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.