Lives in the Netherlands

Hendrik Jan Debbink was born in Winterswijk, Gelderland on 7 August 1808 as the son of Garrit Hendrik Debbink and his second wife Janna Geertruid Debbink. As a younger son, there apparently was no need for him to get married soon. At the age of 49, he got married to 22-year-old Berendina Dunnewold. The couple was married in Winterswijk on 26 August 1857.

Berendina Dunnewold was born in Winterswijk on 9 October 1834 as a daughter of Gerrit Jan Dunnewold and Diela Rueselink. Hendrik Jan and Berendina had the following children:

1. Garret Henry Debbink, born 10 July 1858, died 5 January 1938, married on 9 November 1886 to Johanna Geertruid Neerhof, born in Aalten on 28 October 1861, died 13 October 1955, daughter of Garrit Jan Neerhof and Berendina Jentink (sister of Catharina Jentink).
   
   

   G.H.Debbink family. Top row: John Debbink, Bernadeana Debbink, Ellis Debbink, Jennie Debbink, Ernest Debbink, Hattie Debbink, Herbert Debbink. Bottom row: Dora Debbink, Jane Neerhof Debbink, Garret Debbink, Andrew Debbink
2. Dirk John Debbink, born 9 February 1861, died 8 February 1936, Milwaukee, WI, married 25 March 1891 to Mary Christina Wilterdink.
3. Janna Geertruida, who died of a sunstroke when she was 4 years old, before the family emigrated.
4. Johanna Aleida (Hannah) Debbink, born 2 January 1867, married in Gibbsville on 26 January 1897 to G. William Reimes.
5. Jan Willem Debbink, born in Winterswijk on 22 April 1869, died 17 July 1950, married to Elisabeth Ebbers, born 9 April 1874 in Wisconsin, died 18 November 1955.

Emigration

The Debbink family knew several people who had emigrated in the 1840s. Berendina's older brother Jan Willem Dunnewold had emigrated in 1846, when she was just 12 years old. While living in the United States he became a minister and settled in Sheboygan County, WI. Hendrik Jan had some Mentink cousins who had settled in the same area.

These family members must have sent favorable reports because on 10 July 1877, the family left the Netherlands from the port of Rotterdam. They sailed on the vessel 'Scholten' and arrived in New York City on 24 July 1877. From there, they went on to Wisconsin where they arrived three days later.

Lives in Sheboygan County

The family first rented a farm near Gibbsville. Soon afterwards, they purchased 20 acres of land near Sheboygan Falls and established a new farm. This farm was located just south of the hamlet known as 'Ourtown'.

Hendrik Jan Debbink and Berendina Dunnewold (collection Janice Hesselink)

The family attended the Gibbsville Reformed church, where Berendina's brother was the minister. Hendrik Jan and Berendina were active in the church as well.

Hendrik Jan Debbink died on 15 November 1896 at the age of 88. His wife survived him for almost 20 years and died on 22 December 1914. They are burried at Gibbsville Cemetery, Town of Lima, Sheboygan County, WI.

Last week, my friend Mary Risseeuw from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and I gave a presentation at the International Congress for genealogical and heraldic Sciences in Maastricht. The title was "We're all fresh and healthy. Emigration from the Netherlands to the United States in the 19th century. The slides are now available online.

I've just added a Dutch genealogy store to the site. In this store, visitors can buy books, DVDs and prints about Dutch genealogy, history and culture. I've selected publications that I think would benefit somebody researching his Dutch roots. The store is powered by Amazon. This website receives a commission for all sales, enabling this website to remain free.

When Dutch people arrived in the United States or other English-speaking countries, often their names got changed. This was either done on purpose, to make the name easier to write and remember, or by accident because the clerk didn't know how to spell the name and wrote it down phonetically. For this reason, a single family name can often be found in many different spellings in different documents.

This article gives an overview of the types of changes that names underwent and also gives a list of English versions of Dutch last names. This list is not complete and even for the names that are listed, chances are that many people with those names used even more exotic variants as well.

Marriage records are a part of the civil registration. Marriage records contain the following information:

• Name, age, profession and place of birth and residence of the bride and groom
• Names of their parents, and if they are still alive their professions and place of residence
• If any: names of previous spouses (either divorced or deceased)
• Name, age, profession and place of residence for 4 witnesses

Gelderland is a province in the east of the Netherlands. It borders on Germany to the east, Overijssel, Flevoland and Utrecht to the north, Noord-Brabant to the south and Zuid-Holland and Utrecht to the west.

The capital city of Gelderland is Arnhem. Other large towns are:

• Nijmegen
• Apeldoorn
• Zutphen
• Doetinchem
• Tiel

Jan Willem Einink and Gesina Johanna te Brinke were born in Winterswijk. Together with their family, they emigrated to the United States. At the end of his life, Jan Willem Einink wrote an autobiography that gives us a unique view of his life and his struggles with the church, which led him to secede on more than one occasion. This article is largely written based on the information from his autobiography.

The first larger emigration wave from the Netherlands took place in the seventeenth century. A new colony was established in the Americas, which was called the New Netherlands. After a rough start, this colony attracted emigrants from all over Europe.