Every family has cousins that marry and the Burggraafs are no different. It becomes a royal pain in the keester when you are dealing with the repeating first names found in the line and then add in the same last name. We had a son and daughter of Willem and Sygje marry a daughter and son of Peter and Tryntje.
John Burggraaf married Elizabeth Burggraaf on 11 December 1879 in Marion County, Iowa. They are second cousins.
John’s sister Annetje (Anna) married Elizabeth’s brother Arie on 4 October 1886 in Sioux County, Iowa. Arie had previously been married to Aaltje DeVries, but whether they divorced or she passed away is not yet known. Arie is listed as single and living with John and Elizabeth in Holland Township in Sioux County at the time of the 1885 census.
John and Elizabeth name their children:
Peter – Elizabeth’s father
William – for John’s father
Albert – for John’s brother
Arrie – for Elizabeth’s brother
Sadie – For John’s mother
Arie and Anna name their children:
Peter – for Arie’s father (I believe that Peter is deceased by now since this child is named for him not Willem)
Sadie – For Anna’s mother
Jennie – For Anna’s older sister Jantje.
It became even more interesting when I found that step-children had married:
Tryntje Brouwer and Peter Burggraaf had a son William Burggraaf born 1873,
Dirk J. Eggink and Wilhelmina Eskes had a daughter Johanna Eggink born 1868,
Tryntje and Dirk married in 1883 after the death of their first spouses and brought their families together in Sioux County.
William Burggraaf then married Johnann Frederika Eggink in about 1893/94.
1. “Iowa Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 Feb 2010), Arie Burggraaf to Aaltje DeVries, 1 Mar 1882.
2. Iowa State, “Sioux County, Iowa State Census, 1885,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 Jul 2009), Arie Burggraaf, Dwelling 126, Fam 126; Sioux County, Iowa State Census, 1885, FHL Film #1020183.
3. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism William Burggraaf, 6 Jun 1873; FHL microfilm 0,985,401.