Tag: boat
-
Emigrating to Canada: 1954
Read More: Emigrating to Canada: 1954Some time after the war ended and things were settling into place in Holland my brother Jaap emigrated to Canada, as farmland was still very hard to come by. That went well so I wanted to emigrate too. About two weeks before I was to be granted permission, I told a friend of my plans…
-
Indonesia: 1947-1949
Read More: Indonesia: 1947-1949Much of what follows is written by Wendy based on memories my sisters and I shared of stories he told us over the years, although there are a few paragraphs that he must have written very early on because they were written in Dutch. When I was 19 years old (1947) I was called up…
-
The Depression Years: 1928-1939
Read More: The Depression Years: 1928-1939The depression began in 1928. By this time the oldest three had left school which was normal after finishing grade 7 and were helping on the farm. That was really needed because we couldn’t afford outside help anymore. When dad married on March 30, 1921, three years after the first world war everything was still…
-
Cheese Making
Read More: Cheese MakingAs I mentioned before we were a large family. When the war broke out, I was just 12 years old and there were 12 children already in our family. I believe the marriage was good, and as children we could get along quite well, apart from some minor rivalry that typically happens among children. Looking…
-
The Slingerland Farm
Read More: The Slingerland FarmI don’t know when Opa and Oma married. It must have been around 1895. [March 15, 1895] They farmed in Berkenwoude on the Jacobshoeve. [Benedenkerkseweg, where the de Jong’s lived, is one leg of the road running between Stolwijk and Berkenwoude] We went there often when we went to school since it was not so…
-
The Car Accident: 1932-1933
Read More: The Car Accident: 1932-1933The second thing I remember is when I was hit by a car when I was four years old. I believe it was on May 20, 1932. It was mid-afternoon and my dad was going milking, taking Geertje and me along. Henk was 2 ½ then, my sister Ju almost 1 year old and my…
-
Emigration
Read More: EmigrationIn 1892 their neighbour (and cousin) Arend Hassing and his wife had an auction and sold everything they had. With their five children they emigrated to Kalamazoo Michigan USA, on February 15, 1893. He became a celery farmer there. Later, the Hassing’s would write letters about their life in Kalamazoo and so, Berend (Ben) decided…
-
boat, Canada, Christmas, church, emigration, family, God, organ, Rotterdam, school, ship, Vlagtwedde, Winschoten
The Emigration Leap
Read More: The Emigration LeapMom and Dad involved us older children in the deliberations about the future. We agreed that if we were to emigrate, it would not be Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Brazil; the first two too far from Europe, the latter too different from us. The USA seemed too populous, too mighty and rich for…
-
Bible, boat, Canada, Christmas, church, college, family, Groningen, organ, politics, religion, school, ship, Winschoten
Wedderveer
Read More: WedderveerThe farm in Wedderveer. Note the fruit trees close to the barn, the orchard of the neighbour Begeman on the right, the tractor shed at the back, the vegetable garden this side the clothesline and the rows of potatoes between clothesline and shed. On the left the small barn of our immediate neighbour Van der…
-
Family Dynamics
Read More: Family DynamicsTrijn had finished school and thus we were both home with mother. Trijn was small and finely built and was close to mother, while I was much closer to my father. That’s why I loved going to the field with him. In the evening Trijn and I sometimes went to the village where we played…