The family Bibles.
Within the Versteegt family there are several old family Bibles used. At this moment I
know of the existence of 3 family Bibles, but I assume that other Versteegt
family members have family Bibles also. The family Bibles are very interesting for a
genealogist (besides the normal content of a Bible), because of the habit of
making notes about ownership and other family matters in the Bible.
We have found in our research of family records and official documents that the
names and dates mentioned are not always
identical. The somewhat limited writing skills and wrong
recollection of dates, mostly by older people, resulted in the difference
of names and dates. These differences make the study of the
family and official documents more interesting for us.
If
you own another family Bible of the Versteegt/Ver Steegt family I would really
appreciate it if the handwritten text could be scanned. Please send an email to Aat@Versteegt.net
to let me know.
The Bible of
Johannes and
Mensje.
The oldest of the 2 Bibles belonged originally to Johannes Versteegt
(December 07, 1845 - February 10, 1929) and Mensje van der Vliet (July 31,1849 -
July 26, 1914).
The translation of this page is:
This
Bible belongs to J. Versteegt and Mensje van der Vliet
Johannes Versteegt
Born in the Year 1845 in Lopik December 1
Mensje
van der Vliet Born in the Year 1849 in Garverkop municipality Harmelen August
1.
Married
in the Year 1871 September 18 for the court in
Harmelen 20 ditto celebrated
in
Schoonhoven by Rev.
FH Uiterdijk Christian Reformed Church.
Lived in Jaarsveld as a Miller ½ year
moved to BergAmbagt lived there 3 1/2 year
moved to Woerden lived there 6 year
moved to Bodegraven lived there for more than 2 years.
moved to Katwijk a d Zee on May 15, 1884 lived there for 15 years
moved to Rotterdam
Children
born
Cornelis on January 18 1873 in BergAmbagt
Cornelis on February 13 1875 in BergAmbagt
Hindrika July 21 1876 in Woerden
Dirkje June 1 1879 in Woerden
Pieternella May 1 died on November 2 in Bodegraven
Pieter Gijsbert August 28 1883 Bodegraven
Johannes April 29 Born died September 9 1886
Minsje June 13 Born died November 24 1887 Katwijk
Minsje September 1 Born 1888 died August 14 1889 Katwijk
Johannes October10 1889 in Katwijk a/zee
Minrinnes June 16 1981 in Katwijk a/zee
From this text we learned that there were 3 more children we didn't knew before.
They all died at a young age.
To make everything clear about the hereditary succession of the ownership of
this Bible we find this note:
The
translation of the text is:
In the
Family Council on Feb.. 13 1929
on occasion of the funeral of our
father Johannes Versteegt, has been decided this
Bible will stay in the male
line of descendants of the
Versteegt family provided that first
heir is C.
Versteegt jr born Jan18 1875.
the second heir is Johannes Versteegt born October 10 1889.
next his son Johannes Versteegt born. March 26 ’28 Zwijndrecht
next his son Johannes Versteegt born February 10 ’56 in Geleen
We see some peculiar things happening here. The birth date of the first heir C.
Versteegt, Jr. is mentioned as January 18, 1875, which is the date that appears
on the official documents. On the previous page there is another birth date
mentioned, January 18, 1873. Anyhow, during this Family Council it was decided the
Bible was not
going to the first born Cornelis but to the second born Cornelis. We don't know
why this was done, but our ancestors must have felt they had a good reason. The
second Cornelis (who was called Kees) had been married 2 times, but
unfortunately never had children. The Bible therefore passed to Vicar Johannes
Versteegt and then was passed on to his son Johannes Versteegt the organ constructor.
There is another note in the Bible passed on to Johannes Versteegt listing his children
as the next generation:
The translation of the text is:
Johannes
Versteegt. born March 26 ’28 in Zwijndrecht
married to
Berendina J. Schouwstra. born June 1 ’28 in Heteren (Gld)
Hendrina E. Versteegt
Johannes Versteegt
Willem-C. Versteegt
January
5 ’55 in R’dam February
10 ’56 in Geleen (L) October 22 ’58 in Ede (Gld)
Elisabeth Versteegt
February 5 ’64
in Bodegraven
The
Bible is at this moment in the possession of Hans Versteegt (February 10, 1956)
from Ede.
Thanks to his cooperation we obtained this information.
The Bible of
Cornelis.
The first born son of Johannes and Mensje, Cornelis was born February 13, 1873 (he
was also called
Co). Apparently Co bought this Bible for himself in 1935. This Bible was
for me (Aat) the beginning of my quest for my ancestors and the family history.
The first clue I found was the birth date and place of my great-grandfather.
From that point I could search back in time, which in the long run resulted in this
site.
The
handwritten text translated is:
This Bible belongs
to Cornelis Versteegt
Born in Bergambacht
On February 13, 1873
This Bible put into use
December 31, 1935
In memory of father grandfather Versteegt
Deceased January 19, 1953
his last words were
I lost everything
And chose for Jesus
To Whom I belong
On the right page of the
Bible we see that this is a so called "StatenBible". It's obvious the
Bible
suffered from water damage, but the rest of the Bible is in a better condition,
although the frequent use of it shows.
After Cornelis died this Bible passed to his only son Johannes
(May 6, 1900 - November 26, 1978). He has written a note in the Bible to state
how the hereditary succession was provided.
Translated it is:
This Bible will after my
death belong to
Johannes Versteegt son of
Johannes Versteegt and Sophia
Versteegt-de Mooij
We see that this
Bible was not passed on the first born son (Cornelis Pieter) also. This is because he has no
children. In consultation with the other family members the decision was made to
pass the Bible to the next son in line (Johannes, born May 22, 1933), my
father. At this moment he is in the possession of the Bible. After his death the
Bible will probably go to his first born son Johannes (born May 30, 1957). But
...., he has indeed 2 children, but no sons. Well, perhaps we have to convene a
Family Council by that time.
The Family Bible of
Pieter Gijsbert.
The 3rd family
Bible that we can trace is very possibly the most beautiful
Bible. This Bible was originally in the possession of the
3rd son of the earlier mentioned Johannes and Mensje, Pieter
Gijsbert Versteegt (29 August 1883 to 03 October 1965) and
his wife Pieternella van Ouwerkerk.
In this Bible, unfortunately there are no written
notes made of who originally possesed this Bible, yet we
know, that thanks to Pieter Gerard Versteegt, who has the
Bible in his possession, at the this moment, that the Bible
was passed on from his Grandfather (Pieter Gijsbert) to his
son Ariaan (19 October 1914 to 24 March 2002) and from
Ariaan Versteegt to his son Pieter Gerard.
The Bible was
completely and successfully restored in 2002, as we can see
in this photo, and has been placed in a beautiful place for
all to come and see.
This page is last edited on:
02-26-06