The suburban citizen., 1900-01-13
BEARS NEWS OF DEATH.
Mr.. DlMNENT THE ONLY REMAINING
AANSPREKER IN AMERICA.


Death to you means n loss; to me it is
not only a profit but a livelihood.
Death and ] are friends. On him de-
pends my living. We're there no
death, 1, as aanspreker Of the Dutch
families of Milwaukee, would not be
in demand. AS it is, l am his messen-
ger"
SO spoke Adrian Dimnent to a New
York Sun man in Milwaukee, Wis.
He continued:
eyes, the life of an aanspreker is
indeed a strange one, and yet in Hol-
land it does not attract much atten-
tion. But here in America little of us
is known. In the early Dutch colonial
days in the East there were many Of
us. AT present 1 know of no other
person in this country who makes his
living as I do. am perhaps the only
survivor in the United States of an
ancient custom which is still in vogue
in the rural districts in Holland; but
the progress of the time has gradually
crowded us out of the business in this
country. As for myself, / cannot ex-
pect to follow my strange vocation
much longer. l am eighty-two years
of age and ife at that stage is uncer-
tain. sometimes wonder whether
with me will die the custom of the
Dutch aanspreker of Milwaukee"
Mr. Dimnent's business is to 60
from house to house and announce
the death Of any member of the HOl-
land colony who may die here. In the
rural districts Of Holland every village
and town has It's aanspreker or an
nouncer. The relatives of the de-
ceased engage the aanspreker and he
calls on list OF the friends and ac-
quaintances that the bereayed family
may wish to inform of the death.
These announcements take the place
of the customary newspaper death
notice. Usually where daily newspa-
pers are printed there IS little need
for the aanspreker.
When years ago the Dutch settled
in Milwaukee the need of an aan-
spreker became apparent. Although
there are several thousand Dutch fam
lilies in this city, there is no newspa-
per published in their language. Con-
sequently they have for years relied
on the aanspreker, Mr.. Dimnent, to
keep them informed on the deaths of
members of the colony.
"You see," explained Mr. Dimnent,
"there is no way in which our people
would know OF the death of Holan-
der were it not for the aanspreker.
When an American or a German dies,
the usual death notice in the news
papers is all that is necessary. But
we have no Dutch papers here. 1t is
true that many of the $500 families
of Dutch descent in this city do take
some of our city papers. Many read
German and the younger generation
reads English. But take the old Dutch
settler, he who came direct from the
rural districts OF Holland to this coun-
try, he cannot read any other than his
native language and not always that.
He has spent his days on the farm
and is now ending his last years in
quiet retirement. Outside of meeting
his people at the Dutch church on
Sunday he knows little of what his
fellow countrymen are doing. When
a death occurs late in the week we
can always reach him with an an-
nouncement of the funeral from the
pulpit on Sundays. But where a
Dutch resident dies early in the week
! and the funeral occurs on or just be-
fore Sunday, we cannot reach him by
this means. The aanspreker is then
called in.
II have followed this business for
many years and suppose l must have
broken the news of the death OF their
friends to thousands Of people. No,
it is not always an easy task. One
must understand the business like
anything else. It is easier to inform
a chance acquaintance than a dear
friend or relative. The aanspreker
must use tact and judgment, He
must adapt himself to circumstances. -
When it is taken into consid-
Grafton that in his rounds he
calls on two or three hundred
families and that when he makes
the announcement of the death
he is piled with a hundred and one
questions, it will be seen that he has
no time for gossip. Neither has he
time to stop to console friends or to
listen to "reminiscences Of the depart
ed. Usually before he starts out on
his trips he obtains all the informa-
tion he can from the relatives as to
the illness of the dead person. He
ascertains the funeral arrangements,
and then studies to put his facts into
as few words as possible. When he
starts on his trips, he figures as close.
| ly as he can to save time on the az
rangement Of the order in which he
takes the families. He does not ring
the bells nor rap at the door. That
would be time wasted. He must work
quickly, and therefore walks right in
to the house of the family he is to no.
tify. He announces briefly the cir
cumstances of the death and the de-
tails of the funeral. Then he leaves.
1t is not necessary for him to preface
his remarks with an introduction of
himself. Every Dutch resident in
Milwaukee knows him. He does not
have to say whether he is on official
business or just paying a visit. Every