Ate Obes Westra - A Biography

Ate Obes Westra was born 5 Dec 1868 in Achlum, Franekeradeel, Friesland, Netherlands to Obe Jans Westra and Aaltje Klazes Posthumus. Ate was the 8th of their 9 children. Two of the previous sons had been named Ate Obes, born in 1863 and 1864, but both had died early, the first at five months, and the second at 16 days. It was the custom of those days, if a child died early, to name a subsequent child of the same gender the same name. Of the 9 children, only four (all boys) lived past the age of seven months. They were Jan, Doekele, Ate and Gerlof.

Ate Obes Westra was just five years old when his mother died, in 1874.  His father married again, in 1875, to Bintje Arjens Dykstra.  They had four children, 1876-1879.  After the last child was born, Ate’s father died, in 1879, leaving Ate an orphan at the age of 10.   Ate moved frequently from one relative to another.  When he was 12 years old, he moved to Harlingento live with his uncle Gerlof Alberda, who was a half brother of his mother.  Ate lived there until he was 16, when he moved to Kollum for two years.  Then, in 1886, he stayed with his newly married brother Jan in Augustinusga for two years.  He then moved to Dokkum for another two years, after which he returned to Augustinusga. 

During the next few years, Ate lived and worked with his older brothers Jan and Doekele in their bakery, first in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, and then in the city of Groningen.  Because of the very meager earnings of the bakery, his brothers could not pay him a salary.  He worked there several years, from 1890 to 1902 for his room and board. 

After Ate reached the age of 33, and still unmarried, he began searching and praying about religion. He attended the Dutch Reformed Church and also visited other churches during these restless years.  

In a letter Ate wrote to his sister-in-law Henderika in Holland in 1941, Ate wrote of his conversion. He said, “Rika, can you remember that Sunday, now about 40 years ago, we were received as new confessed members of the Reformed Church under Minister Langhort, and you asked me when we returned home how I felt. I answered that I was disappointed, that I had expected to receive a sure testimony, so that I could know for sure that I was accepted in the Church of Christ. But I did not receive this testimony and Jan tried to set me at ease by saying I was too hasty and premature, that possibly the following Sunday when we sit for the sacrament I would be reassured. With all my heart I wanted that reassurance, but when we came home you asked me a second time how I felt. Then was my answer the same; disappointed – I miss something.” 

“God knows how I appealed to Him that I might receive this assurance. Many times during the night I have been on my knees in earnest prayer. Then sometime later, Doekele (Ate’s older brother) came to me and invited me to meet some young missionaries from America who were coming to their house every Tuesday evening to talk to them about the restored gospel. He himself was not interested, so he said, but Hendrikje, his wife, was interested in talking with them. The first word they spoke made a great impression upon me and I soon gained a burning testimony of its truthfulness.” 

Ate’s brothers did not share the gospel with him, although he felt they knew it was true. When the Elders explained the Word of Wisdom to him, he immediately threw his tobacco away and never touched it again. He was baptized 12 April 1902 by Bernard Denkers. None of his family ever joined the church. 

Ate Obes Westra met Geeske Egberts de Haan about May of 1902 at the LDS church branch in Groningen. Ate was almost 10 years older than Geeske. Because of the depression, Geeske and her sisters had gone to work in the big city of Groningen to work as housemaids. Geeske worked in the home of Brother Van der Werf, who was a member of the church. She had joined the church on 19 October 1901 when she was 23 years of age.  

Ate and Geeske met as newly baptized members of the Groningen branch, and after a six month romance, they were married on 16 October 1902 in Groningen. They were blessed with three lovely children. Wilhelmina was born 18 June 1903; Obe was born 7 February 1905, and Egbert was born 31 July 1906. 

Ate and Geeske had a prosperous laundry established during this time and in 4 ½ years saved sufficient funds for them to immigrate to America. 

They immigrated to the United States in April 1907. 

We had tried to find information on the immigration via Ellis Island, but could not locate them there. In the journal of Joseph LaMar Westra, dated 8 May 2006, LaMar finally located the following on one of his Monday shifts at the Family History Library: ‘I did a check of Ancestry for my grandfather: Ate Westra. I discovered some new Ancestry reports: one showing their house number and neighbors in 1934, and another showing the ship where they came to the US from Holland in 1907. The ship was the SS Canada, arriving in Portland, Maine. No wonder I had not been able to find them in Ellis Island’. 

Geeske became pregnant shortly before their departure, and together with sea and morning sickness, did not enjoy a moment of her ocean voyage. Worse yet, they were robbed of all their money on the ship, but were given money by an unknown benefactor so that they could continue on to Salt Lake City. Fortunately, they had purchased their train tickets in Holland. 

Upon their arrival in Utah, they were invited to make their first home with their Dutch friends, brother and sister Hulshof, and lived at 445 North 12th West in Salt Lake City, until they were able to find and finance a home of their own. 

They had misfortune and trials soon after they arrived among the saints. Just four months after their arrival, their two boys died of “summer complaint” which was caused from hot weather and resulted in high fevers and extreme diarrhea. Egbert died on 18 Aug 1907, and Obe passed away just five days later. 

Another son, John, was born 31 Dec 1907. He lived to adulthood. 

Ate was ordained an Elder on 6 Nov 1907, and on Wednesday, 12 Feb 1908, Geeske and Ate went to the Salt Lake Temple and received their endowments, were sealed in marriage together for eternity, and then had their children sealed to them: their two living children: Wilhelmina and John, and their two deceased sons: Obe and Egbert. 

Just a few months later, 21 Jun 1908, Wilhelmina passed away after being sick with scarlet fever. She was just four years old. 

In the following years, a small two-room home was purchased at the end of 8th East, just south of Parkway Avenue, in Forest Dale Ward. There were several other Dutch families that lived in the neighborhood with names: Harenberg, DeBry, Neerings, Grundman, Stuurman, Meibos, Springer, Teerlink, Aardema and several others. (See more about the locations they lived here). 

Another son, George was born 13 Oct 1909. George lived just five months and died 17 March 1910. Another son, Joseph was born 23 Oct 1911. He lived to adulthood (this is Lamar's father, see his history here). Two more sons were born: Allen born 9 March 1913, lived 15 months and died 25 June 1914; and Alma born 30 April 1915, lived 9months and died 15 January 1916. 

The last two children lived to adulthood: a daughter Alice, born 28 January 1917, and Edward, a son, born 23 July 1923. When their last child was born, Geeske was 45, and Ate was 54.  Ate was called on a mission to the Netherlands while in his 50s, from 1919-1922. When he returned home, he built a little brick house where he lived until he passed away on Dec 11, 1946, just shy of turning 78.

• (Left Photo) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their three children: Wilhelmina, Obe and Egbert, taken in Netherlands in 1907, before they immigrated to the United States. All of these children died within 18 months after the photo was taken.
• (Center Photo) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their two boys: John and Joseph. Taken in Salt Lake City about 1912.
• (Photo Right) This is a picture of Ate and Geeske and their three youngest living children: Joseph, Alice and Edward, taken in Salt Lake City about 1930. John was probably serving his mission in the Netherlands.

From The Life of Joseph Ate Westra ...

Joe's father was called on a mission to Holland and his mother took a job at the Forest Annex to help support her family. Later his father was Custodian at L.D.S. Business College. He and his brother John worked as Deseret Newspaper boys while growing up, and helped support the family. 

What's in a Name?

The given name Ate was likely chosen from one of his ancestors. One great grandfather was named Ate Jacobs Hofstra, born in 1757 in Wijnaldum Friesland, Netherlands. The middle name followed the patronymic custom of the Netherlands, giving each child, male or female, the middle name of the father, with a following z or s, for zoon (son of), similar to the patronymic practices of Scandinavia, where a sen or son or sson was added, as in Jensen, Larson, or Mattsson. 

The table below shows the ancestry of the Westra line. You can see the patronymic naming system. Birthplaces for all individuals are all in the county of Friesland, in Netherlands.

Ancestor	Birth	Birthplace	Name of Wife
Ate Obes Westra	1868	Achlum	Geeske Egberts de Haan
Obe Jans Westra	1831	Achlum	Aaltje Klazes Posthumus
Jan Douwes Westra	1793	Achlum	Dieuwke Ates Hofstra
Douwe Klazes Westra	1751	Kimswerd	Grietje Sikkes Bangma
Klaas Tjallings Westra	1714	Schettens	Lijsbeth Douwes
Tjalling Jarigs Westra	1686	Kornwerd	Lieuke Clases
Jarig Sjoukes	1654	Kornwerd	Reinou Tjallings
Sjouke Sjoerds	1622	Kornwerd	Mrs. Sjouke Sjoerds
Sjoerd Doekes	1594	Kornwerd	Mirk Sjoukes
Doeke Sjoerds	1553	Kornwerd	Hets Jarigs
Sjoerd Doekes	1512	Kornwerd	Mrs. Sjoerd Doekes

The Westra surname must have been adopted by Tjalling Jarigs, sometime around the 1740s, since three of his offspring, by two different wives, were later known by Westra.  I think the name means ‘from the west’ which probably means from the west side of whatever village they were in – probably Schettens.  The suffix ‘stra’ must have meant ‘from the’ in the Frisian language, like ‘van der’ means ‘from the’ in the Dutch language.  Compare Noordstra (North), Zuidstra (South), Oostra (East), Dijkstra (dike), Hofstra (garden), etc. 

The suffix ‘ma’ or ‘sma’ or ‘ema’ must have a similar convention, as in surnames like Bangma, Wijma, Hamersma, Boerema, Boersma, Bonnema, Berema, Gerkema, Tassema, Schaafsma, Steensma, etc.  These are all surnames in our Dutch ancestry.  The Westra surname originated in quite a number of places in a similar manner, so all Westras are not necessarily related. 

Surnames were adopted first by the more educated people, and later surnames were forced on all the Dutch people by Napolean sometime around 1811, when the civil records were started.  Prior to 1811, all records of births, marriages and deaths were in church (parish) registers.