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one hundred and twenty-five dollars to satisfy. Sometimeaf ter this, the administration
of the grounds was turned over to the Oak La~ Cemeter,yAssoeiation whose suceessors
administer i t today. .
Records for this section of the cemeter,y are ~canty prior to' 1912 and this
census probably represents the best data currently available.o Tbe cemet~r,yi:3
platted in an obl.ong ehape paralleling Ridge Road length-wiBe. It is basically
divided intosix tiers in a northerly direction from Ridge Road with six te Beven
foot walk waysbetween the tiera. Tbe family plots are numbered on an early }lat
one to eighty-eight. Numberone starts in the northeast part of the grounds with
the Lukas Van Den :Belt lot. The numbered sequenoe r'uns south from b,ere to tbe end
of the tier. It then starts at the north end of the nen tier and so on to the end.
Hendrik De Jong', the fint Hollander in South Holland in 1846, is buried in this
eemetery surrounded by ma.nyfamily members. He was bom on July 1<1, 1804 and was
six months short of beingninety yea:rs of age. Bis 'fife, Geert je, preceded him in
death in 1878. The Roseland Revue newspaper dated December9, 1893, on file in the
George M. Pullman Library, contains an obituar,y of Hendrik De Jong. Tbe following
, is a reprint:
''Henry De YoUDg,aged ninety years àied at bis homein South Holland on last
Saturday. Tbe funeral took place on Thursday and was attended by a.l.L' the
relativea of the deceased who reside in Roseland, of whomthere are a large
mmiber.
M~. Dt'"Y;;U:në CP.WG +'0 ,~'":'\~:-i~Lan 18l.:7 and settled at SQuth Holland, from
whioh point he never removed. He was a farmer which occupation he supple-
mented during bis early life by hunting and fishing. He was a man of q liet
babi ts and by careful industry had amassed a fair share of this world' s '
goods. He was the father of twelve children each one of whomraised a family.
As a oonsequence of this he was probably the head of one of the largest '
families in Cook County.11
Hendrik De Jong' s grave stone is barely readable and hopefully will be r 3placed
with a more permanent memorial to this pioneer. This would be an excellent:Bi-
Centennial projeot. Perhaps the village of South Holland would be interested in
erecting a suitable monument. .
A plat with numbere corresponding to a list of original lot owners is in}luded
which ahould aid present day desoendants in locating the grave sites of their
Meestors. In eompiling this reference, ma.nyrecords, famil,. trees, family :BLbles,
the Centennial :Bookof the First Refor.medChurch of South Holland and personal
interviews wi th manykind folks were used, The assistance and cooperation of the
offices of the cemetery are also appreciated.

