Longevity ~ Willem Molendijk (91) in Mijnsheerenland

Willem Molendijk was 91 years old when he died on 25-5-1885 in Mijnsheerenland in Holland. He had been a widower for just 2 years for he had lost his wife on 25-1-1883.

Nieuwsblad, gewijd aan de belangen van de Hoeksche Waard,  IJselmonde, Kralingen & Vlaardingen, 7-5-1885

Willem Molenldijk was born on 10-5-1794 in ‘s-Gravendeel in Holland as the eldest son of Cornelis Molendijk (1772-1854) and his wife Trijntje Niemandsverdriet (1772-1853). Willem's paternal grandparents are Willem Molendijk (1736-1800) and his wife Lijsbeth (“Leijsje”) Molendijk (1743-1802). Willem's paternal great-grandparents are Adriaan Molendijk (1703-1773) and his wife Luijcksje Molendijk (±1711-1793). This Molendijk family had many branches, all descending from a Goossen Ariensz. who was married in 1689 in Ridderkerk in Holland.

Signatures of Willem Molendijk and Jannigje
van Prooijen and both their fathers.

At the age of 34, Willem Molendijk married Jannigje van Prooijen on 14-5-1828 in ‘s-Gravendeel. Jannigje was born there on 17-12-1805 as a younger daughter of Leendert van Prooijen (±1766-1843) and his first wife Aagje den Boer (1770-1809). This couple had 8 children who reached adulthood, but only 3 of them – Lijntje, Maria and Jannigje - were married. As a widower, Jannigje’s father Leendert was to remarry in 1812 in ‘s-Gravendeel. Leendert’s second wife was Lijntje Molendijk (1764-1842), widow of Jan van der Linden (†1810) and daughter of Cornelis Molendijk (±1735-1784).

Jannigje van Prooijen and Willem Molendijk had a stillborn son in May 1829. Soon, however, they had two daughters: Aagje, born on 18-4-1830, and Trijntje, born on 29-5-1831 in Mijnsheerenland. Nearly eight years later, a son Cornelis was born on 24-1-1839. Their youngest daughter Lijntje died on 3-2-1850, aged seven.

For years it looked as if their tree surviving children would remain unmarried. Finally, their daughter Trijntje Molendijk, aged 40, was married in Mijnsheerenland on 17-5-1872. The groom was Jan Bestebroer (1834-1881), widower of Maria van Driel (1836-1871). Jan had four children with his first wife and two additional children with Trijntje Molendijk: Jannigje and Cornelis Willem Bestebroer who both reached adulthood. Trijntje lost her husband on 14-3-1881 in Sint Anthoniepolder, Holland. After a long illness, Trijntje’s stepdaughter Sija Bestebroer, aged just 16, followed her father on 25-10-1881. Another stepdaughter, Aagje Bestebroer, was also ill. She was living with and taken care of by her widowed aunt Grietje Bestebroer (1832-1910). Aagje died on 12-2-1885 in Oud-Beijerland. Trijntje Molendijk survived her husband for 45½, dying on 26-11-1926 in Maasdam, aged 95 - even older than her father. Trijntje's brother Cornelis had died on 26-4-1900 in Mijnsheerenland. Her sister Aagje had died there on 9-5-1905.

Nieuwsblad, gewijd aan de belangen van de Hoeksche Waard, 

IJselmonde, Kralingen & Vlaardingen, 27-5-1885

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, Delpher.nl.