Surname Saturday - Van Driel

One of my father's grandmothers is Maaike van Driel (1859-1936). Her surname Van Driel is - like many other family names - derived from a geographical names: Driel is a village near the river Rhine. Many non-related Van Driel families are living in The Netherlands. My Van Driel ancestors lived in Strijen, Holland.

My great-grandmother Maaike van Driel (1859-1936) with her husband Teun Bos and their children.

Maaike descends from Adriaen Claesz van Driel. He lived in a rural area near the village of Strijen at the end of the 16th century. Adriaen's grandfather, Hendrik Aertsz, was a farmer in Barendrecht in the first half of the 16th century.

Tuesday’s Tip - Add an image to your blog post!

When you take the effort to write a blog post about your ancestors, and/or other relatives, you want people to read it. A good way to get more exposure for your post is by always adding an image, because a blog post with an image can be pinned on Pinterest, and draw more attention when tweeted on Twitter.

A Tagxedo Word Cloud Tree Image

It doesn't have to be a fancy image. It can be an old map of the area. In winter you can add a nice local winter landscape. Maybe you can show a small object related to the post, like a wedding ring, or an old key. 
A nice way to create an image matching a specific post is to make a word cloud picture, for example by using Tagxedo (see example picture). 

You can also take a look at 

• Yvette's Top 5 sources for images to illustrate your Dutch family tree, 
• Family Tree Magazine's 14 Websites for Finding Old Family Photos, or
• ThoughtCo.'s How to Find Photos Online That You Can Legally Use.

When you want to delete one of your blogger images, you need to access Blogger Image Albums. Nowadays they are stored in the Google Album Archive (http://get.google.com/albumarchive).

Jacob Hardekaas moved with his family to Brazil

Jacob Hardekaas was born on August 4, 1817, in Noordwelle, Zeeland, The Netherlands. He was a son of Pieter Hardekaas en Susanna Jornot. An elder son with the same name had died in 1811, as did most children of their marriage.
Susanna Jornot died on March 17, 1825, aged 40, when her son Jacob was just 7 years old. On May 1, 1826, Pieter was remarried. His 2nd wife, Janna Dag, was born in Burgh, Zeeland, as daughter of Cornelis Dag and Kaatje Lokeren. They had a daughter, born on March 30, 1831, named Susanna. Pieter died on August 5, 1857, in Noordwelle, aged 79.

Signature of Pieter Hardekaas, Jacob's father.

Jacob worked as a farmhand when he married, on February 17, 1846, in Noordwelle, Roberina Maatje Kooijman, born in Ouwerkerk on December 8, 1823. Her parents were Marinus Kooijman and Janna van de Vate. 

Migrants boarding a ship

In Noordwelle they had the following children:
 1. Susanna, born April 21, 1846, died June 13, 1847.
 2. Janna, born July 20, 1848.
 3. Pieter, born May 30, 1852.
 4. Jacomina, born April 19, 1855.

Jacob Hardekaas, his wife and their 3 children travelled with the ss Marquês de Caxias. The hundreds of migrants were closely packed together in the steerage. Soon the heat in the ship was almost unbearable. Drinking water was provided, but the family was supposed to have brought their own food with them. The family arrived in Rio Grande Harbour in Brazil on August 15. Travelling further with the ss Rio Pardense they arrived on August 26 in the Colônia Santo Angelo. The year they travelled was either 1858 or 1859.

During their early years in Brazil most migrant families lived in squalor and were nearly starving. The people were exploited and their children had to work in the jungle.

Sources: Roos, T. en Eshuis, M.: “Op een dag zullen ze ons vinden” (Een Zeeuwse geschiedenis in Brazili, WieWasWie.nl.