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Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

John Burgraff and Mary Kortlever

Jan Burggraaf began to use the spelling John Burgraff in the early 1890s and never used the original spelling after 1900, so from this point on I’ll refer to him by the spelling we use.

John Burgraff found himself in fairly dire straits after the death of his wife Elizabeth . He is a farmer with four small children at home. The youngest, Little Sadie, would have only been four at the time and he needed help. Apparently, several family members helped out for a little while, but eventually John hired a full time housekeeper – Maria Kortlever. [update – see the 16 May 2011 post for the correct information provided by a recent discovery.]

Maria (Mary) Kortlever was born 17 October 1874 in Leerdam, Zuid, Netherlands.1 She was the oldest daughter of Jan Kortlever and Maaike Flora Bel. [Maaike is pronounced Maw-key and becomes Anglicized to Maggie.] Jan Kortlever had arrived in May of 1882 and his wife and family followed, arriving 15 September 1882 aboard the W. A. Scholten in New York and then travelled to Sioux County, Iowa.2 She is enumerated with her family on the 1885 census in Alton, Sioux County, Iowa.3

One of our family stories is that Mary arrived in Iowa without being able to speak English. She attended school in Sioux County and by the end of the first year was speaking English with almost no accent.

I believe that Mary went to work for John sometime in early 1893 although there are no specific records. On 20 March 1893 daughter Maggie Burgraff is born.4 John and Mary Kortlever married on 12 August 1893 in Rock Rapids, Lyon County, Iowa.5 Mary was most likely pregnant with Maggie when she went to work for John. It is not known who Maggie’s father was, although it doesn’t matter. She was John’s daughter from the day of John and Mary’s marriage.


1. Genlias database, Genlias (http://www.genlias.nl/en : accessed 10 Feb 2010), Maria Kortleever, 17 Oct 1874, Kedichem; Nationaal Archief (Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland).
2. “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” online images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Feb 2010), manifest, W.A. Scholten, 15 Sep 1882, Line 33, Marie Kortlever.
3. 1885 Iowa State Census, Sioux County, Iowa, population schedule, Alton, p. 6 handwritten, 266 stamped, dwelling 32, family 37, line 26, Marie Kortlever; digital images, The Generations Network, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Jun 2009); citing Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925.
4. Burgraff Bible, family pages; Photocopy held privately. Maggie 20 Mar 1893.
5. Iowa District Court, Clerk’s Certificate as to Marriage Record, Rock Rapids (12 Aug 1893), John Burgraff-Mary Kortlever; Lyon County District Court, Rock Rapids.

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

Jan & Elizabeth Burggraaf

As I explained in my post of 2 Feb 2010, Jan Burggraaf had two distinct family groups and each had their own stories.

Jan married Elizabeth in 1879 in Marion County, Iowa, and first child Pieter was born there on 23 December 1880. Our family story is that Jan and his father did not agree on many things. While Willem appears to be a staid Dutch farmer, youngest son Jan is an American. He loved to dance, drink and according to his family was a man who saw himself as more of a boss than a worker.

Things in Pella had become expensive and land was at a premium in the late 1870s which may have precipitated the move to Sioux County. The young family moved to Holland Township in Sioux County a short time after Peter was born, and second son William was born there 12 August 1883. The 1885 Iowa State Census shows the family before the birth of their third son Albert. It also states that William was born in Marion County, but William always stated his place of birth as Sioux County. The next three children are all born in Holland Township: Albert on 15 November 1885, Arrie on 27 April 1886, and Sadie on 29 November 1887. These dates were provided on an un-sourced family group sheet. I plan on checking the available birth record for that period, and I will be looking for a local church for the family in Sioux County.

The 1885 Iowa State Census is currently the last documentation that I have for Elizabeth. She passed away 5 Dec 1892 of “bowel trouble and according to a letter from her niece, Minnie Van Den Top, was buried in Rock Valley Cemetery. I found no cemetery record for Elizabeth. Her obituary in the Rock Valley Register, 8 Dec 1892, p5 is simple— “On Monday morning [5 Dec 1892] Mrs. John Burgraff died at the family home about four miles northeast of town, of inflammation of the bowels. Deceased was about 32 years of age, and leaves a sorrowing husband and four children to mourn her untimely death. The sympathy of all goes out to them in their affliction.”

Sadly, three of Elizabeth’s five children would die in less than 10 years. First to pass away before his mother, was Little Albert, who died circa 1891/92. We know he is deceased based on the number of children in Elizabeth’s death notice. Little Albert is believed to have died of illness and was buried in a small cemetery near Doon, Iowa. What cemetery is not known and I have found no formal record of his passing. The reason I can’t use words of a more positive nature is that there are no records for Little Albert. The date of his birth was found on a family group sheet and was verified in a birth index for Sioux County by date and his parents, but not by name. He does not appear on any census record and the only mention of his passing is in the previously mentioned letter from Minnie Van Den Top.

Arrie died 10 November 1893 in Running Water, Bon Homme County South Dakota. I will cover Arrie’s tragic story in a future post.

Little Sadie died 25 February 1899 in Bigelow, Nobles County, Minnesota. While her death certificate does not list her cause of death, her niece told me that it was due to tubercular meningitis. There is no burial location given on her death certificate and a researcher in Nobles County told me there was no tombstone with any information for any Burggraafs in their records. It is possible that she was brought to Sioux County (not a great distance) and buried with her mother, but currently her place of burial remains unknown.

I have been using the term “Little” with these three children because none of them lived to maturity. The other reason is to help distinguish them from children of the Jan’s second marriage who bear the same names.


1. Family Group Sheet of Peter Burgraff (1880-1956), Burgraff-Scott Family Archives; privately held.
2. “Sioux County, Iowa State Census, 1885,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 Jul 2009), Jan Burggraaf, Dwelling 126, Fam 126; Sioux County, Iowa State Census, 1885, FHL Film #1020183.
3. Minnie Van Den Top, Letter dated 1973 to [Private] detailing death and burial locations of Burggraaf family members.
4. Nobles, Minnesota, death certificate (25 February 1899), Sadie Burgraff; Nobles County Superior Court, Worthington, Minnesota.

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

The Family Stick

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.