SNGF - The Time Machine

I've been away for a long time (doing research for a friend), but this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun has tempted me back!  The directive is to identify which event in ancestral history you would like to be a part of via Time Machine.  Well, that is easy for me -while any day in any life would be a thrill to witness, one event really struck me when I first learned of it.
I would like to be a part of the travels of my Great-great grandparents and family to America in 1856.  Teunis Snijders and Grietje van der Bie left their home in Goudswaard, Zuid-Holland and sailed from Rotterdam to New York with their 2 boys, 8 and 10, and my 3-month-old great-grandmother Trijnte (later Kate Snyder, married Levi Cole).  When I first found this passenger list (long before Internet databases) I had a young daughter myself.  I knew how difficult it had been for me simply to get this child a few miles down the road (in my car) to the grocery store!!  I could not (and still cannot) imagine traveling off to a whole new land, new language, new people with 2 kids and a three-month-old.  Oiy!  The Snyder family traveled somehow from NY to Michigan where they lived for a time in Washtenaw Co., then moved on to Kent Co.  Years later I learned that Grietje's mother, Trijntje van der Jagt and at least 3 brothers and a sister also came to the United States and settled in Allegan Co.
I have the greatest respect and admiration for these - and my other - immigrant ancestors and I wonder if I could do what they did?

Wives of the Coles

One of the wonderful things about the Dutch records is that women usually retain their surname. This make it much easier to find their children - especially when there may be a number of men with the same name - and also to find their parents.
Levi Cole, born in Michigan, was the son of the immigrant couple Pieter Koole and Thona van Beek. Thona was born 1829 in Zeeland, Netherlands, daughter of Barend van Beek and Neeltje Kramer.

Pieter Koole was the son of Lieven Cole and Adriaantje (Aarjaantje) Leeuw, daughter of Barend Leeuw and Cornelia van Bloois. Aarjaantje was born 24 Jul 1787 in Dreischor, Zeeland, Netherlands.



Lieven Koole's mother was Ariaantje (Adriaantje) Jonker. She was born 3 Nov 1765 in Oosterland, Zeeland, Netherlands, daughter of Lieven Jonker and Jannetje Onderdijk.



The parents of Cornelis were Pieter Mattijsse Koole and Maria Beluijts. She was the daughter of Cornelis Borluijt and Adriaantje Bouman. No exact date of her birth has been found, but she was baptised 19 Oct 1732 in Zonnemaire, Zeeland, Netherlands. Customarily, in this time and place, children were baptised the Sunday following their birth. Which would make Maria born somewhere between Oct 12 and 18.




The next step back in time is Pieter Matthijsse, son of Mattheus and Maria Stoudens. This Maria was born in Dreischor and baptised 25 Oct 1705. Her parents were Joost Stouten and Adriana Cornelisse. The database index gives her the surname Kleijn, but it is not shown on Maria's baptismal record. One more thing to investigate.



This takes us back to Pieter Koole and Lijsbeth Robberegts, the earliest couple identified in this line (so far!). And now I have these surnames to research: van Beek, Leeuw, Jonker, Borluijt, Stoutens, all the spelling variations, and the wives of these fathers!!

other Cole marriages

So far I have only reported on the Cole surname line. As I worked back in time to my earliest Koole, I found marriages for each generation in the records. Each gives the maiden name of the woman, so I now have more names to track through the records, which I will be working on in the future. Here are prints from the online index at Zeeuwengezocht.nl and scans from copies made of microfilm of the early 20th century copies made of records of some of the marriages:

From my immigrant ancestors Pieter Koole and Thona van Beek (see my April 12 post), his parents were Lieven Koole and Adriaantje Leeuw:

Lieven Koole
Bridegroom on Friday, March 12, 1813 Dreischor
Gemeente : Dreischor
Aktenummer (number) : 1
Aktedatum (date) : 12-03-1813
BRUIDEGOM : Lieven Koole
Leeftijd (age) : 25 jaar
Geboorteplaats (place of birth) : Zonnemaire
Beroep (occupation) : Journalier
BRUID : Ariaantje Leeuwe
Leeftijd (age) : 25 jaar
Geboorteplaats (place of birth) : Dreischor
Beroep (occupation) : Particuliere
VADER BRUIDEGOM (father bridegroom) : Cornelis Koole
Beroep (occupation) : Cultivator
MOEDER BRUIDEGOM (mother bridegroom) : Adriaantje Jonker
VADER BRUID (father bride) : Barend Leeuw
Beroep (occupation) : Particulier
MOEDER BRUID (mother bride) : Cornelia van Bloijs

The parents of Lieven were Cornelis Koole and Adriaantje Jonker:

Cornelis Koole
Bridegroom tax of marriage on Friday, April 14, 1786 Zonnemaire
Bruidegom : Cornelis Koole
Bruid : Arijaantje Jonker
Datum betaling trouwgeld : 14-04-1786
Plaats : Zonnemaire
Bron : Archief Rekenkamer Zeeland D inv.nr 45401



Cornelis was the son of Pieter Matthijs Koole and Maria Borluijd:


And the parents of Pieter Mattijsse Koole were Matthijs Koole and Maria Stoutens:



More later on these women!

Wordless Wednesday

It's Wordless Wednesday - a tradition among the Geneabloggers. So here is a look at the part of Zeeland when the Koole family left:


And here is how it looks today, from Google Maps:


View Larger Map

And here are some pictures of the area when my daughter and I visited 2 years ago:

my first Cole/Koole

I have been working my way back in time and records and have traced the paternal line of Pieter Koole (the immigrant) to his great-great-great-grandfather Pieter Koole and his wife Lijsbeth Robbereghts in Zonnemaire, Zeeland, married 1702. That would make this Pieter Koole my 7th Great grandfather (or great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). Pretty cool, huh? I have copies of baptismal records and marriages for each of these generations (civil records for those after 1811, personal records for those after 1900). The church records from the 1700s are from microfilm of copies made in the 1918-1920 time frame. Apparently the originals were sent to the provincial archives in Middelburg, Zeeland and were destroyed in bombing in World War II. I am trying to learn more about this, but have yet to find any English accounts. So far my Dutch is only fair and I'm not too good at translating some of the more detailed websites. (I dropped out of Dutch class this year!!)
There is always the possibility that I made an error in linking people, or that the transcripts were in error. However, each of these marriages identifies the place and the baptismal records usually includes "getuige" (variously translated as witnesses, sponsors or godparents) who are usually parents and siblings of the birth parents. This helps to link families together. And, best of all for me - there is only this one cluster of the Koole family in town at this time - all tracing back to Pieter and Lijsbeth.



From this point, it will be more difficult. There are few earlier church records. And many records not online. Notarial records may help - for that I need to improve my skills with Dutch language and handwriting . And - in this particular case - Pieter Koole is identified as widower of Isabella Carels from "B op den Z." Have no clue where this is - possibly Brouwershaven, which is nearby and sort of on the sea? Thought possibly the larger city (now anyway) of Bergen op Zoom (I know of it from 20th century relatives living there) but is is some distance away. I do find some Carels family in Brouwershaven in what is now online, as well as in Zierikzee, but will need to do much more searching. Lijsbeth is from Zierikzee - it will be quite a search to try to find her parents.
Another problem getting back this far is that surnames are less common. Sometimes records only use a given name and a patronym (father's name). This is wonderfully helpful when the patronym is included as a middle name with the family name (as is the case with almost all of these generations of Kooles) but so far I have not found the earliest Pieter with any other identifiers. No patronym, no occupation, nothing other than the one reference to "from B op den Z." None for Lijsbeth either (although at least that is a less-common given name)
And, the time consuming part - when searching online records or indexes, I have to try many spellings. Robbereghts, Roberechts, Robrechts, etc. as well as all the K/Co(o)l(e) spellings!!!

The last Dutch marriage for the Coles

I've had a lot going on this week, writing a new class on DNA testing for genealogy and getting side-tracked with fun research on my brother-in-law's ancestry, so have not had time to work on this Cole line.
But working backwards from the immigrant couple's arrival in the US, here is a certificate from their marriage record.


Pieter Kole, age 26, laborer, son of Lieven Kole and Arjaantje Leeuw and Tona van Beek, age 20, daughter of Barend van Beek and Neeltje Kramer have filed the appropriate marriage notices on the 6th and 15th of September 1850. Recorded in the municipality of Nieuwerkerk, Duiveland, Zeeland, Netherlands.