Gertrudis Stroothuis (1758-)

Gertrudis Stroothuis was baptized 19 Jan 1758 in Tubbergen, Overijssel, The Netherlands. The family was Roman Catholic, one of the few families in my genealogy. She probably is my 2nd cousin 5x removed, I say probably, because the link between the catholic and the protestant branches is still tentative.

Gertrudis was the granddaughter of Ferdinandus Gerritsen van het Gasthuijs (dutch link), daughter of his daughter Margaretha Aleijda. Ferdinandus married in 1705 in the Roman Catholic Church in Tubbergen, and has many descendants baptized there. They were living in Albergen, a small village just south of Tubbergen, and slightly to the east of Almelo, where they possibly had an inn (gasthuis=guesthouse).

My ancestor Jan Geertsen van het Gasthuis married in 1711 in the Dutch Reformed Church (which was the official state church) in Almelo met Jenneke Hendriks. He was from Albergen, she from Almelo. They also have many descendants in Almelo, but they are all Dutch Reformed.

With both Ferdinandus and Jan having the patronymic Geertsen/Gerritsen (which really is the same), and both coming from Albergen, it is tempting to think they are brothers. Unfortunately, the DRC baptismal books don’t start until 1733, both in Tubbergen and in Almelo (Albergen had no church), and the RC book in Tubbergen starts in 1688, too late to contain the baptisms of either Ferdinandus or Jan.  There are three baptisms for children of a Gerardus Gast and a Gertrudis between 1691 and 1697, but no other ones.

But Jan seems to be a sponsor at the baptism of Ferdinandus’ daughter Joanna Maria in 1710, before he married. This is a tentative link, but a real one.

My one big problem is the identification of Maria Gast(huis), who married Gerardus Scheper as a daughter of Gerardus. She has children as late as 1751, so has to have been born after 1705, but likely quite a bit later. My identification was based on a Gertrudis Gasthuis, sponsor at the baptism of several of her children, as the same as Gertrudis Santhuijs, the wife of Gerardus Gasthuis. But this Gertrudis could equally well be Gertrudis Heijne, the wife of Ferdinandus, or Gertrudis Gast, a daughter of Ferdinandus. Especially this last one makes sense, as wives were generally (but of course not always) indicated with their own name or patronymic, not their husband’s. Ferdinandus has a daughter Joanna Maria in 1710, and a daughter Anna Maria in 1716, both of which could have gone through life as Maria.

So, thinking about Gertrudis Stroothuis brought me to a possible re-assignment of Maria Gasthuis from her great-aunt to her aunt. If you have any more ideas, I’d love to hear from you!