Berend Benjamin Eefting - Genealogy - Ancestry - Descendancy

Berend Benjamin Eefting (I03136)

Name:
Berend Benjamin Eefting

Gender: Male

Birth: 29 October 1869 -- Stadskanaal, Stadskanaal, Groningen, Netherlands
Death: 9 September 1944 -- Miami, Miami, Dade, Florida

Pedigree Chart Descendancy Chart Timeline Chart

Personal Facts and Details

Notes

Note

Berend went to Hope College, Holland, Michigan, to study to become a minister. He became a civil engineer ‎(surveyor)‎ and worked in Chicago. He took winter trips to Florida in 1913-1918, and thought soil in the everglades was similar to that of Holland and wanted to see dikes built around Lake Okeechobee. His son, Ted, participated in the building of the dikes there. He also had a dairy farm west of Hollywood, Florida in 1925, wiped out by a hurricane in 1926. - Carol Heikema

Benjamin was a surveyor and civil engineer in Chicago. He became tired of going out into the cold weather and had made several trips from 1913 until 1918 to Florida via train. Each time he came back with stories and pictures which he showed in lectures. ‎(His daughter, Irene, remembers attending some of these lectures and hearing him say the soil in the everglades was similar to that of Holland.)‎ He wanted to start a Holland colony. He later did see the dikes that were built around Lake Okeechobee. His son, Ted, who also became a registered civil engineer had a position with the government and participated in the building of those dikes which were finished about 1944. In 1925, Ben had purchased 150 acres of land west of Hollywood, Florida. There he started a dairy. The 1926 hurricane ruined most of that. He rebuilt, but soon after, the great depression came and he no longer could keep it going nor pay the taxes so he lost the property. A large state hospital for the insane now stands on this property.
Ben started another little dairy on land near their home on 52nd street in Miami. This kept them until World War II after which they eased out of the dairy and depended solely on income from rental property for the remainder of their years.
During his later years Ben became quite deaf. While surveying on a railroad track he couldn't hear the
approaching train and he was killed instantly.
‎(Information attained later: - Ben came to America when he was 15 years old. He lived in Iowa. Later he went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan to study to become a minister.
Ben did not live to see the dikes completed but know they were being built.
Frances received a letter (July 24, 1929)‎ of thanks from her cousin, Cent Peiter Van der Linden, son of Grandma Naaktgeboren's brother Dirk. He greatly appreciated her loving care of her mother, Pieternella
Naaktgeboren. He was a teacher in Holland living on Helmen Straat 24, Amsterdam west. He was 79 at this date of 1929.
Frances ‎(Francijna)‎ was named after Dirk's ‎(brother of Pieternella Naaktgeboren)‎ wife Francijna." - Van Beek-
Naaktgeboren History written by Ella Van Horn - submitted by Carol Heikema

Francis Eefting - "In 1883, at the age of nine, Frances sailed with her mother, sisters and brothers to America from Holland. They traveled steerage. Her brother, Cent Pieter I died aboard the ship. They buried him in New York.
After arriving in America she lived in Chicago for six years. In 1889, at the age of 14 the family moved to Morrison. While living in Morrison she and her sister, Elizabeth worked in a shop doing tailoring and
alterations. Both were beautiful seamstresses.
While living in Texas she met Ben Eefting. However, she escaped the storm as she had moved back to
Chicago. In 1901 she married Benjamin Eefting, living in Chicago until 1918. Their marriage was postponed for a month due to the death of Ben's father. In 1918 they moved to Florida where she lived until her death in 1961."
Ref: The Van Beek-Naatgeboren History written by Ella Van Horn - submitted by Carol Heikema

	Events of close relatives
Birth	29 October 1869 Stadskanaal, Stadskanaal, Groningen, Netherlands Source: Birth Register - Groningen, Netherlands Source Text: Civil register - Birth Archive location Groninger Archieven General Municipality: Wildervank Type of record: geboorte Record number: 199 Registration date: 30-10-1869 Child Berend Eefting Gender: M Abandoned child: N Date of birth: 29-10-1869 Place of birth: Stadskanaal gem. Wildervank Father Willem Eefting Mother Janna Krekel Additional information beroep vader: koopman;
Birth of a sibling	25 November 1870 (Age 12 months) Sister: Alida Lydia Eefting (I03137) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	3 March 1872 (Age 2) Brother: Hendrik Eefting (I03138) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a sibling	28 April 1872 (Age 2) Brother: Hendrik Eefting (I03138) (Age 1 month) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	13 March 1873 (Age 3) Sister: Anna Eefting (I03139) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	25 October 1874 (Age 4) Sister: Hinderika Eefting (I03140) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	16 May 1876 (Age 6) Brother: Jan Hendrik Eefting (I03141) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	26 July 1878 (Age 8) Sister: Jantiena Eefting (I03142) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	2 August 1879 (Age 9) Brother: Johannes Willem Eefting (I03143) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a sibling	23 April 1881 (Age 11) Sister: Geertruida Eefting (I03144) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a grand-parent	5 October 1883 (Age 13) Grandfather: Berend Alberts Eefting (I00347) (Age 77) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a grand-parent	3 January 1887 (Age 17) Grandmother: Anna Huizing (I00348) (Age 65) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a sibling	10 March 1897 (Age 27) Brother: Jan Hendrik Eefting (I03141) (Age 20) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of father	4 January 1901 (Age 31) Father: Willem Eefting (I00349) (Age 57) - [Relationship Chart]
Marriage	27 January 1901 (Age 31) Frances Mary Naaktgeboren - ‎[View Family ‎(F1423)‎‎] Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Birth of a child #1	12 January 1902 (Age 32) Son: William Theodore Eefting (I03166) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a child #2	13 September 1905 (Age 35) Son: Milton Eefting (I03167) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a child #3	3 December 1907 (Age 38) Daughter: Irene Eefting (I03168) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a father's sibling	8 May 1909 (Age 39) Uncle: Geert Eefting (I02961) (Age 45) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of mother	5 June 1914 (Age 44) Mother: Johanna Krekel (I03134) (Age 73) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a father's sibling	19 April 1925 (Age 55) Uncle: Jan Eefting (I02947) (Age 83) - [Relationship Chart]
Birth of a grandchild #1
Death of a father's sibling	13 March 1931 (Age 61) Aunt: Anna Eefting (I00996) (Age 76) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a father's sibling	26 September 1938 (Age 68) Aunt: Jantje Eefting (I00045) (Age 80) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a father's sibling	1 March 1939 (Age 69) Uncle: Jan H. Eefting (I02959) (Age 87) - [Relationship Chart]
Death of a sibling	19 April 1940 (Age 70) Sister: Alida Lydia Eefting (I03137) (Age 69) - [Relationship Chart]
Death	9 September 1944 (Age 74) Miami, Miami, Dade, Florida Cause of death: Accident - hit by train while surveying
Burial	Graceland Memorial Cemetery - Miami, Dade, Florida
Last Change	8 January 2010 - 18:45:24 Last changed by: Admin