A Christmas Wedding in 1890

 

From the Beverly Citizen newspaper
27 December 1890 

On a recent snowy day my 3rd cousin, on my maternal side, a Hitchings descendant like me, sent me this lovely news clipping from the Beverly Citizen.  It shows our common ancestor, Abijah Franklin Hitchings (1841 - 1910), and my great grandfather, Arthur Treadwell Hitching's wedding to my great grandmother Florence Etta Hoogerzeil on 25 December 1890 at 8 Bentley Street in Beverly, Massachusetts.  They were married on Christmas, which was very common in New England at the time.  Thanksgiving was also a very popular time for weddings in New England. If the family was already gathered together, then it was a perfect time for a wedding.  Early Puritan settlers eschewed Christmas as a holiday in New England, but perhaps they were side stepping religion for fun when they held weddings on or around Christmas Day? 

It made me think "What other ancestors were married on Christmas Day?".  This is what I had in my files: 

Phoebe Munroe (my 4th great aunt) and William Cross, 25 December 1828 in Danvers, Massachusetts. 

Elizabeth Sparks and Jacob Perkins (my 8th great grandparents), 25 December 1634 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  I descend from two of their three children, Elizabeth (who married David Burnham on my wedding day 2 July in 1711) and Jacob Perkins (who removed to Wells, Maine and married Anna Littlefield). 

Close to Christmas - 

21 December

Abijah Hitchings and Mary Cloutman, my 4th great grandparents, were married on 21 December 1795 in Salem, Massachusetts.  

Phebe Lilley and Noah Eaton (my 6th great grandparents), were married on 21 December 1726 in Woburn, Massachusetts. 

Hannah Munroe (my 7th great aunt) and Joseph Pierce, were married on 21 December 1692 in Watertown or Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

22 December

Mary Barber and Benjamin Tarr (my first cousin 7 generations removed), were married on 22 December 1748 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Our common ancestor was James Wallis (about 1668 - 1744) who was born in Maine and died in Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

Hannah Dennison and John Wallis (another first cousin 7 generations removed), were married on 22 December 1782 in Gloucester.  They were first cousins to each other.  Was this a double wedding? 

23 December

Sally Flint (my fifth great aunt) and Levi Nichols were married on 23 December 1778 in North Reading, Massachusetts.  

Sally Flint (my fourth great aunt) and Nathaniel Upton, were married on 23 December 1802 probably in North Reading.  

24 December - Christmas Eve

Polly Bray and Asa Burnham, my 5th great grandparents, were married on 24 December 1801 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  

Emily Burnham (my 5th great aunt) and John Rollins, were married on 24 December 1836 in Essex, Massachusetts. 

26 December (The day after Christmas)

Elizabeth Peach and Harvey Allen (my 3rd great uncle), were married on 26 December 1887 in Beverly, Massachusetts.  

Susanna Dutch (2nd cousin ten generations removed) and Benjamin Knowlton were married on 26 December 1705 in Beverly, Massachusetts. 

New Years Day Weddings:

Tabitha Damon and John Townsend (my 7th great uncle) were married on 1 January 1722 in Reading (now the part that is Wakefield), Massachusetts. 

Sarah Andrews and Charles Treadwell (my 8th great uncle) were married on 1 January 1723 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. 

Hannah Flint (my 5th great aunt) and William Whittredge were married on 1 January 1795 probably in North Reading, Massachusetts.  

Thanksgiving weddings (just a few mentioned here, but the last week or ten days in November was extremely popular among my ancestors for weddings):

My grandparents, Bertha Louise Roberts and Donald Munroe Wilkinson  26 November 1926 at 7 Dearborn Avenue in Beverly, Massachusetts. This was Bertha's home, and where my Dad grew up, and where I grew up, too!  I know they were married on Thanksgiving from an audio tape made by Bertha telling the story of her life.  

My 2nd great grandparents, Robert Wilson Wilkinson and Phebe Cross Munroe were married on 24 November 1853 in Danvers, Massachusetts.  This date was confirmed to be Thanksgiving from family tradition. 

My 4th great grandparents Romanus Emerson and Jemima Burnham were married on 22 November 1810 in Milford, New Hampshire.  I had to search online for the date of Thanksgiving in 1810, and this was the result, but I'm not sure that Thanksgiving had a set date this early. 

Mark Burnham (first cousin 7 generations removed) and Hannah Goodhue were married on Thanksgiving day 26 November 1767 in Ipswich, Massachusetts. 

Sarah Rue and John Beckett (my 6th great grandfather, I decend from his first wife, Rebecca Beadle) were married on Thanksgiving Day 25 November 1762 in Salem, Massachusetts (if Thanksgiving was celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November back then).  Sarah Phipps married my 6th great uncle George Munroe on that same day in Lexington, Massachusetts.  

If Thanksgiving were held on 24 November 1763 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, then my 5th great grandparents Isaac Allen and Abigail Burnham also had a Thanksgiving wedding date. 

I'd have to calculate the date of Thanksgiving for each year in the past, which is a floating holiday, and would become a truly huge proposal!  But it is a good future project.  Thanksgiving was not set as a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it in 1863.  He was persuaded to make it a national holiday by New Hampshire resident Sarah Josepha Hale, because of her fond memories of celebrating Thanksgiving as a child in New England.  It was not until 1941 that FDR set the holiday as the fourth Thursday in November, which was previously a tradition in New England that was loosely followed.  

1915 Salem Gazette

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Christmas Wedding in 1890", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 23 December 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-christmas-wedding-in-1890.html: accessed [access date]).

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]). 

Krimpen aan de Lek, The Netherlands for Weathervane Wednesday

 This is the second time I have featured this weathervane here on Weathervane Wednesday!  

My 6th great grandfather, Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl, was born in Krimpen aan de Lek on 18 July 1696, and was buried at this church after his death in 25 May 1779.  This 1425 church was demolished in 1939 and rebuilt, and his tombstone was moved to the chapel in the village cemetery.  However, the church retains a bit of my ancestor's history, since he was the commander of whaling ships, and the weathervane features a gilded whale! 

I first visited this village in 2017 with my distant cousin, Hans Hogerzeil.  You can read all about that trip HERE.  I featured the weathervane and the tombstone (see the links below).  This time, in April 2025 we were taking a river cruise around The Netherlands and Belgium and we sailed right by Krimpen aan de Lek and stopped nearby at Kinderdijk.  I was thrilled to see this village, and also the city of Dordrecht nearby, where Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl's son, Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl was buried, and where several other generations of my family lived until my 3rd great grandfather, Peter Hoogerzeil (1803 - 1889), immigrated to Beverly, Massachusetts in the 1820s.  

I loved my visit to Dordrecht and Krimpen aan de Lek in 2017.  I remember sitting in a restaurant with Hans and watching the river outside the window.  I kept seeing the river cruises go by, and I made a wish that maybe someday I would return and take one of those cruise tours of The Netherlands.  When we finally were able to make that wish come true, we did it during the tulip season, which was even extra fun!  

According to Wikipedia, the first mention of the name of this town in 1396.  The town is located nearby rotterdam, and in the 1700s the Van Holst whaling business was established here. Many Krimpen residents worked on board the ships, including my ancestor as a commander. He was a respected member of the community, and his impressive gravestone certainly verifies this!  

For the truly curious:

My previous blog post about Krimpen aan de Lek:     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring.html   

Tombstone Tuesday featuring Michiel Ockers Hogerzeijl's gravestone in Krimpen aan de Lek:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/tombstone-tuesday-michiel-ockers.html  

Kerk aan de Lek website in English:  https://www.kerkaandelek.nl/locaties/   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Krimpen aan de Lek, The Netherlands for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 25, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/06/krimpen-aan-de-lek-netherlands-for.html: accessed [access date]). 

Happy 100th Anniversary, Nana and Grampy!

 Today is my grandparents' 100th wedding anniversary.  They were married on Valentine's day in 1925 in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  

There is no wedding photo. Not a single one.  And very few photos of my grandparents alone together.  

My grandparents with me, around 1962

A photo of my grandfather from my grandmother's little photo album.

She wrote his name on the sticker. 

My grandmother's high school photo.  She was supposed to graduate from Beverly high

school, but never did because she moved from Beverly to Hamilton and never finished. 

My Dad took this photo in the 1970s when

he caught Nana and Grampy under the mistletoe! 

In 1975 there was a very big 50th anniversary party for my grandparents,

at the Commodore restaurant in Beverly.  It was attended by all seven of their children

and dozens of cousins and relatives. This photo was in the local newspaper.

Was there a wedding cake 100 years ago?

My grandfather, Stanley Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Elmer Allen and Carrie Maude Batchelder, was born 14 January 1904 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He married Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, daughter of Arthur Treadwell Hitchings and Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, on 14 February 1925, in Hamilton, Massachusetts.  She was born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, Massachusetts.  Both young people were neighbors in Hamilton, a case of falling in love with the boy next door?  Why no photos?  Was it a "shot gun" wedding?  My uncle, Stanley Elmer Allen, Jr., was born in June. 

This is a real love story. My grandparents went on to have seven children between 1925 and 1942.  These children were born and grew up in the Great Depression and World War II.  When the oldest child went off to serve his country during WWII, the youngest child was born.  They had 29 grandchildren, mostly born during the baby boom following the war, but some as late as the 1970s.  

My grandparents lived in a tiny house, a former "camp" near Asbury Grove in Hamilton. This was a Methodist campground where both sets of my great grandparents lived. My grandparents house still stands on Roosevelt Avenue, and it is hard to believe seven children (five boys and two girls) all lived there together.  Several relatives all lived nearby.  Most of the extended family worked at the local estates at one time or another.  Hamilton is known for its large estates owned by wealthy Boston families such as the Winthrops, Appletons, Mandells (now the site of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) and General George S. Patton.  

10 Roosevelt Avenue in Hamilton, photographed in 2004

My daughter standing in front of the Patton tank

in Patton Park, Hamilton, Massachusetts

My grandfather worked hard almost all his life since the 8th grade.  He had to drop out of school to support his older sister when her husband died in the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, leaving her a widow with two babies.  He worked in a leather factory, on the Charles Tainter estate, the Palmer estate, and on 7 August 1927 he began to work as a glazier at the United Shoe Manufacturing in Beverly, Massachusetts.  He worked there for 41 years. 

Stanley died on 6 March 1982 at the Beverly Hospital.  Gertrude died 3 November 2001 at a nursing home in Peabody, Massachusetts.  

For the truly curious:

My ALLEN Surname Saturday blog post from 2012:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/surname-saturday-allen-of-manchester.html   

My HITCHINGS Surname Saturday blog post from 2014:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/surname-saturday-hitchings-of-lynn.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Happy 100th Anniversary, Nana and Grampy!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 14, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/02/happy-100th-anniversary-nana-and-grampy.html

Peter Hoogerzeil Patents a Stove in 1891

 

Beverly Citizen, Saturday, November 28, 1891, page 2

"Ancient and Curious Stoves

Peter Hoogerzeil made application, last week, for his third patent on a rolling oven grate. His first patent was issued about two years ago and the second about one year later. The improved grate is automatic, and emerges and receds as the door, to which it is attached, is opened or closed.

     He also has a Franklin stove, a portable iron fireplace, with open front and swinging crane, which was named after Dr. Franklin, who invented it, and bears a bust of its inventor.

     Another curious possession is one of the old James stoves, the word "Salem", which appears on its face, indicating the place of its manufacture, though there is nothing that suggests its age. It is in an admirable state of preservation, stands about 28 inches from the floor, is of about the same width, and is not over 15 inches in depth. The fire is kindled at the bottom, and overhead is the oven, with a door opeing in front and one at the back.  The heat also passes through a funnel on either side of the oven, and an iron handle forms a part of the stove-covers. Mr. Hoogerzeil believes this to be the oldest stove in existence, and is desirous of obtaining information of the period when it was manufactured in Salem.  Particular interest attaches to it from the fact that a Detroit stove company has offered $100 in gold for the oldest stove to be placed on exhibition at the World's fair.  Mr. Hoogerzeil obtained the stove through James M. Woodbury, who purchased it from the estate of Miss Susan Forniss, by whom it was used until her decease." 

My great great grandfather Peter Hoogerzeil was a tinkerer and an inventor.  I have found at least a dozen patents he produced, including several for stoves, stove parts, and other cooking devices. He was born 24 June 1841 in Beverly, Massachusetts, the son of Peter Hoogerzeil (an immigrant from Holland) and Eunice Stone.  Peter married Mary Etta Healey on 14 March 1870 in Salem.  She was the daughter of Joseph Edwin Healy and Matilda Weston, natives of Nova Scotia.  

Peter had many occupations over the years.  In the 1860 census he was a fisherman.  In the 1870 census he was listed as a quartermaster and expressman (made deliveries).  He was listed as a teamster (truck or delivery driver) on his 1908 death certificate.  In 1867 he founded the Hoogerzeil Express Company, which he ran for many years and eventually passed it on this his brother-in-law, John E. Healey. He ran his express business from his home in Beverly, and had a large workshop behind the house.  The 1884 Beverly City Directory lists "Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr., job wagon, house 43 Bartlett St."   My mother remembers this house, where her aunt, Isabel Hoogerziel Sorenson, Peter's daughter, lived. 

Among Peter's US patents were the following that were all related to stoves or cooking:

        #403,938 Patented May 28, 1889 Stove Oven

#418,721 Patented January 7, 1890 Stove Oven

#467,292 Patented January 19, 1892 Stove Oven

#486,469 Patented November 22, 1892 Wheelbarrow

#512,615 Patented January 9, 1894 Steam or Baking Pan

For the truly curious:

My Surname Saturday post of my HOOGERZEIL lineage:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html

Blog post "Peter Hoogerzeil's House in Beverly, Massachusetts":     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/not-so-wordless-wednesday-peter.html

Tombstone Tuesday - Peter Hoogerzeil's gravestone:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/tombstone-tuesday-peter-hoogerzeil.html 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Peter Hoogerzeil Patents a Stove in 1891", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 7, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/05/peter-hoogerzeil-patents-stove-in-1891.html: accessed [access date]). 

Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping

 

Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 14 January 1896, page 7. 

BEVERLY MAN'S BRAVE ACT

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Albert Hoogerzeil Risks His Own Life to 

Rescue a drowning Neighbor.

Beverly, January 14- A narrow escape from drowning of a Beverly man and a heroic rescue by another is reported this morning.

It seems that William Bennett, while spearing for eels through the ice in the harbor, broke through and was in great danger of drowning, as, on account of his heavy clothes, he was unable to swim. His cries for assistance were heard by Albert Hoogerzeil, who was fishing from a dory about a half a mile away from the drowning man.  Mr. Hoogerzeil rowed with all possible speed to the scene.  At the risk of his own life, he forced his boat through the broken ice and reached Bennett, just as he was sinking for the last time.

He dragged him into the boat and devoted some little time in resuscitating him.  Mr. Bennett was thoroughly chilled and was in great danger of succumbing, but Mr. Hoogerzeil took the clothing off his own back to aid in restoring warmth to the chilled man until he reached the shore and secured assistance.

It is understood that steps will be taken to bring the brave rescue to the attention of the Humane Society with a view that a medal may be secured for Mr. Hoogerzeil in recognition of his courageous act.

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One of my ancestral family names is Hoogerzeil.  I'm lucky because my 7th great grandfather, Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl (1663 - 1749) of Krimpen aan de Lek, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, made up his own surname when patronyms started going out of fashion in his home country.  He was a commander of a whaling ship, and his name "Hoogerzeil" translates to "High Sails".  Every person ever named Hoogerzeil or Hogerzeil has turned out to be one of his descendants.  

Ocker Bruins Hoogersijl's great great grandson, Peter Hoogerzil (1803 - 1889) was a stowawy from Rotterdam to Salem, Massachusetts in the 1820s.  He settled in Beverly, across the harbor from Salem, where he married Eunice Stone in 1828.  She was supposedly the daughter of the sea captain of the ship in which Peter was a stowawy.  I know that Eunice's father, Josiah Stone (1763 - 1848) was a commander of ships in Salem, so there may be some truth to this family myth!

Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone had six children: Lucy Ann, born 1832; Simeon, born 1839; Peter, born 1841; William, born 1843; Albert Stone, born 1845; and Edmund, born 1847.  Peter, Jr, is my great great grandfather.  Albert, his brother, and the hero of the story in the 1896 Boston Globe article, is my 3rd great uncle.  

Albert Hoogerzeil was a mariner in the United States Navy 1862 through 1864 during the Civil War.  He served aboard the USS Vermont, the USS Western World, and with the Potomac Flotilla.  Back home in Beverly he was a shoemaker and a fisherman.  At age 53 he married Mary Gaffney, born about 1859 in Ireland, on 15 December 1898 in Beverly.  It was his first and only marriage.  They had no children. 

For the truly curious:

A 2014 blog post about the Hoogerzeil Family plot in the Central Cemetery in Beverly:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/tombstone-tuesday-hoogerzeil-in-beverly.html  

A 2018 blog post for Surname Saturday on my Hoogerzeil lineage:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 11, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/albert-hoogerzeil-1845-1920-rescues.html: accessed [access date]).  

Happy Easter 2021!

 From our house to yours, Happy Easter!  

Happy Spring!  Happy Passover!  Felices Pascuas! Happy Vernal Equinox!  And Happy Vaccinations!

This photo dates around 1920, of my grandmother in Beverly, Massachusetts with some lambs.  "Me" is my grandmother, Gertrude Hitchings ( 1905 - 2001), with "Bea" her friend, and "Skeet" Gertrude's little sister Mildred (1909 - 1981).  "Bob" must be a friend, but he remains unidentified.

This photo dates from the same time period, maybe even the same day as the photo above.  It is my great grandmother, Etta (Hoogerzeil) Hitchings (1871 - 1941) with a spring lamb.  I love this photo, and I know it is one of my mother's favorite photos, too!

One hundred years later, in June 2020, here is my granddaughter, Isabella, feeding a bottle of milk to a baby goat at Friendly Farm in Dublin, New Hampshire.  It seems to be a tradition in our family. 

Isabella and a baby goat, June 2019

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Happy Easter 2021!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 2, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/04/happy-easter-2021.html: accessed [access date]). 

Happy Mother's Day! My Matrilineal Line

My matrilineal line:

My Mom, she graduated from Beverly, Hospital School of Nursing

My grandmother, Gertrude Matilda Hitchings.

She was born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, Massachusetts and died 3 November 2001 in Peabody, Massachusetts. She married Stanley Elmer Allen on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton. They had seven children. 

My great grandmother, Florence Etta Hoogerzeil.

She was born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, Massachusetts and died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts. She married Arthur Treadwell Hitchings on 25 December 1890 in Beverly, Massachusetts. They had eight children. 

My great great grandmother, Mary Etta Healey, seated in the front row with the baby on her lap.

She was born 19 May 1852 in Beverly, Massachusetts and died 23 July 1932 in Beverly, Massachusetts.  She married Peter Hoogerzeil on 14 March 1870 in Salem, Massachusetts.  They had six children. 

My 3x great grandmother was Matilda Weston.   

She was born October 1825 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, and died 19 August 1909 in Beverly, Massachusetts.  She married Joseph Edwin Healey on 3 February 1848 in Canada.  They had four children.

My 4x great grandmother was Mary Clements.  She married Zadoc Weston in Nova Scotia and had two children. She was his second wife.  My matrilineal line ends here because not much is known about Mary Clements, even though she is part of of my Mayflower application lineage.  I don't know her birth date, death, marriage, or her parents names.  Her husband, Zadoc Weston, is the descendant of ten Mayflower passengers, and he is named in at least two Silver books.  Zadoc was the son of Nathan Weston and Hannah Everson of Plymouth County, Massachusetts.  His first two wives were Sarah MacDuffie and Mary Pratt, and the two Marys are part of the confusion. Altogether, Zadoc was the father of a total of eight children. 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Happy Mother's Day! My Matrilineal Line", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 10, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/05/happy-mothers-day-my-matrilineal-line.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 Nieuwpoort, Netherlands

Nieuwpoort, The Netherlands, 1866

Part 2 of 3

Last week I wrote a blog post about my visit to Krimpen aan de Lek, Netherlands with my distant cousin, Hans Hoogerzeil, to see where our common ancestors lived.  In this post, I’ll be showing you the sights at the tiny village of Nieuwpoort, where my 5^th great grandmother, Anna Ooms who married Simon Machielszoon Hoogerzeijl was born in 1742.  Her parents were Adam Adriaans Ooms and Anna van der Ham.  This side of the family lived here until their grandson, my 3^rd great grandfather, Peter Hoogerzeil, was born in Dordrecht in 1803.   

Canals in Nieuwpoort

The village church

Nieuwpoort town hall

Simon Hoogerzeijl was the commander of whaling ships from 1771 to 1802.  His father-in-law, Adam Ooms was a Nieuwpoort whaling commander, too, from 1749 – 1775.  The house where Simon and Anna are believed to have lived is in the "inner harbor" of the village (on a small canal), near the village church where eight of their children were baptized.  This house is believed to be their house because whale bones were found in a backyard excavation. There is a beautiful ceramic tile of "Noah's Ark" on the front gable end of the house. 

The house where the Ooms Family is
supposed to have lived in Nieuwpoort

"Noah's Ark" is the name of the house!

According to Wikipedia, the small village of Nieuwport has only about 600 residents.  Hans described it as a “garrison town”, and the small walls are used to control flooding.  We parked outside of the town walls and walked through the wooden doors that can be closed like a canal lock.  There are drainage canals running through the town in front of the houses.  It is very picturesque, and easy to imagine what it was like when my ancestors lived here.   Nieuwpoort was about 20 kilometers from Krimpen aan de Lek. 

In 1780 Simon and Anna Hoogerzeijl removed to the city of Dordrecht, where they are both buried.  It was a very nice drive along top of the dikes from Dordrecht to Nieuwpoort with Hans and Erik.  We visited the windmills at the Kinderdijk and drove through some lovely farm land. It was a perfect tour for this New England girl, with lots of new things to see in the Netherlands!

Kinderdijk

Driving along the tops of the dikes

Water screws moving the water UP to river level

Click here to read Part 1 of this series, Krimpen aan de Lek:

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

(The map in the image above is from Wikimedia Commons, J. Kuyper - Germeente Atlas van Nederland (Municipal Atlas of the Netherlands), 1866.)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “In the Footsteps of the Ancestors ~ Touring Nieuwpoort, Netherlands”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 5, 2018, (   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/in-footsteps-of-ancestors-touring_5.html: accessed [access date]).