Belgian Laces

Pierco Castle, Walshoutem,

18th Century Farm in Walshoutem, Belgium

Belgian Fields

Church in Grand Halet, Old Belgium Tombstone Walshoutem Belgium

Photos courtesy of Carl Pansaerts & Glenn Cleereman

Volume 25-#95 June 2003 THE BELGIAN BELGIAN LACES RESEARCHERS Official Quarterly Bulletin of Belgian American Heritage Association THE BELGIAN RESEARCHERS Our organization was Belgian American Heritage Association founded in 1976 and

welcomes as members Our principal objective is: Any person of Belgian Keep the Belgian Heritage alive descent interested in in our hearts and in the hearts of our posterity Genealogy, History,

Biography or Heraldry, President/Newsletter editor: Régine Brindle either amateur or Vice-President: Gail Lindsey professional. Treasurer/Secretary: Melanie Brindle You are invited to Past Presidents: Micheline Gaudette, become a member and Pierre Inghels to participate actively in Co-Founders: Micheline Gaudette the work of the society. and Ardiena Stegen The annual membership fee includes a subscription to the quarterly TABLE OF CONTENTS BELGIAN LACES Letter from the Editor/Belgian Industry p25 Books In Review p26 Naturalized Citizens Iroquois Co. IL p27 Belgian Oddities: Green Cabbage Sausage p28 Declarations of Intention: Brown Co. WI p29 1920 SS LAPLAND - ctd p31 Using Foreign Microfilm: Belgian Beginnings, M J Neill p33 Extraction of the Rachecourt Parish Registers, Rene Labille p35 Fancy Colors p37 Obituaries of Belgian settlers in PA and WV, by V. Hospodar Valentine p37 Birth Records Strepy-Bracquegnies, Hainaut: 1898, by G Jenkims p39 Belgian Heroism : WWII, Bruce Bolinger p41 Research Helps p46

Area News/Queries/To & From/Recipe p48

Electronic ONLY Anywhere: US $ 10.00 Send payments and articles to this office:THE BELGIAN RESEARCHERS Régine Brindle - 495 East 5th Street - Peru IN 46970 Paper ONLY Tel/Fax:765-473-5667 OR e-mail [email protected] US/Canada ONLY: US $18 *All subscriptions are for the calendar year* *New subscribers receive the four issues of the current year, regardless when paid* BOTH ** The content of the articles is the sole responsibility of those who wrote them** Electronic and Paper: US/Canada: US $ 25.00 Deadline for submission of Overseas: US $ 30.00 Articles to Belgian Laces: November 30 – February 28 May 31 - August 31 Dear Friends, As always I owe you much for helping create Belgian Laces. Without your article submissions and extractions, it would be nearly impossible for me to produce it every quarter. THANK YOU! In this issue you will again find a of information, which I hope will help many in their research. Several members have made some requests and I will try my best to provide the information they require. In the past month we have received books from 4 different people. Look for the review in this issue of BL We thank Paul CALLENS for sending copies of his latest Funeral Cards Books (4) as well as copies (in Dutch) of “Onze Voorouders”, published by the V.V.F. We thank André HENNICO for sending his book “- Monographie” chock full of wonderful information on Messancy and area, people and history. We also thank Ray Van Overschelde for sending a copy of his wonderful “Van Overschelde Family History”and finally we thank René RISCH for the French copy of the new “STEENO Clan” book. Each of these represents hours upon hours of research. I am in awe of their achievement. THANK YOU!!! With Memorial Day around the corner it seemed fitting to remember those less known heroes who supported the Allied efforts in secret. Look for Bruce BOLLINGER’s article about his uncle who hid some Jews during WWII. I can not keep from thinking about today’s drama in Iraq and pray this war also finds a happy and prompt ending. Also more new sites to check out. What ever did we do when the internet didn’t exist?! How lucky we are!!! Have a wonderful Spring! More in July! Regine

Gourmet Center Story: Biscuit + Coffee = BISCOFF http://store.biscoff.com/cgi-bin/www40247.storefront/3de1a23902489fb02750d8f5a50206b3/Catalog

The Corona-Lotus story begins in Belgium where the Boone brothers established their family business baking caramelized biscuits called Lotus Speculoos. Over the past seventy years, Corona-Lotus, N.V. has turned a once-small enterprise into a world- renowned business by honoring a tradition of craftsmanship and personal service. In 1984, the founders of Gourmet Center, Inc., an American firm that supplies food and beverages to the airline industry, discovered Lotus Speculoos on a trip to Belgium. They were delighted with the delicious biscuits. Working together, Corona-Lotus, N.V. and Gourmet Center renamed the beloved biscuit "Biscoff," a biscuit for coffee. In an effort to reach customers who had never tried these wonderful biscuits, we began distributing Biscoff Biscuits on airlines in 1984, to the delight of thousands of passengers. In response to overwhelming demand for the biscuits, a mail order catalogue was developed. In 1999, we launched www.biscoff.com and find that we are attracting an even wider group of "Biscoff Fans" around the world! Revealed! The Secrets of Biscoff (1) It's all in the mix! Only the highest quality ingredients are used. Biscoff dough must be mixed and kneaded in accordance with the Boone brothers' original 1932 recipe. The dough needs time to "rest" in just the right conditions - the temperature and humidity of the room will affect the dough rising correctly! Precision in the measurements of the freshest ingredients used has taken years to perfect. (2) Daily Dedication to being delicious! An expert panel of bakers, members of our staff, and invited customers judge the flavor, color and texture of the biscuits every day. In this way, Corona-Lotus and Gourmet Center can guarantee the taste and freshness of their caramelized biscuits. De Sibbe STEENO, een familiegeschiedenis By Omer Steeno, Paul Declerck, André Adriaens, Chris Morias and René Rish

The Dutch version of the book contains 231p with a 60p index. It is illustrated with many pictures of churches, houses and old records. Available in French and English also. The cd-rom “THE STEENO FAMILY” - BOOK: the text of the book in MSWORD format, complete and printable. It has been set up for an A4 page format and is more than 11 MByte in size. - IMAGES: with all the images used in the book, but at a higher resolution than what is printable with the book (reduced to 200 dpi). It contains also a lot of other pictures, including the reproduction of the 4 pages of a letter send in 1896 by the STEENO- family in the USA (William STEENO) to a younger brother in Belgium.

Death Memorial Cards – Volumes IV-VII By Paul CALLENS with the help of the Vlaamse Vereniging voor Familiekunde, Afdeling Tielt Genealogical Society of Americans, Roseville, MI Center for Belgian Culture of Western Illinois, Moline, IL These volumes contain information pertaining especially to the Quad-Cities region, maps, funeral cards. Each volume is listed in alphabetical order. In English, about 75p each.

Van Overschelde Family History By Ray Van Overschelde Second Edition. Available in hard copy and CD formats. Contact Ray at [email protected] or at 2 New Dawn Court, Landrum SC 29356 or by phone at 864-895-9998 This work is divided into 2 sections: the first the origin of the name and the history of those who carried the name until the middle of the 19th century. The second section begins with the journey of one man, Josephus Van Overschelde, 64y, who left Belgium in 1881 for a new life in America. His decision to emigrate produced the largest group of Van Overschelde living outside of Europe today.

Messancy - Monographie By André HENNICO Second Edition. 1998, ISBN 2-9806235-0-4 Printed in Canada With the help of Gérard NEU Bibliography and index included. 2,000 years of History, with