The 1910 Federal Census states that Govert at age 70 worked as a common laborer sandpapering furniture.  Sadly, both Govert and Lena are buried in unmarked graves at the Fairplains Cemetery.  They are buried in section X row 31 - adjacent Lena's parents (the Dykemas). The caretaker states that they either never had stones or that they were vandalized/stolen.  Unfortunate.  I was able to locate the exact spot according to burial records, but most of the graves in that section are lacking stones.

TEUNIS MASTBERGEN

Much more is known about Teunis than his father and mother.  The Grand Rapids City Directory for 1890 shows Teunis boarding a place at 470 Alpine - this location is no longer there: it would have sat right where the I-96 runs across town now.  Sometime after this, probably when Teunis switched jobs from wagon painter to furniture varnisher, Teunis purchased the house at 922 Prospect (see pictures below).

At that time, the house would have sat on the outskirts of town atop a hill overlooking the north side of the city from the front porch.  Beautiful sunsets to be certain.  This house was built in 1890.

On Feb. 23, 1893, Teunis married his bride Kalazina.  Her family - the Dykemas (Dijkemas) were also from the Netherlands having emigrated to the States in 1881.

Back to Top          Home Page

The 1910 US Census states that Teunis' one and only son, Howard, has finished school and is now an apprentice cabinetmaker.  And then he disappears.  No futher record is found of him.  Took a little digging to find the following information.

The following photos show the Mastbergen children as they aged.  

Click on above photos for close-up shots and details.  Click here for further photos.

Mastbergen or Mastberger?

As with the Kruizenga name, old Dutch names like Mastbergen change with time.  On all marked graves found at Fairplains cemetery, the name is spelled "Mastbergen".  However, on each of the death certificates the name is spelled "Mastberger".  It appears from earlier records that "Mastbergen" is the correct spelling.

Teunis lived until July 17, 1953 while Kalazina lived 'til Jan. 29, 1966.  In Kalazina's latter years, she went to live with her daughter Paulina at the Kruizenga home on Grand River Drive. 

Of all Teunis' children, all that remained were three daughters: Lillian, Pauline, and Ida.  Lillian married Fred Goodwin and died in 1979 leaving Fred as a widower.  Pauline's husband, Martin DeYoung, died 40 years before she did in 1958.  And Ida died 25 years before her husband, Donald Plumton, in 1954.

Pauline (Mastbergen) DeYoung

Pauline had only one daughter born September 10, 1921 - Betty Jane DeYoung.  Betty married Gerrit Henry Kruizenga and had three sons of her own: Gerrit, Russell, and Marvin.  During her latter years, after Gerrit died in 1975, Betty lived with her mother Pauline in one side of the duplex purchased by Gerrit on Grand River Drive.  It was the stipulation of Gerrit that his youngest son Marvin should move next door to take care of both widows.  This he did.

An interesting note: (and this is not to speak ill towards anyone by any means) - the 1930 US Federal Census shows the DeYoung family as - Mart (head), Pauline (wife), and Betty (adopted-daughter).  It also states rather oddly that Betty's mother was born in the Netherlands - which it is a certain fact that Pauline was born in Michigan.  Mistakes can happen on Census reports but usually only in spelling. 

On the same Census report, the ages and dates don't agree.  Mart(in) said he was 30 and married when 24.  That would indicate they were married for 6 years.  Pauline's age is written as 25 though she would actually have been 27 at the time of the Census (28 that November).  And it states that she was first married at 19.  That's 8 years.   

Back to Top          Kruizenga          Cemetery/Burial Info