Fenneke Troost (1762-1827)

Fenneke (or Femmetje) Troost was baptized 9 Apr 1762 in Almelo, 6th child and 4th daughter of Jan Troost and Geertruid ten Bruggencate (dutch link). She is my 3rd cousin 5x removed (as closest relationship). Jan and Geertruid have 9 children, 6 daughters and 3 sons, but the first two sons die young (they are all three named Cornelis, after Jan’s father). The youngest two daughters Aleida and (Sara) Catharina marry in Almelo, but no trace of the other four in Almelo, except in the will of their mother’s brother Herman, who died without children. Fenneke is present when the will is probated, but it does not say where she lives.

Because the youngest daughter (Sara) Catharina was living in Amsterdam before her marriage in Almelo, and it was very common for girls from Almelo to go into service in Amsterdam, I decided to check whether maybe the other sisters (Janna, Cornelia, Benjamina, and Fenneke) were living there as well. And surely, they were.

Janna is a witness at the banns of both Cornelia (1785) and Benjamina (1802); and Janna (as Johanna), Benjamina (as Mietje), Fenneke (as Femmetje), and Sara Catherina are all sponsors at the baptism of Cornelia’s children between 1786 and 1794^(1,2)

Benjamina married a widower at age 44, no baptism of children were found (but neither were there baptisms for her husband with his first wife), and it seems unlikely that she had children. I found no marriage for Janna.

A marriage for Femmetje Troost and Evert van Eck (he was widower of Jacoba van Blijenberg, who in 1787 when they married was also living in Amsterdam) is registered in Amsterdam on 17 Oct 1800 with a letter from the civil authorities in Opheusden, Gelderland. These registrations contain very little detail, as neither the banns nor the marriage happened in Amsterdam, but as Femmetje lived in Amsterdam before her marriage, registration is required. So there is no age, no place of birth, no witnesses. Fortunately Opheusden is also online with images, and the registration there lists her as j.d. born in Almelo, living in Amsterdam. Witnesses are Hendrik van Eck (prob. his brother) and Anthony Goedhart. Femmetje is a sponsor for a number of Hendrik’s children in Opheusden in the following years.

Femmeke died 4 Dec 1827 in Kesteren (Opheusden was then part of Kesteren). Her nephew registers her death. She is 67 years old, widow of Evert van Eck, born in Almelo, living in Kesteren.

I still wonder, though, how Evert found his two wives in Amsterdam. He was a store keeper (acc. to his death certificate in 1819, Kesteren). What was he doing so far from home to find a wife?

(1) The banns and baptismal registers of Amsterdam (in addition to many other Amsterdam records) are available online, and are fully searchable.
(2) There is another Cornelia Troost, who married in 1773 in Amsterdam, but she is from a different family, she is also the daughter of a Jan Troost, but she and her siblings were born in Amsterdam. Whether there is a relationship has not been determined.