The Schoonveld family

The Schoonveld family originates from the Province of Groningen in the Northern part of The Netherlands. Actually we have found two Schoonveld families who are not related to each other. One family originates from the villages of Noorddijk, Scharmer  and Garmerwolde, near the city of Groningen in the Northeastern part of the Netherlands.  The other Schoonveld family originates from the towns of Uithuizermeeden and 't Zandt, about 20 miles northeast of the city of Groningen. 

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The oldest known male ancestor of the Noorddijk family is Bartelt Kienes who was born around 1655 in Kolham and moved into the area around 1700.

The other Schoonveld family originates in the village of Uithuizermeeden, in the northeastern part of the province of Groningen.  history Uithuizermeeden  The oldest known ancestor is Jan Gerryts who was born around 1720.

	Map Province of Groningen, 17th century
	Map Noorddijk 1860
	Map Noorddijk and Garmerwolde, 2000
	Garmerwolde
	List and photos of churches in Groningen

Noorddijk, Garmerwolde, Ruischerbrug

The Schoonvelds we can find are born in the villages of Garmerwolde, (picture Garmerwolde)Garmerwolde, Noorddijk, Ruischerbrug, all part of the Township of Noorddijk or in the neighboring towns of Ten Boer and Zuidwolde.

Bartelt Kienes was born in Kolham and moved to Scharmer around 1700. 

The Schoonveld name appears when the civil registration is implemented in the Netherlands by Napoleon in 1811. It seems that Arent Jans, a great grandson of Bartelt Kienes, chose this name as family surname. He had four sons who had children, Jan, Willem, Tjapke and Gerrit. There are quite a few Schoonvelds in the Noorddijk community at that time with Arend, Gerrit, Willem and Tjapko as first names. Most of the Schoonvelds are employed as farm labourer or daylabourer, some are named as farmers, skipper and bartender.  

Uithuizermeeden and 't Zandt

The Schoonveld family originating from Uithuizermeeden are descendants of Jan Gerryts from Stedum, whose grandsons Jan Gerrits, Evert Gerrijts and Alder Gerrits took the Schoonveld name in 1811. Their descendants mostly lived in 't Zandt and Uithuizermeeden. Almost all of them were occupied as farmlabourers or farmersmaid. The Province of Groningen is an important agricultural area with large farms with  a lot of farm hands in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Family names here are Aldert (Albert in english?), Reinje (Richard in english?), Gerrit, Johannes (John or Joe)  and Trijntje.

As many in the Uithuizermeeden area, several of the Schoonvelds moved to the USA. In 1860-1910 quite a few of the Schoonvelds from Uithuizermeeden emigrated and settled in Chicago. One family went to Nebraska and from there to Texas. In 1950-1970 several of the Garmerwolde Schoonvelds moved to Michigan. 

story of Uithuizermeeden

History of 't Zandt

paragraph about emigration from Groningen in Faith and Family, Dutch Immigration and Settlement in the United States, 1820-1920 by Robert P. Swieringa 2000

The present spreading of Schoonveld(t)'s  over the USA and Canada:

The spreading of the Schoonvelds over The Netherlands

last change 12.03.2011