Mars, Lige 1885-1972 & Gertie Baas w/ Mars ancestral history

MARS, BAAS, DYKSTRA, BROUWER, WILMS, VANDERMEER, DEVRIES, ELLERBROEK

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 8/13/2023 at 21:12:43

Mars, Lige 1885-1972 & Gertie Baas Family w/ Mars ancestral history.

This story was taken from page 434 of the Ireton Centennial Book (1882-1982). The story was transcribed for this BIOS by Beth De Leeuw of the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society. Some ancestral history research notes were added by Wilma J. Vande Berg.

Grandpa Lige was born in New Holland, S.D. on Sept. 18, 1885.

Gertie Baas Brouwer was the daughter of Gertrude Brouwer and Jacob Baas. When Grandma was only 4 years old her sister, Annie, and mother came to America. She then married Corneulis Brouwer in America and they lived in Orange City. He had 7 children from a previous marriage, Gertie and Annie and two more. Two children were born to this new union. Eleven children were in the household.

Grandpa and Grandma were married Dec. 17, 1908. They lived on a farm near Seney, Ia. while living near Seney, they were quarantined with diphtheria. In 1918, a deathly flu went around which Grandpa got but was fortunate and survived. Because of severe drought they moved to a farm 5 miles east of Ireton and lived there 3 years. In 1947, they moved into Ireton and lived in the house presently occupied by Richard Erland. They were blessed with 7 healthy children.

Peter Mars who lives in Orange City. Jake Mars who lives in Orange City. Cynthia Mars Hofland who lives in Orange City. Jacoba Mars Pennings who lives in Sheldon. Mindred Mars who lives in Primghar; Andrew Mars (deceased). Wife Louise lives in Orange City. Tena Mars Kramer is the only one around Ireton. She and her husband, Arie Kramer, farm west of Ireton.

Grandpa and Grandma were blessed with 47 grandchildren, 119 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren. Only 4 of the grandchildren live in the Ireton area. They are: Allen and Carol Kramer, son of Tena, who farm; Norman and Glenda Kramer, son of Tena, who farm; Glenda and Mark Barinsky, daughter of Andrew, farm in the area. Patsy and Calvin Bootsma, daughter of Peter. Calvin is manager of Farmers Co-Op Lumber Yard.

Grandpa and Grandma built a new house on the west edge of Ireton. He farmed little patches of land in town and also along the railroad tracks. His little Ford tractor, Herman, plowed many gardens.

They were members of the Ireton Christian Reformed Church. Grandpa served as elder for a few years. They were members of the Men’s Society and Ladies Aid. Grandpa died May 28, 1972 and was buried in Ireton. After Grandpa died Grandma moved to the Pioneer Home in Orange City. There she met and married Abe Van Peursem. She was 90 years old. At present she is living in the Heritage House. She celebrated her 96th birthday on Nov. 17, 1980.
(Author a Grandchild of Lige Mars)

RESEARCH NOTES: Added by Wilma J. Vande Berg. Information gathered from ancestry.com public member trees and local obits.

Lige ‘Ligje’ Mars was born 18 Sep 1885 New Holland Douglas County SD died 28 May 1972 Ireton IA. His parents were Peter Mars 1860-1939 (son of Lutje) and Sarah Sietska Dykstra 1860-1925. He married Gertrude Jacoba Baas 1884-1982. They married 17 Dec 1908 Orange City IA.

Gertrude Jacoba Baas was born 17 Nov 1884 Andijk, Noord Holland Netherlands died 1 Jan 1982 Orange City IA. Her parents were Jacob Baas 1843-1889 and Grietje Brouwer 1853-1934.

Lige Mars and Gertrude Baas were the parents of the following children:

1. Peter Mars born 28 Jun 1910 Carnes, Sioux county IA and died 3 Dec 1997 Orange City IA He married Nettie Alvina Te Brink 1911-2007. Three children listed as Lester Bernard Mars 1932-2018, Gerben Peter Mars 1939-2020, and Patsy Mae Mars Bootsma 1949-2017.

2. Jacob Mars born 5 Sep 1912 Orange City IA died 11 May 2001 Sioux Center IA He married Henrietta E. Hofland 1918-1995 and they had the following children: Lige G. Mars 1943-1975, Gertrude Joan Mars Vande Brake 1936-1997, June H. Mars De Vos 1940-2001, Jerry D. Mars 1949-2018 and Shirley Beth Mars 1952-1952.

3. Cynthia Mars born 20 Apr 1915 Seney IA died 26 Oct 2008 Orange City IA She married Joe Cornelius Hofland 1911-1985 and they had two children Lee Milan Hofland 1942-2019 and Beth Kayleen Hofland 1957-1984.

4. Gertrude Jacoba Mars born 15 Mar 1917 Maurice IA died 16 Nov 1996 Sioux Falls SD. She married Adrian John Pennings 1913-1977 and they had two children Henry John Pennings 1937-2010 and Ivan Dale Pennings 1950-2020.

5. Minderd Lige Mars born 19 Mar 1919 Sherman Twp Sioux county IA died 16 Mar 2014 Primghar IA He married Lois Mary Osborne Mars 1921-2016. Children – Dennis Mars, Phyllis Ro, and Barbara Simmelink

6.Andrew Mars born 19 Sep 1921 Le Mars IA died 25 Nov 1977 Grand Rapids MI He married Louisa Mae Van Engen 1926-2009 and one child listed was Janice Faye Mars 1949-2012.

7. Tena Mars born 9 Dec 1923 Seney IA died 26 Mar 2013 Sioux Center IA She married Arie Kramer 1922-2002 both were buried in Pleasant Hill Ireton. Children listed were- Marcia Westra, Loretta Myers, Dorene Vander Zwaag, Carol Yacko, Norm Kramer, Allan Kramer and Gloria Warren.

OBITUARY OF LIGE MARS 1885-1972
Source:Hawarden Independent(6-1-1972)
Lige Mars,86, Ireton, Iowa. Died May 28, 1972 at Sioux Center hospital. Funeral services were held at 1:30 p.m. May 31 at the Christian Reformed Church at Ireton, Burial was at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
Born Sep. 18, 1885 at New Holland S.D. He married Gertie Baas on Dec 17, 1908 in Orange City. They farmed at Seney then moved to Ireton in 1942.
Survivors was the widow, sons Peter of Maurice, Jake of Orange City, Mindred of Paullina, Andy of Ireton, a daughter Mrs. Cynthia Hofland of Orange City, Mrs. Adrian (Jacoba) Penning of Sheldon, Mrs. Arie (Tina) Kramer of Ireton. 46 grandchildren, 67 great-grandchildren.
Casket Bearers were Gerben P. Mars, Henry J Penning, Lige G. Mars, Joel C. Hofland, Dennis C. Mars and Allan Kramer.

OBITUARY OF GERTIE MARS VAN PEURSEM 1884-1952
Gertie Mars Van Peursem, 97, died Friday evening at the Heritage House following a brief illness.
Service was held Monday, Jan.4 at 1:30 p.m. in the Christian Reformed Church in Ireton. The Rev. Cecil Martens and Frank Snuttjer officiated. Interment was held at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Ireton. Funeral arrangements were through Van Gelder Funeral Home in Orange City.
Gertie Baas was born November 17, 1884, in the Netherlands and came to the United States when she was four years old. She Married Lige Mars December 17, 1908 at Carnes Iowa. He preceded her in death May 28, 1972. She married Abe Van Peursem Dec. 27, 1973 at Ireton and he passed away Sep.9,1981. She lived and farmed in the Seney area until 1942 when they moved to Ireton. They lived 30 years in Ireton. Gertie then moved to the Pioneer Home where she lived until entering the Heritage Nursing Home about two years ago. She was a member of the Christian Reformed Church most of her life and now is a member of the First Reformed Church of Orange City.
Survivors include; three sons, Peter and Jake of Orange City, and Mindred of Paullina; three daughters, Mrs. Cynthia Hofland of Orange City, Mrs. Adrian (Jacoba)Penning of Sheldon and Mrs. Arie (Tena) Kramer of Ireton; a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Andy(Louise Mars of Orange City; 46 grandchildren; 126 Great-Grandchildren; and 15 Great-Great-Grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a son Andy, and two grandchildren
The Sioux County Capital (1-4-1952)

MARS FAMILY ANCESTRAL RESEARCH Added by Wilma J. Vande Berg

Added the historical information on Lige’s interesting ancestry. He was a grandson of Luitje Mars a pioneer of Pella who went on a pioneer trek to Oregon and returned to Iowa.
See the book Story of Sioux County by Charles Dyke pages 402-414 for the description of the perilous journey to and from Oregon.

Page 413 of said book reads - Lutje Mars was one of the most peculiar and interesting characters that ever inhabited Sioux county. He was over six and a half feet tall, and slender, with shoulders sloping at an angle of about fort five degrees. He had a small head and a sad and sorrowful look. He always had long hair that tufted over his ears, a ring beard under his jaw and a medium long beard under his chin.
He was a born rover and walked all over Sioux County for like Asahel of holy writ, he was as light of foot as a wild roe, and every Hollander in Sioux county knew Lutje Mars. He never stayed long in one place and after a few years in Sioux county he went to Harrison, South Dakota. His wanderings were not for the purpose of improving his financial condition, for making a living was a secondary consideration with him, and he left that mostly to his wife and children. But he loved the Christian Reformed Church and liked to talk theology, and was an elder in the church no matter where he lived. A Christian Reformed Church without Lutje Mars as elder, if he lived in the community was unthinkable.
He acted the role of a minister without a charge, and would often interfere with the work of the ministers of his church to the embarrassment of the man of the cloth. But no one doubted his sincerity and he cheered and comforted the sick and brought hope and peace to the dying. Once he married a couple, and after a few weeks of connubial bliss, they discovered that they were not married at all and the job had to be done over again. As Mars was not an ordained minister nor an officer of the law, his marrying did not hold. As stated above, Mars did not stay long in Sioux County but with his stepsons, Peter and John Ellerbroek, Leendert Van Der Meer, Dirk Van Den Bos again answered the Call of the West and went to Douglas County, South Daktota. As in Sioux county he would visit the several Holland colonies there on foot, and once walked from Harrison SD to Sioux county Iowa. He died in South Dakota. (There are references to three places of death Oregon, Harrison SD, and Hornick Iowa, there is a death record for Woodbury County IA)

This story was taken from page 433 of the Ireton Centennial Book (1882-1982). Corrections in ( )

Mr. and Mrs. Lutje Mars came from the Netherlands during the middle of the last century. They settled and help found a town named Pella, Ia. In 1864 they left Pella and followed the Oregon Trail. They lived and died in Oregon (not correct, he actually died in Hornick IA and she died in Sioux Center IA) but their children returned to Iowa and S.D.

Lige Mars was one of the (grand) children who came to the Ireton area. (Actually, Lige Mars 1885 was the son of Peter Mars 1860-1939 who was a son of Luitje Mars...so Lige was his grandson son.)

RESEARCH NOTES: From a family report on Ancestry.com public member trees submitted by other than this submitter.

Luitje Mars was born 18 Apr 1821 Opperdoes Noord Holland Netherlands and died 14 Mar 1898 Hornick, IA He was the son of Germent Mars and Lijsbet Wilms 1778. He married Jannetje Van Der Meer 1823-1907 on 26 Mar 1860 Mahaska Co. IA.

Jannetje Van der Meer was born 29 Sep 1823 Overschie Rotterdam, Zuid Holland Netherlands and died 21 Jul 1907 Sioux Center IA. According to a report on Ancestry public member trees Jannetje was first married to Johannes Willeminus De Vries and they had one son Isaak De Vries 1845-1870 and daughter Alida De Vries 1847-1849. After her husband’s death she married Garret Ellerbroek 1829-1859 and they had two sons Henry Ellerbroek 1852-1932 and Isaac Ellerbroek born 1854. (There is reference to a John Ellerbroek, too.) After Garret died 1859 she married Lutje Mars.

Luitje Mars and Jennie Van der Meer had the following children according to the ancestry report:
1. Isaac 1854 Ellerbroek step son of Lutje; 2. John Ellerbroek stepson of Lutje born 1856 Iowa 3. Mary Ellerbroek 1858 step daughter of Lutje; 4. Peter Mars 1860-1939; 5. Alida Mars 1863; 6. Adeline Mars 1863-1943; 7. Simon Mars 1865-1943

OBITUARY OF Lutje MARS According to Death records, Lytje (Lutje) born abt 1822 died 14 Mar 1898, Woodbury County IA. No published obit found.

OBITUARY OF JENNIE MARS
Mars, Jennie nee VanderMeer, born 29 Sep 1826 Overschie Zuid Holland Netherlands, died 21 Jul 1907 mother of J. G. Ellerbroek buried in Memory Gardens cemetery Sioux Center IA.
Married July 16, 1850 Mahaska Co. IA. to Gerrit Ellerbroek before Mr. Luitje Mars 1821-1898 They married March 26, 1860 Mahaska Co. IA, he died March 14, 1898 at Hornick IA. There were four Mars children .
DeVolksvriend of July 31, 1907 In Dutch:
Translated:
Early Monday morning, aged 82 years and 10 months, old Mrs. Mars, who had been suffering from cancer for some time. J. P. Peter Ellerbroek is a son from the second marriage of Mrs. Mars. The deceased was a sister of Dirk and Leendert Vander Meer and Mrs. Nieuwendorp. S. Mars, her son, lived with her. The Funeral services will take place this afternoon at 1 o'clock at home and at 2 o'clock in the Chr Ref. Church here.

From the book ‘Story of Sioux County page 32p has a picture of the old ancestors Lutje Mars and his wife Janntje Van Der Meer.

Sioux Biographies maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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