It stood the tests of time until it was demolished in 1974. On August 9, 1721, Zioke Janssen - our first ancestor to carry the Westerhout name - was born and christened here in Horsten, in the parish of Sandel as part of the Jeverland. As the eldest brother in a region where "minorat" (junior inheritance) was the common rule, Zioke knew the family farm would pass to his youngest sibling. Seeing no future in his birthplace, he took destiny into his own hands. In 1741, as the fifth-generation, he left the Jeverland and walked or sailed to Hoorn, the Netherlands to join the Dutch East India Company (VOC). His name evolved from Zioke Janssen to Sjouke Jansz: Westerhout van Jeverlandt (from Jeverland), incorporating his place of birth through the possible farm name "Westerholt" to distinguish himself from others. "Jansz:" was one of the most common Dutch surnames in the Netherlands, meaning "son of Jan" and appears as an abbreviation for names such as Janssen, Johansen, or Jantzen. Later in 1757, Ziokes half brother who inherited the farm made the possible farm name "Westerholt" to his primary sir name. Today, ten generations later, the Westerhout name that Zioke registered has flourished across the globe, from Malaysia and Singapore to Australia, North America, and Europe! (This information draws on extensive research conducted in German archives, including Archion.de, the church books of the Evangelical Lutheran Parish of Cleverns‑Sandel, the Lower Saxony State Archives in Oldenburg (NLA OL), and historical records of the Westerhout family.) |
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