Question of the Week: Do you have Dutch roots?

+38 votes
3.8k views

500px-Question_of_the_Week-45.pngDo you have ancestors from the Netherlands? Please tell us about your Dutch roots below or on Facebook or use the question image to share your answer with friends and family on other social media.

You might want to check out our Netherlands Project.

in The Tree House by Eowyn Walker G2G Astronaut (2.4m points)
retagged by Bea Wijma
My Dutch roots are through my husband.  His immigrant ancestor Gideon Marlett came from a Huguenot community in Leiden to Staten island, NY.
my dutch roots come from my maternal grandmother side the vantassels  from island of texel and new amsterdam  and legend of sleepy hollow where many are buried there
Yes, My paternal great-grandfather, Jan Egbert Sluiter, immigrated from the Netherlands with his parents (Gothnip "Gosse" Sluiter and Martje "Martha" Drent) in 1883 when he was 3 years old.
Yes my grandparents are Gertrude and Martin Kruger they were from Groningen . they were living in New York. Brooklyn and then moved to Ohio in around 1941.  They used to skate on the stads canal. My grandmother was a Niehof .
Caspar Steynmets, 1609-1702
Caspar was Indian Trader, Land Owner, Burgher in New Amsterdam and later New York. Caspar arguably established the lands west of the Hudson River what is now Jersey City, New Jersey. He lived a long life, had 3 or 4 wives, lots of children.
Why no Steynmets park, avenue, school today? His descendants were loyalist that fled to Canada and the Steynmets name disappeared.
Symon DeHart (possibly VanderHard)  was my Dutch forbear. He immigrated from Nieuwkoop Netherlands to Brooklyn in 1664.
William III Von Nassau of Orange, was my first cousin 11 times removed. He was born in The Hague, in the Dutch Republic, on 4th November, 1650.
My 2nd great-grandmother's last name was Van Patten. My 4th great-grandparents were Nathan Bartlett Vann Patten and Mary Ann Schermerhorn.
Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen and Tryntje Melchiors were my 8x great grandparents. They were married at the Grote Kerk in Haarlem, Netherlands in December 1629. They arrived in New Netherlands in the 1630s.  Abraham was a miller and a member of the Counsil of Twelve. he was also known as Abram Molenaar.
Tag my ancestors that are Dutch or?

85 Answers

+18 votes
Yes and no. All my roots are Frisian, with only two exceptions as far as I can see in the past: ca. anno 1600, one from Deventer (this must be my Dutch Root) and one from Bohemia.
by Minke Wagenaar G2G6 Mach 2 (21.6k points)
Dutch Roots betekend toch Nederlandse wortels? Friesland is een provincie van Nederland en valt dan toch ook onder Dutch Roots?
Juridisch gezien heb je gelijk, cultureel niet. Alhoewel dat laatste steeds meer verwaterd, wat niet erg is. Wat ik wel merk bij al dat teruggaan in de tijd, is dat het Friese landschap een grote rol speelt in de vorm (het type) van de nederzettingen, de beroepen en de uitwisseling tussen zekere families. Weinig vermenging met personen van buiten de provincie, zelfs buiten de streek binnen Friesland. Tussen de streken binnen Friesland komt dit in mijn families pas in de negentiende eeuw op gang, samen met emigratie.

Ja ik heb mij wel eens afgevraagd hoe dat zit. We hebben Friesland, naar het oosten toe Groningen en daarna Ost Friesland. In 700 waren er ook Friese Koningen, Er schijnt ook een connectie te zijn met Schotland. Hoe past bijvoorbeeld Groningen in dat rijtje.

De term Dutch > Diets > Duits wordt eigenlijk alleen gebruikt in het buitenland maar hoe dat precies is ontstaan... ? Ga dat eens Googelen... wink

Inderdaad, afvragen is Googelen! Frisia liep vroeger van Vlaanderen tot in Denemarken. Voor Friesland kwam de genadeklap rond 1500 toen de ongeorganiseerde Friese vechtbendes het verloren van Alfred van Saksen. Deze kon vanwege zijn zilvermijnen soldij betalen aan een gereguleerd huurleger. Dat heet militaire innovatie. Het is het startpunt van de Friese (recht)staatsvorming. Literatuur hierover: Johan Frieswijk, Fryslân, staat en macht 1450-1650 : bijdragen aan het historisch congres te Leeuwarden van 3 tot 5 juni 1998.

Wat Dutch betreft heb ik dit gevonden bij Onze Taal.nl

Het Engels heeft het woord Dutch ontleend aan het Nederlands, maar dan wel in een tijd dat wij onze taal zelf nog met Duitsch of Dietsch aanduidden — waarschijnlijk in de late Middeleeuwen. Wie Middelnederlandse teksten bekijkt, zal het woord Nederlandsch daarin niet of nauwelijks aantreffen; het gewone woord was in die tijd Duitsch of Dietsch, of ook wel Nederduitsch of Nederdietsch.

Dietsch betekende eigenlijk 'van het volk' (of, iets ruimer, 'volkstaal'); het is afgeleid van het Middelnederlandse woord diet, dat 'volk' of 'lieden' betekende. Het Etymologisch Woordenboek 

Weer wat wijzer geworden, bedankt voor je uitleg Minke, dus ik ben ook een beetje Fries, van Vlaanderen tot Denemarken... smiley

Oh, dan snap ik het wel: de niet-gewone taal was Latijn, een soort Esperanto avant la lettre. Ik heb ook van die voorouders met verlatijnste namen als Wenzentius - wat natuurlijk gewoon betekent: van Wetsens (jawel, Fries terpdorp). Over het dominees geslacht Staphorsius zijn de geleerden het nog niet eens: Stafhorst of Staphorst. Eentje ligt er in Workum in het koor begraven, maar die hebben ze onder het tapijt verborgen.
Het genoemde 'lokaal blijven' zie je in heel veel gebieden op de wereld. Dat is niet echt iets voor Friesland. In de tijd dat het dagen kostte om een paar kilometers te reizen, met gevaar voor verdrinking/overvallen en de problemen bij de vele grenzen is het niet zo gek dat mensen toch vooral lokaal bleven en trouwden.
My roots are Frisian as well. All research I have done all my mother's ancestors were from Friesland.
+17 votes
I do,but I need help tracing m New Netherland ancestors.
by David Hughey G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
Are those New Netherlands or Dutch ancestors you would like a hand with?
+16 votes
I do! Thanks for sharing!
by Donna Norton G2G Crew (940 points)
+16 votes
I don't, but my 3xggranduncle emigrated to Rotterdam and married there.
by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
+17 votes
Almost. It's too remote to qualify as "having Dutch Roots", but I do have Dutch ancestors, since the mother of my great-great-great-great grandfather Lucas Judocus/Luc Josse Dronkers-Martens was an Amsterdamer. Her name was Maria Dewijse. Her parents were Daniël Dewijse (or some variant form) and Maria Braakman. They were married in 1746 in Amsterdam and had numerous children. That's all I was able to find (I'm no good at researching Dutch sources) and none of them has a profile on WikiTree.
by Isabelle Martin G2G6 Pilot (561k points)
Hi Joop, thank you! and yes - Martinus Dronkers and Pieternella Hugo were the parents of my ancestor Jacobus Martensz. Dronkers. At least, that's what I was told. I was in contact with a man who researched all the Dronkers branches and he sent me that info, a few years ago. The line goes back several more generations.... I have it on my computer and I think on my Geneanet tree as well, but, it was never transferred to WikiTree. Now with these wonderful sources provided by you and Jan I can add a few profiles to this line.
Great, Joop for president!

Thank you for this "mini challenge", Isabelle! Was fun researching.smiley

Hi Isabelle, many of the original church books were lost in the region around Antwerp and the province of Zeeland during World War II and sometimes due to fire or flood.  Fortunately, some people made extracts before World War II.  I found this regarding Pieternella Hugo in a copy of baptism in Yerseke. Hugo, Pieternelle, 13-03-1718., page 26. Parents Jacobus Hugo and Grietje Hendriks de Jager. Jacobus Hugo was a "schoolmeester en voorzanger" (schoolteacher and cantor). Also see: Jacobus Hugo, Functionaris (Official)

@Jan, Joop for President?  Nohooo.... there are plenty of weird presidents already. Sorry of topic crying please flag me...

Sorry Joop, ran out of flagswink

Martinus Dronkers was born in the polder near Berendrecht near Fort Frederik-Hendrik Berendrecht

Thank you again. Joop, that looks likely. Jacobus Dronkers was also a schoolteacher, so it all makes sense.

Regarding Martinus, he would have died relatively young (19 Apr 1745?, Lillo) and his widow married a Johan Simon Alstorf soon afterwards. (that's what I copied from Mr Dronkers' research, and there are obvious errors of copy because the death of the husband and the 2nd marriage are much too close together). He's said to have been christened in Lillo on 21 January 1714. Parents Pieter Wouterse Dronkers and Johanna Martens van der Gijzen. Apparently Fort Frederik-Hendrik was too small to have a pastor? That would explain the christening at Lillo.

A notice of the wedding with Johan Simon Alstorf: Marriage Johan Simons Altorf and Pieta Hugo, O: 10-04-1745, X: 25-04-1745. (Image 559)

This copy of the church book of the Protestant community in Lillo contains only the marriage registrations and starts at 1735. I have not been able to find baptism registrations yet.

By the way, in the note Yerseke, one of the witnesses is named Mr de Jager d 'Oude, father of Grietje de Jager?  Mr.  may mean that he was a lawyer or notary.  Mr. Hendrik de Jager. 

The children are Hugo, Pieternella, Tannetje and Hendrik.

If they named their children after their parents as usual at the time then is:

  • Hugo the father of Jacobus Hugo (in this case Hugo = patroniem)
  • Pieternelle the mother of Jacobus
  • Tannetje (Macharis?) the mother of Grietje
  • Hendrik de Jager the father of Grietje
smiley

I'm realizing that one of the records of Jacobus Martens Dronkers, that Jan found in Amsterdam, is probably the baptism of his nephew. The mother, Margaretha Alsdorff, is likely Jacobus's half sister, especially with the child being called Jacobus Sijmon.

Again, thanks all - I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge smiley

+16 votes
Yes. Myself and almost all of my ancestors are from the Netherlands.

Most of them have lived for centuries in the villages around Eindhoven, in Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, the same region I'm from.
by Koen van Hoof G2G6 Mach 7 (72.6k points)
+16 votes
My roots are 90% dutch and the other 10 % just cross the border with Germany or Belgium. Most of them lived in the northeastern part of Noord-Brabant, the Southern part of Gelderland (south of the river Waal) and in the north of Limburg. Only the last three generations spread out over other parts of the country. My parents were part of the leaving the region. I returned when I started studying in the city of Nijmegen where I still live. Now my kids are leaving to study elsewhere.
by Eef van Hout G2G6 Pilot (186k points)
+14 votes

My fourth ggrandfather, Edward Ackerson (24 Oct 1802 Ohio, USA - 3 Sep 1886 Illinois, USA), has roots in the Netherlands! Haven't spent a lot of time exploring this part of my tree yet!

by Azure Robinson G2G6 Pilot (539k points)
+15 votes

Hallo alle leden met Nederlandse wortels, ook ik als geboren Zeeuw ben geworteld in Nederland en heb ook een Vlaamse connectie,

Hello all member with Dutch Roots, I too, born in Zeeland, have Dutch Roots and also Flemish. 

If you are looking for Dutch sources, take a look here:

Informatie over het correct invullen van Nederlandse Naamvelden kijk hier: / Information on how to correctly fill in Dutch Name Fields look here:
Note: The Dutch Roots project is now called Project Netherlands so this tag should also be added.wink
by Joop van Belzen G2G6 Pilot (145k points)
+16 votes
Yes, I am a Dutchman, but I am also a Frisian and a Groninger and a Venendaler and a German, and a Belgian.
by Enoch Stuivenberg G2G6 Mach 6 (68.0k points)
+15 votes
Yes, I have my Dutch.Roots to, but also Belgian Roots,Italian Roots, German Roots and a wee bit Scottish:-)
by Herman Overmars G2G6 Mach 4 (44.6k points)
+15 votes

Yes, my second great grandmother Elizabeth Metzler was born in Holland. I only know this from my great grandfather Thomas Lovelace's death certificate.

by Alexis Nelson G2G6 Pilot (843k points)
She is not easy to trace. See comment on her profile page.Have you searched her immigration document?
Michel, thank you for the links you put on her profile. No, I have never had any idea about looking at immigration documents. Thank you for the good information. I certainly appreciate your work.
+13 votes
Not personally but my husband was born in North Amsterdam and just about all his ancestors were born around Amsterdam or Rotterdam. He came to Australia as a three year old, with his mother to reunite with his father who had immigrated the year before.
by Judy Weggelaar G2G6 Mach 2 (20.0k points)
+13 votes

I don't but 3 of my children do. My 1st husband their father was the first one in his family born in New Zealand after they emigrated from the Netherlands. I was told that his father's family goes back to the 14th Century but I don't read Dutch and struggled with finding the records.He is Van_Der_Lee-39 - Cornelius Van Der Lee (1939-2013) His wife's parents came out to New Zealand also. I got to meet them and from what I was told I suspect that her father may have been Jewish and her mother was Dutch.they are Steinz-2 - Adolf Steinz (1916-1986) and Unknown-476858 - Anna Maria Louisa Steinz (I don't know her maiden name). Any help from the Netherlands project with their profiles would be much appreciated..

by Sarah Jenkins G2G6 Mach 4 (42.8k points)

nice starting point for the rest of the family tree.

It sure is, Joop. In particular seeing Johan August was born in Sluis, Zeeland, your territory!

Johan August Steinz, born in Sluis Zeeland, june 24 1878.

Birth certificate Johan August Steinz, Sluis, 24-06-1878

Parents Jacob Steinz and Janneke Zuijderduijn.

Marriage Jacob Steinz and Janneke Zuijderduijn, 22-02-1878, Aardenburg, Zeeland, Nederland.

Certificate of marriage: Huwelijk Jacob Steinz en Janneke Zuijderduijn, 22-02-1878

'Twas een motje Jan.... voor die ouwe Jacob wink

@Michel, misschien een idee om deze lijn proberen te connecten bij de volgende ConnectAThon die start over twee dagen?
@Joop, sounds like  a nice idea to connect this line/branch coming weekend.

@Sarah, is it ok we work on this? You are pm of Steinz-2 so we need your help on that profile.
Hopefully Sarah can open up the profile a bit so we can add the information and connect the tree.

Hi Michel, I think you can start by creating profiles from which we have found sources.  You can still connect later.  I am currently working with another family so.... be my guest op zun goed Hollands gezegd..wink 

Ja, ik kom wel op bekende grond. Aardenburg, Cadzand, Biervliet... maar geen connecties tot nog toe.
Ja Zeeland is goed te doen, is het niet via Archieven.nl dan wel via Familysearch Catalog waar je scans vindt van kerkboeken.
+10 votes

So far I've only found one line: DeGraff (formerly Decomte) who migrated from Holland.  But in further research it seems that they were French refugees so not Dutch at all sad

by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
+9 votes
Not that I know of.  I have one relative who tied us into the Van Swearingens but I have never researched that branch to see if that is even properly sourced.  It is on my to-do list someday.
by Sara Martin G2G6 Mach 1 (13.7k points)
+8 votes
Yes! We haven't done much additional research, but there was a family bible brought over to the US that listed some ancestors born in Zeeland, including Abraham [[VanWyckhuyse-1]].
by Chandra Little G2G2 (2.0k points)
Very interesting. I have taken a quick look at this Abraham. Unfortunately that tree branch does not seem very accurate (nearing impossible). Do you have a scan of that page with the names?

Abraham emigrated to the USA with spouse and 8 children in 1873, seeking amelioration of existence. At the time he was a cattle farmer.

I don't have a copy of the scans, but I think my dad does. It'd definitely be helpful to attach it to the folks in the tree! If I remember correctly, there were also some notes about some of the folks listed as well, beyond the typical names/birthdate info.

+8 votes
According to the dynamic tree, Dirk Holland (Holland-981) b. 875 was a grandfather.
by Mike Wells G2G6 Pilot (132k points)
edited by Mike Wells
+10 votes

Yes, through New Netherlands.

My great-grandmother was a Vanover:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vanover-212

Before I joined WikiTree I knew as far up as a Cornelius Vanover. After I joined WikiTree, I was really surprised that what I knew was actually a Cornelius Vanover VI, and that there were 5 more generations going back to the first Cornelis Vanover! Here is his descendant list. It fans out pretty widely from there.

Since then, I've started and manage the Vanover Name Study. While not proven, it's almost guaranteed that all Vanovers in the United States are related.

However, I am no expert on New Netherlands, or on Dutch profiles, and many of these early profiles in the Vanover family could really use some work.

by Eric Weddington G2G6 Pilot (513k points)
Good story! One minor detail: I would not state that Vanover-74 was born in Flanders, Holland.

Flanders was part of the (Southern) Netherlands, not Holland (and it is now part of another country). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Flanders gives a short overview. It is a common misconception and misuse of the word Holland (also instigated by the PR people of the tourist association) but Holland is only one part of the Netherlands.

I'm no expert in the pre 1800 period of Flanders, but you might want to attract some Belgians to work on that.
+9 votes
Yes, I have Dutch roots. An ancestor, Martinus Quartier, came from Gennep (Provincie Limburg) to Materborn (Prussia, Germany), which is now part of the city of Kleve. The distance between both towns are 17 km, but they belonged to different countries.
by
He does not have a profile yet... are you working on him?
Looking in Gennep in the old website AlleLimburgers I see a father 'Martinus' of a daughter in 1740. http://www.allelimburgers.nl/wgpublic/feit_more.php?search_fd0=2767708&search_fd10=731

The newer site AEZEL has this one as the closest match:

https://aezel.eu/onderzoeken/feit/2767805

Martinus Quartier
Search: https://aezel.eu/onderzoeken/personen?naam1=quartier&pagina=3&sort=voornamen&order=1

Maybe you could create a proven family from those records? These are all transcribed records.

The links in myheritage do not show a martin with the mentioned dates (but I gave up scrolling all the uncertain results).

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