Pieter Koomans (1712-1770) married a teenager

On April 8, 1741, in Willemstad, Brabant, The Netherlands, Pieter Koomans (1712-70) was married to Ariaantje Pieters Burgers. They had 10 children baptized in nearby Fijnaart between 1740 and 1765. Among the witnesses at their children's baptisms were Tanneke and Francoisia, Ariaantje's sisters. Their parents were Pieter Burgers and Maijke Rollof, who were married on June 10, 1725, in Willemstad. That couple had their eldest daughter, Ariaantje, baptized on May 27, 1726, in Willemstad. So, at the day of her wedding Ariaantje was likely 14 years old. Even if she had been baptized more 7 weeks after her birth - that would have been an unusual long delay - Ariaantje would still have been only 15 years old at the time of her marrige. Ariaantje Burgers definitely was a teenager when she married.

At the time of their marriage Pieter Koomans was 28 years old. He was baptized on November 13, 1712, in Willemstad as the eldest son of Huijbrecht Koomans and his second wife, Elsje van den Berg. As usual Pieter Koomans and Ariaantje Burgers named their eldest surviving children after their parents: Elsje, Maaijke, Huijbert and Pieter. 

Pieter Koomans was buried on May 29, 1770, at the age of 57, leaving Ariaantje Burgers a widow at the age of 44. On May 3, 1777, in Fijnaart, Ariaantje was married to Pieter de Leeuw who was living near Fijnaart, and had not been married before. They were married for 5½ years. Ariaantje Burgers was buried on November 27, 1777, in Fijnaart, at the age of 51. 

One of Pieter's younger sons, Nicolaas Koomans (1753-1829) , was married four times, and the first three of his four wives had the surname Maris. Pieter's daughter Maaijke Koomans (1748-1822) was married to Huijbert Maris. 

As a widow Ariaantje Burgers married Pieter de Leeuw in 1772.

Source: WestBrabantsArchief.nl.

This Verhagen family travelled from Dirksland to Argentina

Elisabeth van der Sluis travelled with the steamship "Zaandam" from Rotterdam to Argentina, arriving there on 10 May 1889. Elisabeth took her surviving children with her: Cornelis Marinus (13), Marinus Cornelis (12), Neeltje (8) en Maria Hendrika (3). Elisabeth's husband, Hendrik Verhagen, must have travelled earlier. 

Steamship "Zaandam"

The steamship "Zaandam" had been build in 1882 in Rotterdam with a tons deadweight of 3.063, one 2-cylinder compound steam engine and a service speed of 11 knots. It could carry 50 first class passengers, 424 third class passengers and 51 crew members.

Hendrik Verhagen was born on 24 August 1848 in Dirksland, Holland, as the second son of Cornelis Verhage (1813-1887) and Neeltje Bakker (1824-1919). Hendrik was married at age 24 on 20 February 1873, in Dirksland to Elisabeth van der Sluis, aged 27. Elisabeth was born in Bergen op Zoom, Brabant, The Netherlands. Her parents are Marinus van der Sluis and Maria Leemhorst.

Longevity ~ Willem Koomans reached the age of 99

Willem Koomans was born on May 8, 1818, in Rotterdam, Holland. His father was Huibert Koomans (1789-1856), who was a son of Nicolaas Koomans and the second of Nicolaas' four wives, Maaijke Maris (1765-1802). Willem's mother, Adriana Petronella Spanjaart (1784-1875), was to reach the age of 91.

After his graduation in Rotterdam, Willem Koomans worked as a doctor in Fijnaart, Brabant, The Netherlands. Next he moved to Leiderdorp, then to Abcoude, both in Holland. He stopped exercising his profession at the age of 71.
Willem Koomans married twice. His first wife was Aagje Fontijn (†1849) who originated in Mijdrecht. They had a daughter Adriana Petronella who traveled to Indonesia.
Willem's second wife was Alida Jannetta Vermeer from Amsterdam whom he married in 1851. They had additional children before she died in Abcoude in the Spring of 1890. 

In May 1916 Willem Koomans (98) had been a physician for 75 years. By then he was known as "De Oude Koomans" ("The Old Koomans"). Willem Koomans died on August 10, 1917, in Abcoude-Baambrugge, aged 99 years and 3 months.

De Grondwet, 5-12-1916

Algemeen Handelsblad, 11-8-1917

For more information on this Koomans family see genealogical magazine "De Nederlandse Leeuw", 1936.
Sources: Delpher Newspapers, WestBrabantsArchief.nl, WieWasWie.nl.

5th Blogiversary - Interesting Blog Posts

On January 17, 2013, I published my 1st post for this blog, so today is my 5th blogiversary !

In those years January 2014 and November 2017 ware the months with the most posts (4). 
The most common surnames among my known ancestors are Van Driel, Oerlemans, Spruijt, Brand and Bos. On this blog the most common surnames in my posts are Bos and De Jong, the surnames of my parents. My ancestors with the most children are Cornelis Bos (1813-1888) and Otto van Driel (1756-1832); both had 17 children with 2 wives. In the 17th century Arij Peijnsz. Hogerwaert and his wife Trijntje Willems had 16 children together. 
Ancestors Gerrit Korver and Neeltjen Bloet (±1640-1727) were married for over 66 years. When my ancestor Jan Pieterse Vasen died on 11-8-1702 in Ottoland, Holland, he was "around 100 years old and had been blind for 3 or 4 years".

To celebrate this 5-year milestone, I've compiled - in addition to the statistics above - a list featuring interesting genealogy posts from this and other blogs.

Tips & Tricks

• Dutch Genealogy Research Tips
• Sources for images to illustrate your Dutch family tree
• Dutch Naming Traditions
• How to Find Your Dutch Ancestor’s Occupation
• The Netherlands Links at Cindi's List
• Check for improbable dates
• Add an image to your blog post
• Find relevant genealogy results in Google by using key search commands
• Tips for finding Brick-Wall Ancestors
• Mind the Chronology of a Population Register
• Blogging Tips for Newbies and Veterans
• Checklist for starting Research in the Country of Origin

Black Sheep

• Tonnis Willinck was shot near Winterwijk around 1593  
• In 1668 Antoine Gaboury was found guilty of attempted rape
• Elisabeth Maria Comans was locked up in 1785 in Dordrecht
• Joannes Abeel, "an alleged lunatic" in 18th-century Albany
• Scottish Asylum Archives and more on Scottish ‘Lunatics’
• John Dove (†1878), Jacob Shelton's murderer
• Philip Wyatt (†1892) and his 3 Elizabeths
• John Carter (†1893) was hanged for murdering his 3rd wife Rhoda Titcombe
• Historical U.S. Prison Records Online
• Prisons, Prisoners & Outlaws (Cindi's List)
• Dutch Prison Records