Narrative by Nellie Hellegers Hettema, undated
Dear Etta and Jake,
On this page I'll write what I remember of Pa and his background in Holland. As you know our Great Grandmother broke up Grandma's living with Pa's father [meaning that Thomas Anthony Hellegers was an illegitimate child, but see Mrs. Wells' narrative below for more on this]. I never knew the name [of his father]. Grandma left Pa with Great Grandmother (and married soon after [to another man]). [Illegible writing here.] You know her husband was a goldsmith in Rotterdam, a Catholic, lost his firm there and all he had through drink! G.Grandma's last years were hard ones for she, a widow, was poor. So we did not come from the Peasant class. Pa's 2 uncles, brothers of Uncle Corneil [illegible writing] were officers in Dutch Army and Pa was named for them.
Pa came here in 1860 and [lived?] with G.Grandma, Uncle C., wife, and Tom G. Pa often said he learned to read English [Illegible writing] in 1861 and he was interested in various [illegible] Dutch farmers [illegible] hired man helped him.
Grandma came here with her 3rd husband and 5 children. [She was married multiple times. The third husband was a De Groot.] I don't know when they came to the country. I know Ma and Pa lived in Patterson where Henry and John were from. So it must have been around 1876. Sophie was born in Passaic. Fred wanted to know Ma's maiden name. De Groot. Her father had a pension, had worked on the dykes. They weren't poor either. 2 sons. [Illegible] bringing in the Ocean Liners to the harbor of Rotterdam. You knew the above. Pa came to this country because his Grandma wouldn't leave Holland without him. You remember that story I'm sure. [Illegible writing]
One thing you can tell Fred is we were all church people. No [illegible] or politicians among them. Uncle Corneil had Tom, Ed, John, Peter, and 2 daughters, one died young.
Nellie
Extracts from a follow-up letter from Nellie to Etta
I told Fred in my letter I did not go along with Andre's idea we might have the same G.Grandfather for the reason of our being in the Goldsmith business, in Rotterdam, whereas his was a M.D. and Surgeon there. Also his family having signet rings; they may have come from the Jewelry firm (Guy said his father had one. Now Guy wonders what became of it)
I went over what Grandma had told of her father losing all they possessed -- and they had much, because of drink, and of them being poor, and instead of having servants and being "Merroew", G.Grandma became a servant and worked hard bringing up our Grandma and Uncle Corneil. Also told him our Grandma's name was Bella.
Shortly after the failure of the business our G.Grandfather died and Grandma moved to Gudorp where Pa grew up and from that village came to this country when Pa was eleven.
Nellie
Extracts from another letter from Nellie
Easter
Dear Folks,Pa had a hard childhood, never lived with his mother [while he was a child], yet he, of her big family, was the one who took her in and she lived with us for 10 years. She didn't like her daughter in laws or Uncle Neil. As she didn't get along too well with Aunt Lena, Aunt Henrietta had her mother in law with her -- she lived to be 90 -- as there was no room for our Grandma there.
Ma as you will remember had a happy childhood in Holland, born of a second marriage, her mother died when Ma was about 3. She was brought up by her half sisters, Aunt Sara and Aught Jane. She remembered sitting on her Dad's lap.
If there's anything else you want to know of Pa, I could add this. They came over in a sailing vessel. Such a stormy passage it took 53 days. The old lady couldn't stand it, was sick when they landed, never recovered and within 2 months died. So as Corneil and wife had their own way to make, they put Pa out on a farm. Then he was 12. He was on his own. You remember the stories he would tell of the different places he worked. When he got working for a man by the name of Herrett his life was much better. When he was 17 he began to learn the carpenter's trade. As Tom said one time, Grandpa "wasn't just a carpenter, he was a craftsman."
Much love, Nellie and Guy
Narrative by Seba Grunstra, ca. 1981
Thomas Anthony Hellegers had the same mother as Helena Christina Bruggeman and was the uncle of Seba Grunstra.
In my search for information regarding the Hellegers family, I wrote to the Donner and Hellegers Paint Store in Passaic, N.J. I knew my cousin Neal Hellegers was a partner at one time. If a Hellegers was still with the business, maybe they would give me the information asked for. I received the following very informative and helpful letter with my thanks.
Extract from a Narrative by Barbara B. Hellegers, 1980
Feb. 16, 1980
Dear Mr. Grunstra,
I am taking the liberty of answering the very interesting letter that you sent to my husband. We are very pleased to learn some of the family history we had not known.
My husband is Thomas Anthony Hellegers II, son of George De Groot Hellegers and a grandson of your Uncle Thomas Anthony Hellegers. We have four children. My husband has three sisters:
- Mrs. Albert S. Pryor (Katherine), Columbus, Ohio
- Mrs. Walter 0. Dingfield (Geraldine), Wapwallopen, Pa.
- Mrs. Donald R. Wells (Jeanne), Mountaintop, Pa.
As you can see from the addresses, Jerry and Jeanne live quite near you. Jeanne has been investigating her family background and would like to talk to you about it.
My husband, Tom, is President of Donner and Hellegers Inc., a retail paint business started in 1905 by his Uncle Neil Hellegers. His father took over the business after his brother's death. The Donners are no longer involved in the business.
I could give you information about the children Henry, Neil, Sophia, Nellie, John, Bella, and Etta. If you would like it let me know. There are quite a few of them. I hope this brief synopsis will be of use to you.
Sincerely,
Barbara B. Hellegers
Narrative of Jeanne Wells (Mrs. Donald R. Wells), ca. 1979
Mrs. Wells Story About Her Grandfather Thomas Anthony Hellegers as Told to Seba Gunstra.
Grandfathers' mother (Maiden name unknown) Hellegers, fell in love with a young man by the name of Thomas Van Houston. He was of the Catholic faith. However they were secretly married. After three months of marriage, his parents learned of his union and that it was between a Catholic and Protestant. They had the marriage annulled. In the meantime my grandfather Thomas had been conceived. His mother was forced to have the baby in shame, as it was the custom in those days. When he was born, his mother gave him the name Thomas after his real father and also she gave him her surname of Hellegers. Directly after his birth, his Uncle Anthony adopted him and in doing so gave him his middle name of Anthony, thus name his in entirety was Thomas Anthony Hellegers.
The Helleger's were jewelers in the Netherlands many years ago. In the 1930's my Uncle Neil went to Holland and was astonished to find a "Hellegers Brewery." My nephew Thomas Anthony Hellegers III was in Holland during 1960's and did find a Hellegers in the phone directory, but did not contact any them.
Grandpa's mother committed suicide early one summer morning. My father told me that she was sitting in a rocking chair on the back porch. His mother sent him on an errand and he passed her going out and wished her a good morning. She replied "Good morning, George," and he went his way. My father was about 10 or 12 years old then. Upon his return, he saw a rather large gathering of people in the yard and learned that his grandmother had committed suicide by jumping down the cistern that was a short way from the house.
Grandpa Hellegers died Oct. 22, 1922 of cancer. It was a very painful death. Daddy told me that grandma would go out to the barn because she could not bare to hear grandpa cry out with pain. Grandma died very peacefully Oct. 23, 1936. My Aunt Bella went into her room and offered to help her get dressed. She told Aunt Bella she felt like sleeping a little longer that day. When Aunt Bella went back a while later, Grandma had quietly passed away.
My father told me that the Hellegers originally came from France to Holland as French Huguenots. At that time the Hellegers name was spelled Hilleger. During the course of time the it was changed to e and an s was added at the end.
I was told by my father that about the same time my Grandfather came to the United States, another uncle and his family went to Johannesburg, South Africa. We don't have any proof of this. However in the 1920's, my Uncle John was in a hardware store in Passaic, N.J. and a lady stepped up to him and said, "I don't know you sir, but if I was home in Johannesburg, South Africa, I'd say Hello, John Hellegers." Needless to say, both Uncle John and the lady were astonished to learn that he really was a John Hellegers so we must have other relatives there also.
In the notes given to me by my father, George De Groot Hellegers and my Aunt Etta Hellegers (Mrs. Jake Borgeman), I pass on the following information.
My grandfather, Thomas Anthony Hellegers, was Born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Dec. 17, 1852. He came to America with his Uncle. I believe he was about 12 years old. His uncle had a rather large family and because of that, he could no longer support his nephew whom he had adopted. So Thomas was to be on his own. He did make good by living with and working for different farmers and doing other odd jobs when they were available. However later, he managed to learn to be a carpenter and followed it up as a trade. He was in the building and construction business for a time with his sons Henry and John. Grandfather specialized as a master stair builder.
Grandfather met and married Dena De Groot. She was Born in the Province of Zeeland, The Netherlands, March 15, 1853. I don't know what her age was when she came to America. However, she got a job as a maid with a very wealthy family in Passaic, N.J. My grandfather worked as a coachman for the same family. They were married in 1870 or 1871. Aunt Etta said she thought that they were 18 or 19.
Grandfather Hellegers did a considerable amount of very fine wood work at the Ring Wood Manor in Passaic County, N.J. The stairway was a masterpiece of his workmanship.
"Mr. Hellegers lived at 22 Mineral Spring Ave., Passaic, for many years. He saw Passaic grow from the village of Acquackanock to its present size. He has been a faithful member of the First Holland Reformed Church and served as a Consistory member for 33 years. Funeral services will be held from his late residence followed by services at the First Holland Reformed Church. The Rev. A. M. Van Duine officiated."
The above information was taken from the newspaper obituary of Thomas Anthony Hellegers.
Narrative by Etta Hellegers, (Mrs. Jake Borgeman), 1979
Nov. 1979
Dear Cousin Seba,
Your letter came as quite a surprise, and I hope you will forgive me for taking so long to answer it. It is not always convenient for me to write, but today I try. I am writing while sitting in my wheel chair to which I a confined. A friend of mine made me a lap board that acts as desk. I am sorry to hear about your accident, but glad to know that you have a good home with your son. I had a stroke that put me out of business. Fortunately it is in my left side. I could no longer take care of myself or my home, so I sold it, the furniture, car, etc.
I went to live in a nursing home where I could be taken care of.
My husband Jake Borgeman died in the spring of 1970. We had been married in 1955. I met him on a trip to Alaska in 1954. My father came to this country when a boy. He was about 1 years old. He lived with and worked for many farmers. Later he learned the carpenters trade. He was in business for himself specializing in stair building of various types.
I think my Grandmother Bruggeman was married 3 times, once to a Mr. Hellegers, then to a Mr. Van den Berg (or Vandenberg), and then to Mr. Bruggeman. My father and mother married when very young, 18 or 19 years old. They raised a big family of 10 children, 4 boys and 6 girls. They are Henry, John, Cornelius (Neal), and George, Sophia, Bella, Nellie, Jennie died when 14 years old, Lena, and Henrietta (Etta). Father died Oct. 27, 1922 at 70 years, and Mother died Oct. 23, 1936, age 83 years.
Grandma Bruggeman liked living with my parents and mother, but she always had the fear of being put in the poor house. She committed suicide by drowning herself in the cistern.
All the children lived at 22 Mineral Spring Ave., Passaic, NJ. She was about 96 years old when she died.
Extract from a letter from Florence Heynen to Seba Gunstra Oct. 19, 1981
I remember another story about Thomas Hellegers that my mother told me. When his mother was living with him (your grandmother) she became senile. She would say to her son, "Tom, take me home now." He would go to the back house, hitch up the horse and carriage, and take his mother for a ride around the block. After that she would be content again.
Sophia Hellegers and Peter Steenland had a daughter, Agnes, who became Mrs. Stanley Ford. She wrote the following letter.
The story by Mrs. Stanley Ford
My mother, Sophia Hellegers, was named Jacoba when born. She did not like the name Jacoba, so when quite young she changed it to Sophia. It could also have been the name of our Grandmother Bruggeman. The Dutch custom was to name the first born girl after the mother or grandmother. I mention this because she could have been given her mother's name. Then Nelle came next. After my mother died, my father married again to Clara Bladin. We have a half brother, Adam, born in 1919. Father died in 1961.
Sophia's grandson, Jim Mortland, has another version of the name change: "My memory of the family history came from my mother, Dena Steenland. She told the family that Sophia's name was changed from Jacoba the first day that Jacoba went to school in Paterson, N.J. According to my mother, Jacoba's first grade teacher on the first day of class told Jacoba, 'Jacoba is an ugly name for such a pretty girl. I'm going to call you Sophie.' The name stuck." (source: email message of 5 Jan 2011).
Letter from Florence Heynen to her cousin Seba
Florence Heynen's middle name, Sadie, was given in honor of her grandmother Sjoukje. Sjoukje was an elderly widow while Florence was growing up; she lived nearby and was often in the Hettema household. In 1981, Florence wrote the following letter giving a brief anecdote about her grandmother. She wrote it to Seba Grunstra who had prepared a pamphlet giving family histories of the Grunstra, Hellegers, Bruggeman, lines. Seba was born 05 Mar 1888 and died almost a century later on May 1985.
October 19, 1981
Dear Cousin Seba,
I received the copies I requested from you and I thank you very much. I will enclose a check for $10.00 to cover the cost of my book and the postage and hope that my brothers and sisters and my children will also send am something to go towards the big expense that you had. What we can't pay for is all the time and love and thought that went into the production of the booklet We are very grateful to you.
I was glad that you mentioned living near the Hettema family in Passaic. I wonder what kind of a neighbor my grandmother, Sadie Douma Hettema was. She lived with us a good deal of the time when I was growing up and she never seemed happy or cheerful and was pessimistic about everything. When I was a child her four daughters had died and perhaps that was why she was so bitter. Her husband died also when she had two children under 5 years of age. Harry Hettema lived in Rochester when I was young and later moved to Honolulu. His children still live there.
I remember another story about Thomas Hellegers that my mother told me. When his mother was living with him (your grandmother) she became senile. She would say to her son, "Tom, take me home now." He would go to the back house, hitch up the horse and carriage and take his mother for a ride around the block. After that she would be content again.
Seba Grunstra relates this story of an incident in the life of Thomas Anthony Hellegers.
The Bruggeman Family
My mother told me that her stepbrother, Thomas Anthony Hellegers sent money to his mother to help pay the passage of the family from the Netherlands in 1870. The family included his mother, his stepfather Mr. Bruggeman, John Vandenberg (a stepbrother from his mother's second marriage), his stepsisters from his mother's third marriage, Helena Christina, Henrietta and Neila Bruggeman. I received the following article from my nephew Walter Bakelar. It describes their journey here. My mother mentions brothers but I do not remember ever hearing her speak of any other brothers except Thomas and John.
The Ship Wreck Story
Speaking with Mrs. William Grunstra recently, as so often happens with older people we discussed the past.
Mrs. Grunstra told us that as a young girl, she with her father, mother, brothers and sisters, left the Netherlands in 1870, sailing on the S.S. Van Ess. After sailing one day they became enveloped in a thick fog and collided with a French ship. This happened during the night and all the 700 passengers were asleep in bed. The S. S. Van Ess was damaged extensively and soon began to sink. The other steamship quickly came alongside the sinking ship and the passengers in their night clothes had to jump ship from one ship to another. All the passengers but one made the jump successfully. This was a young married woman who fell between the two ships. Her young husband quickly jumped in after her and managed to grasp her. The seamen with hooks and ropes rescued both of them. The sea was calm. The ship with all the passengers proceeded to Liverpool, where they were all put ashore in their night clothes. Another ship took them to New York. On this trip, Mrs. Grunstra's father became insane, but this was of short duration and he returned to normal health.
One rescued passenger died of shock on this trip, because of the sinking of the ship and losing all their belongings.
Mrs. Grunstra's family settled in Paterson, N.J. After a few months, her father lost his life in a sand pit.
Mrs. Grunstra had a family of thirteen children. She and her husband reside at 273 Autumn St., Passaic, N.J.
This couple are faithful members of the First Reformed Church of Clifton, N.J. Mrs. Grunstra was interviewed by Rev. Bouma.
This article was translated from the original Dutch newspaper clipping into English by the kindness of my sister in law, Miss Jozina Anna Reynierse, Nov. 1979.
Summary of Eric Eijgelsheim's web page on Anthony Hellegers (1814-1876)
Anthony (or Anthonie, or Anthonij) Hellegers was born in Goedereede on Thursday, February 17, 1814, and died on Tuesday March 14, 1876, in Rotterdam. His father and grandfather were both named Thomas Hellegers (father: 1786-after 1831; grandfather died: 1808). He had an older brother, Thomas Cornelis (born Thursday, March 5, 1812); two younger brothers, Johan and Cornelis; and a younger sister, Belia (or Bella). In addition, three brothers and a sister of his died between 1817 and 1828. Following in his father's footsteps, he trained as a gold and silver smith. His father worked in Anthony's birthplace, Goedereede. His grandfather had been a prominent merchant in Deft.
In 1838, while in his mid-twenties, Anthony was convicted of stealing money from his landlord and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Shortly after his release he created this miniature worked in silver, showing a seesaw mounted on an oblong plate. On the seesaw are a standing figure of a police officer and the seated figure of Anthony Hellegers. Source: rijksmuseum.
This image shows the silversmith's master signs used by Anthony Hellegers; source: Arnhem library.
This image shows the master sign of Anthony's father, Thomas Hellegers, Jr.
In 1844 Anthony married Neeltje Grinwis, 24 years old from Ouddorp. In 1857 he moved to Rotterdam and, on June 21, 1865, married a second time. His new wife was Gerritje Eijgelsheim (born 1833 in Leiden; died 1900 in Rotterdam). They had a daughter, Johanna Fredrika Hellegers, born in Rotterdam on May 24, 1866.
Additional note on sources
I have relied heavily on three Dutch genealogical databases and, because so heavily used, have cited them sparingly. They are Genlias, Genealogie voor oost Nederland, and Zeeuwen Gezocht.
Apart from these databases and the few family letters that came down to me, I have used three main sources in putting together this webpage:
1. A self-published pamphlet by Seba Grunstra:
The Sinking of the S.S. Van Ess - 1870; The Bruggeman's Rescued. Most of the content comes from pages 23-32 in this source.
An introductory statement has the following explanation about how the booklet came to be written: "In the year of 1979, two of my granddaughters asked me if I would give them all the information I could about the Gunstra family and their Dutch relatives, as they were proud of their Dutch heritage."
Seba also says: "It may interest some to know that I, Seba Gunstra, the compiler of this book, was born in the 7th month and my weight at birth was 27 ounces. My early birth was due to my mother falling and caused me to be crippled all my life."
2. A discussion of the Hellegers family tree on Rootsweb. The subject line is Hellegers and the url for the full message set is
http://genealogyforum.rootsweb.ancestry.com/messages/genbbs.cgi/New?printthread=5291
3. Eric Eijgelsheim's webpage about Anthony Hellegers: Een aangetrouwde Eijgelsheim in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam (summary here).
As noted at top, I've also benefitted from expert and most welcome help from Anke Hettema, a distant relative in Australia whose genealogical work is on view on the genealogieonline web site and her own web page: The Fennema/Hettema Family.
On 5 Jan. 2011, I received some helpful corrections in an email message from Jim Mortland, grandson of Sophia Hellegers Steenland.
Contact me
I'm sure this web page contains mistakes. Please let me know what needs fixing. You can get my email address by following this link: http://scr.im/jeff.
I also welcome any narratives you can contribute to expand the site and make it more interesting.
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Notes:
1An article appearing on a genealogy site explains Dutch naming thus:
Most Dutch families followed certain customs of child naming. The two eldest sons were named for the grandfathers, the paternal one first unless the maternal one had some distinctive social position, had more money or was deceased. Sometimes the first son was named for the mother's first husband if she were a widow. The two eldest daughters were named for the grandmothers. Some families alternated with the first son being named after the paternal grandfather, the first daughter after the maternal grandmother, but this is not as common. If a child died, almost always the next child of the same sex was given the same name.
-- http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/names.shtml; see also genealogy.about.com and the wikipedia article, Dutch name.
2 Meijer was, unfortunately, a common surname and there are lots of Johannas and Marias with that name. None of those who are listed in online Dutch records married a man whose name was Hellegers and there are no records of a birth with any of the possible given names and the surname Meijer in the years around 1758-60 (although there are records for a Johanna Marie Meijers who was born ca. 1758, married a man named Jacob Busch, and had a son named Joan Willem Busch).