There is an excellent source for ancestry in the Netherlands, particularly for Zeeland . . . records available for free online. I love this source with a passion. . . and when I first discovered it a couple of years ago, I was able to discover several more generations back for one of my lines.
www.zeeuwengezocht.nl
Anyway, I started looking up siblings of my direct ancestors, and collecting the records of their children. One husband (my first cousin 6x removed) and wife in Zouteland, Zeeland had 16 children total . . . she was pregnant every year for nearly 15 years. How the numbers come out to 16 is that in 1835, she gave birth to triplets! Two boys and a girl (named Jakob, Cornelis and Maria) were born January 3, 1835 according to the records. Without finding the death records yet, I was able to see that they all died young, because more sibling were born subsequently who also bore the same names. Due to the marriage records available, at least 6 of the 16 children made it to adulthood as well as marriage. (I am still searching for the death records. . . I am sure they are there.)
I just found this all very interesting as well as very sad. All of these babies who died . . . and wow, triplets, too. As a bereaved mom, I find this very difficult to comprehend . . . I wouldn't be able to take loosing so many, baby after baby, with one surviving here and there. I know that happened (and happens) a lot, but it is hard to think about.
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