Jan Evertsz bio

Question

I have written a short biography for Jan Evertsz, and since I'm not a member of the New Netherland project, I would like input on anything that could be changed or improved to meet your guidelines. I have copies of everything, so corrections, etc. would be easy. All info that was on the profile has been worked in, so I think it's ok but would like another person's input. Thanks!

Answer 1

Looks nice to me Alex, if you could add links to the sources that would be great :)

And a BIG thank you of course for working on improving the profile !

Answer 2

Alex, nicely written.  You have extensive footnotes, which is great.  However, there needs to be special attention to sourcing the key data -- births, marriages, deaths -- what is the source for his birth year and place?  That needs an inline source or other explanation.  Also it would be helpful to have a sentence or two about his name, because I think he went by different names at different times, or at least others have identified him by different names.  Evertsen? Terwilliger?  

Earlier in the history of the profile, as found on the changes list, there were subheadings under biography -- ===Name===, ===Birth===, ===Marriage===, etc.  Many of us find these very helpful both in spotting the information we're most interested in at one point or another, and in seeing that it's been covered.

Now, if I could just find the key data that would link my Terwilligers to him, he would be my ancestor!

Comments

His birth completely slipped my mind. I'll add it as soon as I get back to my computer.  

I'll add the headings in a research notes section as you suggested and put the basic facts there. For the various surnames, I thought that was covered by the additional names field,  or am I not understanding you?

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I was actually thinking of the headings within the biography, but that's optional.

On the names, nothing in the data field is sourced or explained.  So it's helpful to have a subsection on ===Names=== to explain what names the person used, or were later named by, and sources if available.

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Your perspective, as a person who doesn't normally hang out in New Netherland, is informative to me, Jack. I confess to a severe dislike for "Name" sections in WikiTree biographies, largely because I've seen way too many that were created by gedcom imports of Ancestry (or similar) family trees, wherein every "source" that was saved to the person's page on the family tree is linked to the "Name" as a footnote. Those "Name" sections are almost always useless in terms of documenting the names a person used.

The compilations of church records in New Netherland profiles such as this one are being used to document the names that the person was recorded with in their lifetime. (Actually, it's not necessarily all of the names, but usually most of them. Additional names might be recorded in deeds, wills, letters, the Van Rensselaer Bowier manuscripts, and similar sources.) Additionally, there often are other versions of the name that the person never used, but appear in "Other Nicknames" and "Other Last Names" because they are ubiquitous in published genealogies and Internet family trees.

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Ellen, As the Wikitree help pages on biographies say, about the only two headings that are really important are ==Biography== and ==Sources==.  Everything else flows from the information in the profile and what one is seeking to emphasize.  

I have created many profiles without a section on Names, because there's nothing to discuss -- the person was given one name at birth, used it all his or her life, and the name appears on all records and the tombstone.  But in this case the reader may wonder "why Evertsz? Why not Evertsen?  Why does he show up as Terwilliger sometimes?  A Name section can answer that question.  Having the section first can clarify those issues when they appear later in the biography.

Answer 3

Looks good to me. Two more potential improvements:

• You cite a 1911 article for his immigration and possibly also for his origins in the Netherlands. Instead of stating his origins as fact, please add some text to explain the source and the basis given by the source. Something like "According to Dingman Versteeg, he was born about 1657 in Vianen," followed by information on the basis. Also indicate where Versteeg got the immigration information -- did he cite a ship's record (or any source at all)?
• Provide more explanation for the death information. (Many New Netherland profiles give dates and places of death that are unsourced or appear to be based only on "sources" like Ancestry Family Trees, but in many cases we are unable to identify any records for these deaths.) The death date is an "after" date, presumably related to a recorded event, so the statement about his death ought to identify what was recorded in June 1718. He witnessed a baptism in May 1718 -- if that's the last recorded event, then the death date would be after May 1718, not after June. And indicate who it is who says he was buried in Hurley; if it's an anonymous Internet source, identify it as such.