Jacob Grandia (1822-68), an orphan in Pella

Pella in Marion County in Iowa was founded in 1847 when some 800 Dutch immigrants - led by minister Hendrik Pieter (“Henry”) Scholte - settled the area. Among them was 24-year old Jacob Grandia. He boarded the ship “Nagasaki” that departed from Rotterdam on 11 April 1847 with 239 passengers on board. Two persons died at sea, and one person was born at sea. Subsequently, on the trip to Iowa, even more people died.

Jacob Grandia was travelling alone, because his siblings had died young, and both his parents had died, too. Jacob was born on 1 September 1822 in 's-Gravendeel, Holland. His parents are Jillis Grandia (1794-1826) and Maria van Bezooijen (1792-1843), daughter of Jacob van Bezooijen (1736-1803) and his wife Geertruij Koomans.
On his father's side Jacob is a descendant of my ancestor Sebastiaen Geraerts Grandia who lived in Brakel in The Netherlands. The family name Grandia most likely originated in Spain. The first Grandia likely arrived in the Low Countries as a soldier in the Spanish army during the Dutch Eighty Years' War with Spain.

Pella, Iowa

On 19 February 1850 in Pella, Jacob married Marie Colyn, daughter of Leendert Colyn. They were blessed with 12 children, and 9 of them survived infancy. Their names are Jillis, Anthonie, Leendert (1853-1917), John, Jacob jr. (1857-1829), Abraham, Maria, Trijntje and Elizabeth (1868-1934).
Jacob was farming on the border of Lake Praire Township, Marion County, and Black Oak Township, in Mahaska County, both in Iowa.
Jacob died at the age of 45 on 19 May 1868, and was buried at “Porter Grove Cemetery” in Harvey, Marion County. His widow Marie survived him for 41 years, and remarried. Her second husband may have been Aart van Zante Sr. (1815-1894), widower of Maria van Zee (1819-1879). Marie died on 21 May 1909. Her birth had been on 29 December 1827 in Heukelum in The Netherlands.
In 1883 Jacob jr. send a letter to a Dutch cousin, mentioning his surviving siblings, and the remarriage of his mother.

Grave of Jacob Grandia jr.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, FindAGrave.com, Dutch Immigrants that followed Scholte, WeRelate.org, Pella Community Memory Database, IAGenWeb.org. Further reading: Grandia Family History, Geni.com.