So perhaps I'm being a little bit unfair to the Dutch side of my Denhof line, as there is more Dutch than German. For me, it really boils down to growing up believing they were 100% Dutch and then finding out that it's just not true.
On Nick Denhof's father's side I've shown that his father's Denhof line goes back to Germany. The records I find for his paternal grandfather's mother's family all point to the Netherlands. Switching over to his maternal grandmother (Lammina van Heuvelen), her father's records all point to Großwolde, Leer, Lower Saxony, Germany, using the name Höveling (Robert didn't find available records for that area so it's unconfirmed). Her mother's family also all point to the Netherlands.
Switching over to his mother's side: I wrote about Nick's mother Margaret and wrote a follow-up post about the DNA test that proved Margaret's father (as her birth record shows she was born out of wedlock). As you can probably guess, we're going back to Germany with at least one of these families, although today I'm going to write about the Dutch and American records I have for her parents.
Her father was born Bernardus Henderikus Kock (Americanized to Bernard Cook), born 2 Nov 1830 at Uithuizen, Netherlands.
In the year 1830, the 2nd of November, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, appeared for me, Derk Nanninga, Civil Official of Uithuizen, Hendrikus Kock, 40 years old, profession weaver, who reports to me that a child of the male gender is born, here, in the house on number 183, today in the early morning at 3 o'clock from him, declarant, and Gesina Jans Schreuder, his wife. He stated that he wanted to give this child the first name Bernardus.
Whose statement has been made, in the presence of Cornelis Jiltes Keiser, 70 years old, without profession, Roelf Sleumer, 37 years old, profession carpenter, both living here, being neighbors and not related to the declarant. After reading aloud, this document was signed by them and me, with the exception of the first witness, who stated that he could not write.
Whose statement has been made, in the presence of Cornelis Jiltes Keiser, 70 years old, without profession, Roelf Sleumer, 37 years old, profession carpenter, both living here, being neighbors and not related to the declarant. After reading aloud, this document was signed by them and me, with the exception of the first witness, who stated that he could not write.
In the year 1834, the 22nd of November, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, appeared for me, Albert Pieters Bouma, Mayor, Civil Registry Official of the municipality of Uithuistermeeden (nowadays Uithuizermeeden, Province of Groningen), Bernardus Kuis, 43 years old, profession weaver, living in Uithuistermeeden, who has introduced to us, a child of the female gender, born on November 21, 1834, at night at 1 am, from him, declarant and Grietje Jans Graftema, in the house at Number 93, in the village of Uithuizermeeden.
To which he has stated that he wants to give the first name of Johanna.This statement was made up in the presence of Bene Hindriks Baar, 38 years old, profession day laborer, and Jan Harms Deilen, 34 years old, profession weaver, both living in Uithuizermeeden.
This is how this document was drawn up, which after reading aloud, was signed by the declarant, together with the witnesses and us, on the day, month and year as mentioned above.
Bernardus and Johanna married 2 Nov 1859 at Uithuizen, making 2 of their children "legitimate".
On November 2, 1859, appeared for us, Civil Registry in Uithuizen, District of Appingedam, Province of Groningen, in the town hall, to enter into a marriage;
Bernardus Kock, 28 years old, profession day laborer, living in Uithuizen, born in Uithuizen, Municipality Uithuizen, son of the late Hendrikus Kock, deceased in Uithuizen and Gesina Jans Schreuder, profession day laborer, living in Uithuizen, declarant has fulfilled his obligation to the national militia, according to the certificate attached to this.
Johanna Kuis, 24 years old, without profession, living in Uithuizen, born in Uithuistermeeden, municipality Uithuistermeeden, adult-daughter of Bernardus Kuis, without profession, living in Uithuizen and the late Grietje Jans Graftema, died in Uithuistermeeden.The two announcements have taken place here, without objections, on the 16th and the 23st of October 1859.
And they have submitted to us, their birth certificates, the death certificate of the father of the groom, the death certificate of the mother of the bride, and a written consent/permit from the colonel commanding the second fortress artillery regiment. Furthermore, the fiancés told us, to acknowledge these two children, the first named Hendrik, born in Uithuizen on December 28, 1857, and the second named Margritha, born in Uithuizen on August 20, 1859, whose birth certificates are hereby submitted. The mother of the groom and the father of the bride, hereby present, declare to us, that they agree to this marriage. After which we have publicly asked them whether they will take one another as spouses and will faithfully fulfill all obligations, that are linked by law, to the marriage, what they explicitly answered with YES, have we, in the name of law, pronounced that they are now married to each other, as husband and wife. In the presence of Andreas Bulthuis, 62 years old, profession Inn keeper, living in Uithuizen, Willem Veldhuizen, 50 years old, profession secretary, living in Uithuizen, Roelf Pieters Hoff, 44 years old, by profession policeman, living in Uithuizen, and of Hendrik Bulthuis, 25 years old, baker's assistent by profession, living in Uithuizen. And from this, we made up this document which, after reading aloud, is signed by the declarant, the bride, the mother of the groom, the father of the bride, the witnesses and us. The groom declared not to be able to sign the document because he has never learned how to write.
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| 1870 living with Bernardus' brother Henry's family. Gesiena was Nick's godmother |
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| 1880 living next door to Nick's parents Nick and Margaret. Their son Ben is incorrectly listed as a daughter. |
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| Johanna was living with Nick and Margaret in the 1900 census of Chester Township. They lived next door to Ida Cook Vander Laan, niece of Bernardus. |
You'll notice that both Bernardus and Johanna's death records indicate parents from the Netherlands. As you probably guessed, that's only partially correct. More on that in my next post.
The Kock/Cook/Kuis lines have frustrated me greatly due to the lack of photos. If you're reading this and have any photos, please let me know.
