My Great x4 Grandfather may have been a New Year’s baby. Or purhaps he was born on New Year’s Eve? It’s a wee bit speculative, but it’s based on the fact he was baptized on January 2, 1784 at St. Maarten Church in Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland. Of course, it’s not impossible that he was baptised the day he was born.
Jan, who was born in Oude Niedorp, was the seventh of eleven children born to Cornelis Cornelisse Smit and Neeltje Jans Ligthart. Following his birth, Jan’s baptism is the last thing I know about him for almost the next three decades of his life. At most, somewhere between 1784 and 1813 Jan relocated from Oude Niedorp to Heerhugowaard, a distance of just over five kilometers.
2 January 1784. “Baptised: Jan Cornelisse of Zijdwint. Parents: Cornelis Cornelisse Smit and Neeltje Jans Ligthart. Godmother: Trijntie Jans Ligthart.” (Zijdwint was part of Oude Niedorp).
On January 13, 1813, mere weeks after his 29th birthday, Jan married Leentje van Dam in Heerhugowaard. At the time, Jan was working as a farm hand. It appears that Jan was involved in agricultural work for many years. Charmingly, in a record from 1836, when Jan was 52, his occupation was described as “land lieden (“country folk”). However, by at least 1816, his occupation was recorded as “watermolenaar”, an operator or worker at a water-powered mill. He was still identified as a watermolenaar in the registration of his death, although I have to wonder if he really was still doing that work, since he was 68 years old by that time.
Jan and Leentje married seemingly late, as they were age 29 and 28, respectively. I’ve considered whether either of them had been married previously, but I have found no record of either of them having been married before. There is also nothing in the records I’ve seen suggesting that Jan or Leentje had been married before. All in all, I am confident that this was the first marriage for both Jan and Leentje.
Despite marrying when they were nearly 30, Jan and Leentje had eleven chidren together, all born in Heerhugowaard. There is a sixteen-year spread between the eldest and youngest.
Leentje died in 1842. Two of Jan and Leentje’s three youngest children had passed away by that time and all but one of their children were 18 or older when their mother died. This meant that the only minor child at the time was a daughter, Antje, who was 14. Jan was still working and continued to work in the years following Leentje’s death. He may have had support in caring for Antje, although by that age she likely was able to do a lot for herself while her father was at work.
Jan died on December 4, 1852 in Heerhugowaard.
