Groningen is a province in the North-East of the Netherlands. On the east it borders on Germany, on the west on Friesland, on the south on Drenthe and on the north on the North Sea.

The capital of Groningen is also called Groningen, sometimes called Groningen stad (Groningen city) to make the distinction clear.

The largest towns in Groningen are:

• Groningen
• Hoogezand-Sappemeer
• Veendam
• Winschoten
• Delfzijl

Genealogy in Groningen

Before 1811, most people in Groningen did not use any last names but used patronymics instead. If someone was called Bonne and his father was called Jan, he would be called Bonne Jans.

A rich source of information for Groningen before 1811 are the marriage contracts that were often drawn up. The marriage contracts often list a long list of relatives of the bride and groom te be. They can be found at the provincial archives, the Groninger Archieven. Some marriage contracts are available online. Check the Groningen section of the Digital Resources website for more information.

Most of the genealogical information for Groningen for the nineteenth century can be found in Genlias. Background information can also be found at the website of the Groninger Archieven.

Emigration from Groningen

At the end of the 19th century, the crops were very poor in Groningen. That's one of the reasons why many people emigrated to the United States. Most up them ended up around the Great Lakes, predominantly in Michigan.

Online images

There are a few online sources for images of Groningen:

• Groningen atlas of about 1865-1870. This atlas includes both a map of the entire province and detailed maps of all the municipalities.

Map of Groningen, about 1865.

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.

In the days before the Civil Registration forced everyone to stick to a surname, people in the eastern part of the Netherlands were named after the farm they lived at. You can still see that in the surnames today: Derk te Kolste, Piet te Lintum, Gerrit Jan Hoitink, etc. Since the surname might change every time a person moved, this sometimes offers difficulties in tracing your ancestors. There are some strategies to help you solve those name puzzles.

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.

Overijssel is a province in the east of the Netherlands. It borders on Germany in the east, Drenthe and Friesland in the north, Gelderland to the south and Flevoland and Gelderland to the west.

The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle. The largest towns are:

• Enschede
• Almelo
• Hengelo
• Oldenzaal
• Deventer

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.

The first larger emigration wave from the Netherlands took place in the seventeenth century. A new colony was established in the Americas, which was called the New Netherlands. After a rough start, this colony attracted emigrants from all over Europe.