52 Ancestors Week #5: Maria Katharina de Bruijne

This week I selected Maria Katharina de Bruijne  from my Ancestor Blogging Jar with the topic - what was this ancestor doing when they were at age 40?

Maria Katharina de Bruijne is a 4th great grandmother in my mother's paternal line.  She was born approximately 1803 in Cadzand, Zeeland, Netherlands.  She was the daughter of Jannis de Bruijne and Katharina de Ruijssche.

Maria would have been 40 around 1843;  at that point in her life she had had the following life experiences:

Maria was once widowed.  

Maria had married Jakob Baas, a peasant servant, on June 11, 1823.  He was the son of Francois Baas and Elizabeth den Decker.  He was born on September 9, 1802 in Retranchement, Zeeland, Netherlands.  They were both 20 years of age, unfortunately their life together was cut short when he died on October 3, 1827. They had been married just over 4 years and had 3 children before Jakob passed away and a fourth child was born after his death.  Maria was just 27 years old.  Her children were aged 4, 3, 1 and she was pregnant.

Their children were:

• Jannis Baas, a son, born September 6, 1823 only three months after getting married
• Elizabeth Baas, a daughter, born December 29, 1824
• Izaak Baas, a son, born April 30, 1826
• Katharina Maria Baas, a daughter, born after her father's death on February 10, 1828

Maria was married a second time.

Maria raised her four children as a single widowed parent from the time of Jakob's death in October of 1827 until she remarried Kornelius van der Maas on October 20, 1834.  Kornelis was the son of Marinus Van der Maas and Maria Bakker.  At the time of her 2nd marriage, Maria was 32 years old.  Her children would have been 11, 10, 8 and 6.  Her second husband was 26 at the time of their marriage.   Maria and Kornelis went on to start a family of their own.  They had four children.

Their children were:

• Suzanna Jakoba van der Maas, a daughter, born on July 28, 1835.
• Sara van der Maas, a daughter, born on October 6, 1836.
• Marinus van der Maas, a son, born on December 30, 1837.
• Janneke van der Maas, a daughter, born on September 7, 1840.

Maria had buried a child.

Maria and Kornelius' son, Marinus did not make it to adulthood.  He died at four months of age on April 29, 1838.  Maria was around 35 years of age. 

During her fortieth year she would have had 7 living children.  They were 20, 19, 17, 15, 8, 7, and 3.  More than likely all of them were still living at home. It appears that she had always lived in Cadzand, Zeeland, Netherlands which is a coastal town in the southern part of country very near Belgium.