Our “Missing” Descendants –
Harmen Jan te Selle (1844–1919)

In our newsletter last March 2021, we introduced the topic called “Our Missing Descendants,” which highlighted the genealogical difficulty of tracing female descendants and their offspring. On average, after 5 generations, only 1 out of every 8 descendants of the original male ancestor still has that original ancestor’s surname! The other 7 descendants and their offspring, through marriages and subsequent births, have new surnames.

The more time that elapses without tracing those “renamed” offspring back to an earlier TeSelle ancestor, the harder it is to make that ancestral connection. In the next several months, we will attempt to connect “missing” TeSelle offspring back to their original TeSelle (or te Selle) ancestor. We need your help to accomplish this. We thank you in advance for sharing your ancestral information with us using our Contact page. Thanks also for sharing this newsletter with other possible TeSelle relatives (click “Share This Newsletter” button below.)

In this issue of the TeSelle Family newsletter, we start by highlighting the 13 children of Harmen Jan te Selle (1844–1919). Harmen Jan was one of the three te Selle brothers who emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States in the mid-1800s. Selfishly, I begin this “Missing Ancestor” series with him, because Harmen Jan was my great-grandfather. In subsequent newsletters, we will explore descendants of other early TeSelle immigrants.

The name of each of Harmen Jan’s children, along with each spouse, is shown below, which might offer a clue about the names of their offspring. If you know you are descended from one of these people, or you think that you might be somehow connected to any TeSelle ancestor, we encourage you to contact us to exchange information and explore our family relationship.

Each of the children’s names links to his or her Profile page on the TeSelle Family website, where you can find more information about them and about their children (Harmen Jan's grandchildren.) Please notice that some of our information is very sparse, so if you can provide additional stories, facts, or images, please share that information with us using our Contact Page.

• Dela TeSelle (1868–1900) [Spouse: Dick Abbink (1867–1956)]
• William TeSelle (1871–1936) [Spouse: Clara J. Bade (1875–1964)]
• Berendina Aleida TeSelle (1877–1946) [Spouse: Dionysius G. van der Griend (1869–1948)]
• Evert John TeSelle (1878–1962) [Spouse: Minnie Obbink (1880–1946)]
• Albert Herman TeSelle (1880–1932) [Spouse: Alyda “Lizzie” Obbink (1884–1955)]
• Helena TeSelle (1882–1964) [Spouse: Henry Obbink (1882–1976)]
• Harmina TeSelle (1884–1960) [Spouse: Ernest W. Dietz (1884–1929)]
• Bertha Johanna TeSelle (1886–1951) [Spouse: Jacob S. Kallemeyn (1884–1959)]
• Herman John TeSelle (1888–1963) [Spouse: Jennie Vandewege (1895–1982)]
• Benjamin F. TeSelle (1889–1959) [Spouse: Alma Ida Dietz (1885–1968)]
• John Henry TeSelle (1893–1955) [Spouse: Johanna J. Stiehl (1895–1984)]
• Gerrit H. TeSelle (1895–1953) [Spouse: Pearl Edna Spellman (1906–1984)]
• Johanna Marie “Annie” TeSelle (1896–1972) [Spouse: William E. Fischer (1898–1964)]

We look forward both to hearing from known relatives and to welcoming new ones to our family tree. If you know of family members who are not already receiving our newsletter, please click the “Share This Newsletter” link at the bottom of this page, where you can send them a copy of this newsletter along with a sign-up form to become a subscriber. Thank you for helping our TeSelle Family Tree grow and flourish.