Revisited - Barend Verkerk (1823-1905) and family

Recently I wrote about the marriage of Barend Verkerk (1823-1905) and his first cousin Aartje Verkerk who were both illegitimate children. Barend was a little man with a height of around 121 cm. His face and chin were rounded, and his mouth was small. His eyes were blue, his eyebrows were blond, and his head was bald. Because Barend was so small, he did not have to do military service.
His height was not the only striking thing about Barend. Before Barend’s birth, the name Barend was not in use in the Verkerk family of Ammerstol and Bergambacht. Thus, it’s likely Barend was named after his unknown father.

What we do know is that Barend Verkerk was born on 28 June 1823 in Ammerstol as an illegitimate son of Geertje Verkerk (1793-1842) who had been widowed since 31 July 1818. You can find a small family tree of Geertje’s parents and grandparents in my previous blog post about Barend’s marriage.
We don’t know what Barend’s mother Geertje looked like, but she had 3 brothers who were described when they were conscripted for military service, and they all had brown eyes with black eyebrows and black hair:

• Pieter Verkerk (1781-1855) had a height of around 150 cm. He was round-faced with a broad forehead, a small nose and a rounded chin. His eyes were brown and his hair and eyebrows were black. 
• Arij Verkerk (1784-1834) had a height of around 136 cm. He was narrow-faced with a flat forehead, a small nose and a rounded chin. His eyes were brown and his hair and eyebrows were black. He had rings in his ears.
• Jan Verkerk (1799-1849) had a height of around 141 cm. His face was oval-shaped with a high forehead, big nose, and rounded chin. His eyes were brown and his hair and eyebrows were black. His skin was pockmarked.

At the WieWasWie.nl website I found one man with the Christian name Barend who was living in Ammerstol at the time of Barent's birth: Barend Zaanen. Barend Zaanen was born on 27 November and baptized on 3 December 1797 in Ammerstol. His parents are Anna Verschoor (1778-1809) and Willem Saanen (1772-1811). Barend’s great-grandfather is my ancestor Willem Saan.
At the age of 25, Barend Zaanen was married on 26 July 1823 in Ammerstol to 22-year-old Maria Verkerk who was heavily pregnant at the time. On 11 August 1823 in Ammerstol, Maria gave birth to a daughter named Aartje. Aartje may have been named after Maria’s father Arij Verkerk who had died in 1812.
Maybe Barend Zaanen got 2 women pregnant in the winter of 1822-23: Geertje Verkerk (aged 30, who named her illegitimate son Barend) and Maria Verkerk (22) whom he married.

  Description of Barend Zaanen in 1823  

  Description of Barend Verkerk in 1850  

Barend Zaanen had a height of around 137 cm. His nose was small, he had a rounded chin, his eyes were brown and his eyebrows and hair were dark brown. He had rings in his ears. People with brown eyes and a dark hair color can get a blond and blue-eyed child if both parents have some - more or less distant - ancestors with blond hair and blue eye. So, the difference in eye and hair coloring between Barend Zaanen and Barend Verkerk does not exclude a familial relation. What both men did have in common is a rounded face and a small nose. Barend Verkerk was around 15 cm smaller than Barend Zaanen, whose height was equal to that of Barend's shortest uncle, Arij Verkerk.

Barend Zaanen had a cousin Barend Stigter (1809-1879), son of Jan Stigter and his wife Jannetje Zaanen (1784-1853). When this Barend was married at the end of 1829, he was living in Bergambacht, a village close to Ammerstol. However, when Barend Verkerk was born, Barend Sigter was just 14½ years old, and likely living with his parents in Bergambacht.

At the other side of the river in Groot-Ammers another Barend was living in the early 19th century: Barend van der Wolf was born on 5 October 1802, and thus aged 20 when Barend Verkerk was born. This Barend is a son of Jan van der Wolf and his wife Aaltje Zwijnenburg (1777-1817). He was married in the autumn of 1888 in Groot-Ammers where his children were born, too. Alas, I can't find his military file, so I don't know what he looked like.

So, we still don't know for sure who Barend Verkerk's natural father was.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, FamilySearch.org, Old Dutch length measurements.