52 Ancestors 2025 – Page 12 – A Deck of Ancestors

52W Mark IV – Week 8: Card V8 Jan Gerritsz Veldman

I generally think of my Dutch ancestors – particularly the paternal side of my father’s family – as labourers, farmers, domestic workers, or similar. I suspect that the maternal side of my father’s family might have been better off, although by how much I cannot say. With a couple exceptions, I have to go five or six generations back to find something other than farmer or labourer, such as a cordwainer and a cobbler, a harbour pilot, or a sailor. Of those who worked the land, I doubt few of them actually owned their farms.

One exception is my Gx3 Grandfather, Jan Gerritsz Veldman. During the 52 Ancestors Challenge in 2023 , I described him and his wife Trijntje Stoop as “prosperous“. However, at one point in time he may have been even better off than I had previously thought.

Jan was born on November 27, 1835 in Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland. He was the eighth of twelve children born to Gerrit Veldman and Maartje Cornelis Zijbecarspel. In 1855, when he was 20, he was drafted for the militia, as the Netherlands had mandatory military service until the 1990s. Many conscripts never actually served; rather, they were largely on-call, like a reserve. However, according to his marriage registration, Jan had “bought” himself a replacement.

According to my late friend Nol van den Hurk, this was a common practice “if you had money.” I asked if this meant Jan was well off, Nol responded:

Whether Jan was well to do or not I can’t tell you. The archives hold papers you had to show when you wanted to marry. One of the papers is an official document that showed that you had fulfilled your duty in the Army. In Jan’s case I saw a document, signed by the Queens commissioner’s clerk in the Province North Holland (who was responsible for those things in those days) that said that Jan had his military duties done by a replacement. This was not uncommon in those days, but it never stated who paid for it. It might have been the bride’s father, the groom’s father, the groom himself…. When he was the only son of a farmer, he did not have to join the army. If so, it was stated so in the document.

The passage from Jan and Trijntje’s marriage registration that speaks of Jan having discharged his obligation for military service.

Jan and Trijntje married on May 1, 1858 in Nieuwe Niedorp. I have a copy of their marriage registration, but unfortunately I have not yet found a copy of their huwelijksbijlagen (marriage supplements) online. The marriage supplements are a set of documents the couple had to provide before they could marry, such as birth extracts and other vital records. As well, it used to include a record confirming that the groom had satisfied his mandatory military service. It would be nice if I could visit the Dutch archives in person, but I doubt I’ll be in the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.

The opening portion of Jan and Trijntje’s marriage registration, showing their names, ages, occupations, places of birth, residence, and parents, among other things.

At the time he married Trijntje, Jan was working as a farmer in Nieuwe Niedorp; however, their eldest child, Gerrit, was born in Harenkarspel in 1859. It is likely that Jan actually lived and worked in ‘t Veld, a village within gemeente (municipality) Nieuwe Niedorp, as reflected in the bevolkingsregister (“population register”) of Nieuwe Niedorp for 1860-1870. There was a subsequent bevolkingsregister for ‘t Veld for 1870–1880, which also listed Jan and his family. As for ‘t Veld, it later became part of gemeente Oude Niedorp. It is now within gemeente Hollands Kroon.

It appears that Jan and Trijnte did very well for themselves while living in ‘t Veld. I recently discovered that they were prosperous enough to have domestic servants in the late 1860s. The first, Jansje, worked for Jan and Trijntje until January 1868, but I do not yet know how long she had been there before leaving. The second, Brigitta, worked from February to December 1868.

I *love* seeing the signatures of my ancestors from so long ago. Here are my Gx3 Grandparents, along with the bride’s parents, my Gx4 Grandparents, 167 years ago.

Jan and Trijntje had eight more children who were born in Nieuwe Niedorp. It appears that all but two children survived infancy and childhood. In May 1872, Jan, Trijntje, and their children moved to Barsingerhorn, which is about five kilometers north of ‘t Veld. There they had the last of their ten children, Aantje, born in 1873.

Upon relocating to Barsingerhorn, Jan and Trijntje began to acquire several pieces of farm properties, which together formed two separate properties. One property consisted of two lots in Oude Niedorp of about 0.157 hectares (about 0.4 acres), on which there was a house. The other property was a farm consisting of 20 lots in Barsingerhorn, totalling about 11.9 hectares (just under 3o acres). The farm property included a farmhouse, pastures, farmland, and a boat.

*Approximate size of the total amount of land Jan and Trijntje owned: 24 American football fields (FYI, Canadian football fields are longer.)*

When Jan died on May 21, 1897, these pieces of property passed to Trijntje. Within a year after she died, on January 27, 1906, these properties were put up for auction. The auction noticed valued the first property at ƒ835, while the second property was valued at ƒ17,152.66. Together, they amounted to about CDN$427,958.27 in 2025 dollars.

Schager Courant, June 20, 1897, page 3: “Overleden” (Deceased), 21 May, Jan Veldman, age 61, husband of Trijntje Stoop

*Schager Courant, Schagen, Noord Holland, Netherlands, November 11, 1906, page 4.*
*“Openbare Verkooping” (“Public Sale”). This is an itemized list of Jan and Trijntje’s two properties that went up for public auction after Trijntje died.*

52W Mark IV – Week 7: Card V7 Aaltje Klaasse Stroet

While it’s still early days, I’m discovering that the different approach I am taking to this year’s 52 Ancestors Challenge is that it has prompted me to do a long-standing but long-languishing research goal: to bolster and verify the research I’ve done for the first few generations of my direct ancestors. While not quite the same, it’s similar to Yvette Hoitink’s “Level-up Challenge.” By focusing on individuals rather than topics, I’ve been discovering a lot of gaps in my knowledge and research for the 52 direct ancestors I’ve chosen to write about this year.

Take this week’s subject, Aaltje Klaase Stroet. A few weeks ago, I had little more than her birth, marriage, and death. Now I know a fair bit more – including a lot of information about the farm where she lived and worked with her husband Dirk.

Aaltje was the youngest and tenth child of Nicolaus Dirkszoon “Klaas” Stroet and Geertje Jansdochter Molenaar. Aaltje was born on June 18, 1813, in Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland, just like all her older siblings.

At the time Aaltje married in 1835, she worked as a housemaid in Nieuwe Niedorp; however, I have yet to find an entry for Aaltje in a Dienstboderegister (a register of domestic servants kept as part of a municipality’s Civil Registration Register). The most significant piece of evidence regarding Aaltje’s occupation as a housemaid is the registration of her marriage to Dirk Pietersz van der Fluit, which occurred on May 16, 1835 in Nieuwe Niedorp.

The top and bottom of Aaltje and Dirk’s marriage registration, which includes mention that Aaltje’s occupation was “dienstmaagd” (maid).

At the time Aaltje and Dirk married, Dirk was employed as a labourer. Dirk later took up farming. While he might have undertaken farming at an earlier time, in 1847 a stolpboerderij (“bell jar” or “covered” farm) in ‘t Veld, Noord Holland was registered in the names of Dirk and Aaltje. Until ‘t Veld was part of gemeente (municipality) Oude Niedorp; it is now within gemeente Hollands Kroon.

Two views of Aaltje and Dirk’s *stolpboerderij* from *‘t Is Mooi Weest* magazine, December 2004. Both photos were taken after Aaltje’s death. The photo on the right shows Maria Veerman, the owner of the property after 1917, along with her daughter Geertje.

A stolpboerderij was a style of farmhouse that was common in the West Friesland area of Noord Holland. They were pyramid-like thatched roof buildings that served as a combination farm house and separate space for animals, hay, wagons, or tools.

The stolpboerderij that Dirk and Aaltje acquired already existed at the time the land registry in which it was registered was created, in 1832, so it is difficult to determine the time of its construction. In 1832, when the registry was created, the farm was owned by the Roman Catholic church of ‘t Veld. Aaltje remained on the farm after Dirk died in 1857, along with all their children, and it remained registered in her name.

Based upon these views from Google Maps, the *stolpboerderij* where Aaltje and Dirk is still standing.

According to the Bevolkingsregister (population register) for Oude Niedorp for 1860-1885, some of Aaltje’s children remained at the farm after they reached adulthood. In fact, three of Aaltje’s grandchildren through her second son Nicolaas (1838-1876) were living at the farm, at least as late as 1880.

Aaltje died on March 6, 1881 in Oude Niedorp, most likely at the farm in ‘t Veld. An index for the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Martinus in ‘t Veld indicates that Aaltje’s heirs sold the farm by auction. The index suggests that the church council purchased the land, “called the Hofstede, in the Leijerpolder”. That indicates that the farm was less than two kilometers from where my father was born, in Waarland.

The location of Dirk and Aaltje’s *stolpboerderij*, shown in *‘t Is Mooi Weest* magazine, page 9, December 2004.

Dirk and Aaltje’s *stolpboerderij* was less than two kilometers due east of where my father was born. I see that I came within about 700 meters of this property, if not closer, during my last trip to the Netherlands. If only I had known!

However, another source shows that in 1882, a year after Aaltje died, the farm was sold by auction to Simon Groen and Marijtje Kuilboer.

Death registration for Aaltje Stroet. There was a clerical error in that her husband Dirk was recorded as her father; it is the crossed out item. The margin corrected the error, naming Dirk as her husband.

52W Mark IV – Week 6: Card V6 Dirk Pietersz van der Fluit

Dirk Pietersz van der Fluit (1811-1857) was a labourer and farmer.

This week we take a first look at my 32 Gx3 Grandparents, starting with
Dirk Pietersz van der Fluit. I actually got a bit sidetracked with this post, not because I was trying to fill gaps in my knowledge about Dirk, but because I kept returning to all the outstanding questions I have about Dirk’s father, Petrus Pietersz (“Pieter”) van der Fluit (1759-1829).

I have had a long-standing curiosity about the circumstances that caused Pieter, the eldest of 11 children, to pull up roots from Voorhout, Zuid Holland and relocate to Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland, leaving all his other family behind.

The other thing I’ve started to ponder about Pieter is how he spent the first 40 years of his life. I know absolutely nothing about his life between baptism in 1760 and marriage to Maartje de Vlieger in 1800. Everything I’ve found so far indicates that Pieter married only once, yet I have to wonder if he was married sometime before he turned 40. However, despite all my efforts so far, I can find no record of Pieter before he married Maartje, including a previous marriage.

Unfortunately, Pieter is one generation beyond the scope of my writing plan for the 52 Ancestors Challenge for 2025. Maybe I’ll do a separate post about Pieter outside of the Challenge. In the meantime, this week is supposed to be about Dirk!

Dirk was the third of four children born to Pieter and Maartje. He was born in February 1811 in Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland. He was born only a few short months after Napoleon abolished the puppet state of the Kingdom of Holland and incorporated the Netherlands as an integral part of the French Empire.

Church baptism register showing Dirk’s baptism on February 14, 1811, which is on the bottom half of the image. The entry at the top is Jacobus Stroet, Dirk’s future brother-in-law. Dirk married Jacobus’s younger sister, Aaltje.

I know nothing about Dirk between the time he was baptized and age 24, when he married Aaltje Klaasse Stroet on May 16, 1835 in Nieuwe Niedorp. Dirk was a labourer at the time he married and likely had been in that occupation for several years. He was still a labourer in 1843 according to the death registration for his son, Jan.

Within a year of marriage, the newlyweds had relocated to Oude Niedorp. Sometime around 1847 Dirk became a farmer in ‘t Veld, as that was the occupation listed in the death registration of another son, also named Jan. (There was a third Jan – my Gx2 Grandfather, born between the other two Jans.)

Together Dirk and Aaltje had 13 children; eight survived infancy. All 13 were born in gemeente (municipality) Oude Niedorp, but most likely in ‘t Veld, which was one of the villages in the gemeente. ‘t Veld is now within gemeente Hollands Kroon.

Dirk spent the rest of his life in ‘t Veld (Oude Niedorp). He died there on February 8, 1857, likely little more than a week after his 45th birthday. It appears that Aaltje took over the farm, and lived another 24 years.

As for Pieter, like a dog with a bone, I couldn’t stop poking at various sources to find out his past marital status before marrying Maartje. Lo and behold, a register of marriage banns for Voorhout listed Pieter as “jongeman”, which means he had never been married before. So what was he doing the previous 40 years?

Pieter van der Fluyt, jongeman, and Maria de Vlieger, jongedr. So neither had been married before.

52W Mark IV – Week 5: Card V5 Ariaantje Jacobs (Adriana or Jaantje) Bleeker

Ariaantje Jacobs (“Adriana” or “Jaantje”) Bleeker
(1865-1929)

When I first started tracing my Dutch line further back further than my great grandparents, I started coming upon some very clearly Germanic and feminine sounding names but did not sound cute in any way. Then again, what should I expect from a language where the word for “cute” is “schattig” – definitely not a cute sounding word to an Anglo ear, especially with that Dutch “g”!

One of the standouts of these was my second great grandmother, Ariaantje Jacobs Bleeker. Ariaantje did not easily roll off the tongue when I first encountered it, but it came to me quickly. Like most people in the Netherlands, she did not go by Ariaantje on a daily basis. She is often referred to as “Adriana” or “Jaantje” in the records.

Adriana was born on February 15, 1865 (160 years ago this month!) in Harenkarspel, Noord Holland. For the longest time, I have had Adriana as the third of three children born to Jacob Bleeker and Trijntje Jansen. However, given the age gap between Adriana and her older brother, Cornelis, I suspected there might have been some other children in between.

I’ve done some digging to fill the gap. One strategy I’ve employed is looking at Adriana’s FAN club: her “Friends, Associates, and Neighbours”. So far I haven’t found any missing siblings. It’s still on my research to-do list, although it has not been a priority.

Marriage Registration for Jan Pater and Ariaantje Bleeker (top and bottom)

It appears that Adriana lived with her parents in Harenkarspel until she married Jan Pater on April 19, 1888. The Bevolkingsregister (population register) for Harenkarspel shows that she relocated to Heerhugowaard on April 20, 1888. Jan and Adriana had four children: Johannes (who only lived two weeks), Jacob, Teetje (my great grandmother), and Jan. Only Jacob and Teetje married. Jan worked on his parents’ farm for many years after reaching adulthood.

Adriana died on July 8, 1929, at home in Slootgaard, a village in gemeente Harenkarspel.

The bidprentje (prayer card or in memoriam card) for Adriana’s funeral states that she was buried at the church cemetery in Waarland, which at the time was part of gemeente Heerhugowaard. This would be St. Wulfram’s Church (left), which I drove past the last time I was in the Netherlands. However, there would have been no point in stopping to look for her grave, because graves in the Netherlands are usually cleared within thirty years. A quick check of Online Begraafplaatsen (a database of Dutch cemeteries) shows no entries for Adriana at the St. Wulfram cemetery, which is consistent with her grave having been cleared.

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