Teunis Klootwyk (1865-1938) and his wives

Teunis (“Tunis”) Klootwyk was born on 11 August 1865 in Pella, Iowa. He is one of two sons of Johannes Klootwijk and his first wife Gezenna Maria Mathilda Krijnders. Johannes Klootwijk was born on 10 December 1836 in Kedichem in The Netherlands, as a son of an earlier Teunis Klootwijk whose 18th-century ancestors were living in Dussen in The Netherlands.
In the USA Johannes was known as "John". He married his second wife in Pella on 20 March 1879, when his eldest son Teunis was 13 years old. John Klootwijk lived to the old age of 80, and died on 16 November 1917 in Pella.

Pella, Iowa

Teunis Klootwyk married his first wife Mary de Bond on 18 December 1888. They had 7 sons in the period 1889-1902^*. Mary died, aged 34, on 13 May 1870 in Pella.

De Grondwet (newspaper), 1-11-1904

Teunis married his second wife Neeltje (“Nellie”) Toll on 29 Noember 1906 in Pella. Nellie was born on 13 july 1880 in Barendrecht, Holland. Her parents are Arie Tol (1834-19150 and his fourth wife Arendje Zevenbergen (1849-1919). Nellie arrived in the USA with her parents at the age of seventien. Her first husband was Everett van Engelenhoven (1872-1904).
In Washington Township, Iowa, Nellie and Teunis had two sons - Ira Nelson (1908-2000) and Nelson Tunis (1911-1991) - and a baby who lived for just four weeks. Nellie died on 7 September 1911, nine weeks after the birth of her youngest child.

In 1916 Teunis married his fourth wife Minnie or Jennie van Steenis. She was born on 19 February 1879 in Pella and died on 14 October 1920 in Melcher-Dallas, Iowa. She had earlier been married in 1889 to Philip Schmidt (1851-1915).

Longevity - Adrianus Roos (97)

When Adrianus Roos died on 12 December 1891 in Nieuw-Beijerland in Holland, he had reached the age of 97 years and 3½ months. Adrianus Roos had survived both his wives and 12 of his 15 children. 

Nieuwsblad gewijd aan de belangen van de Hoeksche Waard en IJselmonde, 16-12-1891

Adrianus Roos was born on 31 August 1794 in Heinenoord in Holland, and baptized there on 7 September with as witness his maternal grandmother Catharijna de Jong (±1728-1806). Adrianus' parents are Arie Roos (1766-1840) and Hermina Stolk (1762-1839). It seems that Adrianus' only sister Annigje and youngest brother Pieter both died young. His other siblings were Arie Roos (1789-1857), Jan Roos (1792-1838), Leendert Roos (1796-1872) and Gerrit Roos (1800-1832).

On 8 February 1818 in Nieuw-Beijerland Adrianus Roos married Aartje Klootwijk. Aartje was born on 17 April 1794 in Heinenoord. Her parents are Annigje Groen and Gerrit Klootwijk. Gerrit is a male-line descendant of my ancestor Aert Crijnensz. who lived around 1600.
Aartje endured 15 pregnancies. Tree children were death at birth. Tree sons, all named Gerrit, died as a baby, a fourth Gerrit died at the age of 13, while a daughter named Grietje died at the age of 1. Their other children were Annigje (69), Arij (81), Hermijna (68), Gerritje (36), Pieter (63), Elisabeth (80) and Janna (25).

On 3 July 1856 in Nieuw-Beijerland 61-year-old widower Adrianus Roos was married to 48-year-old Adriaantje van der Weijden, widow of Barend Willem Klijnsmit (1805-1847) and mother of several children. Adriaantje was born on 29 November 1807 in Nieuw-Beijerland. Her parents are Dirk van der Weijden (1769-1817) and Pietertje de Bruin (1775-1850).
After nearly 30 years of marriage, Adriaantje died in Nieuw-Beijerland on 5 February 1886, aged 78. At that time only his children Hermijna (1827-1895), Pieter (1830-1893), Elisabeth (1839-1919) and Janna (1842-1867) were still alive.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, Baptisms in 18th-century Zuid-Holland, GenealogieOnline.nl.

Arie Toll (1834-1915) and his 3 wives

When Arie Tol married his second wife Neeltje Mouthaan, it was stated in the marriage registration that his father Aart was resident in Pella in the USA. Arie Tol was born on 25 August 1834 in Nieuw-Beijerland, Holland. He was the seventh of 14 children of Aart Tol and Neesje de Jong (1804-1850). While many of his siblings had died young, Arie survived. He was 16 when his mother died, aged 46.

When Arie Tol married his second wife on 10-10-1867, his father was in Pella.

Arie Tol was first married on 7 October 1853 in Heerjansdam, Holland, to Jannetje van der Mast. She was born 14 July 1827 in ‘s-Gravendeel, Holland. Her parents are Johannes van der Mast (1792-1857) and his first wife Adriaantje Naaktgeboren (1796-1828). They had 5 children before Jannetje died on 17 January 1867 in Rhoon. Holland.

Arie Tol was remarried on 10 October 1867 in Barendrecht, Holland. His second wife, Neeltje Mouthaan, was born on 18 June 1834 in Middelharnis, Holland. She was the widow of Cornelis Tulp, and had a surviving son of her first marriage named Simon. On 1 August 1869 Neeltje gave birth to a son named Arij who died after 11 days. Neeltje died on 12 September in Haarlemmermeer.

Arie Tol married his third wife, Arendje, on 11 July 1872 in IJsselmonde, Holland. She was born on 25 April 1849 in Ridderkerk, Holland. Her parents are Arie Zevenbergen and Neeltje Schilperoort. Arendje gave birth to 7 additional children. The youngest, Annetje, was born on 26 April 1888 in Zwijndrecht, Holland.

Somewhere between 1888 and 1896, Arie Tol and his third wife Arendje left for the USA. They were accompanied by Arie’s youngest daughter with his first wife, and the five surviving children of his third marriage. They settled in Pella, Iowa, and added an extra ‘l’ to their surname. Three of his daughters married three sons of Jan van Engelenhoven (1830-1915) and his wife Jansje Hessink (1834-1881) who originated in Ede in The Netherlands.

How Geen Klootwijk descends from Geen Bakker

Genis is a quite unique first name among my ancestors. I can remember my great-uncle Genis Klootwijk at Tweede Tol, a tiny township south of Dordrecht. I descend from his sister Jannigje (“Jansje”) Klootwijk (1906-1965). They had eight other siblings of whom just one died young due to a spina bifida birth defect. Alas, none of those siblings named one of their sons Genis.
Still, in the 19th century the name Genis was repeatedly used within the Brand family of Dubbeldam.

This is how 20th-century Genis Klootwijk descends from 18th-century Geen Bakker:

1. Genis (“Geen”) Klootwijk was born on 17-2-1905 in Dubbeldam. He died op 27-3-1991 in Dordrecht and was buried there op 22-4-1991. He was married, but his marriage remained childless.
2. Adriana (“Adriaantje”) Klootwijk (1880-1965) was married in Dubbeldam in 1902 to Pieter Klootwijk (1895-1964). They had 10 children.
4. Genis Brand was born on 11-10-1857 in Wieldrecht and died in Dubbeldam on 21-9-1930. He was married on 20-3-1879 in Dubbeldam to Jannigje van Houwelingen. She was born on 9-8-1857 in Steefkerk and die don 29-3-1936 in Dordrecht. They had 11 children.
8. Arij Brand (1827-1891) was married in 1852 in Wieldrecht to Adriana Aaldijk (1832-1874). They had 13 children. 
16. Genis Brand was born on 18-2-1802 and baptized on the 21th in Dubbeldam. He was an agrarian living in a farm at the Wieldrechtsche Zeedijk in Dubbeldam. Genis died in Dubbeldam on 21-3-1844. He was married on 31-5-1823 in Dubbeldam to Willemijntje Booij. She was born on 21-3-1800, baptized on the 30th in Dubbeldam, and died on 29-5-1878 in Dubbeldam. They had 8 children. 
32. Leijsje Cornelisse Koorneef (1777-1841) was married in 1797 in Dubbeldam to Arij Huijgen Brand (1766-1837). They had 9 children.
64. Neeltje Geenen Bakker was married in 1774 in Dubbeldam to Cornelis Danielsz. Koorneef.
128. Geen Pieterse Bakker was baptized on 13-10-1709 in Ouderkerk aan den IJssel. He was married on 29-6-1732 in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht to Lijsje Jansse Wens. She was baptized in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht on 23-5-1706. 
256. Pieter Geenen was born in Stormpolder. He was married on 2-12-1700 in Zuidland to Lijsbeth Pieterse Droogendijck. She wase baptized on 8-10-1679 in Zuidland.

They were all living in Holland.

Geen Pieterse Bakker was so poor he didn't have to pay for his marriage to Lijsbet Jans Wens.

Twins: Jan & Sijtie Droogendijck were baptized on 27-8-1676

Pieter Huigensz Droogendijck married his wife Maria Jans in February 1666 in Simonshaven in Holland: 

 Pieter Huijge Droogendijck married Maria Jans in February 1666 in Simonshaven.

Their first son, Huijgh, named after Pieter's father, was born soon after their marriage, but he died young. Eight more children were to follow. Among their children was a twin: Jan and Sijtie were baptized on August 27, 1676:

The Twins Jan & Sijtie Droogendijck were baptized on 27-08-1676 in Simonshaven.

Around 1678 the couple moved to nearby Zuidland. Their daughter Lijsbeth was baptized there on October 8, 1679. On December 8, 1700 Lijsbeth married Pieter Geenen who lived in Strompolder in the vicinity of Ouderkerk aan de IJssel. Their granddaughter Neeltje Geenen Bakker was the grandmother of Genis Brand (1802-1844), who was the grandfather of another Genis Brand (1857-1930), who was the grandfather of one of my great-uncles Genis "Geen" Klootwijk (1905-1991) in Wieldrecht. 

John Klootwijk (1833-1914) of Grand Rapids

John Klootwijk of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, was born as Johannes on 16-3-1833 in Numansdorp, The Netherlands. His parents are Jacob Klootwijk (1807-1884) and Pleuntje Huijzers (±1808-1856).

Johannes married (1) on 29-2-1856 in Numansdorp a local girl, Johanna Laurina Liefting (1820-1858). She was 12½ years his senior. Johanna Laurina already had an 8-year-old daughter Johanna Cornelia and - upon marrying her - Johannes claimed to be the child's father, although he had been a teenager at the time of her birth. In 3 years time Johanna Laurina gave birth to 3 more children, but they all died young. Johanna Laurina died 17 days after the birth of her youngest child on 29-10-1858.