Is the Hendrik Kloosterman in the 1879 Assen population register Willem's father?
Willem's 1888 birth certificate names his father as Hendrik Kloosterman, laborer, Assen — no street address given. A Hendrik Kloosterman, laborer, also appears in the 1879 Assen population register at Vaart Noordzijde, living with a Jantje Hidding, not Geertje Wolters (Willem's mother). Assen had more than one Kloosterman household in this period, so this could be the same man (a second marriage or an earlier household member not yet recorded) or a different, unrelated Hendrik Kloosterman of the same trade and name.
Hypotheses
Same name, same trade (laborer), same town. Jantje Hidding in 1879 could be an earlier or a later household member, not necessarily a contradiction with Geertje Wolters by 1888 — a remarriage or a household member misrecorded as a spouse would explain the mismatch.
Kloosterman was not a rare surname in Drenthe, and the 1879 household's wife, Jantje Hidding, does not match Geertje Wolters at all — no remarriage or death record for either woman has been found yet to bridge the two households. Assen's civil registry may hold a second, distinct Hendrik Kloosterman family two streets over.
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Research log
- Sep 1, 2026
Checked the Assen civil-registry household index for a second Hendrik Kloosterman entry in the 1880s. Found one plausible second household two streets over (Vaart Zuidzijde), not yet independently confirmed against Willem's own line. No marriage or death record found yet for either Jantje Hidding or Geertje Wolters that would settle the question.