Gerrit Beijen (11.21), who has been buried here, was a son of Gerrit Beijen (10.9) and a grandson of Jan Thomas Beijen (9.2), the central character of the Jan Thomas branch. Gerrit was a rich farmer, who remained a bachelor during his whole life. His philosophical streak is shown by the many poems that he has left. Some of the poems can still be found on the walls in the farm in Stein near Gouda where he has lived. Other poems are kept by family members.

In 1881 Gerrit made his will in which he laid down in great detail what should be done after his death. One of his desires was to be buried in Bodegraven, the town where he was born. He described exactly the text that had to be put on his tombstone.
He also left a bequest of 1500 guilders (in that time a considerable sum) to the civil welfare work of Bodegraven, that was represented by the local authorities. On the other hand the tombstone had to be maintained by the municipality "to all eternity, clearly legible, under supervision of my brethren or their offspring always called Beijen, until the furthest future". The part of the interest that was not necessary for the maintenance had to be distributed every year on February 27, Gerrit's birthday, among the "General Poor" of Bodegraven.

After Gerrit's death in 1884 the local council of Bodegraven accepted the bequest and the accompanying conditions. The distribution of foods to poor families continued till about 1967. After that year the money was added to the budget for the yearly day out of the elderly inhabitants of Bodegraven.
The liability for the maintenance of the tombstone was however fallen into oblivion. For decades nothing was done to the stone. As a consequence the text was hardly legible.
In August 1999 I found Gerrit's will in the regional archives in Woerden. As a great-great-grandson of one of Gerrit's brothers I am one of the people who according to the will have the supervision on the maintenance. Therefore I asked the municipality of Bodegraven to restore this unique historical monument.
The municipality responded in a good way to the request. In November 1999 the tombstone was cleaned and the text was made good legible. The photo at the top of this page, that was made in 2002, shows that the stone was by then in a good condition.
However, the condition of the tombstone has declined gradually, and the second photo, that was made in November 2011, shows that the tombstone is again very dirty. Once again the text is hardly legible. Therefore I will ask the municipality again to observe its obligations with regard to the maintenance of the stone.