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I took a quick look yesterday. I noticed something I think is incorrect. Let me explain.
I tried unsuccessully to trace my Dutch ancestors because names were spelled incorrectly - they were anglicized - and the patronym was incorrectly used as a middle name. I was under the impression the patronym becaame extinct when the surname was used. It was missing in the Dutch church records when the new name was introducted.
The surname business is very murky as to who and when it was first used by any family. Longstreet, for instance, did not use the Englsh form of the surname until 1760 - according to James Rupert Longstreet 1960.
Then there is the matter of corrupt. American eighteenth century authors didn't seem to know much about Dutch names. Bergan penned my ancestors "formal name was Mayke Gijsberts Tuyz Lanen Van Pelt". Her uncle was the Lanen who became the founder of the Van Pelt Family of America. Tuyz is a misnomer for "Thijs" her grandfather's nickname. Gijsbert was the father and her marriage banns was between Stoffel Langestraet and Mayke Laen [Lane}. Dirck Stoffel was her husband's father. I've never seen any primary soruce that indicates he ever used the Langestraet surname. He died between april 1696 and that fall as he was not mentioned in a Deed between his children and another person, but his second wife was named.
Schip names are misspelled, too. It is veryr difficult to check passenger lists when "de Halve Maen" is spelled Half Moon and the reader doesn't know the difference.
It's almost critically important to understand the history of Netherland and the changes that caused boundaries to move, counties to disappear and new Kingdoms to form. This is perhaps the single reason I did not underatnd until recently how my Netherland ancestors became Belgians when they lived in the same village for 500 years. In fact I finally contacted the State Archivist in the Flanders Region, Beglium to learn how the ancestors names were actually spelled on the records because of the confusion generated by well meaning others that don't know any more about it than I did. A translated name does not an ancestor find.
The information on nnp.org needs to be very precise and fact checked. Not everyone who visits your site will recognize patronyms or understand them. Which brings me back to the first statement.
My Longstreet ancestor and that of General James Longstreet, CSA are siblings who share the same parents. The question, therefore, is which is the correct citation for the father's name? Stoffel Dirckson Langestraet, or Stoffel Dirckson [Langstreat] [Langstraat]. Stoffel, his wife, and daughter Moica were deceased several years before 1760 when the famly began to use the English form.
It was not until I read the book 'Quentin Durward:" written by Walter Scott and published in 1823 that I was able to understand the politics and wars that permeated Netherland. Its a wonderful romance novel filled with historical notes.
If nng.org does nothing else I sincerely hope the board has all information posted in a black font on a white background so all visitors can see it. I say this because I am not the only one researching Dutch who has limited sight. White on Tangerine, Blue on Navy, Pink on Red is painful to try to read.. Navy Blue text n white is excellent and so is Dark Brown on a very light beige background. And please let us manuipulate FONT size on our monitors. We don't care how it looks as long as we can READ it.
Thanks for your time. I wish you and the new site very good luck. I look forward to being able to read it.
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