Adriana (Jane) Van Doorn and William Te Veldhuis

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William Te Veldhuis immigrated to the United States from The Netherlands in 1872.

Adriana (Jane) Van Doorn confirmed her faith in Christ on March 3, 1872 at the First Reformed Church of Rochester, New York.

The Te Veldhuis and Van Doorn families were neighbors in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

William and Jane Van Doorn were married on May 26, 1880 by Adrian Kriekard, pastor of Third Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. Initially, they lived with her parents, Adriaan and Elizabeth Van Doorn, and their family at 70 Henry Street.

William made his living as a finisher at the Nelson, Matter & Co furniture manufacturer.  This is the same place Adriaan Van Doorn worked. 

In 1881, William became a US citizen.

By 1885, William and Jane resided at 11 Hermitage Ave. (north side of Hermitage and East of Centennial) and were expecting their second child.

Jennie was just two weeks old when her mother Jane died of septicemia. Adriaan Van Doorn asked her father, William, if they could raise her and he agreed. William continued to raise his oldest daughter Gertrude.

William married Gertrude Hoogeheide the following year. According to Jeannette Isenga, they had five children that died shortly after birth. Their only surviving child, a son, Anthony, was born in 1907. 

In July of 1890, William and Gertrude Te Veldhuis were accused by several of their neighbors of mistreating their 9 year old daughter Gertrude. The neighbors insisted the behavior had gone on for some time and could not be ignored any longer. The matter was brought before the consistory of Third Reformed Church, where the Te Veldhuis’s were formally accused of treating their daughter in an “unchristian-like” and “step-motherly” manner.   However, the charges were not any more specific than this…..at least not in the consistory notes. Adriaan Van Doorn found himself in the delicate position of being the girl’s grandfather and a member of the consistory.

The consistory took the matter seriously enough to call a special meeting on August 21, 1890, where the Te Veldhuis’s were to answer to the accusations. However, they did not show up for the meeting.

A second meeting was called on September 4, 1890. The Te Veldhuis’s showed up for this meeting accompanied by several witnesses, who insisted no mistreatment had taken place. The witnesses included William’s brother-in-law, Jacobus Muste.  William’s sister, Gerarda, was married to him, and they lived next door to them at this time.

William Te Veldhuis was repeatedly asked to swear before “almighty God” that he and his wife were innocent of the accusations. He maintained their innocence throughout the meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, the consistory took no further action, due to insufficient evidence.

In their later years, William and Gertrude lived at 1111 Fulton Street. William earned a living as a milk dealer. 

Jennie Te Veldhuis was adopted by the Van Doorns sometime after her mother’s death. Her father asked for her back when she was ten years old, but the Van Doorn family refused.  Perhaps the incident described above was a factor in their decision.

After Adriaan died in 1896, William became her guardian. Jennie was living with the Will Van Doorn family when she married Dirk Isenga in 1908.  At the time of their marriage Dirk was a farmer. Jennie gave her occupation as a “shoe worker.”

Dirk and Jennie farmed in Georgetown Township in Kent County, Michigan, near Baldwin St and 12th Avenue.

Gertrude was married to Siert Isenga, Dirk’s brother. They lived on Byron Road north of 44thStreet in Wyoming Township in Kent County, Michigan most of their lives. He was at times a farmer, a basement digger for new homes in East Grand Rapids, and a school custodian.