Genealogiecode: K XI bf
I am Pieter P Vreugdenhil (K XI bf) and I live in Lower Sackville, Canada. I am married, father of four boys, and grandfather of five young ladies. I was born in 1945 in Maassluis as one of nine children, son of Cornelis Jan Vreugdenhil (K X z) and Johanna van der Eijk. The family emigrated to Canada in 1952 and settled in Chatham, Ontario.
Introduction of the Hill family
My great-grandfather was Jan Vreugdenhil (K VIII g), he married twice. The first time to Magteldje Sluijter and the second time to Jaapje van der Mark. He was the father of 24 children. Only six of the thirteen sons reached adulthood. His older brother Arij (K VIII f) also married twice, had seven children, but only two of the four sons – Jan and Pieter – reached adulthood. Their son Jan (K IX g) married Cornelia Adriana Boekesteijn and became the father of 20 children. Eight of the eleven sons reached adulthood.
Four of them (Jan, Andries, Leendert, and Daniel) emigrated from the Netherlands around 1924-1928 (Jan was the first).
There was no further information available in the Vreugdenhil family tree. It seemed that they had disappeared, so I searched for the brothers on Ancestry.com. There were various notes about their travels between the Netherlands and Canada/USA, voter lists, and places of residence. Eventually, I found Jan in Winnipeg MB, where he was married to Marie Jasko and they had a daughter Cora Hill and two sons – Jack Hill and Nicholas (Nick) Hill. But this name change seemed like a red flag to me.
Next, I spoke to a Vreugdenhil cousin in Carman MB, and he suggested I go to a company in Winnipeg called “Kern-Hill” Furniture Store. I wrote them an email and asked if anyone from their family was related to the Vreugdenhil family, and they replied – “yes, but they weren’t sure how to pronounce the name!” I heard that the store was started by a certain Nicholas Hill, the son of John Hill. Was this the same Jan/John Vreugdenhil (K IX g.6)? My information was later confirmed by Ancestry. When I asked if there was any evidence or documentation of a legal name change, they sent me a photo of the younger brother Leendert’s gravestone. It said “Leonard Hill (Vreugdenhil)” and listed the correct birthdate. I have not yet found further evidence or documentation of a legal name change. However, I learned that of the four brothers, Jan, Andries, and Leendert changed their last name to “Hill” while Daniel did not. Jan (John) and Leendert (Leonard) started a dairy farm near Winnipeg MB.
Andries moved to Milwaukee WI, where he used the name Andrew Hill and joined the US Navy. Daniel kept his birth name Vreugdenhil and moved to Toronto ON (likely as a male nurse). This will require further investigation. After this, I contacted John Hill (in Calgary), the son of Jack Hill, and he gave me a lot of information about the family. I also contacted his cousin Andy Hill (in Winnipeg), who is a son of Nicholas Hill, and he did the same. All of this shows how family names can change, especially when moving to another country. Below are some photos that may help show the changes that have taken place.
