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: