Family:Gerrit van de Riet and Antje Werkman (1)

Something is not right with this marriage, but it is not clear exactly what the situation was. Gerrit van de Riet (1849-1928) apparently lived with and had children with (and probably married, although the marriage record is not easily found online) Altjen/Alice Ten Hopen. They are together in the 1900 census with 7 children, 4 of whom (Henry, b. 1880, Gerrit, b. 1883, George, b. 1885, and Anna, b. 1888) have vital records indicating that their mother was Alice Ten Hopen. All the children appear to be Altjen's, as she had 7 living children as of the 1900 census.

The birth dates of these children are before, the same month as, and after the date that Gerrit van de Riet married Antje Werkman (June 1883).

The simplest explanation is that there were 2 men named Gerrit Van de Riet, born within a year or 2 of each other, one who married Altjen Ten Hopen and the other who married Antje/Anna Werkman. However, it isn't easy to find records for two such men.

An alternate explanation is that Gerrit divorced Altjen, married Antje, divorced her, and remarried Altjen.

Another possibility is that the marriage to Antje was a bigamous marriage.

Regardless of the explanation, it appears that Gerrit and Antje had no children together, as Antje/Anna is in the 1900 census with her second husband Peter Dogger and no children.

1. ↑ Gerrit J. Van Der Riet and Anna Werkman, in Michigan. Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995. (FamilySearch Record Search).

   married 12 Jun 1883 in Holland, Ottawa, Michigan
   Gerrit was 35, born in the Netherlands
   Anna was 30, born in the Netherlands