VanAbel, Martin

1827 - 1897  (70 years)

• Name	VanAbel, Martin
  Birth	13 Feb 1827	Mill, , Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
  Gender	Male
  Birth - Civil Record	13 Feb 1827
  Martinus van Abel kind on Tuesday, February 13, 1827 Mill Plaats: Mill, bron: BHIC, Burgerlijke Stand Geboorte, aktenummer: 11 Geboren: Martinus van Abel Geboortedatum: 13-2-1827 relatie: zoon van Vader: Adriaan van Abel Beroep vader: timmerman Woonplaats vader: Mill Moeder: Maria Kempen Woonplaats moeder: Mill
  Immigration	5 May 1848	Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
  on the Libra from Rotterdam Line 67
  Listed as Martinus Van Aaben age 21, on the ship Liberia arriving May 5, 1848 to Boston, the first families that settled in Kaukuana area, see notes under Albert Vandenberg about this ship. 1848 The following written by John Verboot, Nov 23, 1897 NOTE - This family was part of the group of the first families to sett le in the Kaukauna, Hollandtown and Little Chute area of Wisconsin."We were thirteen families, all Hollanders. Father Godhart was our leade r. The captain and sailors of our ship also were Hollanders. I have forg otten the exact number of emmigrants on board the LIBERA, but it was abo ut 80 persons. The following are the names of the heads of these familie s. Hans Klassens, from Grave; Martinus Verkuilen, from Uden; Hein Groen s, from Volkel; Niklaas Dennison, from Volkel; Antoon Verkampen, from Volk el; Antoon Verwijst, from Uden; Mr. denkboom, from Amsterdam; Albert van d en Berg, from Cuyk; Ebben, from Mill; Johannes Tillemans and fiancee fr om Boekel, Jan Verboort, from Volkel, and two youths reckoned as belongi ng to the Verkampen family.We spent several days at Rotterdam on board the LIBERA in order to purcha se food and other neccessities, for in those days each passenger had to b uy his own provisions, ad the captain was not allowed to accept any passen ger who had not complied with the prescribed regulations. Everything was c arefully weighed, a number was put on each passenger'sbag or package whi ch the captain put under lock so that later, according to the ship's rule s, a fixed daily portion could be doled out. Passengers were not permitt ed to use as much of their provisions as they wished, but only as mu ch as the captain allowed, in accordance with teh rules. A small amou nt of drinking water was portioned out each day. The passengers, howeve r, did not have to provide their own drinking water; this the shipping com pany brought on board at Rotterdam.When everything was in readiness, the LIBERA left Rotterdam. At first o ur boat was drawn (by another boat), later it was pulled by horses to Hell evoetsluis. There were at the moment of our departure two other ships wi th emmigrants ready to leave for America. About these ships I know littl e, so I shall say nothing about them. Ours was the first of the thr ee to depart; it also was the first to arrive at its destination.We encountered our first storm in the English Channel. The captai n, as a measure of precaution, took refuge for three days in an English ha rbor. I believe it was the Isle of Wight. Later we had other serious storm s, the worst being, if I recall accurately, on Easter Suday (April 11 ). it lasted three days and blew so voilently that the hatches were clos ed and only small space was allowed the passengers to go on deck when nece ssary. Sails were furled, but accidents could not be prevented. just befo re the storm struck we could count fifty ships around us. but as so on as the storm began to blow, not a single ship could be seen any more. E xcept for this storm nothing noteworthy happened on the voyage which was t edious but, considering time and circumstances tolerable.After a voyage of 52 days we arrived safely at the dock in Boston on Frida y, May 5. the next day we left by train in boxcars for Buffalo. Three of t he thirteen families stayed in Boston; denkboom, who did not want to trav el further; Antoon Verkampen and Antoon Verwijst who did not have mon ey to travel further; and Dennissen stayed in Buffalo because his wife w as sick and died. We sailed from Buffalo to Machinac Island where we stay ed three days until we could get a sailing ship for Green bay. from the re we proceeded up the Fox River by scow or flatboat propelled by six m en who used poles. this took two entire days. From Kaukauna we were brou ght in two wagons, drawn by six oxen,to Little Chute where we arriv ed on 22 May. There we rested and laid pans for the future."
  1870 Census	1870	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  Page
  Holland, WI; Listed living with wife and 4 children.Listed a ge as 40, born in Holland
  	1870 Census Holland page 26 Brown County, Wisconsin
  1875 State Census	1875	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  4 Males and 6 Females
  1875 Census Holland Film # 1032689; Martin Van Abel listed as head of hous ehold of 4 men and 6 women.
  1880 Census	1880	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  Page 19
  Listed living with wife and 7 children, age 51, occupation Saloon Keeper
  	1880 Census Holland ED15 page 19 Brown County, Wisconsin
  News Mention	3 Jul 1885
  Kaukauna Times
  1885 Kaukauna Times dated 7/03/1885; Mr Martin Venable has purchased the fa rm of Dennis Rohan.
  Land Record	1889	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  1889 Brown County Plat Book
  	Brown County Plat Book 1889 Towns of Fort Howard, Howard, Holland, Humboldt and Lawrence.
  Biography	Abt 1895  [1]
  Commemorative Biographical Rec, page 275.
  Mr. Van Abel is a native of Holland, born February13, 1827, a son of Andrew Van Abel, a farmer in comfortable circumstances in that world renowned dairyland, and who was the parent of five children that lived to adult age, of whom three are yet living, viz: William, in holland township, Brown Co., Wis.; Ellen, living with our subject; and Martin. The father of these died in 1844, the mother, whose maiden name was Mary Kempen, passing away in 1863. They came with some of their children to Wisconsin in 1851, three years after Martin's emigration.Martin Van Abel received a fair education at the public schools of his nat ive land until thirteen years of age, when he went to work on a farm, a nd so continued untill his emigration to the United States, which event to ok place when he was 21 years old. Having been drafted intothe Dutch arm y, he concluded the best way to avoid service would be to "take French lea ve," and emigrate. Accordingly, on the good ship "Liberia," bound from Ams terdam for the United States, he in the spring of 1848, set sail from h is native land, arriving after a voyage of 54 days, at Boston. Thence trav eling westward via Buffalo (where he took passage on the "Old Michigan" ), he landed in Green Bay May 10 of the same year. From there he came to w hat is now Holland township, in company with the following named, who we re among the first settlers of the village of Holland: William Kempen, Hen ry Vandehey, Henry Hovener, Henry Gerrits, Martin VerKuile, Albert Vandenb erg, John Arts, George Vanden Heuvel, and John Verboort. At this time t he land was all new and uncleared, in fact, in its primeval condition, tot ally untouched by the hand of man, and here they decided to form a pure ly Dutch colony. In order that they might not only con¬verse in their moth er tongue, but also worship as they did in their faraway native land, th ey brought with them their own pastor, Rev. Godhart. The party came by w ay of Wrightstown, and from there continued their journey by teams, in t he direction of their destination; but at the end of three miles they fou nd themselves confronted with an impenetrable forest, defying farther prog ress with anything in the shape of horse and wagon; consequently the tea ms were left behind, and all the goods and chattels carried through the wo ods on the backs of the immigrant colonists.Arrived at last at their goal, they made their first settlement on a pie ce of land now owned by Martin Van Abel. Shanties or huts were hurriedly b uilt of bark stripped from the basswood tree, and for a long time this w as their only shelter. Each member of this party took up land for his o wn account.During the first year Martin Van Abel, being young and strong, worked f or some of the others who had families, and as there were no roads of a ny kind, boundaries, farms or fences, he found plenty to do at chopping do wn the giants of the forest, and out of the hewn logs building dwellin gs of a more substantial nature. The first land purchased by Mr. Van Ab el was forty acres, all timber-covered, in Calumet County, 1/2 mile from t he Village of Holland, for which land he paid 10 shillings per acre, and h ere he cut the first tree that ever fell to axe on the place, all the prel iminary improvements on the place being made by his own hand; and, as the re was no means of removing the trees as they fell, huge bonfires were mad e, which consumed many a thousand feet of valuable timber. About 1862 o ur subject removed to Section 35, Holland township, where for one ye ar he lived on rented land, then in Section 34 he bought the 12 acres wher eon is now his home.But Mr. Van Abel, since coming to Holland township, has been more interest ed in mercantile pursuits than in farming. Shortly after his arrival in t he Village of Holland, in partnership with his brother¬in-law, John Wassenberg, he opened out a mercantile business, conduct ed by them two years, at the end of which time our subject bought out h is partner and afterward carried on the store alone until 1880. In that ye ar fire destroyed his store and stock in trade,causing him great los s, as he had but little insurance. Nothing daunted, however, he rebui lt at once, bought a fresh stock, later adding thereto a saloon busines s, all of which he has since conducted with eminent success, the grow th of his trade necessitating the enlargement of his premises from ti me to time, until now he owns quite a commodious establishment. To his la nd he has, by purchases at different periods, added until now he has 130 a cres.In October, 1961, Mr. Van Abel was married, in Holland township, to Miss E llen Wassenberg, a native of Holland, born May 16,1842, a daughter of Will iam Wassenberg, who came to the United States with his family in 1851 on t he same boat in which the mother of our subject and others of the family c rossed the Atlantic. To this union came children as follows: Born in Calum et County --John, now a farmer of Holland township; born in the Villa ge of Holland --Mary, now the wife of Theodore Broeren, of Portland, Orego n; Hattie, Mrs. Henry Van Deuren, of Green Bay; William (1), deceased at t he age of 2 years; Minnie, one of the Sisters of St. Francis, in Manitowo c, Wis.; Michael M., at home; Henry H., a graduate of Green Bay Business C ollege; Lizzie, who died young; Annie, William (2) and Anton, all thr ee at home; Bardene, deceased; and Albert, at home. Mr. & Mrs. Van Abel a nd family are prominent members of St. Francis Church at Holland. Politica lly he has always been a staunch Democrat, and has served as supervisor, a lthough he has never sought office, his many private interests demanding a nd receiving all his time and attention.Mr. Van Abel is one of the four yet living of the original party of pionee rs who came into the Holland settlement in 1848 --nearly 1/2 a century a go during which long period he has witnessed marvelous changes and experie nced hardships unknown to and not readily realized by the present commerci al generation. He is a living type of the progressive man, who from boyhoo d, with but little education and no knowledge of the English language, eas ays to build up a home and reputation in the wilds of a new part of a n ew country, and succeeds by his own brawny muscle and indomitable will pow er. He was confronted with the stern forest, and he subdued it; he encount ered innumerable difficulties, and he overcame them; he met with ruinous a dversity, but Phoenix like, he built up better and higher. He and his amia ble wife had a large family to rear, and they brought them up nobly in t he backwoods, educating them as well as if they had lived in the finest ci ty; and taught them to know and to live up to the knowledge that they a re worthy children of worthy pioneer parents, respected everywhere.
  Other Info or Events	See Info on descendants in corrspondence file from John Van Able of Ohio following a Family reunion in 2000.
  Death	8 May 1897	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  Burial	Aft 8 May 1897	St. Francis Catholic Cemetery, Hollandtown, Wisconsin, USA
  	St Francis Cemetery, Hollandtown, Wisconsin Tombstone St Francis Cemetery, Holland, Sec 1 Row 8, Lot 4, 1827-1897
  		vanAbel, Martin St. Francis Catholic Cemetery, Hollandtown, Wisconsin, USA
  Person ID	I15662	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	20 May 2018

  
  

  Father	VanAbel, Adriaan "Andrew",   b. 16 Aug 1777, Mill, , Noord-Brabant, Netherlands d. 3 Aug 1843, Mill, , Noord-Brabant, Netherlands (Age 65 years)
  Mother	Kempen, Mary,   b. 18 Mar 1786, Mill, , Noord-Brabant, Netherlands d. Abt 1863, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 76 years)
  Family ID	F6059	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Wassenberg, Ellen,   b. 16 May 1842, Gemert, , Noord-Brabant, Netherlands d. 1 Aug 1923, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 81 years)
  Marriage	Abt Oct 1861	Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA
  Children	+ 1. VanAbel, John,   b. 13 Jan 1862, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 25 Jan 1950, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 88 years)   2. VanAbel, William,   b. 13 Jan 1862, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 3 Feb 1867, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 5 years) + 3. VanAbel, Mary,   b. 2 Jan 1865, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 22 Jun 1957, Thorp, Clark, Wisconsin, USA (Age 92 years) + 4. VanAbel, Hattie,   b. Abt 1866, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. Abt 1942, Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age ~ 76 years)   5. VanAbel, Sister Hyacinth Philomena Johanna C. S. S.,   b. 10 Apr 1870, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 28 Nov 1894, Alverno, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA (Age 24 years) + 6. VanAbel, Michael,   b. 18 Jul 1873, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 14 Jul 1944 (Age 70 years) + 7. VanAbel, Henry H.,   b. 6 May 1874, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 29 May 1923, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 49 years)   8. VanAbel, Lizzie,   b. 12 Aug 1876, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 19 Sep 1877, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 1 year) + 9. VanAbel, Annie,   b. 24 Mar 1878, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 15 Sep 1935, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 57 years) + 10. VanAbel, William J.,   b. 8 Jan 1881, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 24 Jan 1950, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 69 years) + 11. VanAbel, Anton,   b. 13 Feb 1883, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 15 Dec 1918, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 35 years)   12. VanAbel, Bardeen,   b. 18 Dec 1884, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 3 Nov 1885, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 0 years) + 13. VanAbel, Albert,   b. 25 Apr 1886, Holland, Brown, Wisconsin, USA d. 27 Nov 1946, Wrightstown, Brown, Wisconsin, USA (Age 60 years)
  Family ID	F6057	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Jun 2016

  
  

• Sources

  [S1011] J.H. Beers & Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley, (Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago, J.H. Beers & Co. 1895 containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families. Read at Wisconsin History.org web site Or ), Page 275.