The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Radboud Beukenkamp

This post continues a series about the children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum. Adriaan was the eldest brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck), so Adriaan's children were my great-grandfather's niece and nephews. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus 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 Lourens 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

In this and following posts, I'm sharing what I have learned about Adriaan and Alida's children.

Radboud Lourens Beukenkamp

Radboud Beukenkamp and his wife Jantina, 1954. Photo for Forbes Magazine.

Radboud was born on March 2, 1914 in Graz, Austria. His parents, Adriaan and Alida, moved from The Netherlands to Austria soon after their marriage, and their first three children were born there. They lived first in Vienna, then moved to Graz, where Radboud was born. In 1920, in the wake of World War I and due to ongoing financial difficulties, the Beukenkamps returned to The Netherlands, and in 1922, settled in Haarlem. There, Radboud attended Kennemer Lyceum. 

Radboud was an aspiring agronomist, an expert in the science of soil management and crop production. This was also the field that his brother-in-law, Hendrick Nienhuys, was pursuing, and I can't help but wonder if Hendrick was an early inspiration to Radboud. Radboud's brothers, Marinus and Lourens, both spent their careers in the textile industry, where their father had contacts, but Radboud was on a different path. In 1938, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wageningen with a degree in agricultural engineering. In 1945, he earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics.

On March 18, 1939, at the age of twenty-five, Radboud married Jantina "Tineke" Mensinga. Born January 28, 1915 in Rotterdam, Tineke was the daughter of Jan Mensinga and his wife Alida. Tineke was an athlete who rowed crew and competed in ice skating.  The young couple spent their honeymoon in Austria, revisiting places that Radboud had lived as a child, and then rode a motorcycle through Germany. Just months after this idyllic period, the world was turned upside down. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. On May 10, 1940, the Germans invaded The Netherlands. 

Radboud's eldest brother, Marinus, had been conscripted into the Dutch Army, and when the Nazis invaded, Marinus fought in the Battle of the Grebbeberg, a desperate attempt by the Dutch to hold off far superior German troops. Radboud had not been compelled to join the military, but he soon found himself in the midst of perhaps the most shocking part of the German invasion, the destruction of Rotterdam. 

Radboud's younger brother, Lourens, described those first days of Nazi aggression in his autobiography. Note that Lourens spells his brother's name "Radbout," while all the documentation I have for Radboud, including immigration documents and obituaries, shows the spelling "Radboud."

I stepped on my bike and decided to ride to Hillegersberg, a suburb on the Northern border of Rotterdam, where Radbout lived. I did not know what the situation would be on the road. It was May 15, my birthday. During the first part of the trip there was not too much excitement. Sure German trucks and cars and marching soldiers, but no big destruction. So, via Breda I peddled North towards the river and found that the long Moerdijk bridge was heavily damaged. It was still possible to cross by bicycle, but motorized traffic was impossible. So, I passed and continued on my way. About one hour out of Rotterdam I encountered other bicycle riders who shouted to me that Rotterdam did not exist anymore. I did not understand what they were talking about. I peddled on and saw a huge cloud ahead of me. The closer I came to Rotterdam, the larger the cloud. And then I crossed one of the bridges leading to the center of the city.

It was horrible, the fires, the stench, the confusion and I had to find a way to the Northern end of the city. I did not know what I would find there. Passing through the city was not possible. I had to detour eastward around town, through Kralingen and thus find my way to Hillegersberg. I was relieved to find that the Northern part of the city had not been bombed and happy to find Radbout and Tineke safe.

They were happy to see me alive and after exchanging our experiences we tried to call father Adriaan in Haarlem. But telephone connections were disrupted. So, we decided to go to Haarlem by bike. A friend of Radbout owned a bicycle for two, a "tandem" and we set out. To go to Haarlem we had to take the highway to the Hague. As I described earlier this road had been selected by German transport planes for landing troops and equipment. I am not kidding, but there were virtually hundreds of planes on and alongside this road. All of them had holes in the cockpit windows and were riddled by machine gun [fire] along the length of the fuselage. Of course German soldiers everywhere. We did not see bodies anymore. These had already been removed. But a lot of equipment was still in the planes and we were stopped several times to help unload equipment.

Nearly 900 people were killed in the bombing, and Rotterdam's city centre was completely destroyed.

Rotterdam after the bombing. Source

 

With the advent of war, Radboud and Tineke became involved the in Dutch Resistance. From Wikipedia:

The Dutch resistance developed relatively slowly, but the February strike of 1941 (which involved random police harassment and the deportation of over 400 Jews) greatly stimulated resistance. The first to organize themselves were the Dutch communists, who set up a cell-system immediately. Some other very amateurish groups also emerged, notably, De Geuzen, set up by Bernardus IJzerdraat, as well as some military-styled groups, such as the Order Service (Dutch: Ordedienst). Most had great trouble surviving betrayal in the first two years of the war. Dutch counterintelligence, domestic sabotage, and communications networks eventually provided key support to Allied forces, beginning in 1944 and continuing until the Netherlands was fully liberated. 

Lourens, in his autobiography, describes needing a work permit to avoid arrest by German occupying forces, and that he was able to obtain one through Radboud's resistance connections. Tineke's obituary states that Radboud and Tineke "were active in 'The Resistance' (the organized underground force fighting the Nazis). These life stories are legendary among family and friends." Lourens detailed the following story in his autobiography.

Radbout was also deep into resistance activities. The story goes that he and a couple of others dressed as German officers and drove a German truck (stolen by the underground) to a camp just across the border of Germany. In this camp were a number of Dutch resistance workers and civilians who had been arrested by the Germans. They drove to the gate and showed their "orders" and Radbout at once became a real "Nazi." He shouted orders, produced lists of names of prisoners and told the guards to load them in the truck. He would take care of those dangerous prisoners, etc., etc. They drove away and turned back across the border into Holland where the "criminals" were relocated with farmers in Friesland and Groningen, two provinces in the North of Holland. 

This story also appears in Lourens' autobiography.

One day, I returned to Radbout's house and saw a German staff-car parked close to his front door. I did not think anything of it, rang the bell and went up to their apartment. Entering the room, I almost fainted when I saw a fully uniformed German colonel sitting in a chair, conversing with Radbout. I was introduced, his name was Anton von Daatz, he was not only a true baron, but also the "orts-kommandant" or military commander of Rotterdam. I now learned that he was not a "Nazi" and was in frequent contact with people in the Dutch resistance. He would warn them if the Germans had plans for a raid in town, or, inform them when Germans would transport members of the resistance who had been caught. With this information, the "underground" could take action. I do not know what they had talked about, as he left soon after I arrived.

In early 1945, the Nazis became suspicious of von Daatz. Lourens related the following story.

Sometime during those 6 weeks the German colonel became suspect by German security. He was relieved of his post in Rotterdam and put in charge of a military camp near Amersfoort. But, he was afraid that this was a temporary assignment and that the Gestapo was getting information of his illegal actions on behalf of the Dutch resistance. He contacted Radbout, who went to Amersfoort. "Tony" von Daatz left his room as if he had taken a walk around the block and stepped on a "bicycle-built-for-two" which Radbout had arranged for. They peddled to Hillegersberg and Radbout provided Tony with civilian clothing. His uniform was cut in small pieces and went up in flames in the open fireplace. His leather boots were filled with stones and deposited in the lake. Then Radbout brought him to our house where we installed him on the top floor.

Tony von Daatz's wife and young daughter were also smuggled in from Germany. The wife was brought to live with Tony at Lourens' home, and the daughter was taken to a neighbor. Tony and the wife, who had not known each other long before the war had separated them, discovered that they hated each other and they fought constantly. However, Tony kept up his efforts for the resistance from Lourens' home, with assistance from Radboud.

Although we had a 6 o'clock curfew, one evening someone knocked on the door. After carefully investigating we opened the door to a few fellows from the resistance. We went upstairs and had a meeting with Tony. He provided them with a sketch and completed details of the Amersfoort camp he had briefly been in charge of. This provided exact placement of anti aircraft equipment, etc. Two nights after this meeting the camp was attacked from the air.

Tony would also look through a peep hole and point out some of the real dirty Nazis who were directly responsible for killing Jews and captured resistance members. Obviously this was of interest to the resistance group and they could take care of these Krauts.

I wish I knew more of these stories, but I'm not in touch with any of Radboud's descendants. I have checked various lists of Dutch resistance members online without finding any details about the Beukenkamps, but really hope to one day learn more about how Radboud and Tineke pushed back against the Nazis. 

During the war, Radboud and Lourens joined an amateur symphony group and played together once a week, which helped relieve some of the stress of the ongoing war and personal struggles. Amidst all of this, Radboud and Tineke became parents. They had three children during the war years, two daughters and a son, born in 1940, 1941 and 1944. 

Dutch citizens welcome liberating Canadian soldiers near Rotterdam at the war's end, May 1945. Source

After the war, Radboud's many influential connections helped change the shape of his future. He and his family were sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Radboud served as a Dutch diplomat. In 1950, Radboud, Tineke and their children moved to Washington, D.C., where Radboud took up the post of Agricultural Counselor of the Dutch Embassy. Radboud and Tineke became Bob and Tina in America, and their fourth child was born there, in 1953. Radboud continued in his role at the embassy until 1956, when he took a job in the private sector that moved him to Portugal. For a year, served as the Managing Director of Fabrica Portuguesa de Fermentos Holandeses, a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Yeast and Alcohol Works in The Netherlands. In 1957, Radboud and his family returned to Washington, D.C., where he assumed the role of Chief, U.S. Office of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration.

In 1959, Radboud applied for U.S. citizenship. Congressman Francis E. Walter introduced a private bill to expedite citizenship proceedings for Radboud, and the paperwork that was filed in support of this bill makes for fascinating reading. The affidavits submitted on Radboud's behalf note that he spoke six languages (Dutch, German, English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish), and list his impressive educational and career accomplishments. The impetus for this citizenship push was the fact that American Machine & Foundry Co. wanted to hire Radboud and then send him to Europe to work in their foreign operations division. Frank X. White, Vice President of International Operations for American Machine & Foundry Co. wrote the following in a statement to Congress:

Dr. Beukenkamp, with a masters degree in engineering and a PH.D. in economics, has an outstanding record as an international trade expert, as well as a fine record as a diplomat for his country of origin, The Netherlands.

AMF wants to send Dr. Beukenkamp to Europe to be employed in our international operations, which at the same time are in the interests of the U.S. economy.

The possession of U.S. citizenship by Dr. Beukenkamp would render him considerably better qualified to perform his functions, which AMF has in mind for him, now and in the future.

As an individual, Dr. Beukenkamp is a man of highest character and I believe would be a definite asset the country as a whole.

Radboud was granted American citizenship. In the following years, he and his family lived in Geneva and Mexico City. In the 1960s, they returned to Washington, D.C., when Radboud accepted a role with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was sent on diplomatic postings to Italy and Brazil in the years that followed, and lived in New Orleans for a time before retiring in Florida. 

Radboud died in Shalimar, Florida on January 5, 1993, at the age of 78. Tineke died in Shalimar on September 8, 2018, at the age of 103. They left behind children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and undoubtedly a lot of amazing stories.

The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Janna Beukenkamp Nienhuys

This post continues a series about the children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum. Adriaan was the eldest brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck). While George was beginning a life in the United States, his brother Adriaan was raising a family in The Netherlands. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus 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

This post is devoted to Janna, Adriaan and Alida's only daughter.

Janna Gerhardina Beukenkamp

Janna was born in Vienna on July 13, 1911, the second child of Adriaan and Alida Beukenkamp. Adriaan and Alida had moved from Amsterdam to Vienna soon after their marriage, and their first three children were born there. When Austria's economy floundered in the difficult post-WWI years, the Beukenkamp family returned to The Netherlands and settled in Haarlem in 1922. There, Janna attended Kennemer Lyceum.

Unfortunately, Janna's brother Lourens barely mentions her in his autobiography, likely because she was nine years older than him and left The Netherlands after her marriage, but it's a shame to not have the sort of personal recollections about Janna that Lourens shared about his brothers. Luckily, Janna's life story was told in the book Heroic Nurses by Robin McKown (published 1966) and was digitized on Encyclopedia.com. Here is an excerpt from Encyclopedia.com about Janna's early years:

[Janna] was raised in the Dutch town of Haarlem, where she met and fell in love with her future husband Hendrick Nienhuys, the grandson of Jacobus Nienhuys, the founder of the Dutch Sumatra tobacco industry. They planned to marry and settle in Sumatra, where Hendrick intended to follow in his grandfather's profession. While Janna waited for Hendrick to finish his advanced agricultural studies and to serve in the Dutch military, she studied for a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, then returned home to attend teachers' college. Thinking that she might face some medical problems in the tropical climate of the East Indies, she impulsively enrolled for nurses' training and after three years earned an R.N. from the Binnen Gasthuis in Amsterdam.

Born in Amsterdam on October 22, 1912, Hendrick was the son of Jan Willem Nienhuys and Alida Maria Versteegh. Hendrik received his Masters Degree in Agronomy, the study of soil chemistry and economics, from Wageningen University, Holland in 1937. Janna and Hendrick were married on December 3, 1937, after his graduation. Encyclopedia.com provides more details about the events following Janna and Hendrick's marriage.

[Hendrick and Janna] immediately left for Sumatra, settling on a tobacco plantation outside of Medan, where Hendrick was employed as an agricultural consultant. Their first house was primitive, without electricity or running water, but they had five dedicated Sumatran servants to take care of their every need. The couple had a daughter and enjoyed an idyllic life until 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland.

The location of Medan, in North Sumatra (Indonesia), where Janna and Hendrick lived.

From 1937-41, Hendrick was a member of the research department of Deli Maatschappy, Indonesia, involved in research and development, breeding, fertilization and testing of tobacco, palm oil and rubber. He and Janna were happily settled in Sumatra, but the war was about to upend their lives. From Encyclopedia.com:

Initial concern gave way to true alarm in May 1940, when Rotterdam was bombed, and the Nienhuyses realized that they were cut off from Holland entirely. In 1941, they traveled to the United States to visited Hendrick's parents, who had fled there from occupied Holland. When they returned, they took up residence in a more modern house in Medan. By that time, it was clear that Sumatra would figure highly in Japan's quest for territory, and to prepare for possible invasion, the Dutch women of Medan organized a Civil Defense Corps for which Janna, who had just given birth to her second daughter, taught a first-aid course.

Given how horrific the war years were in The Netherlands, you might assume that Janna and Hendrick were very lucky to have left their homeland before World War II began. Unfortunately, moving to Sumatra put them squarely in the South-East Asian Theatre of the war, part of the Asia-Pacific War, and they ended up suffering perhaps more than any of the Beukenkamps.

The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the South-East Asian theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War. 

The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis allies, Germany and Italy. Fighting consisted of some of the largest naval battles in history, and incredibly fierce battles and war crimes across Asia and the Pacific Islands, resulting in immense loss of human life. (Wikipedia)

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dutch East Indies declared war on Japan. Hendrick enlisted in the Dutch Army on December 7, 1941. Janna remained in Medan with her two young daughters. Encyclopedia.com explains what happened next.

Janna, the only trained nurse in the area, continued her Civil Defense work, readying the women of Medan for what appeared to be inevitable attack. They had their first hands-on experience in the wake of a Japanese air raid, during which a number of young Sumatran soldiers were injured. They performed magnificently, treating the wounded and keeping them comfortable until the Red Cross arrived to transport them to the hospital.

The small armies of the Dutch East Indies were helpless against the invasion of the Japanese, and on March 11, 1942, Janna was confronted by several Japanese soldiers stealing supplies from her kitchen larder. Days later, several officers entered her house without knocking and ordered her to pack her things and move out. Janna collected what household supplies she could carry and with her young children took refuge in the house of a friend. A month later, the entire town—now only women and children—was rounded up in the town square and then taken to a deserted rubber plantation, where they were interned under Japanese guard.

The rounding up of civilians was taking place all over Asia, as explained by novelist Isabel Wolff for the BBC.

Once Japan had conquered South-East Asia, the Europeans, Americans and Australians who had been living there as planters, teachers, missionaries and civil servants were rounded up and trucked away to the 300 "civilian assembly areas" - in reality concentration camps - that the Japanese had created. Ten thousand British were interned in China, Singapore and Hong Kong, while 3,000 Americans were interned in the Philippines, at Santo Tomas.

By far the largest group were the 108,000 Dutch civilians, 62,000 of them women and children, who were sent to camps on Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Timor. Their ordeal was to last three and half years and would claim the lives of 13,000, due to starvation, exhaustion and disease.

These civilian camps were horrifying, and the women and children confined in Sumatra were subjected to overcrowding and brutality. Encyclopedia.com relates what Janna experienced during her imprisonment.

Placed in dozens of small houses originally built for Sumatran workers, the women and children lived six to each 9×9 room. They slept on the floor, and the able-bodied chopped trees and cleared land for planting, under the careful watch of their Japanese guards. Food, though scarce, was adequate for the adults, but not for the children, although the Sumatran women were expert at utilizing native plants for spices to enhance the bland food. Nienhuys quickly assumed the position of camp nurse, using what few medical supplies she had thought to pack with her household goods. She treated cuts and scrapes, tended to the malnourished children, and even delivered the babies of women who had conceived before their internment. Without a doctor to consult, she frequently relied on intuition and common sense, which worked in most instances, although a number of the younger children died during their first year in camp.

By the end of the first year, food rations were cut and hunger became an ever-present problem, and Janna feared more and more for her own children. She also knew nothing of her husband's plight, as news from the outside never reached the camp. The women were eventually ordered to pack up and once again march to the train, which transported them deep into the jungle. They were then marched through the rain and thick mud to yet another converted rubber plantation, surrounded by barbed wire. This time, they were housed in long wooden barracks with earth floors and wooden benches along the sides, providing them with no privacy. Sanitation was primitive and as the level of the wells sank, water was rationed. What food was available was inedible, and Janna was eventually forced to trade the treasured diamond she had hidden in one of the children's rag dolls for a single cup of rice. She continued to tend the sick and injured, although she was now completely out of supplies and there was little she could do but make her patients comfortable and see to it that they did not die alone.

What Janna did not know was that her husband, Hendrick, was also a prisoner of war. His unit surrendered to the Japanese Army in March 1942, and Hendrick was imprisoned at a different camp in Sumatra from that date until March 1946. In his POW camp, Hendrick contracted beriberi, a disease caused by vitamin-B deficiency, due to the meager food rations given to the prisoners. He also struggled with malaria.

In September 1945, Janna received a note in her husband's handwriting asking for her whereabouts. She replied, but never got a response. At that point, it was becoming clear to the detainees that the tide of the war was changing, and that perhaps the war might actually be over. Of course, the war in Europe had ended on May 8, 1945, but the Japanese fought on. Allied victory was declared in Asia on August 15, 1945. British planes dropped food and supplies on Sumatra, and British doctors were allowed to enter the civilian detainee camps. It was then that the imprisoned women and children learned that the war was over. 

The women prisoners were not immediately released, as the English occupation army had to arrange transportation and a place for them to stay. They left camp in small groups, but Janna stayed on to tend the sick until the camp was emptied.

After Janna and her daughters were freed, she was able to locate Hendrick and nurse him back to health. The Nienhuyses left Sumatra, briefly returned to The Netherlands, and then settled in White Plains, New York. They later moved to Massachusetts and then Connecticut. Once recovered, Hendrick resumed his work. He and Janna had two more daughters, in 1948 and 1953. In 1951, Hendrik was named Vice President of H. Duys Co., Connecticut Valley, managing all aspects of shade grown wrapper tobacco. He did research and development for the control of blue mold on the Connecticut Valley grown crops. Later, he became the General Manager of Duys Nurseries, in charge of all aspects of starting and developing a container grown nursery. Janna traveled the East Coast, giving speeches about her war experience.

Janna died in Suffield, Connecticut on August 3, 1993, at the age of 82. Henrick died in Suffield on October 27, 2001, at the age of 89. Their descendants largely remain on the East Coast.

Obituary for Janna Nienhuys in the Hartford Courant, August 4, 1993

The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Marinus Beukenkamp

In my last post, I wrote about my great-granduncle Adriaan Beukenkamp. He was the elder brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck).

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus 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

In this and following posts, I'm sharing what I have learned about Adriaan and Alida's children.

Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp

Marinus G. Beukenkamp with his bride, Anna Elisabeth Keur

Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp was born on February 23, 1910 in Vienna, Austria. As detailed in his brother Lourens Beukenkamp's autobiography, Marinus' parents, Adriaan and Alida Beukenkamp, moved from Amsterdam to Vienna soon after their marriage, and their first three children were born there, before difficult post-WWI years brought the family back to The Netherlands.

According to the thorough Beukenkamp family records compiled by Estella Beukenkamp and shared with me by cousin Emily B., Marinus enrolled in a textile college in Cottbus, Germany, and then became a textile engineer, working at a factory in Berlin. Careerguide.com says the following about this occupation: "Textile engineers apply the principles of engineering to design and manufacture of fiber, textiles, apparel and associated processes and products." 

Marinus' father, Adriaan, was a banker who had a financial investment in a woolens and worsteds factory in Cottbus, and it appears that this is why Marinus was sent there to train and get started in the textile industry. After some time in Berlin, Marinus returned to The Netherlands.

On February 21, 1935, 24-year old Marinus married Anna Elisabeth Keur, known as Anny. Born February 5, 1912 in Zandvoort, The Netherlands, she was the daughter of Cornelis Keur and Johanna Petronella van der Kodde. Marinus' younger brother, Lourens Beukenkamp, wrote about the early years of Marinus and Anny's marriage in his autobiography.

During the Summer vacation of 1937 I went with Marinus and Anny to Austria. As I told earlier, my father was a participant in a textile company in Cottbus, Germany. Any income from this was held in a German bank and Hitler did not allow any transfers to foreign banks. Thus we were to use this "German" money for our vacation. Hitler had just marched into Austria and declared it to be part of Germany. Well, we arrived in Vienna and admired this beautiful city. It was a bit of a shock to see benches in the parks with a sign on it [saying] "Not for Jews" but other than that things were quiet.

We started walking through town. Marinus was 10 years old when the family left Vienna during 1920. One morning he stopped, looked at a building and told us "that was my school, my seat was right at that window on the second floor." All of a sudden he remembered a lot more and started walking all over town. Anny and I were puffing behind him and listened and looked at all the things he pointed out to us.

He walked to the Gartengrasse 26 which was where he used to live in a large apartment building on the third floor. We walked up the stairs and he pointed out the door in the hall that used to be the Beukenkamp front door. Then he looked at the nameplates next to other doors and said, "These people lived here when I was young." He rang the bell and introduced himself to an old gentleman. This fellow flipped and invited us in and we had a pleasant hour with coffee and cake."

Just a few years after Marinus and Anny were married, World War II began. In his autobiography, Lourens described Marinus' war service.

During 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland and France and England declared war, the Dutch also mobilized its army. Marinus was inducted and stationed in Venendaal. The rule was that if there were more boys in a family, the first one served, the second one was free of call up, and the third one had to be available if the need arose.

A scene from the Battle of the Grebbeberg. Source

Lourens describes his father receiving a telegram from Marinus in 1940, after the Battle of the Grebbeberg. Marinus was able to let Adriaan know that he had survived the fighting. This battle, which lasted from May 11-13, 1940, was a hard-fought attempt by the Dutch to repel invading German troops. Despite their best efforts, the Dutch were overwhelmed by German ground and air forces. Over 400 Dutch soldiers perished, but Marinus survived. 

On May 14, 1940, the German bombing of Rotterdam completely flattened The Netherlands' second-largest city, killing over 850 people. 

The Dutch military had no effective means of stopping the bombers (the Dutch Air Force had practically ceased to exist and its anti-aircraft guns had been moved to The Hague), so when another similar ultimatum was given in which the Germans threatened to bomb the city of Utrecht, the Dutch supreme command in the late afternoon decided to capitulate rather than risk the destruction of another city. (Wikipedia)

Rotterdam's devastated city center, 1940. Source

After the surrender, five long and terrifying years of Nazi occupation began. It's not clear what happened to Marinus between May 1940 and Fall 1944, when Lourens described him as being "liberated." It's likely that he was sent to a labor camp of some kind. He did not return home until near the end of the war.

In his autobiography, Lourens described the end of the war in 1945, and his reunion with Marinus. 

On May 5, almost exactly 5 years after the war started in Holland, the end was there and the Germans in Holland capitulated. Canadian and American jeeps, small tanks, Harley-Davidsons rolled into town and were soon followed by convoys of trucks with more food, medical help and believe me they were welcomed with open arms. It is not possible to describe the feeling everyone had. 

The elation was unbelievable. Young people were climbing on the armored cars and tanks with flags and flowers. The soldiers were handing out cigarettes, chocolate bars and the streets were filled with happy people. German soldiers stayed in their camps and were rounded up and brought to internment areas.

Celebrations marked the end of the war in The Netherlands

Marinus who had been liberated during the Fall of 1944 came to visit us and brought food. In Helmond, where he lived, they had had the British Goldstream Guards and he had gotten to know a few officers very well. When the collapse of Germany began they had to move on and fight the war on German soil. But one day they returned for a visit, each driving a big German luxury car. When their leave was over, they stepped in one car and told Marinus,"You can have the other one." It was a 12 cylinder Horch cabriolet. The type of big car the German staff officers would use to view their troops during parades. And he came with this car.

Horch 853 Sport Cabriolet, like the one given to Marinus. Source: 12cylinders.com

Lourens also described how, in 1947, Marinus obtained a permit to start a weaving business. He decided not to follow through on those plans, for something better had come up, and he transferred the permit to Lourens, allowing his younger brother to build a business and some post-war financial stability.

In the early 1950s, Marinus bought a boat. Lourens described it as a "steel double ended boar, about 32 feet in length," and said that he and his brother would sail races on the Zuiderzee (later renamed the IJselmeer) and the North Sea. He recalled one race on the Zuiderzee, where Marinus' boat, the Anna Elizabet, took on some much larger boats and ended up winning the race. 

In the mid-1950s, both Marinus and Lourens were both seriously considering moving to America. Their sister, Janna, and brother, Radbout, had already emigrated and were living in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., respectively. New political tensions in The Netherlands began to concern the Beukenkamp brothers who remained there. As a result, Marinus sold the Anna Elizabet and bought a larger, fixer-upper boat, which he christened Rebecca. Here is a passage from Lourens' autobiography describing that moment in time.

The reason why he bought it, was that there was a feeling in Western Europe that the situation with the Russians was of concern. Marinus had the 2-mast boat laid out with a big hold between the masts. This provided sufficient room to put all his and our furniture aboard if it became necessary to flee. We could sail to America or any other place. When it was finished we sailed it a few times on the North Sea and it was marvelous.

Then Marinus had plans to load the hold with all kind of equipment, refrigerators which could be run with kerosene, generators, etc. and sail to Africa's Gold Coast where these items would bring a considerable profit. He left with some of his buddies as crew and had a beautiful trip. In one of the harbors at the Gold Coast he met the captain of an American [ship] which was in the harbor. This fellow was close to retirement and loved this big yacht. He wanted to buy it and refit the hold into several rooms so that he could use it for charter purposes. Well, over a few glasses of Bols Genever it came about that he would pay as many dollars as the boat had cost in guilders, and with the dollar-guilder exchange that was a considerable profit.

Marinus sailed the boat across to the USA to the harbor of Newport. However, something did not develop as expected. I do not know all the details, but Marinus flew back home and it took a long time ere he sold Rebecca. And he did not make as much profit as he hoped. 

Marinus did not end up moving to America, although Lourens did. Marinus was the only one of his siblings to remain permanently in Europe. He died in Leipzig, Germany on September 10, 1971, at the age of 61. Anny died on February 12, 1985 in Heemstede, The Netherlands, at the age of 73.

The Children of Marinus and Anny

Marinus and Anny had four children together. The eldest three were born in 1936, 1937, and 1939, before Marinus went away with the Dutch Army and was gone for the duration of the war years. The youngest Beukenkamp child was born in 1949, after Marinus was reunited with his family.

Marinus and Anny's eldest child, Adriaan Beukenkamp, was born April 12, 1936 in Losser, The Netherlands. Losser is in the far east of the country, near the border with Germany. In 1965, Adriaan married Elisabeth (full name not shared as she may still be living), and they moved to Vermont, USA together that same year. There, they had two daughters. According to an article published in The Brattleboro Reformer in 1981, Adriaan and his family lived in Mount Snow, Vermont from 1965-1972, a popular area for skiing, and Adriaan worked in hotels and restaurants. Then, the Beukenkamps returned to The Netherlands, where they ran The Hague Golf and Country Club, then the largest club of its kind in western Europe. In 1981, they once again settled in Vermont, where Adriaan purchased a Londonderry hotel. Adriaan died in Dorset, Vermont in 2011. His descendants continue to live in Vermont. 

Marinus and Anny had three other children that I won't discuss in detail, as they may still be living. The second of those children also moved to Vermont, where she and her husband worked in the hospitality industry, like her brother. The two other siblings remained in The Netherlands, and their descendants are still there. 

 

The next post will be devoted to Adriaan and Alida's second child, and their only daughter, Janna Beukenkamp.

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.

Beukenkamp and Strijder: Dutch Ancestry

Note: Since writing this post in 2013 I've done a lot of research on my Beukenkamp ancestors. Please see this link for more recent updates.

My second great-grandparents: Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp and Jannetje Strijder

I have not personally done a lot of research on my Dutch ancestors. My late grandmother Jeanne Beck Lacey and my father really did all the work, and I have filled in a few details here and there. I find this side of my family to be a little abstract. The language barrier certainly plays a role in this, as it does make research more challenging. Also, I think it’s because I wasn’t raised with any Dutch folk tales, songs, or even stories of the old country. When my great-grandfather George Beck immigrated to America from The Netherlands, he completely reinvented himself. He Americanized his name, he spoke only English and he didn’t pass on much of the Dutch culture to his daughters. I identify very much as Irish, and my Dutch heritage is something to which I feel less connected. I’ve been to The Netherlands and appreciated it as any tourist would, but I never felt that skip of the heart, that sensation of, “I come from here,” like I have in other places in the world. I would like to explore these roots in greater depth, however. There’s still so much I don’t know about my Beukenkamp and Strijder ancestors.

Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp and Jannetje Strijder are my paternal second great-grandparents, the parents of my great-grandfather George Beck. Marinus was born February 23, 1856 in Amsterdam. Jannetje was born March 2, 1861 in Zipje, which is in the northwestern portion of The Netherlands. They were married on October 21, 1881 in Oudkarspel, also in the northwest. Jannetje’s family came largely from that area of the country. Her father, Lourens Strijder, and his parents were from nearby Wieringerwaard.

"A" marks the location of Oudkarspel, where Marinus and Jannetje were married.

Marinus and Jannetje settled in Amsterdam and had five children together:

1. Adrian Beukenkamp, born February 20, 1882 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He married Alida van Gorcum.
2. Lourens Beukenkamp, born October 28, 1883 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 
3. Catharina Beukenkamp, born about 1885 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She went by the nickname “Trina.”
4. Gertruida Beukenkamp, born in The Netherlands; died 3 March 3, 1942. She went by the nickname “Truus.”
5. Gerhardus Marinus Beukenkamp, born February 4, 1888 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; died July 20, 1973 in Del Mar, California. He married (1) Marie Iverson (2) Kathleen Meldon Coleman.

Lourens and Gerhardus (later George) immigrated to America together. At one point, they were farming together in South Dakota, although they later went their separate ways. We believe Lourens returned to The Netherlands, but this is unconfirmed. He visited George in California at least once later in their lives.

(L-R: Kathleen Coleman Beck, Lourens Beukenkamp holding my grandmother, Jeanette Beck Lacey, and George Beck, in California)

Adriaan, Trina and Truus stayed in The Netherlands. Adriaan worked for an insurance company. He, his wife Alida, and their four children lived in Austria for a time, but returned to The Netherlands after World War I and settled in Haarlem. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp, my great-grandfather's eldest brother

Trina married and had three children, but was later divorced. Truus did not marry. She wrote many letters to her brother George in America, and even visited him and his children there on at least one occasion.

Jannetje Beukenkamp with her grandchildren, the children of Catharina Beukenkamp

Some of Adriaan’s descendants moved to America in the 1950s. I’ve been in touch with one of his great-grandchildren, who shared a rather amazing autobiography written by his grandfather. I’ll be discussing that in future posts. I do not know what happened to Trina’s children. It’s quite likely we still have cousins living in The Netherlands, and this is something I intend to research further.

How Many Times Was George Beck Married?

George Beck and Kathleen Coleman on their wedding day in 1921

When my paternal great-grandfather, George Beck, married my great-grandmother, Kathleen Coleman on September 14, 1921, he was the divorced father of two young girls.

George Martin Beck (who changed his name from Gerhardus Marinus Beukenkamp after emigrating to America from Amsterdam) was first married to Marie M. Iversen. Marie was also an immigrant, having been born in Norway. They wed in 1912 in Woodbury, Iowa. Together, they had the following children:

1. Julia “Julie” Evelyn Beck, b. August 22, 1912 in Nebraska; m. Carroll B. Argent; d. August 13, 2011 in Edmonds, Washington
2. Betty Irene Beck, b. December 23, 1914 in Nebraska; d. May 10, 1996 in Seattle, Washington

George and Marie were living in Nebraska when their daughters were born, but by 1919, Marie had resettled in Washington State and married August Bardahl. At first, the children seem to have stayed with George, as they appear with him in the 1920 U.S. Census in Omaha, Nebraska. However, by 1921, Julie and Betty had moved to Washington with their mother, and George was living in Los Angeles.

George married my great-grandmother, Kathleen Meldon Coleman, in Los Angeles on September 16, 1921. Kathleen was also an immigrant, having sailed to North America from Australia in 1919. George and Kathleen would soon have two daughters of their own.

1. Margaret Florence Beck, b. December 9, 1922 in Los Angeles, California; m. Claude Brenton Hoover; d. January 24, 2004 in Vista, California
2. Jeanette Mary Beck, b. December 23, 1925 in Eagle Rock, California; m. David Austin Lacey; d. January 7, 2001 in Fallbrook, California

My father requested a marriage license for George and Kathleen to store alongside some family photos. It was a great surprise to find that George Beck and Kathleen Coleman’s marriage license indicates that George had another ex-wife, and his marriage to Kathleen was actually his third marriage. Since then, my father and I have searched marriage records, both for George and Gerhardus, but have not turned up any evidence of a third wife. Perhaps the marriage took place in The Netherlands, prior to George’s departure for America, and we simply haven’t located the Dutch paperwork yet. Did a young Gerhardus flee a failed marriage in Amsterdam? He was only 21 years old when he arrived in the United States in 1909, but it's possible.

The 1920 U.S. Census indicates that George was married at that time, but Marie had moved to Washington and married August Bardahl a year earlier. Could George have (very) briefly remarried between his separation from Marie and his departure for California? I can't find any paperwork to suggest that either of these scenarios is correct.

It's possible the "3" written on the marriage license is an error, and George was only married twice, but that's quite an error to leave uncorrected. I'll continue to look for any records that might clear up this mystery.

The marriage license of George Beck and Kathleen Coleman