More that my great-grandfather (probably) didn't know

Last post I wrote about my great-grandpa's father and all the information I'd been able to find that I suspect he didn't know.  In this writing I'll share what I've found about his mother, Margaret Cook.

Margaret was born Margritha Kuis 20 Aug 1859 at Uithuizen, Groningen Netherlands, the illegitimate daughter of Johanna Kuis (1834-1907).  She was the 2nd illegitimate child born to Johanna, as their was a brother Hindrik born 28 Dec 1857, who died 8 Oct 1860 (both at Uithuizen).

Margaret's birth

Marriage that legitimized her birth.

Johanna married Bernardus Henderikus Kock 2 Nov 1859 at Uithuizen, and the marriage record states that it legitimized 2 children.  They had 10 additional children:

Hendrikus 1 Jul-9 Jul 1862 at Usquert
Hinderikus 13 Jun-18 Jun 1863 at Usquert
Gezina 15 Jul 1864-???, born at Usquert
Henricus 4 Jul 1867-??? born at Grand Rapids, Kent Co MI (as are the remainder of the children)
Lucinda 1868-Jul 1868 (at this point the family name is recorded as Cook)
Henry 1868-4 Jul 1868
Henry Aug 1868-3 May 1870
Bertram Sep 1869-29 Jun 1870
Henry 7 Apr 1872-28 Mar 1873
Catherine 21 Feb 1875-2 Dec 1942 - she married Louis "Luke" Denhof, son of Nicolaas' brother Jacob.

As you can see, Bernardus and Johanna had a hard time keeping their children alive.  The records for these children are spotty and most were obtained from the records of St. Andrews Catholic Church in Grand Rapids by another Denhof cousin.

As I wrote in my last blog, Margaret married Nicolaas Denhof 5 Nov 1877 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Wright Township, Ottawa Co MI.  After his death in 1917 she remained widowed, heading the household with her younger children in 1920 and living with her son Peter and his family in 1930.

1920 census -I have no idea who the boarder is with the family.

1930 census with son Peter and his family

I have asked my grandma (who was just shy of 10 when Margaret passed away 5 Oct 1937 at Conklin MI) about her recollections of Margaret and she only recalls visiting her aunt "Rick" (Henrietta Denhof Torrey) on Spencer St NE (Grand Rapids) and seeing Margaret on the front porch using a Singer sewing machine.  Given my relationship with my grandparents I find it hard to fathom that that's all she remembers BUT I have to remember that she was born to the youngest child (her dad was an uncle to several people at birth) and that Margaret had 33 living grandchildren and 25 living great-grandchildren at the time of her death (in spite of her inaccurate obituary).  She had already buried 4 grandchildren and a great-grandchild as well.  To put it in perspective, my grandma only had 3 grandchildren.

Margaret passed away of chronic myocarditis and was laid to rest beside her husband and near her mother at the St. Francis Xavier church cemetery.

I wish I had more photos of the Denhof family, but was told by one Margaret's grandsons that the old farmhouse burned down and took the photos with it.  I do have a few scant photos of Margaret, all from around the same time frame.

The family picture is her and all her children, presumably on her 69th birthday (her clothing/appearance match that of the photo that has the 69th birthday sign).  The woman in the photos with her is her sister Catherine Cook Denhof.  My great grandpa Nicholas is seated in the front of the family photo, with a deck of cards against his shoe (he loved cards).