Okay, I still refuse to post any pictures of myself here. Photogenic I ain't. However, here's some pictures that you might find interesting. (The high quality photos will not display very well in the browser, so you should consider saving them down to you local drive and using an image editing program to display them. The photos below are hyperlinked to the larger photos.)
This is a photo taken on August 16, 1917. The little fella in the center is my grandfather, William Beltman. Immediately in front of him on either side is John Henry Beltman and Jacomina Van Amerongan, my great-grandparents. To John Henry's right is Femetje (Fanny), and to Jacomina's left is Altje (Alice). From left to right in the back row, standing, are Minnie (named after Jacomina), Gerrit, Henry, John, and Jenny.
Presenting, Marcus Dehamel! Or is it Marquis d' Hemel? Nobody seems to remember how this horse's name was spelled, but it sounds a lot like this. Apparently William Beltman and his partner Pete Bonthuis decided that since they were so prosperous, they could afford to get some fine quality horseflesh. They bought this critter from a guy called Cambier, who in turn got it from James J. Hill and/or Henry Stampe. This Belgian stallion won first prize at the 1920 Chicago International Horse Show.