DeJong, Peter G. 1873-1962 & Wives Families

DEJONG, NEEVEL, NOORDHOF, LUURSMA, VANPEURSEM, BAAY

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 5/5/2024 at 06:00:00

De Jong, Peter G. 1873-1962 & wives’ families

This story was taken from pages 320-322 of the Maurice Centennial Book (1891-1991). The story was transcribed for this BIOS by Beth De Leeuw of the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society. Some research notes were added by Wilma J. Vande Berg.

Peter was the third child of Gerrit and Jantje (Van Peursem) De Jong. He was born December 6, 1873, on a farm three miles east and one mile south of Maurice. This is where he grew up and lived until he married.

He went to school one mile north and usually went only in the winter time as boys were needed to work on the farm. One school record book shows Peter at the age of 17 attending school.

In the fall, he had to help husk corn. They had no mittens or gloves and the corn husks were very hard on the hands. The skin would dry and crack. There was a tar-like substance called pitch that they would heat over a lamp and then put it on the cracks. It was very painful.

Peter was usually called Pete or P.G. It was through his cousins that he met Petronella Neevel.

Petronella (Nell) was born in Alto, Wisconsin, on May 4, 1874, to John Herman and Petronella (Baay) Neevel. She was the 14th child of a family of 15. Her mother also had six other pregnancies or stillborn.

When Nell was 17 years old, her mother died so she went to live with her sister Priscilla (Mrs. Rev. Henry Straks) at Cleveland, Ohio. In 1894 , when Rev. Straks accepted a call to be pastor at the Maurice church, Nell moved along with them.

P.G. and Nell were married February 10, 1897, and lived one mile west of Orange City, on a farm on the north side of the curve where only a corn crib remains standing today. Here their first son, Gerrit Raymond, was born on November 4, 1897. In 1899, they moved four miles east and ¾ south of Maurice, and Harry Adolphus was born on July 17, 1899.

Pete’s father, Gerrit, retired in 1901 and moved to Orange City, so Pete and his family moved to the “home place”.

Again there was to be an addition to the family and they hoped for a girl to be named Petronella. However, it was a boy born on November 26, 1903. He was named Nelson (for “Nell’s son”).

April 7, 1907, the little girl, Petronella (Nellie), arrived, but Nell never got to know the joy of her little daughter as two days later on April 9, at the age of 32, she died of pernicious anemia. Because of her illness, the baby was born retarded.

Pete was left with three boys and a newborn daughter to care for. Little Nellie went to live with her Aunt Priscilla for a year. Pete’s sister, Nellie, helped care for the boys.

It was through a sister-in-law, he met Martha Noordhoff. She was born March 5, 1876, in Chicago. Her parents were Klaas Noordhoff and Grietje Luurtsema (or Luursma). Klaas had a foundry in Chicago, however, due to his health, the doctor advised him to change to outdoor work. After an inspection trip with a friend to northwest Iowa, Mr. Noordhoff bought a farm three miles south of Alton.

Leaving on a train from Chicago, the Noordhoff family began their trip the 11th of March, 1881. Martha was five years old. Shortly after they departed for their new home in Iowa, they encountered the terrible storm of March, 1881, and the 500 mile journey lasted two weeks. The birthdays of Martha and her brother were celebrated on the train. On two occasions, the family was quarantined in hotels at Fort Dodge and Waterloo, Iowa, at the expense of the railroad company. They finally arrived at LeMars, Iowa, where friends met them and took them over snowbound prairies to their newly purchased farm home. They lived there eleven months.

The contrast between the city of Chicago and Iowa prairies was too great, so they moved to Alton, the nearest town. They lived here two years and then moved to Orange City.

When Martha was 17, her mother died and she kept house for twelve years, after which time her father remarried. She attended Northwestern Classical Academy in Orange City, where she took a Normal Training course and became a schoolteacher.

Pete realized a need for a mother for his children and he and Martha were married December 26, 1907. Martha wanted little Nellie home and they were reunited as a family. On May 15, 1910, Greta Lucille was born.

P.G. bought his first car in 1911. It was a Warren-Detroit and he paid $1,400. The car had no doors and had a lot of brass. The headlights had to be lit with a match. When he went to town, he chose roads that had the least hills to climb. The car was seldom used at night as they did not go away much. When they went visiting to the neighbors, they would walk and Martha always took socks along to darn.

The older generation had their own medicinal remedies. Nelson remembers when he was very small, he was subject to earaches. His father would chew a wad of tobacco and then stick it in the sore ear.

Pete would go to town with the team and platform buggy and when he was leaving he would leave orders to the boys, the work they should do. He would usually come home when the work was finished.

In the summertime, Greta and Nellie could be seen milking the cows out in the open pasture.

Raymond married Gertie Brink on January 28, 1920, and Nelson married Ada Schuller December 30, 1927. When Harry married Zella Eason on August 21, 1929, Pete and Martha and girls moved to Orange City, to the house now at 322 Boston NE and Harry took over the farm. On July 3, 1935, Greta married Frederick (Fritz) Eason and moved to Alton. Martha died February 16, 1944. She was almost 68 years.

P.G. was unable to care for Nellie as her condition worsened. She lived at the State Hospital at Cherokee, and later at the County Home at Orange City. On June 14, 1974, she died in the Heritage House in Orange City at the age of 67. When P.G. could no longer take care of himself, he went to live with his daughter Greta in Alton. He was there about four years when he broke his hip at the age of 89. He and his two wives are buried in the Orange City Cemetery.

When Nell died P.G. had a grave stone erected on her grave. When Martha died he had the stone removed and replaced it with one similar to the one he had put on Martha’s grave. The original was used at a stepping stone for many years on Nelson’s farm. A couple of year ago, Nelson and a couple of grandchildren decided to move it back to its original place, therefore, Petronella Neevel De Jong has two gravestones.

This Story in the Maurice book was written - IN MEMORY OF - Peter, Nell and Martha De Jong by Imo Mulder

RESEARCH Notes: From a family report on ancestry.com detailing the family of Peter’s second wife Martha Noordhof and all of Peter’s children. Information is from public member trees and submitted by other than this submitter. Also, used the narrative in the Maurice Book to supplement information on wife, Petronella Neevel.

Peter Gerrit De Jong was born 6 Dec 1873 Orange City IA and died 16 May 1963 Orange City Iowa. His parents were Gerrit De Jong 1843-1919 and Jannetje Van Peursem 1944-1928, see their obits on this web page. He was married to Petronella Neevel abt 1896 and later married Martha Noordhof in 1907.

Wife No. 1: Petronella Neevel (Nell) was born in Alto, Wisconsin, on May 4, 1874, to John Herman and Petronella (Baay) Neevel. They had four children before she died just after giving birth to a baby girl April 1907.

Wife No. 2: Martha K. Noordhof born 5 Mar 1876 Chicago IL died 16 Feb 1944 Orange City IA. Married Dec 26, 1907 Orange City, IA. Peter and Martha had one daughter.

CHILDREN of Peter G. De Jong: First four were from his first wife Petronella Neevel and last Greta was from his second wife Martha Noordhof.

1. Gerrit Raymond De Jong born 4 Nov 1897 Orange City IA died 25 Apr 1978 Orange City IA He married Gertie Brink 1895-1993. Find a Grave has one of their child was Imo LaVerne De Jong Mrs. Bill Mulder.

2. Harry Adolphus De Jong born 17 Jul 1899 Orange City IA died 13 Feb 1985 Orange City IA. Find a Grave has his wife as Zella Verne Eason 1903-1990, and one child as Paul Glenn De Jong. Harry’s obit found under heading Eason on this web page lists three children, Mrs. Tom (Mary Sue) Faust, of West Des Moines; Paul G., of Orange City; and Mrs. Jim (Lois Jeane) Wells, of Austin, Texas

3. Nelson De Jong born 26 Nov 1903 Orange City IA died 5 Apr 1991 Orange City IA. Find a Grave lists his wife was Adrianna Frances Schuller 1904-1996. One child listed as Marlys Joan Frerichs. Nelson’s obit found on this web page lists three daughters and two sons-in-law, Loraine and Leonard Krommendyk of Orange City, Marlys and Stanley Frerichs of Le Mars and Carolyn Richter of Gainesville, Florida; a sister, Greta Eason, of Alton

4. Petronella ‘Nellie’ De Jong born 6 Apr 1907- died 14 Jun 1974 Orange City IA. See information on her life in above narration.

5. Greta Lucille De Jong 15 May 1910 Orange City IA died 14 May 2006 Orange City IA. She married Fredrick Eason. Find a Grave lists one child as Ruth Jeane Zembsch. Greta’s obit carried in the Siouxland Press of Mary 24, 2006 lists two daughters, Ruth Zembsch of Alton and Eulyn Mrs. Lee Riemersma of Spirit Lake IA.

OBITUARY OF PETER G. DE JONG
Source: Unidentified News Obituary from a treasured scrapbook.
Peter DeJong
Peter G. DeJong passed away in the Orange City Municipal hospital on May 16, 1963, at the age of 89 years and 6 months having been hospitalized about 5 months due to a hip fracture on December 23, 1962.
He was born on the homestead of his father, Gerrit De Jong, on December 6, 1873, and farmed in this vicinity until retiring and moving to Orange City in 1929.
He married Nellie Neevel in 1897 and she preceded him in death in 1907.
He then married Martha Noordhoff, who preceded him in death in 1944.
Five children survive. Raymond, Harry, Nelson, Nellie and Greta (Mrs. Fred Eason), all of the vicinity. Nine grandchildren, fifteen great grandchildren, two sisters, namely Mrs. Minnie Aalberts & Mrs. Nellie Luymus and one brother, George, also survive.
He spent about 4 years prior to his hospitalization in the home of his daughter and family, The Fred Eason’s in Alton.
Funeral services will be held Monday, May 20, at 1:30 in the Trinity Reformed Church in Orange City, under the direction of the Van Etten Funeral Home, with interment in the Orange City cemetery.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Sioux Center News of May 23, 1963
Funeral services were held on Monday afternoon at the Trinity Reformed church for Peter G. De Jong of Orange City, who passed away at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Orange City hospital after being hospitalized for five months following a hip fracture in December. Mr. De Jong was born December 6, 1873 on a farm six miles south west of Orange City. He was a life long resident of the Orange City vicinity and retired to Orange City in 1929.
He stayed at the home of his daughter, the Fred Easons at Alton for the past three years. In 1897, the departed married Nellie Neevel. She died in 1907. To this union were born three sons and one daughter, Raymond, Harry, Nelson and Nellie, all of the Orange City vicinity. He later married Martha Noordhoff, who passed away in February, 1944. They were the parents of one daughter, Greta, Mrs. Fred Eason.
Surviving besides the children, nine grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren are two sisters, Mrs. Minnie Aalberts, Mrs. Nellie Luymes and one brother, George all of Orange City. The Rev. Donald Lenderink officiated at the funeral services. Interment was made in the Orange City cemetery under the direction of the Van Etten Funeral Service.

OBITUARY OF First wife of Peter G. De Jong - PETRONELLA DE JONG 1874-1907

Information from Family Search – Historical Records Name: Petronella Neevel De Jong
Find a Grave Index Birth: 1874 Death: 10 April 1907
Sioux Center Nieuwsblad of Apr 17, 1907 In Dutch
Translated:
On Tuesday of last week, Mrs. P. G. De Jong, living between Maurice and Orange City, was summoned to the deathbed. The young woman, who had given birth to a child a few days before, died the same evening, at the age of only 33 years, leaving a grieving husband and four young children. The funeral had Friday at Orange City. Her maiden name was Neevel.

OBITUARY of second wife of Peter G. De Jong, Martha Noordhof De Jong
Alton Democrat February 17, 1944
Mrs. Peter G. De Jong died Wednesday, February 16th, at her home in Orange City. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 Friday afternoon at Trinity Reformed church.
Martha Noordhoff was born on March 5th, 1876. in Chicago and at the age of 5 years moved to Alton with her parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Klaas Noordhoff. The family moved to Orange City when she was 9 years old. She graduated in 1893 from Northwestern Academy and for twelve years kept house for her widowed father. She was married Dec. 26. 1907, to Peter G. De Jong. They farmed in the Orange City vicinity and some years ago retired and moved to town. Surviving are her husband and one daughter. Greta. Mrs. Fred Eason of Alton; four stepchildren — Raymond, Harry. Nelson and Nellie. all of Orange City: and nine grandchildren. The family have the sympathy of many friends in the loss of a devoted wife and mother.

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