How I search for ancestors in a structured way

Genealogy is the study and tracing of lines of descent. Ancestry refers to a person's ethnic origin or descent, someone’s "roots" or heritage. A lineage is a line of descent. The persons comprising a line of descent are the ancestors.

By now, I’ve been searching for my ancestors for over 20 years. In the early years, I had to visit different archives at different locations to research my predecessors. Since then, loads of genealogical sources have been copied or transcribed, and made available over the Internet.

When adding or editing ancestors, I use an optional, internal field * to note special features of a person like “short marriage”, “longevity”, an index number in a publication about the family, or an alternative surname when the person was known by more than one surname. In recent years, I’ve developed an additional use for this optional, internal field, or “label”.

Genealogists use the term “Brick Wall” to describe a point in their research where they are unable to move forward with something — a kind of dead end. They break through a “Brick Wall” when they make a new discovery that helps them move past this dead end.

When I get stuck with an ancestor, the so-called “Brick Wall”, I mark that ancestor’s “label” with the word  “BRICK-WALL”.  When - in the future - new sources should become available for the area where that ancestor is living, I could take a new look at that ancestor. Basically, the  “BRICK-WALL”  label means that I’m currently stuck.

Another improvement in the way I research ancestors, also involves the  “label”.  When I’ve found both parents of some person, I decide which one of the parents I will research first, and then I label the other parent as  “TO-DO”.  I do this with every new couple of parents I find, until I hit - and mark - a  “BRICK-WALL”.  Then I can start researching one of the people marked earlier as “TO-DO”. This way, I can also focus on people in a specific area with a specific set of sources, until I’ve finished researching all persons in that area, marked with “TO-DO”.

My genealogy software does have a feature to generate “all ancestors without ancestors”,  but that’s a long list of names with birth years. The main list, including ancestors without surnames, too, currently comprises of 2158 persons. When I generate a list of ancestors without ancestors, but with a surname, then I get a list of 740 people. Using the software, I can try to work on an ancestor with recent birth years, but usually there’s a reason why a fairly recent ancestor is at the top of a branch, like missing sources, or the person was a foundling. With my “TO-DO” system I can easily find ancestors to work on.

* In the Dutch genealogy software program “Aldfaer”, I use an optional, internal field named “Code” for this purpose.

For an explanation of common genealogy terms see: MyHeritage.com.

Longevity ~ Abraham Kits (99)

When Abraham Kits died on May 19, 1845, in Amsterdam, he was 99½ years old. His “obituary”, prepared by his daughter Adriana, described his age as “nearly 100 years old”. From May 1808 until his death Abraham had been living on the Keizersgracht (a canal) in Amsterdam in 5th house, when you come from the Utrechtschestraat.

Opregte Haarlemsche Courant (newspaper), 29-5-1845

When, in early 1846, the municipality of Amsterdam published statistics for the year 1845, Abraham is described as having been 100 years old. Two other people who died in the same year in Amsterdam, Mariane Zadok Salomons and Levie Salomon de Haan, had been even older than Abraham.

Provinciaal Dagblad van Noord-Brabant (newspaper), 13-1-1846

Abraham Kits was born in Utrecht on October 29, 1745, and baptised there on the 31st. He is the eldest son of Otto Kits (1717-1760) and his wife Sophia Strang (1724-1782). After her husband’s death in January 1760, Sophia married Arie Bos, a young man originating from Amersfoort, but then living in Eemnes. Sophia had children from both her marriages, including a son Wilhelmus Kits who married twice. Sophia's burial in the Oosterkerk in Amsterdam was registered on June 7, 1782.

Abraham Kits was a bricklayer, and – from the end of 1789 onwards - a real estate agent in Amsterdam. At the age of 27, in 1773, Abraham married Christina van Leeuwen. Christina was baptised on August 8, 1745, in Amsterdam. Her parents are Wijnand van Leeuwen and Adriana Maas.

Abraham Kits, son of Sophia Strang, married Christina van Leeuwen, daughter of Wijnand van Leeuwen

Abraham Kits and Christina van Leeuwen had 3 daughters and 3 sons, but their 2 eldest daughters were the only ones who had issue:

1. Adriana Kits (picture to the right) was baptised on October 2, 1774, in Amsterdam with witnesses Weijnant van Leeuwen and Haderiana Maas. Adriana Kits married Jan Mattheus Nieuwenkamp (1764-1824) as his second wife. Adriana Kits died on March 20, 1821, in Zwolle. Her youngest son was Jan Kits Nieuwenkamp (1811-1870) who was named after Adriana's youngest brother.
2. Sofia Kits was baptised on October 6, 1776, in Amsterdam with witnesses Sofia Strang and Weijnant van Leeuwen. Sofia Kits married Jan Wimmers in 1801. Her son Abraham Kits Wimmers died childless on May 20, 1863, in Arnhem, at the afe of 36.
3. Henderina Kits was baptised on January 6, 1777, in Amsterdam with witnesses Johannis van Dregt and Henderina van Leeuwen.
4. Pieter Kits was baptised in Amsterdam on June 6, 1779.
5. Wijnand Otto Kits was baptised in Amsterdam on February 18, 1784.
6. Jan Kits was baptised in Amsterdam on November 20, 1785. He was studying theology when he died in Utrecht on June 1, 1807, at the age of 21.

Christina van Leeuwen died on September 1, 1818, in Amsterdam. Her widower Abraham married his second wife Geertruij Willemina Storm on October 29, 1819, in Amsterdam. She was baptised there on March 5, 1764, and born on February 3. At the age of 40, she had married her first husband, a widower, in 1804. She was 55 when she married 74-year-old Abraham. Geertruij Willemina Storm died on January 19, 1843, in Amsterdam, and was buried there on the 24th. Abraham Kits had survived both his wives.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, Delpher.nl, OpenArch.nl, Archief.Amsterdam, Nederland's Patriciaat 1927 & 1957 (Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie en Heraldiek), De Navorscher 1925 & 1940 (magazines edited by G. Fuldauer).

What happened to Cornelia Gerdina Branderhorst?

Cornelia Gerdina Branderhorst was born on November 3, 1860, in the municipality of Eethen, Genderen en Heesbeen. Her parents are Catharina van Gameren (1819-1888) and Gerrit Branderhorst (1812-1882). Just 4 of her parents' 10 children survived infancy, and Cornelia Gerdina was the youngest daughter.
She was married on April 5, 1879, to Johannes van der Pol. Her eldest brother Dirk Branderhorst was one of the witnesses. The groom, Johannes, born on August 30, 1851, in Wijk. His parents are Dirk van der Pol (1827-1890) and Pieternella van Rijswijk (1830-1903). Cornelia Gerdina and Johannes had a son Dirk in 1879, who lived for 15 days, and a daughter Catharina in 1880, who lived for 16 days. In 1881-1882 the couple lived in Rotterdam.

Apparently, the marriage was not a happy one. First, they agreed on a separation. Cornelia Gerdina, housewife of Johannes van der Pol, had been living in 's-Hertogenbosch before she arrived in Genderen in March 1892. In 1893 she left for Antwerp in Belgium.
Finally, in 1897, 46-year-old Johannes van der Pol, then living in Aalburg, wanted a divorce. Since Cornelia Gerdina's place of residence was unknown, a request for her to appear in court was printed in a newspaper.

Newspaper of December 25, 1897

On April 29, 1898, a divorce was finally pronounced on the grounds of adultery by judgement of the district court in 's-Hertogenbosch. The divorce was registered in the village of Wijk-en-Aalburg on December 12, 1898. The newspaper announcement doesn't mention which of the partners had committed adultery.

Newspaper of August 22, 1898

Within 2 years, Johannes van der Pol, aged 50, died in the village of Wijk-en-Aalburg on December 2, 1901.

Sources: Salha.nl, WieWasWie.nl, Delpher.nl. You can find more data of Cornelia Gerdina's siblings at GeneaNet.