Old Aalten

Category: Emigration

  • Emigrant family Navis

  • Emigrant family Navis

    Emigrant family Navis

    Emigrants from Aalten to the US

    The cradle of the Achterhoek family Navis is located in the Aalten hamlet of Lintelo. The oldest known mention of the name is in 1529, when Hendrik Naeves from Lintelo delivers two tijnshoenderen to his lord of Anholt. In 1997, the Navis farm had been inhabited by the Navis family for eight generations. Ancestors Jan Navis and Hermken in Bokkel leased the farm in 1730 as a church site of the NH church in Aalten.

    Among the many emigrants who have exchanged our region for faraway places (especially North America) in recent centuries, there were also several descendants of Jan and Hanneken Navis. The following is a summary of what we know about these descendants of the Navis genus.

    Christiaan Navis

    The first known emigrant from the Navis family was Christiaan Navis (Aalten, 12-02-1797), son of Jan Navis and Sophia Blekking. He married on 11-02-1824 in Winterswijk with Johanna Hendrika Linzij (Oeding (D), 13-11-1803). They had six children between 1824 and 1841. In 1844 they lived on ‘Tiggeloven‘ in the hamlet of Dorpbuurt below Winterswijk and in that year they left for North America, where they arrived in New York on 27-07-1844 with the ship ‘De Hoop’. Christiaan gave as profession: stonemason.

    Clymer Hill Church, New York
    Clymer Hill Church

    Their eldest child, Jan Willem Navis (1824), did not go to America, but left for Prussia. Their second child, Janna Sophia Navis (1826), left for Aalten according to the population register, but cannot be found there. Perhaps she changed her mind and joined the trip to America after all. About 1846 she married in Clymer, NY with Jan Willem Bekerink (Ratum, 1821). She died in 1892 and was buried in Fontanelle, Iowa.

    Daughter Christina Navis (1829) married about 1855 in the US with Jan Hendrik Verink (Kotten, 1810) and died in 1895 in Muscatine, Iowa, where she was also buried. Of the other three children, it is not yet known how they fared.

    They purchased 25 acres of land in Clymer, NY on Clymer-Sherman Road, lot 60. They later sold this to their son-in-law Jan Willem Bekerink. In 1854, he gave up a quarter of an acre of land for 15 dollars to build the Clymer Hill Church on it. The church was consecrated on September 13, 1854.

    Later, the entire family moved to Muscatine, Iowa.

    Janna Geertruid Elisabeth Navis

    She was born on 20-01-1808 in Lintelo, daughter of Hendrik Jan Navis and Antonetta Elisabeth Hoftijzer. She married on 25-08-1831 in Varsseveld with Lammert Rademaker (1806) and died on 20-01-1888 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

    Children of Hendrik Jan Navis and Janna Liefting

    Burning of the Phoenix
    The Phoenix disaster on Lake Michigan, 1847

    Willemina Navis, born on 20-03-1794 in Lintelo, widow of Derk Jan Navis, remarried in 1827 to Roelof Doornink and they left for North America in November 1846 .

    Derk Willem Navis, born on 26-07-1801 in Lintelo, married on 08-07-1826 in Aalten with Johanna Rexwinkel (1802). They left with their seven children and are then almost 80-year-old mother Janna Liefting to North America in August 1847 . On 21-11-1847 they all died on Lake Michigan, in the disaster with the propeller steamer Phoenix.

    Evert Navis, born on 04-02-1809 in Lintelo, widower of Willemina Janssen, remarried on 29-05-1845 in Aalten with Berentjen Navis, his niece, born on 30-04-1813 in Lintelo (Marode) and daughter of Geert Navis and Harmina Lammers. They left for North America in October 1846 .

    Berend Hendrik Naves

    Born on 05-06-1839 in Lintelo (Marode), son of aren’t Naves and Dersken Tieltjes (nephew of Berentje, Derk Willem and Evert Navis). He married on 13-05-1869 in Aalten with Willemina Johanna Ormel (1847) from De Heurne and in September 1869 they left for North America.

    aren’t Jan Navis

    Born on 01-12-1828 in Lintelo (Nieuw Navis), son of Garrit Jan Navis and Johanna Geertruid Heesen and cousin by marriage of Willemina Navis on father’s side. He married on 06-12-1851 in Dinxperlo with Aleida Theodora te Kampe (1820). They left for North America in 1854 together with their one-year-old daughter Theodora Johanna.

    Children of Berend Hendrik Navis and Johanna Huenink

    Arend Jan Navis, (1841-1924), left on 17-12-1859 for Prussia where he married Elisabeth Blecking in 1869 in Wertherbruch. They founded a German branch under the name Naves.

    Gerrit Jan Navis, born on 13-02-1854 in Aalten, left in September 1869 from the farm Den Bosch on the Haart to North America. He married in 1876 in Sheboygan with Hendrica Graven, born in 1852 in Town of Holland as the daughter of previous emigrants, namely Berent Graven and Aleida Berendina Snoeyenbosch from Aalten. They had seven descendants in America. Gerrit Jan died on 07-11-1927 in Sheboygan.

    The riddle surrounding Henry Navis

    When compiling ‘The Navis family 1838-1975’, an overview booklet of a Navis family in America, it was still unclear to the family who their founders Henry Navis and Hendrika Klein Hesseling were or where they came from.

    This can be read in the following excerpt from this booklet:

    “Henry Navis, came from Europe as a young man. The year, how old he was or where he came from is unknown. He was a drifter, and no one seemed to know what he was doing when he was in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa and other states.

    He married Hendrika Klein Hesseling, but their wedding date is also unknown. The parents of Hendrika Klein Hesselink are also unknown. What is known is that there were Klein Hesselings in this state who dropped the word Klein and that there is a band.

    It is not known how many brothers and sisters Henry had or who his parents were. This is in short the history of the man and woman who started this great generation of Fishing.”

    Riddle solved

    Between 1982 and 1983, the mystery surrounding the ancestry of Henry Navis and his wife Hendrika Kleinhesselink was solved by genealogical research and communicated to the descendants in America. They were thrilled that after so many years there had been clarity about the origins of their founders in the US.

    Henry Navis was born on 30-09-1838 as Gerrit Hendrik Navis in the Binnenheurne near Varsseveld, as son of Gerrit Willem Navis and Dersken ter Horst. His grandparents were Geert Navis and Hermina Lammers, brother and sister-in-law of Hendrik Jan Navis and Janna Liefting (see previous emigrants). His father Gerrit Willem died in October 1856, when Gerrit Hendrik was 18 years old. Shortly afterwards he disappeared from home and was reported as ‘absent‘ in the population register of Varsseveld. He died on 16-06-1922 in America.

    Hendrika Kleinhesselink was born on 03-07-1830 in Dinxperlo, as a daughter of Jannes Kleinhesselink and Theodora ter Horst. Her father died in 1850 and his widow left for North America with her eight children in April 1856 . Hendrika Kleinhesselink died on 29-09-1903 in America. It is known from the descendants in the US that Henry, after the death of his wife, went wandering again.

    Children of Gradus Navis and Dersken Vreemen

    Gerrit Jan Navis, born on 10-07-1845 in Lintelo, left in April 1882, unmarried, for North America. He was followed in July of the same year by his brother with his family and his sister with her son:

    Bernardus Navis, born on 13-04-1841 in Lintelo, married on 01-06-1876 in Aalten to Berendina Frederika Fukkink (1857) with their sons Gradus Theodorus (1877) and aren’t Jan (1881). aren’t Jan married in the US with emigrant daughter Minnie Voskuil (1881).

    Hendrika Johanna Navis, born on 16-01-1837 in Lintelo, unmarried mother of Jan Willem Navis (1858). Jan Willem married Dina Johanna Harmelink (Lintelo, 1864) in Kansas in 1887.

    Tombstone Bernard Navis, his wife and their young daughter Jennie – Cedar Grove Cemetery, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

    The whole family lived together at ‘t Boske until their emigration, with the exception of Jan Willem, who was a servant at ‘t Spieker. Gerrit Jan married Janna Aleida Krozenbrink (Barlo, 1861) in Wisconsin in 1884. He died in 1915 and was buried in Baldwin, Wisconsin.

    Post-war emigrants

    In 1948, Derk Willem Navis (1917-2003), son of Johan Albertus Navis and Dela Nijman (from the Arend branch), left for America together with his wife Antonia Wubbels (1918-1999) and two children. He had been a military police officer and settled in Wyoming, Minnesota as a salesman of building materials. Two more children were born in America.

    Sources

  • Traces of Brevoort in New York

    Traces of Brevoort in New York

    In the year 1660, a certain Hendrick Janszen ‘van Brevoort’ came with his wife and four children (3, 12, 16 and 17 years old) to New Amsterdam, now New York. At that time there was no official surname, and in archives someone was mentioned with first name, patronymic (Janszen, or ‘son of Jan’) and the place where they came from (in this case ‘Brevoort’). They had left Amsterdam on 8/9 March 1660 with the ship De Moesman and arrived before 30 May.

    We do not yet have more information about the Bredevoort origin of this Hendrick Janszen. Do you? Then we would like to hear from you !

    Brevoort Estate, between 54th and 55th Street, near 1st Avenue, 1866. Photo: The Museum of the City of New York
    Brevoort Estate, between 54th and 55th Street, near 1st Avenue, 1866. Photo: The Museum of the City of New York

    Hendrick’s son Jan Hendrick (1644-1714) used the surname Brevoort from 1696 onwards. In the centuries that followed, the Brevoort family in New York would grow into a well-known family with prestige and wealth.

    Jan Hendrick Brevoort bought land in Harlem, where he held the position of overseer in 1678 and 1679. In the early 18th century, he exchanged Harlem for the south of Manhattan. At his death, he left his farm in the ‘Bowery‘ to his children. His son Hendrick (1670-1718) eventually owned most of the land, which then belonged to his son, also named Hendrick (1711-1771). He further expanded the property to 30 hectares. When the Brevoort family split up their possessions and sold most of them, this gave them a fortune. The head of the family was Henry Brevoort (1747-1841).

    Henry Brevoort Jr.

    Brevort, Michigan

    Henry Brevoort Jr. (1782-1848) and his wife Laura Brevoort-Carson had a mansion built on the remainder of their land, at 5th Avenue and 9th Street. This area was on the rise and the Brevoorts took a prominent position in it. Henry Jr. was known as a literary spirit and he was friends and corresponded with the writer Washington Irving (1783-1859). In addition, he was a municipal councillor for many years.

    Henry Jr. was adventurous and traveled a lot. For example, he accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Northwest from 1803 to 1806 and spent much time in the North American wilderness, working for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. In the north of the state of Michigan, in Mackinac County, there is a hamlet called Brevort (pictured left), named after Henry, who explored the area in 1845, along with his friend Washington Irving.

    In the city of New York in particular, various places, streets and buildings still refer to the Brevoort family. Here are a few examples.

    The bend in Broadway

    Characteristic of American cities is the rectangular street pattern. However, deviations from this pattern also occur. If you study the street pattern of New York, you will see, for example, that Broadway, one of the most famous streets in the world, also makes a bend. According to tradition, this would be due to one man, who was determined to defend his country.

    The 35-hectare farm of Henry Brevoort Sr. was located on the outskirts of the city in the early 19th century. As the population of New York increased, the city government announced plans in 1815 to extend Broadway in a straight line to 23rd Street. However, this would cut through Brevoort’s land. He protested and the city council gave in: Broadway was diverted, so that the orchards of Brevoort’s farm, where 10th Street is today, were spared.

    The Brevoort apartment complex, Manhattan

    The Brevoort, New York

    In the Greenwich Willage neighborhood, in the heart of Manhattan, there is an apartment complex called ‘The Brevoort’ at the beginning of 5th Avenue. The complex was built in 1955 and has 20 floors and 277 apartments. The building replaced the famous ‘Hotel Brevoort‘, once one of the leading hotels in New York. This is where the rich and famous and sometimes even royal guests stayed. The hotel was also known for the legendary parties that took place there. Aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh received the Orteig prize of 25,000 dollars in this hotel for his solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

    One of the most famous residents of the current apartment complex ‘The Brevoort’ was Buddy Holly. He lived there in 1958-1959, from his marriage until his fatal end. He recorded the so-called Apartment Tapes here.

    Traces of Brevoort in Brooklyn

    There are also several places in the borough of Brooklyn where family members of the Brevoorts once owned land. This includes a street (Brevoort Place), an apartment complex (the Brevoort Houses – 13 seven-storey buildings with a total of 896 apartments), a Brevoort Playground and a Brevoort Post Office.

    Brevoort Place, Brooklyn, NY
    Brevoort Place, Brooklyn
    The Brevoort appartments, Brooklyn, NY
    Brevoort Houses, Brooklyn
    Brevoort Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
    U.S. Post Office Brevoort Station, Brooklyn

    Brevoort Theatre, Brooklyn

    Bedford-Brevoort Theatre, 1919

    Although this theater has long since disappeared, it is still worth a mention. The Brevoort Theater once stood on the corner of Bedford Avenue and Brevoort Place. When it opened in 1918, it was Brooklyn’s largest movie theater, with 1,800 seats and another 700 on the balcony. The theater also had a stage and an orchestra pit.

    Although it was mainly shown in films in the first decades, the Brevoort Theatre became famous around 1960 because many well-known artists performed there, including James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Sam & Dave, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Pattie LaBelle & the Bluebells. However, this period did not last long. The theater closed its doors for good in the 60s of the last century and was demolished in 1968.

    Sources

  • Aalten Avenue, Canvey Island

    Aalten Avenue, Canvey Island

    In the southeast of England, at the mouth of the Thames, lies the town of Canvey Island. Four centuries ago, it was in danger of disappearing into the sea, until in 1622 the Dutch came to the rescue with their ‘water management skills’. After a successful reclamation, many Dutch workers continued to live there, perhaps including one or more Oud-Aalten residents.

    In the early 17th century, Sir Henry Appleton, the most important landowner on Canvey Island at the time, met the Dutchman Joas Croppenburg. He proposed to drain Canvey Island in the same way as had been done in Amsterdam. In 1622, several landowners of Canvey Island signed an agreement and Croppenburg hired another Dutchman, Cornelius Vermuyden, to reclaim the island.

    Vermuyden recruited between two and three hundred compatriots to get the job done. They built a series of seawalls and successfully made Canvey Island habitable by reclaiming 15 kilometres of land by embanking the island with locally mined chalk, limestone and heavy swamp clay.

    Dutch colony

    After Canvey Island was drained and available for both agriculture and living, many of the Dutch workers who had helped reclaim the land decided to settle there permanently. A Dutch colony developed on Canvey Island within a few years. Dutch even remained the official language in Canvey until about 1700.

    The Dutch settlers named all kinds of roads in their settlement after places in their homeland. There is an Aalten Avenue, Zelham Drive, Goirle Avenue, Haarlem Road, Urmond Road and Waalwyk Drive, among others.

    Aalten Avenue, Canvey Island, UK (photo: Google Streetview, 2024)
    Photo: Google Streetview, 2024

    As yet, no tangible connection has been found between this history and specific Oud-Aalten residents who would have been involved. Hopefully, relevant information about this will one day ‘surface’!

    Sources