Tangled Webs in Doornspijk and Oldebroek

My Labots ancestors lived in the village of Velp in the southern part of Gelderland. My 4th great grand uncle Klaas Labots (1726-1789), however, moved from Velp to Doornspijk, a village in the far northern corner of Gelderland. Consider the geographic location of Doornspijk. Although it is located in the middle of the Netherlands, the area is relatively isolated. Dornspijk is in a rural area bounded to the north-west by the Zuiderzee, to the south by the Veluve, and to the north-east by the IJssel. At Doornspijk, this area is no more than four kilometers wide. Considering the isolation of this area, it should come as no surprise that tangled webs of interrelationships are easy to find. In this essay, I begin an investigation that will continue over several blog postings.

Northern Gelderland in the 19th Century

Here's the drop chart for today's study. The people marked in blue are distant cousins. To keep track of the people, I suggest opening the image in a new browser window.

Interrelationships in Doornspijk and Oldebroek

Where to begin with this tangled web? First, I should point out that although I have Moll ancestors, also from Velp, the Mol's listed here are unrelated, as far as I know. Wilhelmus Mol (c1745-1800) was born in Körrenzig in the Duchy of Jülich, now part of Germany, and at some point moved to Oldebroek. His daughter Agatha Mol (1780-1829) married my distant cousin Aart Labots (1768-1833).

Now on to the tangles: Consider Gijsbert Koster (1794-1872). He married twice, first to Geertje Schoonhoven (1796-1827), and later to Christina Labots (1805-1871). Geertje and Christina were first cousins once removed.

Christina's brother Jan Labots (1808-1846) was the first husband of Marrigje Juffer (1818-1887). Her second husband Aalt Koster (1825-1898) was a child of the previously mentioned Gisjbert Koster and Geertje Schoonhoven, and second cousin of Jan Labots. In addition, Jan Labots' aunt Geertje Wilhelmus Mol (1776-1848) was married to Marrigje Juffer's uncle Harmen Harmsz Juffer (1772 -1832).

Moving down a generation, we find two brothers Beerd van de Weg (1837-1916) and Aalt van de Weg (1840-1916) marrying the two sisters Agatha Koster (1839-1885) and Aaltje Koster (1841-1914). After the death of Agatha, Beerd married again, to Agatha's first cousin Christina Labots (1853-1922).

There are more children of Wilhelmus Labots and Marrigje Kragt. In a future epistle, I'll discuss the interrelations between the spouses of some of those children.

One more thing before I forget. It appears that, after the death of Klaas Labots in 1789, his son Aart Labots followed in his father's footsteps, and took over his job of sexton of the church in Oosterwolde. On the last page of a church burial book for Oosterwolde, just past the year 1789, you can find this fancy signature. Such rare artwork is a pleasant treat to discover in the old church books.

Aart Labots' signature, 1789