Notes : Adeler Frederich II, (1870-1938), born in Amsterdam
was a sickly little boy in his earlier years of life, and very small and weak
for his age. When he entered adolescense he started to grow very fast. The
doctor adviced his parents to move to the country side. A.F.I sold his
assay-firm and moved to Wageningen. The country side did the boy well and his
health improved considerably. After having been rejected for the navy because
of his poor eyesight, A.F. decided to become a forestry officer in the
Dutch East Indies. He studied in Wageningen and Heidelberg Germany, where he
obtained his university degree.
He went to the Dutch East Indies in
1893 as a forestry officer. He was posted in Madioen in eastern Java. As this
was a reasonably pleasant station, he decided to marry his fiancee Harmina
Johanna Obbes, who had remained in Holland, by proxy. She arrived in 1894.
In 1895 her first child was born; Helena Johanna. Later that year A.F. II was
transferred to a bush station. In 1897 their second child was born. Wernera
Wilhelmina. A month after her childbirth A.F. had to go on tour. During his
abscence his wife and 2 year old daughter became infected by cholera and the
little child died.
When A.F. came home his daughter had died and his wife
was dying. The baby was being taken care of by a maid servant and been taken
to the Kampong. As there were no medical facillities in the bush, he took his
wife in his arms and raced in a coach to Rembang, the capital of the district
. Just before arrival his wife died in his arms.
A.F. had to find
someone to look after the baby which had survived. He knew a family Elenbaas.
Mr Elenbaas was a government architect, his wife had died and he had
11 children. One of his daughters was prepared to take care of the baby.
He left the baby there and had to go back to work.
On Oktober 17th,
1899 he married the girl that had taken care of the baby;
Willemina Kommertje Alida Elenbaas.
They had three children together,
two sons and a daughter; Adeler Frederich III, Cornelis, and Helena Johanna,
called after his first daughter. Willemina treated Wernera Wilhelmina as her
own daughter. The marriage with Willemina so soon after the tragic death of
his wife, was of course a marriage of convenience, it turned out to be a very
good decision however, and a very happy marriage was the result. Willemina,
not very beautiful and without much education, was intelligent had character
with high moral standards, and a heart of gold.
A.F. was an excellent
forestry officer and had a brilliant career. In 1911, when he was only 41 years
old, he was knighted by Queen Wilhelmina for his exceptional work in the
forestry dept. In 1916 he was promoted to Chief Inspector Forestry Department
of the Netherlands East Indies. This appointment had been long delayed by the
new Governor General, who knew that A.F. was very much against giving
licences to Japanese timber companies. The Governer General had some important
friends of noble blood in this busines. However he could not prevent the
appointmen because A.F. was generally believed to be the best man for this
job, and he had the Forestry department completely behind him. He also had
an excellent state of service and had been knighted by Queen Wilhelmina.
The G.G. did everything however to make life unpleasent for A.F. In the
end A.F. decided he could not do his job well under this Governor General,
he resigned and went with early pension in 1919. A sad end of a brilliant career.
He settled in Gorssel near Deventer, and got a teaching appointment
at the Tropical Agriculture Academy in Deventer.
He died in 1938 of
abdominal cancer.
|