The John H. Ter Avest and Henrietta Lubben Family

Name                        Born                   Birthplace                    Died                   Burial Location                           

John Henry               Dec 19, 1876      Fillmore Twp, MI         Dec 1, 1953       Coopersville, MI

Ter Avest     

Henrietta Lubben      Nov 8, 1877        Coopersville, MI         Oct 22, 1969       Coopersville, MI

William                      Apr 23, 1905       Coopersville, MI         1961                   Coopersville, MI

Helene Antoinette     Jul 29, 1906        Coopersville, MI         Dec 5, 1976        Coopersville, MI

Josephine Hildred     May 20, 1908      Coopersville, MI         Apr 22, 1989       Coopersville, MI

Everett Henry            Mar 10, 1911       Coopersville, MI        Jun 10, 1912       Coopersville, MI

Melvin Everett           May 27, 1913       Coopersville, MI        May 1980            Coopersville, MI

Paul Ernest               Apr 8, 1916           Coopersville, MI        Dec 3, 1992        Coopersville, MI

Charlotte Anne         Mar 15, 1920         Coopersville, MI         Apr 2, 2006        Coopersville, MI

John H Ter Avest was born on December 19, 1876 in Fillmore Township of Allegan County, MI and was baptized in Overisel Reformed Church in Overisel, MI. on Feb 4, 1877.  He made confession of faith at the Hamilton Reformed Church in Hamilton, MI on August 26, 1895.

While attending Hope College, in Holland, Michigan, John lived at 30 W 9th Street and worked as a clerk in a meat market. There were nine meat markets in Holland at the time. One of the meat markets was owned and operated by his uncle, Albert Michmershuizen. I don’t know which meat market he worked in, but the one owned by his uncle is a good guess.

John graduated from Hope College in 1899.  He transferred his membership from Overisel Reformed Church to the First Reformed Church of Zeeland on May 4, 1900.

In 1900, John was working on a Master Degree in Education at the University of Michigan. He was living as a border in the home of Gordon and Nellie Rice in Ann Arbor Michigan. 

When his parents purchased a large amount of property northeast of Coopersville in about 1903, it is believed that John helped his father on the farm. He transferred his church membership from the First Reformed Church of Zeeland to Coopersville Reformed Church.

He married Henrietta Lubben on June 16, 1904 in Coopersville, MI.

1910 census records show that the family lived in Wright Township, northeast of Coopersville. 

Later we find that John was both a cashier and a member of the Board of Directors at the Peoples Savings Bank of Coopersville. The bank was organized on January 25, 1912. 

In addition to banking, John held a license to sell property and casualty insurance with the New England Equitable Insurance Company. The license was granted in 1914.  He served as the Trustee of the River Road Addition to the village of Coopersville (see details further down).

Sometime after World War I, possibly in the early 1920s, Michigan real estate prices plummeted, due to a collapse in agricultural prices. Apparently John was responsible for many loans that went bad. Its not known if the loans were his personally, or he was simply responsible for making the loans. In any case, he was responsible for paying off the losses. Helene and Josephine were forced to get jobs at Lillie’s Department Store. Their wages were turned directly over to their father to help pay off his creditors. Its also believed that John used most, if not all, of his family’s financial assets to pay off the debts. 

John was elected Coopersville Postmaster in 1924. He was re-elected to this position from May 24, 1924 until March 31, 1936.

1930 census records show the John H. Ter Avest family living in the town of Coopersville at 250 Danforth Street. The Ter Avest home on Danforth Street was a large clapboard house, with a front porch, a large lawn and a detached garage, in a prime location in Coopersville.  It had a large yard spread across plats 3, 4, 5 and 6, of Block B of the Danforth addition of the village of Coopersville (see plat map further down).  Records show the property was purchased in February of 1915 for $2200.  See PDF below.  Helene Ter Avest Van Doorn, my grandmother, shared with family members that she had moved into that house as a girl from a farm at the corner of Arthur Street and 48th Avenue.  In 1915, she would have been about 9 years old.  She said the house needed a lot of fixing up.

The house contained a living room, with a bedroom on one side and a parlor with another bedroom on its side.  Either just before, or shortly after they moved in, an addition was added to the back containing a  kitchen and a bathroom.  Upstairs there was a large open space at the top of the stairs as well as two bedrooms and a bathroom. The house also had a full basement where there was a coal furnace, a washing machine, and a cold storage room.  The house had little insulation and had one heating source – a large furnace grate between the living room and the parlor. 

In winter, John closed off the dining room, which included the stairway, and the bedrooms upstairs. 

The home had a telephone, but it was a 4 party line. 

The house faced directly onto 1st Street, which crossed the railroad tracks, and led to Main Street, one block way. The Grand Trunk Western railroad served the coal yard, across Danforth Street, to the left of the house and the Air Control Products factory to the right.

The Ter Avest home was a social center for the family, as well as the community. The adult Ter Avest children stopped by at least once a day, as did friends, often unannounced, for coffee and cake.

Like many other small banks, People’s Savings Bank ran into serious problems during the Great Depression. The bank suspended business on April 2, 1932. It entered into a re-organization agreement with the Circuit Court of Ottawa County on December 6, 1932. However, the re-organization was never completed. The Bank’s directors asked the State Banking Commission of Michigan to appoint a receiver for the bank on December 4, 1933. The bank’s assets were liquidated and the organization was dissolved.

According to the December 13, 1935 issue of the Coopersville Observer, the S. Lavender family moved onto the John Ter Avest farm east of Coopersville. Unfortunately, there’s no information indicating if he sold them the farm or they were simply renting it.

In 1936, John was elected as a County Supervisor for Ottawa County, representing Polkton Township. He held the position for 17 years. He also served at various times as village President and on the Coopersville school board.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the community of Coopersville was the 50 years he served as Elder in the Coopersville Reformed Church.

He wasn’t immune to breaking the rules now and then. Jerry Mulder, his grandson, recalls that despite the churches rules against it, John would regularly take the bus to Grand Rapids to see the latest movies. He also let the grandchildren read the Sunday newspaper and listen to Detroit Tiger baseball games on the radio on Sunday.

He was well read, which lends credence to the report that one of his degrees was in Literature. Jerry recalls him reading Dickens, with his brother Jim on his lap. John was also very competitive. He and his mother would play the card game Rook. The game would often end when one of them would slam down their cards and stomp out of the room.

He was a staunch Republican. He disparagingly referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as “that man in the White House”, refusing to refer to him by name.

John H. Ter Avest lived in the Coopersville, Michigan area for 53 years (until his death).  He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in 1953 at age 76.

Although John H. Ter Avest was clearly the authority figure in the house, Henrietta Lubben Ter Avest was no pushover. She was strong both emotionally and physically. She quietly went about the house, making sure everything functioned efficiently. She was a slender woman with a wonderful smile and a good sense of humor.

Jerry recalls that she also had a tendency to forget one important item from her grocery list each time she went grocery shopping, and that she made “the weakest coffee in the world”, which she would drink cold throughout the day.