I am looking for information on the ancestors of Grace Smith who was married to Fred Workman (Freerk Werkman) in Missaukee County, MI. I know much of Fred, not of Grace other than her father was named Ralph and mother was Alice (don't know her maiden name). Fred and Grace co-founded Falmouth Reformed Church. Would appreciate any information as they are my great-grandparents and I have hit a brick wall with her side of the family.

I"m not related to this family.

1910 -
Name: Fred Workman
Age in 1910: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1882
Birthplace: Holland
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Holland
Mother's Birth Place: Holland
Spouse's Name: Grace
Home in 1910: Aetna, Missaukee, Michigan
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1889

Fred Workman 28, Holland/Dutch - farmer
Grace Workman 25, Holland/Dutch [1885]; immigration date not listed
John Workman 4, MI
Ralph Workman 2, MI
George Workman 6/12, MI

marriage date - Oct. 21, 1904
her parents are Raplh Smith & Alice Mueler
Grace lived at Riverside Twp.
Place: Lake City

Death record -
County: Missaukee
City/village/township: Riverside
Last Name: Smith
Given Name: Ralph
Birth Year: 1844
Age: 69
Death Day: 22
Death Month: Sep
Death Year; 1913
Father's Given Name: John
Father's Last Name: Smith


Fred's parents are - John Werkman & Hattie Jager

1910 -
Name: Ralph Smith
Age in 1910: 63
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847
Birthplace: Holland
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Holland
Mother's Birth Place: Holland
Spouse's Name: Alice
Home in 1910: Riverside, Missaukee, Michigan
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1900

Ralph Smith 63, 2nd marriage
Alice Smith 53, Holland - 1st marriage; married 29 yr
John Smith 28, Holland - Year of Immigration: 1900
Hiram Smith 24, Holland - Year of Immigration: 1900
Ralph Smith 18, Holland - Year of Immigration: 1900
John R Smith 17, Holland - Year of Immigration: 1900
Rulie Smith 13, Holland - Year of Immigration: 1900

If this family arrived in MICH. after the 1900 census, then they would not appear on the 1900 census.

ThomasKer2
Today 4:30 PM
go back to the original message where I responded.

copy & paste this response there.

I need to know the board name and the state

You may view the death cert. here -

Try - FREE SITE
Michigan Death Records 1897 to 1920 [actual death certificate image]
Start with the - SEEK section
USE the ADVANCED search option
http://www.seekingmichigan.org

enter 1st name
enter last name
enter the county

I checked that out. Found Ralph's death record, not Alice's. No mention of Alice on his death record. Did you maybe have a different source for her maiden name? Thanks again for your help.

Alice may have died in a different county.
Omit the - county

She wouldn't be on that database. She died in 1937 according to Vogel Center Cemetery records. That database only goes to 1920.

Grace was born Geesje Smit, daughter of Roelof Smit and Aaltje Mulder. She was born on 28 September 1883 in the village of Hijken, county of Beilen, province of Drenthe, the Netherlands and named after her maternal grandmother:

Bron: Burgerlijke stand - Geboorte
Archieflocatie: Drents Archief
Algemeen Toegangnr: 0165.003
Inventarisnr: 1883
Gemeente: Beilen
Soort akte: geboorte (Birth record)
Aktenummer: 123
Aangiftedatum: 28-09-1883
Kind: Geesje Smit
Geslacht: V
Geboortedatum: 28-09-1883
Geboorteplaats: Hijken (Beilen)
Vader: Roelof Smit
Moeder: Aaltje Mulder
Nadere informatie: beroep vader: grofsmid; leeftijd vader: 38; beroep moeder: zonder

Her father was a blacksmith (grofsmid) and when the family immigrated in 1900 (arriving in Ellis Island on 18 April 1900 on the ship "S.S. Amsterdam") his occupation was listed as "Smith" (short for blacksmith) and apparently the american name for his occupation and surname stuck and the family name became "Smith". Geesje/Grace's father was married once before and when his first wife died he married Aaltje Mulder:

Bron: Burgerlijke stand - Huwelijk
Archieflocatie: Drents Archief
Algemeen Toegangnr: 0166.003
Inventarisnr: 1881
Gemeente: Beilen
Soort akte: Huwelijksakte (Marriage record)
Aktenummer: 27
Datum: 18-06-1881 (18 June 1881)
Bruidegom: Roelof Smit
Geboorteplaats: Zuidwolde (birth place)
Bruid: Aaltje Mulder
Geboorteplaats: Westerbork (Birthplace)
Vader bruidegom: Jan Roelofs Smit
Moeder bruidegom: Roelofje Wolters Brands
Vader bruid: Jan Mulder
Moeder bruid: Geesje Wesseling
Nadere informatie: bruidegom: 35 jaar.; bruid: 26 jaar.; weduwnaar van Jakobje Bos (name of his first wife)

When the family immigrated in 1900 there was a total of 8 in the family; the parents, Roelof and Aaltje; Geesje/Grace; and 5 more children:

Jan, male, born 25 March 1882 in Hijken
Harm, male, born 26 September 1885 in Hijken
Roelof, male, born 17 May 1890 in Hijken
Jan, male, born 13 March 1893 in Hijken
Roelofje, female, born 13 February 1897 in Hijken

There was also a son Jan, born 4 Janaury 1888 in Hijken and died 6 March 1893 at age 5. A week later Aaltje delivers another baby boy and they name him Jan (not unusual to name another child after a deceased child with the same name to keep the naming pattern intact). There are 2 sons with the name Jan in the family because the father of Roelof and the father of Aaltje are both named Jan. Since the naming of children after the parents parents was mostly strictly adhered to, in this case the family ended up with two children with the first name of Jan.

Roelof Smit had no child with his first wife Jakobje Bos that lived beyond infancy. Their only child lived a few months after birth and died 2 days after Jakobje died.

Roelof Smit was born 21 July 1845 in Kerkenbosch, county of Zuidwolde, province of Drenthe, the Netherlands:

Bron: Burgerlijke stand - Geboorte
Archieflocatie Drents Archief
Algemeen Toegangnr: 0165.033
Inventarisnr: 1845
Gemeente: Zuidwolde (county)
Soort akte: geboorte (birth record)
Aktenummer: 37
Aangiftedatum: 23-07-1845
Kind Roelof Smit
Geslacht: M
Geboortedatum: 21-07-1845 (date of birth)
Geboorteplaats: Kerkenbosch (Zuidwolde)
Vader: Jan Roelofs Smit
Moeder: Roelofje Wolters Brands
Nadere informatie: beroep vader: grofsmid; leeftijd vader: 26; leeftijd moeder: 28

His father was also a blacksmith.

Aaltje Mulder, the mother of Geesje/Grace, was born 10 April 1855 in Baling, county of Westerbork, province of Drenthe, the Netherlands:

Bron: Burgerlijke stand - Geboorte
Archieflocatie Drents Archief
Algemeen Toegangnr: 0165.030
Inventarisnr: 1855
Gemeente: Westerbork (county)
Soort akte: geboorte (Birth)
Aktenummer: 14
Aangiftedatum: 11-04-1855
Kind Aaltje Mulder
Geslacht: V
Geboortedatum: 10-04-1855 (birth date)
Geboorteplaats: Baling (Westerbork)
Vader Jan Mulder
Moeder Geesje Wesseling
Nadere informatie beroep vader: landbouwer; leeftijd vader: 30; beroep moeder: zonder

Jan Mulder, father of Geesje, was a farmer.

If there is more information that I can send you or help you with please let me know. There is much more to see regarding the Smit/Smith family and the Mulder family on the internet. I also have Huttenga family in my tree from the Missaukee County area.

John

Made a mistake: Jan Mulder, father of Geesje, was a farmer.
That should be Jan Mulder, father of Aaltje/Alice, was a farmer.

John

John, thank you for all the info. I never though of dropping the "h" from the last name and doing a search. If you are related to the Huttenga family from Missaukee County, then we are related somehow. Send me an email at mjhuttenga@hotmail.com so we can find out how. Thanks again.