Longevity ~ Daatje de Sterke (94) in Dordrecht

Daatje de Sterke was born on Sunday December 14, 1834, around 1 o'clock in the afternoon in Werkendam in The Netherlands. Her parents are Pieter de Sterke (1794-1888) and his 29-year-old second wife Adriana de Vries (1806-1881). Adriana had been an illegitimate daughter of Jannigje de Vries, abandoned wife of Cornelis van Aalst. Daatje's paternal grandparents are my ancestors Pieter de Sterke (1765-1842) and Adriana Knikman (1766-1804).

Jacob Vrolijk was a blacksmith

Daatje de Sterke was first married on 16 May 1855 in Dordrecht to blacksmith Jacob Vrolijk. Jacob was born on 27 August 1834 in Dordrecht. His parents are blacksmith Jacobus Vrolijk and his wife Sija van der Koog. This Sija is named after her grandmother Sija Brand (±1758-1803) who married Willem van der Koog (1734-1809). As a result, Sija van der Koog is a descendant of both my ancestors Jacobus van der Koogh (1710-1793) and Jillis Jacobsen Brand.
Upon their marriage Daatje de Sterke and Jacob Vrolijk acknowledged to be the parents of a daughter named Hendrika, born in 1854 in Dordrecht, although it's unlikely that Jacob really was the girl's father, because little Hendrika was not named after any of her official grandparents.
In 1857-58 Daatje gave birth to a daughter Sija and a son Pieter Jacobus, who both died young. Her husband, Jacob Vrolijk, died in Dordrecht on 19 October 1859,  aged 25, while Daatje was pregnant again. When the boy was born on 13 May 1860, he was named after his father.

Signatures of Jacob Vrolijk
and Daatje de Sterke

As a widow Daatje de Sterke gave birth to a daughter named Catharina on 11 April 1863 around 8:30 in Dordrecht. This girl died on 18 June. On 5 December 1864 around 22:00 in Dordrecht Daatje gave birth to a son named Andries Anthonie. In both cases these births were reported at the civil registry office by the midwife.

Nearly two years later, on 19 September 1866, Daatje de Sterke (31) was married to Anthoon van Leeuwen (28). They acknowledged to be the parents of Andries Anthonie. Antoon was born on 21 December 1837 in Dordrecht. His parents are Adrianus van Leeuwen and Johanna Margrita Keldermans.
During her second marriage, Daatje de Sterke had 4 children who died young, but a son named Pieter and the youngest, Hendrika, survived infancy. Daatje's eldest daughter, Hendrika Vrolijk, died at the age of 18 on 4 March 1873 in Dordrecht. In the summer of 1883 Daatje de Sterke moved to Rotterdam with her children Andries Anthonie, Pieter and Hendrika.
Of Daatje's 4 surviving children Pieter van Leeuwen (1866-1959) was the first to marry in 1887. Andries Anthonie van Leeuwen married in 1888. Jacob Vrolijk, a supervisor in the navy, was married in 1891. The last to marry was Daatje's youngest daughter Hendrika van Leeuwen who was married on 26-10-1898 in Rotterdam to Johannes George Vrolijk. The groom and the bride's half-siblings all descend from the couple Johannes George Vrolijk (±1782-1833) and Maaike Kraan (±1782-1857).

De Maasbode (newspaper), 13-3-1929

In Dordrecht on 6 June 1894 Anthoon van Leeuwen died, aged 56. This time Daatje de Sterke was a widow for nearly 35 years. Daatje died on 10 March 1929 in Rotterdam, 94 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old. Her son Pieter van Leeuwen would reach the age of 92 years. Another son, Andries Anthonie van Leeuwen, died on 29 January 1959 in Rotterdam, 94 years, 1 month and 25 days old.

These are the children of Daatje de Sterke:

1. Hendrika Vrolijk was born on 24-10-1854 in Dordrecht as Hendrika de Sterke. She was officially registered at her mother’s first marriage certificate as being a child of Jacob Vrolijk, although it’s not likely that he is her biological father. Hendrika died on 4-3-1873 in Dordrecht. 
2. Sija Vrolijk was born on 16-1-1857 in Dordrecht. Sija died there on 27-10-1857.
3. Pieter Jacobus Vrolijk was born on 16-2-1858 in Dordrecht. He died there on 3-3-1859. 
4. Jacob Vrolijk was born posthumously on 13-5-1860 around 15:00 in Dordrecht. He was a supervisor in the navy when he married Maria Cornelia Johanna Victoor on 19-11-1891 in Amsterdam. She a widow. Her first husband was Johannes Dominicus Jansen. Her parents are Poulina Rouquand and Hendricus Johannes Victoor. Her death was reported on 4-1-1931 in Amsterdam. She was survived by Jacob Vrolijk who was 80 years old at the time. They had a son Jacob Vrolijk (1897-1955).
5. Catharina de Sterke was born on 11-4-1863 around 8:30 in Dordrecht. She died there on 18-6-1863 around 18:00.
6. Andries Anthonie van Leeuwen was born as Andries Anthonie de Sterke on 5-12-1864 around 22:00 in Dordrecht. He was officially registered at his mother’s second marriage certificate as being a child of Anthoon van Leeuwen. Andries Anthonie was married on 19-12-1888 in Rotterdam to Cornelia Paar, daughter of Pieter Paar and Alida Schallenberg. They had children. Andries Anthonie died as a widower on 29-1-1959 in Rotterdam, at the age of 94. 
7. Pieter van Leeuwen was born on 5-10-1866 around 16:00 in Dordrecht. Pieter was married on 1-6-1887 in Rotterdam to Antonetta van Beest, daughter of Pieter van Beest and Sophia Blokland. They had children. Pieter died on 14-4-1959 in Rotterdam, at the age of 92. 
8. Daatje van Leeuwen was born on 24-11-1868 in Dordrecht. She died there on 1-4-1873, at the age of 4. 
9. Anthoon van Leeuwen was born on 10-2-1871 in Dordrecht. He died there on 4-1-1873. 
10. Adriana van Leeuwen was born on 6-8-1872 in Dordrecht. She died there 17-9-1873.
11. Anthoon van Leeuwen was born on 28-2-1875 in Dordrecht. He died there on 21-2-1882, at the age of 6. 
12. Hendrika van Leeuwen was born on 11-4-1879 in Dordrecht. Hendrika was married on 26-10-1898 in Rotterdam to Johannes George Vrolijk. He was born on 7-8-1877 in Rotterdam. His parents are Willem Vrolijk (1853-1920) and his first wife Geesien Marree (1854-1897). Johannes George Vrolijk died on 24-3-1962 in Rotterdam, leaving Hendrika a widow at the age of 62. He had children with Hendrika. 

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, RegionaalArchiefDordrecht.nl.