The last fill-in-the-gaps couple I wrote about was Teunis and Jacoba Paak, the parents of Alice Paak DeKorn. Today I am writing about the parents of Alice’s husband, Richard DeKorn. He was born to Boudewijn and Johanna (Remine) DeKorn in the Netherlands.
Richard’s father Boudewijn (Dutch for Benjamin) DeKorn was born on June 11, 1816, in Kapelle, Zeeland, Netherlands, to Jan DeKorne, 23 years old, and Geertruijd Engelse, who was 27. Boudewijn married Johanna Remine on May 21, 1847, in their hometown. Johanna was born in Kapelle to Dirk Gillesz Remijnse, 30 years old, and Adriana Krijger, also 30.
The couple had four children in 11 years: first born Geertruit died as an infant, but then Richard was born in 1851 and Maria in 1855. The fourth, Adriana, called Jennie, was not born in the Netherlands.
The family of four traveled to America on a sailing vessel which left April 13, 1856 and arrived at Kalamazoo June 22, 1856. The voyage was bad and long, and Richard and Mary, their children, stated it took 90 days. They located in Zeeland, Michigan, for a few years.
Eventually, the family moved to Kalamazoo, although I am not sure when they made that move. They were in Ottawa County (Zeeland) in the 1860 census, but when Johanna passed away in 1864, they may have been living in Kalamazoo because she is buried there.
Now we come to a big gap. I do not have a death record for Johanna because 1864 was a little before Kalamazoo started recording deaths. I don’t know exactly when she died, and I am using her headstone to give me a date. Maddeningly, it doesn’t even give her name! Just “MOTHER” and “WIFE OF B. DEKORN.” Good grief.
You know what else would be nice to have on Johanna? An obituary. I don’t have one for Boudewijn either, and I suspect that there might not be one. After all, Boudewijn was a laborer when he lived in the Netherlands. He didn’t live long enough in Zeeland to have built up a business. Then in Kalamazoo I’m not sure what he did. Since his son Richard became a very successful contractor, though, it is possible that he got his start from his father. So if Boudewijn did have a business in Kalamazoo, there might be an obituary for him, although not necessarily for Johanna since she obviously died soon after their move to Kalamazoo.
Boudewijn died on 1 July 1875 in Kalamazoo. I know this because Wayne Loney found the death record although the name was severely mangled. And the condition of the record is very faded. I tried to enhance it as much as possible. His entry is the 8th from the bottom. On the right page his son Richard’s name is clearly visible. Also his age at death of 59 and his job as laborer. But I really cannot read the cause of death, unfortunately.
I am hoping to get immigration and naturalization information on the couple from Amberly at some point. That will be very helpful as it will also provide the immigration for Richard and possibly a clue about his naturalization.
According to Yvette Hoitink, there was a fire in Kapelle in 1877 that destroyed the military records for that town, so there is no practical way to find out if Boudewijn served in the military.
So I will always be missing his military, and I am missing obits for both husband and wife. And hoping for the I&N. I have something on Boudewijn that I do not have for Johanna. A photo!
Pretty cool to have a pic of your 3x great! Is that some sort of plaid I am seeing on his shirt or am I imagining that? I was thinking that this was a reprint made a few decades after the original was made. Or even a reprint of a reprint. Could the original have been a tintype?
I keep going back to look through the photo album of Remine/Paak photos, thinking that if there was a photo of Johanna it would be in there, but nobody seems to be the right age In the right time period. It’s possible that in this portrait Boudewijn had already lost Johanna, in fact, since she died when he was 48.
I’ve started using paintings as portraits on my Ancestry tree for direct ancestors that I do not have photos for. I am also using a photo of baby feet for children who died before age five, and a photo of the back of a girl’s head with braids for girls who died before age 18. I haven’t had to find one for boys yet. Any ideas what to use?
The Family Kalamazoo 
Very cool, Luanne. Such incredible stories – how could four people survive crossings that took 90 DAYS???
You come from strong stock – and the photo of your 3x great grandfather is stunning!!
I know. I’ve been locked up in this house for 90 days, and we aren’t rocking and rolling and the food is pretty good and I’m going crazy! Can you even imagine?! I bet if you go back this far you see you also come from very strong stock!!!
Great portrait photo and yes it looks to me that shirt is a plaid of sorts and the bow tie is cute too 🙂 Great posting. I like the idea of baby feet for children who have died before 5 – that is a greta idea.
Using the baby feet makes me feel like they aren’t some anonymous name, but a real baby who died.
Sharon, what do you think about that shirt being a plaid? I do think the photo was taken in the maybe late 1860s. I wonder if that was a style!!! I can see the waistcoat being plaid, but a shirt!!!
I thought out was an interesting material choice but I don’t have any clue really on fabric from that era. A whole new area of research – it seems to be a pretty fancy shirt with that bow tie and overcoat – and I love the sentiment behind the baby shoes 🙂
Think I’ll start adding baby’s feet and some sort of girl/boy picture into my tree. What a great idea!
Thanks! It makes me feel so much better to see them as young people rather than those awful male/female silhouettes that Ancestry uses.
This is fascinating never seen tombstone without a name. Did she die alone where nthe body knew her?
Nope, she would have had her husband and kids around her. I guess wife and mother was the idea . . . . Maybe that will give you the germ of an idea for a new book!
That is frustrating not to be able to find Johanna’s death record or an obituary for either of them. Were there many obits published in Kalamazoo that far back?
I don’t add photos to my tree. I did at first when my tree was public, and people were then using my personal photos on their trees. So I took them off my tree and then later made my tree private. I do post them on the blog, however, but having them on my tree meant I lost all control over them.
It does look like some sort of checked pattern in the shirt. It’s a nice image though he doesn’t appear to be very happy. That’s a sweet idea to use baby feet for those who died so young.
Maybe you could use the back of a boy’s head, wearing one of those “newsboy” caps that were so popular back in the day.
There’s a lot of character in Boudewijn’s face. (How do you pronounce that?) Very straightforward, and honest. His eyes and hair look fairly young; I know from personal experience that not having teeth drags down your face. Thank goodness for dentures!
I also thought the drawn-down mouth might be due to missing teeth.
I agree. I have thought so, too.
The fabric of Boudewijn’s shirt looks like tattersall to me, but when I double-checked the word, it didn’t come into usage until 1891.
Maybe there just wasn’t a name for it then? I don’t know why I assumed their shirts were white. Plaid is more interesting!
I also assumed that the dress shirts would have been white.
Nice blog
Thank you so much!