A CALL FOR HELP

 





Leendert Tieles Berkenpas was born on May 26, 1862 in Sint Jacobiparochie, municipality Het Bildt as a son of Tiele Jacobs Berkenpas and Jantje Leenderts Dijkstra. On May 12, 1883 Leendert married Akke Fokkema in the municipality Ferwerderadeel. Akke was born on March 31, 1857 in Marrum, daughter of Jantje Dirks Fokkema, her father being unknown.

In the year 1889 Leendert & Akke and their two children Joukje and Tiele emigrated to Argentina in an attempt to improve their life. They departed from Amsterdam on board s.s. "Schiedam" on September 25, 1889. Also on board this ship was a family from the municipality Hemelumer Oldeferd: Jan Cornelis Koornstra & Sijke Rintjes Bijlsma and their children. In one of the letters that Jan Cornelis Koornstra wrote to the folks back home he mentions that "a little child has died, one from Marrum". This child was Tiele Leenderts Berkenpas who passed away on October 7, 1889. It was only the beginning of a dreadful life in Argentina.

Although the exact dates are unknown, it is known that Akke Fokkema and daughter Joukje died in Argentina. Leendert remarried, probably in 1896, to Jantje Paulus Pausenga who was born on August 31, 1868 in Oosternijkerk, municipality Oostdongeradeel, as a daughter of Paulus Tjerks Pausenga & Trijntje Gerbens Postma (aka Postmus). It were hard, very hard times for Leendert & Jantje in Argentina. In fact it was so hard that they sent a desperate letter to a minister in Michigan asking him for help.
Rev. S.J. Menning from Grand Rapids did not know Leendert Berkenpas and his family but did know some of his relatives in Minnesota whom he knew as descent and good people. However, harvest in Minnesota had been very poor over the past couple of years so Leendert's relatives had enough worries of their own and were not able to help him and his family. As the situation of the Berkenpas' in Argentina had become almost unbearable, Rev. Menning decided to try and do something about it himself by means of collecting money for the passage of the family to the USA. He had advertisements placed in the "De Hope" paper calling on readers to send him money for the passage.

This is the story of Rev. S.J. Menning's  attempts to have Leendert Berkenpas and his family come over. It is presented by means of translations to English of the original advertisements which were in Dutch:
 

January 28, 1903
 February 18, 1903
March 11, 1903
March 18, 1903
 April 1, 1903
April 8, 1903
April 22, 1903
May 13, 1903
September 2, 1903



Many thanks to Mitch Berkenpas and Bob Schwierenga
for their kind cooperation.