• General Notes

  [phelps.FTW]
  
  [Brøderbund WFT Vol. 22, Ed. 1, Tree #2589, Date of Import: Dec 1, 1998]
  
  "Catharina "Cato" "Kate" "Katrien" (8\29\1872-1958) married Marinus "Martin" "Uncle Mart" Knapp (Knop) (9\2\1864) in 1895 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "Cato" on her naturalization papers.
  
  Kate was working as a housekeeper and Mart heard about her and went to meet her.  He knocked on the door, introduced himself, and they got acquainted.  She  became his housekeeper and took care of his 4 children (John, Cora, Nellie and Hilda). Kate and Martin were soon married.
  
  He was English and Dutch.  His family left England and lived in the Netherlands for some time.  Kate spoke no English at the time they were married and Mart spoke only broken Dutch.  When the children wanted a drink of water, they would pull Kate to the sink and show her what they wanted.
  
  During dinner, Martin would hold a loaf of bread under his arm, butter the end, cut it off and serve the children each a slice.  He was also known for telling stories and Kate would have to "shut him up."  He would tell so many tall-tales and then get himself into a bind not being able to finish the story.  At that point he would say something to distract everyone and the subject then changed.
  
  Martin had four children by a previous wife who was English and named Alice Menardi.  She had died.  They were married in 1886.  His children by Alice were:
  
       1. John (twin) (10\28\1888-1975)
       2. Cora (twin) (10\28\1888-1979)
       3. Nellie (____-____)
       4. Hilda (10\26\1892-____)
       5. Unnamed Infant - died
  
  His children by Kate Kalkman were:
       6. Marie - died young in 1896
       7. Johanna "Anna" (7\9\1897-1987?).  She married 3 times.  Her first husband was John Visser.  They had 4 children.  She married ____Grinuis.       8. Marinus (8\2\1898-1933) married Margaret Tromp and they had 3 children.  Marinus died at the age of 35 from stomach cancer.
       9. Marie (11\6\1899-5\23\1918)  Married John Koning.  Marie was raped by her boyfriend John Koning.  He threw her against front cement of house.  She got pregnant and he married her.  He went to drugstore and got medicine end the pregnancy.  The medicine he gave her "destroyed her body below the belt." She got so bad he took her to the hospital where she died.  She died just a the curfew whistle blew at 8:55 pm.  Her mother couldn't stand hearing that whistle blow every day after that so the family returned to live in Grand Rapids that summer.  Johanna and Marinus were working in Grand Rapids at that time.
      10. William (1\7\1901-August 3, 1990) married Henrietta Venhuizen in Chicago.  They had 9 children.  William "Bill" moved to Chicago when a young man to work on a Dutch newspaper there.  After his first wife died, he married Alice Rager in Vancourver, Washington where he died.
      11. Kryn (9\4\1902-2\7\1959) married Beulah Fuller in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  They had one son, Faye.  Kryn had a heart attack and died at 57.  He had felt bad in the morning and his wife ran across the street to get a nurse.  When they returned to the house, he had died.  His mother Kate, was in the hospital and too sick to attend his funeral.
      12. Elizabeth "Bessie" (11\27\1903-3\22\1905).  Died as child.
      13. Elizabeth "Bessie" (7\30\1906-____).  Never married.
      14. Cornelius (10\5\1907-____).  Married Anne Karsten.
      15. Richard (1910-1910).  Died at 9 mo.
      16. Richard (4-24-1911-1976).  Married Gertrude _______.
      17. Katherine (7\245\1913-_____).  Married Perry Freeman in 1931.  They had 5 children.  In 1991 she married ______Schartz.
  
  Her parents Krijn and Maria lived with her in their last years. 
  
  Kate Kalkman Knapp is buried in Restlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Details of Catharina "Kate"'s family with Marinus "Martin" Antonie Knapp