Surname Saturday: BOS or BUSH

The BOS-BUSH family is my maternal step-grandfather's maternal line. BOS means "bunch" in Dutch, and I believe a better definition would be "clump of trees," but I'm not sure. When these Dutch-speaking immigrants arrived in Michigan, the name was anglicized to BUSH, which isn't far off from the original meaning.

Stories and History:

The earliest BOS ancestors I can find originated in the province of Groningen, in the villages of Uithuizermeeden in the municipality of Eemsmond and Bierum in the municipality of Delfzijl. In 1879, my step-2nd-great-grandparents, Melle BOS and Trientje ZIGTERMAN immigrated to Western Michigan.

(I use the letter "C" to differentiate between my biological family tree and my step-family tree. Similarly, I use the letter "B" to mark my paternal grandmother's adoptive family tree.)

Ahnentafel #416C - Klaassen BOS

Ahnentafel #208C - Jan Klaassens BOS; m. Ida Meinderts

Ahnentafel #104C - Eewe Jans BOS (b. 1789 in Uithuizermeeden); m. 1818 in Bierum to Kunje Alberts (de) WEERT

Ahnentafel #52C - Jan Eewe BOS (b. c. 1823); m.1849 in Bierum to Geertje Melles DIJKEMA

Ahnentafel #26C - Melle "Millard" BOS (b. c. 1853 - d. c. 1888); m. 1877 in Bierum to Trientje ZIGTERMAN; immigrated 1879 to Michigan; have been unable to find death record for Melle; his widow married 1889 in Lamont, Ottawa Co., Michigan to Pieter BARSEMA

Ahnentafel #13C - Johanna BOS (a.k.a. Josephine BUSH) - (1885 - 1946); m. 1911 in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan to Jarig Egbert Binnes DeVRIES (a.k.a. George Edward Benjamin DeVRIES)

Ahnentafel # 6C - Adrian "Ed" DeVRIES (1916 - 2007) - my beloved maternal (step) grandfather, greatly missed; m. 1947 in Wyoming Twp., Kent Co., Michigan to Ruth Lillian (HOEKSTRA) VALK

More about the BOS family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): BUSH and BOS ancestors and relatives (no info on living persons available)

2. Some BOS obituaries

3. Posts about BOS ancestors and relatives on this blog

4. Some scanned BOS photos

My BOS immigration trail:

Eemsmond, Groningen, the Netherlands > Delfzijl, Groningen, the Netherlands > Missaukee Co., MI > Ottawa Co., MI > Kent Co., MI > AK > Stevens Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA