Five Brothers and a War

Capelle, Noord Brabant

There were a few areas in Holland where van Pelt families grew up, and grew in numbers. • Leende (a few kilometers northeast of Pelt/Overpelt/Neerpelt), • Tilburg • Dubbeldam/ Dordrecht (about 18km (12 miles from Capelle), • Rotterdam/Schiedam/ Charlois (across the river from Delfshaven) and, of course, • Capelle. Adriaan van Pelt was born in Capelle about 1600, and the entire family, with very rare exceptions, stayed in the area of Capelle, Sprang, and Vrijhoeve. This included all of Leendert’s ancestors, dating back at least to Adriaan. In fact, as Adriaan was born in Capelle, it must be true that his parents, including Leendert van Pelt, lived there at least for the birth, and almost certainly prior to that. Interestingly, another Leendert van Pelt, but this one with a middle name of Pieter, was born in Capelle just two years before the Leendert of this book. The two were first cousins.

van Pelt

Capelle was its own village since 1257, but in 1923 the villages of Sprang, Vrijhoeve and Capelle were combined into Sprang-Capelle. Then in 1997, it was annexed by the nearby city of Waalwijk.

Five Brothers and a War

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