Petrus (Pierre) was born on October 9th, 1740 in Beringen and his baptism took place there in 1740.12 His godfather was Joannes Meynen and his godmother was Maria Claes. Petrus (Pierre)'s father was Petrus Henricus Gaethofs and his mother was Elisabetha Daniels. His paternal grandparents were Joannes Gathoffs and Anna Peeters. He had a brother and a sister, named Joannes and Anna Maria. He was the youngest of the three children. He died at the age of 69 on August 7th, 1810 in Lummen.3