An Ancestral City, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

 

In April we were in The Netherlands for a river cruise tour of the tulip fields and gardens.  It was a lovely time of the year to see this country, and we enjoyed seeing so many small towns and villages along the waterways.  I was excited to see that we cruised by the town of Dordrecht twice on our itinerary, because that is where my Hoogerzeil ancestors lived.  I had visited Dordrecht once before in 2017, when one of my distant Hogerzeil cousins gave me a tour of Dordrecht, Nieuwport, and Krimpen aan de Lek where our ancestors lived.  

At one time, in the 1970s and 1980s (before the internet was used for genealogy research, and well before Google existed) I was stumped in trying to find out more information about my ancestor Peter Hoogerzeil.  He came from Holland in the 1820s, and he was a mariner.  He wrote many letters back and forth, and stated that he was from Dort in Holland.  I was unable to find any town in The Netherlands with this name.  Years later, on an online genealogy forum, a Dutch citizen told me that Dort was the nickname for Dordrecht.  This helped break down a big brick wall for me, and suddenly I found generations of records on the Hoogerzeil family.  

Dordrecht is on an island between many rivers in South Holland.  It is considered the oldest city in The Netherlands, and is near Rotterdam, another major seaport.  My Hoogerzeil ancestors were all commanders of whaling ships that sailed from Rotterdam to Greenland. It was easier for ships to reach the sea from Dordrecht before 1829 when the Voorne Canal was dug.  By the end of the 1800s Rotterdam had become the major seaport, and Dordrecht lost many of its shipping and ship building industries.  I wonder if this is why my  3rd great grandfather, Peter Hoogerzeil (1803 - 1889) stowed away on a ship full of hemp in the 1820s and landed in Salem, Massachusetts.  

Many of the Hoogerzeil family church records (baptisms, marriages, funerals) were found at the "Grote Kerk" ("Big Church") which was built between 1285 and 1470.  You can see this church tower from quite a distance, and while we cruised by I just had to look for this familiar square tower to know we were at Dordrecht.  Below you can see photos we took of this church from the land in 2017, and above you can see the photos we took from the river boat.  

Vincent used his iPhone to track our boat position and to find Dordrecht.  When we were close I ran up to the top deck of the boat to take photos with my phone.  Some people were eating lunch near the railing, and a kind woman passenger snapped the photo of me with the Grote Kerk.  I'm so glad she offered to take that picture!  

Click on the links below to see more blog posts about the town of Dordrecht, including my uncle's visit to his Hogerzeil cousins in Dordrecht after World War II.  

2017

Hans Hogerzeil, Erik Kon, and Yours Truly

in front of the doors of the Grote Kerk, Dordrecht

Grote Kerk

View of Dordrecht by Aelbert Cuyp, 1655

By Aelbert Cuyp - English Heritage, Kenwood House, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57844274

For the truly curious:

Hoogerzeil Surname Saturday post:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html  

My 2017 visit to The Netherlands, including Dordrecht:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-visit-to.html   

More information on Dordrecht and the Hoogerzeil/Hogerzeil family:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/value-of-posting-brick-walls-on.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "An Ancestral City, Dordrecht, The Netherlands", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 2, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/07/an-ancestral-city-dordrecht-netherlands.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ HOOGERZEIL of Holland and Beverly, Massachusetts

Grote Kerk "Great Church" in Dordrecht
where Peter Hoogerzeil was baptized

Peter Hoogerzeil, my immigrant 3^rd great grandfather, was born in Dordrecht, in Holland, on 28 October 1803 under the name Pieter Hoogerseijl.  He was the son of a whaling sea captain, Simon Hogerseijl (1776 – 1829) and his wife, Lissa Van Epenhuizen.  Dordrecht is an island on the banks of several rivers that flow into the Rhine delta.  It is near Rotterdam, which was a big whaling seaport where the ships sailed for the rich whaling in Greenland.   

Family stories say that Peter Hoogerzeil, the youngest son, stowed away on a ship loaded with hemp, which was headed for the ropeworks in Salem, Massachusetts.  He married Eunice Stone, the daughter of the ship captain, Josiah Stone.  I don’t think a sea captain would have been happy if his daughter married a stowaway, but perhaps the captain knew Peter as a mariner before taking him to Massachusetts?  There are family letters which repeat the stowaway tale, dating back to the 1800s. Perhaps there is a grain of truth to the story?

There are records of Peter Hoogerzeil in ship’s registers out of Salem and Beverly in 1826, 1827, and 1828.  He married Eunice Stone on 30 December 1828 in Beverly.  I found Peter listed in other ships registries until 1835,  when he was listed as a carpenter.  In the 1850 census in Beverly his occupation is listed as a caulker, and in the 1860 census he is listed as a day laborer born in “Ireland?”  By the 1870 census Peter was working as an expressman, which was the family business until the 1930s. 

Peter and Eunice had six children, all named in his will.  He died on 12 May 1889 in Beverly. I descend from his son, Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr. (1841 – 1908).   Over the years Peter, Jr. worked as a fisherman, a quartermaster and then as a teamster.  He began the Hoogerzeil Express Company in 1867 and employed his father and brothers.  After his death he passed the Express business on to his brother-in-law, John Healey.  Peter was also an inventor and world traveler.  He had patents for many inventions, which he sold out of his home on 43 Bartlett Street in Beverly.  As a sailor he sailed the South China Sea several times, and one of his last voyages was to Holland to visit his relatives.

I descend from Peter’s daughter Florence Etta (1871 – 1941), my great grandmother, who married Arthur Treadwell Hitchings.  She had eight children, including my grandmother, Gertrude Matilda (1905 – 2001).   Florence was known by her middle name “Etta”, and she was not well. She had “consumption” or tuberculosis, and spent a lot of time in a sanitorium during my grandmother’s growing up years.  My mother remembers visiting her “Nana” at 43 Bartlett Street, which was later occupied by “Aunt Belle” (my great grandmother’s sister Isabelle Hoogerzeil Sorenson (1888 – 1960).  Aunt Belle continued to correspond with the cousins in Holland all her life, and my uncle visited with some Hogerzeil relatives in occupied Holland during World War II.

 My HOOGERZEIL genealogy:

(see the blog post link below for Peter’s ancestors in Holland)

Generation 1:  Peter Hoogerzeil, son of Simon Hogerseijl and Lissa Van Epenhuizen, born 28 October 1803 in Dordrecht, South Holland and died 12 May 1889 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 30 December 1828 in Beverly to Eunice Stone, daughter of Josiah Stone and Susanna Hix.  She was baptized in Beverly on 15 May 1807 and died in Beverly on 21 October 1886. Six children.

Generation 2:  Peter Hoogerzeil, born 24 June 1841 in Beverly and died 10 May 1908 in Beverly; married on 14 March 1870 in Salem to Mary Etta Healey, daughter of Joseph Edwin Healey and Matilda Weston.  She was born 19 May 1852 in Beverly and died 23 July 1932 in Beverly.  Six children.

Generation 3:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, born 20 August 1871 in Beverly and died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, son of Abijah Franklin Hitchings and Hannah Eliza Lewis. He was born 10 May 1868 in Salem and died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton.  Eight children.

Generation 4:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

For the truly curious:

A blog post about Krimpen aan de Lek, with my Hoogerzeil/Hogerzeil lineage back to 1631

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring.html 

A blog post about Dordrecht, where Peter Hoogerzeil was born:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-visit-to.html  

A blog post about my Uncle visiting the Hogerzeil family in occupied Holland after World War II:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/value-of-posting-brick-walls-on.html  

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ HOOGERZEIL of Holland and Beverly, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 31, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html: accessed [access date]).   

In the Footsteps of the Ancestors ~ A visit to Dordrecht, The Netherlands

Grote Kerk, Dordrecht, Netherlands

Part 3 of 3

My 3^rd great grandfather, Peter Hoogerzeil (1803 – 1889) stated on documents in Massachusetts that he was from “Dort” in the Netherlands.  I never found a city or village named Dort on any map.  I started to research his story in the 1970s, but it was until the 1990s, when I started using the internet for my genealogy, that I solved this little mystery. On a bulletin board for Dutch genealogy I asked about “Dort” and someone told me that this was the nickname for the city of Dordrecht in South Holland.  Solving this mystery led to my finding six generations of Peter Hoogerzeil’s ancestors!

A list of HOOGERZEIL births in the Beverly, Massachusetts Vital Records
Note the "Dort" for Peter Hoogerzeil's place of birth.  Also note all the different
versions of spelling for the Dutch surname HOOGERZEIL! 

I recently blogged about my trip to the Netherlands, and my distant Hogerzeil cousin who led me on a tour of my ancestral origins.  Visiting Dordrecht was a highlight of this trip, because it was the place where my immigrant ancestor was born.  Sometime in the 1820s Peter Hoogerzeil, who was a mariner descended from many generations of whaling sea captains, stowed away in a ship that left Rotterdam, nearby Dordrecht.  This ship was full of hemp from Indonesia, bound for the ropewalk in Salem, Massachusetts.  Peter settled in Beverly, across the harbor from Salem, where he married and left many descendants.  I was born in Beverly, and grew up not far from where he lived on Bartlett Street.

Dordrecht is one of the oldest cities in Holland, and it was built on several rivers that drain into the Rhine.  At one time Dordrecht was considered to be more important than Rotterdam, but that changed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  I’m guessing that at the time Peter left Dordrecht, it was an important commercial port, which made it easy for him to take the chance at running away to America. 

My distant cousin, Hans Hogerzeil, and Erik Kon, met us in Leiden and brought us to Dordrecht, where our first stop was the part of the harbor called “Kalkhaven” (chalk harbor), where Simon Hoogerzeijl (1743- 1802) lived when he removed from Nieuwpoort.   This little harbor can be seen in this map from 1868 (below).  We also visited the outside of the Grote Kerk (“The Great Church”) where many Hogerzeil ancestors were married, buried or baptized.  It was a Monday on the day of our visit, which is a day many buildings, stores and museums are closed in the Netherlands, so we never saw the inside of this church. 

Kalkhaven "Chalk Harbor", in Dordrecht, the Netherlands

Grote Kerk, the Great Church at Dordrecht

We also took a walk through the medieval center of Dordrecht, and saw the city hall, and the city archive (closed!).  When we return to visit Holland again, we will be sure it won’t be a Monday!

Dordrecht City Hall

We were comparing Hoogerzeil genealogy notes at a Dordrecht cafe!

The streets were a maze, but we had a good tour guide!

The Dordrecht Museum and archive is in this building

Part 1 of this series, where I visit the village Krimpen aan de Lek:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring.html   

Part 2 of this series, where I visit the tiny town of Nieuwpoort:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring_5.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “In the Footsteps of the Ancestors ~ A visit to Dordrecht, The Netherlands", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 8, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-visit-to.html: accessed [access date]). 

In the Footsteps of the Ancestors – Touring Krimpen aan de Lek, Netherlands

Krimpen aan de Lek, 1867

Part 1 of 3

Last fall I visited England and The Netherlands with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Historic Sites Tour. That trip ended in Leiden, Netherlands, and since I’d never visited the country before, I ran to a map to see how far it was from the village of Krimpen aan de Lek, where my Hoogerzeil ancestors originated.  It turns out that Krimpen aan de Lek is just outside of Rotterdam, not far from Leiden, which was exciting to me but I wasn’t sure what to do next.  Then I remembered that I still had some cousins who lived nearby.

My immigrant ancestor, Peter Hoogerzeil (1803 – 1889), came to Massachusetts as a stowaway from Rotterdam, in a ship loaded with hemp and headed to the ropeworks in Salem, Massachusetts.   Looking at the map, I could see why he left Rotterdam.  His father, grandfather and great grandfather (and ancestors before them) had all been the masters of whaling vessels.  Peter was an experienced mariner, and still sailed many trips to the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean after settling in Massachusetts according to the many ships registry documents I have found online.  Peter’s place of birth was Dordrecht, on the Rhine River outside of Rotterdam, and his father,  Simon Hogerseijl (1776 – 1829) was born in Nieuwpoort, further upstream.  Simon’s father, Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl (1743 – 1814), was born in Krimpen aan de Lek, closer to Rotterdam on the Lek River (a distributary branch of the Rhine). 

Even though my ancestor came to the United States nearly 200 years ago, my family has maintained correspondence with the Hogerzeil family in the Netherlands on and off over the years.  At first, since Peter Hoogerzeil was a mariner, he traveled back and forth with letters.  My Aunt Belle Hoogerzeil (1888 – 1960), Peter’s granddaughter,  kept up the correspondence and shared the letters with my own mother and her family (my mother was Belle’s niece).   When World War II  broke out, my mother’s brother served in occupied Europe and visited Dordrect and one of the Hogerzeil families.  You can see a blog post with photos from that visit HERE.  That was the last time anyone from my family visited the Hogerzeil’s in the Netherlands.

At lunch with Hans near Krimpen aan de Lek,
examining a letter from Simon Hoogerzeijl, 1785

Hans had an old family photo of the Hoogerzeil family
from Beverly, Massachusetts. We still don't know some names!
I have blogged about this photo:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/07/wordless-wednesday-identifying-old.html

And so, now it was my time, as another one of Peter Hoogerzeil’s descendants, to visit the Netherlands, and to see Dordrecht, Nieuwpoort and Krimpen aan de Lek.  I contacted my very distant cousin, Hans Hogerzeil, and he graciously made arrangements to meet us at our hotel and tour us around to “The land of the Hogerzeil Family”!  He brought along Erik Kon, the Hogerzeil family genealogist, whom I had met years ago in New Hampshire when he came to gather information on Peter Hoogerzeil’s descendants in New England.  It was a delightful day!

I’ll start with the village of Krimpen aan de Lek, which is where the Hogerzeils originated according to our genealogy.  It is what Hans described as a “ribbon village” since it existed all along the top of the dike by the Lek River.  Of course, now the village has grown to expand all along the canals by the dike and is a suburb of the larger city of Rotterdam.  This is too bad, since the original church no longer exists.  But the new church has a weathervane in the shape of a whale, in honor of the early industry of the town, and some of the streets are named for famous whaling masters.  There was a Hogerzeil street, and surprisingly, another street named “Annetje Ockersstraat”.  Annetje Ockers (about 1639 – 1696) was the great grandmother of Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl (my 8^th great grandmother), who was a revered midwife in Krimpen aan de Lek.  

Hans knew that Michiel Occersz Hoogerzeyl (1696 – 1779), the father of Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl, had been buried under the church floor with an impressive tombstone.  But since the original church had been razed in 1939, we looked for the stone in the municipal cemetery.  Fortunately, his stone had been placed on the chapel wall, and was very legible and readable.  Michiel had been the master of a whaling ship out of Krimpen aan de Lek.  Hans and I both posed in front of his stone, which was next to the stone of Gerrit Knijnszoon van Holst (1720 – 1790), who owned his whaling ship.

There was not much else to see in the little town of Krimpen, which did not have many old homes or buildings from the time period when the Hogerzeil family lived here.  But it was fun to see how the family had been commemorated!  Hans occasionally publishes a very nice family newsletter “Hogerzeil Nieuws” which I have been receiving by mail for over ten years . He was able to include a nice two page story about my visit to the Netherlands and our tour in the newsletter, and distributed it to all the cousins around the world before Christmas.  Thank you Hans and Erik for our wonderful day in the Netherlands and your grand tour of the ancestral towns.

Stay tuned for the next blog post where we visited the tiny village of Nieuwpoort, which was much more picturesque.  Click on this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring_5.html   

My HOOGERZEIL lineage:

Generation 1:  Arijen Bruynen, baptized 11 May 1631 in Krimpen aan de Lek, Netherlands, died 22 August 1677; married Aeltie Jacobs.

Generation 2:  Bruin Arijens, baptized 1 June 1661, died before August 1667; Married Annetje Ockers, daughter of Ocker Joppense Stierman and Neeltie Gerrits.

Generation 3:  Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl, born 18 October 1663 in Krimpen aan de Lek, died 27 January 1749 in Krimpen aan de Lek; married in 1695 to Lijsbeth van't Hof, daughter of Marten Dirkse Sieren. 

Generation 4:  Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl, born 18 July 1696 in Krimpen aan de Lek, died 25 May 1779 in Krimpen aan de Lek; married on 25 January 1739 in Dordrect to Lijsbeth Schout[en], daughter of Simon Jans Schouten and Agnietje Engeldr van Thiel. 

Generation 5: Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl, born 2 June 1743 in Krimpen aan de Lek, died 24 February 1814 in Dordrecht; married on 30 September 1764 in Krimpen aan de Lek to Anna Ooms, daughter of Adam Adriaans Ooms and Anna van der Ham of Nieuwpoort. 

Generation 6:  Simon Hogerseijl, born 7 July 1776 in Nieuwpoort, died 15 May 1829 in S'Gravendeel; married on 5 September 1799 in Dordrecht to Lissa Van Epenhuizen, daughter of Pieter Van Epenhuizen and Margrieta Koolhaalder.

Generation 7:  Peter Hoogerzeil, born 28 October 1803 in Dordrecht, Netherlands, died 12 May 1889 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 30 December 1828 in Beverly to Eunice Stone, daughter of Capt. Josiah Stone and Susanna Hix.  

Generation 8:  Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr., born 24 June 1841 in Beverly, died 10 May 1908 in Beverly; married on 14 March 1870 in Salem, Massachusetts to Mary Etta Healey, daughter of Joseph Edwin Healey and Matilda Weston.

Generation 9:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, son of Abijah Franklin Hitchings and Hannah Eliza Lewis.

Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

(Map in the image above from Wikimedia, J. Kuyper - Gemeente Atlas van Nederland (Municipal Atlas of the Netherlands), 1867)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “In the Footsteps of the Ancestors – Touring Krimpen Aan de Lek, Netherlands”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 1, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring.html: accessed [access date]). 

Amanuensis Monday- A Letter from a Proud Grandpapa

• I read about Amanuensis Monday in Randy Seaver’s blog “GeneaMusings”, and he read about it on John Newmark’s genealogy blog “TransylvanianDutch”. Amanuensis: a person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts.

Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl was the captain of a whaling ship from 1729 to 1759. He lived in Holland and hunted for whales off the coast of Greenland. His father, Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl, was also a commander of a whaling ship from 1720 to 1730. There is a Hogerzeil Street in the town of Krimpen aan de Lek, Holland, where they lived. In the 1970s the village decided to name the streets after people and items related to whaling, which had been an important industry in the 18th and 19th centuries.

I always thought of sea captains as a tough bunch of old salts. This letter from Michiel to his daughter-in-law proves me wrong. It was written upon the occasion of his hearing she had given birth to his grandson, Adam Hogerzeil, on 4 August 1766 in Niewpoort, Holland. Adam was the brother to my ancestor, Simon Hogerzeil (1776-1829), who was also a whaling sea captain. Adam Hogerziel died at sea in 1788, age 22, whilst on a sea voyage with his father. He was not buried at sea, but put into a barrel of brandy for the return home, where he was buried in the church, Hervomde Kerk, Nieuwpoort, Holland.

Translated Letter from Michiel Ockersz Hogerzeil to his daughter in law, Anna Ooms.

Dear and honorable daughter Anna Ooms.
I have received your very pleasant letter of the 4th of this month with great joy, wishing that God will give you a speedy recovery. I wish you much blessing with your son (and hope) that you will enjoy much happiness of it, that God the Holy Spirit will guide him in growing up and will then admit him in his eternal glory. With us here everything is still well, glory to God. We are eagerly waiting for good news from Greenland but there is not much hope. This list mentions your father for one fish, Ocker for one fish, uncle Jurry (her uncle Jurriaan Ooms) not known. The Davis Strait is also bad, the list mentions 24 whales and one caselot (sperm whale) caught by the Hollanders in the Davis Strait and Jan Pieterse Bos has stayed over, so that 31 ships have 24 fish. Our Lijssie (his wife, Elisabeth Schouten) intends to come next Tuesday in 8 days, to see you as well as your son if all is well. With this, after loving greetings to you my dear daughter and mother Ooms and uncle Van der Zijde, Mr. Bunnik and wife, and all my good friends,

your father
Michiel Ockersz Hogerzeil

the newborn a dozen kisses to be given for me
Krimpen aan de Lek 7 August 1766


Michiel Ockers Hogerzeil, son of Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl, born 18 Jul 1696, died 25 May 1779 at Krimpen aan de Lek, Holland; married on 25 Jan 1738/9 at Dordrect, Holland to Lijbeth Schouten, daughter of Simons Jans Shouten and Agnietje Engldr van Thiel. Four Children:

1. Ocker Hoogerzeijl, born 14 August 1740, died about 2 September 1794; married on 9 November 1759 to Maria de Vos
2. Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl, born 2 June 1743, died 24 Feb 1814; married on 30 September 1764 to Anna Ooms, my 5x great grandmother, and the recipient of this letter. Simon was also a commander of a whaling ship from 1771 to 1802.
3. Elisabeth Hoogerzeijl, born 1 August 1745, died 21 November 1802; married on 4 November 1770 to Arie Weggeman
4. Johannes Hoogerzeijl, born 21 November 1752, died 21 September 1821; married on 4 October 1776 to Neeltje Schenk

For a complete Hoogerzeil lineage see my posting from 2 September 2009, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/value-of-posting-brick-walls-on.html
The photo above was taken at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, of the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan.

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Copyright 2010, Heather W. Rojo

The Value of Posting Brick Walls on Genealogical Bulletin Boards

My uncle, Joseph G. (Buddy) Allen, in Dordrect, Holland

visiting with Hogerzeil relatives immediately after World War II.

My great grandmother, Florence Etta Hoogerzeil,

born in Beverly, Massachusetts in 1871, daughter of Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr.

The Hoogerzeils of Holland and Massachusetts....

In previous blog posts I’ve mentioned that I’ve been posting on genealogical bulletin boards for more than fifteen years. When all else fails, and you are stuck on finding a clue (we call it a "brick wall") it can be invaluable to post your problem on ancestry.com, rootsweb or anyother on line resource. Sometimes I’ve received answers right away that help me to find the clues for primary sources to prove a lineage, and sometimes it takes years for someone to reply. Some brick walls postings are still waiting for the right person to read them. I’m sure that someday most of my mysteries will be solved, and I’m willing to wait.

In August 2009 I wrote about how a posting on a Batchelder family bulletin board lead to someone mailing me an account book for a farmer in Chichester, New Hampshire. In July 2009 I wrote how the curator of Washington Place in Honolulu, Hawaii (now the Governor’s residence) sent me copies of letters to help prove a mysterious family myth. About ten years ago someone in the Netherlands helped me to make a connection between a sailor in Beverly, Massachusetts to a sea-faring family in Dordrecht, Holland. This will be the story of my Hoogerzeil ancestors.

Erik Kon, a researcher in the Netherlands, saw a posting I made on line about Peter Hoogerzeil of Beverly, Massachusetts of “Dort, Holland.” He had been doing research on the Hogerzeil family, which stretched back to the 1600s as a family of whalers and sea captains. It turned out that the surname “Hogerzeil” was a completely made up name by Captain Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl. Traditionally in Holland, the names were patronymics. Captain Ocker Bruin’s son Michiel should have been named Michiel Ockers, but they broke tradition by using the name “Hoogerseijl” [high sails] in honor of the family occupation. Thus, as far as we can now tell, anyone in the world with the name Hogerszeil/Hoogerzeil or its variations are members of this same family.

Previously, all I knew was that Peter Hoogerzeil had been a young stowaway, on a ship full of hemp from Rotterdam, bound for the ropeworks at Salem, Massachusetts. He must have charmed the captain of the ship, because he ended up marrying his daughter! The census records at Beverly list him as a mariner, caulker and engraver. Peter, Jr., born in Beverly, was also a sailor, and an inventor and owner of a shipping company. My uncle, a grandson of Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr., visited the Hogerzeil’s of Dordrect as a soldier serving in the newly freed Netherlands immediately following World War II.

With Erik’s help, I’ve put together a lineage for this family, which shows how the Beverly, Massachusetts Hoogerzeils came to America. All this would never have been possible without one little posting on a bulletin board!

The Hoogerzeil/Hogerzeil Lineage:

Gen. 1. Arijen Bruynen married to Aeltie Jacobs.

Gen. 2. Bruin Arijens, d. before Aug. 1667; married to Annetje Ockers, daughter of Ocker Joppense Stierman and Neeltie Gerrits.

Gen. 3. Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl, b. 18 Oct. 1663 at Krimpen aan de Lek, Holland, d. 27 Jan 1748/9 at Krimpen aan de Lak; married in 1695 to Lijbeth van’t Hof. Ocker Hoogerseijl was the commander of a whaling ship from 1720 to 1730.

Gen. 4. Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl, b. 18 Jul 1696, d. 25 May 1779 at Krimpen aan de Lek, Holland; married on 25 Jan 1738/9 at Dordrect, Holland to Lijbeth Schouten, daughter of Simons Jans Shouten and Agnietje Engeldr van Thiel. Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl was the captain of a whaling ship from 1729 to 1759.

Gen. 5. Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl, b. 2 Jun 1743 at Krimpen aan de Lek, Holland, d. 24 Feb. 1814 at Dordrecht, Holland; married on 30 Sep. 1764 at Krimpen aan de Lek to Anna Ooms, daughter of Adam Adriaans Ooms and Anna van der Ham. Simon Hoogerzeijl was the captain of a whaling ship from 1771 to 1802.

Gen. 6. Simon Hogerseijl, b. 7 Jul 1776 at Neiuwpoort, Holland, d. 15 May, 1829 at S'Gravendeel, Holland; married on 5 Sep. 1799 at Dordrecht to Lissa Van Epenhuizen, daughter of Pieter Van Epenhuizen and Margrieta Koolhallder.  Simon was also a captain of a whaling ship.  

Gen. 7. Peter Hoogerzeil, b. 28 Oct 1803 at Dordrect, d. 12 May 1889 at Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 30 Dec. 1828 at Beverly to Eunice Stone, daughter of Capt. Josiah Stone and Susanna Hix. Peter and Susanna had six children, all born in Beverly, and they are my 3x great grandparents.

Copyright 2009, Heather Wilkinson Rojo