Sourcing for New Netherland settlers and descendants can be tough; there is a lot of information and even misinformation out there. Research of New Netherland is ongoing and old documents (written in archaic Dutch) are still being translated. Many old genealogy books are wildly inaccurate, with misunderstandings of patronymics and conflations of similarly named people. Where to start!
On most of the New Netherland Settlers project pages, inside of the blue project box, there is a link near the bottom called Resources that leads to our New Netherland Genealogy Resources category.
Located inside of that category there are several pages that can provide quality sources:
1 Sources-New Netherland Settlers
This page has been set up within Category:Sources system. Most of the links on the page go to Free Space pages that have citation examples and multiple links to where the item can be found online. Also, it now features a Caution! section for sources that have been found to contain errors and are unreliable.
2 Primary and Secondary Sources for New Netherland
This page contains links to primary and secondary sources, like wills, deeds, court records. It also has a section with sources relating to specific settlements inside of New Netherland.
3 Baptism and Marriage Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of New Netherland and Beyond
This page contains links to church record transcriptions and where to find them. The church record transcriptions of New Netherland are the bread and butter of the project for several reasons. The women of New Netherland usually did not take their husband's surnames and are recorded with their own family name or patronymic. The witnesses, or godparents, at the baptisms are often related in some way, or their presence can reveal other information. And these families typically used a traditional naming pattern that helps tie them to previous generations. Pure gold!
# 1781 Mar 04 Catharina Rensselaer, of Philip Schuyler and Catharina Rensselaer. Wit.: Genl. Washington, James Rensselaer, Mrs. Washington, Margarita Schuyler.
* If starting from scratch with these church records sounds scary (it is), it's much easier to start with Pat Wardell's collective research files, hosted by the New Jersey Genealogical Society of Bergen County: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Early_Bergen_County_Families These files typically contain the dates and locations of baptisms and marriages and can assist in locating transcriptions.
Lastly, if you are interested in joining the New Netherland Settlers project, head over to our project thread. Answer that post and you can get your own shiny badge!
