John Mettes
(1829
- 10 Mar 1917)
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John was born in January 1829 Hoorn, Holland, and
immigrated to the United States in 1851 at the age of 22. Much of
what we know from John comes from the book From Whence We
Came, by Maude Lynch and with a genealogical chart prepared by
Donald Delaney. There is some indication that John had a college
degree when he emigrated. After getting settled in Lancaster, New
York, he sent to Holland for his sweetheart, Miss Gesina
Holofskopl. Gesina came to the United States and they were married
in l852. Nicholas
Henry, their first child was born on 1st February 1853 in
Lancaster, New York.
Sometime between 1853 and 1855, the
family moved to Michigan. John
Simon was born in July 1855 and William Sylvester was born 1st
October 1857, both in or near Pentwater, Michigan. On 1st May 1858,
John paid cash to buy 80 acres of land,
becoming the first private owner of this property. Martinus James
and Mary Euzenia were also born in or near Pentwater, Michigan, in
the early 1860s.
On 2 August 1862, John
enlisted
in the Union army at Pentwater during the Civil War. The picture on
this page was taken in Baltimore, Maryland (near Washington D.C.),
probably in 1865 and is part of a full
picture of John in uniform. |
John was a Private in Company A, Regiment 26, 1st Brigade,
1st Division, 2nd Corps of the Michigan State Infantry. John was
wounded in the foot on May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania Courthouse in
Virginia while marching to Williamsburg, Virginia. John was
discharged from the Army on May 25, 1865.
[ source: John
Mettes Military by Chris Mettes ]
During his three-year
military service, John spent time in Missouri and learned to like
the Missouri countryside. On 26th April 1866, Anna Johanna (Annie)
was born in or near Pentwater, Michigan. In 1867 with a three-week
covered-wagon trip, the family moved to Macon County, Missouri,
settling in the Healey
Settlement, a few miles east of Atlanta. Here, their seventh
child, Nettie,
was born in 1869. John and Gesina farmed the land and lived the
remainder of their married life at the Healy Settlement.
John and Gesina had seven
children:
1. Nicholas
Henry, born 1 Feb 1853 - died 28 Jan 1916 |
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2. John
Simon, born 21 or 26 Jul 1855, Michigan - died 3 Mar 1931
or 1932 |
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3. William
Sylvester, born 1 Oct 1857 - died 5 Feb 1950 
4. Martinus James, born 11 Nov 1860,
Michigan - died 1939, Colorado Springs, El Paso County,
Colorado |
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5. Mary Euzenia, born 22 Feb 1862
- died 5 Feb 1950
6. Anna
Johanna (Annie), born 26 Apr 1866, Michigan - died 10 Sep
1951 |
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| 7. Nettie
Frances, born 1869 Healy Settlement, Missouri - died 1871
Healy Settlement, Macon County, Missouri |
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The small photos on this
page are parts of a group
photo at the Healy Settlement, taken 11 July 1921.
John
and Gesina celebrated their golden wedding anniversary two years
before Gesina’s death in 1904. Gesina was buried in St. Joseph
cemetery in Macon, Missouri.
On September 30, 1905, John was
married to Annie
Curtis of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1906 they moved to Leasburg,
Missouri where they and Annie’s daughter, Loretta, lived until
John’s death in 1917.
John was buried in St. Joseph cemetery
in Macon, Missouri.
back to Mettes
family tree page
[text and photos provided by Chris
Mettes and David Garth Mettes]
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