| Notes |
- This article came from Farewell to the Homeland European Immigration to N.E. Wisconsin 184 0 - 1900
One of the families in this area who shared their story traces their history back to two Dutc h immigrants; John Joseph Van Den Wymelenberg and Arnold Verstegen, John was born in Uden, Ho lland in 1857. His baptismal record lists a surname of Donelen, and that calls for a bit of e xplanation. For Dutch, as for the Scandinavian, the surname could preform two different funct ions; it gave an indication of the line of descent and it gave a location for the person name d. The reason for this are debatable; some say it was to evade taxes or military service, an d others say it was merely to serve as a mailing address, since the postman knew who was the 3 son of whom, but there were likely to be so many with that surname, that he needed a plac e name as a clue as to which branch of the family was indicated. At any rate, it was common f or there to be a discrepancy about which name was the actual surname -- it never bothered th e people involved, who knew perfectly well who they were, but it has driven genealogists ma d ever since. Thus John Joseph Van Den Wymelenberg (Donelen) says that the infant John Joseph was of the fa mily of Donelen, from the place of the "moving hills" or sand dunes. John was apprenticed a t the age of fourteen to a cabinetmaker. The way this apprenticeship worked was that for th e first year of training, John paid 100 guilders. The second year there was no money exchang ed, and the third year the cabinetmaker paid John 100 guilders, assuming that by that time h e knew the trade and was earning his keep. The boy worked on many of the fine houses and "ca stles" in Germany and Holland and supposedly learned his trade well, for when he came to th e United States at the age of nineteen, he was offered $3 a day in New York if he would sta y and work with a carpenter there -- a good offer in the days when most immigrants could f ind no work at all in the East. John, however, came straight to Little Chute, where there were already many Dutch settlers, a nd he readily found work as a carpenter. He built many homes there as well as the roof and s teeple of St. John's Church (Fr. Van den Broek's church in Little Chute). He married Adriann a Verstegen in 1884 and they moved to Wrightstown when he got the job of building the pews, c onfessionals, alters and steeple of St. Paul's Church there. Adrianna was the daughter of Arnold and Anna Maria (Diemens) Verstegen, a Dutch immigrant fam ily who had come to Little Chute in 1850 with Fr. Vanden Heuvel. Arnold was a farmer who beg an with five acres of land and built his farm up to 160 acres. He also built the first gris t mill in Wisconsin (in Little Chute). Another valuable heritage he left was a number of let ters that he wrote to his father-in-law in Erp, Holland over a period of many years. Those l etters, translated and published in the Annals of St. Joseph, De Pere, constitute a valuabl e description of the events taking place in Little Chute from 1850 until nearly the turn o f the century. They begin with the poignant comment; "I was very much disappointed at firs t ... I thought I could never live in a country like this. I felt as though I wanted to go ba ck home right away ..." and continue until the point of writing; "Now, Father, you will unde rstand why we love our new country and you will not be surprised when I say that we have mad e up our minds to make it our home for the rest of our days, bringing up our children to beco me American citizens." John and Adrianna Van Den Wymelenberg became prominent citizens of Wrightstown, John was a we ll-known builder who brought limber in Green Bay and had it shipped by "scow" up the Fox Rive r or by boxcar along the railroad tracks. His home and storage shed were built near the trac ks and dock, and eventually he expanded his property to include a furniture store (1886) , a general store (1890) and a lumber yard (1894). His house was the second in Wrightstown t o have electricity (1910) and he was one of the first to own an automobile -- a 1911 Jackso n Touring car. His cabinetry skill was put to use in building coffins, so he also became th e undertaker of the town, and he was instrumental in organizing the first bank in Wrightstown , the Farmers & Traders Bank. He also served as Vice-president and Director of the People' s Bank of Wrightstown and as president of the village for two terms. He and Adrianna had 1 4 children. His son, Arnold, took over the hardware store in Wrightstown and eventually bega n Van"s Hardware on Dousman Street in Green Bay. The name and the descendants of these immig rants from Holland are still a part of this community today.
Obit De Pere Journal Democrat 11-4-1937 J. Vanden Wymelenberg Pioneer Businessman, Is Taken by Death John Vanden Wymelenberg, 80, a resident of this community for fifty five years, passed away a t his home here Wednesday morning at 2;30 o'clock. Mr. Wymelenberg was born in Uden, Holland, May 21, 1857, where he attended schools and learne d the cabinetmakers trade. On April 20,, 1882, he came to America and located at De Pere. Am ong his first jobs was the completion of the Steeple of the old St. Paul's Catholic church a t Wrightstown. On May 20, 1884, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Verstegen at Littl e Chute, moving to Wrightstown to reside. Mrs. Wymelenberg proceeded he husband in death te n years ago. In 1887 he opened a furniture store and three years later he also opened a general merchandis e business and a lumber yard. In 1899 he disposed of the general merchandise store and contin ued to operate the lumber yard until 1908 when the Fuller-Goodman company took over the lumbe r yard. In 1908 he purchased the store building from the late F.X Nelesen and the next year h e built a large hardware store and conducted this business together with a heating and plumbi ng shop. In 1921 he retired from active business having disposed of his interest to his son E lzear Wymelenberg. Mr. Wymelenberg always took an interest in community affairs having served the village as pre sident for two terms and was always ready to lend his support to any movement which intende d to benefit the village or its people and was prime mover in having the village incorporated . He helped to organize the Farmers & Traders bank and the Peoples bank, serving as Vice-pres ident of the latter institution since it was organized. Mr. Wymelenberg was a charter member of St. Paul's court, Catholic Order of Foresters, also t he Holy Name society, and the E.F.U. Survivors are one sister Mrs. C. Vermeulen, Tilberg, Holland; four sons and seven daughters : Arnold and Aloysius Vanden Wymelenberg, and Mrs. C.J. Conard, Green Bay; Mrs. J.H. Van Vree de, Eau Claire, Mrs. Edward Niven an Mrs. George Cleary, Chicago, Clement Vanden Wymelenberg , Milwaukee, Miss Anna Vanden Wymelenberg, Combined Locks; Mrs. John Thurner, Hortonville, El zear Vanden Wymelenberg and Mrs. Peter Nackers, Wrightstown;. Thirty-three grandchildren als o survive. Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 9: o'clock from St. Paul's Catholic churc h of which he has been a member for 53 years. Interment will be in the family lot in St. Pau l Cemetery.
|
1857 - 1937 (80 years)
