Holland, 1877: Herman, Frits, Gonne holding Betsy, and Paul. (Jetty born in 1879)
All six came to America in 1885 and called Grand Rapids their home until 1893.
The six children of FWN Hugenholtz in Grand Rapids about 1888, from left to right:
Alida Fock with Paul Theodoor, Frits, Jettie, John van der Haagen with Hillegonda, Herman, and Elisabeth.
(dog on floor)
Descendants of Frederik Willem Nicolaas Hugenholtz (1839-1900) - click to enlarge
Descendants (Detailed) of Frederik Willem Nicolaas Hugenholtz (1839-1900) - click to enlarge
1. Hillegonda Cornelia (1863-1938). Gonne married Johan (John) Cornelis van der Haagen in Grand Rapids in 1887. John was born in Alkmaar on 30 October 1855. His father, also named Johannes van der Haagen, was born and died in Alkmaar. His father was a hotel owner, partner in a stage coach business, and a minister.
John worked in banking in Grand Rapids. They lived in this house on North Avenue in 1900.
John and Gonne. North Avenue house today (during repainting).
There were four daughters, Mina, Cecelia, Jo, and Frieda. During the next decade, they moved six blocks to a new house. The new house was removed for a new highway, but it had a commanding view of the city and the river valley.
Gonne before coming to America. Gonne during visit to Arnhem.
The family moved to Detroit in the following decade, and all the daughters married. John van der Haagen died in Detroit on 17 December 1920 at the age of 65. Gonne died in 1938.
Gonne’s grandson, Dick Waltz, has traced this van der Haagen line back to Jan van der Haagen, born 1375 in Antwerp. Additional information can be obtained from Dick’s nephew, Ray Crabtree (crabtree@columbus.rr.com).
2. Paul Theodoor (1865-1939). Paul was engaged to Alida Fock prior to coming to America. They married in 1888. Her grandfather had been mayor of Amsterdam, and her uncle was head of the VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie/Dutch East India Company).
Alida in New Mexico about 1895. Alida and Paul with Jetty and Frits.
Golden Anniversary, 1938. Center: Alida and Paul Theodoor. Children: (1) Jetty, b. Grand Rapids; (2) Frits, b. Grand Rapids; (3) Jacoba, b. New Mexico; (4) Elisabeth; (5) Paul. (LK) Lisa Klatte [Frits’ wife]. Grandchildren: (1a) Jan Willem [Tellegen]; (1b) Frits [Tellegen]; (2a) Alida; (2b) Johan; (2c) Marie Louise; (2d) Frits Jr.
L-R: Alida in New Mexico about 1896; Paul with his children (Harold, Rene, Eric, Paul Jr); Frits and LK in Indonesia in 1935 with their children (Frits Jr, Alida, Johan, Marie Louise).
Paul was publisher of the De Stemmen, the publication of the Vrije Hollandsche Gemeente. He remained busy with church affairs until the 1893 World’s Congress of Religions. Jetty and Frits were born in Grand Rapids
About 1895, Paul and Herman, his brother, transplanted their families and established a business in Las Vegas, New Mexico. They had a dairy that supplied milk to the Santa Fe railroad. In 1896, Jacoba was born in New Mexico, which was then a territory rather than a state.
In 1897, Alida returned to Holland for their fourth child. Tending business, Paul lingered and returned to Holland a few months later in 1898. Although he planned his dairy career until his departure, he began a new career in insurance and remained in the Amsterdam area. Later, he conducted the business of the Protestantse Wereldbond.
Alida and Paul had five children. Jetty and Frits were born in the United States. Jacoba was born in the Territory of New Mexico. And, Elizabeth and Paul Jr were born in Holland.
Paul Theodoor died in 1939. Alida died in 1948. Additional information can be obtained from Jetty’s son, Frits Tellegen (f.tellegen@planet.nl).
3. Herman Petrus (1866-1945). Herman married Hendrina DeVries in 1890. She was born in Holland in December 1870, and came to America with her parents, Elizabeth Clara Ros and Edward DeVries.
On Herman’s marriage license, his stated occupation is “insurance agent.” Herman and Hendrina had two children. Elizabeth Clara was born in 1892, and Frederik Willem was born in 1894.
Hendrina died of tuberculosis two months after Frederik’s birth.
A widower with two children, Herman joined his brother, Paul Theodoor, and headed to Las Vegas in the Territory of New Mexico to start a dairy business. Paul T. brought Alida and their two children. Elisabeth, their sister, accompanied them and cared for Herman’s children.
Herman about 1888. Herman and Hendrina.
Son Frits, held by Herman’s sister, Betsy.
Herman stayed with the business for eight years. Paul T. and Alida returned to Holland after three years. Elisabeth and Henriette, Herman’s sisters, were in New Mexico for part of that eight years. The dairy was a success, but Herman would have been alone in New Mexico with two teen-aged children had he not returned to Grand Rapids.
In 1903, Herman married Sophia E. Schouten. Sophie was born on Feb 2, 1871, in Holland, Michigan, of Dutch parents, Gysberta Wynholt and Roelof Andries Schouten. Their marriage certificate lists her occupation as music teacher and his as insurance agent.
Herman’s son, Frederik, served in the military during World War I. After the war, his health was poor. He was in an army hospital for a long duration prior to his death in 1937. He is buried in the beautiful San Francisco National Cemetery overlooking the Golden Gate and the Pacific. He never married.
Herman’s daughter, Elizabeth, married William Brobst in 1913. He was a businessman and 25 years older than Elizabeth.
For many years, Herman was a manager for the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. He died in 1945. She died in 1848 and was survived by a sister and two brothers, all in Grand Rapids. At her father’s funeral, Elizabeth was listed as Mrs Arthur J. Davidson of Detroit. No other children or grandchildren were listed among the surviving relatives.
4. Frederik Willem Nicolaas (1868-1924). Frits was educated at Meadville Seminary and Harvard University in the years following his arrival in America. Meadville is the Unitarian seminary, formerly located in Pennsylvania, that is now part of the University of Chicago. Following his education, he returned briefly to Holland and married Magdalena Zeeven in Arnhem in 1891.
Frits returned to America and became the Unitarian minister at Hillside, near Spring Green, Wisconsin. This was a unique assignment. Ministerial assignments for the western Unitarian conference were made by Jenkin Lloyd-Jones, and Hillside was the center of Jenkin’s family. Also, Jenkin was uncle of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Besides the homes of the Lloyd-Jones family, Hillside had an interesting country church, Unity Chapel, and a three-story boarding school, Hillside Home School. The school was operated by Jenkin’s sisters, Nell and Jane. Frits was instructor of Greek and Latin as well as the Hillside minister.
Lloyd-Joneses: Nell, Jane, Jenkin.
Frits and Lena were embraced by the Lloyd-Jones community. It became especially evident after the death of their first child. Francoise Louise had been born June 6, 1892, and lived until Sept. 16, 1893. She is buried with the Lloyd-Jones family at Unity Chapel.
L-R: grave of Francoise Louise, cemetery and Unity Chapel, Francoise behind Frank Lloyd Wright memorial.
In the months following their daughter’s death, Frits and Lena travelled. The newspaper at Hillside acknowledged their travel and welcomed their return in April 1894. According to oral history, they travelled to California. Perhaps, they and other family members experienced the American West. This was evidently a significant time for the entire Hugenholtz family because many suddenly moved to New Mexico.
Frits and Lena lived at Hillside for another year or more. A son, Frederik Willem Nicolaas, was born there in 1895. Then, they returned to the Netherlands, where Kornelius and Magdalena were born. Frits worked with the Nederlandse Protestantenbond (Protestant Association) in Schiedam on a number of progressive issues. About 1900, he was elected to Parliament. In America, the 1913 Harvard University Alumni Directory proudly listed him as a “Member of Parliament” living in “Scheveningen” near the Hague. He served for two decades in Parliament.
Frits and Lena with children: FWN Jr (in back), Kornelius, and Magdalena.
Frits died in 1924. Lena died in 1943. Additional information can be obtained from their grandson, Nico Hugenholtz (nico.hugenholtz@planet.nl).
5. Elisabeth Cornelia (1873-1952). Betsy came to America at age 12 and completed school in Grand Rapids. She graduated just prior to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and World’s Congress of Religions. The deaths of her niece (Francoise) in 1893 and her sister-in-law (Hendrina) in 1894 affected her. When her widowed brother headed to New Mexico in 1895, Betsy went to take care of his two children.
Betsy in Holland and in America.
Betsy married Ernst van Leeuwen in Las Vegas, New Mexico, on April 29, 1896. Ernst was born at Kampen in 1869 and had completed eight years of military service in the Netherlands. Possibly attracted to the Midwest by the Chicago World’s Fair, Ernst came to Grand Rapids in 1893. At the time of their wedding six years later, he resided at Las Vegas Hot Springs.
Betsy and Ernst remained in the Las Vegas area until 1903. Records exist of their farm at Watrous, twenty minutes east of Las Vegas on the Santa Fe railroad. Frank, Cecelia, and Anna were born between 1897 and 1901.
Events compelled Betsy and Ernst to return East in 1903. Young Cecelia died. In Grand Rapids, Betsy’s mother’s health was failing. Ernst’s brother was running a business in Evansville, Indiana, when their parents died in Holland. Ernst assisted in Evansville while his brother returned to Holland. There was much travel between Grand Rapids and Evansville.
About 1910, Betsy’s mother suffered a stroke and became an invalid. Ernst took employment at the Post Office in Grand Rapids. They had two houses in the Merritt Avenue area, Betsy’s mother lived in one, and Betsy lived with her family in the other. The twins, Elizabeth and Ernest were born in 1912.
L-R: Cecelia, Betsy with Anna and Frank, Betsy with the twins.
Betsy’s mother died in 1916, and the family bought a ranch in Jackson, Wyoming. They ranched until 1921 when beef prices plummeted, then switched to dairy farming. The dairy was successful. Dairy revenues increased substantially while The Big Trail, John Wayne’s first movie, was being filmed in Jackson.
Three of the children moved away. Anna married Guy Ward and moved to Kentucky. Ernest left for college in California to become an engineer. Both Frank and Ernest built airplanes during World War II.
The fourth child, Elizabeth, married Cleo Karns. They had a motel, and he was elected mayor. The Karns family continues to be a presence in Jackson.
Betsy and Ernst
About 1946, Betsy and Ernst retired in Tucson, Arizona. Ernst died in 1951, and Betsy died in 1952. Additional information can be obtained from their granddaughter, Anne van Leeuwen (anne_peter@earthlink.com).
6. Henrietta Maria (1879-1903). Jetty was only six years old when she came to America. In later years, her nickname was often spelled Yetty in order to encourage correct pronounciation in English. After completing high school in Grand Rapids, Jetty joined her siblings in New Mexico. In 1898, she returned to Grand Rapids and began nursing school.
Jetty in 1888. She graduated from nursing school about 1900.
Jetty was working in Grand Rapids as a nurse when she married Bernard Brouwer in 1903. Bernard was born about 1875, probably in Amsterdam. His parents were Carolina Snellen and Rutger Brouwer. Rutger was a minister in Amsterdam. The Snellen and Hugenholtz families were closely allied. Jetty’s grandmother was a Snellen, and Jetty’s first cousin married a Snellen. Bernard’s uncle, Maurits Snellen, was an arctic explorer and a minister in government. The Brouwer and Snellen families both have rich histories.
Bernard had sisters but no brothers. When his father died, the family moved to Arnhem. At some point, Bernard came to America. His trunk exists, and it is addressed to himself at Spring Green, Wisconsin. Presumably, Jetty’s brother, Frits, helped Bernard establish himself. No record was found of Bernard at Hillside Home School. He probably arrived between 1892 and 1895 and was already 17 years old or older.
Jetty and Bernard had two daughters in Grand Rapids. Helen was born in 1905, and Cecelia was born in 1907. About 1910, the family moved to Durango, Colorado. Jetty was a nurse at the Durango railroad hospital. Bernard worked for the post office. He had a long postal route that enabled him to prospect for gold.
Touring Denver in 1911: Jetty (partly hidden), Cecelia, Helen, and Bernard.
In 1913, the family of four sailed to Holland on the S.S. Rotterdam. They departed from New York on July 15 and returned on October 4, which allowed two months in Holland.
Jetty and Bernard’s third child, Paul, was born in 1919. About 1920, the family moved from Durango to Denver, and Bernard continued working for the federal government. Twenty years later, the family moved a short distance to Golden, nestled between Denver and the Rockies. Here, they could have horses. Today, Brouwers continue to reside in Golden.
Bernard and Jetty. Bernard and Jetty visit her sister, Betsy (standing), in Tucson about 1946.
Jetty died October 20, 1947, of complications following gall bladder surgery. Bernard died in May 1962, leaving the claim to his gold mine. Additional information can be obtained from their grandson, Paul Brouwer (303-279-1296).
Footnote. It is difficult to understand why the children settled where they did in America. Spring Green, Wisconsin? Las Vegas, New Mexico? Answers are provided by this 1880s railroad map.
Spring Green is located (over the “i” in Chicago) on the route between Chicago and Minneapolis. Las Vegas is located (above the “b” in Albuquerque) on the Santa Fe railroad between Albuquerque and Kansas.
Spring Green was an overnight train ride from Chicago. They frequently traveled by boat from Grand Haven, near Grand Rapids, to Chicago. They also vacationed in Grand Haven.
Transcontinental rail travel was a novelty, promoted by travel articles in popular magazines. Oral history says that some family members traveled to California in early 1894. They probably looped through Utah, California, and New Mexico. Anyway, somehow, they became enchanted by New Mexico, and half the family moved there the following year.
Although everyone left New Mexico by 1904, they remembered the American West. Betsy returned. Jetty returned. The majority of Hugenholtz descendants in America live in the American West.