Galama

   The Galama Family The story of our Galama ancestors starts in the east of Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands. The last name may vary, both Galema and Galama are related to one another, as mistakes were made when registering births and marriages.  The suffix -ma of their surname indicates it is typically Frisian . The Frisians are a group of people  coming out of southern Scandinavia, Denmark and north eastern Germany, who around 400 nC,  (re)colonized the region that is now known as Friesland . The Galama/Galema family seems to be connected to the south-western part of Friesland, and the name appears as early as 876, when a certain  Igo Galama , in 876, fights the Vikings.   The name in stories and documents, and they are in general landowners in Friesland, apparently reasonably affluent, and  frequently in trouble with the authorities . In 1099,  Igo Joukes Galama  dies in Antioch (Turkey, th...

(October 1, 1789 Tjerkwerd - April 24, 1873 Bolsward)    Ysbrand is my great great great grandfather. We are now 5 generations back in time.  Ysbrand  is the son of  Klaas Ysbrands Galema  (1741) and  Trijntje Sjoerds Heerkes  (1746). Klaas and Trijntje have 5 children, and Ysbrand is one of them. It is an agricultural family, they all have farms. And although the family can be traced back much farther, this is the first generation where we can actually see what they look like, because we have our first photograph. Portrait photography comes into fashion in the late 1800’s. The first portrait of a Dutch person is taken in 1842 by a French photographer traveling around. Ysbrand Klazes is already 52 by that date, and we assume these photographers did not quite make it to Friesland right away, so this picture of him seated must be him at an even older age. In 1812, he is 22, he marries Ytje Jans Siemonsma (1791-1873). She is 20. The story con...

February 1, 1791 Tjerkwerd - May 12, 1873 Bolsward)   Ytje is my great great great grandmother. And we have a picture of her. The first portrait of a Dutch person is taken in 1842 by a French photographer traveling around. Ytje is already 51 by that date, so this picture of her seated must be her at an even older age. Ytje is the daughter of Jan Symen Symonsma  (1735) and  Froukje Pieters (1759) . Her mother is from Blauwhuis, her father from Roodhuis, both villages in the south western part of Friesland.   In 1812, she is 20, she marries Ysbrand Klazes Galema (1789-1873).   The story continues at the Galema-Siemonsma Family page  

When Ytje Siemonsma and Ysbrand Galema marry, in 1812, they move into Westerhuis (Tjerkwerd), a farm from his parents. In 1929 they move to Half Hichtum, a farm in Bolsward, and in 1842 they move, for the last time, to Heechhout, also in Bolsward, until his death in 1873. Throughout their lives, Ysbrand acquires a rather large number of real estate. It is said that he wanted to be able to walk from Blauwhuis to Bolsward on his own land. It is not clear if this is true, but he was able to. Through inheritances and business deals, he acquires 13 farms (although I count only 12 here). In Bolsward: Heechhout (1838), Hollanderzet, Half Hichtum (1837) and Half Tjerkwerd II (1826). In Tjerkwerd: Half Tjerkwerd I (1828) Rijtseterp en Westerhuis (in herited), Senserhuis (1837), Jonkershuizen and Buwalda Stapert. In  Workum: Tichelwerk. In Nijland: Jongedijk  In Kimswerd: Winklen .   In 1869 he is the 16 th in line when it comes to paying taxes, according to the Leeuwarder Coura...

   (February 24, 1821 Tjerkwerd – September 17, 1901 Bolsward) Michiel Ysbrand, is my great great grandfather. He is the fourth son of Ysbrand Klazes Galema and Ytje (also spelled Ijtje) Jans Simonsma. He was not always named Michiel Galama. Actually, he was registered as Gaele Gal e ma (note the e!). However, as a child, they apparently always called him Michiel, and not Gaele, and so over time he became Michiel. And to complicate it even further, when he marries, the person in charge of registering the marriage, by mistake, registers him as a Gal a ma, instead of a Gal e ma.  And so we have now, within one family, children named Galama and Galema. These are the only pictures we have of him. And although they seem the same, they are a bit different. As the son of a farmer, it is clear that he will become a farmer as well, just like all his siblings. His father had made sure all of his 13 children will get a farm.   On June 11, 1843, he marries Elizabeth van ...

  (April 2, 1824 Bolsward – February 17, 1901 Bolsward) Elizabeth is the daughter of Jacob Bouwes van den Oever and Akke Hayes van der  Werf. She is my great great grandmother, and as such, nothing is known about her, other than this picture.   On June 11, 1843,   she marries Michiel Ysbrand Galama . She is 19, he is 22.     Their story continues at the Galama-van den Oever Family page .

When Elizabeth van den Oever marries Michiel Ysbrand Galama, in June 11, 1843 (She is 19, he is 22), they move into Half Tjerkwerd I (1843-1850), a farm procured by his father. They have 6 children.  The first 3 are born on the farm Half Tjerkwerd I   on the  Himdyk 13 in Tjerkwerd  (a djacent to Blauwhuis). Akke (they call her Agnes) (August 7 1845 – May 20 1877) Ysbrand (Oct 31, 1847 – April 15, 1886) Jacob ( June 6 1849 – February 8, 1905) Senserhus In 1850 they move to Senserhuis (1850-1875), also a farm of his father (which he will eventually inherit, in 1873),  where the other 3 children are born. Klaas (April 12, 1851 – April 24, 1927) Haye (May 6, 1853 – October 27, 1923) Jan (September 22, 1855 – May 22, 1858) And in 1875, they move yet again, this time to the farm Hollanderzet (1875-1895) . These are all farms around Tjerkwerd/Blauwhuis. Apparently he is not only frugal ,  like his father, but also a successful farmer and busin...

May 6, 1853 – Oct. 27, 1923 Haye Michiels   Galama , my great grandfather, is actually registered as Haije Gaeles. But since his father was known as Michiel rather than Gaeles, it explains the change from Gaeles to Michiel.   He is born in Tjerkwerd, and one of 11 in an agricultural family.  His parents are   Gaele Ysbrands Galama  and  Elizabeth van den Oever . We do not know much about his younger years, but we have a picture of him when he is relatively  young (but probably already married).   He marries Gatske Postma (1860-1920) on August 19, 1879.   His story continues at the Galama-Postma family page.

December 21, 1860 - May 26, 1920 Gatske    is born in Bolsward, on December 21, 1860. Her parents,  Anne Sjoerds Postma  and   Baukje Jans Mulder , are farmers at  Ruurda State  in Burgwerd.  From what I can find out, they had two daughters: Tjitsje (1849-1933) en Gatske (1860-1933). We do not know much about Gatske, but we do have 2 pictures of her when she is young. She is the first one in the family of whom we have pictures of at such a young age, 9 (left) and 15 (right).  The  family album , that was probably started with her parents in-law, is most likely continued by her (which is why we have those two pictures).  When she is 19, she marries  Haye Michiel Galama .   Her story continues at the Galama-Postma family page .

Gatske Postma   is 19 when she marries Haye Michiel Galama (who is registered as Haye Gaeles Galama) on August 19, 1879. We have no picture of their marriage although I assume pictures were made, because we have pictures of Gatske as a young girl. The family album , i. e. the pictures of her parents in-law, and the generation before them, is probably passed on to her husband, and she continues it. Their first house is “Donia State”, a farm in Burgwerd, and later they move to   " Maskebûrherne " , a farm on the Himdyk 2 , at the entrance of Blauwhuis. ( more about the origin of the name and the farm ).  Gatske and Haye have 15 children, but 3 die before they reach their first birthday. A daughter, Baukje , dies while at boarding school in Harlingen, she is 10, and their youngest son, Titus , drowns in the ditch in front of their farm. He is four. This must not have been easy for the coupe, but not unusual in those days. Fortunately, the remaining children all g...

Ysbrand Haye Galama (March 31, 1889 - June 20, 1940) Ysbrand Haye (also written as IJsbrand Haije) is my grandfather from my father's side.  He is born on March 31, 1889 on a farm in Burgwerd, Friesland, in an agricultural environment and into an agricultural family. All his uncles and aunts are farmers, and so are his forefathers. We are not quite sure on which farm he is born, as his father changed farm three times, but most likely it is Donia State in Burgwerd. Donia State in Burgwerd His parents are Gatske Postma and Haije Michiel Galama.  He has 8 brothers and 6 sisters, but 3 die in their 1st year, while the youngest brother drowns at 4, and a sister dies at 10 while in boarding school. We have a photo of all the children when they are older, and their eventual partners, but we do not know much about his youth, nor of that of his brothers and sisters. We do have some individual stories of each child (see . ) His two older brothers attend boarding school in ...

   Wybenga, Jetske Everts (June 14, 1884 – February 18, 1922) Jetske is my grandmother. Her life starts on June 14, 1884 at the hotel and café (Heerenhotel) of her parents, Evert Hugo Wybenga (1856-1915) (also written as Wijbenga) and Martha Frances Barendsma (1853-1923) , in Blauwhuis. The hotel still exists, on the Vitusdijk 17 in Blauwhuis, and is called De Freonskip (The Friendship). The hotel has a café on the ground and first floor, according to my father. The ground floor is for farmers that rent their farm (pachtboeren), and the 1 st floor is for farm owners. The Galama’s go to the first floor.  He also remembered that the parents later had a house in that row between the hotel and the church. Next to the hotel her father also had some cows on the side. My father had a glass window pane from the hotel where his uncle Sjoerd had scratched his name. I do not know when they began the hotel, nor when they stopped. Their son Hugo continued the busi...

Galama-Wybenga Family  Jetske and Ysbrand  on their wedding day. Dressing in black for a marriage is standard in those days.    Jetske Everts Wybenga and Ysbrand Haije Galama marry on May the 3 rd , 1913.  An interesting fact is that that same day her sister Sytske marries  Frans Hendriks Gerrit Kramer. We have no pictures of that event.  And her other sister, Francisca, marries Sjoerd, the brother of Ysbrand Haye, on April 24, 1915.  So two sisters marry two bothers. Francisca and Sjoerd are pictured here on the left.  The newlywed couple moves into the farm Landlust on the  Krabbedijk 4 in Dedgum , although the farm actually lies closer to the village of Blauwhuis than Dedgum.  Her sister Francisca and Sjoerd eventually move to a nearby farm on the Himdyk 15 . The property, 39 ha, was bought by his father to set Ysbrand up as a farmer, just like his brothers and his uncles. These days, the farm is owned by a Hettema. 6 ch...