Swier Fleercate (1740-)

Suitbertus (Sweer or Swier for short) was baptized 17 Feb 1740, third child of Gerardus Schepers and his second wife Maria Gasthuis (dutch link). Gerardus’ first wife was Gertrudis Vleercotte, and after her death he remained at the farm, so he became also Vleercotte, and the subsequent children were baptized with that name. Swier is possibly my 2nd cousin 5x removed.

Swier’s parents were Roman Catholic, and the children were baptized in Tubbergen, rather than Almelo, which did not have an Roman Catholic Church.  They lived in Albergen, a village about half-way between Almelo and Tubbergen

The reason Swier only might be my 2nd cousin 5x removed is that I have not yet been able to connect his mother Maria to my fifth great-granduncle Ferdinandus van het Gasthuis (dutch link.)  Ferdinandus has a daughter Johanna Maria in 1710, and a daughter Anna Maria in 1716. As Maria has her first child in 1736, she would be most likely Johanna Maria. However, Maria does not name any child Ferdinandus or Fredericus. Suitbertus or Swier is not a name used anywhere else. Sponsors at the baptisms of Maria’s children are 3x Gertrudis Gasthuis (this could be Ferdinandus’ wife with his farm name, or his daughter Gertrudis), Henricus Gasthuis (probably Ferdinandus’ son Henricus), and Joanna Fleirkotte (probably Maria’s stepdaughter), in addition to Scheepers relatives. To make things even more complicated, Maria’s other stepdaughter, Catharina Schepers is married to Hermannus Gasthuis, a son of Ferdinandus.

The family is listed in the 1748 census of Twente as follows:

Gerrit Vleercate. Household consists of Gerrit and his wife Maria, 3 children over 10, Janna, Trine and Gerrit, and 6 children under 10: Bertus, Sweer, Ale, Maria and Geertruijt. Trine is married to Hermen Gasthuijs, with a child Geertruijt.

The combination of changing farm names, multiple first names, changing use names, the lack of a child Ferdinandus (and presence of the child Swier, which is not a name found among Ferdinandus descendants), and the lack of marriage records (1719-1768 of the RC marriages is missing) make me hesitant to add Maria as a daughter of Ferdinandus. There probably is some relationship, but it is far from clear to me what it is.