Finally Finding Family!

So I continued to google Reindert Tuinman and the name came up on several different Dutch websites.  I had heard that the Dutch are somewhat known for geneology and that there are many accurate records kept there.  Of course, the Dutch websites are ......... (surprise surprise!) in Dutch!  Fortunately, there's Google-Translate.  So, I kept translating the various websites, most of which were intricately researched family trees.  On one of them, I found a "Reindert Gardener", and he had the same birthday as granddaddy, also born in Anna Palovna (alternate spelling).  Now this seemed odd.  Suddenly, I remembered hearing as a kid that my maiden name - Tuniman (or Tuinman) - meant gardener in Dutch!!  Of course!  Google translate doesn't distinguish names from other words and had translated Tuinman to Gardener.  A quick check of the website written in Dutch confirmed this.  I had found my grandfather's immediate family. 

And they were:  Parents: Reindert Tuinman and Elisabeth Leeflang

Children:
Cornelius - born Oct. 15, 1875, died July 10, 1883 (only 8 years old!)
Jacob - born Oct. 6, 1876, died May 10, 1877 (less than 1!)
Jacob - born Feb. 8, 1878
January - born April 21
Anna - born May 9, 1882
Cornelis - born July 27, 1884
Trijntje - born Oct. 10 1887
Reindert - born Oct. 27, 1889 - My grandfather!!

I was surprised by the sad fact that their first two children died so young.  Oddly, they gave their third son the same name as their second son who had died.  Also surprising was that they waited until their 8th child to give the same name as the father, and that none of the girls were named for their mother. 

That same website informed me that my great grandfather, also named Reindert, was born on Aug 27, 1841.  He was a farmer, merchant, and butcher.  His parents were Cornelis Tuinman and Trijntje Slikker.  He was married to Gretchen King from Feb. 29, 1872 till (is this really possible????) March 2, 1872, when she died.  I'll try to research this more - hard to believe she died just 2 days after they married.

He then married Elisabeth Leeflang on Oct. 15, 1874.  He was 33 and she was just 21.  She was the daughter of Jacob Baker Leeflang and Naatje. 

Going back another generation, my great grandfather, also Reindert, is one of 4 siblings.  They are Grietje, Marigold (or Antje in Dutch), and William, all of whom grew up and married.  These would have been my grandfather's aunts and uncles.  I have all of this on a "family tree" that I have created to keep me organized.