52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Ancestor # 26

Francisca Eecke (1793-1853)

Francisca Eecke, or Heecke, was born in Kaprijke, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium on 7 February 1793 and died there on 17 February 1853¹. She was the daughter of Joseph and Maria (Tierlinck) Eecke. She was baptized in Kaprijke on 15 February 1793². Francisca never married her long term partner, Jan Francis Van De Veire. Together they had nine children over a period of nineteen years. Jan Francis Van De Veire was born in Oosteeklo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium about 4 Sep 1795 (his baptismal date) and died in Kaprijke on 18 Feb 1870.

Francisca was a peasant woman. Like many of the women of her era, she probably was a spinster. Spinster here does not mean unmarried woman but instead a person who spins fibers into thread. The other likely career open to her would be servant to wealthier neighbors. Because she is a peasant and a woman, we have very few records for her. I feel lucky that we have Catholic Church records and civil registrations that tell us when she was born and when she died.

Francisca and her partner Francis Van De Veire had nine children together over a period of 19 years. Life was not easy in the first half of the nineteenth century. Disease was ever present and there were no antibiotics. Of their nine children, 4 died before the age of 6. They lost one daughter at 18 and a son at 23. Three of their sons survived them.

Children of Jan Francis Van De Veire and Francisca Eecke, all born in Kaprijke:

1. Joris Francis Van De Veire, b. 26 Jul 1818, d. 30 Jun 1842.
2. Karel Francis, b. 5 Feb 1821 and d. 18 Aug 1826.
3. Leonard Bernard, b. 7 Sep 1823. Nothing else is known about him.
4. Sebastian, b. 29 Jan 1825, d. after 1900, m. Trezia Angelina Vonke, b. 1815 in the Philippines, on 19 Nov 1862 in Schoondijke, Netherlands.
5. Paulina, b. 18 Nov 1828 and d. 23 Dec 1846.
6. Sophia, b. 10 Mar 1831 and d. 1 Dec 1836.
7. Seraphina, b. 8 Oct 1832 and d. 3 Oct 1834.
8. Bruno, b. 15 Nov 1834 and d. 3 May 1838.
9. Ivo, b 30 Apr 1837, d. 21 Jan 1900, m. on 11 Oct 1876 in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Rosalia Francisca Du Four, b. 25 Nov 1835 in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo and d. 29 Apr 1900 in Kaprijke.

1 “Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, death of Francisca Eecke, 18 Feb 1870, No. 13,index and images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.fasmilysearch.org : accessed 15 Sep 2014), FHL film # 784,188

2 “Catholic Church of Kaprijke, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Kerkelijke Registers, 1680-1796”, Baptism of Francisca Eecke, p. 23; FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed 26 Mar 2018), FHL film # 4,454,551.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Ancestor # 24

Jan Francis Van De Veire (1795-1870)

Jan Francis Van De Veire was born in Oosteeklo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium about 4 September 1795 (baptismal date)¹ and died in Kaprijke, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium on 18 February 1870². He was the son of Joris Francis and Maria Petronella (Bultinck) Van De Veire. Jan Francis, who was known as “Francis” never married but had a long term relationship with Francisca Eecke (or Heecke). Together they had nine children over a period of nineteen years. Francisca Eecke was born 7 February 1793 in Kaprijke and died there on 17 February 1853.

Francis was a workman; someone who worked at whatever job was available. Many of these jobs were in agriculture. Life in the mid nineteenth century was hard. There was no modern medicine. Of their nine children, 4 died before the age of 6. They lost one daughter at 18 and a son at 23. Three of their sons survived them.

Francis appears in the population registers kept by the municipality of Kaprijke. Starting in 1847, each municipality in Belgium was required to keep a tally of all inhabitants by domicile. Each resident of the home was listed along with their age or birth date. As new residents moved in, they were added with their date of arrival and where they came from. When someone left, the register was updated to reflect the date of departure and where he was going. Births and deaths were also recorded in these books. A new book was started every 10 years. FamilySearchhas.org has digitized and placed online theses registers for Kaprijke starting in 1857.

I have located Francis in 1857³ (age 60) living with his son Ivo, age 19. They are both listed as workmen. In the book starting in 1867⁴, Francis is there and his death is noted in 1870.

Children of Jan Francis Van De Veire and Francisca Eecke, all born in Kaprijke:

1. Joris Francis₄ Van De Veire, b. 26 Jul 1818, d. 30 Jun 1842.
2. Karel Francis, b. 5 Feb 1821 and d. 18 Aug 1826.
3. Leonard Bernard, 7 Sep 1823. Nothing else is known about him.
4. Sebastian, b. 29 Jan 1825, d. after 1900, m. Trezia Angelina Vonke, b. 1815 in the Philippines on 19 Nov 1862 in Schoondijke, Netherlands.
5. Paulina, b. 18 Nov 1828 and d. 23 Dec 1846.
6. Sophia, b. 10 Mar 1831 and d. 1 Dec 1836.
7. Seraphina, b. 8 Oct 1832 and d. 3 Oct 1834.
8. Bruno, b. 15 Nov 1834 and d. 3 May 1838.
9. Ivo, b 30 Apr 1837, d. 21 Jan 1900, m. on 11 Oct 1876 in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Rosalia Francisca Du Four, b. 25 Nov 1835 in Sint-Jan-in-Eremo and d. 29 Apr 1900 in Kaprijke.

1 “Catholic Church of Oosteeklo, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium, Kerkelijke Registers, 1680-1796”, Baptism of Jan Francis Van De Veire, p. 36; FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed 26 Mar 2018), FHL film # 290,055.

2 “Registers van de Burgerlijke Stand, 1796-1870”, death of Jan Francis Van De Veire, 18 Feb 1870, No. 13,index and images, FamilySearch.org (http://www.fasmilysearch.org : accessed 15 Sep 2014), FHL film # 784,188.

3 “Bevolkingsregisters, 1847-1910”, Francis Van De Veire, Kaprijke (1857-1866), Book 3, p. 148 , FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed 16 Jun 2018), FHL film # 1,783,927, image #660.

4 “Bevolkingsregisters, 1847-1910”, Francis Van De Veire, Kaprijke (1867-1880), Book 3, p. 596 , FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org : accessed 16 Jun 2018), FHL film # 1,783,928, image #412.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Ancestor # 23

Charity Winegard (1833-1909)

Charity Winegard was born in Mar 1833 in New York, probably Sharon, Schoharie, New York but possibly Westerlo, Albany, New York and died in St. Thomas, Pembina, North Dakota in 1909. She is the daughter of John and Anna Maria (Barkley) Winegard. She married in 1854 as his second wife, Reuben Elijah Van Camp who was born in Van Camp Mills, Dundas, Ontario, Canada on 7 May 1826 and died on 17 Apr 1888 in St. Thomas, Pembina, North Dakota.

The Winegards were descended from an old Dutch family. Originally the name was spelled Wyngaart or Wyngaard in the early New York records. In the early 1800’s Charity’s grandfather and 2 of his brothers began using the Anglicized version of this name and records after 1800 are usually found under Winegard.

Like most people born in the early 1800’s, Charity’s age and therefore her birth year varies depending upon the record selected. However, it is fairly consistent calculating to either 1833 or 1834. I have chosen 1833 since this is the year given on the 1900 US Census¹. Also the location of her birth varies between Canada and the United States. It is listed as Canada in the 1851 and 1861 Canadian censuses but US in 1871 and 1881 censuses. This is significant since every other person in the household was born in Canada for both years. Since someone made the effort to report a different birth location for Charity, this makes it more likely that it is true. It would be nice to find a baptismal record for her.

Charity was probably the 3^rd of 8 children. There is a 7 year gap between Charity and her older sister Margaret and the 1830 census for John Winegard² lists both a son and a daughter under age 5; this son probably died young. The family lived for several years in the Albany and Schoharie County areas of New York. They moved to Ontario sometime between 1841 when her sister, Mary J., was born and 1845 when her brother, Matthias, was born. Anna Maria’s parents had already settled in Mountain Township and John’s brother, Peter, was living in Williamsburg, another township in Dundas County.

Charity, age 18, is enumerated with her parents in the 1851 census³. When Charity married Reuben in 1854, he had 4 children ranging in age from 1 to 8. She helped to raise these children and the 5 that she and Reuben had together. All of her children were born in Mountain⁴ where the family lived until moving to Oxford, Grenville County⁵ before 1871. They then moved to Montague, Lanark County by 1881⁶. In April 1882 they moved to Pembina County, North Dakota eventually settling in St. Thomas⁷. After Reuben’s death in 1888, she made her home with her son Fred. She is buried in the St. Thomas City Cemetery⁸ with her husband.

Children of Reuben Elijah and Charity (Winegard) Van Camp, all born in Mountain:

i. Catherine Maria Van Camp. b. 24 Sep 1856, d. 8 Jun 1929 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington, m. 16 Jan 1877 in Merrickville, Grenville, Ontario, Abraham Wynne, b. 16 Oct 1849 in Montague, Lanark, Ontario, d., 1 Oct 1928 in St. Thomas.

ii. Jennet Elliott Van Camp. b. 6 Dec 1857, d. 1936 in St. Thomas, m. 20 Nov 1877 in Montague, William Francis Perrin, b. 8 Nov 1855 in Mountain, d. 26 Apr 1926 in St. Thomas.

iii. Frederick Van Camp. b. 31 Mar 1860, d. 13 Apr 1932 in St. Thomas, m. 18 Jan 1899 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Elizabeth Catherine Milligan, b. Jul 1866 in Canada, d. 1934 in St. Thomas.

vi. Alva Van Camp, b. 11 Mar 1862, d. 1905 in St. Thomas, m. Mary Graham Darling in North Dakota, b. 12 May 1858 in Burgoyne, Bruce, Ontario, d. 31 Mar 1937 in Stockton, San Joaqin, California

v. Ira Van Camp, b. 22 Feb 1865, d. 26 Oct 1932 in St. Thomas. Ira served as a Sgt. In the Quarter Master Corp during the Spanish-American War.

Note: Other trees have 2 additional daughters listed for Reuben and Charity – Sarah and Zelma. I have never found any concrete evidence for these children so I have not included them in my family tree. Sarah appears in a transcription of Methodist baptisms with a birth date of 11 Mar 1862. This is Alva’s birthday. There is no mention of a baptism for Alva in these records. If he had been a twin, he should have been baptized at the same time as his sister. I personally think that Sarah was the transcriber’s best guess for the name of the infant being baptized and was really Alva.

1 1900 U. S. census, Pembina County, North Dakota, population schedule, St. Thomas, Enumeration District (E.D.)119, sheet 11A, page 202 (stamped), dwelling 179, family 183, Fred Van Camp; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jan 2016), citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 1230.

2 1830 U. S. census, Albany County, New York, population schedule, Westerlo, page 484, line 2, John Winegard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Dec 2016), citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M19, roll 84.

3 1851 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Dundas County, Canada West, Mountain, district 5, sub-district 36, page 17, line 24, John Winegard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Nov 2015), citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm, roll C_11717.

4 1861 census of census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Dundas County, Ontario, Mountain, page 35, Reuben Van Camp; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Dec 2015), citing Library and Archives Canada, roll C-1014.

5 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 7, sub-district E, page 3, family 11, Reuben Van Camp; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 Dec 2016), citing Library and Archives Canada, roll C-10005.

6 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 111, sub-district F, page 17, family 81, Reuben Van Camp; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 Dec 2016), citing Library and Archives Canada, roll C_13233.

7 Methodism in Drayton, North Dakota, 1878-1978, (Drayton, ND, 1978). p. 227.

8 Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 1 Jun 2018), Charity Weingard Van Camp, Memorial # 68127777, citing St. Thomas City Cemetery, St, Thomas, Pembina, North Dakota.