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Archive for the ‘Paak’ Category

Do You Recognize Any of These Dutch Surnames?

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Mulder, Netherlands history, Paak, Peek, Remine, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 7, 2013| 16 Comments »

This post has been edited to correct errors!!  I will continue to do so as necessary.

Just for fun I thought I’d post the Dutch surnames that pop up in my family tree.

  • Zuidweg or Zuijdweg
  • DeKorn or DeKorne
  • Peek or Paak
  • VanLiere (this one is not a direct ancestor, but we have relatives in the United States)
  • Mulder
  • Gorsse
  • Bomhoff
  • Hijman or Heijman
  • Vandewalle
  • Boes
  • Bataille
  • Van Nek
  • Bassa
  • den Besten
  • Kriger
  • Remijinse or Remine (this name is one ancestor line, but is also more recently by marriage)
  • Engelse
  • De Jonge
  • Kole
  • Stroosnijder
  • Antonisse
  • Van den Berger
  • Cornaaij
  • Swedijks
  • Machiels or Pieters

Only a few of these surnames are found on lists of common Dutch names.

Mulder is on every list as it means miller.

My grandmother told me that Remijinse is a name which originally came to the family from Spain.

Zuidweg, meaning south way, also might have similar origins–it’s unclear. The results of my 23andme test does show that I have Spanish ancestry, and the likely source would be the Spaniards that left Spain at the time of the Inquisition and made their way to Holland.

When I visited the Netherlands, a man told me that DeKorn meant that the first DeKorn came to the Netherlands from Switzerland.

Yvette Hoitink has another idea.  This is what she wrote about the name:

Boudewijn de Corne (sr.) was called De Corne and De Kooren. “De” is the Dutch word for “The” but can also be the French word for “From.” Since “Corne” is not a Dutch word and “Kooren” (corn) would have a different article (“het” instead of “de”), a French origin is possible.  One possible explanation for the name is that the family originated in a place called Corné. A village called Corné is located near Angers [on map it’s located in western France]. A lot of French Huguenots came to the province of Zeeland in the period after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685.

Yvette’s theory fits with the family story I heard very often that we were descended from French Huguenots.

600px-Famous_Dutch_People

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The Virtual Cemetery

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Paak, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , on April 8, 2013| 16 Comments »

I’m still thinking about Alice’s terrible accident.  She died in 1908, 17 years after it happened.  I looked through my photos to see if there are any of her after the accident, and this is the best one to see that her hands did recover.

Alice Paak DeKorn with her granddaughter Alice Leeuwenhoek (born 1897)

Until I have a chance to do some work on FindAGrave for my ancestors, I am paying my respects through this blog.

Here are photos of the gravestones of Alice Paak DeKorn and Richard DeKorn.   The grave sites are at Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The photos were submitted to Find A Grave by “Barbara from Michigan,” and I’m indebted to her for this service.

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A Series of Disasters

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Paak, Peek, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2013| 22 Comments »

I’m picking up here from my post All the Peek Girls.  In that post I showcased photos of my great-great grandmother Alice and her sisters.

The girls’ parents, my great-great-great grandparents, Teunis Peek (born on 5 Jun 1822 in Everdingen, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands) and  Jacoba Bassa (born on 18 Jun 1824 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands) were married on 21 Dec 1848 in Everdingen, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

At the time of their marriage, Teunis was a “farmer’s hand” in Everdingen.

On 23 November 1865, Jacoba died at the age of 41 in Lexmond.  At that time, Teunis was a farmer in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Teunis and Jacoba had the following children:

Joost Peek was born on 25 Aug 1850 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Aaltje Peek, born 9 Sep 1852, Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands; died 5 May 1908, Michigan,
United States.  This is my great-great grandmother, Alice Paak/Peek, who married Richard DeKorn.

Anna Catharina Peek was born on 6 Jan 1855 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Maaike Peek was born on 29 Jul 1859 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Cornelia Peek was born on 8 May 1862 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Willempje Peek was born 17 dep 1856 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands. [Additional info:  must do research to see if Willempje survived or not]

Teunis and his children emigrated in 1868 to the United States.

After reading this information on the family, I speculated that Joost probably stayed behind in the Netherlands.  He would have been eighteen and might have already started his own life.  I had photos of the four girls (Alice, Annie, Mary, and Carrie), but no information from my family about the oldest, the boy Joost.

I recently discovered a clipping tucked in with the family photos.

There is no date or newspaper name on this clipping.  Here is an excerpt:

The residence of George Paake at 1016 Trimble Avenue was burned this morning about 10:30 o’clock and a worthy family which has had a series of disasters, left without a home.  The house which Mr. Paake was paying for in the Building and Loan Association was entirely ruined although most of the contents of the home were saved. Mr. Paake receives no insurance whatever and the little which had been accumulated by the family was lost.

The fire is only an incident in the history of the family. Mrs. Paake died a short time ago leaving five children, the oldest being fourteen years old. Since the mother’s death the little girl has had entire charge of the house and the four little children and has had all the responsibility of the family except the support which Mr. Paake gave as a laborer.  Recently he has been unable to work and was ill this morning when the fire occurred.

The neighbors have taken in the little ones and are doing all that is possible to alleviate the sufferings of the family. Mrs. Carrier has been responsible for raising a sum of money to which the neighbors have liberally contributed.

So many facts here.  But more questions.

Since the clipping was in with our treasured family photos, was this my family described in the article?

The size of the family seems to fit with the family of Teunis Peek, as is the recent death of the mother.  The impression is of an immigrant family who has been beset with many tragedies: the death of the mother, either the death of the first son (or him staying behind), the illness of the father, the loss of their home and the value they had in it.

Is Teunis George?  Most of the family changed their first names from a Dutch first name to an “English” first name.  It’s possible.

Although the Dutch records show the last name as Peek, my grandfather told me that the family was Paak or Paake.

However:  Jacoba, the wife of Teunis, passed away in 1865, and the family emigrated in 1868.  Alice, my great-great-grandmother, was born in 1852.  She would have been 16 when they arrived in Kalamazoo and caring for the household and her four younger siblings.    The very ancient clipping is now a deep gold color and very crisp.  If it’s from 1869 or 1870, and the family was that of Teunis, then Alice was probably 17 or 18, not 14.

In a 1906 City Directory, George is still listed at the same address (a rebuilt house?) and Cora W. Paak is listed as a boarder.  I wonder if that is his sister because Alice named one of her daughters Cora W (for Wilhelmina). Could be Cornelia (Carrie).

Or was George a brother of Teunis? (NO)

I’m waiting with bated breath for Yvette Hoitink to find me a little more information which might shed light on this mystery.  As of now, I don’t have any information on siblings of Teunis Peek.

EVENTUALLY we discovered that the fire happened to George (Joost) and his family.

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Living by Long Lake, Portage, Michigan

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Paak, Peek, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2013| 14 Comments »

Over two months ago I posted about The Park with a Literary Name , Ramona Park in Portage, Michigan. This lake property was in my family for many years.

It was owned by Carrie Paak/Peek Waruf and her husband Henry Waruf. These photos are of their home, which was situated on Sprinkle Road in Portage, about a block from the Long Lake shore.  The above photo is a side view–Sprinkle to the left, Long Lake to the right.  The porch was eventually remodeled to a large enclosed porch.

Any car experts can tell us a date by looking at the automobile here?

The photo below is the front of the house.

This house was inherited by Therese Remine, Carrie’s niece, and became part of the Ramona Park estate. In more recent years, it was relocated. My Kalamazoo sleuths (aka Mom and Dad) are working on its location.

When I was a little kid, we hunted for arrowheads in the field behind the house. The vintage (at the time) dining room furniture was beautiful.

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All the Peek Girls

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Paak, Peek, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2013| 21 Comments »

Last post I told you about my great-great-grandmother Alice Paak (Peek) DeKorn. She had three younger sisters, who all grew up in Kalamazoo, as well.  There were two brothers, but I have not tracked them down yet.  To clarify about the last name: Grandpa first identified the name to me as Paak, but genealogical research in the Netherlands shows that the name is actually Peek.

As a reminder, this is Alice:

Alice Paak DeKorn

Alice Peek DeKorn

Here is her sister Annie, born Anna Catharina Peek on January 6, 1855 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Here is her sister Mary, born Maaike Peek on July 29, 1859 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Mary Paak Remine

Mary Peek Remine

Here is her sister Carrie, born Cornelia Peek on 8 May, 1862 in Lexmond, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.

Carrie Paak Waruf

Carrie Peek Waruf

While the Peek girls are all pretty, clearly my great great is the prettiest of all!

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How Did My Great Great Grandmother Stay Warm and Stylish?

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Paak, Peek, tagged , , , , , , on February 7, 2013| 17 Comments »

Alice Paak (Peek) DeKorn's shawl

This fine woolen shawl was owned by Alice Paak (Peek) DeKorn.  The predominant color is a dark green.  My great great grandmother passed away in 1908, so this family artifact is over 100 years ago.  It is in perfectly pristine condition.

Close-up of Alice's shawl
Close-up of Alice’s shawl

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Meet the Mother of Cora, Jennie, and Joseph

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Jennie DeKorn Culver, Paak, Peek, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2013| 14 Comments »

Alice Paak DeKorn

Alice Paak DeKorn (Aaltje Peek)

This lady was my great great grandmother, Alice Paak DeKorn.

She died May 5, 1908.  My grandfather, her grandson, was born October 31, 1908, so she never even saw him.  I think she has a kind face, but I don’t know any stories about her.

Yvette Hoitink observed that Alice’s marriage certificate states that she was born in Leymond.

Yvette says that this is “presumably Lexmond in Zuid-Holland. The Lexmond birth records are indexed on Genlias.nl. A search for Peek children born between 1850 and 1855 showed one candidate for Aleye Peek: Aaltje Peek b. 9 September 1852, daughter of Teunis Peek and Jacoba Bassa. The birth month and year match perfectly with Alice’s listing in the 1900 census.”

I noticed that Alice lived for 55 years.  Her daughter Cora, my great grandmother, died at the age of 57, so I can’t help but wonder if they both died of the same cause.  Cora died of leukemia or “cancer of the brain.”  Alice’s other daughter, Jennie, who was in last week’s post died at the age of 95.  Alice’s own mother died at the age of 41.

If you are working on your own family history, you might have noticed that you are interested in the age at death of your ancestors–for reasons of self-interest.

Although she was known as Alice for most of her life in the U.S., her American marriage certificate shows Alice as Aleye, which would have been Aaltje in the Netherlands.  I’m going to guess that some of the people filling out the documents in Kalamazoo were not Dutch.

Growing up in Kalamazoo, I had no idea that one of the family lines of my ancestry was Paak/Peek.  I went to school with kids with names like Peek and Peake, and I wonder if there is a connection.

Yvette discovered that Alice’s father, Teunis Peek, was found in the lists of emigrants at the National Archives website and that he left Lexmond for the U.S. in 1868.  She shows Alice emigrating in 1869, but it’s possible that they came together.

Jacoba had passed away in 1865, before her family emigrated.  Alice was one of six children, and I am guessing that Teunis brought all his children to the U.S.–or at least most of them.  The eldest was Joost, and he was 19 when the family moved.  It’s possible he stayed behind.

I’ll pick up the story of the Peeks in a future post.

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The Oldest Person I Remember

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Jennie DeKorn Culver, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Leeuwenhoek, Paak, Peek, Photography early 20th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2013| 19 Comments »

When I was a kid, the oldest person in our family was “Aunt Jen.”  After the death of her only child, Aunt Jen went to live in a group home for elderly ladies run by the mother of one of the 4th grade teachers at Haverhill Elementary School (Portage, Michigan), Mr. Sweringer.  My fourth grade class was directly opposite that of Mr. S who made kids put a penny in a jar if they cussed.

My daughter’s middle name is Jennifer, and I gave her this name in honor of Aunt Jen.

Aunt Jen was born Jennie DeKorn in Kalamazoo, on March 8, 1873, to Richard and Alice (Paak) DeKorn.  She was the oldest of the three siblings, which included Cora (my great grandmother) and Joseph (the photographer).

At age 23, on May 20, 1896, Jennie married Lambertus Leeuwenhoek.

Lambertus, known to everyone in the family as Uncle Lou, was born in the Netherlands  on May 3, 1972.  He passed away April 20, 1949 in Kalamazoo.  Uncle Lou’s parents were Arie Leeuwenhoek and Mary Hoogedoom.  The story I was told by Grandpa is that Uncle Lou and his brother Gerard were orphans.   He told me that Uncle Lou was a very intelligent man.

Additional info added later:  I discovered a letter from Phil DeKorn, son of Joseph, to my parents, which says that Uncle Lou was a wizard at chess and checkers.

Gerard or Garret Leeuwenhoek

He also said that Uncle Lou was a direct descendent of Antony van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope.

Uncle Lou and his brother-in-law, my great grandfather Adrian Zuidweg, spent a lot of time together.

Aunt Jen and Uncle Lou had one child, Alice Leeuwenhoek Moerdyke.  She was born in Kalamazoo on April 16, 1897.  I suspect she was quite spoiled because:

a.  I have so many photos of her!

b.  She had a lot of pretty clothes–much nicer than the rest of the family.

c.  My grandfather once told me so ;).

And look how cute she was:

Aunt Jen and Uncle Lou lived the rest of their lives in Kalamazoo.  They celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1946 and the Kalamazoo Gazette ran their photo.

When I was little, she attended our family get-togethers, and she wasn’t a mother or aunt of anyone from my generation or my mother’s.  I couldn’t grasp that she was my grandfather’s aunt, as that seemed to me impossible.   My parents took me to visit her regularly, and I always respected them for their attention to her.

On March 15, 1968, at the age of 95, Aunt Jen passed away.

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Richard DeKorn and His Bride Tied the Knot in Kalamazoo

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 21, 2013| 10 Comments »

As I continue to sort through the boxes of photos and other memorabilia I have collected from my mother’s family, I see that I have the original Certificate of Marriage belonging to my great great grandparents.

According to his marriage certificate, my great great grandfather, Richard DeKorn, was really named Dirk de Korn.  On May 10, 1872, at the age of 20, Richard married Alice Paak, 19,  in Kalamazoo.  Her name was actually Aleye Peek, if I believe this document.

Alice Paak/Aleye Peek

Alice Paak/Aleye Peek

I thought Richard was born in Goes, but on his marriage document, where Richard’s birth date is given as 1852, not 1851, it states that he was born in Kapelle, not Goes.

Yvette Hoitink at Dutch Genealogy wrote in her report:

The 1872 marriage record of Dirk DeKorn and Aleye Peek was retrieved to check their places of birth and parents names. Dirk De Korn was listed as born in “Kasselle Netherlands” and Aleye Peek as born in “Leymond, Netherlands”. No such places exist but Kasselle suggests Kapelle (in Zeeland) and Leymond suggests Lexmond in Zuid-Holland. The parents of bride and groom were not listed.

After reading this, I am not certain where I got the idea that Richard (Dirk) was born in Goes.  Now I see that both his parents were born in Kapelle, as was he. So I looked up both towns on a map and found that they are very close to each other.

Kapelle is located at the A flag and Goes is just to the left

Kapelle is located at the A flag and Goes is just to the left

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The Park with a Literary Name

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Paak, Remine, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2013| 23 Comments »

The property at Long Lake in Portage, Michigan, known as Ramona Park and featuring a pavilion called Ramona Palace was in my family for many years.  Ramona was named after the “Indian Princess” in Helen Hunt Jackson’s popular novel Ramona, which was published in 1884.

When I was a little girl, my father Rudy Hanson tried to re-create the heyday of Ramona Park and its pavilion.  He was  young and ambitious and wanted to restore the place.  Although Ramona Palace had a magnificent ballroom, the owner had sold the liquor license in 1956 or 1957 to Airway Lanes (according to my father).

So my parents held teen dances and concerts; The Association performed there. I remember my parents taking tickets out front, seated at a table.  One time a kid broke in when a dance was going on.  Dad took off running after this high school “track star,” caught him, and turned him over to the police.  It was mentioned in the paper.

My father preferred booking picnics because he could obtain a one day liquor license.  Continental Can held their company picnics at Ramona.  Sometimes I helped out or hung out during events.  The German-American Club held a dance, and I remember a couple dressed in lederhosen, the girl’s thick blonde braid swinging to her dancing.

My father had invested in this property and lost money on the deal.  It was actually owned by a relative named Therese Remine.  Therese’s mother was Mary Paak (Peek), the sister of my great great grandmother, Alice Paak DeKorn.

Therese had inherited the property from Henry and Carrie Waruf, who had owned it for years.  Carrie was born a Paak, and I believe she was one of the Paak sisters: Mary, Alice, Annie, and Carrie.  This is an area for future research.  I don’t know why only Therese inherited and not her brother, Harold.  Or why the cousins, such as my grandfather Adrian Zuidweg, did not inherit it.

Therese Remine

Therese Remine

At some point after my father no longer was affiliated with the property, Therese sold and donated it to the City of Portage.

My father has many other memories of the park.  He says Ramona was used as storage for years for ice, which was cut from the lake and packed with straw.  It lasted throughout the summer and was hauled to town by a train.  The tracks ran halfway between the pavilion and Sprinkle Road.

In that front lot off Sprinkle, in the 10s and 20s, was a building and home field for various ball teams.  Later on, Airstream trailers held their annual meetings.  The circus was set up on the Ramona property; I remember the circus billboard which was up for weeks ahead of time.

When I was young, a row of cottages on the property were leased out to renters by Therese.  Sixty years before that, Richard DeKorn, my great great grandfather, had leased his own summer cottage from the Warufs.

Therese’s summer house was on Sprinkle, and a gravel road led back to the park, pavilion, and the lakefront.  My friends and I found arrowheads in the cornfield behind her house.

Ramona Park is a thriving park in Portage, Michigan, still today.

Possibly Long Lake, according to Adrian Zuidweg

Cora DeKorn at her father Richard DeKorn's cottage on Long Lake

Cora DeKorn at her father Richard DeKorn’s cottage on Long Lake

Richard DeKorn enjoying the lake

Richard DeKorn enjoying the lake

 

 

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