The Children of Marinus Beukenkamp and Jannetje Strijder: Adriaan Beukenkamp

Marinus Beukenkamp and his wife Jannetje Strijder

Marinus Beukenkamp and Jannetje Strijder were my second great-grandparents, the parents of my immigrant ancestor, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck). 

I have only summarized what I know about my Dutch relatives on this blog. Last year, while discussing family history with cousins, I reviewed my paperwork on the Beukenkamp family and resolved to share more details about this branch of the family tree. Most of what I know about the Beukenkamps has come from other family members and not from my own research. I am especially grateful to cousins Chris B. (descendant of Lourens Beukenkamp) and Emily B. (descendant of Janna Beukenkamp Nienhuys), who found me online and were generous in sharing family documents. My great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp, emigrated from The Netherlands to America as a young man and did not share a lot of information about his family with his children. However, Gerhardus' siblings stayed in The Netherlands longer and remained more connected to their heritage and Dutch relatives. We are fortunate that their descendants preserved family records and stories. 

Marinus Beukenkamp and Jannetje Strijder had five children. In upcoming posts, I'll share what I know about these children and their descendants. 

1. Adriaan Beukenkamp, b. 20 February 1882 in Noord-Scharwoude, The Netherlands; m. Alida Johanna van Gorcum; d. 1953 in Bloemendaal, The Netherlands.
2. Lourens Beukenkamp, b. 28 October 1883 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; d. 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
3. Geertruida "Trus" Catharina Beukenkamp, b. abt. 1885 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; d. 3 March 1942. 
4. Gerhardus Marinus Beukenkamp, b. 4 February 1888 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; m. (1) Marie Iverson (2) Kathlenn Meldon Coleman; d. 20 July 1973 in Del Mar, California, USA. 
5. Catharina "Trine" Elisabeth Beukenkamp, b. abt. 1895 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; m. Hendrik Krom; d. 1951.

Adriaan Beukenkamp

Adriaan Beukenkamp

Adriaan was the eldest child of Marinus and Jannetje, born on February 20, 1882 in Noord-Scharwoude, The Netherlands. Noord-Scharwoude is in the municipality of Langedijk, about an hour north of Amsterdam. Marinus and Jannetje had been married in nearby Oudkarspel in 1881. By 1883, the young family moved to Amsterdam, where Adriaan was raised and his siblings were born. 

On August 22, 1907, Adriaan married Alida Johanna Van Gorcum, the daughter of Dr. Gerhardus Cornelius Van Gorcum and his wife Gerhardina Frederika Bruins, both of Amsterdam. Adriaan and Alida had four children together:

1. Marinus Beukenkamp, b. 1910 in Vienna, Austria; m. Anna Elisabeth Keur; d. 1971 in Leipzig, Germany
2. Janna Gerhardina Beukenkamp b. 1911 in Vienna, Austria; m. Hendrick Coenraad Nienhuys; d. 1993 in Suffield, Connecticut, USA
3. Radboud Beukenkamp, b. 1914 in Graz, Austria; m. Jantina Ette Mensinga; d. 1993 in Shalimar, Florida, USA
4. Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp. b. 1920 in Zaandam, The Netherlands; m. Margaret Smit; d. 2007 in Dothan, Alabama, USA

Adriaan and Alida's youngest son, Lourens, wrote an autobiography in which he related the events of his parents' early married years. The following is a selection from the autobiography:

My father (Adriaan) and mother (Alida) moved to Vienna, Austria sometime before 1910. My father had accepted a job with a large insurance company. During February of 1910 Marinus was born. And a little more than a year later on July 13, 1911 Janna was born. During the next few years the family moved to Graz in the Southern part of Austria where on March 2, 1914 Radbout saw the daylight.

But during 1914 something else occurred. It was the start of what is now known as the First World War. Austria was in the midst of this situation. It can easily be understood that the situation during those war years was unpleasant. Four years of war and in 1918 the war ended. It left Austria's economy in shambles. Food was difficult to obtain. The financial market suffered from extreme inflation, the Austrian money was repeatedly devalued and life for the young Beukenkamp family became increasingly difficult.

Upon receiving his salary father Adriaan would reserve a sufficient amount for food, but would go shopping for items that would keep their value anywhere. He bought oriental carpets, paintings, a piano, three violoncellos etc. But it became obvious that there was no hope for early improvement of conditions in Austria and then mother Alida became pregnant during late summer 1919, This was a matter of concern that led to the decision to return to Holland.

So, the Beukenkamp family of 5 arrived in Holland. They had no house and due to the money situation in Austria there was not much money. I do not know all the details, but the family was brought under with relatives. Mother Alida ended up in Zaandam with Lourens Visser (a cousin of father Adriaan). It was there that I was born on May 15, 1920 at the Langestraat 75.

I guess that my father soon found a good position with a commercial bank in Amsterdam as shortly afterwards the family moved to a house in Zandvoort, a town on the shores of the North Sea. As Zandvoort is a summer beach resort there was a direct tram from there via Haarlem to Amsterdam and this was the mode of transportation for my father to go to his office on the Keizersgracht 118 in Amsterdam.

I take it that dad did well, because during 1922 we moved to Haarlem where he had bought a house on the Oranje Kade 29 where he lived the rest of his life. And that is the beginning as I learned it over the years.

 A contemporary view of Oranje Kade 29 in Haarlem

Unfortunately, Adriaan's wife, Alida, had a major health emergency. The details of this are related by Lourens in his autobiography. 

My mother became very ill and had a stroke. [This occured when Lourens was in grammar school]. She had brain surgery from which she recuperated temporarily. She came back home and for a while did very well. She once again enjoyed playing piano, which she did extremely well.

We always had a German or Austrian "live-in" maid who did the cleaning and simple cooking. If there was a party or we had guests mother would be in the kitchen preparing special dishes. But after a while her health deteriorated, and she became a bit confused and started to forget things and finally father arranged to have her placed in a sanitarium where she received the care she needed.

Here are some other insights about Adriaan that are related in Lourens' autobiography:

• After Alida was placed in the sanitarium, Adriaan enlisted a female friend (known to the children as Tante Stein) to move in, run the household and take charge of the children. Tante Stein worked for Burrough Typewriter in Amsterdam, so she was not home during the day, but would return in the late afternoon. Lourens described Tante Stein as a former girlfriend of his father's.

• Adriaan bought a sailboat, a "boeier" which he named Beyaard. He sailed with his son Radboud. [note: Adriaan's sons Marinus and Lourens were also sailors, but Lourens makes no note of them sailing this boat with their father]

• When Lourens was in high school, Tante Stein decided that he was too much trouble, and with his siblings already out of the house, she wanted him gone, too. Adriaan sent his son to live a family in Oisterwijk, and Lourens spent several years in their care. Oisterwijk was about 90 minutes south of Amsterdam, in a province bordering Belgium. During the years Lourens lived in Oisterwijk, his mother died, and his father married Tante Stein.

• In 1940, when the Nazis invaded The Netherlands, Adriaan was living in Haarlem, just west of Amsterdam.

• In August 1945, with the war over, Lourens and his wife Greetje moved into Adriaan's home in Haarlem. Adriaan had not had any of his children under his roof for many years at that point, and Tante Stein was not happy to have Lourens, Greetje, and their young children in her home. She was extremely unkind to Greetje and made life difficult until Lourens and Greetje could take no more and moved out.

• When Adriaan died in 1953, Lourens inherited a little bit of money, which he used to buy a secondhand car. 

In my next posts, I'll share more information about Adriaan and Alida Beukenkamp's four children, all of whom led very interesting lives.