Willem Blik

1837 - 1894

• Name	Willem Blik
  Born	20 Aug 1837	Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Emigration	Mar 1867	Cocksdorp (Eirland), Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
  	De Cocksdorp started in 1835 near the small harbor, where de Roggesloot lead into the Eierlandse Gat. First it was called Nieuwdorp, but after only a few months it was renamed after Nicolas Joseph de Cock. On the first of June 1836 De Cocksdorp already had 323 inhabitants. There was an inn annex shop, a bakery and a forge. The "Socièeteit van Eierland" was busy with the building of farms and houses. The first Dutch Reformed church of De Cocksdorp was finished in 1841 and later the Roman Catholics too had their own church. In 1877 the current Dutch Reformed Church of De Cocksdorp was opened. ||Goirle, Noord Brabant, Neth.||Dutch Emmigration Records: Class 2=less than well to do (scale 1-4) Family: 1 woman, 3 children, 0 servants. Reason for emmigration: economic improvement. Occupation - workman Religion - Dutch Reformed Municipality and Province - Texel, Noord Holland. This agrees with the Dutch records known as "bevolkingsregister". The family affiliated with the North Holland Reformed Church and transferred to the Christian Reformed Church.
  Immigration	11 Jun 1867	USA
  	New York City, New York Immigration Records: Dutch in America, 1800s Blik, W Occupation: Arbeider - workman Sex: Male Age: 27 Religion: Ned Hervormd, Hervormd--dutch Reformed Social Class: Less well to do Assessed for Taxes: No Tax Assessment Classification: Unknown Women in Household: 1 Children in Household: 3 Servants in Household: Unknown Reason for Emmigration: Economic Improvement Destination: North America Year: 1867 Province: Noord Holland Municipality: Texel
  Residence	23 Nov 1882	Grand Haven, Ottawa Co, Michigan
  Died	10 Jun 1894	Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan
  	Book #4, page 130 William Blik died of consumption of the lungs born: Netherlands occupation: common laborer both parents are deceased
  Notes	The couple Willem Blik and Kaatje Bakelaar traveled accompanied by their three children in 1867 from Rotterdam to New York with the "Arnold Boninger of Prussia". On board were 80 persons from Texel. The Blik-family settled down in Ottawa County, Michigan. 1884 Kent County census has the Blik family living on West Street in Grand Rapids. All who are old enough to read and write are able to. db 1/95 The parents of Willem BLIK must have removed to the island of Texel in the 1820s or 30s. The area they lived there is called Eierland (eggsland) and is the part of Texel reclaimed in the early 1800s. In the past Eierland was a separate island. There was a channel between Texel and Eierland, the so-called Anegat. It is said that until 1550 smaller boats could pass the channel. Later the ground was only flooded when the tide was unusual high. Before 1600 there was already a ferry between Texel and Vlieland. The passengers were transported by wagon from Texel to Eierland, and then traveled further by boat. After serious floods in 1625 and 1628 the "Zanddijk" was constructed. This sand dike connected the old land of Texel with Eierland, parallel to the present coast line from De Koog to Eierland. The dike was finished in 1630. Only a few people lived in Eierland. The "Eierlandse huis" was an important building for the mailservice between Vlieland and Texel. Goods that washed ashore were also stored in the house. The sea near Eierland was and is very dangerous, because several strong currents merge there. As a result, ships were regularly in trouble. Sometimes shipwrecked persons also stayed in the Eierlandse huis. There were many more animals than people. Thousands and thousands of birds, and also many rabbits. Part of the land was fit to be grazed by sheep. The reclamation - In 1835 Nicolas Joseph de Cock from Antwerpen, Paulus Langeveld Kzn from Giesendam, Willem Langeveld Kzn from Hardinxveld and Marcellus Leendert Plooster from Ameide bought Eierland. The "Socièeteit van Eierland" was founded in April 1835, and 200 shares were issued. A dike of 11.222 meters was constructed in only twenty weeks by 1500 polder workers from the Sliedrecht area. The first farmers came in the spring of 1836. They were hired by the agricultural director Teenstra and by De Cock. The names of a few pioneers: Pieter Roelofs Stoepker from Ulrum Eelke Rens Sinia from Grijpskerk Cornelis Arijsz Kievit from Stellendam (a cousin of the shareholder L. Kievit) P.S. Noordhof from Zuid-Holland, he left Texel before 1840 Paulus Jansz den Bleijker from Ouddorp Johannes van St. Annaland from Ooltgensplaat Dirk Cornelisz Tanis from Ouddorp, who imported the madder culture There were also farm hands and craftsmen necessary. De Cock hired the smith Adriaan van der Kloot from Middelharnis, his brother Jacob van der Kloot, who worked as carpenter, the cooper and wagonmaker J. van Houten from Wehe near Leens, and the Belgian tree cultivator Pieter Maris van Bulk. The agriculture was not immediately a success in the new polder. It was too sandy and a lot of manure was needed. The first farmers got a salary of f 300,- a year from the Socièeteit van Eierland, and also a free house, free food for four cows, four pigs, seven chickens and a cock, f 120,- a year for beer, and so on. So their income was guaranteed. Each farmer was assisted by five farm hands, who were hired from the first of March to the first of December each year. They were allowed to stay in the winter, but only got boarding during the the months December, January and February. There were also six agricultrural laborers for each 100 hectares. They got a salary of f 1,10 a day in the summer, and were paid f 0,80 in the winter. Women and children also were allowed to work, but got at most a salary of 0,50 a day. In the summer the laborers worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. According to a report of 1846, the situation was not so bad. Compared with the laborers in the cities, the agricultural workers in Eierland lived a better life. Everyone had a job, and although there was a potato disease in 1846, no one in the polder needed support from the municipality or the churches. But the housing and education was unfavourable. Most laborers lived in huts, built with materials like sods or wood from the beach. The children usually did not get an education, but worked with their parents. There was not much contact with the original population of Texel, who had a different lifestyle. The Socièeteit van Eierland divided her properties between the shareholders, and the farmers became tenants. Some of them were able to buy a farm. Emigration - In the second half of the nineteenth century a lot of people left Eierland. Some of them moved to new reclamations in the Netherlands, like the Haarlemmermeer. The living conditions became worse, due to disappointing harvests and the mechanisation of the agriculture. Less people were needed. From 1873 on there was a big agricultural crisis in the Netherlands, caused by the import of cheap American corn. Between 1850 and 1920 about 1500 residents of Texel emigrated, half of them came from Eierland. In addition to the economic reasons, family ties were important for the emigration. Some of the emigrants were well-to-do, but the most emigrants did not have much property. The vast majority of the emigrants went to the United States of America. There were concentrations of former Texel people in Holland, Michigan and in Paterson, New Jersey. A couple of oyster fishers continued this occupation in West Sayville, Long Island, New York. More detailed information organized by surname is available on the emigration section of this site. Sources: "de Convexe Kustboog 1 en 2", " 't Lant van Texsel", "Boerderijenboek", "Hijijij ... is naar Amerika".
  Person ID	I251	Bryant
  Last Modified	4 Sep 2005

  
  

  Father	Renje Teunis Blik,   b. 27 Mar 1797, Eenrum, Groningen, Netherlands ,   d. 25 Apr 1878, Eenrum, Groningen, Netherlands
  Mother	Dijtje Geerts Wegman
  Married	04 Sep 1824	Eenrum, Groningen, Netherlands
  	Source Civil register - Marriage Archive location Groninger Archieven General Municipality: Eenrum Type of record: Huwelijksakte Record number: 13 Registration date: 04-09-1824 Bridegroom Renje Blik Date of birth: 27-03-1797 Place of birth: Eenrum Bride Dietje Geerts Wegman Date of birth: 05-04-1801 Place of birth: Pieterburen Father bridegroom Tonnis Eisses Blik Mother bridegroom Anje Renjes Father bride Geert Jurjens Wegman Mother bride Trijnje Jans Additional information bruidegom 27 jaar; bd. 23 jaar
  Family ID	F82	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	Kaatje (Kate) Bakelaar,   b. 16 Apr 1838, Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands ,   d. 16 Aug 1910, Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan
  Married	28 Feb 1861	Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
  	Marriage certificate of Willem Blik and Kaatje Bakelaar Willem Blik, 23, worker, born and living Texel, son of age of the worker Rinje Blik and Dijtje Geerts Wichman, x 28-2-1861 Texel Kaatje Bakelaar, 21, born and living here, minor daughter of the deceased Pieter Bakelaar and the deceased Neeltje Breen. Because both her parents were dead, she got approval for the marriage from her guardians the worker Gerrit Bakelaar and the worker Cornelis Breen. She was not able to produce a birth certificate, because she was not registered [NB very unusual].
  Children	1. Teunis (Tony) Blik,   b. 11 Nov 1861, Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands ,   d. 13 Jun 1890, Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan   2. Neeltje (Nellie) Blik,   b. 21 Jan 1864, Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands ,   d. 1888   3. Detje (Hattie) Blik,   b. 06 Aug 1866, Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands   4. Reiner (Ryan) Blik,   b. 1868, Michigan   5. Katrina Cornelia (Kate) Blik,   b. 23 Oct 1869, Michigan ,   d. 24 Feb 1931, Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan   6. Pieter Blik,   b. Jul 1871, Holland, Ottawa Co, Michigan ,   d. 19 Apr 1957, Michigan   7. Antje (Annie) Blik,   b. 19 Sep 1881, Michigan ,   d. 29 Apr 1903, Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan   8. John Blik,   b. 05 Jun 1884, Michigan ,   d. 23 Jun 1915, Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan
  Family ID	F73	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 20 Aug 1837 - Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Married - 28 Feb 1861 - Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Emigration - Mar 1867 - Cocksdorp (Eirland), Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Immigration - 11 Jun 1867 - USA Residence - 23 Nov 1882 - Grand Haven, Ottawa Co, Michigan Died - 10 Jun 1894 - Grand Rapids, Kent Co, Michigan  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S186] van Empel, Emigratie vanuit Texel, K. van Empel.