The Pieter Sr. and Gijsbertje De Jong family

Pieter and Gijsbertje De Jong were married on May 1, 1831. His parents were Jan De Jong and Maria Kooij. Her parents were Gijsbert Van Houwelingen and Egje Van Den Berg.

Pieter drew lot number 3527 on December 20, 1831 obliging him to serve in the Dutch military. He was inducted into the Ninth afdeling infanterie. His service was taken over by a plaatsvervanger, a substitute. In those days one could pay someone to take your place. His military record describes him as 5 ft 9 ½ inches tall, a round face, blue eyes, a small mouth, a round forehead, a big nose, round chin, fair colored hair.

Pieter De Jong Sr. and his family left Arkel for Pella on March 23, 1866. Upon arriving in Pella after their harrowing ordeal at sea, the De Jong’s stayed in a house/cabin East of Pella not far from what would become their permanent home.

Pieter purchased his initial 80 acre plot of land on September 25, 1866 from Fielding Betts. Mr. Betts was the original purchaser of the land from the United States government in 1847.

By 1870 Pieter had acquired 144 acres. He chose to mortgage his land to raise $700. The mortgage was obtained from Phillip J. Koelman, a surveyor, farmer and one-time personal gardener of Henry Scholte. In 1877, he again mortgaged his land to raise $2200, again through Mr. Koelman. In 1887, the mortgage was transferred to Hendrikus Vos (his son-in-law) who was in the process of purchasing the original farm from Pieter.

Some farming statistics from the US censuses of 1870 and 1880 are provided below.  They give some insight into Pieter Sr.’s farming operation.

Farming Acreage  

                Total Acreage            Improved          Woodland             Other Unimproved 

1870        109                           40                         44                                              25  

                 Total Acreage         Tilled                      Pasture              Woodland 

1880        154                           125                         24                                       5  

Livestock   

                 Horses Milk Cows Other Cattle    Swine     Barnyard Poultry     Other Poultry 

1870     5                6                        11                        21  

1880     7                3                        16                       120              110    

Produce  

                         Wheat                       Corn                          Oats                Irish Potatoes          Butter         

1870        200 bushels.         1000 bushels            70 bushels          200 bushels        600 lbs.         

1880        560 bushels         3850 bushels           400 bushels          500 bushels        260 lbs.   

                       Cheese                   Hay             Hops

1870           100 lbs.                 8 tons              8 lbs    

1880                                            12 tons

                           Eggs Produced            Apples                                      Honey                   Wood 

1870  

1880           800 dozen                    70 trees, 175 bushels      200 lbs.           15 cords 

Note: The 1870 agricultural census did not ask as many questions about livestock and produce as did the 1880 census.  Therefore some 1870 cells are blank.  This does not mean they did not have this livestock or produce a particular crop.  They simply were not asked to provide this information.  For example, farmers were not asked about poultry in 1870.

Pieter Jr. and Gijsbertje continued to live with their father after their mother’s death in 1876.  Both were over 30 when they eventually married.  

In his later years, Pieter Sr. shared his home with his youngest daughter Gijsbertje and her husband Hendrikus Vos.  They purchased the original farm from him in 1887.  

Pieter Sr. lived to be 82 years old, a very old age in those days.  He outlived his wife and most of his children. He even saw the birth of several great-grand children.  

Hugo Kuyper served as the Executor of Pieter’s estate.  He was the mayor of Pella.  

Pauline Tysseling, a descendent of Egje De Jong, relayed the following story as passed on by her father.  Pieter Sr. and Gijsbertje were so distraught over the loss of their children on the journey from Holland to America, they frequently talked of returning to Holland.  However, their surviving children reminded them that it would bring them no comfort.  The lost would not be found in Holland.