Find My Dead

Genealogy of Sharon & Scotty

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

Willem & Sygje in Iowa 1

When Willem and Sygje arrived in Pella that fall of 1847, it must have been a shock. There were few houses available and winter was coming. I have no idea where they lived that first year, but I am making a guess that it was hardly the clean dry surroundings they were used to. There is a wonderful book called Iowa Letters: Dutch Immigrants on the American Frontier by Johan Stellingwerff. It’s a slow read (not a cover to cover thriller) but it is translations of letters from immigrants to their families in Holland and from those families to the immigrants. It was amazing to read about the variety of experiences different people within the same group had, and to also to find out that not everyone stayed. The letters help you grasp the enormity of the struggles, the political and religious problems within the community, and the simple joy of a letter from home. I loved reading the parts about day-to-day life and the things that the immigrants asked their families to send or bring with them when they came.

No doubt those early years were a struggle for Willem and Sygje as they broke the land and built a home. I’m not sure where the young couple stood in the religious politics that played out in the community. They were married by Henry P Scholte, Justice of the Peace, and I also noticed that the first four of their children were all baptized on the same day, 26 March 1859, two months before youngest son Jan is born. I found no baptism record for Jan in the First Reformed Church of Pella. This does not seem to indicate regular church attendance.

Willem and Sygje appear on the 1850 census with daughter Jantje.1 The cool thing about the 1850 census in Pella is that all the Dutch women used their maiden names. When I first saw this record I thought Willem and Sygje were not married and just living together. Later I learned that the Dutch women had always used their maiden names on their government records in the Netherlands and they did so here on that first census. Willem is a laborer on this census as are Pieter and Peter. This meant they did not own a farm, as owners in this location are listed as farmers. Older brother Pieter and his family are next door to Willem and Sygje and they appear on the bottom of the previous page.


1. 1850 U.S. census, Marion County, Iowa population schedule, Lake Prairie, p. 289, dwelling 141, family 146, Willem Burggraaf; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 9 Jul 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 187.

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

Leaving the Netherlands

There are lots of great books and sites that can explain, far better than I, why so many Dutch migrated in the mid-1800s. The IowaGenWeb Project has up the Pioneers of Marion County by Wm. M. Donnel,1 and Part II, Chapter VI provides a good basic story of the immigration to Pella. Our three Burggraafs, Pieter, Willem, and Peter, departed Rotterdam in April 1847 aboard the Maastroom.2 Pieter Burggraaf was the third child of Jan Burggraaf, (1811-1892); he came with his wife Cornelia Verschoor (1816-1896),3 his sons Teunis (1842-1904) and Jan (1846 – ). According to the records on Genlias, Pieter and Cornelia had two other children, Jan and Jannigje who had died young.4,5

The passenger list was my first discovery of Peter Burggraaf. He is #59 on the line directly above Pieter and lists his age as 20. Willem is passenger #196 on a separate page of the passenger list and Sygje Stek is on the line directly below him, indicating there may already have been a relationship between them. Sygje is the only member of the Stek family listed, but she may have traveled with other relatives. It should be noted that Dutch women were known to be very independent and many did travel on their own.

They arrived 2 June 1847 in Baltimore, Maryland and there are some interesting accounts of the trip available from letters and also some fun things written up in the Souvenir History of Pella.6 Apparently the Dutch women cleaned the ship from stem-to-stern while at sea, and it was remarked upon by the inspectors at the Port of Baltimore.

From Baltimore the group of immigrants traveled to Pella via Pittsburgh and St. Louis and finally arrived in the fall of 1847. Sygje and Willem married in 1848 and settled into the hard work of farming in Marion County, Iowa. Their family of 5 children is fairly small by Dutch farm standards of the day. Also unusual is that all their (known) children survived to adulthood.

Older brother Pieter had a total of 9 children and he died in Pella on 20 Jan 1892.7 He is buried in Graceland Cemetery with his wife Cornelia. I have posted a family group sheet for Pieter Burggraaf, but I don’t plan on providing any more information on his family in this blog. His line is well documented on Ancestry, Rootsweb and FamilySearch.

The family of Peter Burggraaf (I have come to think of him as Peter the Younger) will be discussed as they are closely intertwined with Willem’s family.


1. William M. Donnel, Pioneers of Marion County (N.p.: n.p., 1872), Part II: Chapter VI, transcribed on the Iowa GenWeb Project, http://iagenweb.org/marion/DONNEL.
2. National Archives, Washington, D.C., “Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1848,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Jul 2009), Ship name: Maasstroom, Passenger: Willem Burggraaf, age 24, Farmer; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, Maryland.
3. Genlias database, Genlias (http://www.genlias.nl/en : accessed 9 Jul 2009), Marriage – Pieter Burggraaf and Cornelia Verschoor 2 May 1840; Civil Register – Nationaal Archief (Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland).
4. Genlias database, Genlias (http://www.genlias.nl/en : accessed 9 Jul 2009), Death – Jan Burggraaf, 24 May 1841; Civil Register – Nationaal Archief (Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland).
5. Genlias database, Genlias (http://www.genlias.nl/en : accessed 9 Jul 2009), Death – Jannigje Burggraaf, 12 Jun 1845, age 1; Civil Register – Nationaal Archief (Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland).
6. G.A. Stout, Souvenir History of Pella Iowa, (Booster Press, 1922).
7. Graceland Cemetery (Marion County, Iowa), Pieter Burggraaf marker.

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

The Immigrant Generation

Once upon a time, three brothers… Scratch that… it was two brothers (and a cousin) journeyed from the Netherlands.

I have already posted a family group sheet for Jan Burggraaf (1779-1844) to show all the siblings of Willem Burggraaf. This family is well documented in the wonderful vital records provided online by the Dutch at Genlias. Don’t panic when you go to the site and it’s in Dutch, simply go to the upper right side and click on English. Select Searching in Genlias on the tabs and get started with your search.

The beauty of this search is that if you put in the last name of Burggraaf and the first name of Jan it will provide all the birth, marriage, and death events available for all the Jan Burggraafs that it has records for. Use a map of the area to narrow down your search. I looked at every Jan that had a place name of Leerdam, Lexmond, and Schoonrewoerd. I have to admit that the first time I went in I looked at just about every Jan until I figured out how to pull up a Google map in a second window and narrow my search by location.

Some important things to know:
1. Records are oldest to newest and you should start with the known and work your way back.
2. Dates are given numerically by day, month, and year.
3. Dutch women use their birth or maiden names throughout their lives on all their registration forms. On page 7 of the entries for Jan Burggraaf you will see an entry for “civil marriage” and the role is “father groom.” The record is actually for the marriage of Pieter (Willem’s older brother) to Cornelia Verschoor and the registration date is 2 May 1840. Notice that there is an age and birth location for the bride and groom and also the full names of the parents for both.
4. Death and marriage records will sometimes name former spouses who have died. So if this is a second or third marriage the other wives/husbands may be listed.
5. Not all the records are indexed and up. Some areas are better than others, but I’ve had good luck. Not every person was indexed – as is always the case, some records just can’t be read due to a variety of reasons. Just because your person isn’t here does not mean that he did not exist. Go look at the original record films.
6. Don’t let the ages throw you. It is not un-common in the Netherlands for young men to marry older women.
7. The Dutch recycled the names of children. If Albert died young, then the next male child would be given the name. I’ll have more on Dutch naming practices later.

Most of the records are on film and available through the Family History Library if you would like to see the original parish entries. I have looked at several films and still have a few to look at, but for the most part I am happy to reference this database.