Chapter 6. Pieter Deschacht and Anna Theresia Vanmoortel, Zerkegem and Bekegem, 1805 to 1866
A boy of the Year XIII
Pieter was born in the thirteenth year of the French Republic. On 20 Germinal - 10 April 1805 - Bernard De Schaghe, day labourer, aged thirty-seven, presented to the mayor of Zerkegem, "first arrondissement of the department of the Lys", a boy born the day before to him and to his wife Helene Kerckhove, aged thirty-one. He could not sign his name.1
Transcription and translation
L'an treize de la république le vingt du mois de Germinal à deux heures de relevée, pardevant nous maire de la commune de Zerkeghem, premier arrondissement du département de la Lys, est comparu Bernard De Schaghe âgé de trente sept ans journalier demeurant en cette commune, lequel nous a présenté un enfant du sexe masculin né le dix neuf du mois Germinal courant, de lui déclarant et de Helene Kerckhove âgée de trente un ans son épouse, et auquel il a déclaré vouloir donner les prénoms de Pierre, les dites déclaration et présentation faites en présence de Philippe Scharlenken[?] âgé de vingt trois ans journalier demeurant à Roxem[?], et de Pierre Stubbe âgé de trente six ans journalier demeurant à Zerkeghem, et ont les père et témoins signé avec nous le présent acte de naissance après lecture, excepté le père et premier témoin qui ont déclaré ne savoir écrire. [Signed:] Pr Stubbe; [the mayor, Vande Kyndere?], maire.
In the year XIII of the Republic, on 20 Germinal [10 April 1805], at two in the afternoon, before us, mayor of the commune of Zerkegem, first arrondissement of the department of the Lys, appeared Bernard De Schaghe, aged 37, day labourer, living in this commune, who presented to us a male child born on the 19th of the current month of Germinal [9 April 1805], of him the declarant and of Helene Kerckhove, aged 31, his wife, and to whom he declared he wished to give the first name Pierre. The declaration and presentation were made in the presence of Philippe Scharlenken[?], aged 23, day labourer, living at Roksem[?], and of Pierre Stubbe, aged 36, day labourer, living at Zerkegem. The father and the witnesses signed this birth act with us after it was read, except the father and the first witness, who declared they could not write. Pieter's own birth act; it confirms the date given in his marriage act of 1830 (grade A).
The wedding of 1830
Pieter married Anna Theresia van Moortele of Bekegem at Zerkegem on 11 February 1830, in the last year of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands - Belgium's revolution broke out that autumn. The marriage act gives his birth date twice, once in the revolutionary calendar and once in the ordinary one, and names his parents; his father was there and gave his consent.2
Transcription and translation
N. 9 Huwelyk. Den Jaer achttien hondert dertig, den Elfsten der maand February om tien uren 's morgens, Compareerde voor ons Petrus Aneca, Burgemeester ambtenaar van den burgerstand der gemeente Zerkeghem, districkte Brugge, provincie Westvlaanderen, Petrus De Schaght, werkman oud vierentwintig Jaar, geboren te Zerkeghem den negentienden Germinal 't Jaar dertien der fransche republique of negenden april achttien hondert vijf, meerderjarigen zoon van Bernardus, werkman te Zerkeghem, alhier tegenwoordig en toestemmende, en van Helena Kerckhove zyne huisvrouwe, met hem wonende ter eenderen; En Anna Theresia van Moortele, werkvrouwe oud twee en twintig Jaar, geboren te Bekeghem den twintigsten January achttien hondert acht, wonende te Zerkeghem en rechterlyk te Bekeghem, meerderjarige dogter van Franciscus, werkman wonende te Bekeghem, alhier tegenwoordig en toestemmende, en van Maria Mae[rtens?] zyne huisvrouwe ter andere, welke Comparanten ons hebben verzogt voort te gaen tot het huwelyk onder hun beraemt, en waer af de afkondigingen zyn gedaen geweest voor de voornaemste deur van ons gemeentehuis, te weten de eerste den Zondag vier en twintigsten der maend January, ende tweede den Zondag eenendertigsten dezer maend, telkens op de uere van den middag, en gelyk[lyk] afgekondigd op de zelve Zondagen in de gemeente Bekeghem, woonplaets van de bruid [...] Wy verklaeren in den naem van de wet dat Petrus De Schaght en Anna Theresia van Moortele vereenigd zyn door het huwelyk, van al het welk wy dezen akt hebben opgesteld in de tegenwoordigheid van Franciscus Taecke, werkman oud vyf en dertig Jaar, Josephus Vermeersch, veldwachter oud drie en veertig Jaar, Petrus Lievens, herbergier oud twee en veertig Jaar, en Josephus Van Houcke, koster oud dertig, alle wonende te deze gemeente Zerkeghem, geene vrienden der getrouwde. Dewelke dezen akt naer gedaene voorlezing met ons hebben geteekend, behalven de bruidegom, zynen vader, de bruid, haren vader en de eerste getuige, die verklaerd hebben niet te konnen schryven. [Signed:] Pieter Lievens, Joseph Van Houcke, Joseph Vermeersch, Pieter Aneca Burgemeester.
Marriage no. 9. On 11 February 1830 at ten in the morning appeared before Petrus Aneca, mayor and registrar of Zerkegem, district of Bruges, West Flanders: Petrus De Schaght, workman, aged 24, born at Zerkegem on 19 Germinal of the year XIII of the French Republic, that is 9 April 1805, son of Bernardus, workman at Zerkegem, present and consenting, and of Helena Kerckhove his wife, living with him - on the one side; and Anna Theresia van Moortele, workwoman, aged 22, born at Bekegem on 20 January 1808, living at Zerkegem and legally domiciled at Bekegem, daughter of Franciscus, workman living at Bekegem, present and consenting, and of Maria Mae[rtens?] his wife - on the other side. The banns were proclaimed at the main door of the town hall on Sundays 24 and 31 January at noon, and on the same Sundays at Bekegem, the bride's domicile. We declare in the name of the law that Petrus De Schaght and Anna Theresia van Moortele are united in marriage. Witnesses: Franciscus Taecke, workman, 35; Josephus Vermeersch, rural constable, 43; Petrus Lievens, innkeeper, 42; and Josephus Van Houcke, sexton, 30; all of Zerkegem and not related to the couple. The groom, his father, the bride, her father and the first witness declared they could not write. The act names Pieter's parents, Bernardus and Helena Kerckhove, alive and present (grade A); the bride's mother, partly legible, is Maria Maertens in the index.
Ten children were born to them between 1830 and 1849, at Zerkegem and then at Bekegem, the next village - among them Fredericus, born in 1842 (chapter 7).3 Those years ended in the catastrophe of the late 1840s: the potato blight from 1845, the failed rye harvests, the collapse of the cottage linen trade, then typhus and cholera - the crisis that killed tens of thousands in East and West Flanders. Historians put the deaths in Belgium in those years at forty to fifty thousand, most of them in Flanders.7 The records read for this history do not say how the family came through it, only that they did.6
Bekegem, where Pieter and Anna Theresia raised their children, was a small village with a long memory of war. The religious wars of the 1580s had all but emptied it, and its church, wrecked, had been rebuilt in 1636 and damaged again in the wars with France. In 1852, while Pieter's younger children were small, the church received an organ by the Ghent builder Maximilien Van Peteghem; it still stands there.8
Widower
Anna Theresia died at Bekegem on 2 July 1857, and Pieter married again: Ludovica Moyaert.4 He died at Bekegem on 21 March 1866. His brother Jacobus reported the death, and the act - which calls him sixty-four when he was sixty - again names Bernardus and Helena Kerckhove as his parents.5
Transcription and translation
N. 10. Overlyden. Het jaer Achttien honderd zes en zestig den twee en twintigsten Maert om zes ure 's morgens voor ons Philippus Verheeke, burgmeester ambtenaer des burgerstands der gemeente Bekeghem, comparerende Jacobus Deschacht, werkman oud dry en vyftig jaren, Jan Soreyn, veldwachter oud dry en zestig jaren, beide alhier woonende, den eersten broeder en den tweeden geen bloedverwant van den hierna genoemden overledenen, dewelke ons hebben verklaerd dat Pieter Deschacht, werkman oud vier en zestig jaren, geboren te Zerkeghem en alhier woonende, zoon van Bernardus en van Helena Kerckhove, beide te Zerkeghem overleden, weduwaer van Anna Therese Van Moortel, overleden te Bekeghem, en echtgenoot in tweede huwelyk van Ludovica Moyaert, werkvrouw oud een en veertig jaren, alhier woonende, gister den een en twintigsten Maert om dry ure 's namiddags in zyne woonst staende in deze gemeente is overleden. De tweede comparant heeft dezen akt met ons onderteekend, den eersten verklarende hetzelve niet te kunnen by onkunde, tot dees verzocht na gedaene voorlezinge. [Signed:] J Soreyn; De Burgmeester P Verheeke.
Death no. 10. On 22 March 1866 at six in the morning appeared before Philippus Verheeke, mayor and registrar of Bekegem, Jacobus Deschacht, workman, 53, and Jan Soreyn, rural constable, 63, both living here, the first a brother of the deceased and the second not related, who declared that Pieter Deschacht, workman, aged 64, born at Zerkegem and living here, son of Bernardus and of Helena Kerckhove, both deceased at Zerkegem, widower of Anna Therese Van Moortel, deceased at Bekegem, and husband in second marriage of Ludovica Moyaert, workwoman, 41, living here, died yesterday, 21 March, at three in the afternoon in his house in this commune. The second declarant signed with us; the first could not write. Pieter was in fact 60 (born 9 April 1805): the age is overstated by four years, but his parents, his birthplace and both wives identify him beyond doubt. The declarant is his brother Jacobus, born at Zerkegem in 1811 (grade A).
Transcription and translation
[Afstervingen] 9. De Ly Sagaer Francies echtgenoot Isabella - 21 9br - 45. 10. Deschacht Medard - 21 9br - 46. 11. Deschacht Moyaert Pieter echtgenoot Louise - 21 Maart - 10. [...] [Huwelijken] 1. Cordy Amandus en Deschacht Virginie - 10 Janri - 1. [...] De tegenwoordige Tafel bevattende alle de nummers van het principaal register gebragt en aldus opgemaakt en gesloten door ons Philippus Verheeke, Burgmeester ambtenaar van den burgerstand der gemeente Bekeghem, die verklaard dat er geene supplementaire Registers over het jaar achttien honderd zes en zestig bestaan. Bekeghem den vijfden Januarie achttien honderd zeven en zestig.
Deaths of 1866 at Bekegem in the year's table: no. 10, 21 March, Pieter Deschacht, husband of Louise (Ludovica Moyaert, his second wife); no. 46, 21 November, Medard Deschacht; and marriage no. 1, 10 January, Amandus Cordy and Virginie Deschacht. The table was closed on 5 January 1867 by the mayor Philippus Verheeke. It gives the number and date of Pieter's death act, which is read next (grade B for the table).
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Zerkegem, civil registration [S6], births of the year XIII, image 0_0351 (grade A). ↩
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Zerkegem, civil registration [S6], marriages 1830, no. 9 (grade A). ↩
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AGATHA index [S8]: ten children of Pieter De Schacht and Anna Theresia Vanmoortel(e), 1830-1849 (grade B); Fredericus's birth, Bekegem, 10 May 1842, act 17. ↩
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AGATHA index [S8] (grade B); her death is also stated in the 1870 marriage act of her son [S6]. ↩
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Bekegem, civil registration [S6], deaths 1866, no. 10, and the yearly table of 1866 (grade A). ↩
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Canon van Vlaanderen, "The Potato Crisis", and Centrum Agrarische Geschiedenis [S16]. ↩
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Wikipedia (English), "European potato failure" [S20]: 40,000-50,000 deaths in Belgium in 1845-1850, Flanders particularly affected (background). ↩
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Wikipedia (Dutch), "Bekegem" [S20]: depopulation about 1584, the church rebuilt in 1636, the organ of about 1852 by Maximilien Van Peteghem (background). ↩