Janus Korstanje

After blogging about Jan Korstanje, I decided that I should blog about his father since I have a photo of him.

This photo came from my grandpa's half-sister.  The back is mislabeled as Nicholas Korstange's dad but was clearly not Jan.  I found someone in the Netherlands that also had the photo and it was identified as Janus.  This is the only photograph of an ancestor that I have that was taken at a studio overseas.  It's also the only photograph of an ancestor that didn't come to America.  Janus' parents and several siblings lived long enough for photos to exist so I still hold out hope that perhaps there are more photos somewhere in the Netherlands that I'll be able to track down someday.  If you're a Korstanje cousin visiting this please let me know if you have any photos!

Janus Korstanje was born 14 Aug 1841 at Wolphaartsdijk, Zeeland Netherlands, 5th out of 12 children of Nicolaas Korstanje (1814-1880) and Jannetje de Groot (1811-1894).  I see that Nicolaas signed the birth record but it apparently wasn't thought to be important that Jannetje sign, as I have seen her signature on other documents, so I know she could sign her name.

The siblings of Janus:
Jacobus (1835-1889)
Leendert (1837-1898)
Durftje (1838-1906)
Jan (1840-1906)
Jannetje (1842-1844)
Jannetje (1844-1846)
Marinus (1845-1846)
Pieter (1847-1930)
Marinus (1848-1850)
Marinus (1851-1852)
Jannetje (1853-1854) - It appears that being named Marinus or Jannetje was fatal to these children.

Goessche Courant 8 May 1894

Goessche Courant 10 Jul 1880

Goessche Courant 21 Sep 1880

When Janus' father passed away his brother Jan took over his business.  There were 2 older sons that didn't, which strikes me as odd.  Translation done by my stepmother, who has been helping me with many Dutch translations.

Attention!

Due to the death of my father Nicolaas Korstanje, I became the new owner of the inn "Het Zwaantje" in Wolphaartsdijk, in which my father lived before his death. I take the liberty of recommending myself to the residents of South- and North Beveland, promising a reliable and friendly service.

Jan Korstange

Goessche Courant  04 Sep 1883

Jan didn't hold on to the property long:

Public Auction due to change of location: 

On Saturday, September 8, 1883 at 2 o'clock in the afternoon  at Wolphaartsdijk, Notary  J.M. Pilaar will sell, in the property to be auctioned,  for Jan Korstange,  an inn and lodging house, called "Het Zwaantje " in the village of Wolphaartsdijk.

Now available for sale: more information at the owner or at the office of the aforementioned notary Pilaar.

I posted the above about Janus' parents because I find the articles interesting.....but back to Janus.  He married Jozina Westerweele, daughter of Jan Westerweele and Eva de Jonge 18 Dec 1862 at Wolphaartsdijk.

Janus and Jozina had the following children:

Nicolaas (1863-1870)

Jan (my 2nd great-grandfather from last blog)

Jannetje (1865-1899)

Cornelis (1866-1867)

Jacobus (28 Apr-1 Aug 1868)

Jacobus (11 Jun-13 Jun 1869)

Elizabeth (11 Jun-5 Aug 1869)

Jannetje married Jacob Meeuwse and from 1892-1899 had (7) stillborn children.  She also had a son Jacob (1890-1895) and daughter Jozina (25 Nov-1 Dec 1891).  Her life sounds miserable.

Janus married his 2nd wife Neeltje de Jonge 2 Feb 1871 at Wolphaartsdijk.  She was the widow of Adriaan de Jonge, who she married in 1861 and passed in 1870.  She was also born a de Jonge, to Pieter de Jonge and Pieternella van de Kreeke.  

Janus and Neeltje had 7 children: Pieternella (1871-1872) Klazina (20 Aug-20 Sep 1872) Nicolaas (1873-1946) Pieternella (1874-1880) Leendert (1876-1938) Cornelis (1877-1966) Neeltje (1880-1966)

Janus lost Neeltje 25 Apr 1880 at Wolphaartsdijk and waited until 6 May 1897 to marry Dina Elizabeth Caan but she passed away 13 Jan 1899, leaving Janus a widower for the remainder of his life.  In his life he buried 3 wives and 9 children, leaving only 5 living children, 1 who was in America.  I imagine that letters must have gone back and forth but nothing survived that I'm aware of.  My grandpa's uncle Jim appears to have been a pack rat so if there were surviving letters, he'd have had them.

Janus passed away at Wolphaartsdijk 5 Feb 1922.  He's laid to rest at Wolphaartsdijk Algemene Begraafplaats.  I asked someone to find his headstone but someone else is buried in the plot now.  In the Netherlands graves are reused due to space constrictions.  It's assumed that all of his children that died young and 3 wives are also buried there but all I have confirmed is that he was indeed buried there.

I didn't find an obituary but a listing of his death did run in the "De Zeeuw" 06 Mar 1922.

The 2nd article is from Goessche Courant (various dates) regarding an auction of Janus' property.

Public Auction on Thursday, March 23, 1922 in Oud-Sabbinge, for the heirs of Janus Korstanje and Neeltje de Jonge , led by  Notaris Pilaar from Goes.

a) 10 o' clock in the morning in the Inn of J. Rooze,

auctioning off:  House, Barn, Shed and a chicken coop

with the never-ending lease of the land in the village of Oud-Sabbinge, large 4 ares and 10 centiares. Becoming owner , after payment.

b)  12 noon  in before mentioned house, cash payments only: 

cabinet, linen closet, tables, chairs, bedstee  (bedstee is a box bed is a sleeping place  in the wall/closet, closed with doors or a curtain.) , 3 feather bed mattresses with accessories (sheets-blankets-pillows) , stair sewing machine, wood stoves, including nickel tube stove, clocks, alarm clock, barometer, mirrors, lamps, rugs, tablecloths, doormats, linoleum, State bible, pewter cups- glasses and plates, glass cups- mugs and plates and pottery, (including genuine Chinese tea set), wheelbarrow,cooking stove, bacon grill , sharpening stone, pitch forks, rakes,  small tools, hand weeding machine, balance with weights, burlap bags, coal, firewood, etc.

Jan Korstanje, my most direct immigrant ancestor

My last post was about my grandpa's grandfather's papers so I think I'll write about him tonight.  I call him my most direct immigrant ancestor because he's my direct male Korstange ancestor, and the generation that came to America.

 Jan Korstanje was born 4 Jun 1864 at Wolphaartsdijk, Zeeland, Netherlands to Janus Korstanje (1841-1922) and Jozina Westerweele (1842-1870).  His birth record was signed by his father Janus.  He was the 2nd of 7 children born to Janus and Jozina, and the only one with living descendants.  His father remarried twice after Jozina's death so Jan had 7 half-siblings as well.  I'll blog about Janus later and write about those siblings then.






Maddeningly I can't find any reference to when Jan came to America or any ship record.  In the 1900 census he lists that he'd been in America 8 years which lines up with his discharge from the Dutch military 30 Apr 1891.  My guess is he left shortly after that, but I don't know why.

Jan married Jeltje "Jennie" van der Ploeg 8 Apr 1896 at Grand Rapids, Kent Co Michigan.  Their marriage was witnessed by Jennie's brother-in-law Jan Gerbens "John" van der Woude.

As I mentioned in my blog about Jennie, the wedding photo was found in an old steamer trunk that my grandpa's half-brother had.  The trunk and it's contents are now MIA, although we all know how that happened.  Perhaps someday the property will be returned to it's rightful owner so that family can have the family heirlooms that were in it. Jan and Jennie had 5 children: Jozina (14 Jul-24 Sep 1897) John (1898-1919) James (1900-1954) Nicholas (1903-1981) my g-gpa Edward (1906-1923) This photo is also from the steamer trunk and is now missing.  Jan, John Jr, Nicholas (baby), James and Jennie c. 1904.  These 2 photos are the only known photos of Jennie.  Fortunately Jan's son James appears to have had quite a thing for photography and had a couple of photo albums of photos that appear to have been taken in the 1920s.  I'll share some of them at the end of this post.

 In 1900 Jan and Jennie are living at 318 East Leonard St in Grand Rapids, Jan a "day laborer".

In 1910 Jan and Jennie are living at 166 Shirley St NE in Grand Rapids, with Jan listing that he's a wagon driver at the coal yard.

Upon Jennie's death in 1918, Jan was left with 2 adult sons and 2 minor sons.  Unfortunately he lost John Jr. in 1919 and Edward in 1923 so since his marriage he's buried a daughter, 2 sons and his wife, all at Greenwood Cemetery in Grand Rapids.

In 1920 Jan is a laborer in a factory, living with his surviving children in Walker Township instead of Grand Rapids.  The census record doesn't list an address but my grandpa took me to a house on Bristol Ave that's across the street from the west end of Greenwood Cemetery (and Jennie's obituary lists the funeral from her residence on Bristol av).  I'll elaborate on this a little later.

                   
Jan found love again with the widow Anna (Beamer) Koster, who lost her husband Albert in 1919.  They married 9 Jun 1921 at Middleville, Barry Co MI.  My grandpa was born 5 years later and remembered visiting at Jan and Anna's home at 1427 Alpine Ave NW in Grand Rapids.  He said children were not to talk and that Anna was quite stern so he'd sit in the corner and listen to them talk in Dutch.  His only other recollection that he passed along was that Jan used to sit on the bus bench at Alpine/Leonard by the bank and he'd sometimes see him when he drove past.

These are 2 studio photos of Jan and Anna found in the photos of my grandpa's half-sister Jennifer.  The first one we guess is from about 1940.  I'd guess the 2nd one is a little newer, from around 1925-1930 or potentially from their marriage in 1921.

In 1930 and 1940 Jan and Anna are living at the 1427 Alpine Ave NW address.  In 1930 Jan lists that he's a "street cleaner" for the city and by 1940 I presume he's retired, having listed no occupation.

Jan passed away 29 Aug 1945 at his home on Alpine Ave of arteriosclerotic heart disease.  My grandpa was off to war so he wasn't home to attend the funeral.  Jan was laid to rest at Georgetown Cemetery where Anna's 1st husband was buried and where Anna joined him in 1959.  His headstone, death certificate, obituary and funeral book list a middle initial of "W" but I can't find any actual records to support that where he provided a middle name/initial.
I mentioned that I'd talk more about the home on Bristol Ave.  My grandpa gave me a photocopy of the land transfer paperwork that lists the address and I'll update the blog when I pull it out next.  I vividly remember going to Greenwood with my grandpa to visit the graves of his grandmother and his uncles (we didn't know about his aunt Jozina and her grave is unmarked).  When we left he turned right out of the cemetery instead of left and I didn't know why.  He pulled in the driveway of the Bristol house, where someone was outside working on it.  He got out and walked right up to the owner of the house and struck up a conversation about the house.  He had the transfer paperwork with him and a photo album of his uncle Jim's photos from the 1920s, which had several shots of the Bristol house.  The owner was thrilled to see these, as he was working on trying to restore the home to it's original look and the photos gave him some good insight into how the home looked.  My grandpa could strike up a conversation with anyone and had none of the hesitation I do about walking up to someone that I don't know and chatting it up with them.

Here are some photos of the house and the barn.  It's interesting that "John Korstanje" is painted on the barn and that he ran out of room and had to split Korstanje into 2 lines.  I feel that pain when I have to sign forms that aren't long enough for my name :).
I mentioned that James Korstanje took quite a few photographs.  My grandpa had 2 albums full of them that were absolutely falling apart.  I ended up taking them apart and putting the photos into an acid free album.  1920s photo quality left something to be desired but these are some of the better ones that I scanned.

Jan and Anna	Jan and Anna 1924
James clearly liked Anna, calling her "Ma"	Jan looks so little with Anna here
Jan with Edward	Jan with James Jan and his wagon (delivering coal?)
	Jan on right, grandson Jerry in front, daughter-in-law Lois in the middle, from day of son Nicholas' 2nd marriage 3 Sep 1938.  The other guys are Koster boys.
Gertrude Koster, Anna, Nick and Jan Korstanje with Albert Koster in the front.	Jan on right, 1921

My 2 favorite documents - my 2nd great-grandpa's trip to America

Years ago my grandpa went into his safe and pulled out a small envelope (picture the ones that you put your hunting or fishing license in).  He pulled out 2 parchment documents that were folded up to fit (about 2"x3") and unfolded them for me.  They were his grandfather Jan Korstanje's discharge from the Dutch military from 1891 and his citizenship certificate from 1904.  I was in awe of these papers, picturing his grandfather carrying them around in his pocket.  He put them back in his safe but every once in awhile he'd get them out and show them to me.  When I got older and more in tune with my genealogy, it dawned on me that if they continued to be kept in that little envelope and being unfolded and folded, they'd eventually fall apart.

I pointed this out to my grandpa and he agreed.  He let me take them to Frames Unlimited and get them framed, complete with an archival mat for each and museum glass to prevent sun damage.  I don't recall the cost but it was in the neighborhood of a couple hundred dollars.  He put them on a wall in his basement for awhile but eventually gave them to me.  I don't have my "genealogy-cave" that I eventually want that would allow me to display my "collection" so they have been wrapped in cloth and stored safely on a shelf in my closet.

 I got them out a couple of weeks ago because I'm trying to organize and get things done that I've been putting off.  One of the things I've put off forever is getting these scanned.  These are 16x20 frames which will give you an idea how big the certificates are - they won't fit on a flatbed scanner.  I've been pondering what to do for years, not wanting to remove them from their frames.  I finally got an idea.



If you're into genealogy you've heard of the Flip-Pal scanner.  It's a funny looking device that I consider(ed) too expensive to justify purchasing.  It allows you to scan 4x6 photos like a flatbed scanner but other scans you can do in pieces and the software will "stitch" it back together.  I've got a couple friends that use them and finally asked one of them if they thought it could accomplish scanning these through the glass.  She said that it would and offered to let me borrow hers.  It took me about 30 minutes total to unpack it, put batteries in it, figure out how to turn it on, make the scans of the 1st one and try to stitch it (which almost worked except for 2 spots that I didn't have enough overlap), go back and rescan the 1st and scan the 2nd and stitch them together.  It worked phenomenally.  She told me people use these to scan quilts even (which would be time-consuming).  I can't say enough good things about how well it worked and one of them is definitely on my future purchase list.



I'll blog more about Jan next as I shift to my grandpa's ancestry.  In the meantime, I wanted to share these 2 certificates that I treasure.