These next three pages are taken from the descriptions written by Henk Bousema in the Stuit Book, relying on the help of his uncle Berend Beekhuis for research and information.

Woldendorp lies in the province of Groningen, in an area that is called Oldambt. The distance to the nearest town Winschoten is a four hour walk. Around 1850 there were 63 houses in the village and 370 inhabitants. Most of them were farmers or farmhands. All the inhabitants belonged to the Nederlands Hervormde Kerk. The church building is very old and has very thick walls. The bell in the church tower dates from 1479.

The area where Woldendorp is situated is very old. The clay soil was put there by the sea around 500 BC. This clay soil is very fertile, and the farmers made good money. But not the farmhands — they had to work hard for small wages. There was a great social and economic difference between these two groups.

The landscape is pretty, with winding roads but not many trees. There are many ditches to get rid of the overflow of water. The clay soil is very tough and hard to work on. At a depth of 7 feet the soil is richer and contains more chalk. So, in wintertime the farmhands had to dig that deep to get hold of the rich soil and throw it over the land. This is called “Kleidelven”. This work was very hard, but it paid well. Albert did a lot of “kleidelven” in the wintertime. You had to do it very carefully and always with two men, because the pit could fall in and this way one could dig his own grave.

In 1876, people in this area had small incomes. A farmhand earned about fl 370 a year and his wife, who worked in the fields in summertime during harvest, another fl 90 (this makes a total of 200 dollars). In 1909 the income of a farmhand and his wife was about 230 dollars a year. The wage per hour was 5 cents. With “kleidelven” one could make 6 cents an hour.

Albert Stuit

Albert Stuit (Dina Beekhuis’ maternal grandfather) was born on Friday, October 24, 1851 at six o’clock in the morning in a small house on the dike of the Oostwolderpolder at Woldendorp His parents had just come to live there. Albert was the youngest of six children. When Albert was almost two years old, his father Berend died at the age of 39, leaving his wife Trijntje and six young children behind in poverty. After his father died, his mother got much support from her neighbours. In 1856 she married her neighbour, who had lost his wife one year before. His name was Jan Harms Vander Veen.

In 1870 Albert (aged 19) enlisted with the National Militia (Military Service), though he was not duty bound, because his brother Jan had already served. (Their father Berend, had also been in militia service.) His records describe Albert as follows: “oval face, low forehead, grey eyes, normal nose and mouth, a round chin, blond hair and eyebrows, length 1 meter 67 cm. and 5 mm”.

Albert enlisted of his own free will in the place of another man, to make some extra money. His Military number was 29631. He served as a horseman in the 2nd Regiment Veldartillerie (Field artillery) in The Hague from May 1873 till August 1876. He enjoyed his work there, because he had to take care of the horses who drew the canons, and he liked horses.