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Posts Tagged ‘Zuidweg surname’

Fill in the Gaps Project: My 4XGreat-Grandparents, Cornelis and Geertrui (den Herder) Zuijdweg

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Netherlands history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , on August 5, 2020| 18 Comments »

Now I move into the 4x great-grandparents. The information gets scanty, and this generation did not immigrate to the United States. I’m going to start with my maternal grandfather’s ancestors–once again, because the inspiration for this blog came from his family.

Grandpa’s surname Zuidweg came from Cornelis Zuijdweg, who was born on 22 5 May 1781 in Goes, the son of Adriana and Paulus.

He was born during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, a conflict between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic between 1780-1784. This war was somewhat related to the American Revolutionary War because it had to do with whether it was legal for the Dutch to trade with Britain’s enemies in the ARW. The Dutch Republic was the second European country to diplomatically recognize the Continental Congress, less than a year after Cornelis was born. 

This painting is of The Battle of Dogger Bank, which took place the year Cornelis was born, between the Dutch and the British. You can read about it on Wikipedia.

The Dutch were led in battle by Vice Admiral Johan Zoutman.

Cornelis married Geertrui den Herder who was born on 22 May 1780 12 December 1779 in Kloetinge (which is next to Goes), the daughter of Antona and Adriaan. The name Den Herder probably means “The Shepherd.” The couple married on 4 January 1803, in Goes, Zeeland, Netherlands. They had at least two children during their marriage, Adriaan (1805 – 1851), my 3x great-grandfather, and Antonia Adriana (1810-1881) who married Johan Pieter den Boer. 

Cornelis worked as a fish inspector and, possibly, some other type of inspector. However, at the time of the wedding of their daughter Antonia to Johan, Cornelis is listed as a shopkeeper. Geertrui is listed as a laborer at one point, so it’s probable that she worked for someone else.

Geertrui died on 22 May 1838 in Goes, at the age of 58.

Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands, death record, Geertruida den Herder, 22 May 1838

Just over a year later, Cornelis married Catharina Geertrui van Kleef on 25 July 1839, in Goes. He died on 9 November 1841, also in Goes, at the age of 60.

Goes, Zeeland, the Netherlands, death record, Cornelis Zuijdweg, 9 November 1841

Did you notice all those May 22 dates? Here is what I know: Geertrui’s death record in 1838 is definitely May 22. But the other May 22 dates? They came from other sources, and I don’t believe them.   I no sooner published this post than Yvon Rijshouwer of Gouda responded with some more information from the Population Register in the Goes archives (which I did not know exists). Geertrui was a married housewife of the Reformed faith. Kornelis was a fish inspector of the Reformed faith. I have adjusted the birth dates of both Kornelis and Geertrui based upon Yvon’s information. They are no longer May 22!

Here is the address in Goes where the family lived.

Source: Bevolkingsregister 1831-1836, wijk D,
Street: J.A. van der Goeskade Tussen de 2 Poorten. (between the two gates)
Kornelis lives there with
Geertrui den Herder, wife,
Adriaan Zuidweg, son, born 28/1/1805, Goes, tailor
Benjamin Kornelis den Boer , grandson. born 13/5/1831, Goes.
Oh my, so son Adriaan lived there because he wasn’t yet married apparently. He was married in 1836. But why was the grandson living with them when Kornelis and Geertrui’s daughter and son-in-law were not? Was it a temporary situation? I believe the couple was still alive. This baby, “Benjamin Kornelis,” was already in my records, but as Kornelis Benjamin.
I do not have copies of the couple’s birth records. I don’t even have their marriage record, although annoyingly I have the marriage record between Cornelis and his 2nd wife, Catharina van Kleef.

So I am looking for both birth/baptism records, their marriage record, and possibly any military history for Cornelis. Onward!

P.S. And now I have this new online source: https://gemeentearchief.goes.nl/

 

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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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2020 Fill in the Gaps Project: My 2x Great-Grandfather Johannes Zuidweg

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2020| 16 Comments »

I will continue to move forward with updates about my fill in the gaps project. If anything, the pandemic has reinforced to me that I need to get the rudiments of my family history completed so that I can get digital copies to other family members.

So I moved on to Grandpa’s Zuidweg grandfather, Johannes Zuidweg, born 23 December 1842 in Goes, Zeeland, Netherlands.

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

I have these records: birth, marriage, criminal, death, obituary, 1910 census, headstone, photo, and I manage his memorial page on Findagrave.

Did Johannes serve in the Dutch military? I did ask Yvette to research this question, and this is her summary reply:

Johannes Zuijdweg, born 1842. He was found fit for duty and designated to serve.
Unfortunately, the enlistment registers did not identify the regiment he served in, so his
military records could not be located.

What a shame! I would love to know more about his military service, especially in light of the disturbing news that he served two months in jail for theft after the accidental death of son Lucas. I discuss this crime in the two blog posts above.

Here is Yvette’s more detailed response:

Johannes Zuijdweg in militia registration, 1861
Source: Goes, lists of men registered for the National Militia, levies 1851-1862, 1851 no. 8,
Johannes Zuijdweg; call no. 1438, archives of the city of Goes, 1851-1919, Goes Municipal
Archives, Goes; scans provided by Goes Municipal Archives.
Abstract:
No. 8, Johannes Zuijdweg, born Goes 23 December 1842.
Physical description: 1.601 m, long face, narrow forehead, grey eyes, ordinary nose and
mouth, round chin, brown hair and eyebrows, no noticeable marks.

Son of Adriaan [Zuijdweg] and Johanna Mulder
Occupation: “kruidewerker” [spice worker, probably: grocer], father deceased, mother maid
Informant: himself.
Johannes Zuijdweg in militia enlistment, 1861
Source: Goes, lists of men registered for the National Militia, levies 1854-1862, 1861 no. 36,
Johannes Zuijdweg; call no. 1484, archives of the city of Goes, 1851-1919, Goes Municipal
Archives, Goes; scans provided by Goes Municipal Archives.
Abstract:
No. 36, Johannes Zuijdweg, born Goes 23 December 1842.
Height: 1.601 m
Son of Adriaan [Zuijdweg] and Johanna Mulder.
Occupation: “kruidenwerker” [grocer], father deceased, mother maid
Informant: himself
Lot number 59
Designated to serve.
Regiment: [blank]
These registers show that Johannes Zuijdweg was found fit for duty and designated to serve.
Unfortunately, the register does not indicate which regiment he was in, so his military record could
not be located.

As far as Johannes’ immigration and naturalization information, I am awaiting the completion of the project Amberly is undertaking for me. He only lived in the United States for ten years before his death (1901-1911), so I think it’s unlikely that he was naturalized.

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2020 Fill in the Gaps Project: What Information Am I Missing on Adrian Zuidweg, Sr.?

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , on February 12, 2020| 16 Comments »

Now it’s time to turn my attention to one of my maternal great-grandfathers, Adrian Zuidweg.

I had Adrian’s birth (Netherlands), marriage (US), and death records (US). He is listed on the social security records, but I believe that is because he is listed as my grandfather’s father because Adrian died in 1929, several years before social security started. I have a photo of Adrian’s headstone and photos of him.

Last June I posted Adrian’s probated will at Great-Grandpa’s Will

Since I did not yet have Adrian and Cora’s wedding announcement from the Kalamazoo Gazette, I looked for that. I discovered that it was announced on four different days. The first two were standard announcements, and the other two were perhaps license listings. The two standard announcements were published with an egregious error. Cora’s surname was listed as Wilhelmina, her middle name. I’m sure that was disappointing to the young couple, and to Cora’s parents, Richard and Alice DeKorn. See third listing down.

The other error on the announcement is one that even I make when I am typing fast: the bridesmaid was Miss Jennie DeSmit, not DeSmith. Jennie was Cora’s first cousin and two years older than Cora.

Adrian’s files on my computer were a disaster, so I organized them. On Ancestry, I was missing his birth record, which I added. I also discovered an incorrect fact and document added on Ancestry. Yikes! It was a military registration for the OTHER Adrian Zuidweg, the one that lived in Grand Rapids. Yes, they were related, but not too closely.

I find no military records for Adrian, and that surprises me because I think he would have had to register for WWI. Wouldn’t he? So I looked it up. There were three registrations. The first one was for men only to age 30. The second one was ages 21 and up? Up to what? And the third one, in 1918, was up to age 45. Adrian turned 45 in 1916. He just missed the registration then, unless he qualified under the middle registration, which I doubt as he was still 46 in 1917.

What about his military records in the Netherlands, though? As you can see from the photo he was in the Dutch army as a young man. I am not sure how to find Dutch military records. I would really like to do so. There is a link on Family Search for where he might be located, but unfortunately I cannot figure out a way to search the website, only to browse.

I find no obituary for Adrian, and that also surprises me. I searched on Genealogy Bank in general and around the time of his death–19 December 1929. I submitted a request through the Kalamazoo Public Library to see if they could uncover an obit. Sure enough, the obituary was in an unindexed newspaper! Thank you to the library!

Like a lot of my immigrant ancestors, I have no immigration or naturalization records for Adrian. Since this is such a huge gap, and it seems to be a real weak point of mine, I enlisted Amberly Beck who is working on her genealogy certification to help me find this information.

Finally, I checked out his page on Findagrave. I sponsored his page some time ago, but now I put in a request for management of the page. Fingers crossed.

 

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2020 Fill in the Gaps Project: My Great-Grandmother Cora Zuidweg (Jacoba Wilhelmina DeKorn Zuidweg)

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Cora DeKorn Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Michigan history, Richard DeKorn, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2020| 33 Comments »

As I mentioned two weeks ago, both my maternal great-grandmothers were born in the United States, but their husbands, my great-grandfathers, were immigrants. At that time I discussed my maternal grandmother’s mother, Clara Waldeck Mulder. Today I will talk about my maternal grandfather’s mother, Cora Zuidweg. I wrote some anecdotes about her life in 2012 at this link: Cora DeKorn Zuidweg

I’ve posted this photo before, but it is my favorite one of her, along with the portrait that Val colorized. That’s her only child, my grandfather, with her.

Cora was born Jacoba Wilhelmina DeKorn on 2 January 1875, something I did not realize until I had been researching for a couple of years.

When I looked for gaps in my documents for Cora, I noticed that while I had her baptismal record, I did not have a birth record. There actually was a birth record, which is pretty remarkable, but she was listed under the name Minnie. I suspect that she was given that nickname by her parents as a baby (from Wilhelmina), but that she outgrew it at a young age.

Wayne Loney was able to get me this copy of the birth record.

I do have Cora’s other records: census records, obituary, death record, marriage record. and headstone. Here is her obituary:

I have asked to manage her page at Findagrave, and I also submitted a request for edits. I just don’t hear back from these people, and I guess I’m going to have to start to be get loud about it if I don’t get any satisfaction about my family’s pages.

Cora might be the last of my “easy ones,” as it has been more difficult to research my other ancestors.

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Great-Grandpa’s Will

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , on June 19, 2019| 30 Comments »

Thanks to Wayne Loney, a Kalamazoo genealogy volunteer, I have my great-grandfather’s probated will with list of assets at the time of his death. He found the document, located at the Probate Court in Kalamazoo, so that I could order it.

Fifty-eight-year-old Adrian Zuidweg, Sr., died on 19 December 1929, which happened to be two months after the Wall Street crash. The cause of death was uremia (for three days) and chronic interstitial nephritis, as well as a valve disease of the heart and mitral insufficiency and general artheroma (disease of the arteries). I looked up the nephritis because it sounds like the real disease behind his death, but read that it usually is caused by medications or auto-immune disorders like lupus. So I don’t really know why he was sick or why he died.

The family story version is that he ate a dinner plate-sized steak every night for dinner, and that that routine caused the nephritis. I guess it might cause some artery damage, too.

But before we assume his eating completely caused his death, I will say that heart disease does seem to run in the family through my grandfather to my grandfather’s children–and my 23andme report shows that by far my worst health genes (that are researched through 23andme) are all coronary issues.

This probate document is signed by my grandfather, who was 21; Adrian Sr.’s sister, Mrs. Marinus Van Liere; and my great-grandmother, Cora, his wife.

In this will, Adrian leaves his entire estate to his wife, Cora, to do with as she sees fit. He expressly does not leave anything to grandpa, his son. However, he seems to suggest that Cora might want to use some of the estate for the benefit of Adrian’s “belofed boy,” (his first language was Dutch) but he is not tying her hands to do so in the will.

I wonder how common it was to make a will out this way. Perhaps he thought that Grandpa would be able to make his own way in the world, but Grandpa was blind in one eye, so I am a little surprised that nothing was left to him.

Here is a typed version of the handwritten will.

I don’t plan to post an image of the estate inventory. If family members want to email me and ask to see it, I’ll be happy to send over a copy. What I thought was interesting was the list does not include any cash at all, whether on hand or in banks. The listing includes real estate, notes payable, and stocks. I think this means that the money was already in Cora’s name.  Again, I wonder how common this practice would have been.

It seems to me that there must be more of this sort of document available for my other ancestors, but I am not sure how much light it has shed on anything for me. Adrian was apparently a good husband, father, and provider, but maybe didn’t take the best care of his health, if the steak-eating story is true.

What information have you gleaned from probate records?

I will be taking off blogging next week for some needed time away from the computer. See you in a couple of weeks!

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Kids Out in Front of the House

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, DeKorn, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Michigan history, Richard DeKorn, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2019| 37 Comments »

Here are two photos of my mother, Janet, and her brother, Donald. Take a look at the similarities and differences.

The one with Mom holding her doll shows a glimpse of their front porch on Burdick Street. Don is wearing short pants and long striped socks. They both have cute little hats on. The back of the photo is labelled April 1938. My mother was born in 1934 and Don in 1936.

Then this one:

In this photo they seem to be wearing the same outfits, although Don’s snowpants are now on and Janet has a scarf around her neck. There is melting snow in the yard.

So were they taken on the same day or is the second photo earlier than April? What do you think? Notice that little “trike” or whatever it is is in the same spot in both photos.

Another thing of note in the second photo is the phenomenal neighborhood view. This is the best neighborhood view down Burdick Street I can remember seeing. In fact, you see that brick house in the distance to the left of the tree? That is the Richard DeKorn house where Grandpa himself grew up. There are a couple of houses in between, then the service station Grandpa owned, and then Balch Street. The house is across Balch from the station. Grandma and Grandpa’s house where Mom and Uncle Don grew up was at the corner of Burdick and Emerson.

 

 

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Happiness is A Labelled Photograph

Posted in Adriaan Zuijdweg/Adrian Zuidweg Sr., Family History, Genealogy, Kent County history, Michigan history, Netherlands history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2019| 26 Comments »

In the latest batch, I found a portrait of a man.

And I was thrilled to see an identification on the back.

So a man named Jacobus Zuidweg was living in Grand Rapids on or around 7 January 1901! And he was a cousin of Grandpa’s father, Adrian Zuidweg, Sr. Woohoo!

This made me go to my family tree on Ancestry and see who he would be related to. The only sibling of Adrian Sr’s father, Johannes Zuidweg, to immigrate to the United States was the youngest, Willem.

Then what did I see? I had connected with a man some time back who was related, but his family had changed their surname to Southway. Yes, that is what Zuidweg means in Dutch! And the ancestor that we had connected on was JAMES WILLIAM SOUTHWAY, born 16 August 1880 in Goes, Zeeland, Netherlands. He passed away on 12 December 1922 in Detroit.

Funniest thing: my connection had used this exact portrait for James’ “headshot” on Ancestry. I wonder if he knows his name? Going to message on Ancestry!

It looks like Jacobus/James had a brother named Adriaan/Adrian who did keep the surname Zuidweg. He passed away in 1949 in Kent County, Michigan.

I am guessing that James moved from Grand Rapids to Detroit some time between 1901 (when he was 21) and 1914 (when he was 34) because he married and had children in Detroit, plus as I mentioned above, he passed away in that city. James is my first cousin, 3x removed.

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1940s Children

Posted in Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo mid 20th century, Michigan history, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , on February 28, 2019| 34 Comments »

I’ve been spending time with Mom this week, so I thought I’d post a photo of her as a little girl. Here she is wearing a cute hat and with her little sister Alice and her best friend Marion Van Dam.

And, yes, Mom and Marion are still good friends.

Kalamazoo history

I am guessing that this photo was taken in Kalamazoo around 1942 because Aunt Alice was born in 1941. What kind of car is that behind them? Is that a tiny purse in Mom’s hand?

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Sunday School: Bethany Reformed Church, Kalamazoo: c1918

Posted in Adrian Zuidweg, Family History, Genealogy, Kalamazoo history, Kalamazoo late 1800s - early 1900s, Michigan history, Photography early 20th century, Zuidweg, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2019| 27 Comments »

When I scan old family photos I always think it’s particularly cool when photos include other people in Kalamazoo (or elsewhere) because if I post them online, there is a chance the descendants of these people can find their relatives’ photos. This has happened before, and I hope it continues to happen.

The photo for today is of a Sunday School class of young “men” at Bethany Reformed Church in Kalamazoo. If you click on the next photo you can be taken to the church history on the church’s website.

The church began as a tiny chapel near the corner of Burdick and Maple in 1905. By 1907, the building above was built to house the rapidly growing congregation. By 1910 there were 69 member families, all of the Reformed denomination (and presumably Dutch or of Dutch ancestry).

As you can see by the back of my photo, it was taken around 1918 (so imagine the church growth by then).

The sticker was put on in the 80s, I imagine, by my grandparents.

Here is the front:

Let’s look at it a little closer:

The church was probably right by houses, but I don’t know whether the photo was taken outside the church (with a house behind the boys) or if it was taken in someone’s yard. They do look dressed for church here.

Do you think my grandfather was one of these boys? He would have been about ten in 1918.

Mom? Uncle Don? Anybody? There is only one boy here who I think looks at all like Grandpa.

About the church: although it was the Great Depression, the new building that still stands today was dedicated in 1932. It continued to be added on to for many years. In the 1960s, I attended Vacation Bible School for one summer. My grandmother was babysitting while my mother was working, so it was easy for me to go to Bible School across the street, although our church was out in Portage. Unfortunately, in 1972, vandals set fire to the sanctuary, which was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt within a year.

I took a screenshot of the church as it looks today on Google Maps. Same building where I went to class 55 years ago.

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