Genealogical research done by Wim van Beek and Other persons

Last update: 18 September 2016
last update Dutch-pages: 17 September 2016

Welcome. With this homepage I hope to find persons belonging to my family or persons who are researching the same families as I do. Perhaps you came here in search of someone with a name as found in my family.
Furthermore, I like to show that it can be fun to research your family when you look up more as birth, marriage and death data. I've tried to make the pages in Dutch and in English because I know that somewhere abroad some relatives may exist. About one of them, which I believe he went to the USA, I have a question, see Wanted...
The ancestral chart and the genealogies are made by Pro-Gen, the computer program I'm using to keep record of all persons belonging to the family. The program has an English output but all data is gone to the output as it is, in Dutch. The ancestral chart is the Dutch one, but I think that wouldn't be a problem.
For reasons of privacy the given amount of data is just a part of the data in the Pro-Gen database. In case you like to know more details, please send a e-mail. If I got interesting news, I put it on this page. So if you are interested, stay in touch.
Nowadays there are a lot of archives with information at the internet, therefore its much easier to find information about the past of my family.
Someone asked me in an e-mail 'who's picture is on the left?' I always took for granted that everybody assumed it was mine, and so it is.
If you send an e-mail, please be patient. I'm not every day on the web so e-mail is mostly read on four days a week.

Help. I did my best to write correct English. But perhaps it's double Dutch. Please let me know about the mistakes you found.

At first I didn't add links to other genealogic-sites to the English part of my webpage. Some of the 'links' are only in dutch. The site that belong to the makers of Pro-Gen has an English version. The CBG is a kind of archive in the Hague, the site has a lot of links to other sites. The third site is the site of the regional archive at Zaltbommel. If you like to try these sites, choose links.

You can mail to:
Wim van Beek,
Burgemeester Wapstraat 56,
NL 2381 XR Zoeterwoude,
The Netherlands

or use my e-mailadres

Zoeterwoude, Noordbuurtseweg.
Former workshop and stores of building-contractor 'Erven Paardekooper'.

Research for genealogy Gerrit (Jansen) van Beek

Gerrit Jansen van Beek is born at Garderen, January 24th 1792. He married March 23rd 1817 (Garderen) with Arisje Jans Blom(mink), later named Arisje Jans. Gerrit died at Otterlo October 12th 1855, Arisje died Ede April 30th 1862. They had nine children:
Jan van Beek, Garderen March 10th 1819 - Apeldoorn March 08th 1870.
Jacomina van Beek, Garderen May 5th 1821.
Marten van Beek, Otterlo September 9th 1823 - died January 25 1874.
Jan van Beek, Otterlo October 11th 1825 - Hoenderlo (Apeldoorn) October 14th 1902.
Andries van Beek, Otterlo April 22nd 1828.
Born dead, male, Otterlo April 15th 1829
Annetje van Beek, Otterlo May 12th 1830 - died June 21st 1906
Gerrit van Beek, Otterlo August 6th 1834 - Ede November 24th 1903
Willem van Beek, Otterlo May 17th 1837 - Arnhem July 25th 1882

The name 'van Beek' is original a kind of nickname, meaning living near to a brook. The part of the Netherlands where this family was living, the Veluwe, has a lot of little streams. We now know that there were some millers - at a watermill - between the ancestor of Gerrit. Until Napoleon ordered the use of surnames as we use nowadays in the Netherlands, patronymic names where mostly used in this region. So the father of Gerrit Jansen van Beek was Jan Gerritsen.

A lot of people choose the name 'van Beek' as their surname in the Napoleonic time, without being related to each other. But some persons belonging to the family made a choice for a different name. The new data I got gives some of those family members with names as Verbeek, Rutgers and Nijhof. These names I got from Els Harwijne - van Beek. With help from Bertus van der Pol, Arend de Haan, Ineke van Coolwijk and Theo de Waard she started her own family research. And with a little bit of luck she came in contact with me so I could help with my part of the family.

A problem for me is that a lot of microfiches with records of the Veluwe at the archive I regular visited in The Hague are of poor quality. In a case like this, where just a few persons with this name belong to the family, it doesn't stimulate the research. In Ede en Arnhem are some important records lost in the 1940/45 war. The loss of those records is making it very difficult to find to which places someone moved.
Luckily there is now a new computer system in the archive at Arnhem. All the marriage records for Gelderland are in it since a few weeks. Els Harwijne-van Beek worked with it and found in about a year more family as I did in fifteen years. Because Els found a lot more family members I decided to go on with the Coers/ Koers family and gave Els space to go with the van-Beek research. A part of her work is now available in the genealogy van Beek. Els isn't researching at the moment. But she did send me her ProGen files and I merged them with my files.

Warning! There are so much 'van Beek' families that I think there is at most a 1% chance for someone with this name that he or she belongs to my family. If you think there's a possibility that Gerrit and Arisje belong to a family on which you're doing research, or if you interested otherwise, please contact me

You can mail to
Wim van Beek,
Burgemeester Wapstraat 56,
NL 2381 XR Zoeterwoude,
The Netherlands

or use my e-mailadres

Els Harwijne-van Beek

Resarch family Coers/Koers at the Bommelerwaard (nl).

Peter Coers was born at August 19th 1742. We think he married June 1768 at Driel with Willemijn Reuvers. We know about 4 children:<
Bastiaan Coers, bapt. Driel June 19th 1768 - Driel January 6 1821>
Alegonda Coers, bapt. Driel December 21 1769 - Driel December 17th 1864
Rijk Coers, bapt. Driel October 13 1771
Petrus Coers, bapt. Driel April 28 1776

Bastiaan married Johanna van Deventer (Driel, April 28 1797) and they got 9 children. Bastiaan is the first born in the region called 'Bommelerwaard' with the surname Coers (later also written Koers) and nearly al persons found in the Bommelerwaard and the city of 's-Hertogenbosch till 1920 are descended from this Bastiaan. This made it possible to send a mailing to all existing persons with the name Koers, what I've done some years ago. A few of them asked their brother, A.H. Koers living at Haarlem, to answer this letter. Particular with his information, but also with help of other persons, I've made a nearly complete record of this family. It made it possible to visit the eldest member of the family, MetjeKoers, just before her 99 birthday! She died in 2000 at an age of 101 years. (See picture below)

Nowadays I'm searching notarial acts of the Bommelerwaard for details about the family. Those acts give details about buying houses, land and about testaments. When, after someone has died, the inventory of his belongings is made, you get a good picture of his live en wealth. Those notarial acts gave me some information about Dirk Coers son of Bastiaans, see Dirk Coers Bastiaanszoon.
and a lot of information of Dirk Koers son of Johannes, see Dirk Koers Johanneszoon.
The search in the notarial acts is going slowly. It's take a lot of time and I've to travel by train to the archive at Zaltbommel. Because I've a job to do, I can only visit this archive a few times a year.

If you are interested in this family, if you have questions or if you're able to help with this research in any way, please let me know.

You can mail to:
Wim van Beek,
Burgemeester Wapstraat 56,
NL 2381 XR Zoeterwoude,
The Netherlands

or use my e-mailadres

Metje Koers, 1899-2000

Who answers these questions...

Hendrik Willem van Beek (H. W. Bakhuis)

Everdina Bakhuis (see foto page), born at Hengelo prov. Gelderland August 15th 1837, had unmarried a son born at Hengelo November 29th 1867. He was called Hendrik Willem (Henry William). At her mariage - Arnhem, August 23rd 1871- with Willem van Beek (see research genealogy Gerrit (Jansen) van Beek) Willem stated that Hendrik Willem was his son (often done this way, if it's true or not). So from that moment Hendrik Willem Bakhuis is named Hendrik Willem van Beek. Willem and Everdina had 5 other children born, only the last of them called Evert Willem (my grand father) stayed alive.
Until my research showed otherwise, all members of my family thought that Evert Willem was the only child of Willem and Everdina. But seeing the facts my fathers youngest brother remembered some jokes their father made about an uncle that his children had in America (USA). We think its this half brother who probably went to the States. When this is true, he went very young, so I didn't find him in the Ellis-island-records. Also because of the 1940/45 war, some for my research important records at Arnhem are lost forever.
Who knows: Where did Hendrik Willem van Beek (or H.W. Bakhuis) went from Arnhem. Did he really go to the USA, or to some other country? Was he married, where has he died? All details about his life, possible wife and children are welcome.

You can mail to:
Wim van Beek,
Burgemeester Wapstraat 56,
NL 2381 XR Zoeterwoude,
The Netherlands

or use my e-mailadres

Hoenzadriel, Kievitsham.

Dirk KoersJohanneszoon

Dirk Koers, born October 8th 1845, son of Johannes Koers and Metje de Kok. He was married with Geertruida Schimmel. Why a story about Dirk Koers?
When you register a new born child, you had to tell what occupation you had. Following the years Dirk had several occupations: farmer, grocer and contractor (builder). This suggested that Dirk must own some real estate and that could possible be found in the archive at Zaltbommel.
About a year after his marriage he bought a house with yard from his father in law. In following years he leased some farmland and several times he buys some farmland. The land in lease has mostly a contract from spring to start of winter. In that region were a lot of 'vetweiderijen', farms were cattle is being fatted for slaughter. May 9th 1898 he started a partnership with a contractor at Zaltbommel named Johannes Cornet. He also got a contract with a banker for a credit up to 12,000 guilders, a lot of mony in those years. This contract is stating his belongings, 7 pieces of farmland, a house with barn and yard. The contact with Johannes Corned stated that the mony of the firm was under his control. In 1904 the partnership is ended. I've found till now no information about the kind of work they have build and also no reason why the partnership ended. Dirk is still going on with buying goods, leasing land and so on. But he is very busy end sometimes he sends his brother to do some business for him. Dirk has had a long live and I expect to find some more details about his life.

Dirk Koers Bastiaanszoon

Dirk Coers was born at Driel, October 2nd 1808 and died at Grave, December 19th 1865. His marriage was June 16th 1857 in Veghel, with Pitronella Baas. Dirk and Pitronella had several children:

Dirk was sergeant in the army (cavalry sergeant-major) and the family moved trough The Netherlands. The family of his wife where bargemen and for that reason they moved also a lot. The last years of his life Dirk and his wife lived in a house next to a house that possibly belonged to some of her brothers at Veghel.
Because of the regular change of dwelling place it's difficult to find all family details. Therefore I placed a question about Dirk and Pitronella at this site. And the 24th of september came the answer from Tineke Veenendaal, a real descendant of Dirk.
With her information I could trace a lot of places where they lived and I also got some pictures of his wife and children. I've been told that some more 'relics' exists like a military medal and his saddle.
Dirk his military career started at October 22nd 1828 as a gunner 2nd class. He got a medal for being at battles in Belgium(1831 - 1834) in 1837. He got training at the Royal Military Academy Breda.
At the 'foto' page you find pictures of Dirk's wife and children and of the Doelengracht where Dirk resided.

News:

Born at July 7th 1838 and died September 27th 1838 : Bastiaan Theodorus Koers, son of Dirk Koers (cavalry sergeant-major) and his wife Johanna Sheerder. But at his marriage in 1857 he said that he wasn't married before. I did found in the registers (1840) a widow Johanna Scheerder, the same age and widow of Evert Kolfschoten who was in life an inn-keeper. No husband attached at that moment.

Links

Centraal Bureau voor de Genealogie (CBG)
Streekarchief Bommelerwaard
Pro-Gen

Just three links, with a description below:

The CBG is an archive with a wide variety of collections for genealogy. It's not far from the village where I live (by train) and situated near The Hague Central Station. It is in the same building as the Dutch National Archive. Their site had a lot of links to other archives and sites related to genealogy but after a new format of their site those are disappeared.

Luckily there is an other site with this information, but that is also in Dutch. You will find it You will find it here.

The Regionaal Archief Rivierenland is an archive where I can find a lot of details about the Coers/Koers family. The former Streekarchief Bommelerwaard has moved into this archive.
The Bommelerwaard archive had a lot of digitized information to find on their site and that has also moved to the site of archive Rivierenland. You can download a lot of information on this site.

The program I use for family-database is Pro-Gen. For me it's the best there is. But I always give persons who are in search of such a program the advice to tryout several programs. Only that way you find a family-database program suitable for you. A part of this site -ancestral chart and genealogies - is made by Pro-Gen. It's a very flexible program and available in several languishes.