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Archive for the ‘Caledonia Michigan history’ Category

Home on the Farm

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Michigan history, Mulder, Noffke, Waldeck, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2015| 18 Comments »

I’ve written before about my great-grandfather, Charles Mulder, of Caledonia, Michigan. He was born in 1885 in the Netherlands, but moved with his parents and younger brother to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when he was only two.  His baby brother Jan passed away within a few months.

Although Great-Grandpa was raised by his parents in Grand Rapids, where his father built furniture, he ended up starting his own adult life in Caledonia–as a farmer. He came from town folk. They weren’t farmers. What would have made him decide to become a farmer? And how did he purchase his farm?  These are good questions, I know, and I wonder if there is anybody who can answer them. Maybe his daughter, my grandmother, didn’t even know the answers.

I used to love to visit GG and his 2nd wife Margaret on the farm. My great-grandmother had passed away a couple of years before I, the oldest great-grandchild, was born. So I grew up knowing Margaret, a very nice lady, as my GG.

I’m guessing that in this photograph, I am with Great-Grandpa at his farm. He’s very comfortable in his undershirt and suspenders, and I see the hint of a dark colored (red?) outbuilding behind him. I remember the barn, the corncrib, and the henhouse. And let’s not forget the outhouse!

This photograph, as you can see, was taken in July 1957, which means that I was just turning two.

Message to my family: if anybody has any photos of the farm, please scan and send to me!

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Here are links to other posts about Charles Mulder of Caledonia, my great-grandfather (the 1st two are my favorites):

The Blog Will Now Come to Order

I Raided Great-Grandpa’s Library

Great-Grandpa’s Family: The Mulders of Grand Rapids

The Mulders Pre-1917

Pieter the Orphan

 

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Great-Grandpa’s Family–The Mulders of Grand Rapids, Michigan

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Mulder, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 22, 2014| 19 Comments »

Try to keep this in mind as you read: I am having a lot of trouble dating this photograph. Maybe with the dates of the people in the photo, you can help me date it.

Great-Grandpa Charles Mulder was born Karel Pieter Philippus Mulder on 6 March 1885 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.  He was the son of Pieter Philippus (son of Karel, Karel, Carel, Johannes, in that order).

He emigrated in 1887 from Kloetinge, Zeeland, Netherlands and arrived in New York City on 29 August 1887 . Note that he was 2 years old.

Great-Grandpa was the oldest child of Pieter and Nellie (Neeltje) Gorsse.

Pieter and Nellie Mulder and family

Pieter (1865-1953) and Nellie (1868-1932) are in the middle of the front row.  If you have ever heard about the wonderful furniture that used to be made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, you would be hearing about some of the furniture made by Pieter, a cabinet-maker.

Great-Grandpa, with the curly dark hair, is next to his mother. I will try to identify the others, but I cannot be absolutely certain.

Back row: Peter, Cora, Henry

Peter was the father of Rod Mulder, who I knew when I was younger. He married Alida, and they had at least four boys: Rod, Willis, Richard, and Robert.

Cora married John Gerow and was the mother of Eleanor, a lady I knew when I was a kid.

Henry engraved stone monuments and developed emphysema. His married Mae and raised his family in Hastings, Michigan. According to the 1930 census, they had 4 children: Eloise, James, Mary, and Judith.

In the front row, the girl with the glasses on our left is Nellie. I believe she might have had some sort of disability. Nellie was still living at home with her parents in the 1930 census, when she was 27 or 28 years old.

Then there is Jennie who married Edward Kooistra or Koistra. They had a son, Karl.

Rose (Rosa) is on the other side of Great-Grandpa. She contracted TB. But then so did Great-Grandpa; I remember visiting him in the sanitarium or hospital. Rose was living at home with her parents in the 1920 census; she was 14.

Sadly, I discovered that there were also two children who passed away. Jan was born after Charles–in 1886–and passed away the following year, four months after the family arrived in the United States!  Imagine: a young couple, ages 22 and 19, immigrate to the United States with a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old (two babies). Then in a few months, the younger baby is gone.

Then there was another Rose who was born in 1892, after Cora. She passed away in 1904, two years before her namesake was born.

What year do you think this photo was taken? It’s a little confusing to me. Great-Grandpa got married in 1910, when Rose would have been four years old. She’s clearly older than that here. I wonder if both Charles and Jennie were already married when this photo was taken. My grandmother was born in 1912, so if the photo was taken when Rose was about ten (1916), then Great-Grandpa would ALREADY HAVE FOUR CHILDREN.

Here’s an alternative view: that I was told wrong about which child is which. What if this photograph has the Rose in it that was born in 1892–and if it was that Rose who had TB and in fact died of it? Then the names were assigned wrong. But is there a way that the people here fit the dates if that is the case?

How about the clothes? Any ideas on the date of the photograph from the clothing?

In order the children were:

Charles (1885)

Jan (1886-1887)

Jennie (1887)

Cora (1890)

Rose (1892-1904)

Henry (1897)

Peter (1900)

Nellie (1902)

Rose (1906)

My grandparents told me that Great-Grandpa’s family (this is my grandmother’s father) lived in Goes very near the Zuidwegs (my grandfather’s father’s family). They were printers, engravers, and machinists. However, genealogical research shows that, in the old country, Pieter was a fisherman, a laborer, and a shoe maker. I would guess that when the family came to Grand Rapids, that Pieter learned the furniture trade. After all, he was only 22 when he got to this country.

I do know that the printer and engraver part was true at least for my grandfather’s father, Adriaan Zuijdweg. The Mulders and Zuidwegs were city people, not farmers, so it’s curious that my great-grandfather became a farmer.

Great-Grandpa died on 27 April 1967, when I was 11 years old. I used to imagine that the family line began with him at his farm in Caledonia, not realizing that he was brought up in Grand Rapids or that his father made furniture or what hardships his parents must have gone through.


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/120016511

 

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Treasures from My Grandmother

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Michigan history, Mulder, Photography early 20th century, tagged , , , , , , , on April 17, 2014| 23 Comments »

My grandmother, Lucille Edna Mulder (Zuidweg), was born April 17, 1912. If she hadn’t passed away in 2000, she would be 102 today. I miss her every day.

Grandma holding me

Grandma holding me 1955

Last year I posted about Grandma’s high school graduation scrapbook. Here is the link. There are a lot of photos in that book; in most of them Grandma is hanging out with her friends and classmates.

Below, Grandma is in all but the lower right photo. One of the girls is her best friend, Blanche Stauffer. Grandma and Blanche are in the upper right photo together–that’s Grandma in front. Blanche has the straight dark bangs. In the lower left Grandma is with another friend.

 

The scrapbook has an autograph page, and the words from Blanche are front and center:

Grandma and I have a lot in common. One thing is that a best friend was very important to us growing up. I looked up Blanche on Ancestry, and I was amazed to learn that she, like my grandmother, was the second child in the family. Blanche’s older sister was one year older. That was the same with Grandma: her older sister Dorothy was one year older.

Blanche was class valedictorian, Dorothy was salutatorian, and Grandma–with the 3rd highest GPA–was class historian. I read a list of Grandma’s classmates, and Blanche’s older sister was not in their class. At least Blanche didn’t have the sisterly competition that Grandma had to put up with ;).

Writing is another commonality between Grandma and me. When she was elderly and had just gotten sprung from a very negative experience with a rehabilitation nursing center, she made me promise I would never give up writing. I promised her, and I have kept my word. I remember Grandma submitting funny stories and occasionally getting them published when I was very young.

Recently, my mother told me an anecdote that made me realize that Grandma and I share another interest. When I was little and my mother worked full-time, Grandma babysat me. We sang Ethel Merman songs like “Anything You Can Do.”  I could always manage to sing louder and higher than Grandma.

Any note you can reach
I can go higher.
I can sing anything
Higher than you.
No, you can’t. (High)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I CAN! (Highest)

What I didn’t realize is that when my mother and her siblings were little, my grandmother (who was always with my grandfather, to my memory) went to New York City with her sister Dorothy. They saw Ethel Merman in Annie Get Your Gun.  She actually saw this song performed live by Merman. My mother says it was one of the highlights of her life, and I believe it because I remember this music around Grandma often when it was “just us.”  I still love musicals and so does my daughter, who performs in professional productions.

Grandma and I shared other songs, too. She used to hold me on her lap while we sang “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain” and “This Old Man (Knick Knack Paddy Whack).” My memories of my grandmother are treasured heirlooms.

Happy birthday, Grandma.

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Slamming Up Against That Ole Brick Wall

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Noffke, Waldeck, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2013| 4 Comments »

First things first:  Happy Birthday, Mom!!! xoxo

Some time ago I wrote about Mom’s grandmother, Clara Waldeck Mulder, and her family in “I Uncovered a Stunning Clue in My Search.” I explained that I had had difficulty discovering any information about Clara’s mother. Her name was Alvena, and I had a photo with her in it, but her last name seemed to lead to a dead-end–as they say in specific genealogy jargon, I’d hit a brick wall.  Heh.

My mitochondrial DNA comes to me from her: Alvena to Clara to my grandmother Edna to my mother (who turns XX years old today) to me.

Alvena married Gottfried (Godfrey) Waldeck, and they had perhaps ten children. Clara was the youngest. Eventually I found that Alvena’s maiden name was Noffke, and I discovered on Ancestry that there are lots of descendents of Alvena and Godfrey throughout southern Michigan.

I have made contact with two people who share this ancestry. The female relative and I have DNA hits on both Ancestry and 23andme. She is from this Waldeck/Noffke branch. I also “met” a man with the last name Noffke and we are actually related in the same way, except that his dad was adopted so when he takes the DNA test, his results won’t help us narrow in on anything.

When I found the female relative, she gave me a copy of the minutes from years of family reunions. This report documents births, deaths, etc. I felt at that time that I was closer to finding out more about the Noffkes and to discovering where the Waldecks and the Noffkes came from.

We’ve always been told they were from Germany, although some documents I’ve read online say “Prussia.”

Germany at the time that Alvena's parents were born

Germany at the time that Alvena’s parents were born

But what now?

The concept of “Germany” could mean different things to different people in the 19th century, when the family emigrated. My 23andme report shows that I have at least one Polish gene. Could it be from that branch of the family?

How can I locate the area of Europe, even the town or village, that my ancestors came from?

I do have the names of Alvena’s parents. They are Ludwig (Louis) and Dora Couch. Couch doesn’t sound like a German name to me. It seems to be an English name. But where could that come from?

Brick walls are crazy-making.

Any ideas on where to go from here?

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Remember That Relative Who Left for America Ahead of the Others?

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Caledonia Michigan history, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Michigan history, Mulder, Netherlands history, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2013| 15 Comments »

I’ve been given a detailed genealogical report by Dutch genealogist Adri van Gessel who I met through this blog. Adri and I have an astonishing connection, which was discovered when Adri happened to read the one post I wrote about my father’s uncle, Frank Klein. I will save the surprise about our connection for a future post!

More recently, Adri read my post about the link between the Mulders and Zuidwegs and has given me some valuable information on the Mulders in Michigan.

In that post, I provided a family tree of sorts to show how my grandparents were related. Carel Mulder (1780 – 1847) married Johanna Cornaaij (1782 – 1863). They had ten children. Grandpa’s great-grandmother Johanna Mulder was the 3rd child. Grandma’s great-great-grandfather was the 7th child.

Child number four, born between my two ancestors, was the only relative from the generation to emigrate from the Netherlands.  My relatives came to the United States one and two generations after him. (On Grandpa’s, the Zuidweg, side, Johannes’ sister’s son emigrated and came to Kalamazoo, Michigan.  On Grandma’s, the Mulder, side, nobody came to the United States for yet another generation, when the grandson of the  7th child of Carel and Johanna emigrated–that was Pieter the Orphan.  What is interesting about this is that a representative of the Mulder family came to Michigan before my ancestors did. And he started his own “dynasty” in the Holland, Michigan area).

This 4th child, Johannes Mulder, was born on 25 October 1809 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands. He was baptized on 6 November 1809 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.

On 10 May 1838 he married Henderika Johanna Hogesteger (born 1810 in Goes), daughter of Marinus Hogesteger and Geertrui Seibel. At this time, Johannes was listed as a bricklayer  (please note the connection there with Richard DeKorn, brickmason).

From this marriage, the following children were born:

From this marriage:

1  Karel Mulder was born on February 16, 1839 at Goes, see II-A.

2  Marinus Mulder was born on September 27, 1840 at Goes, see II-B.

3  N.N. Mulder was stillborn on September 30, 1841 at Goes.

4  Kornelis Mulder was born on December 30, 1842 at Goes, died on 6 January 1843 there.

5  Kornelis Mulder was born on February 27, 1844 at Goes, died on 15 May 1844 there.

6  Leendert Mulder was born on October 11, 1845 at Goes, see II-C.

7  Johannes Mulder (John) was born on October 11, 1850 at Goes, see II-D.

8  N.N. Mulder was stillborn on 29 April 1852 at Goes.

Almost twenty years later after his marriage,  Johannes, who was now working as a laborer in Goes, emigrated in 1857  with his wife and three children. He listed “amelioration of existence” as his reason for emigrating, and that is the reason most of my relatives seem to have given.

As you can see from the bolded names above, there were actually four surviving boys, but the oldest, Karel, appears to have emigrated in 1853. The others must have traveled to Michigan in 1857 with their parents where they settled in Holland, Ottawa, Michigan.

It looks as if Karel Mulder (1839 – 1878), the son of Johannes, actually was the first person in the Mulder family to immigrate to Michigan.  Then the parents and brothers followed him four years later. He would have been 14 years old.

This is an unconfirmed theory, but it makes sense for now with the information I have from Adri and Yvette.800px-Holland_MI_Tulips_01

The following are the descendents of Johannes Mulder (and therefore his father, Carel, the jailor’s hand) who have lived in the United States. If there is too much begetting here for you, skip to the end for my followup comments. My Comments.

Generation II

(from 1839 until 1911)

II-A  Karel Mulder, son of Johannes Mulder (I) and Henderika Johanna Hogesteger, was born on February 16, 1839 at Goes, died before 1878.

Karel was married on October 30, 1866 at Holland (MI) to Tenzina Bosch, daughter of Lubbert Bosch and Elizabeth van Laar. Tenzina was born in 1849 at Vriesland (MI), died in 1920. Tenzina was married on November 22, 1878 at Vriesland (MI) (2) to Nicholas Trompen. Nicholas was born on September 22, 1823, died on March 18, 1901 at Zeeland (MI). Tenzina was married in October 16, 1902 at Zutphen (MI) (3) to John Bouwens, son of Cornelis Bouwens and Maria Pouro. John was born in 1843.

Karel Mulder emigrated to the United Stated in 1853.

From this marriage:

1  Elizabeth Mulder was born on July 28, 1870 at Zeeland (MI), died on January 13, 1941 there.

Elizabeth was married to Gerrit Van Koevering, son of Christopher Van Koevering and Cornelia Dykwel. Gerrit was born on January 3, 1867 at Zeeland (MI), died on February 25, 1942 there.

2  Johanna Hendrika Mulder was born in 1872 at Zeeland (MI), died on September 13, 1872 there.

3  N.N. Mulder was born on December 5, 1873 at Zeeland (MI).

4  Johannes Karel Mulder (John K.) was born on November 14, 1874 at Zeeland (MI), see III-A.

II-B   Marinus Mulder, son of Johannes Mulder (I) and Henderika Johanna Hogesteger, was born on September 27, 1840 at Goes, died on April 4, 1911 at Holland (MI).

Marinus was married on June 5, 1866 to Jansje Scholten, daughter of Riekert Scholten and Trijntje ter Beek (Katherine). Jansje was born on March 3, 1843 at Apeldoorn (Holland), died in 1909.

From this marriage:

1    Johannes Mulder (John) was born on April 28, 1867 at Holland (MI), see III-B.

2    Catherine Mulder (Katie) was born on December 3, 1869 at Holland (MI), died on May 21, 1920 there.

3    Hendrika Johanna Mulder (Reka) was born on August 3, 1871 at Holland (MI), died on December 29, 1939 there.

Hendrika was married on November 28, 1901 at Holland (MI) to Frank Van Ark, son of Gradus Van Ark and Aaltje Oldenhof. Frank was born on March 11, 1870 at Holland (MI), died on January 8, 1937 there.

4    Mary Mulder was born in 1873 at Holland (MI), died on January 30, 1879 there.

5    Rikus Mulder was born on November 10, 1875 at Holland (MI), died on August 30, 1876 there.

6    Jansje Mulder (Jennie) was born on July 25, 1877 at Holland (MI), died on September 26, 1940 there.

Jansje was married on October 8, 1901 at Grand Haven (MI) (1) to Francis E. Fox, son of L.O. Fox and S. Rocket.

Jansje was married on February 6, 1907 at Holland (MI) (2) to Isaac Romein VerSchure, son of Adriaan Verschure and Sarah DeKraker. Isaac was born on March 20, 1866, died on April 12, 1936 at Holland (MI). Isaac was before married on December 24, 1891 at Holland (MI) (1) to Hattie Elizabeth Haven, daughter of Dewitt C. Haven and Lizzie Partridge. Hattie was born in 1874 at Brien Co (OH).

7    Riekus Henry Mulder was born on May 20, 1879 at Holland (MI), see III-C.

8    Karel L. Mulder (Charles) was born on April 9, 1881 at Holland (MI), died on November 11, 1937 at Kalamazoo (MI).

Karel was married on September 19, 1903 at Paw Paw (MI) to Adaell Pelton, daughter of F.S. Pelton and Katherine Colborn. Adaell was born in 1882.

9    Maria Mulder (Mary) was born on April 26, 1883 at Holland (MI), died on October 11, 1935 there.

Maria was married on April 8, 1908 at Holland (MI) to Harry A. Broek, son of Henry Broek and Helen Spanler. Harry was born in 1876.

10  Marinus Mulder (Mack) was born on February 19, 1885, see III-D.

11  Hendrik Mulder (Henry) was born on April 8, 1887 at Holland (MI), see III-E.

12  Leonard C. Mulder was born on May 4, 1889, see III-F.

II-C   Leendert Mulder, son of Johannes Mulder (I) and Henderika Johanna Hogesteger, was born on October 11, 1845 at Goes, died on September 13, 1897 at Holland (MI).

Leendert was married on October 30, 1866 at Holland (MI) to Janke Mulder, daughter of Berend Mulder and Antje Wierda. Janke was born on April 27, 1848 at Ferwerderadeel (Holland), died in 1935 at Holland (MI).

From this marriage:

1    Johanna Hendrika Mulder was born on July 4, 1867 at Holland (MI), died on December 24, 1941 there.

Johanna was married on September 3, 1891 at Holland (MI) to Henry Geerlings, son of Hendrik Geerlings and Dirkje Van Voorst. Henry was born on February 27, 1868 at Holland (MI), died in 1960 there.

2    Antje Mulder was born on February 10, 1869 at Holland (MI), died on August 4, 1869 there.

3    John B. Mulder was born on February 15, 1870 at Holland (MI), see III-G.

4    Benjamin A. Mulder was born in 1871 at Holland (MI), see III-H.

5    Charles Leonard Mulder was born on August 24, 1874 at Holland (MI), see III-I.

6    Antje J. Mulder was born on December 1, 1877 at Holland (MI).

Antje was married on August 7, 1901 at Holland (MI) to old John E. Kuizenga, son of Elder Kuizenga and Johanna K. Soldaat. John was born on December 20, 1876, died on July 8, 1949 at Holland (MI).

7    Helena M. Mulder was born in 1879, died in 1955.

Helena was married on June 6, 1900 at Holland (MI) to Andrew Steketee, son of Andries Steketee (Andrew) and Gertrude Schouten. Andrew was born on December 18, 1879 at Holland (MI), died in May 1970 there.

8    Marguerite B. Mulder was born on November 13, 1882 at Holland (MI), died after 1940.

Marguerite was married on May 31, 1906 at Holland (MI) to Anthony Karreman, son of Arie Karreman and Marguerite Koolmers. Anthony was born in 1881 in Nebraska, died after 1940.

9    Marinus Mulder was born on February 22, 1884 at Holland (MI), see III-J.

10  Jennie Mulder was born on July 18, 1886 at Holland (MI), died on August 5, 1887 there.

11  Leendert Mulder was born on August 1, 1889 at Holland (MI), died on August 2, 1897 there.

II-D  Johannes Mulder (John), son of Johannes Mulder (I) and Henderika Johanna Hogesteger, was born on October 11, 1850 at Goes, died on September 20, 1877 at Holland (MI).

Johannes was married on January 21, 1874 at Holland (MI) to Trijntje Zuidema (Nancy), daughter of Douwe Zuidema and Grietje Nieuwsma. Trijntje was born in 1853 at Lancaster (NY).

Trijntje was married on November 8, 1887 at Holland (MI) (2) to Evert Bos, son of Hinderikus Bos and Martje Dijkstra. Evert was born on October 22, 1845 at Wildervank (Holland) , died before 1910.

From this marriage:

1  Johanna H. Mulder (Jennie) was born on May 12, 1875 at Holland (MI), died on January 22, 1958 at Los Angeles (CA).

Johanna was married on May 17, 1905 at Holland (MI) to Abel Smeenge, son of Geert Smeenge and Isabella Anna Brink. Abel was born on March 18, 1879 at Eelde (Holland), died in 1945.

2  N.N. Mulder was stillborn on June 25, 1877 at Holland (MI).

800px-8thStreetHolland

Holland, Michigan (from Wikipedia)

Generation III

(from 1867 until 1964)

III-A   Johannes Karel Mulder (John K.), son of Karel Mulder (II-A) and Tenzina Bosch, was born on November 14, 1874 at Zeeland (MI), died on January 2, 1949 there. .

Johannes was married on January 11, 1900 at Vriesland (MI) to Johanna Verhage, daughter of Dirk Verhage and Annigje Timmer. Johanna was born on April 17, 1880 at Vriesland (MI), died on December 27, 1943 at Jamestown (MI).

From this marriage:

1  Nicholas Mulder was born on March 14, 1901 at Zeeland (MI), died in 1960.

Nicholas was married after 1940 to Margaret N.N.. Margaret was born on January 28, 1904, died on April 26, 1988.

III-B    Johannes Mulder (John), son of Marinus Mulder (II-B) and Jansje Scholten, was born on April 28, 1867 at Holland (MI).

Johannes was married on November 15, 1890 at Graafschap (MI) to Anna Bouws, daughter of Rikus Johannes Bouws and Zwaantje Diekevers (Susan). Anna was born on August 22, 1867 at Graafschap (MI), died before 1930.

From this marriage:

1  Marinus John Mulder was born on August 22, 1891 at Holland (MI), see IV-A.

2  Janette Mulder was born on August 13, 1893 at Holland (MI).

3  Jennie Mulder was born in 1896.

4  N.N. Mulder was born on November 19, 1899 at Holland (MI), died on November 24, 1899 there.

III-C   Riekus Henry Mulder, son of Marinus Mulder (II-B) and Jansje Scholten, was born on May 20, 1879 at Holland (MI), died in 1961.

Riekus was married on May 19, 1904 at Holland (MI) to Jennie M. Van Spyker, daughter of John van Spyker and Tillie Hunderman. Jennie was born in 1881, died in 1957.

From this marriage:

1  Russell H. Mulder was born in 1904, see IV-B.

2  Junia F. Mulder was born in 1907.

3  Vera M. Mulder was born on September 8, 1909, died in December 1984 at Holland (MI).

Vera was married on April 1, 1933 at Adams Co (IN) to Lester E. Flight, son of Richard Flight and Bertha Simmelink. Lester was born on July 1, 1907.

4  Evelyn E. Mulder was born in 1910.

5  Lillian Mulder was born in 1912.

6  Marian Mulder was born in 1915.

III-D   Marinus Mulder (Mack), son of Marinus Mulder (II-B) and Jansje Scholten, was born on February 19, 1885, died on December 13, 1955 at Benton Harbor (MI).

Marinus was married on June 10, 1908 at Benton Harbor (MI) to Anna Hoffman, daughter of Herman H. Hoffman and Bertha Clemens. Anna was born on August 31, 1882 at Benton Harbor (MI), died on April 12, 1955 there. .

From this marriage:

1  Dorothy M. Mulder was born in 1909.

2  Jack M. Mulder was born on March 8, 1914 at Benton Harbor (MI), see IV-C.

III-E    Hendrik Mulder (Henry), son of Marinus Mulder (II-B) and Jansje Scholten, was born on April 8, 1887 at Holland (MI), died on February 10, 1941 at Grand Haven (MI).

Hendrik was married on July 16, 1921 at Grand Haven (MI) to Della B. Willet, daughter of David B. Willet and Minnie Verny. Della was born in 1899.

From this marriage:

1  Robert L. Mulder was born on November 15, 1922, died in May 1987 at Holland (MI).

2  Charles Henry Mulder was born on September 28, 1925, see IV-D.

III-F    Leonard C. Mulder, son of Marinus Mulder (II-B) and Jansje Scholten, was born on May 4, 1889, died in August 1964.

Leonard was married on April 17, 1922 at Grand Haven (MI) to Blanche B. Lambert, daughter of Silas Oliver Lambert and Rose Marie Gross. Blanche was born in 1898 in Iowa.

Blanche was before married (1) to N.N. Hornbeck.

From this marriage:

1  Leonard Paul Mulder was born on September 12, 1923, died in November 1970.

2  Delzia Mae Mulder was born in 1926.

III-G   John B. Mulder, son of Leendert Mulder (II-C) and Janke Mulder, was born on February 15, 1870 at Holland (MI), died on June 21, 1931 there. .

John was married on January 2, 1890 at Holland (MI) to Myra Arvillia McCance, daughter of Ohio McCance and Roselia Dyer. Myra was born on August 2, 1870 in Fulton Co (OH), died on Friday August 6, 1920 at East Grand Rapids (MI).

From this marriage:

1  Bernice Mulder was born in 1891.

Bernice was married on June 27, 1917 at Holland (MI) to Cornelis Bartel Muste, son of Marinus Muste and Johanna Jonker. Cornelis was born on December 13, 1887 at Zierikzee (Holland).

2  Leon Leonard Mulder was born on August 6, 1892 at Holland (MI), see IV-E.

3  Jeanette Mulder was born on January 7, 1895 at Holland (MI).

4  Esther Rozelia Mulder was born on March 19, 1897 at Holland (MI).

5  Maybelle Mulder was born on April 1, 1899 at Holland (MI), died on June 15, 1931 there.

Maybelle was married to N.N. Huff.

III-H   Benjamin A. Mulder, son of Leendert Mulder (II-C) and Janke Mulder, was born in 1871 at Holland (MI), died on January 1, 1947 at Paw Paw (MI).

Benjamin was married on May 10, 1893 at Holland (MI) to Mary VanLandegend, daughter of John VanLandegend and Anna J. Peyster. Mary was born on September 18, 1871 at Holland (MI), died on June 8, 1946 at Paw Paw (MI).

From this marriage:

1  Lucile Mulder was born on January 18, 1894 at Holland (MI), died in May 1975 there.

2  N.N. Mulder was born on April 13, 1896 at Holland (MI).

3  Ruth Mulder was born on April 13, 1896 at Holland (MI), died on July 13, 1941 at Ann Arbor (MI).

Ruth was married on July 18, 1931 in Cass Co (MI) to Roy C. Beardslee, son of Clark H. Beardslee and Margaret Titus. Roy was born in 1888.

III-I     Charles Leonard Mulder, son of Leendert Mulder (II-C) and Janke Mulder, was born on August 24, 1874 at Holland (MI), died on April 21, 1904 there.

Charles was married on May 1, 1895 at Holland (MI) to Edna Isadore Reeve, daughter of James W. Reeve and Irene Fenn. Edna was born on October 30, 1875 at Gilchins (MI), died on August 22, 1936 at Chicago (IL).

From this marriage:

1  Vivian H. Mulder was born on October 17, 1895 at Holland (MI).

2  Evelyn Mulder was born in 1898.

III-J     Marinus Mulder, son of Leendert Mulder (II-C) and Janke Mulder, was born on February 22, 1884 at Holland (MI), died on December 27, 1950 there.

Marinus was married on June 10, 1915 at Overisel (MI) to Minnie Dora Albers, daughter of John Henry Albers and Gerritdiena Veldhuis (Geraldine). Minnie was born on March 8, 1887, died in February 1971 at Holland (MI).

From this marriage:

1  Dorothy M. Mulder was born in 1918.

Generation IV

(from 1891 until 1987)

IV-A Marinus John Mulder, son of Johannes Mulder (John) (III-B) and Anna Bouws, was born on August 22, 1891 at Holland (MI), died in 1961.

Marinus was married on June 30, 1915 at Graafschap (MI) to Gertrude Tien, daughter of Henry N. Tien and Cornelia Slint. Gertrude was born on November 8, 1890, died in August 1978 at Holland (MI).

From this marriage:

1  John W. Mulder was born on April 16, 1916, see V-A.

2  Kathryn M. Mulder was born in 1917.

Kathryn was married to Paul Harold Steffens, son of Harry Steffens and Anna Douma. Paul was born on February 25, 1916, died on January 18, 1996 at Holland (MI).

3  Anna Ruth Mulder was born on November 14, 1919, died on April 2, 2013 at Holland (MI).

Anna was married to John J. Batema, son of Johannes Batema (John) and Susie N.N.. John was born on April 20, 1916, died on November 11, 1989 at Holland (MI).

4  Harvey Dale Mulder was born in 1921, see V-B.

5  Robert Jay Mulder was born in 1923, see V-C.

6  Paul Melvin Mulder was born in 1924, see V-D.

7  Lois J. Mulder was born in 1927.

IV-B  Russell H. Mulder, son of Riekus Henry Mulder (III-C) and Jennie M. Van Spyker, was born in 1904.

Russell was married before 1930 to Gertrude N.N.. Gertrude was born in 1904.

From this marriage:

1  Sidney Jane Mulder was born in 1932 at Scotia (NY).

2  Donaldyne Mulder was born in 1935 at Scotia (NY).

IV-C Jack M. Mulder, son of Marinus Mulder (Mack) (III-D) and Anna Hoffman, was born on March 8, 1914 at Benton Harbor (MI), died in December 1984.

Jack was married on September 23, 1934 at Berrien Co (MI) to Marie Louise Price, daughter of Hubert Price and N.N. Glendenen. Marie was born on October 6, 1913 at Benton Harbor (MI), died on January 27, 2000.

From this marriage:

1  Jack Mulder was born in 1935.

2  James Raymond Mulder was born in 1938, see V-E.

3  Jerry Jay Mulder was born on July 27, 1941 at Benton Harbor (MI), died on October 17, 1941 there.

IV-D Charles Henry Mulder, son of Hendrik Mulder (Henry) (III-E) and Della B. Willet, was born on September 28, 1925.

Charles was married to Patricia Jane N.N.. Patricia was born in 1930.

From this marriage:

1  Steven Robert Mulder was born in 1956.

IV-E  Leon Leonard Mulder, son of John B. Mulder (III-G) and Myra Arvillia McCance, was born on August 6, 1892 at Holland (MI), died in February 1964.

Leon was married on December 1, 1917 at Grand Rapids (MI) to Laura C. Lindberg, daughter of Charles Lindberg and Johanna Johnson. Laura was born in 1886.

From this marriage:

1  Myra Mulder was born in 1920.

2  John Mulder was born in 1922.

Generation V

(from 1916 until 2013)

V-A       John W. Mulder, son of Marinus John Mulder (IV-A) and Gertrude Tien, was born on April 16, 1916, died on September 29, 2002 at Holland (MI).

John was married to Pauline Nyland, daughter of John Egbert Nyland and Willemina Donkelaar (Minnie). Pauline was born on July 2, 1919 at Holland (MI), died on January 8, 2011 there.

From this marriage:

1  Mary Ann Mulder was born on July 18, 1940 at Holland (MI), died on August 4, 1942 at Laketown (MI).

2  Mary Ann Mulder was born in 1943.

Mary was married to Glen Leon Elders. Glen was born in 1942.

3  Jonathan Mitchell Mulder was born in 1946, see VI-A.

4  Jean N. Mulder was born in 1949.

Jean was married to Ross A. De Witte. Ross was born in 1949.

V-B Harvey Dale Mulder, son of Marinus John Mulder (IV-A) and Gertrude Tien, was born in 1921.

Harvey was married to Kathryn Nellie N.N.. Kathryn was born on April 4, 1925, died on April 21, 2005.

From this marriage:

1  Brian Dale Mulder was born in 1954.

Brian was married to Lillian L. Postigo. Lillian was born in 1956.

V-C Robert Jay Mulder, son of Marinus John Mulder (IV-A) and Gertrude Tien, was born in 1923, died on September 10, 2012.

Robert was married in 1950 to Arlene A. N.N.. Arlene was born in 1924.

From this marriage:

1  Merilyn Mulder was born in 1952, died in 1954 at Holland (MI).

2  Marsha Kay Mulder was born in 1956.

Marsha was married to Dean Calvin Kuipers. Dean was born in 1953.

3  Sally Anne Mulder was born on July 7, 1958, died on September 9, 1965 at Holland (MI).

4  Robert S. Mulder was born in 1963, see VI-B.

V-D       Paul Melvin Mulder, son of Marinus John Mulder (IV-A) and Gertrude Tien, was born in 1924.

Paul was married to Joan Elizabeth N.N.. Joan was born in 1930.

From this marriage:

Donald Martin Mulder was born in 1962.

Donald was married to Susan A. N.N.. Susan was born in 1965.

V-E James Raymond Mulder, son of Jack M. Mulder (IV-C) and Marie Louise Price, was born in 1938.

James was married to Patricia Marie N.N.. Patricia was born in 1945.

From this marriage:

1  Todd Alan Mulder was born in 1970.

2  Scott Robert Mulder was born in 1971.

Generation VI

(from 1940 until 1965)

VI-A Jonathan Mitchell Mulder, son of John W. Mulder (V-A) and Pauline Nyland, was born in 1946.

Jonathan was married (1) to ???Pamela Marie Chappuzeau.

From this marriage:

1  Pamela Mulder was born in 1969.

2  Jonathan Mitchell Mulder was born in 1970.

Jonathan was married on July 3, 1993 at Grand Rapids (MI) to Patricia Ann VanAndel. Patricia was born in 1970.

3  David Vernon Mulder was born in 1973.

David was married to Sara Joan Sytsma. Sara was born in 1974.

Jonathan was married (2) to ???Vicki Lynn N.N.. Vicki was born in 1963.

From this marriage:

4  Matthew D. Mulder was born in 1990.

5  Ellie Mulder was born after 1991.

VI-B  Robert S. Mulder, son of Robert Jay Mulder (V-C) and Arlene A. N.N., was born in 1963.

Robert was married to Ronda R. Brouwer. Ronda was born in 1965.

From this marriage:

1  Rachel Lynn Mulder.

2  Kerri Renae Mulder.

3  Nathan Robert Mulder.

See?

My comments:  I grew up in southwestern Michigan, where so many Dutch immigrants settled. It is fascinating to see the last names of people I went to school with over the years popping up both as my ancestors’ names and the names of people my relatives married.  It makes me wonder what the statistics are for how many of the Dutch in Kalamazoo, Holland, and Grand Rapids are from the same area of Zeeland as my relatives.  How much of the population of Goes was lost to emigration in the 1800s? The rest of Zeeland? And what does “amelioration of existence” REALLY mean?

If you are a Mulder from the Holland, Michigan, area, we have common ancestors. Meet me over at Ancestry.com with your tree . . . .

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Pieter the Orphan

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Netherlands history, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2013| 18 Comments »

In the new information from Yvette Hoitink at Dutch Genealogy, I discovered that Grandma’s grandfather was an orphan in Goes.

When you’re the “current descendent” it’s easy to think of all the generations that came before as being unbroken links in the chain of each family name. But the reality is that sometimes the parents died before the children were grown.  That’s what happened to my great-great-grandfather.

Pieter Philippus Mulder was born on October 10, 1865 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.

Records show Pieter living in the city orphanage in Goes on August 2, 1881.  But how did this happen?

City Orphanage, Goes c. 1850 Source: Goes.nl

City Orphanage, Goes
c. 1850 Source: Goes.nl

Pieter’s mother Johanna Maria (Boes) Mulder died on November 19, 1867, when she was 32 years old. Pieter was only a baby at the time.  He had two older brothers and a younger brother. His older sister Rose Melanie had died as a baby. Another baby was stillborn about six weeks before the mother passed away, so it’s highly likely that she died from the complications of labor and childbirth.

At the time of Johanna’s death, Pieter’s father Karel was an apothecary’s assistant.

Karel remarried a woman named Klazina Otte nine months after Johanna died. They had seven children.

When Karel passed away on April 22, 1881, he was part owner of a family store (which I will write about in a future post).  It’s unclear to me what happened to his estate. Would it go to his children? And, if so, to all equally or to the oldest only? Or would it go to the 2nd wife?

Pieter and his siblings were now orphans. In 1881, the oldest child, another Karel, was 19 years old. The second oldest, Izaak, was 18. Their guardian was Krijn Wessels, a shopkeeper in Goes. He was married to their aunt Melanie Mulder.

Pieter and his brother Adrianus, ages 15 and 14, were sent to live at the orphanage.  Yvette thinks it’s likely that the maternal grandfather Isaak Boes (not a resident of Goes, but of Uzendijke, in southern Zeeland), a tailor, was the guardian for the younger boys.

This is how Yvette describes the orphanage:

The city orphanage in Goes, where Pieter Philippus and Adrianus Cornelis Mulder were living, was created during the Eighty Years War (war of independence from Spain, 1568-1648), around 1600. The Reformation, which took place around 1578 in Goes, had left the convents obsolete. The war had left many children orphaned, so around 1600, an orphanage was established in a former convent.

Orphans had to be at least three years old, from parents from Goes, and the child had to have lived in Goes for at least three years, be healthy and potty-trained. Religion was not a requirement, children went to their own churches on Sundays. Most boys were taught a trade, like carpenter, tailor or blacksmith. They would remain in the orphanage until they were 18 years old.2 These age limits also explain why the two oldest brothers did not reside at the orphanage: they had reached the age of 18.

The following are marvelous photographs taken by Yvette Hoitink of the orphanage which still stands today.

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How did what happened to Pieter and his brothers fit into Dutch culture at the time? It sounds right that they had guardians who were not their stepmother, to make sure that they were taken care of properly. How could the stepmother have taken care of the boys as well as her own children? But then it also seems cruel that they were forced out of the home with their half siblings.  And we can only imagine what the conditions at the orphanage were like.

After leaving the orphanage, it’s possible that Pieter fulfilled his military duties, as that was a requirement. Then Pieter worked as a fisherman. At age 19 he married Neeltje Gorsse, who was sixteen years old.  Since they were under the age of 21, they both had to have permission to get married. Neeltje’s parents gave consent, as did Pieter’s maternal grandfather.

My great-grandfather was born six weeks later.  Pieter and Neeltje had another son, Jan, a year later.

In 1887, when Pieter was 21 and working as a shoemaker, the couple emigrated from Kloetinge, where they were living and where their second child Jan was born–and moved to Michigan.

Pieter and his one-year-younger brother Adrianus must have been close from being sent to the orphanage together. Yet, Pieter and his wife moved to Kloetinge not too long after getting married–and then on to America in 1887. Adrianus was left behind in Goes. He worked as a shopkeeper’s assistant.  Unfortunately, Adrianus died on March 15, 1891, when he was just 24 years old. I wish I knew how he died.

Here is a photo of Pieter and Neeltje, living in the United States. At this point, all their children were still at home, although fairly grown, including Charles who was their first-born in Goes and the others who were born in Michigan. Jan, who had immigrated with the family, died while he was still a baby, just after he arrived in the U.S.

Pieter Philippus Mulder and Neeltje (Gorsse) Mulder

Pieter Philippus Mulder and Neeltje (Gorsse) Mulder

I wonder if Grandma knew that her grandfather had been an orphan.  As for me, I was astonished to realize that Great-Grandpa Charles Mulder, a man I knew and loved, was the first-born and the only living one of that generation who had been born in the Netherlands. As I was growing up, it seemed that the family “began” with Great-Grandpa. Yet, as you can see from the photo above, he had parents who had lived their own interesting lives!

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The Links Between the Mulders and the Zuidwegs

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Caledonia Michigan history, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Netherlands history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2013| 13 Comments »

This post starts a new series about my Dutch ancestors, and I need to get a little of the basic information out of the way here.  Please bear with me.

Once again, I have been the recipient of good information from Yvette Hoitink at Dutch Genealogy.  She did further research on the Mulder branch of my family, but because of the “Intriguing Coincidence” I’ve written about earlier, this also meant further research on the Zuidweg branch.

My grandfather (the one of the 12 part story) was a Zuidweg and my grandmother (his wife and the creator of the scrapbook I’ve posted on here) was a Mulder.  And they share a common ancestor: one Carel Mulder from Goes, the Netherlands.

In Yvette’s initial research she discovered this Carel Mulder in the Zuidweg family–an ancestor of my grandfather, Adrian. He was born about 1781.  She found that on 5 May 1836 he was listed as a jailor’s hand in Goes.  He died on 19 May 1847 at the age of 66 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.”  At that point, because I recognized the name I researched and found that this man was an ancestor of my grandmother, Edna.

HERE IS A MODIFIED FAMILY TREE SHOWING HOW THE MULDERS AND ZUIDWEGS ARE CONNECTED THROUGH CAREL MULDER:

MULDERS ARE BOLDED.  ZUIDWEGS ARE ITALICIZED.

 

  • Carel Mulder (1780 – 1847) married Johanna Cornaaij (1782 – 1863)
  • Carel was from Goes (a town in Zeeland) and Johanna was from Middelburg (a town in Zeeland)
  • Carel’s parents were Johannes Mulder and Jacoba Verhoef
  • Carel and Johanna had ten children. One of their children (not my direct ancestor) immigrated to Holland, Michigan, in 1860.

The information for their descendents is in the following image as WordPress wouldn’t allow me to indent as I wished. Click on the image to see a larger version.

So when Adrian Zuidweg and Edna Mulder got married in 1932, they were re-linking the family lines.  The jailor’s hand, Carel Mulder, was Grandpa’s great-great-grandfather.  The jailor’s hand was Grandma’s great-great-great-grandfather.

It also means that Grandpa’s family at one time was a Mulder one, also.

 

I see some areas for further research based on this portion of the family tree.

* Jan Mulder, born not in Goes, but in Kloetinge, could not have immigrated to New York on his own, at the age of one year. What is this mystery? If there was a Jan born to the family, it would seem that he didn’t survive. Did someone steal his identity? Why would he not be born in Goes, where the family lived and where Great-Grandpa was born a year earlier? Maybe it’s an error. That needs to be checked on.

UPDATE ON JAN MULDER: Jan, or John, Mulder was born in Kloetinge in 1886 and immigrated with his parents and brother to Michigan. Unfortunately, he died in Kent, Michigan, before he was a year old. How sad to uproot your lives and travel all that way with your young family only to lose one of your children! (Info courtesy of Adri Van Gessel).  I should have known Yvette, with her extremely meticulous research, would never let an error like that slip by! 🙂

* Are there any records which could verify that Lucas really did die by falling on an anchor? And would he have been at sea or in port?

* Who is this Rose Melanie Bataille, a French woman, and why was she in Holland?

* I’d like to find out more about Johannes Mulder, born 1809 in Goes, to that “first generation” Carel and Johanna Cornaaij. He is a sibling of both Karel and Johanna, my ancestors that led to the Mulder and Zuidweg lines.  But before anybody else in the family immigrated to the U.S., he came to Holland, Michigan. What happened to him and his line?

THANKS FOR READING THROUGH THE MATH AND SCIENCE PORTION TODAY. I PROMISE THE NEXT POSTS SHARING THE RESULTS OF YVETTE’S RESEARCH WILL BE MORE ENTERTAINING! AND AS A REWARD FOR SLOGGING THROUGH THIS ONE, HERE IS MY FAVORITE PHOTO OF GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, TAKEN BEFORE THEY WERE MARRIED.

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I Uncovered a Stunning Clue in My Search

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Noffke, Waldeck, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2013| 26 Comments »

I wrote about my great-grandmother Clara Waldeck Mulder in The Lost Bracelet. At the time I posted about her, I didn’t really have a lot of facts about her, other than that I lost her bracelet because the clasp didn’t hold while I was at work.  Ironically, I was selling costume jewelry at Jacobson’s, in downtown Kalamazoo.

Since then my mother gave me some notes about her grandma:

  • She regularly did heavy farm chores, especially after her children were old enough to stay in the house alone. She was a big strong woman.
  • She cooked without recipes, but the food tasted very good.
  • In the evening she served us homemade ice cream that she and Grandpa made.
  • She cared for the chickens, including slaughtering them to cook and eat.
  • Along with family help, she kept a large vegetable garden.
  • She let us go wildflower picking in the “woods” across the road from their farmhouse and barn.
  • She let us play the player piano as much as we wanted. It used the perforated paper rolls.
  • Her family, both sides, seemed to carry a glaucoma gene; many experienced at least some loss of vision.
  • Some of her relatives were farmers.
  • Her family met for a family reunion with extended family every summer–it went on for many years.
  • When she got sick in her sixties and died, I felt a great loss.

###

Although I never got to meet my great-grandmother Clara, I did visit her farm and even stayed there for a week once with my great-grandfather and his second wife Margaret.  I remember my grandmother, Clara’s daughter, taking me wildflower picking in the woods across the street from the farmhouse.

By this time you might wonder what the clue could be about the Waldecks.  Well, the information I had been given was that Clara’s father was Godfrey (probably Gottfried) Waldeck and her mother’s maiden name was Alvena Neffka.

I had met a brick wall trying to trace these people back to Germany. I even talked to a German genealogist who has helped me in the past. He said Neffka couldn’t be a German name.  He questioned if that was really the name.

The only clue I’d found was on Alvena’s death certificate which indicated that her father was Louis Koffler and her mother Dora Couch.

So I started picking and probing at the name Neffka (on Ancestry), trying to figure out what else it could be.  That’s when names like Gniffke, Koffler, Knoffka started showing up all over the place.

Then suddenly I started getting hits on Noffke right and left, especially in Caledonia, Michigan, where my great-grandmother was from.  I changed the name to Noffke on my tree and I was showered with little green leaf hints from Ancestry.

For the first time, I found tons of Noffke relatives right in southwestern Michigan, where they ought to be.  I am still going through this treasury of information.

I’m a little closer to breaking through that brick wall.

Also, I had a DNA match at Ancestry with a verifiable relative—we are both 2nd great-granddaughters of Godfrey and Alvena.  She and I inexplicably showed up with eastern European DNA.  That, and some documents which say “Prussia,” seem to indicate that my grandmother’s Noffke family—and probably the Waldecks as well—are actually from Prussia, not Germany proper.

Onward in my search.  Polishing up my Nancy Drew microscope for the Noffke leaves.

Leaving you with a photo of old Caledonia, Michigan:

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Searching for the Waldecks . . . Yoo Hoo!

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Waldeck, tagged , , , , on June 4, 2013| 13 Comments »

In my last post I wrote about my great-grandmother Clara Waldeck Mulder, of Caledonia, Michigan.

Today I have a confession to make.  The Waldecks are my most unknown branch of the family.

And why?  Waldeck is a fairly common name.  There are two Castle Waldecks. Lots of places share the name Waldeck.  There are many Waldecks listed on Wikipedia, including the first Waldeck, who was a count, and some Waldeck princesses.  I bet there are a lot of paupers named Waldeck, too.

But so far I can’t find the town or region in Germany where my Waldeck family came from.

Look at the sorry state of the family tree:

Godfrey Waldeck family treeeGodfrey (Gottfried) and his wife Alvena (Alvina) immigrated to the United States with their family and then had more children. I don’t even know if all those children listed on this tree are theirs! Clara is.

And so is Godfrey (junior) because I remember him when I was young.  He managed a grain elevator or something like that, but he also farmed his own land.  He was blind from glaucoma when I met him, and he still walked down the road each day and drove his tractor in the fields.  As an aside, glaucoma runs rampant in their family.

I know that Grandma used to like to go to the Waldeck family reunions, and I went to at least one myself, at a lake (of course).

Look at Alvina Waldeck above.  The tree lists her as Alvina Neffka, as if that is her maiden name.  But is it?  I’ve also seen it listed as Noffke and on her death certificate her father was listed as Louis Koffler.  Her mother was listed as Dora Couch.

Noffke is a German name, and so is Koffler.  Neffka is not German.  Neither is Couch.

One person I’ve spoken with has wondered if the family was more Polish than German, but I have no proof of that either.

I need some help with this and hope that somebody reads this blog and gives me some clues about the family!

 

I am going to take a stab at identifying the people in the photo.

Back row:  Fred (according to a rumor, he was in a terrible accident), Ada Steeby (who had a daughter Ruth), Anna (did she marry a Stewart or Christianson or both), August (died in WWI, a bachelor)

Front row: Gottfried, Clara (my great-grandmother), Alvina, Godfrey

Looking at this photo and the names, can we write off Adolph, Rudolph, Max, Herman? Are they not part of our family?  Or were they older, born in Germany, and already living their own adult lives when this photo was taken?  And why isn’t Fred even on the family tree?!

You can see that I am going to need some help with this project!

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The Lost Bracelet

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Mulder, Waldeck, tagged , , , , , , , on May 28, 2013| 9 Comments »

My maternal grandmother, Lucille Edna Mulder (Zuidweg), who was born in 1912 at the time of the Titanic disaster, was raised on a farm in Caledonia, Michigan.  If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you know that I have a beautiful scrapbook which she made to commemorate her high school graduation in 1929.

You’ve met her parents, Charles and Clara (née Waldeck) Mulder.

Charles and Clara (Waldeck) Mulder Marion Studio pic

I’ve shared with you the book collection and gavel which belonged to my great-grandfather Charles.  I have not said much about my great-grandmother Clara.

What I know about her is that she raised five children on a farm in Caledonia.

Clara’s parents and older siblings were born in Germany (and perhaps at least one sibling in Kentucky, but don’t quote me on that).  She was born August 31, 1884, in Michigan.  She died September 6, 1953, of uterine cancer.  I was born less than two years later.

I have an Eastern Star ring which belonged to her, so I know she belonged to that organization. I had a sapphire bracelet, which I lost at my first job and was heartsick over, and a couple of other small items.

Here is Clara’s calling card, which my grandmother placed in her scrapbook along with the graduation cards of her classmates:

Clara's calling cardI wish I knew more about Clara and her life.  I think if I keep researching I will find more and maybe I will be able to put some pieces together.

Maybe my mother and her siblings and cousins remember their grandmother and can add to my paltry information!  Hint hint.

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