In 2012, I received an email from Mr. Tymen Wierstra, an active genealogist and cultural heritage preservationist in Grijpskerk, a village in the Dutch province of Groningen where many of our Dutch ancestors lived before the family emigrated to the United States. Three of Kenneth Hine Sr. (my paternal grandfather)’s grandparents came from Groningen.
- Jacob and Agnes Smith (or Jacob and Auktje Smit) were from Groningen.
- Albert Hine (Heun) was born in Groningen. I’m still unsure where his wife, Kate (Trientje) VanVuuren, was born. Kate’s father, Dirk VanVuuren was born in Uithuistermeede, which doesn’t appear on today’s maps, but seems to be associated with Onderdendam, a town in Groningen. Kate’s mother’s family came from Schoorl.
Tymen gave me new information on the birth of Albert Heun, including his birth certificate and pointed me towards a wealth of genealogical information for the province Groningen on the site www.allegroningers.nl (the featured image above is from that site; I don’t know who the people are depicted but I found them and their home enchanting). I’m so grateful for his tip. He also has a website of his own at www.wierstra.net. There’s even an English version (click on the little American flag), for people just like us
Since he lives in Grijpskerk, Groningen, I asked him about Zeerijp, the village where Albert Heun was born:
“I also saw that you currently live in Groningen. It’s one of my dreams to travel there, and go to the places where my ancestors may have gone. Schoorl is the other place my ancestors came from. Do you know if there are aspects of Zeerijp that are the same as they were in the mid-1800s, or are those buildings gone, now? Do you live near there?”
Tymen replied:
“Zeerijp is not far from Grijpskerk. Both villages lie in the province Groningen. What is usually left of the mid-1800s is the church and some houses in the center. However it is very, very difficult to make the connection of the old house and the present one as the numbers of the houses changed many times. In the 19th century the house were indicated with a number, then with a letter and a number and in about 1950 the street names were introduced.
Tymen wierstra
I got the same question from a young American man whose ancestor was born very close to Grijpskerk. We just could find the environment where the house of his ancestor was located, but not the exact house anymore. He went over from the USA and was very happy to see the environment where his ancestor was born and lived when he emigrated to the USA.”
I’m so thrilled that Tymen reached out, and was still receptive over a year later, when I finally got around to exploring his site. I’m also grateful to him and to people like him who work so hard preserving our cultural heritage, so there’s something to find when others go looking.
