The History of the Accoe Family

Belgium occupies part of the Roman province of Belgica, named after the Belgae, a people of ancient Gaul. The area was conquered by Julius Caesar in 57-50 B.C. , then was overrun by the Franks in the 5th century A.D . It was part of Charlemagne's empire in the 8th century, then in the next century was absorbed into Lotharingia and later into the duchy of Lower Lorraine. In the 12th century, Belgium was partitioned into the duchies of Brabant and Luxembourg, the bishopric of Liege, and the domain of the count of Hainaut, which included Flanders. In the 15th century, most of the Low Countries (currently the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) passed to the duchy of Burgundy and were subsequently inherited by Emperor Charles V. When the latter abdicated in 1555, the territories went to his son Philippe II, king of Spain. While the northern part, now the Netherlands, gained its independence in the following decades, the southern part remained under Spanish control until 1713, when it was transferred to Austria. During the wars that followed the French Revolution, Belgium was occupied and later annexed by France. But with the downfall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 reunited the Low Countries under the rule of the king of Holland. In 1830, Belgium rebelled against Dutch rule and declared independence, which was approved by Europe at the London Conference of 1830-1831.

Germany's invasion of Belgium in 1914 set off World War I. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) gave the areas of Eupen, Malmedy, and Moresnet to Belgium. Leopold III succeeded Albert, king during World War I, in 1934. In World War II, Belgium was overwhelmed by Nazi Germany, and Leopold III was held prisoner. When he returned at the government's invitation in 1950 after a narrowly favorable referendum, riots broke out in several cities. He abdicated on July 16, 1951, and his son, Baudouin, became king. Because of growing opposition to Belgian rule in its African colonies, Belgium granted independence to the Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1960 and to Ruanda-Urundi (now the nations of Rwanda and Burundi) in 1962.

Since 1958, when the European Economic Community was born, Brussels, the country's capital, has gradually established itself as the de facto capital of what has now become the European Union (EU), a role that became official in Dec. 2000 when the European Council of heads of government decided to hold all its regular meetings in Brussels. As a result, the city has become home not only to nearly 20,000 European civil servants, but to an even more numerous community of lobbyists, lawyers, and other professionals drawn to the EU's main decision center.

Growing divisions between Flemings and Walloons, and devolution along linguistic lines, culminated in the revised constitution of 1994, which turned Belgium into a federal state with significant autonomy for its three regions and its three language "communities" (Flemish-, French-, and German-speaking). [1]

Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied. From around 1000 AD, Flanders historically meant to English-speaking peoples the land situated along the North Sea from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary with ill-defined southern borders. It came to refer specifically to the County of Flanders, lasting from 862 to 1795, whose territory was situated in the northwestern part of what is now Belgium (approximately the modern Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders), and what are now parts of northern France (French Flanders), and the Netherlands (Zeelandic Flanders). Through marriage, the County of Flanders was joined with most of the rest of the Low Countries around 1400 AD, and it lost its independence. Most of the county's territory became part of an independent Belgium in 1830, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly commonplace to refer to the entire Dutch-speaking and northern part of Belgium as "Flanders", including the Belgian parts of the Duchy of Brabant and Limburg. In the late 20th century, Belgium became a federal state in which the Dutch-speaking part was given autonomy as the Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap) and the Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest); these two entities were effectively merged, except that only the Flemish Community, not the Flemish region, has jurisdiction over Brussels, its capital.

Flanders has figured prominently in European history. During the late Middle Ages, Flanders' trading towns (notably Ghent, Bruges and Ypres) made it one of the richest and most urbanized parts of Europe, weaving the wool of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. As part of Belgium, Flanders was initially the poorer half of the country to industrialized Wallonia. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, there has been a gradual shift of political and economic power to Flanders, which, having modernized its economy, is now more wealthy and prosperous than its southern counterpart.

Geographically, Flanders is generally flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated, with a population density of almost 500 people per square kilometer (1200 per square mile). It borders France to the west, the Netherlands to the north and east, and Wallonia to the south. The Brussels Capital Region is enclaved within the Flemish Region. Flanders has exclaves of its own: Voeren in the east is clamped between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the north consists of 22 exclaves located in the Netherlands. [2]

Sint-Laureins is a municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Sint-Jan-in-Eremo, Sint-Laureins proper, Sint-Margriete, Waterland-Oudeman and Watervliet. On January 1, 2011 Sint-Laureins had a total population of 6,535. The total area is 74.50 km² which gives it a population density of 88 inhabitants per km².

The Our Lady-Church in Watervliet, built in the 16th century, is called the 'Cathedral of the North'. [3]

The Accoe Family and De Rode Hand

Due in part to the many languages in the immediate proximity, the Accoe name has evolved from "Acoe." Dutch, French, and Flemish have all left influence on the spelling and pronunciation of the name. The use of two o's in the surname began around 1860 and seems to have become predominant since. It is very possible the names "Acou" and "Accou" are also from the same family.

While records have been found regarding earlier members of the Acoe family, it is generally agreed that the Accoe family started in 1805 with the birth of Pieter Jan Acoe in Oedelem. When he married Marie Bernarde Dierkens in 1834, they moved into the farm house of her late parents on the Eerstestraat near Sint-Laureins. This house was also a tavern named "De Rode Hand" which became the central landmark for the descendants of Pieter Jan and Marie Acoe.

“De Rode Hand” was one of four taverns on the Eerstestraat and was probably it’s oldest one. When the sandy road of the Eerstestraat was replaced by a gravel road in 1904, there were plenty of festivities. On the sign of “De Rode Hand” someone wrote: “Slept for 154 years under the noses of the roofing tiles!” So we know that the tavern had existed since 1750. In 1923 the old sign fell off and Mother Haverbeke decided to close the tavern down. [4]

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