Divorce and longevity for Johanna Schenk in Gouda

Gouda

Johanna Schenk was born in Gouda, Holland, on 18 January 1853. His parents are Dirk Schenk (1822-1872) and his first wife Maria Elselina van Omme (1824-1862) who were living at the Naaijerstraat in Gouda. Johanna had several siblings, but only Jacoba Maria Elselina (1850-1905) and Cornelis seem to have survived infancy. Cornelis, the youngest, was born in Gouda on 14 August 1856. Their mother Maria Elselina died in Gouda on 11 January 1862, just before Johanna's 11th birthday, while Cornelis was 5 years old.
Dirk Schenk married his second wife on 20 May 1863 in Gouda. She was born there on 23 April 1829 as Margaretha Cornelia, daughter of Hendrik Johannes Verblaauw and Lucretia Vermeulen. Dirk and Margaretha Cornelia had some additional children, but they all died young. Dirk Schenk died in Gouda on 3 February 1872, when his Johanna was 19 years old.

Unmarried Jacoba Maria Elselina Schenk brought 3 babies to their grave in Gouda the period 1875-1881. Her younger brother Cornelis married Catharina Dingena van Vliet (1860-1931) on 18 August 1880 in Gouda, and fathered children with his wife.
Their younger sister Johanna Schenk moved to Amsterdam where she gave birth to a son Leonardus on 16 October 1876. The baby likely died young. Another son, Jacobus Leonardus, was born in Amsterdam on 2 January 1878 around 13:00. Early 1884, Johanna was nursed for 93 days in the Binnengasthuis hospital in Amsterdam. On 18 June of that year, around 18:00, in Amsterdam Johanna Schenk gave birth to a daughter Johanna Helena.
Johanna Schenk married Leonardus Smal on 4 August 1886 in her hometown Gouda. The couple also acknowledged that Johanna Helena is their daughter. Thus, the girl's surname was changed from Schenk to Smal. Johanna's son Jacobus Leonardus Schenk had moved with her to Rotterdam, too.
Leonardus Smal was born on 10 July 1845. In the 1850s he had lived in an orphanage in Amersfoort. In 1882 in Amsterdam, Leonardus suffered severe burns to his back, arm and head when a kerosene lamp fell over.

Curiously, it wasn't until 28 September 1895 that Johanna Schenk gave birth to another child, Francisca Johanna. The birth notification was made by the midwife, because Johanna's husband had been removed from their shared home. Johanna youngest child, Dirk, was born on 3 February 1897, also in Gouda. Her husband was still absend, so this birth notification was made by the midwife, too. Dirk must have been named after Johanna's father.
Since 22 October 1895, grocer Franciscus Gregorowitch was living at the same address as Johanna and her children. He was born in Dordrecht on 23 July 1864 as son of Severin Hermann Julius Gregorowitsch and Adriana Hamers. Franciscus may have been the father of the younger two children.

Photograph of Leonardus Smal

Description of Leonardus Smal

In 1900 Leonardus Smal was arrested for vagrancy. He was send to a reform housing colony for the poor and homeless in Veenhuizen. By then his hair was grey, as were his eyes. Leonardus had a length of 172 cm.
In May 1905 Leonardus was present at the marriage of Johanna Helena, the daughter acknowledged by him as his own. The groom's father, however, couldn't attend the wedding, because he was locked up in madhouse “Endegeest” in Oegstgeest, Holland.

In 1912 Johanna Schenk filed for divorce. By then Leonardus' whereabouts were unknown, so she was granted a divorce on 21 April 1913 in The Hague on grounds of desertion. On 11 March 1914 in Gouda 61-year-old Johanna Schenk married 49-year-old Franciscus Gregorowitch, her companion since October 1895. Witnesses were his brother, Frederik Karel Gregorowitsch, and Johanna's son-in-law, the husband of her daughter Johanna Helena Smal.

The family of Johanna Schenk in Gouda

At the age of 75, Franciscus Gregorowitsch died - after a long illness - on 4 January 1940 in Gouda. Johanna Schenk survived her younger husband for over 9 years. She died in Gouda on 12 november 1949, aged 96. On 15 April 1950 in Gouda Johanna's younger brother Cornelis died at the age of 93.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, SAMH.nl, DrentsArchief.nl, Delpher.nl, Archief Amsterdam website.