There was little or no industrial ways to earn a livelihood on the islands so most of the people worked on farms where wheat, rye, sugar beets were grown. Also dairy farms- Milk, cheese and other diary products were exported as well as butter, so most of the people worked in the fields, hoeing the grain with a short handled hoe, a back-breaking job. Grain was harvested with a scythe as in Bible times- My father was, as he told me" an expert at that and I don’t doubt it a bit. My mother (after the grain was cut and tied into bundles) was allowed to glean what was missed and the workers (as Ruth did)- She was allowed by the farmer to take the grain she had gleaned to the village mill to be made into flour,. then later to the village baker who took her loaves to bake into bread- He was the only one who had an oven, so all the villagers brought their bread to him to bake for them. He charged them for the service of course.
pictured ca. 1910 a young Johanna with her mother and father, Maria and Johannes Kwist
A man who worked for a farmer was allowed a place to live and a small plot of ground for a vegetable garden, and if he was generous they were permitted to raise a pig for their meat in the fall or winter- Their term of employment was from May first to the next year May first. That was moving day if you were changing jobs, unless you were rehired.
Sanitary conditions were terrible. In some places an outdoor central privy served an entire village! No wonder the plagues spread so rapidly- Indoor plumbing was unheard of. Chamber pots were a real necessity! Every family had several.
Infant mortality was a disgrace and many a mother died of childbed fever. Not until doctors and midwives learned to wash their hands between patients and to sterilize their instruments did those conditions improve. My uncle Martin Kwist’s first wife died when their daughter was born in 1893- The baby lived, but died later on the way to America and was buried in the Atlantic Ocean. My mother was fortunate although she had two miscarriages and a boy (Martin) and a daughter (Johanna) died - one at 6 weeks and the girl at one year in 1902. The boy of a stomach ailment and the girl of a respiratory ailment.
"The Nieuwsbode" - a newspaper was published and distributed in the village and as many as ten families shared the expense and privilege of reading it. Probably around 1/2 cent apiece. Can you imagine what it looked like by the time the last subscriber got his turn to read it!
Work on the farm began with the first streak of dawn. At eight o’clock they went home for coffee and a sandwich of sorts. At twelve they went for dinner, then for tea in the middle of the afternoon and finished the day when it was too dark to see. Women worked the same hours and still had to take care of their households and bear their numerous children- No wonder they were lucky if they reached the age of fifty. The women locked their children in the house when they were in the fields and the oldest child was in charge of the babies. When a child reached the age of three and was toilet trained, there was what was called a "Kleuter school," where they were taken (a sort of pre-school) as kindergarten which was a godsend for child and mother. I don’t recall if they were free or if they had to pay for the service-
Most people were poorly educated, as soon as a child was able to work he left school to help out at home- My mother went to the fourth grade at the age of nine- Before that she was, during the summer, a "Koewachter," or cow-watcher. She had to spend the whole day keeping rambunctious cows from jumping across the ditch in search of greener pastures- Later when she was nine she became a nursemaid - or I would say a baby sitter for three children - just a few years younger than she, for which she earned a penny a week! By that time her father was taken ill and could no longer work- Her mother kept a sewing, knitting and crocheting school in her home by which she supported her family- She taught almost all of the girls in the village of Zonnemaire how to do this. My mother learned to knit when she was three years old. In those days socks were knitted by hand, and darned and when heels and toes wore out were ravelled and reknitted!
No wonder everyone longed for the opportunity to emigrate to America! They were told the streets there were paved with gold! What a disappointment for some, but they were used to hard work and privation, and being pioneers they made a better life for themselves and their families. In Holland at that time if you were poor you stayed poor with no chance at any advancement. My grandfather Anthonie Kwist was a coachman for a rich burger. And when he was 24 years old died of typhoid fever. He died in the summer of 1870 and my father (his second son) was born the last day of October of that year. So they never saw each other. His brother Martin was three years older than my father-
Their mother died in 1872 of tuberculosis so they were orphaned early in life. They were placed in foster homes and as orphans were permitted to go to school until they were twelve years old. Then if they wanted to, could learn a trade. My uncle became a carpenter and my father decided to work in the fields so became a "knecht" or farm laborer.
When their parents died the few things they possessed were auctioned off and the proceeds placed in trust for them until they were grown up. My uncle Martin took his share in 1894 and went to America. Ten years later my father took his, and with a hundred guilders he won in a lottery and a bit of help from his brother, he and my mother and two brothers and a sister also emigrated to America in 1904.They left around the first of November and arrived in South Bend. Indiana on November 15. 1904. Mv uncle had rented a house at 2025 So LaFayette Street- I was born in that house on Januarv 4. 1906-
In 1905 my mother1st brother Jannes Van de Sande also came to America and lived with us until his death in 1925- He never married and supported my grandmother until she died also in 1925- She died May 12. He died after an operation in August of that year.
My uncle Martin lived with us until my father had repaid the money he loaned him for the trip to America and for the furniture he bought for them. My father and uncle worked for the Russ Bluing Co on Franklin Street for $1 a day - from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an hour for lunch. a six day week! I was five years old when my uncle Martin moved out. We did not hear from him until late in 1928. He had some property in Texas and someone wanted to buy it but, couldn’t find his address so they found my father. Somehow they traced my uncle and he was living in Calera. Alabama and had married again late in life to a school teacher whose first name was Nettie. In January 1929 my father visited him. They had not seen each other for over 18 years! What a lot they had to make up for the time in between! I have a picture of my uncle and his wife in front of the bungalow he had build in Calera. My father died in 1940 and my uncle in 1942 or 43. My uncle and aunt died within five days of each other. They had no children.
I am getting ahead of my story so I will go back again and continue this story which is a true one….
When my mother grew up she went to work as a milkmaid. Which, contrary to popular belief, is not a glamorous job! Those days when she was 17 or 18 years old her day began at daybreak. She had to milk 35 cows by hand of course, then scrub all the utensils - milk cans, pails, etc afterward. Around five p.m. she had to start all over again milking and scrubbing! Her hands became so raw that she had to quit which made the farmer so mad he refused to pay her. However someone changed his mind in a hurry and she did get her pay. From there. after her hands were healed she went to work as a maid in the house of the "Domenie" or pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Zonnemaire. His name was Dr. Zeeman and he and his wife had two sons who were students at the University. She worked there for three years.
In the meantime she met my father and they were married by Dr. Zeeman in May 1894. They were very good to my mother. I’m sure that my brothers and sisters were also baptized by him. That is, those who were born in the Netherlands.
When I visited the Netherlands in 1959 I saw the house and it looked much the same as it did in 1894! Most of the villages have the church in the center with the houses and streets around it. There are many beautiful churches all over Holland. Many Catholic and Dutch Reformed are centuries old. Most were ancient even when my parents lived there. At that time there was no heat so some one invented what was called a "stouvje" which was a tin box with a handle containing charcoal which was hot and they carried these to church and put their feet on it to keep from freezing! In some churches the sermon lasted two or three hours! Some of the churches had services three times on a Sunday and were very strict. They took their religion seriously to say the least.
Their currency consisted. at that time of a 1/2 cent piece which has been discontinued a long time ago. A five cent piece. called a "styver." a dime called een (.1) "dubbeltje." a Quarter called een "Quartje" een "dalder" which was a "guilder" en een "ryksdalder" which was 2-1/2 ~guilders- Then the paper money at 1 guilder - 5 guilders - 25 guilders. also a "10" - no twenties.
Except for the 1/2 cent piece I think the currency remains the same today.
Transportation was by walking or by bicycle or tram. From one village to the next was about a 15 or 20 minute walk depending on how fast you walked. Some people years ago lived and died in the same village and never went away from it their whole life. Everybody knew everyone else so it was not easy to keep anything secret. People were very narrow minded and some very superstitious, and resisted any changes in the daily routine.
St. Nicholas day was December 6 and the children celebrated it in school with cocoa and cookies- On the 5th they put out their wooden shoes with some straw for St.Nick’s horse in the hope that they would find something in it in the morning St. Nick had a servant who was called "Zwarte Piet" or Black Pete who fed the horse while the Saint knocked on the door and asked i£ there were any children there. If so then they were asked i£ they were good or had they been bad. If the answer was good it was fine. If not, they would find a switch in their shoes. Some times he asked for them to sing or recite a poem. This is what my mother experienced when she was quite small She had to sing with her knees knocking together and shaking in her shoes. But it turned out okay/ Zwarte Piet gave her a bag of "peepernaten" (ee sounds like a) so I think they likely were pfeffernut cookies. Then, on the next day they, had a holiday from school, Christmas is celebrated two days- On the actual day they go to church and keep it as a Sunday. The next day, they go visiting and have a good time. They (the adults) did not at that time give or exchange gifts but in later times they do now. They did not decorate their houses either- But now they do have a Christmas tree. but nothing like we do here in America. They think we sort of go overboard and in some ways that is true of us. But we enjoy it. So what’s the difference? The children (in Zeeland) go to school longer than we do here- Their vacation is only about 4 weeks. but they get days off for Easter, Pentecost and other holidays.
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