Berendina A. Reusink was born on January 29, 1841, in Lintelo, Aalten Municipality, Gelderland, Netherlands. She married Manus Schreurs (1824-1865). On December 17, 1864, they had a son, Manus John Schreurs, born in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Berendina’s husband Manus died eleven months later, on October 22, 1865, in Cedar Grove, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Berendina became a widow trying to raise her young son, Manus John, on her own.
The following year Berendina married Harmen Jan te Selle (1844-1919) on April 27, 1866. Two years later, on April 21, 1868, Berendina gave birth to a daughter, Dela TeSelle (1868-1900). Two years later, Berendina, Harmen Jan, young Manus John, and baby Dela moved from Wisconsin to Lancaster County, Nebraska, to join Harmen Jan’s brother, Jan Hendrik te Selle.