Today is the 10th anniversary of the Benelux newsgroup for genealogy: soc.genealogy.benelux. I was one of the people who voted in favor of that group all those years ago. What began as a small group dominated by Americans with Dutch roots, is now a thriving online community where the majority of members are actually from the Benelux countries. … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2005
Warnshuis, Jan Hendrik and Johanna Konings
27 May 2005 by 1 Comment
Jan Hendrik Warnshuis, brother of Hendrik Jan Warnshuis, was not at all like that brother. He was an upright, God-fearing, conservative leader in the church in Clymer. I have also concluded that he didn't have much of a sense of humor. He was Dominie Dunnewold's right-hand man and was a leader in keeping order among the congregation. He made home visitations with the dominie and, on occasion, substituted in the pulpit for him. Sometimes he read a sermon, sometimes he preached one of his own. It … [Read more...]
Wanderlust
25 May 2005 by Leave a Comment
Whenever I research emigrant families, I'm amazed by the distances that they travelled. People who previously probably hadn't even left their province yet, ended up circumventing half the globe. Sometimes it didn't stop there, and after a few years they packed up and moved again. … [Read more...]
Post World War II emigration
23 May 2005 by 4 Comments
After World War II was over, many people wanted to start a new life across the ocean. Five years of war had destroyed the Dutch economy, and it would take years to recover. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, many Dutch people emigrated to Australia, Canada and the United States. … [Read more...]
Emigration in the nineteenth century
22 May 2005 by Leave a Comment
In the middle of the nineteenth century, conditions in Europe were poor. Crops were failling all over Europe and many people hardly made enough money to feed their families. For this reason, many people decided to emigrate to the United States, where farmland was plenty and people hoped they could begin a new life. In the Netherlands, some people also had religious reasons to emigrate. The had seceded from the Dutch Reformed Church and were being oppressed by the goverment. The United States … [Read more...]
New York
19 May 2005 by Leave a Comment
When surfing the internet, I discovered some great image databases with early images of New York City. For most of the emigrants from the Netherlands that went to the United States, New York was their first meeting with their new home. These online resources offer a nice glimpse into their world. … [Read more...]
Kolstee, Garrit Hendrik and Engelina Nijenhuis
16 May 2005 by 1 Comment
Gerrit Hendrik te Kolstee emigrated from Winterswijk to the United States in 1848 together with his wife and three children. During his trip, he kept a diary that still exists today. The family settled in Clymer, NY. … [Read more...]
