Afstammelingen Govert Andriesz van Mersbergen » Louwerens van Meersbergen (1711-> 1779)

Personal data Louwerens van Meersbergen 

• Alternative name: Laurens van Maersbergen
• He was born on October 18, 1711 in Eethen.
• He was baptized on October 18, 1711 in Eethen.
• He died after November 19, 1779.
• A child of Andries van Meersbergen and Anneke Willemse Versteegh

Household of Louwerens van Meersbergen

He is married to Catharina van Son.

They got married about 1743.

Child(ren):

1. Willem Louwerense van Mersbergen  1743-< 1752
2. Anneke Louwerense van Mersbergen  1744-????
3. Sijke Louwerense van Mersbergen  1746-1812 
4. Adriana van Masbergen  1748-1795 
5. Andries van Marsbergen  1750-1822
6. Willem van Mersbergen  1752-1821 
7. Joost Louwerense van Maersbergen  1757-1757

Notes about Louwerens van Meersbergen

Louwerens van Meersbergen
gedoopt op zondag 18 oktober 1711 Eethen
Plaats: Eethen, bron: SLHA, gezindte/instantie: NG register: 8, folio: 22 r/v: v
KIND: Louwerens
Doopdatum: 18-10-1711
Geslacht: M
VADER: Andries van Meersbergen
MOEDER: Anneke Versteegh

Louwerens was born in Genderen, and lived near there most of his life, while his wife Catherina moved from Heesbeen, transferring her membership to the Genderen Church on April 4, 1744. At this time, Genderen was quite a prosperous town, having 43 houses, a flour mill and a fine church with a stately tower. The fields surrounding it were extremely fertile, growing wheat and corn, as well as hemp and hops. The hemp was used for the making of rope, cord and sailcloth, while the hops were used in the brewing of beer. There was virtually no land in the area that went untilled.

On June 23, 1743 Louwerens and Catarina had a son, Willem, that died some time before 1752 when another son of that name was born. Another son, Joost, was born on September 04, 1757 and died October 05, 1757.
Louwerens was active in the Dutch Reformed Church in Genderen, serving as Deacon in 1758, 1759, and 1761 and as Elder in 1760 and 1769. He and his wife moved to Heesbeen in 1779, along with their two unmarried children, Adriana and Andries, perhaps because of an inheritance that his wife received. He transferred his membership to the Reformed Church in Heesbeen on November 19, 1779 and served as an Elder of the Church in 1782.
Laurens and Catarina made out their testament before the Schout of Heesbeen on March 10,1786. In it they leave everything to their two youngest children, Adriana and Andries, who were very likely living with their parents, even though Andries was already married to Sijken van den Heuvel. In return, the children agree to care for their parents during their lifetime. Since this involved a mutual obligation, both children signed the document as well as their parents.
The testament was signed by Laurens and his son Andries, but Catarina and her daughter Adriana, apparently illiterate, both signed with an " X ", which was witnessed by Otto Verhagen and Huijbert Tameris.

By the time that Louwerens and Catherina were born, social forces were beginning to affect the area around Genderen. The great Civil War was long over, and prosperity was returning to the areas that had been pounded by devastation for so many years. But this prosperity was not to be shared equally by everyone in the area. One reason for this was that, due to the absence of war and improved diet and sanitary conditions, families were getting larger. In previous centuries, families would try to have as many children as possible, in the hopes that 2 or 3 would survive to adulthood. In those days, the oldest son would inherit the farm, and any other children would receive a sum of money. The excess sons would have to find employment in the army, the cities or as monks in the monasteries. The daughters would find husbands in the local area, become nuns, or remain unmarried. As unfair as this system might have been, at least it insured that a part of the family could retain enough property to provide for his family, and absolute poverty was kept to a minimum.

But as the number of children reaching maturity increased, a tendency grew to share the land equally with all sons, and eventually with all daughters also. Although this system had the laudable result of treating all children is an equatable manner, it also resulted in the available land being subdivided over the years until no one inherited enough land sufficient to support a family. This land was ultimately purchased by the wealthier farmers, and left a large portion of the families in the area without the means to support their families, jobs being quite scarce. This ultimately came to a head in the latter part of the 19th century as large numbers of the population was forced to emigrate to America, Canada, South Africa, or other countries in order to feed their families.

Dave Pol

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Timeline Louwerens van Meersbergen

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