in the Netherlands.
Amberly tried to find a record of Teunis becoming a naturalized citizen, but found no trace of it. I suppose it’s very likely that he did not become a United States citizen.
I am blessed to have found an obituary and a headstone for Teunis. According to his obit, he was a “prosperous celery farmer,” in a region of celery farmers. If only Jacoba had lived to be part of that success.
I believe there is an error in the obituary in that Anna’s last name should be Verhulst, not Van Hulst.
Sometimes I wonder how much some of my immigrant ancestors told their children about their lives in the old country. The age of Teunis on his headstone is not correct. The stone lists his age down to the number of days, and yet he wasn’t 72 or 73, but only 70!
Teunis is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo. He passed away on 24 April 1893. I have been blessed to get management of his Findagrave memorial. He must have been very brave to bring his son and five daughters to a new country and start over at the age of 46.
The Family Kalamazoo 
What painstaking work, Luanne. That painting certainly locates the family in time (near enough).
Thank you, Derrick! I was pretty lucky to find what I did with all the name variations. And then Amberly finding that 1870 census report really helped. I thought that painting really helps to visualize Teunis and Jacoba before she passed and he emigrated with his family from the Netherlands.
I had a thought Luanne on the last name Peek/Paak. I am wondering the spelling change was do to either a transcription error or someone told them looking at their handwriting on write it ‘aa’ thinking their e’s were an ‘a’ or a ‘sound’ error, does the pronunciation of double e’s in Dutch sound like double a’s here? Love the old gravestone – is the cemetery close to you?
GOOD IDEA, Sharon. Listen to this:
“aa/a is pronounced as a, but it is pronounced longer and ‘lighter’.
ee/e is pronounced as in ‘may’ when it is not
followed by r. When it is followed by r it is pronounced as in ‘here’.”
So it looks like you are right: Peek would have been pronounced more like Pake, so the family, maybe Teunis, decided to change the spelling so the name would be pronounced correctly. I have also seen it in the U.S. as Pake.
This cemetery is one I have been to many many times. While I am in Arizona, I have many memories of that cemetery.
Remarkable story, Luanne! I just love to see the history of America as it unfolds in your family’s life of immigration – and yes, the bravery of your people to take chances, risk their lives…for their dreams.
This was an America that seemed magical to so many for so long.
Thanks for the reminder.
Yes, this country must have seemed magical to these people. And they so quickly became “Americans,” too, from what I have learned from my research.
My question was similar to Sharon’s: how was Peek pronounced in Netherlands? So you’ve answered that one, and the new spelling makes sense.
Cora was a nickname for Jacoba?? How strange!
And I have seen similar errors on census records—wrong genders, wrong names. It’s so frustrating!
Well, it was a great question. Readers’ questions stretch my thinking! have seen Teunis’ wife referred posthumously as Cora also. The errors are soooo annoying!
Indeed….
Lol
You really have dug up a lot of great info. The painting really is great for visualizing the family in early days. I wondered why you decided that Willempje died prior to the 1880 census?
You could be right that I was too quick to think that. After all, she would have been 24. But she was dead by 1893 when her father died. Also, I have photos of all the sisters as adults, but probably not Willempje. Although even there: she could be one of my unidentified photos. Thanks for that question!
It seems odd that someone’s age would be incorrect on his tombstone. Do you have any idea of why that might have been?
I agree, but then the person is dead, so the info is only as good as who is left. I wonder if his kids had his birthdate wrong. It’s unlikely that he had any records with the correct date lying around, so maybe they thought they had the right date and did not. He seems to be the only Teunis (Tannes) Peek (Paak) in the area, and I have his birth record.
[…] wrote a couple of blog posts about their son, Teunis, who was a pioneer of Kalamazoo, Michigan: 3x greats Teunis and Jacoba (Bassa) Peek, part I and 3x greats Teunis and Jacoba (Bassa) Peek, part […]