Extreme Ancestors – Johanna van Groezen, wife, mother of two, widow in the same year

In this post in my Extreme Ancestors series, I want to introduce you to Johanna van Groezen, who became a wife, mother of two children, and a widow; all in the space of eight months. Johanna van Groezen and her first husband Adriaan Marijnissen are my third great-grandparents.

Johanna van Groezen was twenty-one years old when she married Adriaan Marijnissen. They married in Made en Drimmelen in North Brabant on 6 February 1864. They both worked as laborers. He was 27 years old, she was 21.¹

Marriage record, 6 February 1864

Johanna must have been three to four months pregnant when she married. On 6 July 1864, she gave birth to twins Johannes and Hendrika.²

Birth record of son Johannes, born 6 July 1864

Four months later, on 29 October 1864, Johanna’s husband Adriaan Marijnissen died in Strijen. He worked as a skipper at the time and was twenty-six years old when he died.³

Adriaan and Johanna lived in Made, so he died in a different place than where he lived. It seems likely that he was involved in an accident while working as a skipper, which would explain why he died elsewhere and at such a young age. Dutch death records do not record the cause of death, however, and I have not been able to find anything in the newspapers.

Map of Made in 1869. Credits: Topotijdreis (public domain)

Johanna, now age 22, was left behind with her two babies. What a dramatic year this was for her. From finding herself pregnant, the relief she must have felt when Adriaan agreed to marry her, the surprise when they turned out to be twins, and then the loss of her husband.

Her daughter Hendrika died on 5 April 1866.⁴ Johanna remarried a month later, on 4 May 1866, to Cornelis van der Steen.⁵ They had seven more children together. Johanna van Groezen died in Made en Drimmelen on 30 March 1913, age seventy.⁶