Memories of Borculo by Don VandenBosch
Memoirs of Len VandenBosch
History of Borculo Christian Reformed Church by Berend Blauwkamp, written in 1933.
Memories of Gerrit Bos

     Ther front of the inside of the church had benches along the side.  The elders sat on the right side of the minister which was the north side.  The deacons sat on the left side.  The black collection bags with a long handle like a hay-fork would also be hanging there.  Taking collection was not as easy as it is today.  One had to be careful when pulling back the bag with the handle not to come straight out the aisle.  If you did, you might hit somebody in the head in the other aisle.  I saw it happen one morning!  One man was very upset with the deacon.  Quite a few people would put silver dollars, which were plentiful in those days, in the bag. 

     Several men would sit on the end of the benches.  These men would not move over.  If you wanted to sit in any of these benches, you had to climb over top of them like a mountain goat.  Ladies did not sit with the men in church.  When the family got older, the big boys would sit with the father or by themselves in the back of the church.  A few of the men got bold and went to sit with their wives.  They were classified as sissys.

     High above the east wall of the church there was written a text out of the Dutch Bible.  For many years it was up there.."De Vreze des Herre is het beginsel derr wijsheid. (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom) Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10

     When I think back over the years I think of Rev. P. Kosten.  I don't remember when he was pastor in Borculo, but I do remember him preaching in our church a few times.  He was a very short man.  He always had to stand on a special platform so he could look over the pulpit.  I have been told he was a powerful preacher--all in Dutch.  Jay Vander Plaats, who formerly owned Jay's Restaurant would talk to my wife and me about Rev. Kosten as Jay had to say Grandpa to Rev. Kosten.  My wife was baptised by Rev. Kosten.  Her name is Petilda.  She was baptised Bay Tilda.

     Rev. T. Vander Ark also came and preached for us a few times.  How that man could sing -- a powerful tenor voice and all in Dutch.  He could sing almost as good as Steve Kraai.

     When I was a boy, I would see these elders sit on the right side of the minister and the deacons on the left.  I thought, "I never want to be a deacon."  In the Bible it is written the sheep would be on the right side and goats on the left.  I never wanted to be a goat.  But I got that out of my head some years later as I also was a deacon.  That was in the new church.  The elders and deacons sat in two benches on the north side.  Several Sundays we would not have a minister to preach for us.  Then an elder would read a sermon in Dutch.  A few of the elders would have a Fries brogue when they would read.  There were some families that would not put the money for the minster's salary in the collection bag.  The deacons had to go to their homes to pick it up.  They were liveral givers.  Being in the consistory could turn out to be a life time job.  Some were in year after year.  There was no such thing as being in for three years and then out for two years.

     Some years ago the Ladies Aid made a beautiful quilt to sell.  The minister had in mind to auction it off in the sanctuary.  But the ladies wanted no part of that.  That was a sight to behold -- the minister pulling on the quilt on one end, and a group of ladies on the other end.  The sparks flew.  But the ladies won.  Women are loveable creatures, but don't get them riled up!  The minister said the church sanctuary was just like any other building during the week.  You could have cows upstairs or even hold a dance.  I guess the minister thought he could have better tangled with a swarm of hornets.

     There have been several changes since years ago.  Years ago if a minister had a classical appointment in Borculo, He would come Saturday afternoon, and go back on Monday morning.  So he would have to travel on Sunday, he stayed by one of the elders.  Mom and I remember if any member, or baptised member broke any of the Ten Commandments, you not only confessed your sin before the consistory, but you also had to stand in front of church Sunday and confess it before the congregation.  Al the elders and deacons would stand up during the long prayer of the minister.  This was done a good many years, and even in the new church for a while.

    My great grandfather and family were the first settlers of Borculo.  Jacobus Klanderman had a wife and four children.  Shortly after my great grandfather arrived, a few more families came to settle in Borculo; namely:  Berend Kuyers, Waleverd Broekhuis, Ten Cate, and Peter Lamer, who became my grandfather by marriage.  All the information on the early history of Borculo was given to me by my mother and also by my grandfather Peter Lamer.

     When these early settlers would go for their homes after worship, they quite often would sing Dutch Psalms (68 and 10).  There was a lot of wildlife at that time--wild turkey, deer, bear, and sometimes the Indians would be watching them from behind the trees.  My great grandmother was always deeply concerned about these Indians, first in regard to their spiritual welfare, but was unable to talk to them, as she could only speak Dutch.  But their son of 8 years could speak the Indian language, learning the language by playing with the Indian children.  Many a time she would send young Dick over to the Indian encampmetn with a hot pot of soup if one of the Indian children would be sick.  She always drilled in Dick that he must tell them about God and that He gave His son Jesus who died on the cross, arose again from the grave, and is now in heaven that whosoever would believe on Him shall never perish but have eternal life--Indians, Dutch, or any nationality.  These Indians would listen very carefully what the young lad would tell them.  Tears would come in my grandmother's eyes when she would see these Indians walk bare feet in the snow the early part of the winter.  But she did not have to worry, they could take care of themselves fairly well.  They kept quite warm in their wigwams.  My great grandmother, Mrs. Klanderman's house was a log cabin with an open fireplace and a dirt floor.  Many a time the log cabin was filled with aroma of wild game she was cooking.

     How these early pioneers longed for their own place of worship.  They had to wait 18 long years before a church was established.  They would meet in the different homes for their Sunday worship.  Sometimes when the weather was favorable, they would walk to Zeeland.  They could quicker walk than take the oxen.  But walking also had it's dangers.  The swamp south of Borculo had many rattle snakes, mosquitos, and you had to be on the lookout for bears.  But when the first school house was built, they would meet there.

     As the Klanderman family got older, the two oldest girls left home and went to work in Grand Rapids.  They also got married there.  The two boys also got married.  When great grandma died, Dick took over the farm, and Jacobus, his father, lived in with him.  Gerrit, the eldest son, started a business adventure by having a grocery store for 11 years.  But God took him home at the age of 37 years, leaving a wife and four children.  One of the three girls was my mother.  Dick had a good business head on him.  He knew how to make money and hang on to it.  He retired when he was 35 years old.  Before that he had a hired man on a 40 acre farm.  The old Klanderman farm is the first farm place south of the cemetary, west side of the road.  Dick and his wife spent several years of his retirement living 1/4 mile east of Borculo and later moved to Zeeland.

     In the year 1883, G. Moeke was the man who did so much toward putting up a new church building.  He gave of his time, talent, money, and very much lumber, as he owned two sawmills around Borculo at that time.  Plus he donated all the land where the church would be built.  A few people did not like him.  They said he was too much of a boss.  But there were a lot of people who liked him as he helped them get started.  A man like him was needed to get things moving.  The old Moeke farm home is the first home on the north side of Crestview Golf Course's driveway.  This home was quite a bit bigger at one time.

Rev. J. B. Jonkman 1908 - 1912

      He was the minister with a beard.  Rev. Jonkman did all his family calling with a horse and buggy in the summer and in the winter a cutter was used.  There were no automobiles around Borculo at that time.  Mrs. Jonkman gained some gray hairs living in the old parsonage with the large family and the active young boys.  One noon, having dinner ready, she called the boys, but had no answer.  She went looking for them and then she saw them riding their bicycles on the road without any clothes on.  Clarence Jonkman was my age.  We were about four years old.  We took a walk one day to a house they were building.  The carpenters had killed a skunk and they made us believe the skunk was good to eat.  So we tied it on a short pole and carried it between us.  We got to talking who should have ths skunk.  Clarence said he should have it as his father was minister.  He took it home and laid it on the kitchen table.  So a few more gray hairs for the Mrs. Jonkman.

Rev. Krohne  1912 - 1921

     Rev. Krohne was a powerful built man.  In those days they had church services morning and afternoons, but at night they had young peoples meeting.  One Sunday night one of the young folks told Rev. Krohne two boys were going to have a big fight that night.  So, right after the meeting, he hurried to the parsonage.  He said to Mrs. Krohne, "Help me get some old clothes on and don't ask a lot of questions--I don't have time."  So she helped him get all dressed up, also an old hat.  He went outside.  The two boys ere about to start fighting.  Then one of the fighters saw this stranger in old clothes.  He thought, "I better give this stranger a licking first as this stranger has no business coming to Borculo to go with a girl."  So he tackled this stranger.  But this stranger had this boy on lhis back very quickly.  Then he took his hat off, and they all saw it was the minister.  He said to the boy, "I am not going to let you go until you promise you will do one of the two things I ask you to do.  You come to supper tomorrow night, or do you want me to tell your stepfather?"  The boy said please not to tell his stepfather because he would give him a terrible licking.  He said he would come for supper, and he did.  Two  months later he was singing Dutch Psalms on the pulpit with Rev. Krohne.
1914 - One Sunday morning Rev. Krohne was preaching in the old church and it was real hot.  One man had a new blue hankerchief which had never been washed.  Everytime he would sweat, he would wipe his face with the hankerchief.  The more he wiped his face, the bluer his face got.  Rev. Krohne could see this from the pulpit.  He said later it was hard to preach that morning.
1916 - Rev. Krohne was going down the Borculo hill with his 1916 Model T Ford.  He lost control in the deep sand tracks of the road.  The car tipped over on top of him.  He had a broken arm and four cracked ribs.

Rev. K W. Fortuin 1922 - 1928

      We never had a minister before him or after him with a memory like that man.  He never had any notes in front of him while he was preaching.  When he went to Calvin, they never had a student like him.  A professor could talk for an hour or more and when he was finished, student Fortuin could get right up and say the same thing.  He liked to play carooms.  He always used his fingers playing carooms.  When I played with him, I always used a stick.

Rev. A. DeVries 1929 - 1945

     He was the most underpaid minister we ever had.  His salary fell far short of the amount he was supposed get.  He was our pastor during the depression.  Most of the men were out of work.  There were no unemployment checks, no food stamps.  Farmers received very little for their products.  Some farmers would be riding their cars with harpoon rope wound around the wheel instead of a tire as they had no money.

     I can speak from experience.  If it were not for some good sharing farmers, my family would not have had much to eat at that time.  The congregation lived nearer to the Lord during this trying time.

      I had the privilege of working for two weeks with Rev. DeVries around the church property in the summer of 1933.  On July 12, 1933, our church had their 50th anniversary.  He showed me all the potatoes he had gotten.  They could of had a half dozen boarders.  They had carrots enough to feed a dozen rabits for quite a while.  Potatoes were $.05 a bushel and carrots were $.05 a bushel.  Cow meat was $.04 a pound.  Rev. DeVries did not complain.  He said the Lord was taking good care of his family.  His trade was book binding.  It was put to good practice.  He kept all the song books and Bibles in good shape at no cost to the congregation.

1958 - When Rev. Heminga, a former Borculo boy, spoke on the 75th anniversary of our church, he mentioned coming from the Netherlands.  The family settled on a farm west of Borculo.  He said my father figured on being a big shot and having hired men do all the work on the farm.  He said the farm had such poor soil that the field mice sat on their haunches to scratch sand out of their eyes.

     On that day, during the morning service, the church building was turned into a pile of embers.  When the families went to church in the morning, they had no idea they would be driven from the church to fight a fire.  It was a windy day.  The fire started when sparks from the furnace feel on the wooden shingles.  In those days fire equipment was not like we have today.  It was remarkable with the little water they had that these daring men were able to save the parsonage even though the siding was burned on the south side.  They were also able to save two buildings back of the church.  Having helped with the church fire it always surprises me that no one was hurt or killed, as it went kind of rough.  The church benches were pulled out of the floor in about fire minutes.  There were many strangers who helped, but where they came from so quick, I don't know.  I remember some young boys taking the church lights down.  They would lift up a young boy, and he would use the light fixture as a swing until it would break off at the ceiling.  I can still see one man carrying a whole tub full fo dishes down the porch of the parsonage, but when he got down the steps, he dropped it!  Every dish was broken.  Many just stood in a daze.  Someone put a bath tub on his back and the weight of the tub brought him to his knees.  They started to throw the books out of the window of the minister's library, but Rev. Fortuin stopped them from doing that because when the books hit the ground, the covers flew off.
     To make matters worse, there was a strong east wind and burned shingles were found three miles west of Borculo.  One man who helped with the church fire looked to the west and saw his own barn in flames with all his cattle, horses and pigs inside.  He was unable to get any out.  You could hear these cattle howl a half mile away as they burned to death.  Also, his neighbor's barn went up in flames, but that was empty.  Later the consistory sent men down to see if he wanted any help, since the man had lost his barn and all his livestock with no insurance.  He said, "I don't need any help.  I don't believe in insurance.  The Lord has blessed me.  I can put up another barn and fill it with livestock.  And if that burns down, I can put up another and pay for it."
      After the fire it was decided to build a new church with a basement and also to buy a new organ.  A building committee was appointed, namely:  Gerrit Van Beek, P. De Groot, L. Luurtsema, L. Vollink, Ben De Roo, Harm Stremler, and H. Wesseldyk.  Bids were called for.  It was decided to let Herm Ten Broeke build the church and finish the upstairs, and John P. Lamer to finish the basement.  First the congregation met in a tent, but when the tent collapsed, the horse barn was fixed up and used for a place of worship.  It was also used in 1890 when a new church was built.  On Nov. 8, 1927, the new church building was solemnly dedicated, and it was nearly all paid for by the many hours of donated work.