At the registration of the birth of Jelle (* 01-01-1930), the son of Grietje Wygers Snip, a certain Geeske Jans van Zannen (Zanten) is the informant. This Geeske Jans is the mother of Jan Pieters Snip. He is married to Willemke Wygers Snip, an older sister of Grietje. A father of Jelle is not mentioned in the registration.
Why Geeske is making the registration of the birth of Jelle, the son of her daughter-in-law’s sister, is initially a puzzle. However, Jan Pieters also has a younger brother named Jelle Pieters, who is about the same age as Grietje. Could this Jelle Pieters be the father of Jelle, and therefore is Geeske Jans van Zanten the informant of this birth? But then why didn’t a marriage happen? Two brothers would have then married two sisters, which wouldn’t be unusual. The truth must be different, and initially it remains unclear who Jelle is named after.
The solution to this naming seems to lie with some certainty in a study of the population of Doezum in 1830, the year when Jelle was born.
In the area, which in 1830 was called Snipperij, Snips are found at house numbers 84, 86, 87, and 87a. At house number 88 lives Mr. Jelle Ebels Neinhuis, aged 38, a farmer by profession, born in Noordwijk, together with his wife Gepke Hessels, aged 52, born in Buitenpost. Living here are Grietje Wygers Snip, aged 22, a maid by profession, born in Doezum, and a Gepke, aged 15, also born in Doezum.
Now it becomes clear to me (Andries de Leeuw) who Grietje’s son Jelle is named after. This must have been this Jelle Ebels Neinhuis (Nienhuis). She named her child after him, but was he also the father?
It is also logical why the mother-in-law of Grietje’s sister Willemke was the informant of Jelle’s birth. This Geeske Jans van Zanten lived namely at house number 84, and in those years it was a good custom that neighbors, and in this case even family, reported the birth to the Civil Registry.
An additional problem is to discover who the 15-year-old resident Gepke was within the family of Jelle Ebels Neinhuis. This Gepke must have been born in or around 1815, and she could be a younger sister of Grietje Wygers. Grietje already had a sister Gepke (* 21-01-1812 in Doezum), but she died on 10-04-1813 in Doezum. But Grietje’s father Wyger Popkes Snip already died on 02-11-1812 in Doezum. A Gepke born in 1815 could therefore never have been a daughter of Wyger Popkes Snip, but of whom then?
And then it all comes together, because in 1830 Jelle Ebels Neinhuis, Gepke Hessels, Grietje Wygers Snip, and this Gepke lived at house number 88. The mentioned Gepke Hessels must be the Gepke Hessels de Haan who was married to Wyger Popkes Snip!
This means that after the death of Grietje’s father in 1812, Grietje, who was then 6 years old, along with her children, including Grietje, moved in with Jelle Ebels Neinhuis, together with her mother Gepke Hessels de Haan. However, according to the birth registration (also by Geeskes Jans!), daughter Gepke (17-05-1814) was not born from the relationship with Jelle Ebels (illegitimate), although mother Gepke was already living at house number 88. Jelle Ebels Neinhuis (Nijenhuis) and mother Gepke Hessels (de Haan) married a year later, on 18-06-1815. Daughter Gepke was not recognized and was named Gepke Hessels, later adding the surname de Haan (not Nienhuis), just like her mother.
According to Andries de Leeuw, who has unraveled this tangle, Grietje’s stepfather, Jelle Ebels Nienhuis, is the father of Jelle Snip. He is convinced of this. That would make sense if Grietje were not the daughter of Gepke Hessels or even if he had filed a report. Therefore, in my opinion (Paul Snip), it is more plausible that Jelle was named after her stepfather out of respect. In that case, the biological father of Jelle remains unknown, just like the father of his aunt Gepke Hessels de Haan.
Andries de Leeuw en Paul Snip
