Family Tree – Steenwijk

Introduction

This is the family tree of the administrator and creator of this site. What is striking is that the paternal line is very limited and almost one line of the ancestor who married in 1683 in Zwolle until now. There are a few side branches but they all stopped after one generation. From 1745 onwards, the family lived in Steenwijk, before in Dalfsen.

Ancestor Analysis

The ancestor is Bartelt Peeters, married at 1 July 1683 (banns 2 June) as young man in Zwolle with Henderickijn Gerrits from the Luttekestraat in Zwolle. He is rider (military), they take up residence in Dalfsen (he already lives there?) and get three children in 1684, 1686 and 1687. He died before January 1693 (with still very young children) when his wife remarried to Berent Gabriel van Delden (again in Zwolle and back to live in Dalfsen) and got another three children. There are also the following starting points and observations:

• In all data collected this is the only Bartelt found.
• There are no custody data found after his death on his children.
• The grandchildren (including Hendrik) were the first who used the name of Van Dorsten, till then only patronymics.
• He was military and could well have his origin elsewhere, there is also nothing known about the age. What is interesting and relevant are the two Dutch wars in that period (with the French) of 1672-1678 and 1688-1697. He may well have fought in the first (perhaps even entered the army) and died in the second war.
• He served under commander Schullert (Johan Albrecht Graaf van Schellaert):
  • Lord of Doorwerth, Chamberlain of the Emperor of the German Empire, Huntsmaster of the Veluwe, Governor of Steenwijk (1674-1682). Traveled a lot and frequented the highest society.
  • He has been stationed in various places, but especially the alloy in Steenwijk most of the ten years before Dalfsen is very interesting. A large part of the 17th century the army inscription here have been preserved (available on the site of Steenwijk), but precisely for that specific period a part is missing.
• What is striking is that from 1680 until 1683 a Borchert van Dorsten as servant (waggoner) has served on the castle Ruijtenborgh in Dalfsen, a descendant of the Neuenhaus family tree. He went in 1683 to Schüttorp (near Nordhorn and Neuenhaus) and married there in 1686.
• A historical branch that seems related, is that of Raalte (see Other). It concerns Gerrit Jurriaensz van Dorsten with children who went to Zwolle and most of them from there to Amsterdam. Grandson Hendrik van Dorsten (from Bartelt) went between 1740 and 1745 first two years to Raalte before he departed to Steenwijk. This surely can’t be a coincidence.
• Another historical branch that seems related, is that of Wanneperveen. The ancestor there is Wolter van Dorsten, who could be the Wolter of Herman in Neuenhaus (died there in 1693). Son Peter came in 1693 in Wanneperveen (as well as brother Andries in 1699). Peter had a son Hans who married in 1711 in Steenwijk with Geesjen Jacobs from Eesveen (but went to live in Wanneperveen). His daughter Geertruid went to Steenwijk in 1738 and married with Fredrik Bot with who she got 5 kids (1741-1756). In that period (1745) Hendrik also came from Dalfsen to Steenwijk to get married.
• In terms of naming and military, this is well related with the strains in Doetinchem, Raalte and Leeuwarden.
• As possible options for father Peter (and related names) there are:
  • In 1655 came Peter van Dorsten to live in Zwolle with his wife (letter of guarantee by P. Muntz from a wealthy family in Zwolle. Probably from the Neuenhaus tribe, perhaps the one who start to study in 1616 at Groningen university where also studied members of the Muntz family. In addition, there was another Muntz in Zwolle married with Geertruyt van Dorsten, in the same period, presumably of the Neuenhaus family tree). The wife of Peter died in 1662 and in 1664 he did. Is this coincidence or perhaps the father of Bartelt Peters (in that case he would be somewhat older in 1683). The question is whether a ‘ poor ‘ soldier can be family of this wealthy Peter.
  • At the BDM data and archives only options for Peter are mentioned in Amsterdam, Vreeland, Dordrecht, Leiden, Utrecht, Breda en Maastricht, but all not so likely.
• Why was the first son of Peter mentioned Gerrijd and not Bartelt (or Hendrik to the mothers father)?
• What is striking is that the ancestor is a soldier, which would suggest that he is not so prosperous. But the grandson became a well-to-do citizen in Steenwijk in 1745. He is mentioned in the newspaper in 1748 as an Orange supporter and citizen in Steenwijk. His grandson later had a decent business (tannery) and belonged to the wealthy of Steenwijk in the following century. Where did that prosperity come from?.

Further Analysis

Most of the information of all members in the family is known. The few side branches out there, especially got daughters or young dying sons. There are only a few exceptions:

• The Gerrit which was born in 1862, made around 1890 a woman pregnant and was exiled by his family (wealthy with status, so that could not be). He left for South Africa and married a woman locally. Because of the Boer War he returned and got here around 1900 a son. After that, he left with his family to Australia and there he died. His son Gerrit-Jan married there, got a daughter and died in a motorcycle accident.
• For the Geert who was born in 1774, no death date has been found. So theoretically it could be that he got descendants. At the Census of 1795 it seems given the number that he still was alive.

Sources and Do You Know

There are some interesting facts about the references in the archives:

• The forefather was military, but died when the children were less than 10 years old.
• Hendrik who went to Steenwijk bought there in 1746 the small civil right and in 1755 the large civil right.
• He sells in 1753 in Dalfsen (if he no longer lives there) a piece of land to the husband of his sister.
• He buys in 1760 a barn outside the Woldport in Steenwijk, this may be the base of the tannery.
• The grandson of this Hendrik had a tannery and belonged to the prosperous families of Steenwijk. This tannery has existed for 100 to 150 years.
• There are several commercial transactions in the 19th century, but especially the sale of real estate in Meppel in 1811 could be interesting.

Actual Status

There is currently only one name bearer left (my person) with a son and a daughter. You can also find this family tree on MyHeritage. Below is an overview of the tribal region. Under the menu option Genealogy you can find all details of this family tree.