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.