I blame my Dutch ancestors for my interest turned passion for genealogy. My mother had bugged her mother before she died to help her record as much as she remembered about the family, which was considerable. Mom made me a fan chart with all the names and a note off of one branch which said "descended from Dutch colonist Hendrick Jansen Spear" (her spelling from her father). I was young (about 25) and had just started teaching so didn't have a lot of time to do much. Also like a lot of people thought skeptically, "Oh, sure." I went with my mother-in-law (my research mentor) to Washington, D.C. one summer where we spent several days either at the Library of Congress or the DAR Library. In those few days I discovered that Grandmother was right and had found a large stack of books and transcribed documents that proved it. I also discovered all the additional Dutch ancestor lines that I was also related to. Having uncovered so much information so quickly at a young age encouraged me to continue looking at other lines. I now have the patience and curiosity 30 years later to dig into my father's lines which have been much harder to trace. I thank the Spear/Speer/Spier family for that! Even though I have not sent in much in the way of queries or comments, I want thank the experts on this list for keeping me up-to- date on current questions and new findings on my Dutch lines since I am, at the moment, spending much more time on other family lines. Nancy Ratay > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dorothy Koenig" <dkoenig@LMI.net> > To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:56 AM > Subject: [DUTCH-COLONIES] How I discovered I have Dutch ancestry > > >> Dear Listers, I am guessing that all regular discussants on this >> List fall into one of two categories -- 1) Those who have always >> known that they are descended from Dutch colonial ancestors and 2) >> Those who stumbled upon Dutch colonial ancestors in the course of >> their genealogical research. My "gateway" ancestor to a Dutch >> heritage is my great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Hagerman >> (1847-1922) who was born and died in Kentucky. My mother and her >> siblings always spoke of her as their "German grandmother". It >> wasn't until the early 1990s that I discovered that Sarah's father >> had the mighty strange name "Teunis" (spelling "Toonis" on the >> handwritten marriage permission given by his future mother-in-law). >> I had the good fortune to meet a "net cousin" named Anita Silvey who >> is descended from Teunis Hagerman's uncle who had moved from Loudon >> County, VA, to Ohio. The paper trail led us from KY and OH back to >> VA, then to NJ, and finally to the immigrants Adriaen Hegeman and his >> wife, Katherine Margits, who arrived in 1652 in New Amsterdam from >> Amsterdam. To date I have identified 60 direct Dutch ancestors, and >> my self-identity has been changed in the process! >> >> Does anyone else care to share their story about "How I found out I >> have Dutch ancestry"? >> >> Dorothy >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUTCH- > COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Does anyone have a record of Jansen being changed to Johnson? I have a family with the Low Dutch in Kentucky late 1700's and the spelling is Johnson. I thought they might be of the same group. Donna ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Ratay" <nr@ng-tek.com> To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:14 PM Subject: Re: [DUTCH-COLONIES] How I discovered I have Dutch ancestry >I blame my Dutch ancestors for my interest turned passion for > genealogy. My mother had bugged her mother before she died to help > her record as much as she remembered about the family, which was > considerable. Mom made me a fan chart with all the names and a note > off of one branch which said "descended from Dutch colonist Hendrick > Jansen Spear" (her spelling from her father). I was young (about 25) > and had just started teaching so didn't have a lot of time to do > much. Also like a lot of people thought skeptically, "Oh, sure." I > went with my mother-in-law (my research mentor) to Washington, D.C. > one summer where we spent several days either at the Library of > Congress or the DAR Library. In those few days I discovered that > Grandmother was right and had found a large stack of books and > transcribed documents that proved it. I also discovered all the > additional Dutch ancestor lines that I was also related to. > > Having uncovered so much information so quickly at a young age > encouraged me to continue looking at other lines. I now have the > patience and curiosity 30 years later to dig into my father's lines > which have been much harder to trace. I thank the Spear/Speer/Spier > family for that! > > Even though I have not sent in much in the way of queries or > comments, I want thank the experts on this list for keeping me up-to- > date on current questions and new findings on my Dutch lines since I > am, at the moment, spending much more time on other family lines. > > Nancy Ratay > >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Dorothy Koenig" <dkoenig@LMI.net> >> To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:56 AM >> Subject: [DUTCH-COLONIES] How I discovered I have Dutch ancestry >> >> >>> Dear Listers, I am guessing that all regular discussants on this >>> List fall into one of two categories -- 1) Those who have always >>> known that they are descended from Dutch colonial ancestors and 2) >>> Those who stumbled upon Dutch colonial ancestors in the course of >>> their genealogical research. My "gateway" ancestor to a Dutch >>> heritage is my great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Hagerman >>> (1847-1922) who was born and died in Kentucky. My mother and her >>> siblings always spoke of her as their "German grandmother". It >>> wasn't until the early 1990s that I discovered that Sarah's father >>> had the mighty strange name "Teunis" (spelling "Toonis" on the >>> handwritten marriage permission given by his future mother-in-law). >>> I had the good fortune to meet a "net cousin" named Anita Silvey who >>> is descended from Teunis Hagerman's uncle who had moved from Loudon >>> County, VA, to Ohio. The paper trail led us from KY and OH back to >>> VA, then to NJ, and finally to the immigrants Adriaen Hegeman and his >>> wife, Katherine Margits, who arrived in 1652 in New Amsterdam from >>> Amsterdam. To date I have identified 60 direct Dutch ancestors, and >>> my self-identity has been changed in the process! >>> >>> Does anyone else care to share their story about "How I found out I >>> have Dutch ancestry"? >>> >>> Dorothy >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >>> without >>> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUTCH- >> COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >