Bekins

In 1853, a 23 year old Dutchman named Sjoerd Bekius emigrated to middle America from Holland and soon after met and married Tiertje Berkompas. They founded a farm near Holland, Michigan where they successfully raised farm crops and 13 kids, eight of which were boys. A binding tie that held the family together through tough times was their constant emphasis on strong family values and hard work. In the kids's adult years, each had developed similar inclinations, including a shared dream of seeking opportunity in the W, which they eventually succeeded in doing. They decided to Americanize their family name by the simple expedient of inverting the u to an n. Hence Bekius became Bekins.