Boersma, Kornelius, 1847-1940

BOERSMA, EISENGA, EZENGA, MIEDEMA

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 3/24/2022 at 22:06:12

From the Alton Democrat, October 18, 1940, Hospers news:

Funeral services were held Monday afternoon at the Presbyterian church here for Cornelius Boersma, who died at his home at Clear Lake, S.D., last Thursday at the age of 93 years. Mr. Boersma, a carpenter by trade, lived in the Hospers community for many years prior to his removal to Clear Lake 20 years ago. Surviving are two grandsons, Cornelius Boersma of St. Louis, Mo., and Henry Boersma of Hospers. Funeral services were in charge of Rev. R. B. Budd with interment at the Presbyterian cemetery.

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RESEARCH NOTES

The nearby Sioux County Capital, which might also have contained an obituary, is missing for this time period.

The Sioux County Cemetery Index has Boersma, Kornelius, b. 1847, d. 1940, Vet US WW, Presb. Cemetery Hospers IA. His FindaGrave.com page adds his spouse, Aaltje IJsinga Boersma (1841-1924) and a photo of his headstone. (Aaltje’s page has a photo of her headstone giving her birth name as Eisenga; she is also buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery at Hospers.)

The South Dakota Death Index on Ancestry.com has Boersma, Karnelis, died 10 Oct 1940 in Deuel, SD.

Family tree information on Ancestry.com has Kornelis Gerrits Boersma, born 17 Jan 1847 in Kollum, Kollumerland C.A., Friesland, Netherlands; parents Gerrit Lubberts Boersma and Janke Harkes Miedema; died 10 Oct 1940 in Deuel County, South Dakota; wife Aaltje Baukes IJzinga Eisenga (or Ezenga) (1841-1924); married 21 April 1875 in ‘s-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; they had at least one son, Gerrit Kornelis Boersma (1883-1917).

WieWasWie.nl has a birth index record for Kornelis Boersma, parents Gerrit Lubberts Boersma and Janke Harkes Miedema, born 17 Jan 1847 in Kollumerland c.a., Friesland. A marriage index record from The Hague, Netherlands, shows him marrying Aaltje IJsinga (parents Bauke Luitjens IJsinga and Hiske Jacobs Fokkens) in The Hague on 21 April 1875.

New York ships’ passenger lists on Ancestry.com show Cornelis Boersma (age 36), a carpenter, with Aaltje (age 41) and Gerrit (age 1?) emigrating from Holland via the port of Antwerp, Belgium, destination Hospers, Iowa, arriving in New York on 10 March 1883 on the SS Belgenland.

The 1885 Iowa state census has Cornelious (age 37) and Altje (age 42) Boersma and their 1-year-old son Gerit living in Floyd Township, Sioux County; he is a carpenter. They were not readily located in the 1900 U.S. census. The 1910 census for Hospers has Cornelius Boersma, age 63, married 36 years, born in Holland, immigrated 1883, naturalized, speaks English, a laborer for a contractor; and wife Aaltje, age 68, mother of 5 children, 1 living, immigrated in 1883, speaks Hollander. In 1920, as Cornelius (73) and Ella (78) Boersma, they are still living in Hospers, both naturalized, he has no occupation. In 1930 (name spelled Kornelius), age 83, he is living in Havana township, Deuel County, South Dakota, with his widowed niece Margaret Douglas, a poultry farmer. In 1940 (name spelled Kornelis) they are still living there; Margaret does housework in a private home.