Surname Line With the Longest Stay in a Locality

On his Genea-Musings Blog, Randy Seaver wrote about a Surname Line With the Longest Stay in a Locality. Many of my ancestors lived for several generations in the city of Dordrecht, on an island named the "Hoeksche Waard", and also in an area known as the "Langstraat" (a small protestant area, surrounded by a much larger catholic area). Most of my ancestors all used to live in Holland, a geographical region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands, so lines of ancestors in one region is not a challenge for me at all. Therefore I've made a line of ancestors (a) living in one city, Dordrecht, (b) living on one island, the Hoeksche Waard, and (c) living in one village, Strijen.

On my mother's side I've got family that has been living for 9 generations in the city of Dordrecht:

1. Baerthout Pietersz de Sterke was born in Gouda and moved to Dordrecht; his son is
2. Matthijs Baerthoudsz de Sterke who was baptised in Dordrecht and lived there; his son is
3. Baerthout Thijssen de Sterke (1640-1712) who was born in Dordrecht and lived there; his son is
4. Pieter Baerthoutsz de Sterke (1672-1716) who was born in Dordrecht and moved in 1706 to Rotterdam; his son is 
5. Pieter de Sterke (1705-1769) who was born in Dordrecht and lived there; his son is 
6. David de Sterke (1733-1797) who was born in Dordrecht and lived there; his son is 
7. Pieter de Sterke (1765-1842) who was born in Dordrecht and lived there; his son is 
8. Arie de Sterke (1796-1892) who was born in Dordrecht and lived there; his daughter is
9. Adriana de Sterke (1828-1917) who was born and lived in Dordrecht. She is my great-great-grandmother.

My paternal ancestors all lived on an island named the Hoeksche Waard. It's located to the west of the city of Dordrecht, and to the south of the city of Rotterdam. Around 1600 my Bos family was living in Puttershoek in the north of the island. After the reclamation of a new polder at the south of the island, my paternal ancestors moved to the new village of Numansdorp. In the early 19th century my paternal ancestors moved to a dike just south of the tiny village of Cillaarshoek. Finally, my father moved to the nearby village of Strijen near the end of his life.
My paternal ancestral line has 12 generations on one island:

1. Gijsbert Gerrits Boschman lived around 1600 in Puttershoek in the Hoeksche Waard, an island. He is the father of
2. Gijsbert Cornelisse Bos who lived in Numansdorp in the early 17th century. He is the father of
3. Cornelis Gijsberts Bos (1655-1731) who was born in Numansdorp, and lived there. He is the father of
4. Leendert Cornelisse Bos (1693- ±1725) who was born in Numansdorp, and lived there. He is the father of
5. Cent Leenderts Bos (1723-1783) who was born in Numansdorp, and lived there. He is the father of
6. Leendert Cente Bos (1755-1830) who was born in Numansdorp, and moved to Cillaarshoek, both in the Hoeksche Waard. He is the father of
7. Cent Leenderts Bos (±1788-1869) who was born in Numansdorp, and lived in Cillaarshoek, both in the Hoeksche Waard. He is the father of
8. Cornelis Bos (1813-1888) who was born in Cillaarshoek and lived there. He is the father of
9. Teunis Bos (1853-1923) who was born in Cillaarshoek and lived there. He is the father of
10. Hendrik Bos (1901-1985) who was born in Cillaarshoek and lived there. He is the father of
11. Teunis Pieter Bos (1929-2021) who was born in Cillaarshoek and lived there, and - at the end of his life - in nearby Strijen, both in the Hoeksche Waard. He is the father of
12. me; I grew up in Cillaarshoek in the Hoeksche Waard, an island.

Longevity ~ Daatje de Sterke (94) in Dordrecht

Daatje de Sterke was born on Sunday December 14, 1834, around 1 o'clock in the afternoon in Werkendam in The Netherlands. Her parents are Pieter de Sterke (1794-1888) and his 29-year-old second wife Adriana de Vries (1806-1881). Adriana had been an illegitimate daughter of Jannigje de Vries, abandoned wife of Cornelis van Aalst. Daatje's paternal grandparents are my ancestors Pieter de Sterke (1765-1842) and Adriana Knikman (1766-1804).

Jacob Vrolijk was a blacksmith

Daatje de Sterke was first married on 16 May 1855 in Dordrecht to blacksmith Jacob Vrolijk. Jacob was born on 27 August 1834 in Dordrecht. His parents are blacksmith Jacobus Vrolijk and his wife Sija van der Koog. This Sija is named after her grandmother Sija Brand (±1758-1803) who married Willem van der Koog (1734-1809). As a result, Sija van der Koog is a descendant of both my ancestors Jacobus van der Koogh (1710-1793) and Jillis Jacobsen Brand.
Upon their marriage Daatje de Sterke and Jacob Vrolijk acknowledged to be the parents of a daughter named Hendrika, born in 1854 in Dordrecht, although it's unlikely that Jacob really was the girl's father, because little Hendrika was not named after any of her official grandparents.
In 1857-58 Daatje gave birth to a daughter Sija and a son Pieter Jacobus, who both died young. Her husband, Jacob Vrolijk, died in Dordrecht on 19 October 1859,  aged 25, while Daatje was pregnant again. When the boy was born on 13 May 1860, he was named after his father.

Signatures of Jacob Vrolijk
and Daatje de Sterke

As a widow Daatje de Sterke gave birth to a daughter named Catharina on 11 April 1863 around 8:30 in Dordrecht. This girl died on 18 June. On 5 December 1864 around 22:00 in Dordrecht Daatje gave birth to a son named Andries Anthonie. In both cases these births were reported at the civil registry office by the midwife.

Nearly two years later, on 19 September 1866, Daatje de Sterke (31) was married to Anthoon van Leeuwen (28). They acknowledged to be the parents of Andries Anthonie. Antoon was born on 21 December 1837 in Dordrecht. His parents are Adrianus van Leeuwen and Johanna Margrita Keldermans.
During her second marriage, Daatje de Sterke had 4 children who died young, but a son named Pieter and the youngest, Hendrika, survived infancy. Daatje's eldest daughter, Hendrika Vrolijk, died at the age of 18 on 4 March 1873 in Dordrecht. In the summer of 1883 Daatje de Sterke moved to Rotterdam with her children Andries Anthonie, Pieter and Hendrika.
Of Daatje's 4 surviving children Pieter van Leeuwen (1866-1959) was the first to marry in 1887. Andries Anthonie van Leeuwen married in 1888. Jacob Vrolijk, a supervisor in the navy, was married in 1891. The last to marry was Daatje's youngest daughter Hendrika van Leeuwen who was married on 26-10-1898 in Rotterdam to Johannes George Vrolijk. The groom and the bride's half-siblings all descend from the couple Johannes George Vrolijk (±1782-1833) and Maaike Kraan (±1782-1857).

De Maasbode (newspaper), 13-3-1929

In Dordrecht on 6 June 1894 Anthoon van Leeuwen died, aged 56. This time Daatje de Sterke was a widow for nearly 35 years. Daatje died on 10 March 1929 in Rotterdam, 94 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old. Her son Pieter van Leeuwen would reach the age of 92 years. Another son, Andries Anthonie van Leeuwen, died on 29 January 1959 in Rotterdam, 94 years, 1 month and 25 days old.

Longevity ~ Pieter Knikman (94) in Dordrecht

Pieter Knikman, aged 94 years and 9 months, died on July 2, 1854, in Dordrecht, Holland. He had been a widower for 10 years, and was survived by his daughters Margrita Recourt-Knikman and Maria Sillevis-Knikman.

Dordrechtsche Courant, 4-7-1854

Pieter Knikman was baptized on October 10, 1759, in Dordrecht. He was the eldest son of my ancestors Arij Knikman (1730-1778) and Maria de Sterke (1730-1806). He had siblings named Johanna (1758-1839), Jacoba, David (1763-1794), Adriana, Elizabeth, Margaretha and Adam (1775-1849).
When his father died in 1778, Pieter was aged 18. He was the first of his siblings to marry when he tied the knot on June 15, 1783, in Dordrecht with Geertruij Botvis, a girl living in the same street. They were assisted by both their widowed mothers.

Geertruij Botvis was baptized on May 27, 1759, in Dordrecht as a younger daughter of Willem Botvis (†1783) and Margrita ("Grietie") van der Heijden (†1801). Over the period 1785-1793 Pieter Knikman and Geertruij Botvis had 5 children baptized: Arie, Margrita, Maaijke (twice) and Willem. Both their boys seem to have died young. Margrita, baptized on May 2, 1787, and Maaijke, baptizes on January 2, 1793, both in Dordrecht, both survived infancy.

Dagblad van Zuid-Holland en 
's-Gravenhage, 27-5-1864

In 1807 Pieter Knikman was still living in the Kolfstraat in Dordrecht. He was a skipper by profession. On July 30, 1808, in nearby Dubbeldam Pieter's daughter Margrita was married to Jacobus Recourt. They were to have children named Antonetta, Pieter and Willem Recourt.
Pieter Knikman and Geertruij Botvis were both present when their other daughter, Maaijke, was married on August 10, 1815, in Dordrecht to skipper Leendert Sillevis who had been born in The Hague. This couple was to have children named Pieter, Leendert, Willem, Gerradus, Maria and Geertruida Sillevis.

Somehow Pieter Knikman was in Aalburg near Heusden in Brabant, when his wife died in Dordrecht on November 24, 1843, around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, aged 84. When Pieter Knikman died at the age of 94, only one of his siblings was still alive. His sister Elizabeth died a month after her brother on August 9, 1854, in Dordrecht. Pieter's son-in-law Jacobus Recourt died on July 15, 1859, aged 76. Jacobus' widow, Margrita Knikman, died on March 21, 1864. Pieter's other son-in-law, Leendert Sillevis, died on December 28, 1863. Leendert's widow, Maria Knikman, died on November 25, 1879, in Dordrecht, aged 86.

Sources: Dordrecht Archive, Delpher Newspapers.

Four Degrees of Separation

Randy Seaver offered the following Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge:

Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with FOUR degrees of separation? That means “you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor, who knew another ancestor, who knew another ancestor.” When was that fourth ancestor born?

That's not an easy challenge, for my oldest grandparent, my maternal grandfather, was born when all his grandparents had already died, so I had to pick another grandparent. With my paternal grandfather I had the same issue. Then I stumbled upon missing ancestors because I have a lot of ancestors in places with missing baptism records like Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Sint-Anthoniepolder, Wieldrecht and 's-Gravendeel, all in Holland. 

W.C. Zijderveld
(1892-1976)

I also found out that to establish this line, and make sure they knew each other, I had to turn the definition around into "that ancestor knew that descendant" for a baby or toddler may not remember someone.

Here is my line:

1. I knew my maternal grandmother Willempje Cornelia Zijderveld (1892-1976).
2. She knew her maternal grandmother Adriana de Sterke (1829-1917).
3. Adriana knew her paternal grandfather Pieter de Sterke (1765-1842).
4. His double grandmother Lijsbet Kevers (1703-1767) knew him. Pieter was Lijsbeth's grandson both through her daughter Maria de Sterke (1730-1806) and her son David de Sterke (1733-1797). 

They were all born in Dordrecht in Holland.

I want to thank Randy Seaver and Yvette Hoitink for the inspiration.

Arie de Sterke (1796-1892), my hero ancestor

I've found a real hero amongst my ancestors! His name is Arie de Sterke (1796-1892). On 24-7-1865 Arie received a decoration for his efforts in the 1813-1815 wars against Napoleon Bonaparte. He fought for the Prince of Orange, later King Willem II, in the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

The Prince of Orange, later King Willem II, with Durch soldiers in Belgium.

At the age of 15 Arie de Sterke had joined Napoleon's army to fight in Russia. He went as far as Smolensk on the Dnieper River. As the Russian army retreated, they burned the remaining stores of food, depriving the French of provisions and, finally, in October, forced its retreat. A lack of grass weakened the army's remaining horses, almost all of which died or were killed for food by starving soldiers. Napoleon abandoned his army on 5 December, returning home on a sleigh. The surviving soldiers of his army had to walk back to Western Europe. One of them was Arie de Sterke.

The army's retreat from Russia was full of hardships.

Arie's surname means "The Strong One" and he certainly seems to have been a strong man, both physically and mentally. Back in The Netherlands he fought for the Prince of Orange, later Dutch King William II, at the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo against Napoleon.

Arie was baptized on November 16, 1796, in Dordrecht as a younger son of Pieter de Sterke (1765-1842) and his first wife, Adriana Knikman (1766-1804). Arie was married, on April 6, 1825, in Dordrecht, to Hendrika Pieters Faassen, and acknowledged to be the father of Hendrika's 10-month-old son Pieter. Within their marriage Hendrika gave birth to 8 additional children. Five sons and a daughter survived infancy and married. Hendrika died in 1871.



Dordrechtsche Courant, 15-6-1890: Arie de Sterke is mentioned with his son-in-law.

In 1890, at the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, 93-year-old Arie de Sterke was still alive, living with his daughter Adriana and her husband, Frans Langeweg (1836-1915), in Hof Toulonschelaan in Dordrecht. The street was decorated, he received some money, and a lot of people came to visit. Although elderly, Arie was still in good health, able to walk around and sound of mind. He died on August 8, 1892, aged 95.

De Nederlandstalige versie van dit verhaal kun je hier lezen:            

Voorouder Arie de Sterke (1796-1892) vocht bij Waterloo