8BA.  Blanche Winchester was born in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, on Thursday, July 3, 1879, and died in Middleville, Michigan, in November, 1935. Theodore Groothoff was born in County of Leeuwarderadeel, Province of Friesland, the Netherlands, on Saturday, June 22, 1867, and died in Grand Rapids on February 21, 1952. He was born Tjeerd Klazes Groothof; he was called "Teet". He was buried in Restlawn Cemetery, Grand Rapids. They were married in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, on Tuesday, December 2, 1902. She took the name Blanche Groothoff. She is the daughter of Ozro LaVerne Winchester and Hannah Gilbert Winchester. He is the son of Klaas Jacobs and Saapke Tjeerds (Algera) Groothof. They had two children:

Her second marriage was to John VanderVeen in Michigan in December, 1913, or January, 1914. She took the name Blanche VanderVeen. He was born in Grand Rapids in November, 1879, and died in Middleville in 1945. He was called "Jack". They had one child:

Theodore Groothoff immigrated to the United States in 1891 and was the only person in his family to do so. Per the 1895 Grand Rapids City Directory, he worked for Grand Rapids Dairy Co. and boarded at 40 South Division. In 1903 he and Blanche lived at 221 Carlton, his occupation was listed as milk peddler. In 1906 the family lived at 959 Wealthy S.E. and owned a dairy also at that address. He became a citizen in 1910. In 1917 he is listed as the owner of Furniture City Dairy at 1145 Wealthy S.E. (in 1912 street numbers were changed and 959 became 1145); it was still his residence. He was still there in 1945.

Research by John Nauta indicates that Blanche filed for divorce from Theodore Groothoff [pronounced Groat' hoff] on the grounds of abuse and cruelty. The divorce records show that he sought custody of Isla and Robert and accused Blanche of being "intimate and friendly" with John VanderVeen. Blanche testified under oath that Robert was Groothoff's son; therefore, his parentage must have been an issue and implies that Theodore accused Blanche and John of being intimate and friendly at a time that could have lead to Robert's conception.

Per the divorce testamony, Isla had learning disabilties and a hearing problem, and was attending Webb Academy in Grand Rapids. In 1915, Blanche VanderVeen, pregnant with Adele, petitioned the Court to move to Middleville with her husband and children so John could go to work for his brother Harry VanderVeen. Theodore Groothoff contested this because Isla because he did not want Isla removed from the Webb Academy for which he paid the tuition as part of the divorce agreement. He asked the judge for custody of both Isla and Robert. He apparently was denied. At some point, Robert Groothoff was given the name Robert VanderVeen.

Blanche was his second wife. He had one child by his first wife.

John VanderVeen owned and operated a grocery store in Middleville. In April, 2001, their granddaugher, Jane, wrote:

Middleville's downtown consists of one block of stores running on both sides of the road running eastish and westish. then the whole block of the northside had stores all around the complete block. The Thornapple River runs along the west of town with a couple of businesses accoss the river farther west. The original store was strickly a grocery store and was located at the begining of the block on the northwest corner of downtown. When I was growing up in Middleville, it was a Post Office. Mom says that the original store was there in 1915. Around 1921 they moved the store farther down the block moved into a larger store and had a combined grocery and dry goods store. Blanche and John were both active participants in these stores. 1928ish they built a new store farther up the block, they are now located on the northeast corner of the main drag of downtown. Soon after John died, the grocery store was sold to Margaret and Gerald Keegstra. Maggie went to school in Middleville with Bob, and Jerry was from Grand Rapids.

It should be noted that all written records concerning Mr. Groothoff refer to him as Theodore; however, some family members refer to him as John.

In March, 2000, Donald Winchester related:

"I knew absolutely nothing about Aunt Blanche's first husband, "John" Grothoff. The folks never mentioned him. That union produced one child, Isla. Isla married Ralph Kenyon, a farmer, and they had one daughter that died in infancy. Isla died in 1964, at age 59(?). Aunt Blanche's second husband was John VanderVeen. They were the parents of Robert ("Bob"), and Adele. Bob passed away in September of 1998; Adele is still living.

"Mom told me that Aunt Blanche was a very kind and good person. She also died prematurely, due to a weak heart, caused by drinking raw milk when she was young, and this resulted in 'undulent fever'. This was before pasteurization."

1910 Census, Kent Co., Michigan City of Grand Rapids, Ward 3; Archives Reel ____, vol. 1, E.D. 63/68?, sheet 9B
Name			Age	Birth Place			Occup.
				Self	Father	Mother
Groothoff, Theodore	Head	M	41	Hol Dutch	Hol Dutch	Hol Dutch	Dairyman
Blanche	Wife	F	30	Michigan	Michigan	Ohio	None
Isla	Daughter	F	6	Michigan	Hol Dutch	Michigan	(at school)
Winchester, Bert	Bro-in-law	M	25	Michigan	Michigan	Ohio	Money Clerk U.S. Express
Buth, Marinus	Boarder	M	28	Hol Dutch	Hol Dutch	Hol Dutch	Dairyman
Roelofs, Sena	Domestic	F	17	Michigan	Hol Dutch	Hol Dutch	Servant
Everyone was listed as white and able to read and write English.

• Walter Joshua Gilbert
• Donald Winchester; February, 2000
• Adele (VanderVeen) Parker; March, 2000
• Jane Adele (VanderVeen) Engelter; April, 2001
• John Nauta (lte77@earthlink.net invalid since Oct. 2002); August, 2000
• City Directories of Grand Rapids for various dates
• Census records