His father died when he was fourteen years old and his mother remarried in 1836 to the Gouda tobacco shopkeeper Josuwa van der Zwalm.

[1] During the Dutch first national chess tournament of 1858 in Nijmegen, Messemaker came second behind Thomas Werndly.

Messemaker, who has often been caught with an administrative inaccuracy, then reported the founding date of his chess club as May 24 (his birthday), 1847 (which should have been 1850).

The association subsequently moved to the Blauwe Kruis on the Westhaven, the Vredebest Society, the Ronssehof, the Goudse Waarden on the Calslaan, the De Mammoet sports hall and since 2013 in Denksport Centrum de Hoog.

[7] In 1993, the year reported by Messemaker to Van Lennep was added to the name of the association.