Trace your Ellis Island ancestors into The Netherlands

With the information you find on an Ellis Island passenger list, it is usually possible to trace Dutch immigrants in The Netherlands - in many cases using online sources.

Let's have a look at Franciscus and Geertruida van Valkenburg. They arrived on Ellis Island on 18 April 1911, on the S.S. Rijndam, with their 3 years old son Franciscus. According to the passenger list (which you can find on the website of the Ellis Island foundation), Franciscus was 31 and born in Oss, his wife Geertruida was 33 and born in Mill, and their son Franciscus was 3 years old and born in Berchem. Their last residence was Berchem. Their contact address in The Netherlands was Geertruida's mother, Mrs Wagemakers, who lived in Oss. They were on their way to Geertruida's brother, G. Wagemakers, in New York.

I started by searching Genlias for a Valkenburg - Wagemakers marriage (watch out for the "van" prefix in Dutch names - see my common pitfalls article). I had no problems finding what I was looking for: Franciscus van Valkenburg, born Mill en Sint Hubert, and Geertruda Johanna Wagemakers, born Oss, married 1 May 1906 in Oss. Their parents are Johannes van Valkenburg and Johanna Gommers, and Justinus Wagemakers and Geertruida de Groot.

Mill and Oss are in the province Noord-Brabant, so I also searched the main database at BHIC, where I found the birth of Franciscus: Franciscus van Valkenburg, born 9 July 1879 in Mill, son of Johannes van Valkenburg and Johanna Gommers.

Note that the Ellis Island passenger list has the birth places of Franciscus and Geertruida reversed.

For the marriage of Johannes van Valkenburg and Johanna Gommers I searched Genlias again, and I found: Johannes van Valkenburg, born 10 October 1839 in Oss, and Johanna Gommers, born 9 March 1848 in Sambeek, married on 3 May 1878 in Oss. Their parents are Francis van Valkenburg and Hestriena van Rosmalen, and Antoon Gommers and Catharina Lemmens.

There is more information on Johannes and Johanna on Genlias and BHIC, but let's continue with Johannes' parents. Their marriage is also on Genlias (and BHIC), but it took me a bit longer to find it, because the bride's name was spelled differently: Francis van Valkenburg, born 26 November 1812 in Oss, and Henrica van Roosmalen, born 9 March 1810 in Heesch, married 28 June 1834 in Oss. Parents are Johannes van Valkenburg and Maria van Straalen, and Antonie Petrus van Roosmalen and Maria van Grunsven.

We're getting close to 1811, the year the civil register was introduced. Online Dutch genealogy before 1811 is a lot harder than after 1811 (though certainly not impossible). The marriage of Johannes van Valkenburg and Maria van Straalen (taken from the church books) is on BHIC, but the parents are not listed anymore: Joannes Johannes van Valkenburg and Maria Francisci van Straales married on 5 April 1790 in Oss. Witnesses were Gijsbertus Ruijs and Joanna Gijsberta Ruijs. Johannes and Francisci were probably patronymics, which means their fathers were probably Johannes van Valkenburg and Franciscus van Straales (or Straalen?). That gives us a clue when we want to find the next generation, but I will not do that for this article.

So, starting with a listing on an Ellis Island passenger list, we were able to add three generations in the main line (Johannes, Francis and Johannes), and well over a century, all with freely accessible online resources!

There is a lot more information on Genlias and BHIC (and possibly other sites), also on siblings and, of course, other lines, but I leave that as an exercise for the reader.

There are more examples on tracing Dutch Ellis Island immigrants into The Netherlands in my article Trace your Ellis Island ancestors into The Netherlands and in the latest Trace your Dutch roots newsletter.

Online records: Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum

The website

Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum, or BHIC, is the name of the provincial archive in the province Noord-Brabant (often abbreviated to Brabant). Their website contains practical information about the archive, historical information, images, stories and genealogical databases, all related to Brabant.

What do they have?

The main database has church books (1582-1811), birth, marriage and death (BMD) acts (1811-1922) and population registers. Marriage acts (1811-1922) are complete, the other registers are a work in progress.

There are many other databases, all with their own search interface, like a database of criminal records, and a large image database. The site has also a lot of stories and some informative articles, but unfortunately these are only available in Dutch.

Is there an English interface?

Only the search interface of the main database and some information is available in English. To get to the main database, you have to find your way from an all-Dutch homepage and navigate through an all-Dutch menu.

How do I use it?

To reach the main database from the home page, select Voorouders binnen Brabant in the menu stamboom. Click English on the left hand side. Or use the direct link. The search interface works the same as the interface of Zeeuwen gezocht that we looked at in an earlier post. Use the help links to the right of each field to find out more.

The criminal records can be found by selecting Criminele voorouders in the menu stamboom. The search interface is in Dutch, search options include rechtbank (court), achternaam (last name), voornaam (first name), delict (crime) and periode (in jaren) (year from/to). In this database you will find, for example, that Gozewinus Johannes Jansen is condemned twice by the court in 's-Hertogenbosch (in 1902 and 1904), both times for landloperij (vagrancy). His sentence is not mentioned, you need to visit the archive to discover that.

The image bank can be reached by selecting Brabantse foto's zoeken in the menu stamboom.

Direct links: main database - criminal records - image database.

There are several other - often specialized - databases on the site, some of them quite hidden. These include seals, chamber of commerce, and nuisance act permits.

How much does it cost?

All information that is currently available is free. Prints, maps and photos for which BHIC owns the copyright can be freely downloaded for personal use (source: BHIC colofon).

Future plans

The website is regularly updated. Scans of church registers and BMD acts will be available on the website later this year.

Conclusion

The main database has a large overlap with Genlias, but also many records you will not find anywhere else. It's a pity that so little is available in English. I would also like to see a single search page for all databases, and an easier way to navigate the site. However, the site is a must if your ancestors are from Noord-Brabant.

Dutch archive news roundup: Q4 2007

• Genlias has added new acts from the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Maarten) and from the Dutch provinces Overijssel, Noord-Brabant and Limburg.
• The National Archives published a guide to the sources relating to Ghana in the Dutch archives: Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands.
• Tresoar and Internationaal Menno Simons Centrum (IMSC, a baptist research institute) announced a joint project to digitize their baptist sources.
• The Central Bureau for Genealogy revamped their website and announced the publication of parts of their collection on their website, starting mid to late January (charges will apply).
• Several archives announced new opening times for 2008.

Dutch archives news roundup - May 2007

News from the Dutch archives.

• The National Archives opened the archives of Ordedienst and Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten, Dutch resistance movements sponsored by the Dutch government in exile during the second world war. These can be consulted on site in The Hague.
• The National Archives have a vacancy for a new Director, as their current Director will retire at the end of this year.
• Over half of the car license plate registrations for Friesland from the period 1906-1950 are now available online. The rest will follow this year.
• The Amsterdam Archive opened a new and improved image bank.
• All birth acts from Rotterdam (1811-1902) are now available in their online database. Death acts will be next.
• The provinces Groningen, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Limburg and Zeeland have added new acts to Genlias.