In 1847, Aaltjen Somsen and her husband Derk Jan Rikkers left De Heurne for North America with their children. For a long time, family researchers did not know whether they had reached their destination. Because their trail initially disappeared, it was even thought that they might have been involved in the Phoenix disaster. Later research, however, traced the family to Wisconsin.
From Kleine Rikkert to America
Aaltjen Somsen was born in Aalten on 12 July 1804. On 19 May 1836 she married Derk Jan Rikkers, born on 25 December 1813. The family lived at Kleine Rikkert farm in De Heurne.
In 1847 they decided to emigrate. With their children Hendrik Jan and Tonia Johanna they travelled to the United States. The passenger list of the Kath Jackson shows that the family crossed the Atlantic on that ship. The Kath Jackson arrived in New York on 28 September 1847.
A trail that disappeared
For family researchers, it remained unclear for a long time what had happened to Aaltjen and Derk Jan after their emigration. When no American records had yet been found in the 1990s, the idea arose that the family might have been involved in the Phoenix disaster of 21 November 1847 on Lake Michigan, in which many emigrants from the Achterhoek lost their lives.
That assumption proved incorrect. Later research found Aaltjen and Derk Jan in United States census records. They appear in the 1850 census and again in those of 1860 and 1870. In the latter two they were living in Waupun City, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. The family eventually settled in the Alto area.
Two house fires
Life in Wisconsin also brought difficult years. Somsen family research includes a 1955 letter from granddaughter Minnie Elisabeth Rikkers. It records that the family experienced two house fires. Derk Jan’s sister Grada died in the first. During a later fire, Aaltjen had difficulty walking and her son had to carry her out of the burning house.
Alto, Wisconsin
Aaltjen Somsen died in Alto, Wisconsin, on 8 August 1887, aged 83. Derk Jan Rikkers died there on 25 August 1891. Both were buried at Oak Mound Cemetery in Alto.
Aaltjen’s story also shows how family research can change over time. What was once an unanswered question, and even led to a possible connection with the Phoenix, could gradually be reconstructed through American census records, family letters and, eventually, passenger lists.