Toos Bongers-Gielen is the Mother of two close friends of mine in Holland, Annemie Bosmans and Leo Bongers. Her ancestors were millers by trade. Toos was born on the farm her parents built at Oler, a little place near to Thorn, married Sjef Bongers and lives now in Roermond, a beautiful and historical town in Limburg in the South of Holland. The ancestors of Toos originate in Belgium and for the most part, their descendants still live there. Her ancestor Jacobus Gielen from Belgium married the millers’ daughter from the Uffeltse molen(mill) in 1838
.                                UFFELTSE MILL AT DAWN

The old Uffeltse watermill in Haler-Uffeltse is reflected in the slowly moving water. Only a few ducks make ripples on the calm mirrored water. It is a beautiful building on a beautiful spot in the Hunsel area. In earlier days the sound of the waterwheel and the water rattling down would have been heard; that was when the surrounding farms sent their grain there for milling and when the windmills were still through lack of wind those millers were unemployed. The watermill could carry on operating unless the water level sank too low. Modern mass production and electricity took over and the mills stopped operating many years ago. However, many are maintained and restored as monuments to this ancient profession.
                
The words of Toos
 Why do we love mills? When I go back into father Gielen's genealogy I
see that all the ancients (ancestors) were either farmers or millers by
profession. I discovered that most of my Fathers brothers were farmers and most nephews were millers. The profession was inherited always from father to son. When my father was over 80 years old he wanted to visit all his nephews one last time. Most of them lived a long way away, but my brother, his son Sjaak (a bachelor) who lived with his parents, gladly took his Father and Mother on this trip. That's how son Sjaak became interested in mills, so much so that he took a millers course somewhere between 1980 and 1985. He was between 40 and 45 years old at that time. Sjaaks profession was a machinist. On the days the mills were open to the public he went to the Sint Jans mill in Stramproy, also known as Rooij. This mill was his pride and joy because he was allowed to operate this mill on his own. These windmills
were normally out of use because the millers use electricity nowadays. Sadly, Sjaak died when he was 50 of a heartattack (in 1987). When taking care of his effects we found a book of prints of watermills. We did not knew that he was interested in watermills as well

.      Sjaak Gielen                         Sint Jans
                
 
The Gielen family of Millers. Wessem - The Netherlands as written by Martin Gielen Boorsem                    

                           The original dutch genealogical text

                      A translation from the dutch genealogy text.

The great-grandfather of the Gielen family,Sjaak Gielen was married in 1838 to the millers daughter of the Uffeltse mill, the still existing watermill at Hunsel. Two of his sons became millers; the oldest, Jasper milled the Armenmill (Poor people's mill) in Neeritter and the youngest son Antoon had six sons of whom 5 became millers. Antoon rented the "standaardmolen (type of mill)" of Rotem after the Uffeltse mill, but couldn't earn his living from it. He then became an employee of the miller in Wessem on the grondzeiler (type of mill)" which was probably built before 1700. The stonework of this mill was built to the stone-attic; on top of this was the wooden scaffolding with eight hooks that was surrounded by stone walls, so that from the outside it looked like a total stone mill but from the inside all was connected with the oak scaffold. In 1944 the Germans blew it up. It was 22 meters high and the millstones are still used in Boorsem. From the top of the mill one could see twenty other mills in the surrounding countryside working. It is in this mill that our father taught 5 of his 6 sons the trade.
 
This section is written by a son of Antoon Gielen, the youngest son of Jacobus Gielen, who milled the Uffeltse Mill.

 1) My oldest brother Jacob started milling around 1913 in Wessem; after 4 years on the watermill in Swalmen, then the "standaardmolen" in Buggenum, then as trainee in the "standaardmill" in Baexem, then 2 years on the Korenbloem (Cronflower) in Ophoven (Belgium) where he was employed as
 an certified miller, then home again on the mill and in 1930 he bought the mill in Bree (Belgium) that was torn down in 1950.

2)My second brother Mathieu became a farmer instead of miller.
 
3) Jozef started as an apprentice under father in 1917 and milled in the windmill of Vierlingbeek for 2 years, then to Ophoven, then 2 years on the windmill of Venray, then home again and while contract-milling he started a feedmill business in mixed feed for cattle.
 
 4) Jan, (the Grandfather of Toos) after study at home, started as a guest unpaid apprentice) in Sevenum, then on the windmill in Elen, then Ophoven, then back home and finally he started a motor-milling enterprise in Geistingen.
 
5) Martinus was taught the "stiel"(how to mill) by our Father. At the age of 18, together with his 16 year old brother they milled in a windmill in Venray, then for 2 years at the windmill of Heythuysen, then back home again, and was the replacement at the watermill of Panheel; after this he was hired in 1931 at the windmill of Boorsem and bought it 3 years later. This windmill is still working. In 1974 he bought "Nieuw Leven” te Leut, a beautiful standaardmolen"  

.   molen stormvogelboorson            

6)Antoon first studied to become a schoolteacher but worked on a mill anyway, first at home, then in Venray, then with
Jacob in Bree, from 1931 till 1934 with Martinus on the "Stormvogel" in Boorsem. Then he started a motormilling enterprise in Linne. We usually were hired out monthly with two persons to learn the "stiel" - milling. That was in the past the only way to become a professional. Once, owning our own business was our goal.
 

My thoughts on Windmills
   I have had the immense good fortune to travel the length and breadth of Holland and even I would feel something is amiss if I didn't see the wind and water mills at every turn and on every horizon. Some are brick, and clay tiled, some are thatched with reed that grows by the water-- see photographs in the gallery of reed harvester in the Netherlands, some are wood, some are primitive and others are elegant.
 No matter what their structure, to my eyes they all are handsome. I can understand a miller loving his mill beyond being able to explain why. They are more than engines of strength, built only for practical use. How much energy, hope and tenacity for life must it have taken generations of dutch people in their determination keep the mills working in all conditions?
Before modern mechanization and electricity that powers some mills now, wind and water mills harnessed the wind and the water, nature at its most basic, to work for the population who relied on them for their very life. I have heard and read of the death by starvation of whole villages if the mill was destroyed or the crops failed. The absolute and basic future of the country depended on them, and today the technology that has arisen from their development and the necessity of keeping water at bay still keeps the country safe. Just as I am lost without my paints even when I do not use them, I think the dutch would feel an aching loss without the presence of their wind and water mills.
In my remote cabin in Labrador in the north of Canada, when bad weather hit, I would shut the door tight and pile up the wood in the stove and listen to the howling gales and winter blizzards battering my walls. I would take careful note of the weather before I ventured out, even to the well for water. It kills people, such weather. There is a personal satisfaction in being responsible for ones own safety and destiny that is missing in modern life. The ancestors of the modern dutch people must have felt the same as I, resisting the elements, watching the sails, listening to the mills working and knowing it is their life blood wasted if they stop, or the dikes burst. Stubborn-ness is an essential element to cope with such a life. Do modern Dutch people remember in their dna- the relentless hard work of their ancestors, keeping the sails repaired and turning and the water clear and weedless to turn the water wheels? It was a fearsomely hard life they lived. I read somewhere that before mechanization there had to be one windmill for every 1500 to 2000 people to support life. Imagine how many would be needed now with the huge population of the Netherlands! Impossible. I have seen wonderful paintings of wind and watermills in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and have made several myself
 in watercolour, ink and pencil. Also sketches for future work.
.
 Vlierden mill.  artist, Veronica Arnold  .




        
 

                               Armenmolen Neeritter artist, Veronica Arnold








       
      
 

The INK DRAWINGS in the book of the late Sjaak Gielen, now in the library of his sister, Toos Bongers-Gielen. The images are to be found in the Gallery. 
 

As - Nieuwe Molen
As - Oude Molen 
Beek - Abroxmolen
Beek - Genamolen
Beek - Kluismolen
Bocholt - Voorste Luysmolen
Bocholt - Achterste Luysmolen
Bocholt - Neermolen
Bocholt - Clootsmolen
Elikom - Hoogmolen
Elikom - Neermolen
Ellikom - Slagmolen
Gruitrode - Rooiermolen
Kessenich - Kasteelmolen
Maaseik - Bosmolen
Maaseik - Wurfeldermolen
Meeuwen - Berenheidemolen
Meeuwen - Dorpermolen
Neeritter - Armenmolen
Neeroeteren - Claaskensmolen
Neeroeteren - Gebruggemolen
Neeroeteren - Neermolen
Neeroeteren - Langerenmolen
Neeroeteren - Leverenmolen
Opoeteren - Dorpermolen
Opoeteren - Volmolen
Opgladbeek - Dornemolen
Opgladbeek - Slagmolen
Opitter - Kasteelmolen
Opitter - Pollismolen
Opitter - Slagmolen
Reppel - Binkenmolen
Reppel - Cuppensmolen
Tongerlo - Dorpsmolen
Tongerlo - Keyaartmolen
Tongerlo - Middelste Molen
Tongerlo - Schurgtermolen

The most complete reference I know of on the Mills of the Netherlands is 'The Dutch Windmill', author Frederick Stokhuyzen (1891-1976), former chairman of 'De Hollandsche Molen', Association for the Preservation of Windmills in the Netherlands.
http://webserv.nhl.nl/~smits/windmill.htm This booklet should be referred to if you wish to expand on any aspect of mills that I have briefly touched upon. It is totally fascinating reading.