The Dutch word getuige means witness. Getuigen can be found in many different types of documents, such as birth and marriage records or baptismal records. In original records and transcriptions, the word is often abbreviated to get. … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2013
Column: Citizen archivist
4 October 2013 by Leave a Comment
Citizen archivists is a term coined by David S. Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States, to call a new breed of users of archives. Visitors who not only come to take information, but bring it as well. Visitors who help to create access to archives by contributing in the form of comments, transcripts or tags. The benefits to the archives are clear, but why would visitors even bother? Let's take me as an example. Whenever I find a Dutch immigrant on Ancestry with a hopelessly mangled name, I … [Read more...]
Quick tip: maiden names after marriage
2 October 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the Netherlands, official records usually refer to women by their maiden names, even after their marriage. So when you're looking for a death record of a female ancestor, look for her maiden name rather than her married name. … [Read more...]
