Evert Lotterman
By Heather and Patricia Gemmen
A portion of General Major von Le Coq‘s Grafschaft Bentheim map (1805) depicting the city of Emlichheim. Evert Lotterman emigrated from here in 1882.
Evert Lotterman was born on May 31, 1870. His parents were Berend Jan Lotterman from Emlichheim and Hendrickien Scheerhorn, who had three older sons—Albert, Hendrik, and Willem. For a short time they also had a daughter, Engelina. (Engelina lived from March 1863 to April 1865. She died in Coevorden.) German records report Berend Jan’s occupation to be a day laborer (Heuermann). Financially, the future of Evert and his three brothers did not hold much promise in Germany.
Evert Lotterman Emigrates to Michigan, U.S.A.
On April 5, 1882, Evert, his mother Hendrickien, and his brothers Albert and Willem departed from the port of Antwerp, Belgium on the S.S. Switzerland. Evert was almost twelve years old. His older brother Hendrik had left a year earlier, and the rest of the family followed him to Michigan.
By 1883, Evert was living with his mother and brothers in Allendale on the farm purchased by Albert and Hendrik. He became a member of the Christian Reformed Church there in that year, as well.
By 1892, he appears in the Grand Rapids City Directory as living with brothers Albert and Willem and working as a peddler.
Family Life
Evert first married Jennie Post of Allendale in September of 1893, but she died soon after the marriage. She is buried in the Allendale Cemetery. Her headstone names her simply as “Jennie Post.” Her birth date was October 5, 1872, and she died at age 21: December 22, 1893.
On September 8, 1896, Evert married Anna Schuitema. They had ten children:
- Benjamin Lotterman—born in 1897, died June 13, 1931;
- Dorius Lotterman—born on October 10, 1898, died February 13, 1950;
- Henrietta Lotterman—born on February 7, 1900, died in 1947;
- Jessie Lotterman—born August 10, 1901, died May 16, 1965;
- Henry E. Lotterman—born June 27, 1903, died March 3, 1970;
- Esther Lotterman—born January 30, 1905, died November 21, 1959;
- Dora Lotterman—born October 8, 1908, died April 2, 1974;
- Nora Lotterman—born October 8, 1908, died November 27, 1971;
- Edith Lotterman—born April 30, 1910, died May 26, 1940;
- Lucille Lotterman—born March 3, 1913, died April 5, 2000;
Evert Lotterman passed away on September 22, 1948. His wife Anna died far earlier, on February 9, 1920.
Evert Lotterman as a young man.
Anna Schuitema and Evert Lotterman.
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