Riekeltje Jurjens Schuring (1813-c.1848)

Riekeltje Schuring (dutch link) was born 4 Jan 1813 in Nieuwe Pekela, Groningen, 205 yrs ago, daughter of Jurjen Schuring and Geessien Holtman. She is only distantly related to me, she is the wife of my third cousin 5x removed, but her story is an interesting one.

She married Klaas Wildeboer on 2 May 1833. Her husband was a baker when they married. They were no doubt Dutch Reformed (Gereformeerd), like most people in Groningen. But they took it one step further, they joined the “Afgescheidenen,” the group that, under Dominee van Raalte and others, accounted for a large number of immigrants to places like Holland and Zeeland in Michigan.

Klaas also got caught up in the religious fervor, he became a preacher in Van Raalte’s church. Circa 1840 (after 4 children) they moved away from Nieuwe Pekela. They end up in Zuid Beijerland in Zeeland, where Klaas died in 1842, leaving his pregnant wife and 5 small children.

As the widow of a preacher, Riekeltje apparently received a pension from the group; but in 1847 she apparently needed to make a choice, emigrate or lose the pension.⁽¹⁾ So in April 1847 they leave Rotterdam on the barque Dankbaarheid (the name of this ship was originally transcribed as Dank Caasliest, but this website makes an excellent case for the name being Dankbaarheid (Thankfulness)), and they arrive on 4 Jun 1847 in New York. From there they make their way to Holland, Michigan. Riekeltje died there the following year, about 35 yrs old. The children ar split up: in the 1850 census in Holland, Michigan, all the children are enumerated in the households of other people; Aaltje is living with W.D. Post, a merchant, who seems to take in boarders; Jurjen with Gerrit Jan Kroon, a farmer; Marinus with William Notting, a laborer, Jacob with Poulus Havart, a laborer; Geesje with Gerrit Jan Rensink, a laborer; and Klaas, the youngest is living with van Raalte himself. All the children go on to have progeny in the United States.

I cannot imagine the courage it must have taken for Riekeltje to get through her life: first leave Pekela, where her family was settled and secure; being widowed far from home; getting on a boat with six small children for a trip that lasted two months to a world that they knew little about. No doubt they had the support of the rest of the group; but there was still a lot on her shoulders. I salute her!

(1) The passenger list (detail) states “As pensioned widow of a seceded teacher, she was forced to emigrate to keep her pension.”