VanSteenwyk, John, 1859-1940

VANSTEENWYK, LECOCQ, WELD

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 2/3/2022 at 11:06:18

From the Sioux Center News, March 7, 1940:

Former Pioneer School Teacher Passes Away

John Van Steenwyk, former pioneer school teacher in this community, passed away at his home in Texas, according to word received here by his brother, W. A. Van Steenwyk, last week. He was eighty years of age.

John Van Steenwyk came here with his parents in 1870 from Pella. At the age of 15 he worked in a printing office in Orange City while attending school, later coming to Sioux Center to teach at the age of 18 years. He boarded with the Kosters family who resided in the house now occupied by Mrs. J. Reisma which was at that time a farm. Later he studied law and was a practicing attorney for a good many years, until his health began to fail. He went south and has lived in Texas since.

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From the Amarillo (Texas) Globe-Times, February 22, 1940:

John Van Steenwyk Dies in Amarillo

John Van Steenwyk, 80-year-old Amarilloan, died this morning at 3:15 o’clock in a local hospital following an illness of several days.

He had been a resident of Amarillo for 17 years, coming here from Stamford where he was president of the Stamford Mill and Elevator company, in which company he owned a controlling interest. He went to Stamford in 1926 from Hamilton. He practiced law in Hamilton and Hico for several years. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1893. The family home is at 4212 West 12th Avenue.

His wife, Mrs Maye Van Steenwyk, is critically ill at Northwest Texas Hospital. He is also survived by two daughters, Mrs. Charles B. Boyd of Dallas, who was at the bedside, Mrs. C. L. Upshaw of Oakland, Cal.; and two sons, J. C. Van Steenwyk of Phoenix, Ariz., and D. E. Van Steenwyk of Long Beach, Cal.

The body is in state at the Boxwell Brothers Funeral Chapel, pending the completion of funeral arrangements.

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Two articles posted on his FindaGrave.com page:

From the Stamford Leader, March 15, 1940:
[transcriber’s note: there are a few apparent missing words and other oddities in the following article; the original newspaper could not be located online to verify or correct them]

J. Van Steenwyk recently died at his home in Amarillo, also that his wife was sick. Mrs. Van Steenwyk passed away a few days ago. The aged couple had been married for more than 64 years.

Mrs. P.P. Berthelot and the Van Steenwyks were great friends here in the early history of Stamford. The two families arrived here about 1901.

Mrs. Van Steenwyk’s couple were the parents of three children: Stella Van Steenwyk, Lucy Van Steenwyk, and Douglas Van Steenwyk. Stella died a couple of years ago. She was the wife of Tommy Croom, whom many of remember and Tommy passed away several years later. Lucy married Charlie Boyd, the family now living in Dallas, and they are the parents of a son, George. They also raised Tommy Croom, and are raising two adopted boys. Charlie Boyd was for some time connected with The Stamford Leader in every capacity nearly, with the exception of being a linotyper.

The Van Steenwyks were very prominent people in Stamford for years. Besides being the manager of the mill that now is the property of the Scott Brothers, Bill and Jim, John Van Steenwyk was among the leaders of Stamford, being mayor and holding other important positions of honor when he was a citizen here.

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(from the journal of the Universalist young people, "Onward", Vol. III,No. 18, June 5, 1896, page 70.)

J. VAN STEENWYK
President of the Texas Y.P.C.U. [Young People's Christian Union of the Universalist]

Was born in the little Dutch town of Pella, in Marion County, Iowa, July 12th, 1859.

His parents were emigrants from Holland, settling in the then western wilds in 1847. In 1871 he removed with them to Orange City, Iowa, then an open prairie. Two years later he had the misfortune to lose his mother, and being the eldest of a family of seven, began the struggle of life on his own account at the age of fourteen. By working spare time in a printing office he managed to complete a good common school education, and at the age of eighteen he began teaching in a country school. He continued to teach and study for four years having determined to enter the profession of law. In 1883 he went to So. Dakota, then a territory just opened to settlement. Here he was for a time engaged in various successful enterprises, and elected County Justice of his County. In July 1884 he was married at Pennington, Iowa, to Miss May L. Weld, a native of Illinois, but with the bluest of Yankee blood in her veins. In 1887, the young people meeting with reverses, determined to remove to the South, and after some time settled in the little village of Black Springs, in one of the most romantic and mountainous parts of Arkansas. Here Mr. Van Steenwyk entered in earnest upon the study and practice of his chosen profession, without any distracting influences, and rose rapidly. Though declining to enter the field of politics, he was appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction for the County of his residence. In the spring of 1893, in order to find a larger field for his professional labors, he resigned his position and removed to Texas, settling in Hico, being attracted to this little city among other things by the fact that it had then the only Universalist church in the State, he having embraced this faith some years before. He is now enjoying a large and successful practice with bright prospects for the future; is a deacon in All Souls Universalist Church, and has just been reelected president of the local Union at Hico. Of his five children, three are active members of the Union. It takes just a dime every Sunday to pay the Two Cents a Week pledges for the five Unioners in the family, Mrs. Van Steenwyk, though a Presbyterian, also being an active member.

Notes:
1. Per an affidavit filed in Hamilton County, Mr. Van Steenwyk's first name was John.

2. Per a note on an ancestry.com board, J. Van Steenwyk served as Mayor of Stamford and passed away in Amarillo in the spring of 1940.
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Interment: February 24, 1940
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son of Abram Van Steenwyk and Maria Johanna Cornelia Le Cocq
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He married Mae Lee Weld on July 25, 1884 in Edgerton, Minnesota.

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His death certificate (informant J. G. Van Steenwyk, Phoenix, Ariz.) has John Van Steenwyk, residence 4212 W. 11th Street, Amarillo, Texas; born July 12, 1859 in Pilla[sic], Iowa; parents’ names not known to the informant; wife May Van Steenwyk (“married” is typed in, then crossed out); occupation, retired grain dealer; died in the North West Texas Hospital, Amarillo, at 3:15 a.m. February 22, 1940; cause, myocardial weakness and uremia; buried in Llano Cemetery, Amarillo.

His FindaGrave.com page adds his parents, Abram Van Steenwyk (1830-1900) and Maria Johanna Cornelia LeCocq (1836-1973); long list of siblings and half-siblings; wife Mae Lee Weld Van Steenwyk (1863-1940). Three children listed: Stella Mable Van Steenwyk Croom (1891-1918), Douglas Edgerton VanSteenwyk (1892-1962), Lucy Belle VanSteenwyk Boyd (1894-1986). There is a photo of his headstone.

The 1900 U.S. census shows John and family living in Hico, Hamilton County, Texas, where he is working as a lawyer: John (40) and May L. (38), married 16 years; children Florence E. (15), Edith M. (13), John G. (11), Stella M. (9), Lucy B. (7), and Douglas E. (3). In 1910 they are living in Stamford, Jones County, Texas with all children except Florence; he is a wholesale merchant for a flour mill. In 1920 John (60), May (57) and their grandson Chester H. Croom (1-2/12) are in Stamford; John is a miller. The 1923 Amarillo city directory shows him as manager for Marvel Products Company, wholesale batteries, tires and accessories. In 1930 John (70) and Mae L. (68) are in Amarillo, where he is a district manager, stationery supplies; they are living in the same house as their son Douglas E., his wife and daughter.

The Sioux County marriage register for 1884 has groom John van Steenwyk, age 26, residence Dartington, Dak., a farmer, born in Pella, parents Abram van Steenwyk and M. L. C. Lecocq; bride May Lee Weld, age 23, resident of Settler Township, born in Marion Afle Co., Illinois, parents M. D. Weld and E. E. Eaton; married at the residence of M. D. Weld, Sioux County, July 23, 1884.

A brief report on their marriage was published in the Sioux County Herald (Orange City), August 7, 1884: MARRIED—On Wednesday afternoon, July 23, by Rev. Soule of Canton, Dakota, Mr. John Van Steenwyk and Miss May F. Weld. There were no cards and but few invitations; only a few neighbors and intimate friends of both parties were present at the ceremony…. John has taken his bride to his home in Douglas county, Dakota.