BOOK: Willem Van Slyke aka Neef in the New World

One of my early immigrant ancestors is Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke. I am also descended from Cornelis' nephew Willem Pietersen Van Slyke. 

Willem Pietersen Van Slyke's arrival in the New World is generally considered to be in 1660 on board De Trouw.  Willem, who was also known as Willem Neef (Neef being the Dutch word for nephew) was the nephew of Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke, who arrived earlier in the Colony of Rensselaerswcyk in May 1634 on board de Eendracht.

The first record found for Willem is on 22 February 1661, probably not long after his arrival in the colony. In the Deacon’s Account books of Beverwyck and Albany, Willem is noted as having been given 160 guilders.  Here we find the first reference to Willem as the nephew of Cornelis Van Slyke.

Willem probably met, and married his wife, Baertie, in the Albany or Kinderhook area shortly after arrival in the colony. Her last name remains uknown, but together she and Willem had at least six children, probably between 1660 and 1674. Church records for the Albany area have not survived before  1684, but we can determine their children by other means. 

To honour Willem and his story, I wrote a book about the family called "New Netherland Settlers: Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef - A genealogy to five generations of the descendants of Willem Pieterse Van Slyke" by Lorine McGinnis Schulze

You may purchase this book on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Review of New Netherland Settlers: Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef in July 2005 New York Genealogical & Biographical Record volume 136, Number 3, page 223

"Willem Pieterse Van Slyke of Albany and Rensselaerwyck was known as Neef or nephew, as his uncle Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke was also a settler in the area. Lorine Schulze, who published the genealogy of Cornelis' family in 1996, has now produced an extensive account of Willem's descendants.

Initial narrative chapters cover historical background on New Netherland and the Dutch; new research on the family in the Netherlands which shows how uncle and nephew were related; and the lives of Willem Pieterse and his children, including the identities of their spouses, with resolution of several genealogical questions carefully explained.

The remainder of the book contains a traditional genealogy of Willem and his descendants, documented with 753 endnotes mostly referencing primary sources. Ms. Schulze plans more volumes in the series, including a supplement to the Cornelis Atonissen book with more detail on the Netherlands ancestry."

Credits: 
Image of ship inside compass copyright Brian L. Massey

Do You Like My New Website?

Introducing.... my new author website LorineSchulze.com

My readers might know that I've been writing books and articles for many years. I've written and published over 2 dozen non-fiction books, and in June of this year I ventured into the field of fiction with my debut genealogical mystery novel, Death Finds a Way.

Readers were asking me for more details about my previous books, my published articles, my television and webinar interviews, etc., and thus my new website was born. This was a fun website to design and I hope my readers like it! Why not take a look and let me know what you think?

Oh, and if you have read and liked my book Death Finds a Way, would you take a moment to pop over to Amazon and give it a review and rating? Your support is very much appreciated!

New York Naturalization Records online 1827-1897

NaturalizationRecords.com has the following New Yorrk naturalization records online. These records are FREE for all to view.

Index to Declarations of Intent, New York 1827-1895

Note that this is an ongoing project and is the work of several dedicated volunteers. The files go online as they are transcribed, so check back often to see what is new. NOTE: If a surname letter is not linked, it has not been transcribed yet.

Declarations of Intent, New York May 1832-Apr. 1837

Volumes (Books) 2 - 3. Surnames Starting with [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I,J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][W] [Y]

Declarations of Intent, New York Apr. 1837-Apr. 1843

Volumes (Books) 4 - 6. Surnames Starting with [A][C][D][E][F][G][H][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U, V][W] [Y, Z]

Declarations of Intent, New York Apr. 1843-May 1850

Volumes (Books) 7 - 8. Surnames Starting with [A][B][C] [D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][V] [W] [Y] [Z] [Miscellaneous Surnames]

Declarations of Intent, New York 1850-1856

Volumes (Books) 9 - 12. Surnames Starting with [A][B Book 9[B Book 10][B Book 11][B Book 12] [C][D][E][F][G][H][I, J] [K Book 9] [K Book 10] [K Book 11] [K Book 12] [L Book 9] [L Book 10] [L Book 11] [ L Book 12] [M Book 9] [M Book 9, 10] [M Book 10, 11] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R Book 9] [R Book 10] [R Book 11][R Book 12] [S Book 9] [S Book 10][S Book 11][S Book 12][T][U][V][W][Y][Z]

Declarations of Intent, New York 1856-1897

Volumes (Books) 13-15. [A][B][C] [D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][V][W][Y] [Z] 

Winner of Free Registration to Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

The winner of the free registration (full weekend) to the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit offered by Olive Tree Genealogy is LESLEY THORN

This summit will be held October 21 - 23, 2016 at the  Courtyard Marriott in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.miniwebtool.com/random-name-picker/ was used to generate the winner at random from those who submitted an entry.

Congratulations Lesley! Your code for your free registration is coming to you via email today. 

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album L 7

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Our Immigrant Ancestors - Jacob Peer Flees in American Revolution

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My 4th great-grandfather Jacob Peer, the immigrant ancestor to Ontario, was living in Newton Township, Sussex County, New Jersey in 1774. Jacob was forced to leave New Jersey because of his British sympathies during the American Revolution. He settled near Hamilton Ontario in June 1796.

Jacob and his family lost everything in New Jersey and settled in what was then the wilderness of Upper Canada where they had to make a new life for themselves. Jacob and his 6 sons and 2 daughters had many descendants settling in Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

This is one of the immigrant families I researched and wrote about in a 6-volume set called The Peer Family in North America. The hardships they endured were felt by many in those turbulent times and I wanted their stories told.

1797, 13 July: Declared in his land petition that he came to the province in June 1796 and had a wife and daughter in Barton where he owned a farm.  He was granted 200 acres on 14 July 1797. A statement by Nathaniel Pettit dated 10 July 1797 states that he was acquainted with Jacob Pear [sic] in the State of New Jersey, and that because he was "much attached to the British Constitution" he "suffered greatly both in his person and property in the Late War between Great Britain and America"



 

Olive Tree Genealogy GiveAway for Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

Enter to win a free registration (full weekend) to the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit. This summit will be held October 21 - 23, 2016 at the  Courtyard Marriott in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Contest runs from 12 noon EDT Friday August 5, 2016 to midnight EDT Sunday August 7, 2016

Entry Requirements: For a chance to win you must do the following:

1. Share this blog post on a social media site such as Twitter (please use #Cangen), Facebook or Google+.

2. Write to otg.giveaway@gmail.com and tell me where you shared this blog post.

Contest Rules:
 
1. No purchase necessary.
2. Winner will be chosen at random from correct entries received. See details above for entry requirements
3. One winner will be chosen to receive the giveaway.
4. You are responsible for anything in regards to the legality of entering a contest in the area in which you live.
5. The winner will be notified via your provided contact information and the winner's name will be posted on Olive Tree Genealogy blog.

Please note that only entries received at otg.giveaway@gmail.com can be accepted.
The add on day of time at the Ontario Archives is not included, but everything else is.

The full $159 registration fees will be deducted from registration. Early bird pricing ends Aug 20 

Disclaimer: Giveaway generously provided by Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

Interment.net Adds 1.4 Million Cemetery Records

The following Press Release was sent to Olive Tree Genealogy.

Interment.net Adds 1.4 Million Cemetery Records

(August 1, 2016, San Diego, CA), In the month of July 2016, Interment.net added 670,276 cemetery records to its online archives, covering 87 cemeteries across 23 states. It's the largest one-month publishing effort in the website's history.

View the full list of July's transcriptions here:

http://www.interment.net/whatsnew/20160707.htm

All in all, nearly 1.4 million records have been added when you include the previous months of June and May 2016.

The accelerated rate of expansion comes from a renewed effort to reestablish Interment.net as the top destination for cemetery records.

"We launched Interment.net in 1997 back when USGenWeb Archives was the only genealogical source of cemetery records", says Steve Johnson, publisher and founder of Interment.net. Interment.net quickly fostered a volunteer base that contributed thousands of transcriptions from cemeteries all over the globe."

But back then, acquiring records in digital form was not easy to come by. Many cemeteries still kept paper records. Those that had computer databases were not able to easily export their data. Thus, Interment.net relied heavily on volunteers to visit cemeteries and transcribe inscriptions.

Today, however, most cemeteries are able to easily export their digital records to textfiles or spreadsheets.

"We're presently updating records for all national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries", Johnson added. "We're also adding records from thousands of municipalities, counties, cemetery associations and districts."

Interment.net is a free online archive of cemetery transcriptions. Records are acquired from government offices, private cemeteries, and from volunteers who transcribe inscriptions.

Visit Interment.net to publish your transcription.

Flour Sack Dresses, Diapers Made into Underwear and More

I stumbled on this story which I found fascinating. It is something I was not aware of - that parents during hard times made their children's clothes out of flour sacks. You can read the story at The Fascinating History of Flour Sack Dresses and see photos of some of the lovely dresses mothers made for their little girls.

This was something I never experienced. I was born after WW2, not during the Great Depression. We didn't have much money. We ate the cheapest cuts of meat possible - pigs' feet, pigs' tails, tripe, kidney, heart, liver, ox tails, and so on. My mother made underwear for my sister and I out of old diapers. When I went to High School (Grade 9) my mother made me two skirts out of old kitchen curtains. One skirt was pink and white gingham, the second was blue and white gingham.

The flour sack manufacturers were amazing to create such pretty patterns to make these children feel so much better about their clothing.

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album No. 9

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.



The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Meme: Our Immigrant Ancestors - Thomas King of Arkell Ontario

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

One of my more recent immigrant ancestors was Thomas King. Thomas, his wife Harriet, their son David and Thomas' brother Lewis King left Suffolk England circa 1831 for North America.

Lewis and Thomas were born in Wenhaston, Suffolk England. In 1817 the brothers married and began raising their families but in 1831 they decided to settle in what was then the wilderness of Upper Canada (present day Ontario). Joining a small group of Englishmen, they sailed to New York and then crossed into Canada. Once in Upper Canada (now called Ontario) they established a new settlement called Arkell, named after the leader of the group. Descendants of the two pioneer brothers settled mainly in Michigan, Ontario, Australia, and Alberta.

A book on the family is available  from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or CreateSpace  
8.5x11. 
200 pages
Full Color on White paper 

Susan B. Anthony Paved the Way

Like Clinton or not, it's a historical moment. No other words needed, just read this story and check out all the names being added to the thank-you letter beside her grave.

As Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination, Susan B. Anthony gets thanks for paving the way

Review: Dr. Eureka Is Fun for Everyone

Today I had an opportunity to play a new game by Blue-Orange called Dr. Eureka. This is a really fun game where every player is a scientist. Each scientist is trying to solve a formula using plastic test tubes to get coloured balls into the same pattern shown on a card. Sounds easy, right? Wrong!

The challenge is that you have to  pour your balls from one test tube to the other in order to get them in the correct order. You can't just dump the balls on a table and sort them. This game is great for young players but also for older ones, including adults! What a great activity for genealogists to bond with their children or grandchildren. Imagine the ancestor stories you can tell as you all try to solve the formula.

It's also educational. Younger children are going to learn planning and thinking ahead. All players need to think logically, devise a plan and then execute their ideas for getting those balls into the correct order.

To put it simply a card is chosen. Each player races to be the first to solve the formula (getting all the balls in the same order as shown on the card). The first player to solve the formula gets the card. The rules say that the first player to get 5 cards wins, but you could set the final number at anything you wanted. Playing to get 5 cards takes around 10 to 15 minutes.

Two of my grandchldren, now aged 8 and 10, spend a week with me every year and sometimes it is during school days. As a former teacher I have them write in their journal each day, and do some math with me. I found that having a couple of games of Dr. Eureka between the Math and the Journal writing helps them switch to a different mode of thinking. We do Journals first, then Dr. Eureka to switch their thoughts from creative to logical, then we tackle Math.

The Cards

I rate this game 5 stars. It's easy to understand, fast and easy to play as well as lots of fun.

• Age: 6+
• Players: 1 – 4
• Play Time: 10 – 15 mins

Dr. Eureka is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

Disclaimer: Blue Orange sent me a free game for review purposes.

Try This Fun Genealogy Cemetery Hunt for Children

My grandchildren and I having a picnic

Are you looking for a summer activity for your children or grandchildren? Why not Try This Fun Genealogy Cemetery Hunt for Children

This is my July article for Legacy Family Tree and I think you'll enjoy it. I created this fun game for my eldest grandchildren when they were 6 and 8 years old. They loved it! 

See how I set this game up at
Try This Fun Genealogy Cemetery Hunt for Children

Can a Lost Colony Come Back to Life?

Baptism of Virginia Dare, 1st English child born in N. America

England’s first settlement in North America vanished completely three years after it started. In 1587, 116 English settlers led by John White landed on Roanoke Island. He left them there when he sailed back to England that same year for more supplies. Delayed by war between England and Spain, he didn’t return until 1590.The colony had disappeared and no trace of the settlers or the settlement was found.

The mystery may be solved as some archaeologists  suspect that the colonists found their way to the inland site south of the Chowan River bridge, roughly 50 miles from Roanoke. It first came to light in 2012, when researchers at the British Museum in London announced they had found a drawing of a fort that had been obscured under a patch on a map of Virginia and North Carolina drawn by White in the 1580s.

Read the full story at What happened to the Lost Colony? U.S. developer wants millions to save land that might hold clues

Credits: Image By Henry Howe - William A. Crafts (1876) Pioneers in the settlement of America: from Florida in 1510 to California in 1849, Pioneers in the settlement of America: from Florida in 1510 to California in 1849. edition, Boston: Published by Samuel Walker and Company, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10182700

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album L8

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One. 

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right-hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left-hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Meme: Our Immigrant Ancestors - the Mennonite Jacob Burkholder

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

Jacob and Sophia Burkholder, my 5th great-grandparents, were the first settlers in Hamilton Ontario Canada on land called the Burkholder Settlement. Jacob's land petition shows he arrived in Upper Canada July 1794 and applied for land 7 Aug. 1794. On this petition his name is recorded as Borghonder.

The Burkholder family came from the Ementhal valley outside Berne, Switzerland. Mennonites were opposed to war and many were imprisoned, exiled or burned at the stake. 

Jacob Burkholder, a weaver, and his two brothers, John and Christian sailed for America in 1765 on the ship Myrtilla. They landed at Philadelphia, 21 September 1765. John and Jacob Burkholder settled in Lampeter Twp., Lancaster Co.,  Pennsylvania, while Christian Burkholder settled near Newbury in Franklin Co., Pennsylvania. 



Several French Huguenot refugees were among the Myrtilla's 81 passengers, including Abraham and Sophia De Roche. Sophia was a French girl, supposedly of Huguenot descent. Jacob married Sophia De Roche in 1765 in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. Their signatures may be seen in Pennsylvania, where they took the oath of allegiance to the British Crown in 1765. 


Following the American Revolution, Jacob Burkholder with wife Sophia and their adult family left Pennsylvania for Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario). With their son Christian as their guide, they came by Conestoga wagon drawn by oxen, crossing at Buffalo and arriving at Niagara in present day Ontario

You can read more about the Burkholder family and origins at The Burkholder Family of Switzerland

European Family History Conference

The following Announcement was sent to Olive Tree Genealogy a few days ago.

The Family History Library and the research specialists of the European Reference team invite you to a free, never before offered, week-long conference focused exclusively on European research. The conference, which will be held September 12th-16th 2016, is perfect for beginning and intermediate genealogists interested in learning about records of European localities, and Family History Library collections.

Come and spend a week at the world renowned Family History Library learning from our expert staff of genealogists as well as experienced guest genealogists. Learn how to effectively use historical records and how to do research in several European countries. Explore such topics as census, church, immigration, and vital records. Learn more about German, Swiss, Russian, and Polish research. Discover new techniques, strategies, and methodology to apply to your genealogical research problems.

Most classes will be held at the Church History Museum Theater with the exception of the lab classes, which will be taught at the Family History Library in the B1 Lab. 

Seating in the Church History Museum Theater is limited to 190 participants, so be sure to register early to secure a spot. All classes will also be offered via webinar.     

Registration begins 1 Aug. 2016.To register for the free conference, visit the Eventbrite registration site at this link if you plan to personally attend in-house: http://bit.ly/29teGka.

For those attending by way of webinar, please use the following registration link. http://bit.ly/29vC93P. 500 spots are available.

26 seats will be available for in-person labs which will all be held in the Family History Library B1 LAB. 100 spots available for webinar labs.

A syllabus will be provided that can be downloaded from the FamilySearch Wiki.  Here is the Link: https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/2016_European_Family_History_Conference
             
We hope this conference will not only be informative and instructive, but that it will also encourage and inspire you to continue your family history research. Perhaps this will be just what you need to break through that 20-year-old brick wall research problem. We look forward to working with you!

We will use Eventbrite to process your registration. Your information will be processed in accordance with their privacy policy located at http://www.eventbrite.com/privacypolicy.

Celebrating Sisterhood - 100th Anniversary of Canadian Women's Right to Vote

2016 is the 100th Anniversary of Women first obtaining the right to vote in Canada. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were the first Canadian provinces to grant women this right. Canadian women who owned land however had the right to vote as early as 1791 but that right was taken away in 1849.

It was not until 1917 that British Columbia and Ontario followed suit and granted women the right to vote. I wish I knew if either of my grandmothers, who lived in Ontario, were involved in the struggle for women's rights, or at the very least were pleased with their new-found rights! But it is not something I thought to ask about when I was a young teenager.

1918 saw Nova Scotia come on board, then New Brunswick in 1919. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland lagged behind, not granting women the right to vote until 1922 and 1925 respectively. But the biggest and most shameful holdout was Quebec. That province did not grant women the right to vote until 1940!

I have talked before about Canada's Famous Five, that group of 5 courageous and determined women who forced Canada to recognize women as "persons" in 1929.

You can read more about women's rights in Canada at A greater sisterhood: the Women’s Rights struggle in Canada

Update on Digitization of Canadian WW1 Files

 The following announcement was sent by Library and Archives Canada (LAC):

 
As of July 15, 2016, 307,588 of 640,000 files are available online via our Soldiers of the First World War: 1914–1918 database. Please visit the Digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Service Files page for more details on the digitization project.

Library and Archives Canada is digitizing the service files systematically, from box 1 to box 10686, which roughly corresponds to alphabetical order. Please note that over the years, the content of some boxes has had to be moved and, you might find that the file you want, with a surname that is supposed to have been digitized, is now located in another box that has not yet been digitized. So far, we have digitized the following files:

• Latest box digitized: Box 5218 and Knaggs.