Miramichi 2008 - K(C)amerman(s)-Homepage

This is the report from Rob Joseph
I am: Rob Joseph Kamermans
Born: May 21, 1946, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Arrived: to the Americas in 1954
I am living in USA
My e-mail: casamilagro@usa.net
“Groote Beer”. My father Jan Karel Kamermans sailed
Nov 1953 on this ship to Montreal
I remember I was 7 yrs old waving goodbye to my Dad Jan Karel when
he got on the ship. De “Groote Beer” sailing to America. My brothers Jan
Bart, Erik Karel and I watched him go up the gang plank. As he waved
goodbye from the ship I was overcome with emotion and burst out in
tears (after I asked my mother if it was OK to cry). Then we went to “Hoek
van Holland” (“Corner of Holland”) where we waved at the ship sailing by.
Ten days later Jan landed in Montreal, Canada.
Goodbyes to immigrants were a much more poignant event in those
days (1954) as one was likely not to see one’s loved ones ever again in
their lifetime. Jan Karel’s sister Frederika Aleida had emigrated to New
Zealand on the ship “The Southern Cross” the previous year. Jan Karel’s
mother died two days before his departure. His brother Eduard Martinus
did not come for the departure (he had somewhat divorced himself from
the family over religious or political issues). Thus I am sure Jan left
Holland with a heavy heart, headed for Wetaskiwin, Alberta, where a job
as printer awaited him – leaving his wife and children crying on the pier.
On the other hand immigration was the beginning of a new life, the possibility to fulfill dreams, hopes and aspirations. Jan did
not go to Wetaskiwin, but he “jumped ship” in Montreal where he began working as a printer.
Then, months later, we sailed on the S.S. Rijndam and arrived in New York April 28, 1954. We, Fokje Maria, Jan Bart, Erik
Karel and Rob arrived with 3 suitcases and a handbag. The handbag contained the prize possessions of the 3 Kamermans
boys “their dinky toys”. We watched as the baggage handler took away our dinky toys as we pleaded with our parents (who
were too busy hugging each other) to bring back our toys, which we never saw again. I didn’t know it at that time but had a first
cousin who arrived on the same ship S.S.Rijndam the same to New York, one year earlier.
On that first day our father introduced us to hotdogs, hamburgers, and the Empire State Building, which we had to lay on the
floor of the cab to see the top of. I found a dime laying on the floor of the restaurant and thought wow… this place is great (the
silver lining). We had arrived in America.
Eventually we moved to Montreal, then Hamilton, Ontario, where we three boys Rob, Jan and Erik grew up. Shortly after we
arrived we had a little brother Frank. And then a little sister Mary Anne.
My parents did what all immigrants do in a new country, worked hard, saved money and saw opportunities for their children.
They had hopes and aspirations that their children would become professionals in society. But the time and social climate in
our neighborhood did not lead to higher education for me. Although Jan and Erik went to College, Frank and Mary Anne went
to University. I started working after leaving school at the age of 15. My mother and father had divorced two years earlier, so
my responsibilities changed some, being the oldest of the children, with two much younger siblings, Frank and Mary Anne.
In Holland we knew our Oma and Opa, Karl Samuel and Harmke van der Molen, and our Vari and Moeni- my mother’s
parents Bartele Idske and Maria Dekker. We visited them in Friesland, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and remember most, aunts,
uncles and cousins. For what reason? The relationship with Karl Samuel always seemed a little strained. Jan Karel, our father,
told us stories of his father Karl Samuel, who was a carpenter-foreman on the
docks in Amsterdam, and we met some of his workmates in Holland and later in
Canada. This crew appeared a tough, boisterous crowd, but Karl Samuel always
appeared a quiet, resolute man. With his carpenter skills he made garages and
other structures for our “dinky toys”.
My dad told us of his grandmother who had 22 children (I have only counted 13
thus far), and a great grandfather, who was over 100 years old (I never found
him). Also from an uncle who went to sea and eventually jumped ship in Africa,
and never was heard from again. It was probably Frederic who is sort of
disappeared. There was also an Alfred Edward…? Fred, son of Edward, was on
board of a ship from Italy to New York in 1917.
Karel Samuel was the third youngest of at least 13 children and several of his
older siblings left home before he was born. The story goes that when Karl
Samuel left Middelburg for Amsterdam, he met his older brother for the first time
by chance on the street in Amsterdam.Karel’s younger brother J.J (Johannes
Jacobus) followed shortly after and became a teacher, as did a number of his
siblings, taking after their grandfather Cornelis Kamermans, who had a long
career as teacher in the “Arme School” (“Poorschool”) in Middelburg. Their other
grandfather Cornelis Koppejan was also a teacher.
13
Frederika Koppejan (1849-1938)
Wife of Martinus E. Kamermans Mother of
Karel Samuel and Rob’s grand-grandmother