When using population registers, pay attention to the different dates. A page in a population register shows who lived in a house during a period, usually ten years or so. Just because the people are listed in the same household, does not mean they actually lived in that house at the same time. Population registers have columns for birth, marriage, death, arrival, and departure. It can help to plot all these dates on a time line to see who was living in the house when. For example, you … [Read more...]
About this website
Creating a website like this is a fun activity. There are so many options, so many choices. What do visitors want? What do I want? In this blog I will describe some of the things I encounter in developing and maintaining this website.
Quick tip – Inventories are Usually for Both Spouses
22 March 2017 by 1 Comment
If you find an estate inventory of a deceased married person, beware that the property in the inventory is usually for the couple, not just the property that belonged to the deceased spouse. If there was no prenuptial agreement, the husband and wife jointly owned all their property. The inventory would usually appraise all the property, of which the deceased's share would be half. That half would be divided among the heirs of the deceased, such as his or her children or (in the absence … [Read more...]
Column – Fake News and Alternative Facts
17 March 2017 by Leave a Comment
You see it everywhere online: fake news. Sensational stories, written to draw attention and gain clicks for ads. Fake news about the presidential candidates may even have influenced the US elections. Even in genealogy, it is often the less reliable information that draws our attention. Complete family trees can be found online, but may not be based on solid research. Indexes are easier to access than original records, but may have mistakes. And because of copyright restrictions, genealogy … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Dutch Genealogy Facebook page
8 March 2017 by 1 Comment
Do you follow DutchGenealogy.nl on Facebook already? On the Facebook page, you can read all articles from the blog plus posts from other websites relating to Dutch genealogy and Dutch culture. Other ways to read the articles on DutchGenealogy.nl are the website, e-mail newsletter, Twitter, and RSS using an RSS-reader like Feedly. … [Read more...]
Dutch and New Netherland Records Online in February 2017
1 March 2017 by 1 Comment
The following records from the Netherlands have become available online: FamilySearch published a new collection, "Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Miscellaneous Records." This collection contains indexes from Open Archives which publishes genealogical records that are made available as open data by the Dutch government. In many cases, the Open Archives website includes links to the images of the original records. This means these indexes are now available as … [Read more...]
Crowd funding needed for Suriname Slave Registers
20 February 2017 by 1 Comment
A crowd funded project will digitize and index the slave registers of Suriname, making them freely accessible online. Slave registers of Suriname The slave registers of Suriname are a unique record series. They record the names of approximately 80,000 people who were enslaved in Suriname between 1830 and the abolition of slavery in 1863. I don't think there is another country in the world that had such a comprehensive registration of its enslaved … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Beta version of WieWasWie
15 February 2017 by 12 Comments
WieWasWie, the website where many Dutch archives publish their indexes and scans of genealogical sources, has a new website. It is in beta, which means that they are looking for user feedback. Try the beta version of WieWasWie … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Civil Cases can Contain Earlier Records
8 February 2017 by Leave a Comment
Civil court cases can be a treasure trove of information. To support their claims, the parties may have had copies made of records that were kept in their family, or perhaps drew maps to show a boundary dispute. In my own tree, I was able to prove the parents of a woman who married around 1677 by going through a civil case involving the inheritance of her grandson in 1710. The case file included prenuptial records of several family members, including the woman I was looking for. The … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy Article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly
1 February 2017 by 5 Comments
I am proud to announce that my article "Griete Smit's Parentage: Proof in the Absence of Vital Records" has been selected as the lead article of the December 2016 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. NGS members can download the PDF from the NGSQ archives. The journal is also available in many libraries in the United States and some major libraries elsewhere in the world. The National Genealogical Society Quarterly is known for its case studies, which teach sound research … [Read more...]
Quick tip – How did they get that property?
25 January 2017 by 1 Comment
If your ancestors owned property, that might help you find out more about them. If you cannot find the original purchase, they may have inherited it from a family member. By tracing the property, you may discover an earlier generation. The names of properties are rarely indexed, but perhaps you can find the neighbors, and check their deeds. Otherwise, browsing the whole register can sometimes be helpful. … [Read more...]
