July 31 1856

On that day, Judoca Van Poucke died in Serskamp. She had been born in Schellebelle on April 3 1797 and married Eugenius Broeckaert (Serskamp 1792 - 1846).

Their son Karel Bernardus Broeckaert (Wetteren 1832 - Okegem 1928) was a railroad worker and married Joanna Catharina Van de Perre (Okegem 1838 - 1914) on June 14 1858. So Karel moved a - for that time - considerable distance from the place of his birth. The couple had twelve children, and their photo is in the left hand column of this blog under genealogy.

One of their daughters was my great-grandmother Clementia (Manse) : she was born in Okegem on November 11 1858 and passed away rather unexpectedly in her house at Okegem on November 8 1939. She married Hermilianus Neukermans in Okegem on April 19 1882.
Hermilianus was a small (subsidence) farmer and one of the last persons who made a living out of producing wooden shoes. The couple had 10 children, of which two daughters. My grandfather Joannes Francicus (Cis van de kloefkapper) was their third son.