In the Netherlands, people do not have to register to vote. Our government knows where people live, and voting passes are sent to their homes. So voting records do not show party affiliations. In municipal archives, you can often find "Kiezerslijsten" that show the people who were eligible to vote. Voting itself is anonymous, so these lists will not tell you what your ancestors' political views were. Newspapers, which can be searched at Delpher, often provide the first clue that your … [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.
Benefits of Reasonably Exhaustive Research
4 November 2016 by 1 Comment
The first component of the Genealogical Proof Standard as formulated by the Board for Certification of Genealogists is Reasonably Exhaustive Research. It means trying to find "all evidence that might answer a genealogist's question about an identity, relationship, event, or situation."1 Reasonably Exhaustive Research is one of the five requirements to consider a genealogical conclusion proven. I thought it would be fun to give some examples of my own research, and the insights that reasonably … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Find More Records via the FamilySearch Catalog
2 November 2016 by Leave a Comment
FamilySearch has many records from the Netherlands, available from the Netherlands Research Page. But that page only has the large record sets. FamilySearch is digitizing the microfilms in their granite mountain vault, and those images are sometimes available from the catalog only. Example: Lichtenvoorde court records Some of my ancestors are from Lichtenvoorde in the province of Gelderland. On the FamilySearch website, I can select Search > Catalog to search the catalog by place … [Read more...]
Quick tip – New Netherland digitization projects
26 October 2016 by Leave a Comment
On both sides of the Atlantic, records are being digitized that will help us trace New Netherland ancestors. The New York State Archives is digitizing the New Netherland records. With funds provided by the Dutch government, they are digitizing 9,500 pages of records not already digitized. These include New Amsterdam council minutes, correspondence, Fort Orange records and registers of the Provincial Secretary. Read more about the project at the New York Historical and Biographical Society … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Your ancestors may appear in inventories
12 October 2016 by 1 Comment
Estate inventories and guardians' accounts often contain information about the daily lives of our ancestors. They can tells us what they owned and whom they did business with. If your ancestor was in trade, he may appear in the inventories of some of his clients. This can give you more insight into his business. Depending on the time and place, you can find estate inventories and guardians' accounts in the voluntary court records, in orphan chamber records, or notarial records. Example: … [Read more...]
Ask Yvette – Are there Passenger Lists in Dutch Archives?
7 October 2016 by 15 Comments
I often get asked if there are any passenger lists in Rotterdam or Amsterdam, of the people who departed from these ports to America, Canada, or Australia. Depending on the period, there may not be any. Passenger lists often went with the ship and were archived in the port of arrival, not in the port of departure. The archives of the shipping companies sometimes have passenger lists. For example, the Rotterdam City Archives have the archives of the Holland Amerika Lijn and its predecessors, … [Read more...]
Yvette Hoitink mentioned at BCG website
3 October 2016 by Leave a Comment
The blog of the Board for Certification of Genealogists features Yvette Hoitink as a new associate. … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Deeds may have been recorded much later
28 September 2016 by Leave a Comment
In 1704, one of my ancestors had a dispute with his landlord. In the subsequent court case, both sides submitted copies of deeds into evidence. The oldest deed was from 1302, more than four centuries old at the time, allowing me to trace the history of that farm back more than seven hundred years. The original is now lost, the copy is all that remains. When searching for records, it pays off to expand your search, not just geographically but also in terms of the period you are searching. The … [Read more...]
Remembering Mien Woordes (1916-2009)
25 September 2016 by 5 Comments
A hundred years ago today, my paternal grandmother Gesiena Wilhelmina Woordes was born in Winterswijk. She was born on a farm in the hamlet of Woold, just outside the village. Her father, Hendrik Woordes, had been born on the Woordes farm that gave the family its name. At least twelve generations of Woordes men had farmed there, but Hendrik married a girl from Woold and settled there. After this first wife Hendrika Wilhelmina Droppers died while giving birth to their son Berend Jan (Jan), he … [Read more...]
Yvette Hoitink wins APGQ Excellence Award
22 September 2016 by 7 Comments
Dutch Genealogist Yvette Hoitink just received the 2016 APGQ Excellence Award. The award is given by the Association of Professional Genealogists to recognize excellence in material submitted to the Quarterly magazine. Hoitink received the award for her article "Use Content Marketing to Grow Your Business," published in the September 2015 issue of the APGQ. "My first career was in web development and I used those skills to grow my Dutch Genealogy website. It has become my biggest business … [Read more...]
