Who Was Your First Immigrant Ancestor?

I'm not American so I don't celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. We Canadians had our Thanksgiving back in October because we celebrate for a different reason than Americans do. I don't have any Pilgrim ancestors. None of my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower or other ships arriving that early on the shores of America. 

What I do have are ancestors who left Holland for the New World of New Netherland that is now New York. I celebrate their bravery and strength for making such a journey! 

Watching last night's docu-dramas on  the Plymouth Rock and Jamestown settlements (excellent shows, well worth watching) made me wish someone would do a similar show about the Dutch who settled New York. 

My earliest ancestor to America that I am aware of was Cornelis Antonissen Van Slijk from Brueckelen, Netherlands, who left the Netherlands in May 1634 from the Texel on board De Endracht and sailed to the New World. He was a thirty year old carpenter and mason, and his skills were desirable in a new colony.

There were many other settlers arriving around this time period who I can proudly claim as my ancestors.  Those who I have researched are

Willem Pieterse Van Slyke (nephew of Cornelis Antonissen and also my ancestor) arrived New Netherland 1660

 

Lambert Van Valkenburg - records  indicate he was in New Amsterdam as early as Jan. 1644. Since it is unlikely the ships sailed in the winter, he was probably in New Amsterdam in the summer or fall of 1643.

HarmenJanse Ryckman came to the New World sometime in the 1660s with at least one child - his daughter Margarita (Grietje) Harmense Ryckman.

Hendrick Bartholomeus[Vrooman] and five children ages 15, 13, 11, 7 and 5 years old are on the passenger list of D'Eendracht (The Concord) arriving in New Amsterdam NY on 17 April 1664.

Jan Martense (VanAlystyne) and his wife Dirkje were from Meppel, Netherlands and they came to the New World with at least 2 children. The first time we see them in New York in 18 July 1655 when a son Marten was baptised at New Amsterdam.

Jan Cornelise Damen emigrated from Bunnik, Netherlands ca 1650 and married Sophia/Fytie Martense. To date no record of him as a passenger on a ship has been found. However Pim found an Amsterdam Netherlands notarial document in 1651 where a Jan Cornelisz. van Vechten signs on to come to the New World in the employ of Jacob Stoffels.  Jan Janszen Damen was in Amsterdam at the same time and vouches that Jan Cornelisz. has his father's permission.  Both sign the document. Vechten and Bunnik are "twin villages" but the church is in Bunnik. This is almost certainly my Jan Damen. 

Other immigrant ancetors who I have not yet researched to find their dates of immigration or other details:

• Cornelis Janse Clopper who married in 1657 in New Amsterdam (present day New York City)
• Soert Olferts
• Jan Snediker arrived ca 1641
• Cornelis Vonck married in 1657 in Long Island
• John Concklin before 1665
• Arent Leendertsen de Grauw married 1659 in New Amsterdam
• Herman Coerten
• Christian Barents Van Horn arrived before 1653
• Lucas Dircksezen Vanderburgh arrived before 1658
• Cornelis Aertsen Van Schaik arrived before 1642
• Lucas Dirckszen Vanderburgh arrived before 1658

and too many more to list them all, including Huguenots and Walloons from France. I appreciate them all for without their bravery, curiousity and strength I would not be here today.

Introducing Ken McKinlay, Professional Genealogist

Ken McKinlay is an Ottawa Ontario based genealogist. Olive Tree Genealogy recently interviewed Ken so that I could introduce him to my readers. 

I've seen Ken's meticulous research on various Facebook groups and am very impressed with his research skills and citing of his sources. Read on for my questions and Ken's responses:

How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

I first became involved in genealogy and family history due to my curiosity. I had always heard stories that a branch of the family was descended from Loyalists, another branch came to North America on the Mayflower, and yet another branch came to Scotland from Ireland. I wanted to find the truth behind each of these family tales. Amazingly enough those stories have all turned out to be true. I have been able to document that I am a descendant of Lt. Caleb Howe of the Queen’s Rangers (I have three or four other Loyalist lines I’m working on too), I can trace one of my lines to Elizabeth Tilley of the Mayflower (I’m also looking at a possible Brewster connection), and the McKinlay family that settled in Thornliebank, Scotland did come from Londonderry, Ireland around the late 1830s.

What is your main genealogical focus?

Over time my genealogical focus has gone from researching my own roots to doing research for clients and also helping out those that post to certain genealogy related groups on Facebook. What I enjoy most is sharing my knowledge. What I’ve found is that I enjoy teaching people how to do research, whether it be speaking at a society meeting (a little stressful for me but I do enjoy it), blogging, or telling someone where I found the information I had posted in response to their Facebook query. If I can educate someone as to how the information can be found that then means they can better learn how to do their own research.
 
What are your website(s) and blogs?

I do have a blog called Family Tree Knots found at http://familytreeknots.blogspot.ca/. There the focus is on the methodologies of genealogy research and where to find those oftentimes elusive records. When I’m dealing with my own research my blog becomes a “lessons learned” post plus a way to share the findings with family members.
 
Do you have a Social Media presence? 
I can be found on various social media sites including:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kmwebott

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmckinlay

Google+: https://www.google.com/+KenMcKinlay
 
Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?
I find that a Social Media presence is important since it allows me to interact with a much larger audience than just that found in the Ottawa region. It may be that I have information that someone is looking for or, more often, someone else has the information I’m trying to find. A simple post or query using the applicable site can lead to the key answer or document to resolve an outstanding problem.

Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations?

I’m a member and director at large of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), a member of the Ottawa branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), a member of the United Empire Loyalists’ of Canada (UELAC), and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).
 
What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important?

Genealogy is not only a way of learning about where the family came from but also the impact that history and society has had on each of us. We all have heroes and villains in our tree and they make the research interesting. Yet it is the common person that has helped bring us to where we are today. Finding out the causes of why the family moved from Ireland to Scotland or from a village in Yorkshire to the industrial city of Glasgow can make the history that they teach in school much more interesting.

What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

I think there have been two important and exciting developments in the past several years. The first is the increased amount of documents that are now available to researchers without the need to either visit an archive or library or to send away and way weeks or even months for a response. That isn’t to say that archives and libraries aren’t important. Those brick and mortar buildings are a vital component to our research. However, with more records available at relatively low costs or even free anyone can start research their family tree. The second is genetic genealogy. As an adjunct to tracing the various lines using the well-known paper records, DNA testing has helped make connections to possible distant cousins.
 
Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

In the near future I think that with the continued digitization projects more “lost” clues on our families will be uncovered. However, I don’t think it will be a rosy future 50 to 100 years from now when it comes to future genealogists trying to figure out our lives. So much of what used to be recorded in newspapers or even in letters is now being done electronically. Yet we don’t know if that information will survive us.