Journey to His Past

The above chart is a color coded pedigree chart of Kirk's ancestry.  It starts with Kirk and has his father, James Leyndyke, ancestry across the top.  His mother, Elizabeth Leyndyke, ancestry across the bottom of the chart.

The list below contains the new and updated records found at familysearch.org.  Look under Netherlands to be taken to the record you are seeking.  I am off to check them out.  I hope you will too.

Do you want to learn more about Netherlands Genealogy?  One place to check is on Facebook.  The Netherlands Genealogy Research Page on Facebook is filled with information on the Netherlands and genealogy.  Here are a few of the recent topics covered on this page:

• New Amsterdam History Center
• Going Dutch-The Netherlands' Slave Trade
• Netherlands or Holland?
• Dutch Census 1795-1971
• The County of Bentheim and Her Immigrants to North America
• and so much more.

Have you ever wondered how a word was pronounced in Dutch or have you wanted to learn the Dutch language?  I have found a wonderful website to help you with both of these things.  I know I have needed help a few times in researching my father-in-law's ancestry as it is 100% Dutch.

I turn to Marco Schuffelen's Hear Dutch Here website for help, which is an excellent Dutch language resource.  The site map page provides an overview of what is available on this website.  Below are a few of the Dutch language topics one will find on this site.

• First and Last Names
• Historical Maps
• Place Names of towns, cities, etc.
• Old New York
• Dutch in Sports
• Tulip Names
• And more

The Maasdam surname can be traced back to the middle of the 17th century in the Netherlands.  Maasdam means the dam in the river Maas.  It comes from the village of Maasdam in the Hoekse Waard(island formed by polders) polder (part of land below sea level that is surrounded by dykes) in the Province of South Holland.

Some of the Maasdam family settled in Owasco, Cayuga, New York, immigrating in the mid 1800's.  Jaapje Maasdam, who married Pieter Luijendijk, immigrated in 1849 to Owasco.  From here Pieter and Jaapje moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.  Jaapje's brother, Johannes, stayed in the Owasco area and many Maasdam/Marsden live there today.

Kirk's Maasdam ancestry is:

• Kirk
• His Dad
• Peter Leyn Dyke (1894-1991)
• Cornelius Luyendyk (1859-1900)
• Jaapje Maasdam Luijendijk (1823-1900)
• Bastiaan Maasdam (1786-1843)
• Cornelis Maasdam (1755-1794)
• Gerrit Maasdam (1708-1764)
• Hendrik Gerrits Maasdam (1675-1736)
• Gerrit Pieters Maasdam (1624-1683)
• Pieter Aryens Maasdam (1600-)
• Arien Lenertszn Maasdam (1565-1644)
• Lenert Janszoon (1530-1600)
• Jan

For more information on the Maasdam family check out Tom deMeijer's website, The Maasdam Family.

The Kosten surname is found on Kirk's paternal side of the family.  In the late 1700's the family was living in Heinkenszand, Zeeland, Netherlands. 

Adriaan Kosten and family emigrated from Wolphaartsdijk, Zeeland, Netherlands in 1873.  They eventually settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan.


Here is the line from Kirk through his 4x great grandfather, which is as far as I have researched.
Kirk
James
Nellie VanOeveren Leyn Dyke (1896-1994)
Janna 'Jennie' Kosten VanOeveren (1866-1932)
Adriaan Kosten (1830-)
Maarten Kosten (1788-1835)
Jan Kosten

The first van den Bos (Vandenbos) immigrant in Kirk's family came to the United States on 12 Mar 1881.  Marinus 'Martin' van den Bos; his wife, Lena (Quist) van den Bos; and four year old daughter, Neeltje Cornelia 'Nellie' van den Bos travelled in steerage from Rotterdam, Holland (Netherlands) to New York, USA aboard the ship 'Amsterdam'. 

The family eventually settled in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan.  Nellie van den Bos married Cornelius Luyendyk 17 November 1893 in Dorr Center, Allegan, Michigan.  Cornelius and Nellie Luyendyk are Kirk's great grandparents. 

One of the fun things about researching family history is delving into the reasons people leave their home country and immigrate to the United States.  I find this fascinating whether it is my family I am researching or my husbands.  

Pieter Luijendijk, Kirk's great, great grandfather, was born 29 August 1823 in Zuid-Beijerland, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.  He was the twelfth generation of Luijendijk men who lived in Zuid-Holland.  I was curious what would make someone leave such strong family ties to the area and set out for the United States.

To understand his reasoning one needs to understand the history of the emigration in that period. Tom deMeijer shared the following with me, "Both Pieter and his father Jacob are known as “workman”.  They were part of the rural upper class of that time, with official positions as deputy mayors, sheriffs and “dijkgraaf” which is the highest authority in each polder.

What happened? In the period after the Napoleonic wars ending with the battle of Waterloo in 1813, the population in The Netherlands was growing exponentially. After the Congress of Vienna, the Southern Netherlands (now known as Belgium and Luxembourg) were united with “Holland” under the Orange monarchy. The population initially got work, energy and children, a lot of them. In the previous period the land was attributed to the elder son or daughter and the others made sure that they married a wealthy farmer or farmer’s daughter as well. With the explosion of the population these options became increasingly scarce. At the same time there were no good alternatives yet. It was too early for the industrial revolution that started only after 1870 (that could have absorbed a lot of people) and there was no fertilizer yet, allowing more intensive agriculture. Result was impoverishment all over, rather than the improvement of conditions hoped for after the wars."

The reason Pieter stated for emigration was "improvement of existence".  Like many others from many lands, he thought the United States would give him a better life.  In 1849, at the age of 26, Pieter and his wife, Jaapje (Maasdam) emigrated to the United States.

Pieter and Jaapje Luijendijk settled in Owasco, Cayuga, New York for a time.  They can be found in the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Federal Census in Owasco.  Jaapje's brother, Johannes, settled in this area, too.  Sometime before 1870, Pieter, Jaapje and their seven children migrated to the Grand Rapids area of Michigan.  I don't know the reasoning for this move, but do know that the Grand Rapids area is heavily populated by Dutch people.

The migration of Pieter Luijendijk took him from Zuid-Holland, Netherlands to Owasco, Cayuga, New York to Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan.  A journey of almost four thousand miles.  I hope he found the better life he was looking for.

One of the obstacles to researching records of a foreign country can be the language differences.  Once I was ready to research with Netherlands records, I knew I was going to need a little help in this area.  So, I turned to Family Search for help.  It was there that I found dutch genealogy words.

To find these words one needs to go to the Family Search wiki for "Netherlands Language and Languages".  Here you will find Dutch language help for key words, dates, times, and other words.

Here are a few words that will help you get started:

baptism           dopen, doop, gedoopt
birth                 geboren, geboorte
burial               begraven, begraaf
child                 kind
death                overleden, overlijden, gestorven
father               vader
husband          echtgenoot
marriage         huwelijk(en), trouwen, gehuwden, getrouwd
month             maand
mother            moeder
town                stad, gemeente, dorp
wife                 huisvrouw, vrouw, echtgenote
year                 jaar

The Family Search wiki for dutch words has helped me when translating records from Dutch to English.  Eventually, I decided to purchase an English/Dutch Dictionary, which is helpful too.

If you are doing any Netherlands research be sure to check out the Family Search "Netherlands Language and Languages" wiki.

Do you have Dutch ancestry?  If so, you will want to be aware of these great resources available online.  I refer to them often when researching Kirk's dutch ancestry.

1.  Genlias:  This website provides birth, marriage, and death records from civil registers in the Netherlands.  This is a broad based database from archives across the Netherlands.  A list of the archives can be found on this site.  For English speaking researchers, be sure to click 'English' in the upper right corner.  To get started searching, click 'Searching in Genlias'.  Help for searching is available under this tab, also.  Good luck!  And don't blame me if you get so involved in your searching you lose track of time.  I have had many two am nights because of this website.

Updated February 2013.  Genlias is no longer available, but a new website has taken its' place:

WieWasWie:  This website has replaced the Genlias website.  At this time (February 2013) there is not an option for English.  I used Google translate to help navigate the site.  This site is a database of Netherlands vital records that are from various record groups in Netherlands.  To get started, enter a name in the Find People blue search box or use the advanced search option.  The participating archives is greater in number than at the old genlias site.  I would recommend this as the starting place for your Dutch research

2.  Yvette's Dutch Genealogy- I have barely touched the surface with the wonderful resources available here.  Yvette, a professional genealogist who works for The National Archives in The Hague, is the genius behind this website.  There is a lot of background information on archives, sources, dutch terms and names, emigration, history, and geography.  The database link will take you to a genealogy page with more information.  There are many links available and every click leads you to more.  There is a Dutch Genealogy Store with a few books about Dutch Genealogy, history and culture.  Yvette provides everything you need and she will even do the research for you, if you choose.  Yvette's website should be included in every Dutch researcher's toolbox.

3. Zeeuwen Gezocht (Zeelanders Wanted)- If your ancestors came from the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, then this searchable database is a must.  For English speaking researchers, click 'English' in the top right corner.    Other information on sources, new data added, frequently asked questions, and tools are available.  The tools section has a translation of dutch words, civil registrar, historical maps of Zeeland from 1816-1970, websites and more.  This is another website adding to my sleep deprivation.  Be sure to take a look.

4.  go Dutch.com-This site has paid and free information.  The section I like is the 'Genealogy Research Section".  You will find "The Basics-A Guide" free online.  This is a very comprehensive guide to researching your Dutch ancestry.  Oh, I almost forgot-it has Dutch recipes, too!

5.  Hear Dutch Here-This website provides dutch pronunciation and spelling help .  You can hear dutch words pronounced or if adventurous, learn to speak Dutch with their lessons.  Historical maps of the Netherlands can be found here too. 

These are my five top go-to websites when researching Dutch ancestry.  Clicking on the red lettering will take you to the website section referred to.  Do you have a favorite website for Dutch ancestry?  Please share it in the comments section.