Morning Thanks--A visit to the DAHM

Mr. Hoekstra arranged a visit ahead of time, as many do. He came down south from Worthington, MN, accompanied by a friend. He told us he was in search of information about his own ancestry, his great-grandmother particularly, who a cousin of his had told him was written up in the Dutch American Heritage Museum (DAHM) in Orange City. 

When he didn't know his great-grandmother's name, his search seemed impossible. But given what he thought he knew about her--she'd come to America alone and homesteaded in the late 19th century--we could guess where her story might be on display in the museum.

We looked. Sure enough, Mr. Hoekstra's cousin wasn't wrong. In the section of the museum that describes the early days of the Dutch colony, we found a photograph--that one at the top of the page--and the story of a woman blessed with an impossibly Frisian name. Listen to this: Akke Sijes De Jong Hoekstra. There she was, her name and her story and even a distinguished portrait. 

Akke Hoekstra was not your ordinary immigrant. She came to America, to Iowa, to Orange City, when she was 56 years old. Left Berlikum, Friesland, the Netherlands, a widow, with a son. Her husband had passed away, in Holland, 15 years earlier. According to the story Mr. Hoekstra found, some family members claimed that, like many others, she'd left the Netherlands because of hard times, but also a decisive fear of tuberculosis, the disease that had taken the life of another son, who, when he passed away, was just 18 years old.

The Homestead Act (1862) gave Akke Hoekstra the opportunity to acquire land here in the neighborhood. Her youngest son helped her establish a farm and then left, returned to the Netherlands when Mrs. Hoekstra moved to town. She died in the year 1900. The story says that the inscription on her tombstone is taken from the book of Proverbs: "the memory of the righteous is a blessing." 

All of that is in the story that Mr. Hoekstra, Worthington, MN, found, exactly what he'd come to look for. 

In a way, I suppose, museums are in the business of bringing people together, but it doesn't happen often, so when we can get the job done, it's a sweet, sweet blessing for which we're thankful. 

Brad Hoekstra and the portrait of Akka Hoekstra, his great-grandmother.