Evert van der Vorst moved from Cleves to Rotterdam

Evert van der Vorst, his brother Jan and their sister Sibille were all born in Cleves, Germany. The tree siblings all had children baptized named Adolph(us) and (He)Lena which are likely their parents names.

View of Cleves in Germany

Evert van der Vorst was married in Rotterdam on 1 May 1680. His bride was Aaghtjen van der Horst, born in Utrecht. Aeghtjen van der Horst was likely baptized on 27 January 1656 in Utrecht with parents Adriaen (“Arien”) van der Horst and Adriaentjen (Jacobs) Schoeriens.
In the spring of 1686 and the autumn of 1689 Evert and Aalghtjen were living in de Breestraet in Rotterdam. On 3 December 1686 in Rotterdam Aeghtie van der Vorst [=Horst] and Arijaentie van Dooren were witnesses at the baptism of Ariaentie, a daughter of Jacobus van Dooren and Maddaleentie Wassenbergh in the Bruggensteegh (an alley) in Rotterdam.

Evert and Aaltgen had the following children:

1. Helena was baptized on 26 June 1681 in Rotterdam with witnesses Lijsbeth van der Vorst and Jan van der Vorst^*.
2. Adrianus was baptized on 28 January 1683 in Rotterdam with witnesses Arijaentie van Dooren and Jacob van Dooren^**. Adrianus was married on 22 May 1708 in Rotterdam to Martijntje Admiraal of Rotterdam. They were the parents of a.o. Aegie and Evert. Martijntje Admiraal was remarried in 1721 in Rotterdam to Philippus van der Spek.
3. Adolphus was baptized on 6 August 1684 in Rotterdam with witnesses David van Verneij (and his wife) Sebille van der Vorst and Lijsbet van der Vorst. Evert was married on 20 September 1718 in Rotterdam to Anna den Harder of Rotterdam. They had a son Evert baptized on 6 July 1721 in Rotterdam with witnesses Cornelis van der Smisse, Sebilla van der Vorst and Elisabeth van der Smisse. Adolph van der Vorst, husband of Anna den Harder, was buried in Rotterdam on 10 June 1726, leaving 2 young children. His widow married Cornelis de Vries in 1729.
4. Lena was baptized on 24 March 1686 in Rotterdam with witnesses Jan van der Vorst and Gerretie van der Vorst.
5. A baby in the autumn of 1689, possibly stillborn.

Aaghtjen van der Horst was buried with a small child in her arms on 8 October 1689 in Rotterdam. She was survived by 4 small children.

Jan van der Linden (1838-1902) of Dubbeldam in Pella

Jan van der Linden was born on 26 April 1811 in Dubbeldam, Holland. His parents are Willem Willems van der Linden (1773-1822) and Maaike Aries Kleinjan (±1775-1822). Jan is a male-line descendant of my ancestor Dirrick Dirricxe van der Linden (±1620- ±1676) of Strijen, Holland. Jan's mother, too, is related to several of my ancestors.
On 5 February 1834 in 's-Gravendeel, Holland, Jan was married to Lijpje Moret. She was born there on 30 May 1813. Her parents are Leendert Moret (±1784-1865) and his first wife Maria Snijders (±1787-1823). In 's-Gravendeel Lijpje gave birth to six children in the period 1835-45, but two of them died young.

Rotterdamsche Courant, 6 April 1847

In Rotterdam in 1847, painter Jan van der Linden (36), his wife Lijpje (34) and their 4 remaining children Leendert (9), Maaike (6), Willem (4) and Marinus (1) boarded the ship "Nagasaki". The schip's captain was F.A. Bunnemeijer. Departure from Rotterdam was on 11 April 1847 with 239 passengers on board. Two persons died at sea, and one person was born at sea. 
The ship’s cleanliness was not to Dutch standards. Almost immediately its inhabitants—both men and women—cleaned the ship from top to bottom. Religious services were held daily, consisting mostly of psalm singing. The ship passed the Isle of Wight on April 27. They arrived in Baltimore in the U.S.A. on 10 June 1847. 
From Baltimore, the arriving colonists took the train to Columbia, Pennsylvania, where they were herded onto overcrowded canal boats. At Pittsburgh, they were transported down the Ohio River to St. Louis. Although the colony had lost a few members at sea and four on the trip from Baltimore, many more died in the extreme heat of St. Louis. Adding to their troubles were reports that had preceded them that the colonists were “possessors of great wealth”. Merchants over-charged them; townspeople came to gawk at them; and the colonists were worried about being robbed.
It was a curious procession of colonists that subsequently made its way to the Des Moines River valley. As part of the prairie, wave after wave of grass grew as far as the eye could see, studded with wildflowers of every color. On 26 August 1847 they arrived at a place where stood a pole with a shingle nailed to the top, and on the shingle one word: "PELLA".

Pella, Iowa

In the U.S.A. Jan and Leipje seem to have had some additional daughters. For example, a daughter named Maria Aaltje was born on 31 March 1851 in Lake Prairie, Marion County, Iowa. Jan van der Linden died on 11 October 1895 and was buried in Pella. His wife had died 9 months earlier on 10 January. Their son Leendert was known in Pella as Lane VanderLinden (1838-1902).

Sources: wiewaswie.nl, delpher.nl, terlouw.voorouders.net, erfskipterpdoarpen.nl, pellahistorical.org, geni.com, werelate.org. 

Magdalena Lauf (±1803-1881) in Limburg, The Netherlands

Johan Adolf (“Johannes”) Laufs/Lauff and his wife Anna Elisabeth Hanser/Hanssen/Hensen originated in Germany. Anna Elisabeth Henssen, aged 66, wife of Jan Adolf  “Loef”, died on November 3, 1828, in Melick near Herckenbosch in Limburg. Her parents were Frans Hansen and Maria Gertrudis.
Johannes Lauf and Anna Elisabeth Hansen are the parents of

• Likely Theresia Lauf who was born in Nieuwenhagen around 1794. She married Willem Swachöfer (±1802-1875), another German, and had children named Bastiaan and Catharina. Theresia Lauf died in Venray, Limburg, The Netherlands, on April 5, 1874, aged 67.
• Johan Lauf was baptised on June 20, 1805, in Paderborn, Germany. He married Anna Maria Hülskens and had issue. Johan died, aged 87, on November 11, 1891, in Venray, Limburg.
• Thobias Lauf was born around 1797 in Wesel, Germany. He died in Nederweert, Limburg, The Netherlands, on January 30, 1826.
• Magdalena Lauf(f) was born around 1803 in Nieuwenhagen and married Jacob Swakhoven (see below).
• Julienne Lauf was born around 1810 in Krefeld, Germany. She was married in 1842 in Delft to Werner Stranz, born around 1789 in Allrath, Germany. His parents are Peter Stranz and Margaretha Wehres. Julienne Lauf died on Janaury 20, 1886, in Rotterdam, aged 73. Her daughter Maria Theresia Stranz was to reach the age of 90. 

Jacob Swakhoven (possibly Swachöfer) was born on September 25, 1805, and originated in Germany, too; his place of birth is described as “Harteveld”. Jacob Swakhoven’s occupation was scissors sharpener. Jacob married Magdalena Lauf, daughter of Johan Adolf Lauf and Anna Elisabeth Hansen. Among their children are Johannes Tobias (born in 1825), Geertrui, Theresia Maria (born in 1826) and Gerard (born in 1844). 
Their daughter Geertrui Swakhoven was born on April 29, 1831, in Horst, Limburg. Geertrui married Petrus Maassen on June 10, 1850, in Venray. Petrus was born on July 5, 1828, in Berlicum, Brabant, The Netherlands, and he was living in Schaijk, Brabant. His parents are Pieter Maassen and Petronella van Hynsbergen.
Geertrui Swakhoven and Petrus Maassen are the parents of Theodoor Maassen (1852-1908) who is an ancestor of Theo Maassen, a Dutch comedian and actor.

Death of Magdalena Lauf

Jacob Swakhoven died on March 21, 1872, in Venray. His widow, Magdalena Lauf, died on February 3, 1881, in Venray, aged 77. Petrus Maassen died on June 25, 1883, in Blerick, close to Venlo. His widow, Geertrui Swakhoven, died that same year on December 29 in Venlo, aged 52.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, RooyNet.nl, CBG.nl. See also: GenealogieOnline.nl.