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Archive for the ‘Photography late 19th century’ Category

Rose’s Death and the New Photo of the Young Mulders

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, Family History, Genealogy, Kent County history, Michigan history, Mulder, Photography late 19th century, Waldeck, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 21, 2022| 33 Comments »

OK, I am going to rewrite this post a bit. I’ve heard from the Grand Rapids History Museum about Rose’s death, so that information will be added into this post.

As I mentioned in the earlier versions, I have written a lot in the past about the Mulder family. The pivotal couple was Peter and Nellie (Gorsse) Mulder, who immigrated from the Netherlands with their two-year-old son Charles (Karel) and baby Jan. Here is one of many articles: Peter and Nellie Mulder

All those years ago, when my grandparents gave me the photo of the couple with all their mainly grown children, I thought it was so wonderful.

But guess what? I finally have a digital copy of a photograph from much earlier. This photo is thanks to another cousin interested in the family’s history. Her grandmother was my great-grandfather’s sister, Cora. So let’s see who is in this new, even older, photo.


The couple seated are, of course, Peter and Nellie. Here they are still young. Charles, my great-grandfather, born 1885, is standing between them. I was startled  how much he looked like my cousin Scot. Standing in the middle is Jennie, born 1887, the first to be born in Michigan.  She married Edward Ralph Kooistra. On Peter’s lap is Cora, the grandmother of the woman who had this photograph. Cora was born in 1890 and married John Lawson Gerow. The baby on Nellie’s lap is indeed Rose/Rosa Melanie as indicated on the photo. Rose was born in 1892, so the photograph is probably from 1892 or 93, making Peter 26 and Nellie 23. So now you see how really young they were here! Peter worked as a furniture finisher in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so the photo would have been taken in that city.

Rose Melanie was named after Peter’s grandmother, Rose Melanie Bataille Mulder. When she died, a bequest to Peter gave him the money needed to bring his family to the United States. Unfortunately, Peter and Nellie’s daughter Rose passed away in 1904.

New info from family and the Grand Rapids History Museum

2nd cousin Niki  says that Rose died in the Great Flood of 1904. Her impression is that her body was taken away on a boat. How horrifying. So I looked up the flood. Sure enough, there was a horrible flood in Kent County in 1904. CLICK HERE This article states that no lives were lost. Well, isn’t that a strange thing then that a branch of our family carried the story that Rose died in the flood and that her death coincides with the time of the flood?

I contacted the Grand Rapids History Museum to ask why the family might have thought that Rose died in the flood, but that history asserts that no lives were lost in the flood. It only took two days to get a response.

The museum found a death certificate that lists Rose’s death as gastro-enteritis and cardiac asthenia. The date of her death is listed as March 24,1904. This is the day the Great Flood has been reported to have begun. The museum states that it is likely  that she died due to illness the day the flood began rather than die during the flood. Really, this fits with Niki’s understanding that her body was taken away in a boat. She died “in” the flood, meaning that during the flood she passed away. Because of the flood, her body was taken away in a boat. Rose was born on 27 March 1892, so she was just short of twelve when she died. You can see on the death certificate that Rose was sick for before the flood began.

So what caused her illness? My cousin and her husband, both medical doctors, posit this theory:

The death certificate indicates that Rose had cardiac asthenia for 3 months. This is an obsolete term for being very thin and weak, probably bed-ridden. Gastroenteritis could be infectious or something like an ulcer or Crohn’s Disease if she had this for months. Crohn’s is very debilitating and really tears up the gut mucosa.  Rose then became acutely ill (toxic or ?? toxaremic), possibly with a high fever of 106 degrees. We don’t know what caused that but it was some sort of infection, possibly even from a perforated bowel if she had Crohn’s. Kids can also get stomach ulcers that can perforate. There would have been no treatment available then except aspirin for the fever. Well water was often contaminated with bacterium H-pylori which causes stomach ulcers. We don’t know if the family had a well or drank city water, of course.

 

Peter and Nellie followed Dutch tradition and named a future daughter Rose as well. After this photo was taken, they had Henry in 1897 (married Hettie Mae Simpson), Peter in 1900 (married Alida Vader), Nellie in 1902 (never married), and Rosa in 1906 (married John C. Kohles).

The discolored tape down the middle of the photo can probably be removed digitally by a photo restorer. Since I know several people who do this work, I might have this done at some point. Although this isn’t the oldest photo in my “collection,” it feels as if it is because these are direct ancestors who immigrated from the Netherlands–and they are young. Additionally, I am seeing my great-grandfather (who I knew) here as a child!

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FINALLY IDENTIFIED: A Lovely Gal in Kalamazoo: WHO IS SHE?

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2022| 34 Comments »

I first posted this photo years ago, wondering who the girl could be. Then I found a photo of her with Alice Leeuwenhoek, which gave a bit of context regarding her age. However, now I can finally post the name of this beautiful girl. Her name is Ruth Case and she was born around 1906. She lived in Ross Township in Kalamazoo County, according to the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses. In 1940 she was still single, living with her parents, her brother, and most likely her sister-in-law and niece.

The Case home was apparently a farm in Augusta, Michigan, which is Ross Township, owned by Ruth’s father, Charles Case.  Their property was just a bit north of W. E. Upjohn property (sections 28 and 27), which you can see on the map (C. M. Case in sections 16 and 22). The Upjohn estate was called Brook Lodge and eventually became a retreat for the Upjohn Company (pharma). I have photos that Alice took at Brook Lodge, including some with my grandfather.

These photos could have been taken in Augusta or in Kalamazoo.

If you have any further information about Ruth or her family, please let me know and I will update this post again.

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Over two years ago I published this post, asking for the identity of a girl in a photo I discovered. I have another clue now, which I will post at the end.

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The photograph was created from a glass negative taken by Joseph DeKorn. All of his photographs were taken between approximately 1895 and 1918, and the majority were shot in Kalamazoo.

Although I don’t know who this lovely girl is, I have hopes that I can eventually discover her identity. The juxtaposition of the two houses might lead to a solution, for instance.

Any ideas on the time period of the dress, hair, and shoes (within that 1895-1918 range)?

I remember wearing tights that bagged at the knees like these stockings. Do you think they are cotton?

I’ll put Balch Street and Burdick Street in the tags for this post, just in case it was taken in the neighborhood where Joseph lived.

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OK, THE NEW CLUE.

I found another photo of the girl, taken probably at the same time, at the same place, but with the addition of an adult Alice Leeuwenhoek, but most likely before her marriage to Clarence Moerdyk.  The above photo was made from a glass negative, but this one was an actual photograph I found in a different family collection.

Alice was born in 1897, so can we say that this photo is somewhere around 1917?

 

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Hiding In Plain Sight

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Kin Types, Leeuwenhoek, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Photography late 19th century, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , on May 13, 2021| 25 Comments »

There is a tintype in a beautiful family album that I scanned with the other photographs. Since then, I’ve passed by that unidentified photo many times. Something always struck me as familiar; in fact, the woman looked like one of my great-great grandmother Alice Paak DeKorn’s sisters–perhaps Carrie or Mary. Carrie had no children. Mary had two girls and a boy and this woman is standing with two girls.

But it wasn’t right and I knew it. One of Mary’s girls was born much too late to be in a tintype.

So I let it go.

Until I saw it again the other day and it all snapped into place for me.

I focused on the girl with the face in clear image, and I knew who she was. That led me to consider the woman and the other girl.

Bingo. I thought to myself, “We have a match.”

The girl on our left (the woman’s right) is Janna DeKorn, aka Aunt Jen who I knew until I was twelve years old. Aunt Jen was born in 1873. Her younger sister, my great-grandmother Cora, was born Jacoba Wilhelmina DeKorn in 1875.

Alice, Lou, and Jennie (DeKorn) Leeuwenhoek

That means that the woman is Alice Paak DeKorn, their mother. No wonder she looks like her sisters. Gee whiz. Why did I not recognize her? There are a couple of reasons. For one thing, the photos I have of her when she’s older tend to be snapshots, and she had the loveliest smile. In this studio portrait, she is non-smiling, probably because she had to hold still for at least six minutes for a tintype. That would explain why Cora’s face is blurry. She must have moved while the image was being captured.

The other reason Alice looked different to me is that she has darker, curled hair here. She does not have curled hair in other images, and most of the photos show her with light hair, which I  now realize was gray.

If we look back at the image on Kin Types of the tintype of her as a teen or young woman, we can see that her hair was brown and that this woman is, indeed, Alice Paak.

I thought you would enjoy the details of the clothing in the tintype of Alice and her daughters. The photo would have been taken most likely after 1881 when the youngest DeKorn, Joseph, was born. Jennie looks 10-12 here and Cora 8-10. That would place the year as between 1883 and 1885.

I had a thought about the “picket fence” as it seems an add-on since it doesn’t match the possible banister behind them. It looks as if it was used for subjects to “lean on” to help steady them for the long wait for the image to develop.

Here is another photo that was given to me by Professor Lawrence of Jennie DeKorn as a child. Although the photographer’s name is cut off here, I recognize that this photo was taken by John Reidsema who was a professional photographer in Kalamazoo from at least 1888. If this was 1888, Jennie would be 15 years old, which could be right. Notice that the photo I posted above of Jennie with her husband and child was also taken at Reidsema’s studio.

And this one is also from Professor Lawrence of Jennie and Cora.

So I have three good images of Jennie as a child, but only one of Cora because of the blurred face in the tintype. the tintype is especially precious because it shows Alice Paak DeKorn when she was a young mother, whereas our other shots of her are when she was younger and, mainly, much older.

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Toddler in Kalamazoo, circa 1882-1899

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Joseph Peter DeKorn, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Photography late 19th century, Remine, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , on May 6, 2021| 27 Comments »

Here is an unidentified photo from a family album. The album is from the Remine/Paak branch. Because the subject is a toddler, it is almost impossible to identify the photo. But let’s see what we can figure out.

The most important clue comes from the photographer.

According to the well-researched list of photographers found HERE, I can calculate that this photo must have been taken between 1882 and 1899. See the screenshot below to see how I figured that. Abbey was at the East Main location during those years.

So the fact that the baby looks a little bit like Grandpa is irrelevant because it isn’t him as he was born in 1908. In fact, the child would be at least 11 or 12 years older than Grandpa.

Are we sure it’s a boy? I’m going to say it is a boy, based on the outfit. But if you disagree, let me know!

Could it be Harold Remine? He was born in 1897.

This is Harold:

I don’t see the resemblance. To me the baby pic and the young man pic look alike, but the baby/toddler unidentified pic looks more like Grandpa or even my mother. Does anybody else think the pic does look like Harold?

If it could be a girl, we have Therese Remine, born 1895, and Alice Leeuwenhoek, born 1897, but that baby is not Alice who had a very distinctive look as a baby and child. Here is Therese:

Therese Remine

Another possibility is that the child could belong to one of George Paake’s children. I don’t really think so, but their ages are all within the right time frame except the only boy was born in 1898 and would be too young. And the children would be photographed together, so it could only be the oldest, Cora, and I do not see a resemblance.

Front row: Theresa and Cora
Back row: Frances, George Jr., Jennie (Jane)

The only other child of the right age range from the Paak family (which is the broader branch associated with the photo album this image comes from) would be Joseph DeKorn, son of Richard and Alice, Grandpa’s Uncle.

If the child isn’t Joseph, then I’d have to look a little further afield. Keeping in mind that the Remines were related to Grandpa twice over–through both his maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather–I could look at some other families. However, I have two roadblocks to doing so. I cannot see that Ancestry, which is where my tree is located, has the ability to search by birth dates, for instance. Does My Heritage? i do have my tree loaded there as well. I’d like to be able to search through categories like that. Does anybody know a program that sorts like that?

The second roadblock is that farther out, my tree is still a little too sketchy or spotty to do a good job, especially when I would have to do it individual by individual.

What I can hope for is that one day I can make a good guess as to the identity of this baby. As you probably have experienced yourself, looking like Grandpa or mom is meaningless. My mother and her next door neighbor/good friend are often mistaken for sisters and they do look so much alike, much more than my mother does with her own sister. Mom and her friend just explain to people that they’re both “Dutch” hah. The reality is that we can compare unidentified photos with other photos to search for exact features, but when a child grows and becomes an adult some of those features can change remarkably. We can’t even begin to compare unidentified photos with family branches by examining features.

BUT WAIT.

Belatedly I see something that I didn’t notice before. In the same album there is a portrait of another child which has the exact same advertising from the photographer on the backside. The “setting” looks the same with the same chair. I suspect these are photos of siblings that were taken at the same time.

With the two photos, here side by side, it becomes important to narrow in on the genders and the ages because with the answer to those questions, I might be able to figure it out.

At this point, I really need help figuring out if these are boys or girls or one of each. My feeling is that the older child is a girl and the younger a boy, but that is a guess. And what age would you say each one is? I suspect that if they were considered babies they would be wearing white dresses, no matter what the gender, but the littler one certainly looks young enough for the white dress treatment, so that’s a little confusing. In a word, help!

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2020 Fill in the Gaps Project: My 2x Great-Grandmother Jennegien Bomhoff Zuidweg

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, Richard DeKorn, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 1, 2020| 16 Comments »

This week I worked on Grandpa’s grandmother, Jennegien (Jennie) Bomhoff Zuidweg, born 5 March 1838 in Zwolle, Overjissel, Netherlands. Unlike most of my Dutch ancestors, Jennie was not born in Zeeland. Overjissel is in the eastern part of the country and centuries ago was part of Utrecht. It might always remain a mystery how she came to marry a man from Zeeland.

You can find out about Jennie in these posts. A lot of information can be found there.

What Did She Keep in All Those Pockets?

Kalamazoo Woman Supports WWI Troops

Jennie died when Grandpa was about 16 years old. I wish I could ask him more information about her now, but maybe he didn’t remember that much about her. Jennie and Johannes Zuidweg were almost a generation older than Grandpa’s other grandparents, Richard and Alice DeKorn. They also immigrated when they were pretty old, whereas Richard was a tiny boy and Alice a teen, so Johannes and Jennie’s habits would have been European and not American. My impression is that it’s likely that the Zuidwegs were not as central to the lives of the rest of the family in the way that the DeKorns were.

A curious story that my grandfather told me very insistently was that Jennie’s family was Jewish and that made his father Jewish. Because Grandpa was sure, I was sure. However, once Jennie’s documents were discovered it became clear that this could not be true.  I don’t know where the story originated or if there is some truth hidden somehow behind the documents. Without more information, my conclusion is that Jennie came from a Protestant family.

I had marriage, death, 1910 census, headstone, photo, and I manage her memorial page on Findagrave. One point about her marriage. Jennie and Johannes married in 1869 in Goes, Zeeland. That is about 150 miles away from where Jennie was born and lived. According to Yvette Hoitink, “that is an uncommonly large distance for somebody to travel in the 19th century, especially for an unmarried woman from the working class. Further investigation showed that her brother Albert Bomhoff was married in Goes in 1867. It must be through this connection that Jennegien moved to Goes, where she worked as a maid prior to her marriage.”

I also had her birth record, but hadn’t loaded it on Ancestry or really done anything with it. I asked people on Dutch Genealogy group on Facebook to read the birth record for me. I was able to confirm the birth date that I had of 5 March 1838, the place being Zwolle, and the names of her parents. I also received the names of the witnesses: 1) Lambert Velthuis, age 37 job peat carrier living in Zwolle 2) Johannes Weijl age 40 peat carrier living in Zwolle.

This week I made a computer folder and put all Jennie’s records in it. I also ordered her obituary from the Kalamazoo Public Library. Since Michigan is locked down right now, it might be awhile, but I hope eventually they can find it

As with Jennie’s husband, Johannes, I’m waiting immigration and naturalization info from Amberly.

I am particularly grateful that I have three photographs of Jennie, and that Grandpa actually knew her. Because of my grandfather’s stories, he has brought to life for me all the family members that he once knew when he was young.

 

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Who is This Couple?

Posted in Bassa, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Photography late 19th century, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2019| 37 Comments »

Here is an unidentified photo from a beautiful antique photo album from the family–specifically one from Uncle Don. The album is focused on the Remine side of the family, which means the DeKorn branch and includes Zuidwegs, Paaks, and Bassas.

 

Any input about the clothing or portrait style would be appreciated. I suspect this is a wedding portrait because good “Sunday” dresses were more in line with the wedding dresses my ancestors wore than what we think of today as white lacy wedding gowns.

I’m not impressed by Mr. Philley’s photography because of the item growing out of the lady’s head . . . .

 

But the name is important because it helps narrow down the time period. Several years ago, on the blog Bushwhacking Genealogy a list of early Kalamazoo photographers was listed with their approximate years of operation.

 

Philley, Silas (Jr.): Lived 1846-1926. In business at least 1895-1900. Shoemaker in 1887 and again in 1920.
1895: 303 E. Main
1899: 305 E. Main
1900: in census as photographer
I’m glad he went back to shoemaking.
I know I need to go through my family tree and look for marriages that occurred in Kalamazoo between 1895 and 1900. The problem is that Ancestry doesn’t allow for searches like that.
Does anyone know of a genealogy software that does sorting and filtering that makes it easy to search?
Another way I can search for this couple is by looking for photographs of them when they were older. They both have distinctive elements to their faces, and I suspect she might have become heavier as she got older.
I’m open, as usual, to suggestions! (Sorry about the formatting issues here).

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An Important Genealogy Tool: Organization

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, Remine, tagged , , , , , , on May 29, 2019| 36 Comments »

I am involved in a project to give my genealogy research a jumpstart. I realized that I needed more room in my fire safe file cabinet for my antique photos, so I sorted files in one of my regular file cabinets and came up with three banker boxes of shredding! Then I moved files from my fire safe to the regular that are no longer as important as they were a few years ago. That means I have an extra drawer in the fire safe to spread out.

Next I will inventory albums and packages of photos as best I can as I arrange them in the drawers devoted to the old photos.

As I do that I plan to look for the originals of a few photos that were poorly scanned. Fingers crossed on that endeavor.

Sometimes I feel that I am always organizing and throwing away, but in the past year I have been more determined and now I am buckling down even more. I’ve been doing Swedish death cleaning in other areas of the house, but that too will take a long time. I have so many drawers and boxes of academic papers and stories and poems, as well as critiques from workshops and drafts of finished work.

In the meantime, I have a list of a lot of things I’ve lost track of. I hope I find some of them!

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Here is an unidentified photo in a family album. It’s likely she is a family member, perhaps someone I’ve already posted about! The portrait was taken in Kalamazoo.

 

The coat and muff are quite elaborate, and the hat seems a bit unusual. Lovely. Best guess is that she is Carrie Paak Remine.

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Six-Week Family History & Poetry Series at BROAD STREET MAGAZINE

Posted in Caledonia Michigan history, family heirloom, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Kent County history, Kin Types, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2018| 29 Comments »

The different ways that family history and genealogy intersect with other aspects of the culture is growing. But I think this project might be a first for family history.

Broad Street Magazine, which publishes nonfiction narratives in a variety of genres, has begun a six-week series of feature articles on six poems from my family history poetry and flash prose chapbook Kin Types. Each article publishes one poem and then provides information on the research that went into the poem. Included are family photos, historical records, and old newspaper articles.

An introduction to the series can be found here. SERIES INTRODUCTION

The first feature article is Family Laundry: “An Account of a Poor Oil Stove Bought off Dutch Pete,” by Luanne Castle

 

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Narrowing Down the Characters or Narrowing Them OUT?

Posted in family heirloom, Family History, Genealogy, Netherlands history, Photography late 19th century, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2018| 16 Comments »

Last week I wrote about the Remijnse (Remine) family from the beginning (of our current knowledge). There is a huge pedigree chart available online, and while I need to take it all with a grain of salt, it is extremely useful. It prints out to exactly 248 pages!

My new chum Jacob Remijnse decided to try to figure out the identity of the people in the unidentified Remijnse family photo, using the pedigree chart.

The photograph seems to have been taken upon the occasion of a wedding–the bride is in the white dress in the center and the groom is to her left (our right). The other seated man is probably the father. Let’s assume the five standing behind are siblings.

The only thing I know about this photo is that my family believes it is of one of the Remijnse branches. I figured out it has to be from the Netherlands because it doesn’t fit the Remijnse family members who came to this country.

Using the clothing as a guide, especially the styles of the dresses and the women’s hats, I think the photo was taken somewhere between the late 1870s and 1890. Jacob came to that independent analysis, as well.

Then he drew up a chart of the Remijnse family with dates of birth, dates of death, dates of marriage, and names of spouses. He made columns for how old each person was in 1865, 1875, and 1885. This was extremely helpful.

Using this analysis, it seemed likely that the young couple was one of two choices.

Jan Remijnse 29-05-1863 01-05-1900 2 12 22
07-08-1885
Cornelia Bijlo 06-03-1863 01-04-1942 2 12 22

Jan was 22 in 1885 when he married 22-year-old Cornelia Biljo. There is no doubt that this couple looks 22 or so.

OR

Dina Remijnse 17-02-1856 09-01-1943 9 19 29
07-05-1886
Francois Bijlo 09-08-1864 09-09-1942 1 11 21

Dina was 29 when she married Francois Biljo in 1886. Francois was 21.

Doesn’t Dina seem a better candidate for the standing woman in the back? She would have been 29 here and married the following year at age 30.

So what was the next step?

We needed to look at the family groups. Were Jan and Dina siblings? Was their mother deceased by 1885 since there is no mother in the photograph?  Were Cornelia and Francois siblings? The last is purely curiosity because I think this photo is a Remijnse family photo with the new spouse included. I don’t think it is a combination of members of the Remijnse and Biljo families.

Here is info on Dina Remijnse:

Dina Remijnse, born Sunday 17 February1856 in Kapelle. Notes at birth: Witnesses Pieter Staal and Jan Loijs. Dina died on Saturday, January 9th1943 in Kapelle, 86 years old. Note Dina: Religion Dutch Reformed. Profession housewife. Dina married, 30 years old, Friday 7 May1886 inKapelle [source: huw.akte nr. 13 BS Kapelle] with Francois Bijlo , 21 years old, born Tuesday 9 August1864 in Kapelle as son of Willem Bijlo and Maria van de Linde. Francois died on Wednesday 9 September1942 inKapelle, 78 years old. At the marriage ceremony the following witness was present: Nicolaas Remijnse (ca.1858 – 1909).

Notes on marriage: Witnesses Leendert Monter, 50 yr. Anton Leijs, 32 yr. Worker, Cornelis Markusse, 42 yr. Innkeeper.

Here is info on Jan Remijnse:

Jan Remijnse, born Friday 29 May1863 in Kapelle [source: certificate no. 34 BS Kapelle].

Notes at birth: Witnesses Thomas Snoep, 22 yr. Quartermaster and master, Johannes Staal, 29 yr., Tailor. Jan died Tuesday, May 11900 in Kapelle, 36   years old. The following witness was present at the death report: Nicolaas Remijnse (ca.1858 – 1909). Note on the death of Jan: Witnesses Willem Bijlo, 75 years of field worker, father-in-law. Profession: Field worker Religion: Free Evangelical. Jan married at the age of 22 on Friday 7 August 1885 inKapelle with Cornelia Bijlo, 22 years old, born on Friday 6 March1863 inKapelle as a daughter from Willem Bijlo and Maria van de Linde. Notes on the birth of Cornelia: Witnesses Pieter Snoep, 58 yr., Laborer, Nicolaas Mieras, 40 yr., Laborer. Cornelia died on Wednesday 1 April1942 in Goes, 79   years old [source: deed no. 75 BS Goes]. Note on death Cornelia: Witnesses Cornelis Sleutel, 55 yr., Caregiver. Note Cornelia: Religious Affection Dutch Reformed. At the wedding ceremony the following witness was present: Nicolaas Remijnse (ca.1858 – 1909). Notes on marriage: Witnesses Pieter Hoogstraat 34 jr. Merchant, brother-in-law of Jan, Simon Kramer, 63 jr. Shopkeeper, Dingenis Jeremiasse, 55 jr. Tailor.

On the big document where I pulled the above info from, I saw that Jan and Dina were, in fact, siblings, the children of Marinus and Jozina. But when I searched for siblings, I was dismayed to see that they had two sisters, Adriana and Wilhelmina–and only ONE brother, Nicolaas. This does not fit the portrait with all the young men.  While this might be explained away, the mother Jozina was alive in 1885 and 1886, not dying until 1896. And the mother is not in the photo.

My conclusion: We do not have a match.

But Jacob is not ready to give up on it. He has another scenario worked out, but for that we need more info on the Bijlo family!

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I might be off-the-blog for a week or two, but I’ll be back with more Remijnse information (I hope)!

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Cora and Alice in Living Color

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Alice Paak DeKorn, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Paak, Peek, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 5, 2018| 27 Comments »

Last week I showed you the beautiful work Val Erde at Colouring the Past did on my great-grandfather Adrian Zuidweg (Adriaan Zuijdweg) photograph, so I wanted Val to perform her magic on a woman or two in my photo collection.

Here is a photograph of Adrian’s wife, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, my great-grandmother. I don’t believe I have shared this one yet as it was in the beautiful old album I only recently scanned. This is the youngest I have seen Cora where I knew for sure that it was, indeed, Cora.

Cora hasn’t quite lost the “baby fat” in her face here.

She is beautiful, though the photo has damage, especially foxing stains, on it.

But look at Cora after Val gives her some color!

I also asked Val to color a photo of Cora’s mother, Alice Paak DeKorn. The one I gave her was quite faded, so the resulting work is not as vibrant as the others, but it still allows Alice to come off the page into my heart.

Here was the original:

That does it for now with the “in living color” photos. I ordered these two and Adrian’s for this blog, and I share two others on my blog Entering the Pale. I hope to order more sometime in the future. Don’t hesitate to check out Val’s blog for more examples of her beautiful work.

 

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