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Posts Tagged ‘Remine family’

New Info Makes Me Smile

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Michigan history, Remine, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , on December 27, 2018| 40 Comments »

Of all the amazing antique and vintage photos of my family that I now have in my files and on my computer, perhaps the majority are of the Remine branch. I could post their photos every day for a year most likely and you wouldn’t see the same one twice. But photos only tell part of the story of a family. The other day I stepped into Ancestry and ended up clicking on a leaf-hint for Grandpa’s cousin Harold Remine (1st cousin, 1x removed). I discovered a page from a book of graduates of the University of Michigan from 1923.

I’ve written about Harold a few times. His career as an engineer for Montreal is touched upon in An Update on the Career of Harold Remine. A photo of his wife Lillian in her wedding dress is Lillian Heddle Remine. There are many more about Harold, as well as his sisters Therese (owner of Ramona Park at one time) and Genevieve Tazelaar.

Here is the entry about Harold.

B.S.E.E. I know means Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering. But the rest? Was he in the navy? OK, I looked that up. United States Naval Reserve Force. 1918. So he was in WWI. I wish I knew more about his service! What does “With Detroit Edison Co.” mean? That he got a job there and will now work there? That he already works there? And is the address where he lived or where he worked?

Take a look at the full page so you can see how others are listed. Many do not have addresses. I think if you click twice the photo will enlarge. (But I am not an engineer).

In another exciting genealogical discovery, someone read one of the posts here and confirmed an identity for me.

Do you remember me writing about my grandfather’s girlfriend before Grandma? Check this post out: Grandpa’s Girlfriend.

I figured out she had to be Margaret Christine Garthe, but of course I couldn’t know for sure. Well, her granddaughter found the post and gave a positive identification! How exciting is that! The best part is that I have more pix of her than I have posted on this blog that I can give to Margaret’s granddaughter! Events like this make me love the internet.

 

Here’s one of the other ones:

Margaret was such a cute girl.

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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!

###

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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The Remijnses: From the Beginning

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2018| 17 Comments »

I’ve written quite a few posts about the Remine/Remijnse family, and this includes the Bosmans and Tazelaars. But I haven’t really gone back and examined the branch in detail. Recently, I was contacted by one of the last people who bear the surname Remijnse, Jacob, who lives in the Netherlands. We have exchanged information, and now I am going to try to examine the branch more carefully, beginning with this post. Jacob also sent me a link to a massive pedigree chart available online for this family. It is so massive that it will take a very long time to go through. I can imagine myself just searching for the branches and generations of the most interest to me.

This earliest information contains, I believe, some conjecture and begins in 1600. Sometimes the surname is known as Romijnsen–OR Van Remy, Romijn, Remijn, Romans, Remijnsen, Romeijnsen, Remijnse, Remine.

Jan Jans Remy Gesyt de Wale was born about 1600 in the French-speaking southern region of Belgium known as Wallonia or Wallonie.  He married Magarite van Wesepoel, who died between 21 Jun 1626 and 1 March 1627. They had one child, Jan, who was baptized on 21 June 1626 in Baarland and died before 26 December 1627.

He then married Tanneken (Jans) Jacobs. Tanneken was born in Baarland, Zeeland, Netherlands. She had previously been married to Cornelis Janse Durinck from Baarland.

 

Baarland * see info below

They had at least three children: Jan Janse Remijn, baptized on 26 December 1627 in Baarland. Godparent was Cornelis Andries Jacobsen; Janneken Remijn, baptized on 4 May 1631 in Baarland and died before 12 March 1644, also in Baarland; and Mayken Remijn. Mayken was married to Guillaeme Pauwels. Mayken and Guillaeme had a child, Mayken Pauwels who married Franciscus Coene, son of Cristiaen Coene and Mayken Ghysel.

Tanneken Jacobs, my 9th great-grandmother, had already been widowed on 3 April 1644 because she married Blaes Pierse, born in Ovezande (he had been married to Tanneke Machiels, born Ellewoutsdijk). They lived in Oudelande and Everinge. Jan Jans Remy had died BEFORE 12 March 1644.

The first child of Jan and Tanneken, Jan Janse Remijnse, had an extramarital relationship with Stoffelijntje Suythoff, born c. 1630 in Baarland. Her parents were Bastiaen Janse Suthoff and Tanneken Adriaens van Schuyle.

They had a child, Marinus Remijn, christened on 26 February 1656 in Baarland. He died on 5 August 1711 in ‘s-Heerenhoek. He was listed as a country man. According to the website for this family, “Marinus is the ancestor of the Catholic branch of REMIJN, which has established itself mainly in Zuid-Beveland. This family REMIJN married on the basis of religion up to the present day with a limited number of Catholic genders mutually to the third degree kinship and second degree kinship.”  WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

On 24 May 1656, in Baarland, Jan married Hijbrechtje (Huybregthie) Marinis, born Bakendorp. Notice this is a few months after the birth of his  illegitimate son, Marinus.  Hijbrechtjie was baptized on 10 February 1638 in Baarland. She was baptized by Cornelis Jacobs. Her parents were Marinis Marijnisse and Grancijntje Andries. This couple are my eighth great-grandparents.

Jan died 18 December 1696 in Ellewoutsdijk,  6.2 km from Baarland.

My 8th greats’ children included Jan Remijnse 1675-1732. I don’t know the exact date of Jan’s birth, but it was in Ellewoutsdijk. He died in the same town on 24 March 1732.

Between those dates, he  married Elisabeth Pieters on 3 May 1706 in Reimerswaal. (There is a city that was lost from flooding called Reimerswaal. This one is is probably not the lost city as the last residents moved in 1632. This must be a replacement city). Elisabeth, my 7th g-grandmother, was born in 1678 in Ellewoutsdijk and there have been reports of her death on 1 February 1840 in the same town, but that is IMPOSSIBLE haha.

Jan and Elisabeth had many children, but I have not been able to sort them all out. Their son, Dirk Jansz, is my 6th great-grandfather. He was born about 1720 in Ellewoutsdijk. On 1 December 1745 he married Janna Joannisdr Stroosnijder in Krabbendyke (or in 1750 in Ellewoutsdijk).

Rather than make too many conjectures, I will say that there is another second wife problem with this couple that I have not yet figured out. I have only been able to digest so much of the 248 page document online!!!

My 5th great-grandfather was Dirk and Janna’s son, Gillis (Gilles). If the dates 1757-1789 are correct for him, the towns are a bit different, so I am not sure the dates are even close. He married Hendrika Pietertse de Jong (born 20 October 1763 in Kloetinge; died 1835) on 2 May 1782 in Krabbendyke.

The following report, kindly prepared by Adri Van Gessel, begins with my 4th great-grandparents, Dirk and Adriana (Krijger) Remijnse. I now believe Dirk was born on 22 November 1786, rather than in 1787.

Dirk and Adriana also are the couple who probably settled in Kapelle, which is the last residence of the branch before they immigrated to the United States.

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM WORK BY ADRI VAN GESSEL–IN ALL CASES EXCEPT GEERARD, I HAVE KEPT THE SPELLINGS THAT ADRI USED.

I  Dirk Remijnse was born in 1787, died on September 9, 1840 at Kapelle.

Dirk was married to Adriana Krijger  Adriana was born in 1787 at Biggekerke, died on April 14, 1845 at Kapelle.

From this marriage there were ten children. One of them, Gillis, is the ancestor of Jacob Remijnse. Two others are the only two who immigrated to the United States. One is my 3rd great-grandmother, Johanna. The other is Geerard, the ancestor of the Remines, Tazelaars, and Bosmans. I have bolded those three children of Dirk and Adriana.

1 Gillis Remijnse was born on July 1, 1811 at Kapelle, died on October 16, 1868 there. 

Gillis was married on April 26, 1850 at Kapelle to Janna Leijs, daughter of Marinus Leijs and Cornelia Katte.  Janna was born on January 20, 1831 at Kruiningen, died on August 22, 1863 at Kapelle.  This is the ancestor of Jacob Remijnse who currently lives in the Netherlands—one of the few descendents with that surname.

2   Jan Remijnse was born on July 22, 1813 at Kapelle, died on December 21, 1837 there.

3   Hendrika Remijnse was born on October 29, 1814 at Kapelle, died on July 5, 1893 there.

Hendrika was married on December 9, 1836 at Kapelle to Marinus Damme, son of Jan Damme and Helena Potter.  Marinus was born on March 4, 1812 at Heinkenszand, died on August 18, 1893 at Kapelle.

4   Johanna Remijnse was born on July 15, 1817 at Kapelle, died in 1864 at Kalamazoo (MI).  .

Johanna was married on May 21, 1847 at Kapelle to Boudewijn de Korne, son of Jan de Korne and Geertruid Engelse.  Boudewijn was born on June 11, 1816 at Kapelle, died in 1873 at Kalamazoo (MI).  These are my 3rd great-grandparents who immigrated to Michigan.

5   Johannis Remijnse was born on February 14, 1819 at Kapelle, died on May 7, 1846 there.

6   Adriaan Remijnse was born on February 6, 1821 at Kapelle, died on February 17, 1849 there.

7   Pieter Remijnse was born on March 27, 1822 at Kapelle, died on March 15, 1830 there.

8   Frans Remijnse was born on June 20, 1823 at Kapelle, died on November 7, 1860 there.

Frans was married on May 7, 1847 at Kapelle to Maria van de Vrie, daughter of Jan van de Vrie and Pieternella Koster.  Maria was born on April 1, 1824 at Kapelle, died on January 30, 1888 there.

Maria was subsequently married on April 25, 1862 at Kapelle (2) to Bastiaan Huizer, son of Cornelis Huizer and Neeltje Smits. Bastiaan was born in 1804 at Ridderkerk, died on January 19, 1882 at Kapelle.

9 Geerard Remynse was born on February 21, 1825 at Kapelle. He was married to Janna Kakebeke on 30 April 1855 in Kapelle. Janna was the daughter of Jan Kakebeke and Johanna Pikkaard. She was born 24 March 1827 at Hoedekenskerke. They had three children in the Netherlands (one died), and then another in the United States. Geerard is the sibling that is the ancestor of Therese Remine, Harold Remine, and Genevieve Remine Tazelaar. This couple immigrated to Michigan. Geerard died on 1 January 1910 in Kalamazoo, and Janna died on 25 April 1910 in Kalamazoo. 

10    Marinus Remijnse was born on November 27, 1826 at Kapelle, died on August 8, 1863 there.

Marinus was married on May 18, 1849 at Kapelle to Jozina Meijer, daughter of Nicolaas Meijer and Willemina Mieras.  Jozina was born on December 28, 1826 at Kapelle, died on December 26, 1896 there.

So, Johanna, her husband Boudewijn de Korne, and their children, and then Geerard, his wife Janna, and their first baby are the only Remijnses to emigrate. I believe that Johanna’s family traveled by sailing vessel on 13 April 1856. Jacob found a note that states that Geerard and his family traveled in 1856, also; therefore, I believe it highly likely that the siblings and their families traveled together to Michigan.

To find out how Geerard and Janna both passed away in 1910, you can read the sad story in this old post: What Happened to the Remijnses?

Jacob noticed something interesting about my 3rd great-grandparents. He says that Johanna’s father, Dirk, was a witness to the birth of her future husband Boudewijn de Korne. This is not surprising because the threads of my family history are very tangled. To give you an idea of the size of Kapelle, it is now a bit over 12,000 people. But in 1849, seven years before they emigrated, the entire population of the province of Zeeland was only 102,000! So all these towns and cities and villages that I mention on this blog–and many more–are part of that figure!

I’ve posted this photo before, but I have still not been able to identify it. It belongs to the Remijnse family, but to which branch? I might have to spend more time trying to identify a date range here. Because I don’t think it belongs to the two branches of the family that immigrated to the U.S., it must be a photograph of a branch that remained behind in the Netherlands.

*The photograph above of Baarland gives an idea of what a charming village it is.  It is part of the municipality of Borsele in Zeeland. The former Slot Baarland still exists in part–the moat, the wall, and the coach house have been preserved. Outside the village, are the foundations of the medieval castle Hellenburg.

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How Many Times Am I Related to Her?

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Alice Paak DeKorn, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Paak, Peek, Remine, Richard DeKorn, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2018| 48 Comments »

This is Richard and Mary (Paak) Remine and their daughter Therese (1895-1980).

Mary or Maaike Paak was born in Lexmond, Netherlands on 29 July 1859. She is my 3rd great-aunt. Her sister Alice was my great-great-grandmother.

Richard Remine was the son of Gerrit Remine (Remijnse) who was born in Kapelle, Netherlands. Gerrit was my 4th great-uncle. Richard or Dick was born in Kalamazoo on 10 May 1857. 

How can that be? Does it make your head burst? OK, follow this.

Mary is the sister of my 2xgreat Alice.

Gerrit is the brother of Johanna Remine DeKorn. Johanna is my 3x great-grandmother, the mother of Richard DeKorn, grandmother of Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, great-grandmother of Adrian Zuidweg, and great-great-grandmother of my mother Janet.

So Mary was connected to Alice who married Richard DeKorn who was connected to Richard Remine!

I am related to both Mary and Richard, so I am related twice to their daughter Therese, as well as their two other children, Genevieve Tazelaar and Harold Remine.

Do you have double cousins like this in your family?

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Steps Toward Identifying This Antique Tintype

Posted in Alice Paak DeKorn, Bassa, Family History, Genealogy, Jennie DeKorn Culver, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Paak, Peek, Photography early 20th century, Photography late 19th century, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2018| 16 Comments »

In scanning the beautiful antique album this fall, I came across this tintype that kind of haunts me. Maybe it’s because the tintypes are so rare in the family collection. Maybe it’s because of her eyes.

Just ignore the strange corners. I tried to clean it up a bit at the corners (just for this post), and it didn’t turn out as I expected!

So how do I go about narrowing in on who might be in the image?

Because all the photos so far in the antique album seem to be related to the 5 Paak siblings and their familys, I feel that it is likely that she is related to the Paaks somehow.

I have such a desire to find a photo of Janna Kakebeeke Remine, the mother of Dick, grandmother of Therese, Genevieve, and Harold, who immigrated to Kalamazoo and passed away in 1910. She was the mother-in-law of Mary, one of the Paak sisters. But Janna was born in 1827. I was thinking 1880s for this dress, and this woman is not 60. In fact, as usual, I have no idea how old she is, what year her dress was, or what year her hairstyle was. It can’t be Dick’s mother-in-law Jacoba Bassa Paak either. She died in 1865 in the Netherlands!

What I have to get used to is the fact that the photographs I own are never of those earlier individuals, so they are images of more “recent” generations. I posted this one on a Facebook group for dating photographs.  Very consistently, readers thought the tintype is around 1880. They based this on two main aspects: the fact that it is a tintype and not a photograph and the woman’s outfit. Tintypes were most frequent a bit earlier than the ’80s, but they can be found in the 1880s and even later.

I thought that the silhouette of her dress and the finishings looked like the 1880s. One thing I can file away in my brain for later is the dress appears to black, a mourning dress, so someone close to the woman had died within perhaps the previous year. Of course, that is very subjective–I mean, it seems as if they would have always been in mourning dress! I’m not very happy with books or websites about women’s clothing styles. They tend to focus on the clothing of the wealthy, the fashionista, and those in evening wear. My relatives were not fashionistas, they were not wealthy (although often not poor either), and sometimes they were governed by a religious conservatism. They didn’t get their photographs taken in evening wear, if they even had any.

For further consideration, I’ll use the date of 1880, knowing it could be 10 years difference either way.

The only way I can now find the woman in the tintype is by comparing her with photographs of known Paak women and women who have married into the family AND using the data on my family tree for birth and death dates.

Do you think this woman is about 25? or younger or older? Let’s say she’s 25, for the sake of trying to figure out who she is. If so, she was born around 1855. That would make her a contemporary of Alice Paak DeKorn (born 1852) and her siblings.

 

Aaltje (Alice) Paak DeKorn

Anna Catherina (Annie) was born 1855

 

Maaike (Mary) Paak Remine born 1859

 

Cornelia (Carrie) Paak Waruf born in 1862

So. There are four* Paak sisters, and I don’t see this woman as one of them, although she could be a contemporary–or a bit older.

* There actually were five Paak sisters, but Willempje, who was born in 1856, did not immigrate with the girls, their father, and their brother. Although I have not been able to find a death or marriage record, I suspect she died as a child. The brother, George, married Lucy Kliphouse, who is not the woman in the tintype.

Lucy Kliphouse Paake

Alice had two SILs–Jennie DeKorn Culver and Mary DeKorn DeSmit.

Jenny DeKorn Culver

 

Mary DeKorn DeSmit

Is she one of them? (I don’t think so).

Mary Paak Remine had two SILs that I know of.

 

Adrianna (Jennie) Remine Meijer was born in 1860

Jennie was the sister-in-law of Mary Paak Remine. Another sister-in-law of Mary was Johanna Remine Bosman, born in 1855.

None of these look right to me. And these last two are sisters, but don’t look like it.

Carrie Paak Waruf’s husband Henry (Hank) does not appear to have had any sisters. He immigrated as a child with his parents from the Netherlands to Kalamazoo, and I don’t see a record of any siblings in the census records I have been able to find.

That leaves Annie, the least known of any of the sisters. Annie was married to Jacob Salomon Verhulst (whose grandmother, by the way, was a Flipse–see Flipse posts, if you’re curious). The only photo I have that I know is Annie is the full-length photo I posted above. I never heard anybody talk about her, except when Grandpa identified the photograph.

I don’t know if Annie and Jacob had any children. I have found no record of any children. They married in 1890.

Jacob did have two sisters, that I can find. One was Cornelia who died as a child in Holland. The other was Pieternella, was born 1843 in Kortgene and died 18 days later.

So there you have it. Those are the Paak women and their sisters-in-law. My next guess would be a cousin of the Paaks–or like Annigje Haag, the fiancee or wife of a cousin.  So I will keep searching in that “outer layer” of family members.

That said, if you see any flaws in what I’ve determined so far, please let me know, and I will expand my search even more.

Now that it’s a new year, I want to keep my genealogy goals focused.

  1. Continue scanning of all photographs
  2. Organize the physical photos, documents, and heirlooms.
  3. Create a list of provenance for all heirlooms
  4. Bring my Ancestry tree up to date with all info I have
  5. Find and work on software for a tree that is just for my tree
  6. Continue trying to identify photographs
  7. Research gaps and brick walls

Pretty ambitious, I know. Some of my blog posts will just be updates on how I am doing on items 1-5, rather than the results of actual research. Be patient. You know how helpful you all are to me, and I appreciate it more than you will ever know. Thank you!!!

 

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Guest author: Luanne Castle – Kin Types

Posted in Book review, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Photography late 19th century, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 23, 2017| 9 Comments »

A huge thank you to Sue Vincent who featured KIN TYPES on her blog today! I’m so grateful to you, Sue! And another poem from the collection revealed.

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Jennie Bomhoff Zuidweg

The poems and flash prose in Kin Types were begun as I accumulated family stories and information over the years. My grandfather had an excellent memory and was an enthusiastic storyteller, so over time I came to feel that I knew his parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, although they died decades before I was born.

When my grandfather got older, he gave me a collection of glass plate negatives that had belonged to his uncle, as well as antique photographs. As my family noticed my interest, they began to send me other heirlooms, including documents and more photographs. I started to research my family history, using online websites. Then I started a WordPress blog called thefamilykalamazoo.com, and readers from around the world contacted me, sending me yet more information.

As I became more knowledgeable about my family, the stories I heard at my grandfather’s knee were enhanced…

View original post 550 more words

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Who is That Mystery Woman on the Cover of Kin Types?

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Alice Paak DeKorn, Caledonia Michigan history, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Illinois history, Jennie DeKorn Culver, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Kent County history, Klein, Leeuwenhoek, Lucille Edna Mulder Zuidweg, Michigan history, Mulder, Netherlands history, Noffke, Paak, Peek, Remine, Richard DeKorn, Waldeck, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 23, 2017| 18 Comments »

Thank you so much for responding so enthusiastically to Kin Types. My new chapbook is an offshoot of The Family Kalamazoo, in a way.

The cover of the book is from an old tintype belonging to my family. I have posted it twice before on this blog. The woman featured on it seems to have come from the Remine branch of the family and, based on the tintype and the dress she wears, I thought it was possible that she could be my great-great-great grandmother Johanna Remine DeKorn. This was a guess I had fairly early on, but I had no proof.

But I knew she was someone close to us. For one thing, this is an expensive painted tintype and our family owns it. We wouldn’t have possession of such an image if it wasn’t someone from the family. For another, there is too great a similarity. For instance, my daughter thinks that the woman looks remarkably like my mother in the eyes and mouth. Other people say they can see her in my face.

I thought it unlikely I would learn much more about the photo, but never gave up hope because much amazing information has flowed to me, mainly through this blog.

When I visited my mother recently, she gave me a gorgeous antique photo album from my uncle for me to scan and disseminate. Imagine my surprise when I opened the album and found this tiny tintype inside.

I had so many questions: Were the photos taken at the same time or is the woman younger in the couple’s photo? Same hairdo, same earrings . . . . We don’t really know about the dress and its neck accessory because the lace collar on the painted tintype is, just that, painted on. But she’s definitely younger. Is the new find a wedding photo? Are they siblings?

So I focused on the man. I want to say boy. They both look so young. If the woman is Johanna Remine DeKorn, the man most likely would have to be Boudewyn (Boudewijn) DeKorn. Here is a photo my grandfather identified as Boudewyn, my 3xgreat grandfather.

Boudewijn de Korne

So, what do you think? Are they two different men? The hair is the same–very wavy dark brown hair–, but the hairline has changed. That’s possible. In the upper photo, the man has very defined cheekbones, and I don’t see this in the boy. The man has a very wide mouth. Would that change over time? I doubt it. It was unlikely then that the woman was Johanna, but who was she?

I did what I had to do. I scheduled an appointment with photogenealogist Maureen Taylor. When I only had the painted tintype, I didn’t feel I had enough to go through the process with Maureen. But now that I had a second tintype, I wanted to give it a try.

When Maureen and I began our conversation, I felt a letdown. Johanna Remine was too old to be in this photo. The tintype of the two people had to be between 1869 and 1875, according to Maureen. Johanna was born in 1817 and DIED in 1864. The woman could not be Johanna.

The woman had to be a generation younger than Johanna.

This was disappointing because I felt that I know the other branches or “lines” of the family, and that if she wasn’t Johanna, she couldn’t be a direct ancestor.

And yet, as I told Maureen, I had a strong feeling that she was closely related. And her looks are too reminiscent of the family features to discount her. Maureen agreed with this and pointed me in a different direction.

The Remine family, where I felt the painted tintype came from, began in the U.S. with a marriage between Richard Remine and Mary Paak. Mary Paak is my great-great-grandmother Alice Paak DeKorn’s sister. I am related to the Remines two ways. One is by blood, Johanna Remine being my 3x great grandmother, married to Boudewyn DeKorn (and the mother of Richard DeKorn). The other is by marriage where Richard married Mary. Mary and Carrie Paak, two of the four Paak sisters, had a similar look. Alice and Annie had a different look altogether.

ALICE PAAK DEKORN

Maureen wanted to see a photo of Alice. I sent her the image above–a very clear headshot of Alice from the 1890s (so 20 years older than the woman in the tintype) and Annie (the sister who looked like Alice but is a body shot and not as clear). Maureen examined the photos and proclaimed Alice a match. She asked for the dates on the sisters: birth, immigration, marriage. She was sure the tintype of the beautiful girl on the cover of Kin Types was Alice who happens to be featured in a poem in my book: “An Account of a Poor Oil Stove Bought off Dutch Pete.”

I asked Maureen about the man in the photo and said it did not look like Alice’s husband, Richard DeKorn.

And then I learned something that is counterintuitive, but smart.

Ignore him for now.

She thought it could be her brother or even a beau she had in the Netherlands that she never married. In the tintype of both of them, they are very very young, maybe teenagers. And Alice immigrated to the United States when she was 17 years old. Maureen told me to ignore the man for the purposes of identifying the woman. I will try to identify him later, if it is even possible.

The more I thought about Maureen’s assessment, the more I realized how blind I’d been not to notice the resemblance between the women in the tintype and my 2xgreat grandmother Alice. Alice also happens to be the mother of Cora, the woman my grandparents told me that I look like.

Just for fun, I ran the two images through twinsornot.net. This is the result, although they photos are of a very young woman and a woman twenty years older.

Then I pulled out the other photo that Grandpa had identified Alice. In this alternative photo, Alice is younger than in the 1890s photo, but not nearly as young as the tintype. I had never been sure that this photo even was Alice, although Grandpa had been (and she was his grandmother). So I ran both Grandpa-identified Alice photos against each other on the site. 100% match! Grandpa was right.

Next I ran the tinted tintype against this alternative photo of Alice.

100%!

 

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT! THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED. THE WOMAN ON THE COVER OF KIN TYPES IS MOST LIKELY ALICE PAAK DEKORN.

I learned a lot of lessons through this process, but one that really stands out in my mind is that people look different in different photographs–and when you are comparing people of different ages, it really gets dicey. I think about photos of me . . .

If you click the Amazon link , the book can be ordered for $14.99. To order through Barnes & Noble, try this link.

If you like what you read, please leave a little review at one or more of the following sites:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Kin-Types-Luanne-Castle/…/ref=sr_1_1…

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kin-types-luan…/1126805378…

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35846198-kin-types

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/…/kin-types-by-luanne-c…/

 

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What Happened to Geerard (Gerrit) and Janna Remijnse (Remine)?

Posted in DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2017| 22 Comments »

My 3rd great grandmother, Johanna Remijnse de Korne had a brother named Gerrit Remine. He was born Geerard Remijnse, and like his sister and other siblings, was born in Kapelle, Netherlands. Gerrit’s birthdate was 21 February 1825.

Gerrit was married to Janna Kakebeeke (Kakebeke). They had three children (that I know of). Adriana, called Johanna, who gained the surname Bosman (I’ve written about Bosmans in the past), Jennie who married Carlos Meijer (Meyer), and Richard Remine. Richard was Frank Tazelaar’s father-in-law, the father of Genevieve.

I never noticed that the deaths of both Gerrit and Janna were in the same year–1910–and even if I had, they were 3 months apart, so I wouldn’t have drawn any conclusions.

Imagine my surprise to find a newspaper article explaining what happened to Gerrit in 1910 and giving a hint about Janna. The Kalamazoo Gazette article was dated 7 January 1910.

Coal gas poisoning appears to be different than carbon monoxide poisoning. I will quote from the beginning of the following article only to give you a flavor of the 1896 explanation:

JOURNAL ARTICLE

A Discussion On The Pathology Of Coal Gas Poisoning

John Haldane, John R. Davison, Alexander Scott, Stewart Lockie, J. Lorrain Smith and T. W. Parry
The British Medical Journal
Vol. 2, No. 1866 (Oct. 3, 1896), pp. 903-910
Published by: BMJ
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20247083
Page Count: 8

The coal gas could have come from cooking, lighting, heating, or even a broken pipe.

No death certificate yet for Janna, but when I do find that it should confirm that she died belatedly from the coal gas tragedy.

UPDATE: Well, never assume that once these people changed the spelling of their names that they stayed put. Although Gerrit’s death article used the spelling “Remine,” Janna’s did not. In fact, even her first name changed

In this article, Janna becomes Jennie, which to my understanding makes less sense in Dutch than it does in English. And Remine is now Reminse. And look at her daughter, Jennie (Adriana) is “Mrs. C. Myers.” So Meijer that became Meyer is also Myers. Whew. And Richard Remine is now Richard Reminse. Good grief. You don’t even want to know how many ways I’ve seen Gerrit spelled!

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After Reading Fifty Newspaper Articles about Frank Tazelaar

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Chicago history, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2017| 20 Comments »

As usual, the more I’ve learned, the more questions I have! Realizing that all the newspaper articles have not been properly entered into the Genealogy Bank database, I know I am probably missing more articles about Frank. Although it’s easy to always assume this with data entry of genealogical information, I can tell from the Gazette’s own files that this is true. There is an article where they repeat choice nuggets from the Gazette from 10-20 years previously and Frank shows up there, but the original article does not show up.

What seems to be great omissions are obituaries for both Frank and Genevieve (Remine) Tazelaar. Since Frank was so involved in the community, as the sheer number of articles attests, why wouldn’t there be an obituary for his wife in 1930 and for himself in 1950?

I don’t even have a death certificate for Frank and when I tried to order one, a website tried to steal take $60 from me!

Let’s see what I discovered through what I did find, though.

  • Frank was extremely involved in the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. He may have had a connection to the Masons.
  • He was not only involved in these organizations, but was frequently elected to the boards and organized dances and other activities. In 1916, Frank was made Master of Exchequer of the Pythias lodge. As chairman of the Pythias festivities for New Year’s Eve 1915/1916, Frank commissioned a streetcar to remain for the party stragglers so they would have a way to get home. For a party in 1916, Frank even made sure the ladies were presented with a “delicate” box of chocolates.
  • Frank was a sportsman who raced his mare Gas Light in the 1905-1906 period, which would have been just before his marriage. There was talk about the possibility of Gaslight being entered into the bigger races in Detroit and Chicago. Now I understand why the photograph of Frank with the horse and dog is marked “GASLIGHT.” That was the same horse!
  • Frank hunted for small game and birds.
  • Frank was a men’s clothing salesman of some repute.
  • Before his marriage, when Frank went on vacation, the Kalamazoo Gazette noted it.
  • When Frank changed places of employment, he was mentioned in the paper. In August 5, 1894, he worked for That Thomas clothing house. In 1896 (March 19)  he went to work at the brand new and elegant clothing house of Mr. Yesner as one of his three salesmen. In 1907, Frank went to work for Hershfield’s. See article below.
  • In March 1906, Frank bought a lot on Ranney Street from Mrs. Blanche Henderson and “is having a fine residence erected on it.” That house would be ready for his bride Genevieve less than 4 months later. Ranney is a small street off South Westnedge Ave.
  • On April 30, 1911, Frank was building an “elegant new home” at 122 North West Street (West Street later became Westnedge Avenue, according to Sharon Ferraro). The property is “for sale,” but of course when Frank had influenza in 1918, that is the house he and Genevieve lived at.
  • His “wife” is only mentioned once in the newspaper, related to the transfer of a piece of real estate to someone else for $1.

I also discovered another photograph of Frank. Are these riding goggles he is wearing?

Here are a sampling of newspaper articles with a couple of surprises.What does this theatre ad mean? Was Frank an actor? How could the entire cast be as presented at the Chicago Auditorium (read this link about this marvelous performance venue!), which was a 4,000 seat theatre?

I have to say that if Frank was an actor it would not surprise me at all. He had to have been a larger-than-life man, full of humor (2 or 3 times he’s quoted in a humor column), and loving a good time. He was quite young at the time this ad was placed. The date of 10 November 1901 is five years before his marriage. He was about 25.

A curious item was in the Society and Personal column two months after Frank’s marriage to Genevieve:

Was Frank the only non-Jew in this party to attend synagogue services? And who was Mose Dunstin and how did Frank know him? All I have learned so far (of value to me for my curiosity) about Mose was that he was Moses Dunstin, born in “Russian Poland,” and his father’s surname was Danskin. He died 4 April 1910 in Kalamazoo at the age of 52. Cause of death was Angina Pectoris (chest pain) and contributing factors were influenza and albuminaria. Notice that for Moses I was able to get a free death certificate. So unfair . . . . Anyway, when Moses invited Frank to attend services, Moses was only 48.

Because the date of the article was 21 September 1906 I wondered if the event involved the High Holidays, but it seems that Sukkot began on September 21 (probably evening of September 20), so maybe it had to do with that holiday instead.

In 1907, Frank went to yet another clothier:

Notice it says Frank was with “That Thompson Clothing House” for 9 years. If he went with Yesner in 1896, that would mean he had been had the previous one since 1887. Since he was born in 1876, that would be impossible. What makes sense to me is that he left That Thomas for Yesner, left Yesner, and went back to That Thomas. Or the paper has the nine years wrong, which is also very possible. Note: I don’t yet know what year the Tazelaars immigrated to the U.S.

On January 29, 1914, the 80th birthday of Frank’s mother, Adriana Bek Tazelaar, was noticed. I prefer to post the whole Society column for this one. The mention is on the right side, the sixth paragraph down. In this paragraph there are mention of Adriana’s descendants, which is useful for locating Frank within his own family tree.

Later that year, on June 25, there is a somewhat humorous article about the fishing teams of the Knights of Pythias lodge. Frank is one of the team captains.  This article is notable for sharing Frank’s photo. He was about 39 here . . . .

This article is ALSO notable for mentioning my great-grandfather’s fish market! Referring to the fish caught in the contest, the article says, “All fish must be delivered at Zuideweg’s [SIC: should be Zuidweg’s] market in Eleanor Street by Monday noon . . . .” So you know the connection, Genevieve Remine Tazelaar was the first cousin of my great-great-grandfather Richard DeKorn whose son-in-law was my great-grandfather Adrian Zuidweg who owned the fish market. Now the most important part: Richard DeKorn built the Pythian building known as Pythian Castle and, earlier, as the Telegraph Building. The link explains about the building.

I’ve posted a photo of the fish market in the past.

Fish Market on Eleanor Street with Adrian Zuidweg and helper

Seven years later, there is a notice that Frank needs to have a frame house moved from a lot.

April 3, 1921
Kalamazoo Gazette

When Genevieve died in September 1930, the couple were living at 423 S. Westnedge Avenue, so it stands to reason that Frank wanted to sell a frame house on new property so he could build a new house. It would be at least the third house he built for himself and his wife. Her parents probably lived there with them, as well. It might sound funny to move a house, but when I was little I watched a house being moved down the street while I was holding my grandmother’s hand. I never forgot that first image of a house on wheels, although I did see a similar scene much later in life.

The last article of any note I could find was on 29 September 1922.

From being the toast of the town to an arrest! For shooting ducks after sunrise yet, which is very unsportsmanlike. Maybe it was his companions who steered him wrong ;). At least he didn’t catch undersized bass like Mr. Denner!

All kidding aside, while I loved getting to know Frank, I am really ticked off that Genevieve’s life is completely erased, as if she never existed. This could be because it is so difficult to research the lives of women and also because Frank was so outgoing. I hope that she had a pleasant life.

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Another Sidetrip, This One to Visit Frank Tazelaar in Kalamazoo

Posted in Chicago history, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Michigan history, Paak, Peek, Remine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2017| 16 Comments »

Frank Tazelaar was married to one of the daughters of my great-great-grandmother’s sister. He’s the husband of my first cousin 3x removed. Yup, that is easy to remember, right? Remember the Paak/Peek sisters and brother? Mary Peek (the spelling she used) married Richard Remine. For decades I thought there were four Remine children: Jenny, Genevieve, Therese (Tracy), and Harold. I had information for all four. But after more work, I finally found a very important divorce record and now know that Jenny and Genevieve were the same person.

This is Jenny (when she was younger) or Genevieve (once she was married to Frank Tazelaar). My grandfather identified her as Jane, so she might have used that name when she was young also. Her grandmother’s name had been Jana. I will refer to her as Genevieve because that is the name she ended up using for decades.

Here is Frank:

But why am I writing about Frank Tazelaar now? Because Sharon Ferraro is researching the effects of the influenza pandemic in 1918 in Kalamazoo. And Frank’s name is on the list as someone who contracted the illness and survived. It does not appear that he was treated at a hospital. He was ill and off work for ten days and then was able to go back to “his store.” In the 1920 census he was listed as a salesman/buyer in a clothing shop (same entry in the 1930 census). On the influenza document, his wife is listed as Genevieve and they lived at 124 N. West. Although I have verified that this information is correct, I have never heard of that street in Kalamazoo.

Genevieve was born 24 June 1881 in Kalamazoo, the first child of her parents, Richard and Mary. She was first married to a man she might have met in Chicago. His name was Harry Cohn. They were married in Paw Paw, Michigan, on 29 January 1903, when she was 21 years old. Three years later, on 23 June, 1906, they were divorced. The grounds were listed as “desertion,” but who deserted whom? If that was really what happened. Apparently, though, they had not been together for quite some time because about two weeks later, on 9 July 1906, Genevieve and Frank married in Chicago.

Frank was born in Wissenkerke, Netherlands, on 18 January 1876, to Peter Tazelaar and Adriana Bek Tazelaar. When he was a boy, his family moved from Holland to Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was a few years older than Genevieve. His native tongue was Dutch, whereas Genevieve was American-born. It’s hard to imagine what happened with Genevieve’s first marriage or how she happened to marry Frank–and what the Chicago connection was between Genevieve, Frank, and Harry. In fact, unless she went away to Chicago to school, I can’t imagine her leaving her parents’ home by the age of 21. Was she sent away for some reason? Since she never had any children, it’s less likely that she was pregnant, although always possible. 

Genevieve did not have children with either Harry or with Frank. When Genevieve passed away on 17 September 1930 of appendicitis (leading to gangrene and peritonitis), the couple was living at 423 S. Westnedge with her parents, Mary and Richard. That must have been awkward because on 21 March 1932 he married Bernice Dayton, the manager of “Lerner Shop.” Could this be the same Lerner store (part of the nationwide chain) that I grew up with? It’s likely because the Lerner Shops were first opened in 1918. (As a cool aside, the uncle of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was one of the two founders).

Here is another photo of Frank Tazelaar, at the Whistle Stop in Kalamazoo, on 15 February 2014, four years before he contracted the flu.

Frank Tazelaar
near Whistle Stop
Kalamazoo

As with most of my other blog posts, this story is ripe for more research. In particular, I’d like to search City Directories for addresses and businesses, as well as the local newspaper for articles about the couple and, possibly, “his” store.

OK, I peeked. There are many Kalamazoo Gazette articles about Frank. In fact, there are over 50 articles! Let’s see what we can find . . . next time.

But it won’t be ready until after my son’s wedding, so I will post Frank’s shenanigans on May 1!

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