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Archive for the ‘Netherlands history’ Category

Christmas 1907 in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Jennie DeKorn Culver, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Leeuwenhoek, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Paak, Peek, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2014| 27 Comments »

My great-great-grandmother Alice Paak (the brave woman who survived a horrific near-tragedy that I wrote about last spring) gave her middle child Cora a gift for Christmas 1907. Perhaps she gave one to each of her three children.

You can see from the photo that it’s a hand-painted genealogy shell.

My grandfather and grandmother inherited it, and my grandmother gave it to me.

Let’s take a look at what she wrote over one hundred years ago, and how it relates to the information I have received more recently.

Alice Paak

If you remember my story about Alice’s near tragedy, you might also remember the post I wrote about her beautiful handmade shawl. Or the post I wrote about Alice and all her sisters.

On the shell, she names herself “Alice Paak ,” which is the name Grandpa had told me.  But genealogical research in the Netherlands shows that she was born Aaltje Peek. The source used for that name was this:

Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands, birth record, 1852, 36, Aaltje Peek, 9 September 1852; digital images,
Familysearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-159370-202016-19?cc=1576401&wc=6426532 : accessed 23
December 2012)

Apparently, she accepted the American name “Alice.” Her granddaughter, Alice Leeuwenhoek, the daughter of Jennie and Lou Leeuwenhoek, was named after her. Later, my own aunt, the granddaughter of Alice’s daughter Cora, was given the name Alice.

Alice Paak’s birth date is given on the shell as 17 September 1852.  But my genealogical information (the source I listed above) shows that she was born on that same month and year, but on the 9th, not the 17th. Wouldn’t she know her own birth day? That confuses me.

On the shell, she lists her birth place as Leksmond, Nederland. That sounds right, and I think it’s the same place as Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

Richard DeKorn

My great-great-grandfather Richard DeKorn was born Dirk de Korne.  But he clearly changed both his first name (Americanized it) and the spelling of his last name (maybe to make it easier for others).

He was born on 21 Aug 1851.  The shell corroborates the date.

However, his birth place is listed on the shell as Goes, Zeeland, Nederland. But wait!  In another post I mentioned that I had always thought he was born in Goes, but the genealogical documentation shows that was born in Kapelle, Zeeland, the Netherlands! This is the documentation:

Kapelle, Zeeland, the Netherlands, birth record, Dirk de Korne, 21 August 1851

Jennie DeKorn

Born March 18, 1873. That’s according to the shell. But my information is March 8, 1873. I have to check on this!

Cora DeKorn

Born January 2, 1875. That’s according to the shell and to my records.

Joseph Peter DeKorn

Born June 30, 1881. That’s according to the shell and to my records.

The treasure itself

The design is beautiful with holly branches. The berries are raised to look like real berries. Originally there was a gold leaf paint trim around the shell, but it has worn off in many places.

Her use of “Xmas” because it fit better on the small surface seems astonishingly modern, as does the use of metallic gold and red and green for Christmas.

What I find particularly poignant, though, about this family heirloom is the date. She gave this gift to her daughter on Christmas 1907, and on May 5, 1908, a little over four months later, she passed away.

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A Familial Occupation

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Michigan history, Mulder, Netherlands history, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2014| 16 Comments »

When I posted my genealogy to-do list, I asked if you could guess what occupation I found a few of my Mulder relatives engaged in during the 19th century in Holland. I said it was one I have had–and so have my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.  Emily Ann at Child Out of Time wondered if it was teaching, which was a very good guess, based on our family history, but isn’t correct.

What I am talking about is retail.  My family was engaged in retail business for a long time.  My husband and I owned stores, and so did my parents. My grandfather owned a gas station. His father owned a fish market and a soda shop.

My 3rd great-grandfather, Karel Mulder, was born 21 February 1837 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands. He married Johanna Maria Boes on November 1861, also at Goes. On 27 August 1868, he married Klazina Otte at Goes. He died on 22 April 1881 in Goes.

His parents were Karel Mulder and Rose Melanie Bataille (remember the Bataille family?).  These are the children of Karel and Rose Melanie–namely, Karel and his siblings:

  • Karel Mulder, born 21 February 1837, Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands (Witnesses: Carel Mulder and Adriaan Zuijdweg). On 7 November 1861 he was an apothecary’s assistant in Goes. On 27 August 1868 he was an apothecary’s assistant in Goes. On 22 April 1881 he was a shopkeeper in Goes.Karel died on 22 April 1881.
  • Pieter Philip Mulder was born on 29 August 1838 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.
  • Kornelis Mulder was born on 4 September 1840 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.25 He died on 3 June 1887 at the age of 46 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.26 On 3 June 1887 he was a shoemaker in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.
  • Melanie Mulder was born on 21 January 1842 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.27 She died on 23 June 1884 at the age of 42 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.
  • Johannes Mulder was born on 12 November 1843 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.29 He died on 7 January 1849 at the age of 5 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands. [died at age 5]
  • Andries Mulder was born on 23 January 1846 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands. [shop’s financial partner]
  • Jan Mulder was born on 9 December 1848 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.32 On 22 April 1881 he was a shopkeeper in paint and colonial goods in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.5
  • Johannes Mulder was born on 10 February 1851 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.33 He died on 26 June 1876 at the age of 25 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.34 On 26 June 1876 he was a shoemaker in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.
  • Jacobus Mulder was born on 13 May 1856 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.35 He died on 17 June 1874 at the age of 18 in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.36 On 17 June 1874 he was a shopkeeper’s assistant in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands.

My 3rd great-grandfather owned a “paint and colonial goods” store.

According to genealogist Yvette Hoitink:

Karel Mulder had a company in paint and colonial goods together with his brother Jan, called the “Gebroeders Mulder [Mulder brothers]”. This company owned a house at the Korte Kerkstraat (property tax registration section D nr. 377). The most important financer of this company was Andries Mulder in Goes, for a total of fl. 4000 (1/3 of the value of the company). This Andries is probably their brother Andries Mulder, son of Karel Mulder and Rose Melanie Bataille.

Here is a map of where the Mulder Brothers shop was located:

That means that at least 3 of the brothers were involved in the paint and colonial goods shop: Karel, Jan, and Andries. Two other brothers are shoemakers, one died at age five, and the professions of Pieter Philip (we don’t have a death date, so I’m not sure if he lived to maturity) and Melanie, the only girl.

Here are some photos taken by Yvette Hoitink of the building at the location of the Mulder Brothers shop. We don’t know if this is the original building or not. The houses adjacent to the building are original.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What do you imagine a “paint and colonial goods” shop would have sold?

Finally, do you remember (from this blog post) what happened to Karel’s son, my great-great-grandfather Pieter?  He ended up in an orphanage!

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What Do We Know About the Girls in This Photograph?

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Klein, Netherlands history, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2013| 39 Comments »

Here’s another photo I need a little (OK, a lot of) help understanding.  Here is what I know:

  • The photo was in my aunt’s photo collection, and it presumably comes from photographs belonging to my father’s grandmother who lived in Elmhurst, Illinois
  • The family came from Budesheim, a village outside of Bingen. This is in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, an area along the Rhine river in western Germany.
  • The family was Catholic.

What are the ways I can discover more about the photograph?  Any ideas on how to find information on the photographer? What do you think is the occasion of the photo? The girls’ dresses are what kind of lace? What is the pole behind the girls? Why does the window appear to be barred? Does the umlaut over the “a” in the photographer’s name indicate that the photograph was taken in Germany, rather than the United States?

I will say that from the time I first saw this photograph, because its appearance is so different from the rest of the family photographs, I assumed it was either brought with the family from Germany or was sent from a family member in Germany to my great-grandparents in the U.S.

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The Van Lieres of Kalamazoo Redux

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Netherlands history, Photography early 20th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 20, 2013| 9 Comments »

Last week I wrote about my grandfather’s cousins, the Van Liere boys of Kalamazoo.

After I published that post I was given supplemental information by the very kind Adri Van Gessel, so I would like to add a little information and eventually I will go back and update the earlier blog post.

Marinus van Liere was born in 1874, not 1875. Goes is the correct location. His birth date was September 29, 1874, and his parents were Jacob and Katharina. Marinus was the 3rd boy named Marinus born to the couple, but the first two had died as infants. Out of 12 children, only five lived into adulthood. Pieter also immigrated to the United States. Here is the info on Pieter:

          Pieter Marcus van Liere (Peter), son of Jacob van Liere (I) and Katharina Barbier, was born on March 9, 1868 at Goes, died on January 8, 1953 at Kalamazoo (MI).

Pieter was married on July 31, 1890 at Kloetinge to Pieternella van Haveren (Nellie), daughter of Cornelis van Haveren and Pieternella Louisse. Pieternella was born on October 20, 1871 at Wolphaartsdijk, died on January 13, 1941 at Kalamazoo (MI).

From this marriage:

1  Catharina Van Liere was born on May 29, 1893 at Goes.

Catharina was married on May 6, 1915 at Kalamazoo (MI) to Dirk Goldschmeding (Dick), son of Johannes Leonardus Goldschmeding and Gijsbertje de Haas. Dirk was born on August 2, 1891.

2  Cornelius Van Liere was born on November 8, 1895 at Goes, see III-A.

(Peter has emigrated with his wife and his two children to America on March 13, 1909. He was a painter).

The question is if this Pieter is the same Peter Van Liere who shows up in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Because there are several articles spanning a period from 1888 to 1911, it becomes clear that the Peter Van Liere in the paper is older than Pieter and was already causing a ruckus in Michigan before our Pieter was married in the Netherlands.

As a reminder, here is the photo of the sons of Marinus and Johanna (my great-grandfather’s sister).

The Van Liere Brothers

From left to right they are:

Eugene (the tallest), Luke, Jake, Jim, John, Renny. Jane wasn’t sure about the last two, but if the others are correct perhaps Adrian and then Peter.

Here is updated information on dates. This changes the birth order to Eugene being 3rd born, not Adrian. Adrian is #4. It also adds a sad note to the family history by noting a stillborn baby in 1913.

1  Jacob Van Liere (Jake) was born on April 14, 1902 at Goes, see III-B.

2  Johannes Van Liere (John) was born on April 23, 1903 at Goes, see III-C.

3  Eugene Van Liere (Curly) was born on June 28, 1904 at Kalamazoo (MI), see III-D.

4  Adrian Van Liere (Ade) was born on October 7, 1905 at Kalamazoo (MI), see III-E.

5  Peter M. Van Liere was born on October 24, 1907 at Kalamazoo (MI), died in October 1965.

Peter was married on May 2, 1936 at Kalamazoo (MI) (1) Louise Watson, daughter of William Watson and Bertha Stanley. Louise was born in 1916.

Peter was married on July 2, 1948 at Kalamazoo (MI) (2) to Lorraine J. Mentor, daughter of Frederick C. Mentor and Irene Johnson. Lorraine was born on October 2, 1910 at Kalamazoo (MI), died in March 1981 at Lawton (MI).

6  Lucas Van Liere (Luke) was born on August 7, 1909 at Kalamazoo (MI), see III-F.

7  James Van Liere was born in 1912 at Kalamazoo (MI), see III-G.

8  N.N. van Liere was stillborn on August 25, 1913 at Kalamazoo (MI).

9  Marinus Van Liere (Renny) was born on September 23, 1915 at Kalamazoo (MI), see III-H.

There are some other details, but rather than getting too mathematical again ;), I will pass them on to the Van Lieres by email.

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The Van Lieres of Kalamazoo

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Netherlands history, Photography early 20th century, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 13, 2013| 21 Comments »

As I grew up, relatives would say to me that we were related to this family or that family, but any description of the connections seemed vague. One of those names I heard I was related to was VAN LIERE. I think I even went to school with a Van Liere or two.

After all these years and lots of research, I now understand how I am related to the Van Lieres. They are my grandfather’s cousins!

This is how the connection works:

In My Grandfather’s Story Part II, I described how, when he was a child, his family lived two houses over from Grandpa’s aunt’s house on Burdick Street in Kalamazoo.

His father’s sister, Johanna Geertruida Maria Zuijdweg was born in Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands on 23 December 1873. On 10 May 1900, she married Marinus van Liere in Goes. Marinus was born in 1875 in Goes. He was the son of Jacob van Liere and Katharina Barbier.  When he married Johanna, he was a shoe maker.

Johanna Zuijdweg VanLiere and Marinus VanLiere with son Jacob

Johanna Zuijdweg VanLiere and Marinus VanLiere with son Jacob

They had two boys and then immigrated to the United States in 1904.

They lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan and had another six boys, for a total of eight. Here is a photo of the family with the first three boys, taken in Kalamazoo.

Johanna has not only gained weight with the birth of the 2nd and 3rd children, but she seems to have aged. In a very short period of time she not only had the three boys, but also left her country and started a new life in Kalamazoo.

The Van Lieres

The Van Lieres

I believe Marinus may have had a shoe store in Kalamazoo because I found an ad for the store, dated 30 Oct 1917, and it was on Burdick Street. In the 1910 census the Van Lieres lived at 1338 S. Burdick St. The store is 1208 S. Burdick St. 

Marinus passed away 22 November 1941 in Kalamazoo, and Johanna died on 14 July 1947 in Kalamazoo.

Here is a photo shared by Jane Van Liere of the eight Van Liere boys, sons of Marinus and Johanna (Zuijdweg) Van Liere. NOTE:  THESE ARE THE FIRST COUSINS OF MY GRANDFATHER, ADRIAN ZUIDWEG. Click on the photo so you can see it enlarged!

The Van Liere Brothers

The Van Liere Brothers

From left to right they are:

Eugene (the tallest), Luke, Jake, Jim, John, Renny. Jane wasn’t sure about the last two, but if the others are correct perhaps Adrian and then Peter.

This is how we get a lot more Van Lieres in Kalamazoo than Zuidwegs: Johanna took her husband’s name and had eight boys who then kept their last names, whereas Grandpa was an only child of the only surviving Zuijdweg boy (his father Adrian).  By the way, we do have another Adrian Zuidweg in the family as my cousin’s son shares Grandpa’s and Great-Grandpa’s name.

So the Van Lieres might be Van Lieres, but they are also Zuidwegs!

Here is the information we have collected so far. There are no doubt large gaps and most likely children missing in this list.

JACOB (Jake), the oldest Van Liere boy, grew up to be a fireman for the City of Kalamazoo.  He was born 14 April 1902 in Goes, the Netherlands, and died May 1968 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He married Margaret Lucas (1911-1971). Jake and Margaret had a son, Charles Robert (born 28 Jul 1933 in Michigan and died 29 may 1957 in Kalamazoo), and a daughter Jean Kilgore.

I believe this photo was taken of Jacob when the family still lived in Goes.

Jacob Van Liere

Jacob Van Liere

JOHN, son #2, owned a shoe repair near the family home on Burdick Street, across from the ice cream shop. The shop has been called Mathews, but it could have been Mursch’s ice cream shop.  The ice cream was made in the back of the store.

John was born 23 April 1903 in the Netherlands, most likely Goes. He died 7 January 1974 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He married Trinet Van Tichelt (born 22 Jan 1906 in the Netherlands and died 28 Mar 1989. John and Trinet had a son, John. He was their only child. John married Jane and they have 7 children and 16 grandchildren.

This is the branch of the family that provided me with the photograph and with information about the boys.

ADRIAN (this name goes back far in the Zuijdweg family), son #3, was a golf instructor. He was born 7 Oct 1905 in Michigan and died 16 Apr 1984 in Brevard, Florida.

He married Vivian or Violet Irene (born 7 Feb 1908 in Michigan and died 21 Apr 2007 in Belmont, Kent, Michigan). Adrian and his wife had a daughter, Betty (born c. 1928 in Michigan).

Here is Adrian’s 8th grade graduation notice in the Kalamazoo Gazette on June 16, 1920.

EUGENE (Curly), son #4,  lived in Las Vegas. He was born around 1905 in Kalamazoo and married Lydia B., who was born in1906.

PETER, son #5, owned Van Liere Tile in Milwood. He was born 24 Oct 1907 in Michigan and died in Oct 1965. He married Lorraine. Peter was a member of the Elks. He played a lot of golf.

LUCAS (Luke), son #6, worked for The Upjohn Company. He was born 7 Aug 1909 and died 12 May 2001, both in Kalamazoo. He was married twice, first to Sadie and then Myrteen A. Wolcott.

On 27 August 1922, the Kalamazoo Gazette reported on Luke’s golf game in this article. Start reading about half way down on the left column.

JAMES (Jim), son #7, worked for The Upjohn Company in Arizona. He was born in 1913 in Michigan.

MARINUS (Renny), son #8, worked for The Upjohn Company. he was born in 1915 in Michigan. He married Dorothy.

In looking for articles on the Van Lieres in the local newspaper, I happened upon two other Van Lieres at the turn of the century. One was Peter Van Liere, who was somewhat regularly in the newspaper. I did not find a connection with our Van Lieres, although a familial connection is still possible.

The other was a Cornelius Van Liere, who died in 1902. The Probate Order (5 June 1902), as well as related information, is in the newspaper. What is worth noting is that Marinus Van Liere is mentioned in the Probate Order. This is two years before Marinus and Johanna immigrated to the U.S. Was Cornelius an uncle of Marinus? There’s always another mystery . . . .

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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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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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The Confusing Saga of The DeKorns or Dekornes or de Cornes from Zeeland and Michigan

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Netherlands history, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2013| 17 Comments »

When I grew up in Kalamazoo in the 1960s and 1970s (OK, the 1950s, too), the name DeKorn as it applied to my family was no longer known. Richard’s only son, Joseph, had moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he raised his two sons.

At some point DeKorne’s Ethan Allen store opened up in Kalamazoo. I know it was there when I got married in 1975 because I bought my first couch and chairs there.That’s when I first heard the rumor that we were “shirttail relations.”

Nobody could ever give me any facts about this connection.

In 2000, with the beauty of the internet, I discovered that there was another family connected to Boudewijn DeKorn. Boudewijn, my great-great-great-grandfather, was born in 1816 in Kapelle, the Netherlands, and died 1873 in Kalamazoo.

This other family who had a Boudewijn was the furniture company Dekorne family from Grand Rapids.

But their Boudewijn didn’t match ours. Theirs died in 1929 in Grand Rapids! Ours died in Kalamazoo in 1873!! But how odd, considering that the name is unique, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids are not far from each other, and there was that rumor about us being related.

At the time (2000), I found an article about their Boudewijn and a rough family tree.  I printed it out and saved it, never knowing if it would be useful.

Here is their family tree:

Other Dekorne family tree

Other Dekorne family tree

I’m going to post the article that went with their family tree because I find it very interesting in light of Richard DeKorn’s talents as a mason and general contractor.

It’s an interesting story, but are they relatives of mine?

I didn’t know, and I couldn’t figure it out because on Ancestry more Boudewijn DeKornes starting popping up with different birth and death dates, but always from the same general area of the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

Then I gave Yvette Hoitink their family tree and she put it together with our family tree and investigated.

This is our family tree:Richard DeKorn family treeDo you see a connection?  Look at their Boudewijn who was born in 1700.  He’s married to Piatarnella Pieterse Michielse.  That is the same woman as Pieternella Machiels who is also found in old documents under the name Petronella Pieters.  We have a match for a husband and wife in both family trees.

That means that  my “7th great-grandfather” Boudewijn de Corne, born approximately 1730 and died 1734 in Goes is (I believe) the “3rd great-grandfather” of Boudewijn the wood-carver and furniture maker who died in Grand Rapids in 1929.

In the history of the family it seems that branches moved away from each other and then maybe moved near each other again, always staying in Zeeland and then in southwestern Michigan. It’s fitting then that Joseph DeKorn moved to Grand Rapids and raised his family there by the other Dekornes.

Note: so many spellings of the name!!  It makes it very difficult even to work at cleaning up my family tree on Ancestry.  Also, notice how the Dutch tend to name their children after the grandparents.

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Aw Shucks and Shout Outs

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Mulder, Netherlands history, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , on May 11, 2013| 23 Comments »

This post is meant to show my gratitude to two wonderful bloggers who have nominated this blog for awards and to pass on the shout outs to some bloggers who are so deserving of mention.  Actually, there are too many bloggers deserving of mention to mention, if that doesn’t sound too confusing!  I’ve got my “regulars” I read, but every day I find new blogs I want to add to my regulars list.

The Red Man and Sheila from Red’s Rants and Raves visited me bearing the WordPress Family Award.  They say that the award “was started by someone who wanted to say what being a part of cyberspace had meant to her and what a family atmosphere existed in her WordPress World.”  Yes! I can relate to that.

Thank you, Sheila, Red Man, and Team Red Man.  Check out their fun blog-with-personality right away!

I’m supposed to nominate 10 bloggers for this award.  I’ll raise it to 11 and include it below.

Later, Martha at Home Thoughts from Abroad came calling with the Liebster award. It means dearest and is meant to help promote new blogs.  I’m not sure which blogs are new and which are old standards, so I won’t be too fussy about that.  Thank you so much, Martha!

Martha keeps up so well with her blogging.  She alternates yummy food and fascinating history posts as fast as I can read them. If you haven’t checked out her blog, you will want to run there.

These are the rules from Martha. The award is a “pay-it-forward” thing as you must complete these requirements:

1.  Post the award on my blog.

2. Thank the blogger who gave me the award and link back to her site.

Thank you, Martha  at Home Thoughts from Abroad!

3.  Post 11 random facts about myself.  I’m going to post 11 family stories and whether or not I have discovered anything about their veracity.

a. That my grandparents were cousins.  Yes, they share a common ancestor way back.  I shared that in this blog post

b. That we have French Huguenots as ancestors.  The genealogist Yvette Hoitink believes the name DeKorn could have its origins in ancestors who moved from the village of  Corné in France to Holland.

c. That my grandmother was smart.  Yes, she was because as you know she did very well in school.

d. That Uncle Lou and Aunt Jen owned a general market in Kalamazoo in the early 1900s.  When I searched the name Leeuwenhoek in the newspaper archives at Genealogy Bank I discovered ads for their store.

e. That my great-grandfather Adrian Zuidweg owned a fish market in downtown Kalamazoo.  When I searched the name Zuidweg in the newspaper archives I discovered ads, but I also saw a notice that you could get fresh halibut at Zuidwegs.  I also found a photograph of the store, which can be found in this blog post.

f. That we had a wee smidgen of African ancestry.  I took the 23andme DNA test, and nope, that was not true.  I think it might have been a story that came about because of ancestry from countries where the people might have had darker hair, eyes, and skin tones, in the way that people talk about “black Irish.”

g. That Uncle Joe went to the University of Michigan to study engineering.  His son, Phil DeKorn, confirmed to me that he also went to Kalamazoo College, before he moved on to UM.  He took a majority of our old family photos, and Phil says that his father continued his love of photography into his later life.

h. That Richard DeKorn was a prominent mason and contractor in Kalamazoo, and through the research I have done, especially old newspapers it appears that that is the case.

i. That my relatives came from Goes in the Netherlands.  Yvette Hoitink discovered that many of them did come from Goes–both my grandfather’s and my grandmother’s families.  But they also came from other villages in the province of Zeeland.  Grandma told me it was pronounced Hoos, rhyming with goose, and Yvette confirmed that it is pronounced that way in the dialect.

j. That Uncle Lou was a descendent of the inventor of the microscope, Anton van Leeuwenhoek. I don’t have a confirmation on that because that would involve a lot of research far back, using sources written in Dutch. Grandpa told me that and he also told me that Uncle Lou and his brother Gerrit (the boy who died in the Spanish-American War) were orphans. I thought it was just them in the world, but apparently they had other siblings we didn’t know about who had stayed behind in Holland.

k. When my mother-in-law, who was an artist, met me she said she thought I must be part Chinese. I thought she was kidding, but then a rheumatologist told me he found a “Mongolian spot” on me.  This is a birth mark that looks like a bruise. He said I had to have Asian ancestry.  I thought it was an apocryphal story, but my DNA test confirmed that I do have .1% East Asian ancestry. I’d love to find out the story behind that!  This was mildly interesting to me since my kids, both adopted, are Korean ;).

4.  Answer 11 questions that the presenter of the award has asked.

1. What is your favorite book?  The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow

2. What person influenced you most when you were growing up? My grandmother and Captain Kangaroo

3. If you could travel the world, where would you go first? Let me check my schedule

4. What is your dream car? Jaguar from days past

5. What are three things on your bucket list that you hope to do soon? I’ve been thinking about starting a bucket list . . .

6. Which was your most memorable birthday? My 40th at my parents’ lake house

7. What was your favorite year and why? 1984 and 1988 when my kids arrived from Korea

8. Who is your favorite singer or musician? My daughter

9. What did you do for the Millenium New Year’s Eve 1999/2000? I can’t remember

10. What is your greatest accomplishment? My kids

11. Of what are you the most proud? My kids

5.  Nominate 11 new bloggers with fewer than 200 followers who I want to pass the award on to.  These are the 11 blogs I nominate for the Liebster AND for the Family Award.  A few of these blogs I nominated last time as well, but they continue to be inspirations.

“Greatest Generation” Life Lessons

Pacific Paratrooper

Always Backroads

Enhanced News Archive

Explore Newness

Child Out of Time

Fashion A Hundred Years Ago

Jackie Dinnis

Living with My Ancestors

Relatively Frank

Genealogy Lady

6.   Ask my nominees 11 questions of my own.  Please share 11 facts about your ancestors (yes, parents count) and come tell me after you post so I am sure to read them!

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