Family Reunion ~ From The Netherlands to North Dakota

 I was fortunate to have two great-grandmothers and two grandmothers living near the five years we lived in the Pollock area. The reunion this past weekend was a gathering of descendants of my maternal great grandmother, born in The Netherlands in 1877, emigrating to America in 1886. Her father borrowed $300 to bring the family of seven to America where farmland was available for low prices. Family records say the ocean crossing took 11 days. From New York Annie's father bought train tickets to Kansas City. When they arrived her father had $5 left. They were met by relatives who took them to Holland NE, but the hot humid climate (so different from The Netherlands) and the lack of jobs had the family and others who had come on the same ship head farther north to another community of Dutch settlers in Hull and Westfield ND in March 1887.

The reunion organizer has a passion for genealogy and always has according to his sister whom we visited with during one of the meal gatherings. Descendants attending the three day gathering came from the East Coast to the West Coast to visit the cemeteries, church and homestead land of their ancestors. His son and daughter told me he, Steve, has plans for three more books, one for each family line.

There was time for looking at photos. (My uncle is also 90 years of age.)

Steve, the organizer, and the age 90 and older attendees

my mom (almost 93) on the left, her cousin (90) in the middle,

and my 100 year young aunt on the right

there were probably 5-7 attendees in their 80s

Looking at the graduation photos from the Pollock High School, my grandmother's brother graduated in 1928. I believe the first graduating class from the Pollock School was in 1925 which would explain why a couple of grandma's sisters went to high school in Holland MI, staying with relatives.

Mina, one of Grandma's younger sisters, often helped take care of the children on the farm when grandma had to help grandpa with farm work. An interesting tidbit I gleaned at this family gathering was the number of teachers in the family, both men and women.

This is a four generation photo (1900??) of my grandmother (the little girl), her mother Anna (my great-grandmother) and the women of two more generations, Hielkje (seated) and Anna.

I am so glad I have relatives willing and able to do the research and share it with us, the rest of the family. It was so interesting to learn the why and how of family names, to hear the same incident with different facts from different family members, and to feel connected with people I had never met. 

This reunion reinforced why it is so important to write our life story, however mundane we think it might be. Who else is better to tell what happened than those of us who were there and who lived the times?