In January of this year, Ancestry added a collection titled "U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926." I just stumbled across it a few days ago. And, I've been absolutely amazed at the records I've found from the 1600 & 1700's!
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| U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926 Marriage record; date: Aug 12, 1710 found on ancestry.com |
Above is a marriage record for my 8th great grandparents, Cornelis Cornelisse Doremus and Rachel Pietersen. It shows Cornelis was born at Middleburg, Zeeland [which is in The Netherlands] and lives at Ackquackanonk. His bride, Rachel, was born in and lives at Bergen, which is in current day Hudson County, New Jersey.
I love finding a record showing that Cornelis was born in The Netherlands! The only other places I've trace back to have been Germany and England. (I'm also glad to have found that Rachel was born in Bergen. I don't know anything about her family, so this is a great place to start.)
My next steps with the Doremus family are to see if I can track down some of their records in both Holland and in France! And, I want to find out more about joining The National Huguenot Society!
Oh! And, I have a question...does anyone know what the "Y.M." following the groom & the "Y.D." following the bride mean? Everyone on the page has the same marking except for one marked "widow." Thanks!
Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net
Dana,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the Dutch church records of Middleburg would still be available. [fire and war].
However; the following might be just as helpful.
Check Google Books for the book by William Nelson. [Free Ebook/PDF]
Source:
Author: William Nelson Genealogy of the Doremus Family in America: Descendants of Cornelis Doremus, from Breskens and Middleburg, in Holland, who emigrated to America about 1685-6, and settled at Acquackanonk (now Paterson), New Jersey. The Press Printing and Publishing Company, 1897 pages 200 through 202.
The above pages provide the original dutch transcriptions of the church records and the follows with the english translation. You will find your Cornelius there.
There is also the book by Edith Eberhart, which is a revisit of Nelson's work that was published in the 1990's. This book is not in Google Books, but may be on lend at library.
The earliest document image I have found with the same spelling of the Doremus surname is in France. It was a document of marriage in the early 1500's. If searching in France keep in mind there will be differences in the spellings of given names. e.g. "Hendrick" might be found as "Henri".
Regarding your question. I believe Y.M. [Young Master/Man] and Y.D. [young Dame/madam/Lady].