Trip to the Netherlands - March 2001

I remember when my uncle Jim (on my Dad's side) asked me if I was interested in going to The Netherlands with he and my aunt Dorothy (who happens to be my Mother's twin sister)  I jumped at the chance.  I had connected with Jitze de Jong who sent a letter to Lucy DeYoung, Woodinville Washington and it got to me.  That is one of the advantages of living in a town where everyone knows you.  Anyway although Jitze shares the same last name he is not related to us.  Come to find out de Jong is like Smith in Dutch.  It is the most common name in the phone book.  Jitze's is retired and his hobby is genealogy and he was doing his son-in law Jaap de Jong family tree and Jaap is our second cousin. Jitze had found me through the internet and decided to send me a letter.   Coincidently I had time and had started working on the family genealogy.  So, Jitze and I had started corresponding through emails and he offered to be our tour guide if we came to the Netherlands.  

I say the internet is wonderful in this case because  Titia Piera who is a distant relative and lives in Calgary, Canada had connected with us on a trip to this area from Washington.  When she contacted us in 1996 Dorothy, Jim and Terri had shown her around and had stayed in contact with her.  I was busy running for State Treasurer at the time and had no free time.  Anyway she had connected Dorothy and Jim with Neely Nieuwhuis - de Jong who lives in Dokkum, Friesland and is also our second cousin.  This was prior to the internet and it just never worked out.  When Titia found out we were going to the Netherlands she contacted Neely and Neely had her cousin Meile Tamminga email me  (Neely also descends through Benjamins Mennes de Jong). Meile and his brother Jenze are also our second cousins and are master genealogists.  They have so much information on the extended de Jong family.  They have been great.  I continue to be in contact especially with Meile who provides me with wonderful documents and information.  The internet really makes all this work so easily.  It is wonderful.

So when we went to Friesland we actually had six wonderful tour guides:  Jitze de Jong, Jaap de Jong, Meile Tamminga, Neely Nieuwhuis-de Jong, and Johannes and Tjallie DeBoer (Johannes is Titia's sister) .  When we flew into Amsterdam from Seattle Jenze and his wife Janny came and made us feel so welcome.  Then when we left they were kind enough to also come to the airport and give us a great send off.  It was a fantastic week, and it was wonderful to meet and get to know so many of our relatives.

Here are some of my pictures

Boat trip we took in Amsterdam

Another picture of Amsterdam from the boat

My cousin Jenze Tamminga and his wife Janny were wonderful enough to come to our hotel and visit us when we first arrived in Amsterdam.  Although we had never met, they made us feel so welcome and so much at home.  Here is a picture of Jenze, my uncle Jim DeYoung,  Jenze's wife Janny, my cousin Terri, and my aunt Dorothy at our hotel in Amsterdam.  Jenze and his brother Meile are expert genealogists.  They are our second cousins.  My great great grandfather Hans Mennes de Jong was their grandfather Benjamins Mennes de Jong's brother.

Here is the major dyke to the north of The Netherlands.  On the right side of the dyke is the North Sea.

How I connected with our Dutch relatives was through Jitze de Jong.  Although Jitze's last name if de Jong he is not related, his son-in-law Jaap is my second cousin.  His great grandfather Jan Mennes was my great great grandfather Hans Mennes de Jong's brother. Here we are at Jitze's home.  From left to right - Jitze, my cousin Terri, my uncle Jim and aunt Dorothy, Jaap, and Jitze's wife Thea.

Jitze and Jaap took us to Dokkum

where we saw a windmill

and stood in the cold.  (This was March)  It was very cold.

walked up the terp (which are the hills that the early Friesian people built their towns on to keep "their feet dry" from the flooding.

  saw the Friesian Islands which ring Friesland in the North Sea

or as it is known - the Wadenzee

  Saw Minne Yedes and Hiltje Hanses Kroodsma's house and farm (that they rented) at Lichtaard where Hans Mennes and all his brothers and sisters (including Benjamins Mennes and Jan Mennes) were born.

Another view of Minne Yedes and Hiltje Hanses Kroodsma's house courtesy of Meile Tamminga.

the barn

Jitze and Jim in the barn

the countryside at Lichtaard.

entering Lichtaard

the church at Lichtaard taken from the house Minne Yedes rented.

Johannes and Tjallie DeBoer and Neely Nieuwhuis - de Jong at our hotel

Dierkje Tamminga Osinga who is Meile and Jenze's sister

Here we are at Neely's house with Meile Tamminga going over his genealogy information.  From left to right:  my aunt Dorothy Pemberton DeYoung, Jim DeYoung, Meile Tamminga, myself, and Neely Nieuwhuis-de Jong.

Frans Mennes de Jong's tombstone - Hans Mennes, Benjamin Mennes and Jan Mennes' brother

Jan F. deJong's tombstone.  He was Frans Mennes' son.

Jan de Jong's tombstone - Jaap's ancestor and Hans Mennes, Benjamin Mennes and Frans Mennes' brother

The Church at Jelsum. This is the town where Hans Minne and Hiltje Hanses Kroodsma lived right before they left of the United States.

Inside the Church at Jelsum

Terri, Tjallie, Jim and Dorothy

Jaap's Father's tombstone

Neely and Terri in the very cold weather in Jelsum.

The tools the early Friesian people used to build their terps.  Some of the earliest de Jong's lived here.

The old and the new windmills close to the dyke.