Find My Dead

Genealogy of Sharon & Scotty

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

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.

Burgraff/Kortlever/Stek/Bel

Peter Burggraaf (1824 – c.1877)

People that are not in your direct line are often called collateral and genealogists research them to see if they might provide documentation leads for other generations. Who we originally believed was Willem’s younger brother (Peter the Younger), is so much more than collateral in our family. He appears on the passenger manifest for the Maastroom with Pieter (the older) and then I tracked him through the early years in Pella. Peter’s granddaughter Muriel stated in a phone interview that her father William told her that his parents John Burggraaf and Elizabeth Burggraaf were cousins. Peter is actually a double first cousin of Willem Burggraaf. He is the son of Arie Burggraaf (brother of Jan) and Teuntje Van Stenis (sister of Jante) of Schoonrewoerd.

Peter is important to our family because two of his children married two of Willem’s children – which made for some very confusing research when I first began.

Peter’s timeline:

16 Feb 1824 – Peter Burggraaf is born in the Netherlands,
June 1847 – Arrival in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Maastroom,1
Sep 1850 – Laborer, Pella, Marion County, Iowa, census,2
c. 1855 – Married Tryntje (Katie) Brouwer,
1854 – Voter, militia, with a female, Pella, Marion County, Iowa, state census,3
1856 – Farmer, Pella, Marion County, Iowa, the 1856 Iowa State Census lists Tryntje and Father Wybe Brouwer in his household,4
c. 1856 – Daughter Teuntje (Jane) is born in Pella, (named for his mother)
Sep 1857 – Daughter Sientje (Zynthia) is born in Pella, she married John Vanden Oever (named for her mother)
21 Mar 1859 – Daughter Adriana (Matilda) is born in Pella,5 she later married Linzy Enos.
Aug 1860 – Farmer, Pella, Marion County, Iowa, census,6
11 Sep 1860 – Daughter Elizabeth is born in Pella,7 she later married William’s son John.
21 Aug 1862 – Son Arie is born in Pella,8 he later married William’s daughter Annetje (Anna). (name for his father)
1864-65 – Military service, Private with the Pella Guards, Iowa State Militia,9
16 Oct 1868 – Daughter Goverdina is born in Pella,10 she later married Barendt Otten.
Aug 1870 – Farmer, Pella, Marion County, Iowa, census,11
19 Mar 1873 – Son William is born in Pella, he later married Johanna Eggink. (name for her father)

Peter disappears from the available records between the birth of his son in 1873 and prior to the 1880 census. Katie Brouwer Burggraaf marries Dirk J. Eggink on 21 May 1883 in Marion County,13 so Peter deceased by that date. I have not been able to locate Katie or the children on the 1880 census. I’ll be doing some in-depth searching later this year looking for, land, tax, and court records, and I’m hopeful that by going through all of these records I may be able to learn more about the situation. I would like to be able to go through newspapers, but the Pella Blade (which is in Dutch) is not yet available on line.

[note -There is also a marriage record for a Peter Burggraaf to Cornelia Vanham on 23 June 1853 in Marion County, Iowa.14 There are only two Peters in Marion County and Pieter’s wife Cornelia Verschoor appears to still be alive and married to him on later census records. I believe this Peter married Cornelia in 1853, but whether she died or they divorced is unknown at this time. It’s always another question!!]

[This post updated Jun 2017]


1. National Archives, Washington, D.C., “Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1848,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 9 Feb 2010), Peter Burgraff, age 23.
2. 1850 U.S. census, Marion County, Iowa, population schedule, Pella, p. 292A, dwelling 107, family 173, Pieter Burggraaf, age 24; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 187.
3. 1854 Iowa State Census, Marion County, Iowa, population schedule, Pella, p. Roll 122, line 24, P. Burggraaf, voter, militia; digital images, The Generations Network, Inc., Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 Feb 2010); citing State Historical Society of Iowa.
4. 1865 Iowa State Census, Marion County, Iowa, population schedule, Pella, p. 16, dwelling 94, family 96, Peter Burgraff, age 31; digital images, The Generations Network, Inc., Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 Feb 2010); citing State Historical Society of Iowa
5. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism & birth, Adriana Burggraaf, FHL microfilm 0,985,401.
6. 1860 U.S. census, Marion County, Iowa, population schedule, Pella, p. 216, dwelling 1559, family 1464, Peter Burggraaf, age 34; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 Feb 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 335.
7. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism & birth Elizabeth Burggraaf; FHL microfilm 0,985,401.
8. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism & birth, Annetye Burggraaf, FHL microfilm 0,985,401.
9. Marion County, Iowa, Militia Rolls, 1861-1865, Peter Burggraaf, Private, Age 39; Iowa Gold Star Military Museum, Des Moines, Iowa.
10. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism & birth Goverdina Burggraaf; FHL microfilm 0,985,401.
11. 1870 U.S. census, Marion County, Iowa population schedule, Pella, Lake Prairie Twp, p. 51, dwelling 413, family 411, Peter, age 44; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 Jul 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 409.
12. First Reformed Church (Pella, Iowa, USA), “Communicants and Baptisms 1857-1975,” Baptism & birth, William Burggraaf, FHL microfilm 0,985,401.
13. “Iowa Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 Feb 2010), Tryntje Burggraaf to Dirk J. Eggink, 21 May 1883.
14. “Iowa Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 Feb 2010), Peter Burggraaf to Cornelia Vanham, 23 Jun 1853.