Letter 16
Date: June
1, 1875
Sender:
Gerrit Jan te Selle (Nebr.)
Addressee: Derk Willem te
Selle
(Note: From this
letter the envelope has been saved. Front side reads as follows):
Via Direct Steamer
D.W. te Selle
Wintersvijk
Gelderland
Kingdom of Holland
Europe
(on
the right side:)
Holland, Nebraska
June 5
(On the back
side:) 2 postage stamps
MAIL (SEALETTER)
1.
23
7
1875
ROTTERDAM
2.
WINTERSWIJK
24
JUL
8M-12M
Holland, Nebraska June
1, 1875
Dear friends:
It
is with very deep regret that I have to let you know that uncle
Christian,
at an age of almost 68 years, has changed the temporary for the
eternal on the 29th, after having problems for a couple of weeks
with his "water" (A colloquial for bladder or prostate problems).
Calm and relaxed
he passed away and will be in heaven, if it pleases the Lord, where
he will awake again in better regions and where death doesnt
exist anymore. And this is the wish of all of us. Please be so kind
and inform all his friends and let them pass on the word further,
because they are familiar with it in generations of friends.
Furthermore, we are, thanks to the Lord, healthy and happy and on
March 4 a young daughter was born which we named Dina.
Also, brother Jan Hendrik had a young son whose name is Hendrik.
He also has another son, which you did not know of yet, whose name
is Jan Albert.
They are all well and healthy. Awhile ago the wife of brother Harmen
Jan
has been released from a lifeless child. They are all doing well
too. The three children of brother Harmen Jan
want to visit and stay with you , if that pleases you.
In your letter you ask
about the grass-hoppers (locusts) which we had here last year for
about 5 days and which did millions of dollars of damage. The wheat
was ripe. They ate everything. From 1000 acres of grain crops,
nothing was left and it seems that they have laid their eggs again
at certain spots, so there could be again millions of them, who eat
everything because they are young and can't fly yet. We hope that it
will remain spotty. On top of that, we had, before the harvest, a
big drought, as nobody had ever seen before. We couldn't bind any
wheat for two days in the night.
We could not stand facing
the wind for more than 15 minutes. We harvested 120 bushels of wheat
and I bought 35 bushels extra for 55 cents per bushel (a bushel is
60 lbs) . Brother Jan Hendrik had over 600 bushels. Harmen Jan about
the same, I don't know exactly any more. I have 100 schepelszaad
(approx. 40 acres) with wheat, 20 (approx. 8 acres) with corn.
Brother J.H. has 300 schepelszaad (approx. 120 acres) sowed and
planted (with corn). Wheat costs 85 cents, corn 60 cents, beeause it
has to be shipped here. Oats is 60 cents per bushel. 40 pounds of
potatoes is 1.50. Butter is 20 to 25. Eggs are 12 cents per dozen.
Everything on the land is growing very nicely. I am going to break
an additional 20 schepelszaad (6 acres) to make it farmland. I have
now a span of oxen 4 years old, but I cannot use them too much yet.
A lot of work I farm out. If I can work for it, then I still make
the same money a day as somebody with two horses. That's what I
would rather do because even with a magnifying glass you can't find
any money around here.
You were also asking me
about the oil which was found in the state of Pennsylvania. I have a
neighbor who is English, and he told me that he worked in the
oilpatch, but that's very far from here. This state alone is 72.000
square miles.
Please thank cousin Albertus
for his nice letter and beautiful (7) writing, and I hope that he
may reap the fruits from this talent (to beautiful handwriting).
lt is night now and I
must end with my wish for you to receive the blessings of the Lord.
Please accept our regards.
G.J. te Selle
(added on the sideline
of page 2)
Last week G. te
Bremelstroete arrived from Wisconsin. They are staying with brother
Jan Hendrik.
(added
on the sideline of page 4)
Albert
is going to school and shows good progress in English.
.
"Uncle Christian" ‑ he may have been Christian
Graaskamp, husband of Harmina (nee te Selle) Graaskamp.
Information received in 1990 from D. Willem Wilterdink,
Winterswijk, reflects the followings Harmina was a sister of Jan
Albert te Selle (1800‑1845) ... father of the three Te Selle
brothers who came to Nebraska. She was born In 1813. In 1850 she
married Christiaan Graaskamp (born 1807). The Graaskamps came to
America with the Gerrit Jan te Selle family. (Derk Willem
Wilterdink is a descendant of Tobias te Selle (born 1830), a
brother of the three Te Selle brothers who settled in Nebraska.
If
Christian Graaskamp died on May 29, 1875, he would have been age
68 as shown in the letter. Derk Willem Wilterdink is a
deseendant of Tobias te Selle (bern 1830), a brother of the
three Te Selle brothers who settled in Nebraska.
.
Dina (also known as Dena in Hebraska), was born
on March 4, 1875.
She was married to John Berend Sikkink. Her date of death, April
1944.
.
Hendrik (Henry) Te Selle was born in February 1875, deceased
November 1960. He was married to Martha Wismer.
.
John Henry Te Selle (or Jan Hendrik te Selle,
born 1838), had a son
by
name of John Albert (Jan Albert as shown in the letter). He was
born June 1873 and deceased November 1954. He was known as
Albert and was married to Hannah Walvoord.
.
Harmen
Jans
wife in June 1875 would have been Berendiena Aleida Reusink
Schreurs. (H. J.s
first wife)
.
H. J.s
three children in June 1875 would have been: Dela Te Selle (born
April 1868 in Wisconsin); she was married to Dick Abbink.
H. J.s
second child was William (Bill) born in Nebraska in September
1871; he was married to Clara Bade.
The son of H. J.s
first wife, Berendiena, was named Manus John Schreurs. (These
are possibly the "three
Gerrit Jan was referring to.)
.
Jan
Albert te Selle (*03.03.1865, oldest son of Derk Willem te
Selle) At that moment in the elementary school.
.
This
"Albert" is Gerrit Jans
son. He was born in the Netherlands in September 1869. He was
known as Jan Albert (John Albert in Nebraska), Albert. J. A.,
and A. J. He was married to Minnie Sikkink and died in April
1941.
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