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July 2013

Maps

Maps are a wonderful resource, they help you visualize the surroundings of your ancestors and their journeys. For the Netherlands there are two very interesting sites: Watwaswaar.nl (what was where) and HISGIS.nl (Historical Geografic Information System). Both are interactive sites with maps of the Netherlands. Neither has an English interface, but watwaswaar has …

Small towns

Almelo, the town my father’s family came from is still a small town, and certainly it was in the 18th and 19th century. As a result, people tended to marry their relatives. My second great-grandfather Hendrik Jan ten Bruggencate (dutch link) is a case in point. His first wife Aaltje Selhorst …