TePaske, Anthony 1868 and Agnes Dykstra Family

TEPASKE, DYKSTRA, TAMMEL, VANDERSCHAAF

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 6/9/2021 at 10:06:54

Te Paske, Anthony 1868 and Agnes Dykstra Family

This story has been taken from the Sioux Center Centennial book of 1991 pages 544 and 545. The article was submitted to the book by A. H. Te Paske. It was transcribed for this BIOS by Wilma J. Vande Berg, some research notes were added at the end.

Anthony (baptized) Dirk Antonie, anglicized to (Derrick Anthony) was born October 15, 1868, Greenleafton, Minnesota, and died February 11, 1946, Sioux Center, Iowa.

Agnes (baptized Akke ) Dykstra was born August 7, 1878, Pinjum Friesland, Netherlands and died Jun 12, 1954, Evergreen Park, Illinois.

Cope Ten Passe appears to be the ‘Adam’ of the Te Paske clan, at least so far as the genealogists of the family have been able to ascertain. From his birth in 1640 to the end of that century, the family name evolved through Ten Passche to Te Passche and settled down to Te Paske. The source and meaning of the name remain obscure but it is reasonable to speculate that it refers to an estate or other large land holding from which servants or tenants may have taken their family names when those were ordained.

Out of this lineage of farm laborers came Hendrik Jan Te Paske who was born near Aalten, Gelderland in 1816, and who married Dela Antonia Tammel in 1853. Dela Antonia died 1965 [1865] after having borne sic children, four of whom survived her and still needed mothering.

It is not clear when Gezina Tammel entered the picture. She was born in 1847, 18 years younger than her deceased sister and 31 years younger than the widower, Hendrik Jan. Family lore has it that she came to the assistance of the bereaved family and that this association led to her marriage to Hendrik Jan in 1867.

This marriage outraged family and community, either because of its unseemly haste or because of the great disparity of age. The consequent ostracism and harassment suffered by the couple led shortly to a decision to emigrate.

Thus it was that Hendrik Jan Te Paske, four childen form his first marriage, and his now pregnant wife, left the Netherlands and settled initially at Greenleafton, Minnesota. Exact dates are not clear, except that the first child of the second marriage was born near Greenleafton on October 15, 1868 and was named Dirk Antonie, later anglicized to Derrick Anthony.

A second son, Herman, was born in 1871, and survived. But the third, Garret, died at birth, along with mother Gezina, in February, 1874. Records of the Greenleafton church show that the 58 year old widower and his family moved to Orange City, Iowa in May of the same year.
Here begins a period of which there is very little of record concerning Anthony Te Paske.

He was five when the family moved to Iowa. The family consisted of Hendrik Jan, Derk Jan 20, Jan Will 16, Johanna Adriana 15, Anthouy 5, and Herman 2. They farmed and owned property in Nassau Township (Secs 16 and 17) about four miles south west of Orange City.

At some point Hendrik Jan again married, this time to a Mrs. Johanna Wiersma, a widow three years his junior. The task of nurturing the two younger boys in the family seemingly developed upon their sister, Johanna Adriana, who married Arend J. Pennings on November 23, 1877. Here it is instructive to note that, following the death of Hendrik Jan Te Paske on December 28, 1886, this A. J. Pennings was appointed guardian of Anthony and Herman Te Paske, even though the step mother and older brother still survived.

It is in the same undocumented period of Anthony Te Paske’s life that all or nearly of his primary and secondary education took place. Certainly his primary education was provided by the rudimentary public education system that existed at the time, for there was no other. Instruction began in 1882 at the fledgling Northwestern Classical Academy, at which point Anthony was 14 and positioned to be one of the early graduates, which he was in 1889.

The fifth clause of the last will and testament of Hendrik Jan Te Paske, dated October 5, 1885, shortly before Anthony’s 18th birthday, read: “It is my will and desire that my son Anthony TePaske may be sent to college until he shall attain the age of twenty one years unless he sooner graduates to his own satisfaction, - and such sums as shall be expended upon his education and support after my death I desire shall be deducted from or be a charge against his share of my estate given him by this will. “

Why Hendrik Jan thought it necessary to insert that clause in his will is puzzling. He may have been much enamored of this son’s interest in higher education or he may have feared that others in the family might stand in the way of the boy’s further schooling once father had left the scene. Anthony was quick to take advantage of the opportunity. He attended Grinnell College for a period and subsequently transferred to Harvard College where he graduated with the class of 1893. He taught English and Greek on the faculty of the North western Classical Academy from 1893-1897 when he was admitted to the Iowa Bar.

The following year he established his practice of law in the still infant city of Sioux Center where, on July 2, 1903, he married Agnes Dykstra, who was then teaching in a rural school southwest of town.

Agnes, baptized Akke, was born in Pinjum, Friesland, the Netherlands on August 7, 1878, the daughter of Doekle Dykstra and Bitetsche Vander Schaaf Dykstra. Doekle Dykstra had been a substantial landowner in Friesland but during the depression following the end of the Franco Prussian War, land values dropped sharply and the resulting deterioration of Doekle’s financial condition led to the sale of this lands. At the same time the family of Bietsche’s brother, Auke Vander Schaaf, were also suffering the effects of the poor economic conditions, thus leading to the pooling of the two family’s miseries into a decision to join their other surviving brother, Johannes, who had emigrated to America in 1872.

The party of four adults and eleven children left their homes for America on May 12, 1882, completing the removal of all the descendants of Reinder Vander Schaaf, father of Johannes, Auke, and Bietsche, from the Netherlands to the United States. This in contrast to the Te Paske Family , from which Hendrik Jan was the only one to emigrate.

The Dykstra family proceeded to Sioux County and were deterred from settling in Orange City because of a smallpox quarantine, by the end of June were established on a purchased farm 2 ¼ miles west of Sioux Center.

Agnes went to country school and graduated from Northwestern Classical Academy where she first met Anthony Te Paske. By age 16 she was herself a country school teacher, to which profession she was rudely initiated by the cyclone of May 1895 which destroyed the schoolhouse, but fortunately neither pupils nor teacher.

It is not surprising that the young and ambitious school teacher was readily attracted to the educated and eligible lawyer who came to establish himself in Sioux Center; or that together they were swept along by the tide of optimism that fostered widespread belief in the perfect-ability of the individual and of society. Their marriage was the first performance of that sacrament in the newly rebuilt First Reformed Church, where after they settled themselves on a three acre plot on the east side of Wayenburg Street (now 4th Avenue) which Anthony had previously purchased from the same Auke Vander Schaaf who was in the party with which Agnes had traveled to the United States. But Agnes was not content merely to stay at home; soon she was herself embarked upon the study of law under the tutelage of her husband and was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1909.

Meanwhile both engaged themselves in a wide range of church, civic, and political activities, all of which they continued throughout their active lives. Both taught Sunday School for many years and were active in support of mission program of the Reformed Church. They were also leaders in the Temperance movement which was gaining great strength at the time.

Together Anthony and Agnes initiated a series of citizenship classes for newly arrived immigrants, helping them in their English language skills and introducing them to the fundamentals of American government. These chasses culminated in a per-forma judicial examination and swearing in ceremony at the Sioux County Courthouse, typically followed by a ‘reception’ hosted by the W.C.T.U. The process effectively lent dignity and meaning to the day of ‘naturalization.’ No formal records were kept but reliable estimates indicate the more than 1000 immigrants –mostly young men – went through the classes at the Te Paske Home.

Northwestern College, more exactly, the predecessor Northwestern Junior College was the object of their attention and effort. Both had attended the related Academy, Anthony had taught there and he was a long standing member of the Academy Board of Trustees. As early as 1908 an effort was made to offer college level courses, but though this failed, the hope remained alive. By 1928 there was a revival of local support, but the blessing of the parent Reformed Church and its governing synod remained in doubt. Anthony Te Paske was selected to make the case for the approval of a junior college program at the 1928 meeting of the General Synod. In the end, the Synod granted approval for a trial period of three years. Though the trial period led directly into the Great Depression, Northwestern Junior College survived and evolved into the solid four-year college that exists today, in no small part due to the lifelong support of Anthony and Agnes Te Paske.

Although she was active in many aspects of community life, Agnes never held elective public office, Anthony, on the other hand, was from the early days of his career, more often in than out of public office. Between 1910 and 1940 he was Mayor of Sioux Center for a total of 16 years. He served as Sioux County attorney from 1915 until 1921 and in the Iowa House of representatives during the sessions of 1931, 1943, and 1945.

Anthony was further deeply involved in the affairs of the community, not only through his practice of law but also through membership/chairmanship of the board of the Frist National Bank from 1910 until his death in 1946.

Although he was a conspicuously social and public person, Anthony loved the solitude of his garden and the orchard that contained many apple trees and grape vines. For many years it was one of the rites of passage for the youth of the community to snitch apples and grapes from Anthony’s “Eden”, a tradition which he regarded with benign amusement clearly reflected in his own report to the Harvard classmates in a 50th reunion record: “Our home is a three-acre plot on the edge of town.
There’s a grove, some shade trees, and fruit trees, nearly all of my own planting; grape vines, and shrubbery, and a garden where I get my fun and exercise. And life flows gently as the murmuring brook. My hobby: gardening. My obsession: Children.

Agnes was 67 when her husband died on February 11, 1946, but not prepared to retire into her grief,. Sioux Center had never has a true hospital and she was credited for arousing community interest in meeting this need. The ‘peace dividend” of 1945 made some federal monies available for rural hospitals and jolted the community into action. At a February 20, 1946, Agnes was appointed to membership in the finance committee assigned to raise the required local two-thirds of the projected costs. She was only one member of the committee but she took the job seriously and threw herself whole heartedly into the task. The subsequent success of the project was one of the crowning achievements in her long career of community service and she remained enthusiastically involved with the hospital until her own death in an automobile accident on Jun 10, 1954.

The Te Paskes had three children, Amy Ruth, born on May 12, 1908, was adopted and came to live with the family on March 1, 1913. She married Ralph Broad, now deceased in 1933 and lived in Quincy, Michigan. Maurice Anthony, born on January 5, 1916, died on July 13, 1976. Adelphos Herman (Del) was born November 28, 1917 and still resides in Sioux Center.

Submitted by A. H. Te Paske

RESEARCH NOTES add by Wilma J. Vande Berg
See the separate Bios family story of immigrant Hendrik Jan (Te Bokkel) Te Paske family for information.

OBITUARY OF ANTHONY TE PASKE - ANTHONY TE PASKE DIES AT 77 YEARS
Anthony Te Paske died at his home here early Monday morning [Feb. 11] from a stroke suffered two weeks ago. Funeral services were held on Wednesday, at 1 p.m. at the home and at 1:30 p.m. at the First Reformed Church; burial was in the local cemetery.
Mr. Te Paske was 77 years of age last October. He took an active part in his law practice until about 1 year ago when he retired to spend more time in the horticulture work he had adopted as a hobby many years ago.
Mr. Te Paske was born in a log cabin on a farm in southern Minnesota on October 15, 1868. He came to Sioux County with his parents in 1874, only a few years after the first pioneers opened up these prairies.
He graduated from Grinnell college and Harvard University law school. After teaching for four years in the Northwestern Classical Academy he came to Sioux Center and opened a law office in 1897. During the 48 years since then Mr. Te Paske has taken an active part in community and political affairs, serving 35 years in elective offices. He served as mayor of Sioux Center for 16 years, as county attorney for 12 years, and was serving his third term as state representative at the time of his death.
Mr. Te Paske developed a large and successful law practice, served for 35 years as vice-president of the First National Bank of Sioux Center, and became a substantial land owner. A hard working thrifty man he found time to serve on boards of charitable institutions, a college, to promote community improvement projects, and to take several trips to Europe with his family.
In 1903 he married Agnes Dykstra, a school teacher, now a member of the Iowa bar. Besides his wife he is survived by three children, Mrs. Ralph Broad of Quincy, Mich.; Maurice and Adelphos, both of Sioux Center, and four grandchildren.
Honorary pall bearers included P. B. Mouw, F. C. Aue, H. K. Eggink, H. J. Schalekamp, George DeRuyter, John Boeyink. Active pall bearers were Gerrit E. DenHerder, Harold Shoemaker, Hon. M. D. Van Osterhout, P. J. Haverhals, John Van Gorkum, Rev. Jacob Heemstra. Mrs. H. Moret and Sade Vander Stoep were in charge of the flowers.
Speaker Harold Felton of the state house of representatives appointed eight representatives to attend the funeral: A. H. Avery, Spencer; B. L. Datisman, Inwood; Clint L. Fletcher, Ocheyedan; Oscar Peterson, Alta; Robert Carlson, Sioux City; Warren E. Simonson, Quimby; Charles S. Van Eaton, Sioux City; and Harry E. Watson, Sanborn.
Source: Sioux Center News, Feb. 14, 1946.
The obituary includes a photograph.

* * * * * * * * * *
A shorter obituary, also with a photograph, appeared in the Sioux County Capital, Feb. 14, 1946:
HON. ANTHONY TE PASKE DIES AT SIOUX CENTER
Death came early Monday morning to the Hon. Anthony Te Paske, 77, one of Sioux County's most prominent citizens. He had suffered a stroke two weeks ago. Funeral services were held at the home and in the First Reformed Church in Sioux Center Wednesday afternoon. In charge of the services were Rev. B. D. Dykstra, Rev. R. Meengs, and Rev. O. Breen. Burial was at Sioux Center.
Mr. Te Paske, who was State Representative at the time of his death, was a pioneer of this county. He was born in a log cabin in Minnesota, but came here in 1874. He was graduated from Grinnell College and Harvard University. He taught English and Greek for four years, and always held his interest in the better and worthwhile things of life.
An attorney since 1897, he served Sioux Center as mayor for 16 years, and he was county attorney for 12 years. He was a leading figure in State Republican circles. He also was Vice-president of the First National Bank at Sioux Center for 35 years, and served as chairman of the Board of Directors. He travelled abroad with his family in 1910 and 1936. He served in the 44th, 50th, 50th extra, and 51st general assemblies.
In 1903 he married Agnes Dykstra, a school teacher and a member of the Iowa bar. Besides his wife, he is survived by his sons, Maurice and Adelphos of Sioux Center, and a daughter, Mrs. Ralph Broad of Quincy, Michigan.
[Repeats the list of official representatives at the funeral.]

* * * * * * * * * *
An obituary in the Alton Democrat, Feb. 14, 1946, adds the following information:
Adelphos was recently appointed to a diplomatic post in Germany after his release from the U.S. Army, in which he rose from private to the rank of captain during his long service in the South Pacific.
Maurice has recently taken over his father's extensive law practice and land interests.
Agnes Te Paske is characterized at the time of their wedding as a "brilliant young school teacher."
In 1936 they took their two sons on a European tour after attending the International Sunday School convention in Oslo, Norway.
Mr. Te Paske, with his good wife, originated the adult citizenship school for the instruction of foreigners in the principles of American government and for some years he and Mrs. Te Paske taught these citizenship classes in their own home. Always interested in youth, he was a leader of young people in church and community affairs. Widely read, he was an impressive public speaker. Republican in politics, he was conservative but not narrow in his views, an internationalist in policy. In his law practice and extensive business responsibilities his reputation was that of unvarying integrity and fair dealing.

From the Sioux County Capital, Feb. 21, 1946 (and other newspapers):
CARD OF THANKS
Anthony Te Paske -- husband, father, grandfather -- liked to use a favorite verse to express his appreciation of friends. May we quote it now to convey our gratitude for all that was spoken, all that was written, all that was given, and all that was done to honor him and to console us.
"But far between and though few they be,
Are good grand souls in this world of shame.
And the love and the lilies they send to me
Are more than fortune and more than fame.
And when I remember these royal men
I rise renewed in my sense and my soul
And I take up the trials of life again
And again press on to a golden goal."
Agnes Te Paske
Amy Te Paske Broad
Ralph Broad
Philip Anthony Broad age 7
Maurice Anthony Te Paske
Vera Kreykes Te Paske
Maureen Agnes age 4
Derrick Anthony five months
Adelphos Herman Te Paske
Yette Ramaker Te Paske
Baby Juliana born Feb. 10

OBITUARY OF AGNES MRS. ANTHONY TEPASKE

MRS. ANTHONY TEPASKE DIES IN COLLISION NEAR CHICAGO
Members of M. A. Te Paske Family Hurt Seriously When Car Hits Truck; Funeral Held Tuesday
A collision of a station wagon driven by Maurice A. Te Paske and a large gravel truck during a driving rain storm last Thursday afternoon [June 10] in a northern suburb of Chicago resulted in the death of Mrs. Anthony Te Paske and the injury of all members of Maurice's family.
Listed in critical condition immediately following the accident were Mrs. Vera Te Paske and their daughter Maureen, both of whom are still in the Little Company of Mary hospital in Chicago. Less seriously hurt were Maurice, who suffered bruises and a cut on his forehead and the two boys, Derrick and Bradley. The boys suffered only shock and minor bruises.
Mrs. Vera Te Paske received a serious back injury and received immediate surgery. While she was reported to be making good progress yesterday, it seems likely that she will be hospitalized several weeks. Maureen suffered a ruptured spleen and required emergency surgery. Her condition was reported critical until Sunday. She will be released to return home this week-end.
Mrs. Anthony Te Paske died of a broken neck. She was riding in the front seat along side of her son, on 4-Lane Highway
The accident occurred at 3:20 p.m. on a four lane highway north of Chicago. The family had been at Buck Hills Falls, Pa., where Maurice had attended the Reformed church synod meeting. They had taken a short vacation in the East and were on their way home from Quincy, Mich., where Mrs. Anthony Te Paske's daughter, Mrs. Amy Broad, lives.
The truck driver, Jacob Kats, 24, of Chicago, told police officers he had stopped at a stop sign and was driving through the intersection when the station wagon hit the truck. Maurice Te Paske said it didn't appear that the truck driver had seen his car approaching.
Brakes and an attempt to swerve to miss the truck failed in an effort to avoid the collision. The station wagon crashed into the truck at about the mid point. The truck driver, Kats, was charged with reckless homicide. Te Paske's station wagon was a total loss.
Maurice was released from the hospital Saturday morning and flew home with his two sons to take charge of funeral arrangements for his mother. Mr. and Mrs. Adelphos Te Paske arrived a short time later from Mexico, where he has been stationed with the State Department.
Funeral Held
Funeral services for Mrs. Agnes Te Paske were held Tuesday afternoon in the First Reformed church following a brief prayer service in the home. Rev. P. A. De Jong officiated and arrangements were under the direction of the Vander Ploeg Funeral home.
Special music was furnished by John Wesselink, who sang two numbers, "Precious Jewels" and "Shall We Gather at the River," and by Mrs. James Wandscheer, who sang "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and "Be Still My Soul." Mrs. Edward Bolluit was the organist.
Honorary pall bearers were P. J. Haverhals, F. C. Aue, H. K. Eggink, John Boevink, H. J. Schalekamp and Gerrit Doornwaard. Active pall bearers were John Van Gorkum, Gerrit E. Den Herder, Elmer Den Herder, George De Royter, P. B. Mouw and H. J. Ramaker. Interment was in the Sioux Center Community Cemetery.
Mrs. Agnes Te Paske was born Aug. 7, 1878, at Pingjum, Friesland, Netherlands, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. R. Dykstra. In June, 1882, she came to Sioux Center with her parents. At the age of 16 she became a school teacher after graduating from Northwestern Academy at Orange City. She was married to Anthony Te Paske July 2, 1903. Later, in 1909, she was admitted to the bar and became an able assistant to her husband in his law practice here.
Civic Leader
Mrs. Te Paske was very active in civic and social affairs in the community and was a leader in the temperance movement in the county for many years. At a time when many immigrants were settling in the county, she took a special interest in Americanization and encouraged hundreds to become citizens in their adopted land. It is said that she has welcomed more than a thousand new citizens at ceremonies in the court house in Orange City.
She took an active interest in her church where she was a Sunday school teacher for 60 years. She was a member of many church groups and societies and worked actively for the church's missions. In her later life she devoted countless days toward the establishment of the Community hospital, and it was one of the great highlights in her life when the institution opened its doors to serve the community.
Woman of Achievement
Rarely seeking credit for herself, she nonetheless deserved the praise that was given her privately on countless occasions. She was a Woman of Achievement choice of the Sioux City Sunday Journal in October, 1948. In the same year she flew alone to Amsterdam as an accredited visitor to the World Council of Churches. In 1936 she and her husband were delegates to a world Sunday school convention at Oslo, Norway. Her last trip out of the country was taken a year ago when she attended an international temperance convention in Vancouver, B.C. in the company of her granddaughter Maureen Te Paske.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1946. She is survived by her daughter, Amy Ruth Broad, of Quincy, Michigan; her sons, Maurice Anthony and Adelphos Herman, both of Sioux Center, and six grandchildren. Mrs. Te Paske had six brothers and sisters of whom only the Rev. B. D. Dykstra of Orange City, Iowa, survives her.
Source: Sioux Center News, June 17, 1954.
The obituary includes a photo of Mrs. Te Paske.
An article in the Alton Democrat, June 27, 1903, about her upcoming wedding gives additional biographical information.

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