July 18 1719

Cornelius Sterckx died at Pamel Kriebrug on July18 1719 (possibly 1718).

According to the 1693 census he was a well to do single farmer (pachter) who tilled some 15 ha (45 dagwand 44 roeden). He employed two maids, and finally married one of them in 1694.
She died in 1708 ; his second wife died in 1713. His third wife, Catharina Van Caulaert, survived him. Up to now, I know almost nothing about her but I read somewhere that she remarried. Cornelius had six children, one with his first, one with his second and four with his third wife.

Their son Nicolaus Sterckx (Pamel 1714 – 1803) had a daughter Elisabeth (Pamel 1754- Okegem 1799) who became the first wife of Josephus called Judocus Neukermans (Okegem 1736 – 1814). Their son Adrianus Neukermans (Okegem 1788 – 1860) was the father of Amandus Neukermans (Okegem 1824 – 1857) the father of my great-grandfather Hermilianus (Okegem 1855 - 1932).

Maybe Judocus was the ancestor about whom my maternal grandfather said that he wanted to buy some "black" property from the former Ninove Abbey, which the French revolutionaries had closed down. According to the family lore, his wife withheld him by the back of his smock. A nice story, but given the fact that Hermilianus never knew his father and barely knew his grandfather, the story probably originates elsewhere in the family.

As usual, the simple law abiding people who had scruples about buying church property lost an opportunity to better themselves ; others without scruples built huge fortunes.