Boyenga Family

The G. George Boyenga family lived a tough life, farming throughout the hard time of the Great Depression with tough daily workloads. The tough days were balanced though with a good life full of family, friends, and economic fun.

Gerrit George Boyenga chose to go by his middle name, as a family member had given his first name a bad reputation and ruined credit. His father, Tjalling Boogjinga (Charlie Boyenga), was born in the Netherlands, then came to Holland Michigan and was a sailor on the great lakes. He hauled lumber on Lake Michigan to Chicago after the great fire. As a young man, George served with the Holland Home Guard. The guard was used for meeting local emergencies when the regular armed forces were active in combat and were the early versions of what we know as the National Guard.

George married Edna Bennett in 1912. They had two children, Ruby and Charles. In 1926 Edna died only 5 days after the birth of Charles.

In July of 1928, George purchased the 40-acre farm on the banks of the Flat River at 630 North Monroe named Lo-View Dairy. The farm came with a small milk business with a few retail customers and Hahn’s Grocery carried the dairy’s cream. The farm was unique as half of it was within the village limits, and the other half was in Vergennes Township. The farm went west to the river and north.

In October of the same year, George married Buela Hendrixson. Buela had worked at the telephone company in Grand Rapids. She was a hard worker and cared for Ruby and Charles as her own. Beula left a treasure for her family by keeping a journal from 1929 - 1936. She begins with “Here goes for a record of the important events in the married life of Mr. and Mrs. G.G. Boyenga this year of our Lord 1929.” Through this journal we get to see daily life for this hard-working family. Some entries simply detail how many bushels of beans she had picked, or who had come to visit. Other entries reveal the love and life’s trials and sorrows endured by the Boyenga family along with the whole Village of Lowell.

The Boyengas lived through historic times in Lowell and Buela lets us see it through her eyes. 1931 brought the Centennial Celebration to Lowell. Buela tells us, “August 6, 1931, George and I went to a baseball game between Lowell & Alto. We went to see the Centennial Pageant tonight but such a jam - we could not get in so came back home. Bought some ice cream on way home.” Then we see from the August 13, 1931, issue of The Lowell Ledger, “The Centennial Pageant was given on Thursday evening before an audience of some fifteen hundred people, and then many were disappointed in not being able to find even a place to sit on the grass.”

While 1930 is the driest year in recorded history in west Michigan, 1930 - 1937 is considered the worst drought period in Michigan. In 1931 Buela tells of the daily struggles without rain. Finally, we see "April 9 - A thunderstorm late this am and this evening.  Quite a nice rain. I was raking quick grass roots from the barley field and we all had to crawl under the wagon. Temperature was 85 degrees before the rain.” The front page of the Lowell Ledger proclaims “RAIN”, with a cartoon character holding his hands up, enjoying the rain.

In 1932 they joined the grieving when Lowell’s police Deputy Charles Knapp was killed. They were part of the large crowd gathered at the cemetery.
While some things change drastically from generation to generation, some things stay the same. “August 6, 1932, Started out to row down to the showboat but it began to rain as we got to the river so beat it back home. Got in the car and drove downtown to see the crowd.” Today people still come by boat, usually a pontoon, and line up to hear the Showboat Summer Concerts.

In February they mourned along with the whole village when newspaper editor Frank Johnson died. They lined up to pay their respects.

In May of 1936, Buela states that the Dr. was out to check out some pain she was having. The last entry is in October and Buela dies from colon cancer in January of 1937. Ruby was 23 years old while Charles was only 11.

In September of 1943 George married Beulah Voss. George and Beulah were very involved in the Farm Bureau. He was discussion leader for five years and they would host meetings on their farm. George was a natural entertainer. He would write out comedy speeches that he would deliver in a true Dutch dialect.

George died unexpectedly in 1959, followed by the death of Beulah later that year. George and his family were true farmers. They loved the out-of-doors and animals. George loved the maintenance and use of machinery. He supported other farmers, and the occupation, through the Farm Bureau.

The farm fields north of Sherman Street were purchased by the directors of the Lowell Showboat Inc. and the Board of Trade, to be gifted to the Attwood Corporation to entice them to build in Lowell. Ruby married Arie Leeman and lived the rest of her life in Lowell. Charles married and moved to California.

The George Boyenga farm property will be covered more thoroughly in “X Marks the Spot” coming in this alphabet round!

Images:
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Ruby, Charles, Buela (second wife) and George Boyenga
George Boyenga, daughter Ruby Leeman, Don, Bob and Jeanne Leeman
George Boyebga, son in law Arie Leeman, Don and Bob Leeman
Buela's Journal
Milk bottle caps
George Boyenga (Left) Holland Home Guard