Jan Willem Klanderman (1830–1918) grew up in Woold near Winterswijk, lived successively in Winterswijk, Bredevoort and Aalten, and left for the United States in 1869. Travelling via Québec, he eventually settled in Baldwin, Wisconsin. His life illustrates how closely the history of Aalten and the Achterhoek is connected with nineteenth-century emigration to North America.
From Woold to Winterswijk
Jan Willem Klanderman, whose surname also frequently appears in sources as Klandermans, was born on 10 August 1830 at Klandermans farm in Woold near Winterswijk.12 He was a son of Berend Willem Klanderman and Berendina Wolterink. The present-day Klandermansweg, on which the farm stands, was named after the farmstead.
Between 1851 and 1859 Jan Willem lived as a servant with notary Roelvink in Winterswijk, at house number 309.3 This was the later demolished Villa Roelvink-Hesselink on Misterstraat, opposite the Roman Catholic church.4
Three marriages
On 16 July 1859, aged 28, Jan Willem married Willemina Sibbink, a widow from Bredevoort.5 He moved into her home at number 91b and was registered there as a farmer. The house probably stood on the corner of Markt and ‘t Zand.6 The marriage remained childless. Willemina died on 18 November 1862.
On 26 February 1863 Jan Willem remarried, to Janna Geertruid Beernink.7 Their son Johan Berend Willem Klanderman was born on 8 June 1865.8 Less than two weeks later, on 21 June 1865, Janna Geertruid died at the age of 33.9
Jan Willem married for a third time on 5 January 1866, to Antonetta Gesina Meijnen, a forty-year-old widow from Aalten.10 The couple settled at Aalten 57, now Stationsstraat 5, directly next to the synagogue. Jan Willem was registered there as a weaver.11
On 16 September 1867 Jan Willem and Antonetta had a son, Gerrit Willem. The boy died on 27 February 1869, before he was eighteen months old.12
To North America aboard the Nestorian
Not long afterwards, the family decided to leave the Netherlands. In 1869 the Klandermans were among the large group of people from the Achterhoek who emigrated to North America in the nineteenth century.13
A passenger record for the Nestorian has been linked with certainty to Jan Willem on Old Aalten. The ship arrived in Québec on 19 July 1869.14 How the family travelled from there to Wisconsin is not yet known.
A new life in Wisconsin
In February 1870, shortly after they settled in the United States, their son Garrett William Klanderman was born in Baldwin, St. Croix County, Wisconsin.15
Jan Willem Klanderman died on 25 February 1918, aged 87. He was buried at Baldwin Cemetery in Baldwin, Wisconsin.16
Little is currently known about the family’s onward journey through North America or about their life in Wisconsin. Additional information, documents or family photographs would therefore be very welcome.
Sources
1. Gelders Archief – birth record of Jan Willem Klanderman, 10 August 1830.
2. Buurtschap.info – Klandermans farm in Woold.
3. Erfgoedcentrum Achterhoek en Liemers – Winterswijk population register, 1851–1859.
4. OudWinterswijk – Villa Roelvink-Hesselink.
5. Gelders Archief – marriage of Jan Willem Klandermans and Willemina Sibbink, 16 July 1859.
6. Old Aalten – corner of Markt / ‘t Zand.
7. Open Archieven – marriage of Jan Willem Klanderman and Janna Geertruid Beernink, 26 February 1863.
8. WieWasWie – birth record of Johan Berend Willem Klanderman, 8 June 1865.
9. WieWasWie – death record of Janna Geertruid Beernink, 21 June 1865.
10. Open Archieven – marriage of Jan Willem Klanderman and Antonetta Gesina Meijnen, 5 January 1866.
11. Old Aalten – Stationsstraat 5, history of residents.
12. FamilySearch – Jan Willem Klanderman (1830–1918) and family.
13. Old Aalten – Emigration from Aalten to America.
14. Library and Archives Canada – Nestorian passenger record, arrival in Québec on 19 July 1869.
15. FamilySearch – birth of Garrett William Klanderman, 1870.