Early 19th Century van der Kloots
The beginnings of 19th Century van der Kloot history began in 1786 when Marinus van der Kloot married Adriaantje Jagt in Oud-Vossemeer (Old Lake Vosse) on the Island of Tholen, province of Zeeland. The island of Tholen, located in southwest Netherlands, is a medium sized island and is about 11 miles long and about 6 miles wide. It was and is still an agricultural and fishing center. It was here on Oud-Vossemeer that the van der Kloots owned land for going back to at least the late 17th century and where they appear to have chosen the name van der Kloot.

Marinus and Adrianntje had 7 children between 1787 and 1806; two of which would establish the van der Kloots name in Texel. These were their third son Adrianus Matthijs van der Kloot born 19 January 1798 and Jacob born 5 May 1806. It was their skills in carpentry and smithing that caused them to be contracted in the 1830s and 1840s by the expanding town of De Cocksdorp to build needed churches, homes and tools. Two of Adrianus Matthijs van der Kloot sons and many of his grandchildren would sail to America and continue their forge work in the building of Chicago from after the great fire of 1871 until the late 1920s.

In Holland, the Vanderkloot surname was written as three separate words "van der Kloot". After arriving in America, the name almost always was written as a single word "Vanderkloot" but occasionally as "Vander Kloot". It is useful to note that in an alphabetized Dutch listing of Vanderkloots that the surname is listed with the "K's". For consistency in this story "van der Kloot" will be used when referring to names and events which occurred prior to the Vanderkloot arrival in America.

Adrianus Matthijs van der Kloot is my ggg-grandfather and my Adrianus Vanderkloot's grandfather. In the early 1820s, Adrianus Matthijs van der Kloot married by ggg-grandmother Maatje Dominé, most likely in or around Middelharnis.

Maatje Dominé was born on January 6, 1804 in Middelharnis on the Island of Goeree-Overflakkee in the Province of Zuid-Holland. The parents of Maatje Dominé were Matthijs Dominé and Teuntje Sloot. Teuntje is the female version of Teun or Teunis and Teuntje is an abbreviation of Antonia, Teunis of Antonius. In English Antonius is Anthony [MK].

Adrianus and Maatje had two sons: Marinus van der Kloot and Matthijs van der Kloot and four daughters: Teuntje, Janettje, Martina, and Adriantje. Marinus was born on November 7, 1824, exact locality unknown. Matthijs was born on January 8, 1827 in the town of Middelharnis on the Island of Goeree-Overflakkee in the province of Zuid-Holland (South Holland). The Island of Goeree-Overflakkee borders the Noord Zee (North Sea) to the West and rivers surround it on the others sides. Middelharnis is the main village on Overflakkee and during World War II the island became flooded. Middelharnis is about 130 mi. south of the Island of Texel, the boyhood home of my grandfather Adrianus.

The prefix van der appears to be predominately associated with the people of the province of Zuid-Holland, which includes Middelharnis. Several possible origins of the surname van der Kloot have been postulated. A direct translation of the word kloot means ball, sphere, or globe. Thus, van der Kloot could mean from the globe or from the balls or from the earth, another way of saying farmer. Kloot also means odd or eccentric. Another possible interpretation of van der Kloot comes by interpreting from as implying a lessee, tenant, or owner of and thus the name Kloot could possibly be the name of an estate, mansion or town where a van der Kloot once lived. In fact, recent investigations by Fred Vanderkloot, the grandson of Cornelius van der Kloot and Gertrude Kaan suggest the name may have been from the town of “De Kloot” located just north of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

In the 1900 Census for Adrianus and Martha Vanderkloot, the census taker spelled the name as Vandercloudt, suggesting a phonetic pronunciation as to what the census taker heard. In addition in the 1887 Chicago Directory, all Vanderkloots were spelled as Vanderclott. This Vanderclott sound is similar to Vandercloudt and much different than the usual American way of saying Kloot which rhymes with hoot.

Many French names are common in the Province of Zuid-Holland, suggesting that the Dominé name be of French origin. However, Dominé was also spelled Dominee, which means minister. I have been told that at the time the spelling was not yet fixed, and the two spellings sound the same.

Historically, Nederlands (Netherlands) was at various times ruled or occupied by Spain, Austria, Hungary and France. From around 1795 to 1813 as a result of the Napoleonic wars, the French occupied the Netherlands. As a result, Louis Napoleon became King of Holland from 1806 to 1810. After 1813, Holland became free of the French and the Netherlands King William I ruled from 1815 to 1840 followed by King William II from 1840 to 1849. Language wise, Dutch stems from an early Germanic base.

Off to Texel
Around 1835, the reclamation of the Polder Eijerland that joined a northern piece of land to the Island of Texel was completed. Texel is a few miles off the northwest coast of the Netherlands and is one of the West Frisian Islands. Originally, Texel and Eijerland were two separate islands but were joined by a dike in 1629/1630. This connection was continually increased by reclamation until the land came into being in 1835, almost 200 years later, the entire project approximately doubling the size of the lower island to about 20 miles with the width at about 10 miles. About 1836, Nicolas Josephus De Cock, a trader from Rotterdam and a moneylender began hiring skilled workers from around the Netherlands such as Adrianus and his brother Jacob. His purpose was to create the needed infrastructure in Eijerland to make it desirable for new inhabitants.

The book, Het Land van Texel (The Land of Texel) indicates that a Mr. J. S. M. van der Bosch made a written contract with Adrianus, the blacksmith from the village of Stellendam to settle in Cocksdorp. Mr. De Cock also arranged for the carpenter Jacob van der Kloot, brother of Adrianus, to come and build the provisional wooden farms after the impoldering of Eyerland.

Before he came, Adrianus was contracted to make 3 ploughs from a template that was common in Stellendam. Then in 1836, at age 38, Adrianus and Maatje and his family of six left their home on the Island of Overflakkee and moved about 130 miles north. Since this was too early for train travel, most likely they used a combination of horse and wagon and ships to get to their destination. Since Island of Flakkee drains to the Noord Zee to the west, it is possible they took a coastal ship north to Texel. If they took a land route they would have likely traveled north to Den Helder and crossed the Marsdiep via ferry to reach Texel.

In 1839, in the new village of De Cocksdorp, the Dutch Reformed church was built. And the Catholic Church was built in 1841. In 1841, the village of De Cocksdorp named after Nicolas Josephus de Cock, consisted of 20 dwellings housing 120 inhabitants. As a master blacksmith, Adrianus van der Kloot was involved in the planning and construction of many of the buildings in De Cocksdorp including the then new school, new clockwork for the Dutch Reform Church, and a major dike on the Island. He was also on the town council. His brother Jacob van der Kloot, the carpenter was granted the contract to build the then new Dutch Reform Church. However, the one there now is brick and may be a replacement for the one built in 1839-1841.

Adrianus and Maatje would stay in Texel for over twenty years but on March 1, 1856 at ages 58 and 52, they moved with their daughters Jannetje and Martina to Harlemmermeer, a recently drained polder on the mainland. By this time, their sons had established their own families and their daughter, Teuntje, had married Aart Numan in Texel at age 16 in 1842 and would remain there. Adrianus lived almost 20 more years in Harlemmermeer and passed away on November 17, 1874 at the age of 77. Maatje lived another 14 years in Harlemmermeer and passed away on September 12th 1888 at age 84.

Marinus van der Kloot
As Adrianus and Maatje's boys reached their mid-twenties, each decided to marry. Marinus married Meis Koning on February 22, 1849 in Texel. Her family was from Oosterend, just south of the Eijerland polder. The Konings had lived on Texel for generations. Their first son, Adrianus, was born on December 7, 1949 in Texel. However, Marinus and Meis must have then moved to the town of Zijpe in Noord Holland shortly afterwards since the next three children: Dirkje 1855), Teunis (1857) and Matthijs R. (1860) were born there. About 1860 the family moved again. Their new home was Haarlemmermeer, a new polder, where Marinus' parents, Adrianus and Maatje had moved around 1855. Here Marinus and Meise had John V., Peter Simon, and Marinus Jr. between 1861 and 1866.

In 1868, at age 44, Marinus and Meis and their six living children traveled to America and then to Chicago where Marinus would eventually begin the successful Vanderkloot Iron Works.

Matthijs van der Kloot
Adrianus and Maatje's second son, Matthijs, married Trijntje Smit on November 15th 1851 in Zijpe, Noord-Holland (North Holland). He was 24 and she was 19. Trijntje Smit was born in Kleine Sluis (Little Sluice), Zijpe on May 2nd 1832 and her parents were Klaas Smit and Aagtje Teun. Trijntje is the Dutch name for Kathryn, Klaas for Nicholas and Smit for Smith and Aagtje for Agnes. As a young girl, Trijntje was known as Mooi Tryn, which translates to pretty Kathryn. The town of Zijpe appears to be a larger geography, which includes Kleine Sluice and is south of Den Helder the gateway to Texel. According to their marriage registration (in Dutch, rather lengthy and not fully translated), Trijntje's mother was living in Zijpe but her father had died. Aletta Schodrof mentions in her Cocksdorp, Home of the Vanderkloots story that Trijntje used to visit her girlhood home with her youngest children regularly during the summers for a two-week vacation, presumably in Kleine Sluis.

After their marriage, Matthijs and Trijntje settled on the Island of Texel. Their first child, my great-grandfather Adrianus, was born on April 16th 1852 in the Polder Eijerland. Matthij's parents, Adrianus and Maatje, were still living in Texel at the time of the Matthijs and Trijntje marriage. Since it is the custom to marry in the place of origin of the bride, it is presumed Matthijs never moved from Texel and that he had only married in Zijpe but he never lived there.

By early 1854, Matthijs moved his family a few miles to De Cocksdorp where he and Trijntje were to have a combined home and blacksmith shop. Here they would raise their family and live for over thirty years. Matthijs and Trijntje had 12 children, all born in De Cocksdorp, except Adrianus who was born somewhere in huge Polder called Eijerland. Their children were: Adrianus (1852), Klaas (1854), Marinus (1855), Aagtje (1857), Pieter (1860), Maatje (1862), Matthijs (1866), Maria (1868), Jannetje (1868), Cornelius (1870), and Jan (1873) and Jacob (1876). Maria and Jacob only lived a few months. Over the years, eight would emigrate to Chicago and two, Klaas and Maatje would stay in Holland. Klaas became the village blacksmith and married Geertruide Tomas but did not have children, so there are no families named van der Kloot of Matthijs' branch left in the Netherlands today. Maatje married Pieter Teijiemaker, also spelled Zeylemaker (which translates to sail maker), the village schoolteacher and mailman. They lived on a boat and sailed around the island delivering mail. There are still Zeylemaker offspring in Texel today.

Miriam Klassen, creator of the Texel Pages, has challenged the statement that they lived on a boat and sailed around the island delivering mail as she feels "that it is not very likely that anyone lived on a boat in Texel. The sea was much too dangerous." She goes on to state that she "owns two volumes about the mail history of Texel, and there was no delivery by ship. Only between the islands Texel and Vlieland [was] there was a mail service by boat, but the skippers were members of the family Buis. I am researching where our information came from but I wrote it down in the late 1970s from relatives in Chicago. Perhaps others can alert me as to whether they have this oral history recollection of the Pieter and Maatje Zeylemaker family.

The van der Kloot home in De Cocksdorp was combined with the blacksmith shop and it was the only blacksmith's shop in the village. The original house and blacksmith shop is still standing and it is located at 47 Kikkertstraat. At the shop, Matthijs made wagon wheels, farm implements, cooking utensils, locks and keys, and church bells. The house was large and brick and set on a nice piece of land, back from the road, landscaped with trees, grass and flowers. There were also fence fields for the horses. The first floor of the house contained the living room, kitchen, office and some sleeping quarters with additional sleeping quarters upstairs. In the back yard grew a few apple, cherry and pear trees and a vegetable garden. The oven in the kitchen was large and could take over a dozen loaves of bread.

It is possible that the home and blacksmith shop were originally the home of Matthijs' father Adrianus who came to Texel in the mid-1830s and built the school and the church. Various relatives report that the tower in the church has an iron bell, which was hand cast by Matthijs and that one can climb the stairs and see his signature on the bell. There are also recollections that the church floor was originally a dirt floor.

On Sundays the farmers came into the village with horses and buggies which were hitched up at the van der Kloot Smithery. After church the farmers would drop in on the van der Kloots for a coffee or a slokie (sip) usually brandy. Since there was no other blacksmith around, times were good for the van der Kloots. If the farmers had no money the van der Kloots would accept farm produce or quarters of cattle.

One rather fun event for the van der Kloots was ice skating over the canals of Texel. To further the fun, father, Matthijs and the older boys made ice boats which could be sailed over the ice at very high-speed.

Not much is known about Adrianus' life in Holland but my mother remembers that he won a medal for his mastery of algebra which he pronounced al' ka bra. Even when he was in his 70's, Harry Schodrof remembered that his Grandpa Adrianus was very sharp in math. In fact he would try to correct Harry's method of doing long division, preferring the method he learned in Holland. Mom also recalls that at the age of 28 (about 1880) Adrianus lost his hearing and eventually became stone deaf. It is not known why or if it was total or only partial at first. His brother, Cornelius, also lost his hearing.

In the late 1870s, as the older boys moved into their 20s, they began to move to new locations, most likely to begin establishing their lives and also perhaps to get away from a crowded household with small kids. Klaas the second son was the first to go. On April 28, 1876 at age 22 he left for Brouwershaven. He would later return to Cocksdorp and take over the blacksmith shop. Adrianus was next to go. On July 13, 1877 at age 25, Adrianus moved from Texel to the Polder Anna Paulowna in Noord-Holland. Anna Paulowna is about 10 miles south of Den Helder on the mainland. He must have continued to visit Texel, though, since he did meet his future wife, Martha who was living on Texel. Marinus van der Kloot at 25 then left for Winkel on May 13, 1879. So over a three-year period the three older boys moved out.

Then in the early 1880s Adrianus and Marinus and Pieter, then in their 20s, decided to go to Chicago to work for their Uncle Marinus in his expanding iron works business. This was the first wave of the Matthijs and Trijntje van der Kloot clan moving to Chicago. They all settled within a few blocks of the Vanderkloot & Son Iron Works as it was then called, sometimes living with their uncle, sometimes with each other. Adrianus had been a carpenter when he left Holland, but became a blacksmith in Chicago and years later became a foreman. Peter was a template maker and later became a foreman, and Marinus became a machinist.

In March 1886, Matthijs and Trijntje and four of the children: Matthijs Jr., Jannetje, Cornelius and John left for Chicago. Matthijs worked in the South Halsted Street Iron Works as a machinist; Matthias Jr. as a blacksmith; Cornelius as a molder; and John as a patternmaker. Daughter Aagje had married Hendrik Kooger in Texel in 1882 and may have been in Chicago already.

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Initial Web Publication Date: 11/27/2000
Intermediate Additions: 1/01/2001, 2/05/2005, 3/12/2006, 4/18/2007