Groen, Zwaantje (Mrs. Albert) 1870-1920

GROEN, ZIJLSTRA, KEUNING

Posted By: Paul Van Dyke--Volunteer
Date: 2/12/2017 at 20:36:55

Source: Find A Grave

Birth: May 25, 1870
Death: May 17, 1920

Zwaantje (= Little Swan) Zijlstra was born in May 1870 in the town of Drachten, located in the eastern part of the Dutch northern province Friesland, son of Rienk Reins Zijlstra (35 years old, carpenter) and Geertje Keuning.

On July 6, 1885 Zwaantje Zijlstra, 15 years old, arrived with her parents and six siblings on the S.S. Pieter Caland from the city of Nijmegen in east Netherland at the port of New York, Castle Garden. Their destination was not mentioned, but the Zijlstras established between the River Missouri and Platte, Charles Mix County, in southeast South Dakota the Dutch-Frisian agrarian settlement Friesland. In 1890 310 Dutch lived in the colonies Friesland, Nieveen and Old Platte.

On February 13, 1899 she married at Nieveen near the Dutch settlement Platte in Charles Mix County, South Dakota, Albert J. Groen, who is also born in Friesland.

In June 1900 Zwaantje (30 year, born in May 1870 in the Netherlands) and her husband Albert Groen (29, February 1871, Netherlands, farmer) were living at a rented farm in Signal Township near Platte.

They had in 1904 and 1906 two daughters, Anna and Gertrude (Gertie) Groen. The couple lived on a rented farm until 1907, when they purchased a home 5 miles north and 1/2 mile west of Platte, in Forbes Township.

In April 1910 Zwaantje (39), her husband Albert Groen (39), and their daughters Anna (5), and Gertie (4), were living at their own farm in Forbes Township, Charles Mix, South Dakota.

In January 1920 Zwaantje (49, immigrated in 1885), her husband Albert J Groen (48, immigrated in 1893), and their daughters Anna (15) and Gertrude (13) were still living at their farm in Forbes Township, Charles Mix, South Dakota.

Between January and June 1920 the family Groen moved to Hull, Sioux County, located in the northwestern part of Iowa, where his wife Zwaantje Zijlstra died soon after arriving, on 17 May 1920, at the age of almost 50 years. A short message in the Alton Democrat of 1920-05-29 said: Mrs. Albert J. Groen died last Monday of pneumonia. She had been sick but a few days. The funeral was held Thursday from the Christian Reformed Church.