4 times Cornelis Hendrik Zijderveld in Rotterdam

On 3 September 1913 the body of Cornelis Hendrik Zijderveld (28) was found in the River Maas in Rotterdam. He used to work with ore. Newspapers of that date report that a 28-year-old docker was doing a job on the steamship “Bacchus”, when he fell overboard and drowned. His body was recovered on the same day.

Death registration of Cornelis Hendrik Zijderveld on 5-9-1913 in Rotterdam.

De Amsterdammer (Newspaper), 4-9-1913

De Courant (Newspaper), 4-9-1913

This Cornelis Hendrik Zijderveld (III) was married on 9 September 1908 in Rotterdam to Geertruida Weiss (19). She was born on Rotterdam on 2 January 1889 in Rotterdam as daughter of Helena Johanna Seelbach and Georg Weiss (who was born in Buurmalsen in The Netherlands).
Cornelis Hendrik and Geertruida had a son named Cornelis Hendrik Zijderveld IV (1909-1912), and additional daughters named Helena Johanna and Elisabeth. The widow, Geertruida Weiss, was to marry 2 more times: her 2nd husband was Adrianus Soek and her 3rd husband was Philip Ernst Oudenaarden. Geertruide Weiss died on 21 March 1961 in Rotterdam at the age of 72.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Joost Zijderveld & Cornelia de Rijke

Joost Zijderveld & Cornelia de Rijke

The given name Joost was common in the Zijderveld family in Holland. The Joost in this post was born on September 28, 1893, in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, as second son of Jan Zijderveld (1864-1935) and his wife Adriana van Namen (1865-1930). He was named after his grandfather - also my great-great-grandfather - Joost Zijderveld (1822-1893). He had two elder and two younger siblings: Willempje Cornelia, Anthonie, Jan and Gijsbertus.

Joost was married on October 11, 1928, in Zwijndrecht. His bride was 33-year-old Cornelia de Rijke. She was born on May 12, 1895, in Zwijndrecht. Her parents were Pietertje van Ammelrooij (1867-1950) and Marinus de Rijke (1866-1945) who was born in Oosterland in Zeeland. Joost and Cornelia had no (surviving) children.

Cornelia had been ill for a long time before she died in March 1960 in Zwijndrecht. Her burial in Zwijndrecht was on April 1. Near the end of his life, her widower Joost Zijderveld lived in a retirement home in Sprang-Capelle in Brabant where he died on August 1, 1975. Like his wife, Joost was buried in Zwijndrecht. 

Sources: RegionaalArchiefDordrecht.nl, WieWasWie.nl, Delpher.nl.

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.

Henk Zijderveld was living in Bolivia

Cornelis Zijderveld
(1868-1956)

Pieter Hendrik (“Henk”) Zijderveld was born on July 14, 1900, in Arnhem, The Netherlands, as the elder son of Cornelis Zijderveld (1868-1946, to the right), headmaster of a high school in Arnhem. They are descendants of my ancestor Joost Zijderveld (1822-1893). Henk's mother, Levina Cornelia Josina de Smit (1896-1956) was his father's second wife. His younger siblings were born in the period 1901-1907. Additionally, Henk had an elder half-sister Hendrika Pietertje Zijderveld (1894-1985). 

Arnhemsche Courant, 17-9-1925

In July 1921 an engagement was announced between Henk Zijderveld and N.H.J. (“Nelly”) Vink, while he was still studying to become a mining engineer. Apparently their marriage was postponed until after his graduation in June 1924. Henk and Nelly were finally married by proxy on October 2, 1925, in Oruro, Bolivia. They were to have several children. 

On March 25, 1939, in Oruro Henk Zijderveld was married to his second wife, Isabella (“Isa”) Lora. That same year on August 21, 1939, in Oruro, Henk's youngest sister Jacoba Suzanna (“Ko”) Zijderveld was married to Jan Boost. Around 1980 Ko was living as nun “Soeur Jacoba” in Jerusalem, Israel. In the summer of 1992 Jacoba was living in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Henk Zijderveld died on January 10, 1963, living Isa Lora as a widow.

Sources: Delpher.nl, WieWasWie.nl.

Joost Pieter Zijderveld in Florida

My maternal grandmother belonged to a Zijderveld family that has featured the Christian name Joost for centuries.

Volkskrant, 21-9-1989

I found a Joost Pieter (“Joost”) Zijderveld who moved to Florida, USA, in the later 1970s. In the Netherlands he had been in business as a trader in oil. After the oil crisis, business plummeted, and Joost decided to emigrate. In Florida he made a fortune in real-estate. In 1980 Joost Willem Zijderveld and his wife Jeannette de Haan were living in Orlando, Florida. In 1985 they were living with their 4 daughters in Longwood, Florida.

Joost Willem Zijderveld was born in November 1935 as a younger son of Joost Zijderveld and his wife Maria van der Ven who had been married on February 9, 1928, in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in Holland. This Joost was born there on September 19, 1903, and died on September 30, 1985 in Alblasserdam. He was buried there on October 4, 1985. At that time 2 of his daughters were living in South-Africa.

Surname Saturday - Zijderveld in Holland

Zijderveld is a surname derived from a place name, a toponym. Zijderveld is a village located in the middle of The Netherlands in an area known as Vijfheerenlanden (literally “land with 5 lords”). Among the 5 lords that the area takes its name from are the medieval Lords of Arkel that are likely my ancestors, too.

Zijderveld is a small village in the middle of The Netherlands.

Willie Zijderveld (1892-1976)

My maternal grandmother is Willempje Cornelia (“Willie”) Zijderveld (1892-1976). We descend form Joost Florens Zijderveld who was married to Hester van Dam on 20 June 1717 in Lexmond. Lexmond is another village in the Vijfheerenlanden area. Their grandson, another Joost Zijderveld (1759-1805) moved to Zwijndrecht, Holland, and married twice. His son Willem Zijderveld (1794-1859) moved to nearby Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. Willem's grandson Cornelis Zijderveld (1858-1928) moved to the nearby city of Dordrecht. There his only daughter, my grandmother, was born.

Joost Florens Zijderveld is likely (but not proven) the grandson of a Joost Floren who lived in Lexmond in the 17th century. One of his sons, Floor Joosten, baptized on 25 April 1652 in Lexmond, is likely the father of my ancestor Joost Florens Zijderveld. Another son, Cornelis Joosten, baptized on 23 January 1659 in Lexmond, is the ancestor of a Zijderveld family that remained in the Vijfheerenlanden.

Treasure Chest Thursday - My Grandmother's 1918 Church Membership Certificate

This certificate shows that my grandmother Willempje Cornelia Zijderveld, born on November 6, 1892, became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on March 5, 1918, in Dordrecht, The Netherlands:

On March 29, 1917, my grandmother had married my grandfather Pieter de Jong (1892-1973). They had 10 children and a miscarriage from 10 pregnancies. At first they lived in Sprang-Capelle, Noord-Brabant, later they moved to Mookhoek, Zuid-Holland. My grandmother died on July 16, 1976, in Oud-Beijerland. 

My Little Treasure Chest

Tombstone Tuesday - Pieter de Jong & Willempje Cornelia Zijderveld

My grandparents Pieter [Piet] de Jong (1892-1973) and Willempje Cornelia [Willie] Zijderveld (1892-1976) are buried in the cemetery of 's-Gravendeel on the Hoeksche Waard island: 

My grandparent's tombstone

My grandfather was born in Sprang-Capelle and at the age of 7 he lost his father, leaving the widow and children in very poor circumstances. My grandmother was born in Dordrecht as an only daughter with several brothers and was a bit spoiled.

Treasure Chest Thursday - My Grandparent's 1917 Marriage Certificate

Recently I received a little "treasure chest" from my uncle Cees de Jong. Among many other papers pertaining my grandparents, it contained my grandparent's marriage certificate:

My grandparent's marriage certificate

Pieter de Jong

My grandfather, Pieter de Jong (1892-1973) married my grandmother Willempje Cornelia Zijderveld (1892-1976) on March 29, 1917 in Dordrecht, South Holland, The Netherlands. They had 10 children and a miscarriage from 10 pregnancies in the period 1917-1935.
The 1930s were a time of unemployment and poverty, so my grandparents moved around 1930 from Capelle, North-Brabant, to Mookhoek, South-Holland, in search of employment. There, my grandfather started working as a hind on a farm and acquired a certificate for properly milking cows. After the war my grandfather found employment in building construction.

My Little Treasure Chest