The Bercroft (Berghgracht) Family — From Sint-Margriete to Illinois

This story begins in the Flemish village of Sint-Margriete (Belgium) and continues on the wide farmland of Henry County, Illinois. The surname you find in American records as BERCROFT carries an older, unmistakably Low Countries origin: BERGHGRACHT. In the span of one lifetime, a name, a language, and a landscape changed — yet the thread of family remained unbroken.

Peter Bercroft (1828–1919)

Peter Bercroft was born in Sint-Margriete on March 14th, 1828, and he passed away on October 12th, 1919 in Kewanee, Illinois. Between those two dates lies a life that bridges Europe and the American Midwest — a journey that, for many Flemish families, ended in the steady work of land and community.

By 1880, the household appears in the census at Atkinson. (See the record here: 1880 census (Atkinson).) The census is more than a list; it is a snapshot of arrival, settlement, and stability — a family that had found its place.

Peter’s foothold in Illinois can be measured precisely in acres. He owned a full 160-acre block in Section 10 of Cornwall Township, just south of Atkinson Village: the N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 (80 acres) and the W 1/2 of the NW 1/4 (80 acres). Together, that is 160 acres — about 64.74 hectares — in one continuous piece. In practical terms, it meant independence: land held, worked, and passed forward.

Leopold “Poly” Bercroft (1867–1910)

Among Peter’s children, Leopold Bercroft stands out in the surviving narrative for the warmth of his remembrance. Born in Sint-Margriete on August 29th, 1867, he died on June 16th, 1910. The obituary speaks of long suffering and patient endurance, and it makes clear how deeply he was valued in everyday life — in friendship, business, and faith.

On September 6th, 1891, he married Miss Mary Philips. Their family grew to two sons and four daughters: Alfonse, Albert, Louisa, Rosa, Jennie, and Irene. He was remembered as a true Catholic and a cheerful presence — “Poly,” as friends knew him, the man with a kindly word ready whenever he met someone.

The obituary records that he was escorted to church by the Mystic Workers and laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery, beside a baby daughter who had died earlier. The community, it says, grieved a good man taken in the prime of life — and yet submitted to the mystery of providence.

“Why should our tears in sorrow flow, when God recalls His own…
Then let our sorrows cease to flow; God has recalled His own;
But let our hearts in this great woe still say ‘Thy will be done.’”

Peter Bercroft (born 1865) — “Retired Farmer of Atkinson”

A later generation carries the same name: Peter Bercroft, born in Belgium on April 19th, 1865, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bercroft Sr. He came to America at the age of four and spent his life in and around Annawan and Atkinson. The notice emphasizes long-term decline — failing health over many years — and the quiet rhythm of a life rooted in place.

In 1893, he married Sylvia VanVooren of Annawan, and he belonged to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. The obituary is genealogically rich: it names his widow, three daughters (including Margaret, who remained in the family home), and a web of siblings, step-siblings, and half-siblings — a reminder that family histories are often braided from multiple households.

The funeral took place at St. Anthony’s with Rev. Alphons VanWyngaerd officiating, and burial was in the Atkinson Catholic Cemetery.

Charles E. Bercroft (1876–) — From Atkinson to Rock Island

Charles E. Bercroft, born in Atkinson on December 13th, 1876, later moved to Rock Island in 1918. He married Marion Bridget Knight on June 5th, 1919; she died on March 8th, 1959. He remained a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

One small detail brings him close: he worked for years as a ticket taker at the Fort Theater. It is the kind of line that turns a name into a person — someone standing at a doorway, greeting the town on an ordinary evening.

He died after three years at Shady Lawn Rest Home, and the funeral was held at St. Joseph’s in Rock Island, with burial in Calvary Cemetery. The notice records descendants in Pennsylvania and beyond, with step-children and grandchildren, and it also notes who preceded him in death — including multiple half-siblings.

Sophia Bercroft (1863–1945)

Sophia Bercroft was born in Sint-Margriete on July 12th, 1863 and died on March 16th, 1945 in Annawan. She married Peter Billiet. Her name appears across multiple items in The Geneseo Republic, indicating how widely this family’s milestones were reported in local Illinois newspapers.

Taken together, these notices show a family that kept its faith, built its livelihood on land, and gradually expanded into nearby towns: Atkinson and Annawan at first, later Rock Island and Kewanee. The old Flemish origin never disappears — it is quietly present in the place names, the Catholic parishes, and the original surname Berghgracht that still echoes beneath the American spelling.