In response to an article about different types of archives, Larry Joosse wrote: Looking for birth records for Anthonie de Wijze born March 2, 1886 in Zand, and Catharina Johanna vanKeulen born on July 16, 1888. they are my mother’s parents. I thought I would respond in the form of a blog post and show you all the different steps that I take to find the answer. The methods I use to answer this question may also be helpful in finding your own ancestors. Step 1: assess the information Whenever … [Read more...]
Quick tip: Find out what your ancestor looked like
9 October 2013 by Leave a Comment
In the marriage supplements, the documents that a bride and groom had to submit when they got married, you will usually encounter a certificate stating that the groom had fulfilled his military duties. About half the time, this form will include a physical description. See elsewhere on this site for a list of terms with their translations. The example below is the certificate for Arend Kastein, showing that he was 1.74 m (5'9") tall, an oval face, ordinary stern, blue eyes, an ordinary nose and … [Read more...]
Dutch term: getuige
7 October 2013 by Leave a Comment
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...]
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...]
Dutch term: Persoonskaart
30 September 2013 by 3 Comments
A persoonskaart is a personal record card, introduced in 1939 to register who lived where. Persoonskaarten are one of the most important sources for research in the 20th century, because they are one of the few records that can be obtained within 50 years after a person's death. Read the article about Personal record cards for more information. … [Read more...]
Marriage booklets: why they are important even if you can’t find them
27 September 2013 by 9 Comments
In the third quarter of the nineteenth century, municipal authorities began to hand out "trouwboekjes" [marriage booklets] to the bride and groom at the time of their marriage. This booklet would contain the names of the spouses, date and place of their marriage, and had room for the names, birth places and birth dates of any children born to this couple. These booklets can be hard to find, as they are personal documents rather than government documents. The place to find them is in your family, … [Read more...]
Quick tip: Use Genver to find Dutch records on Familysearch
25 September 2013 by 2 Comments
UPDATE 11 June 2014: The website Genver.nl has been discontinued, the service to find records is now available at Geneal-IX. Familysearch.org has a tremendous amount of digitized records from the Netherlands: Church records Civil registration records (births, marriages, deaths) Census records and population registers Not all records are available for all towns and finding out exactly what is available can be cumbersome if you just use the Familysearch website. … [Read more...]
Dutch term: burgemeester
23 September 2013 by Leave a Comment
The term burgemeester means 'mayor'. Before 1795, when the French occupied the Netherlands and introduced new laws, most towns had more than one mayor. These were elected officials. Since 1795, each municipality only has one mayor. Mayors are appointed by the crown. In early records of the civil registration, it is not unusual for a mayor of a small town to act as the clerk registering the births, marriages and deaths in the civil registration records. … [Read more...]
Online cemeteries – Dutch alternatives to Find a Grave
20 September 2013 by 23 Comments
Not many cemeteries in the Netherlands can be found on international websites like Find a Grave or Billion Graves. There is no Dutch equivalent for these sites, but there are several websites that provide photos of graves. … [Read more...]
