As parents, we put great effort and time into naming our children but that isn't always the name that follows them through life.
When Grandpa Glen Vos' Dutch ancestors immigrated to America between 1847 and 1849 as part of 300 plus Dutch seeking religious freedom in Pella, Iowa, they brought their old ways - their language, their dress, their religion - but also adapted to new ways, which included their names. (Read more about the Dutch immigration to Iowa here.)
Glen’s great-grandmother was a Dutch woman named Adriantje Van Stigt, born in Holland on April 14, 1831. She was likely named after her maternal grandmother according to Dutch naming traditions. At the age of 16, Adriantje and her family immigrated to America in May 1847 on the ship Nagasaki. The Van Stigts established themselves as cobblers in Pella by 1848.
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| Adriantje van Stigt Vander Wilt |
Adriantje, who went by Jane, Adriana, or Jennie in various records, wed Jacobus Vander Wilt in 1850, a fellow Dutch immigrant who sailed on Peter Florisz. They settled on a farm in Lake Prairie Township, Marion Co., Iowa, and resided in that area until Jacobus' died in 1890. In July 1859, a second daughter, Syjge made her arrival in the world and was named after her paternal grandmother, Sijge van der Giesen van der Wilt, who died when Jacobus was a babe in arms. Sygje's name would have been part of the Dutch naming traditions. However, her name would Americanize and she would be known in records as Sarah.
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| Adriantje and her daughters front row: Adriantje and Anna back row: Sygje and Christina |
Sygje wed neighbor William B. Vos in November 1879 and they quickly started a family in April of 1880 with the arrival of Bennie, one of six children with Americanized names: Jeanette, James, Willie, Grace, and Anna. In the late 1920s, Sygje and William left the farm in their son James' hands and moved to 1208 Broadway Street in Pella. It was there she passed away at the age of 90 years old after a fall in her home in Pella in 1949. Here's something to think about: Glen spoke of knowing his grest-grandmother Sygje, who was born before the Civil War and knew the town of Pella in its infancy.
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| front row: William Vos, Sygje Vander Wilt Vos back row: Jeanette Vos, Willie Vos, James Vos the photo was taken after son Bennie was kicked in the head by a horse and died (1897) but before daughter Grace was born in 1898. |
How many ways to spell Sarah? By my count four: Sijge, Sygje, Sygie, Lizzie.
The spelling of Sygje varies from document to document likely due to the Dutch learning to speak English in their thick Dutch accent and the census taker’s hopefully best attempt at spelling (even while typing this, I've misspelled the name and autocorrect is accepting it!). Early scribes recorded the name Sygje (and various spellings, lining the consonants in the (in)correct order) but the name Sarah is found in later records and on her death certificate.
One question that comes to my mind is how the Americanized name that is recorded on documents came about. Did Adriantje and Sygje have a say in these names?
However their name was spelled, using their birth name or the American nickname, they forged their place in the world.
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