The Van Hout Beginning

Anton Van Hout and Elizabeth Suppers were united in marriage in Holland in the year 1884. They came to the United States on March 1, 1887 on the vessel Old Rotterdam.
They were accompanied on the trip by their two daughters Johnanna Elizabeth "Liz" and Anna. Anna passed away on the trip and is buried at sea. John Supers, Elizabeth's father, came to the U.S. with them. He worked for the railroad and was killed on the job and is buried at St. Charles Cemetery in Big Stone City. Mrs. Elizabeth Suppers, John's wife, is buried in Holland. There is no record of her date of birth or death. John Suppers died July 3, 1891. Elizabeth Suppers Van Hout was their only child.

Anton Van Hout had two brothers, Herman and one other. Herman had 2 sons, John and Peter. John had 3 boys. This family lived in Wisconsin. Pete married Katie and the had no children. Pete had a niece who came to Milbank, SD and lived with them in the 1950's. Her name was Erika Van Hout. She came here from Holland, so there may have been other brothers left in Holland. Erika (Rika) is now Rika Malin who lives in Montana.

Mark Van Hout, son of Don & Arvene Van Hout, was in contact with a fellow stamp collector in Holland who gave this explanation of the family name of Van Hout:
The name "Hout" means "of wood" when taken literally, but as a family name is more likely to think of a wooden house, a farm in woodlands, or a town/village named hout (there are many, such as Berkhout, even parts of major cities such as Amsterdam and Alkmaar are called Hout (these are parks or other places with a lot of trees)). He said that most Dutch names beginning with "van" have some sort of geographical reference.

The birthplace of Anton was originally believed to be Overfeit, later changed to Overssalt, however, this Dutchman corrected the spelling to Overasselt. It was the closest city he could find to the city name given. Overasselt is a small village in the Province of Gelderland, some 8 kilometers south of the major city of Nijmegen on the border of the river Maas. Nijmegen is very close to the well know city Arnhem ("A Bridge Too Far", Operation Market Garden in WWII). Nijmegen is also where United States troops conducted an annual road march where teams from many European countries would compete. He said there is a possibility that his relatives, who moved to the North Dakota area, could have been on the same boat.
Anton died in St. Bernard's Hospital in Milbank, SD.