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| Minnie Vander Wal Braaksma |
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| Dewey (Doeke) Braaksma |
It all began with great-grandparents John and Anna Braaksma who sailed from Holland on the "Rijndam" the morning of April 10, 1909. The ship's manifest lists John (age 43) and Anna (38) as man and wife and able to read and write. With them were their eight children, Dewey (17), John (15), twins Jesse and Ray (11), Jennie (9), Peter (6), Frank (2), and baby Albert (1).
The ship's manifest documented the family's final destination, Friesland, Wis., a farming community. A family friend, Jesse Wiersma of Cambria, Wis., paid $244 for the family's passage from Holland.
Grandpa Dewey was the oldest of the children. As a teenager, he was already working as a farmer in Holland and had the occupation "farmer" on the manifest. He was described with brown hair and gray eyes, the same as his father. His mother, Anna, was described with brown hair and blue eyes.
Dewey was born, March 3, 1892, in Morra, Oostdongeradeel, Netherlands.
"Minnie," Minerva Vander Wal, was born May 6, 1899, in Hilversem, Netherlands. Her father was Henry Vander Wal and her mother was Dena Reise. The details of Minnie's immigration from Holland are unknown. Minnie had a sister, Anna, who came to America as well. She and her husband, Alvin, were farmers in Wisconsin. Anna kept the cleanest house in all of Wisconsin, and watching her and Minnie sit around the kitchen table and jabber away was a delight for me, even as a child.
Minnie and Dewey were married, March 7, 1917, in Friesland, Wis., which is when the adventure began. I wish I knew how it started - how they met. How they fell in love. And what it was like for these two immigrants from Holland, who raised a family of ten, John Dewey, Walter, Ann, Harold, Dena, Raymond, Betty Jane, Peter Gene, Marvin,and Donald Wayne.
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Thanks to family historian and second cousin Doug Braaksma we have the Dewey Braaksma family heritage of Great Grandparents John and Anna Braaksma. Doug, a grandson of Ray Braaksma, compiled the family genealogy in 2002 after extensive research, a genealogy program, and two trips to the Netherlands.
Information on the Minnie-Dewey genealogy was provided by Mrs. Sam (Ann Braaksma) Meekma and Mrs. Mervin (Dena Braaksma) Olson, the two eldest daughters of Minnie and Dewey.
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Click to see the front side of the manifest listing the John and Anna Braaksma family
Click to see the back side of the manifest listing the John and Anna Braaksma family
Minnie, a Fascinating Grandmother
Several years earlier, Grandma Minnie and my Aunts Jane and Ann drove
from Randolph, Wis., to Aurora, Ill., for a visit. When I gave them a
tour of our house, Grandma Minnie spotted a coffee and tea service I had
collected, stamped with a windmill and "Made in Holland." She loved
it so that I sent it home with her, pleased that I had something she
found so delightful.
Later my uncle informed me that when Minnie arrived home with the trophy coffee and tea set, he was put in charge of polishing it, and he polished and polished the pots, tray, creamer and sugar bowl, making every attempt to bring out a shine. Unfortunately, it was Dutch pewter, and no matter how long he polished, it never would twinkle and shine like silver. I could have saved him some elbow grease had I thought for a minute that Minnie was thinking my coffee set was sterling.
Something happened on that trip from Randolph that remains one of my favorite memories of Grandma Minnie. When I opened the door to welcome her into our home, Jane, Ann and Minnie were laughing amongst themselves, jabbering, and in the middle of this great story with Minnie standing barefoot in her stockings on my doorstep.
Turns out, for the road trip, Ann baked sandwich rolls and Jane brought Wisconsin cheese, and they stopped midway at a rest stop to eat a cheese sandwich. And, no doubt, there were home-canned pickles, too.
Well, Minnie didn't wear her shoes in the car as they traveled but instead carried them in a brown paper sack. She would pull them out and stuff them back in the sack, depending on whether she was in or out of the car. Unfortunately, the cheese and the rolls were in similar paper sacks. When they threw out their lunch sacks, Minnie also threw out her shoe sack, unknowingly.
So, when they arrived to Aurora and Minnie couldn't find her shoe sack, the light bulb went on and she realized she had tossed her shoes along with the leftovers. It was a mishap, and she took it with the same resilient good humor she did everything, and that is why I loved her so. I will always remember her standing at my back door, barefooted, and tickled because she threw out her shoes at a rest stop.
Whenever Minnie entered a room, you knew something good was about to happen ....
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