History

The death duties files were introduced in 1818. All inheritances, whether there was property or not, had to be reported. A collector estimated the value of the estate and compiled an overview.

Before 1878, no tax had to be paid if the heirs were a direct descendant of the deceased. In this case, only the real estate was listed. After 1878, direct heirs had to pay tax as well. This means the death duties files after 1878 can be much more elaborate.

Contents

A typical death duties file contains the following information:

• Name of the deceased
• Place of death
• Date of death
• Overview of real estate
• Overview of other property
• The names of the heirs, including their place of residence
• Sometimes: information about a will

Example of a death duties file

Where to find

The death duties files can be found in the provincial archives. Some archives have made an index to the death duties files available online at Genlias. This often only lists the name and death date of the death duties file, but a photocopy of the original file can be ordered for a fee.

Last week, my friend Mary Risseeuw from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and I gave a presentation at the International Congress for genealogical and heraldic Sciences in Maastricht. The title was "We're all fresh and healthy. Emigration from the Netherlands to the United States in the 19th century. The slides are now available online.

I've just added a Dutch genealogy store to the site. In this store, visitors can buy books, DVDs and prints about Dutch genealogy, history and culture. I've selected publications that I think would benefit somebody researching his Dutch roots. The store is powered by Amazon. This website receives a commission for all sales, enabling this website to remain free.

'Patronymic' literally means 'father's name'. It means that someone calls himself after his father, for example a son of Jan would call himself 'Jansen'. This is similar to the English name 'Johnson'.

For the nineteenth and twentieth century, the civil registration is the primary genealogical resource. All the births, marriages and deaths (BMD) were recorded. Usually, only using the civil registration you can compile a 'backbone' of a pedigree that goes back to the late 1700's.

Zeeland is a province in the south-west of the Netherlands. It borders on Noord-Brabant in the east, the country of Belgium in the south, the North Sea in the west and Zuid-Holland in the north.

The capital of Zeeland is Middelburg. Other larger towns are:

• Vlissingen
• Goes
• Terneuzen

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.

One group of emigrants in the 18th century is known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. But did you know they weren't Dutch at all? Most Pennsylvania dutch are actually German or Swiss. But even though their ancestors were not from the Netherlands, many Pennsylvania Dutch used Dutch ports to travel to the United States so there is a Dutch connection.