I live in Friesland and my whole family originates from this province. My main research concerns the TALMA surname (see my Talma Research Group on Genealogy Wise). Connected families are a.o. Merema (Groningen), Wiersma, Walda, Draaisma, Nota, Uitterdijk, Raap and Leistra.

My husband and I were both born in Friesland he in Berlikum, I in Akkerwoude.
I want to back sometimes and visit the old churches, and of course the archives in Leeuwarden. I am glad that all the archives are so readily available online. How do you do most of your research?

Hi all, One of my main lines is the Veeders. So far I have traced them back as far as New Netherlands in North America. From what I have read, Veeder seems to have originally been primarily a Frisian surname. I am still working on tracing them back to the Netherlands. They are connected with many other surnames back in New Netherlands that I am guessing are likely mostly also from the Netherlands, but I don't know yet how many of them would have been Frisian.

Hi Liz, what time frame are you talking about. I checked the Frisian archives online, and there is not a surname with Veerder to be found. There are names like Van der Veer, Veerman and Der Veer. If you are looking before 1811, people in Friesland did not have a last name, and you would be looking for people by their father's first name.

Hi Liz,
Like Elisabeth, I have checked the Frisian records, but found no Veeder. I think your family is more likely to come from Ostfriesland in Germany, as the name looks more German to me ..

Hi Sylvia, I checked my family tree, and I actually have a few Talmas in my family tree, the first one was Hessel Meinderts Talma, born in 1773 in Godloos Tolhuis, Ringsumageest, the son of Meindert Gerbens and Romkjen Pieters.

Veeder was probably Vedder, originally. The earliest Vedders I could find in the church books in Tresoar are from 1667, which is already too late for someone from New Netherland. The church books probably don't go back far enough.

Hi everyone, Thank you for all the comments. I have found others with the name Vedder from the same time period but as far back as I have traced my own line, they have spelt it Veeder. Perhaps they changed it when they came to the Colonies; I don't know. I will keep all your ideas in mind as I continue to try to trace them.

Elisabeth: we are actually related ! Meindert Gerbens and Romkjen Pieters are also my ancestors !

How are you related to them ? My family are descended from their son Hessel Meinderts Talma, born in 1773 in Rinsumageest.

I can give you a family tree going back another 5 generations to Gabe Doedes, who died in 1625.

You can contact me at bintal_ms@hotmail.com .

That is so cool !!!!!!!!
Hessel Meinderts Talma's daughter
Jantje Hessels Talma,( 01 May 1800 ) who married Pieter Watses Hoogstra, their daughter Lutske Pieters Hoogstra married Hemke Pieters van der Zwaag, who was my great - grandfather (van der zwaag)
I too have some information about Gabe Doedes, however it's only names and dates. I have not much information on the women on that side.
Would appreciate any helpful info.
I remember, when we lived in Akkerwoude, there was afamily of Talmas with 6 boys( maybe 7 - and one girl) We always played with these boys - I remember there was a Klaas, Sijtse-Klaas, and a Benny. Oh those childhood memories.
It is great to have a distant relative!

This is great ! I've even got your great-grandfather's info in my tree !

I think I know the family you mean: Gerben and Maaike Talma. They had 7 boys and 1 girl: Sieds Klaas (he is on facebook !), Jan Berend, Klaas Gerben, Berend (Benny), Eduard, Rudolf Robert, Sieuwke Johanna and Marcel Irmo (he is a dentist now).

Can I send you a copy of the family tree ? If so, where do you want me to send it to ?

I recently bought the book Mother And Child Were Saved - by Catharina Schrader, midwife in Friesland in the
17th, 18th century. She left a diary in which she not only noted the
number of children she helped to deliver, but also a lot of details.
Maybe she delivered one of your ancestors. I found one of my ancestors in there.
There is a preview here

My ggGrandfather Jan-Willem Eisma (1822-1913) was from Friesland. My ggGrandmother Dietwertje deLeeuw (1822-1860) was from Amsterdam. I searched the Frisian Archives that Elizabeth suggested and came up with the following information for my ggGrandfather:
Geboorteakte Ferwerderadeel, 1822
Aangiftedatum 3 december 1822, blad nr. 109 (suppl. nr. 1-1)
Jan Eisma, geboren 30 november 1822
Zoon van Arnoldus Willem Eisma en Riemke Pieters Velzen
Wonende te Marrum
The only problem I have with this information is that I don't understand the German words. I can see that it has his birthday. Could someone please explain what this data says? Also if anyone else has any information on the Eisma Friesland research I would really appreciate it.

Geboorteakte means - Birthregister
This is actually Dutch, and it would present a problem if you do not know the language.
Ferwerderadeel is the place
Aangiftedatum : the date when the birth was registered
geboren: means born
zoon van= son of
wonende - living
Hope that helps, if you need more help, let me know.

Thank you Elizabeth for the translation. I do have one more question, if you will.
You said zoon van means son of. Does that mean his fathers name is Arnoldus Willem Eisma en Riemke Pieters Velzen? Or would you know what that "en Riemke Pieters Velzen" meant?
Thank you again.

That would mean, that Arnoldus Willem Eisma is the father,and Riemke Pieters Velzen is the mother.
It is quite easy to search, since the middle names of the people are normally the names of the father, so Willem would be the father of Arnoldus, aand Pieter would the father of Riemke.
Before 1811 most people did not have a last name, usually the names of the father was their second name.
Often you can find the names of fathers and grandfathers by the names of the children:
Usually the first son would be named after the father's father
the second son after the mother's father
the first daughter would be named after the mother's mother
the second daughter would be named after the father's mother
(of course there are exceptions) After the grandparents were named after, they would name their children after the great-grand parents.

Hi Patty,
Please also have a look at www.allefriezen.nl . This website has the original birth certificate of your gggrandfather online. At the top you can click on the English flag to get the website in English. Your gggrandfather's birth certificate is on page 111. It's got the original signature of Arnoldus Willem Eisma on; he signed his name as A.W. Eijsma.
If you need any help navigating the website or with translation, please let me know.

Kind regards,
Sylvia

Sending Hugs and Thank yous to Elizabeth and Sylvia!!!

Elizabeth, Thank you for the name information. I would have never known this without learning from you.

Slyvia, Thank you so very much. Because of you my dear, I now have a copy of my ggGrandfather's birth certificate.

Do either of you know why people migrated from the Netherlands to America? Can you suggest something that I can read. It just looks like it is so beautiful.

I never met my grandfather, but read about him. He became a very successful farmer in Iowa with lots of land.

The other day we visited Pier 21, a Canadian immigration museum. The had a display of old advertisements about Canada and the US, ads to lure people from Europe to the US.

The pictures of existing farms were beautiful, lush growth everywhere, and a lot of the ads said in big letters: "FREE Land". That in itself might have lured a lot of farmers to come to the US and Canada. To the left is just such an example of a poster I found online. Religious frredom played a big role as well, for those leaving Europe.

The main reason for people to move to America was normally to better themselves. Like Elisabeth said already: they were lured to countries like America or Canada with (often) false promisses of 'free' land and better circumstances than they had a home. Sometimes other family members went before them and convinced them to emigrate as well. It's hard to recommend any books as there are quite a lot around.

You've probably already come across this info, but I am sending it just in case. I've found it on the FamilySearch website (http://www.familysearch.org):

FamilySearch™ International Genealogical Index v5.0
Family Group Record

Husband
Jan-Willem Arnoldus Eisma
Birth: 30 NOV 1822 Marrum, Ferwerderadeel, Friesland, Netherlands
Christening:
Marriage: 31 JAN 1850 Amsterdam, , Utrecht, Netherlands
Death: 13 DEC 1913 Adams, , Keokuk, Iowa
Burial: Porter Cemetery,Adams, , Keokuk, Iowa

Wife
Dietwertje de Leeuw
Birth: 1822 , Friesland, Netherlands
Christening:
Marriage: 31 JAN 1850 Amsterdam, , Utrecht, Netherlands
Death: 31 JAN 1860 , Preston, West Virginia
Burial:

Children
1. John Jr. Axsmear
Male
Birth: 03 OCT 1850 Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland
Christening:
Death: 23 JUN 1939 Sigourney, Keokuk, Iowa
Burial: 26 JUN 1939 Pleasant Grove Cemetery,West Of, Sigourney, Keokuk, Iowa

2. Emma Axsmear
Female
Birth: 15 FEB 1852 , Preston, West Virginia
Christening:
Death: 05 APR 1929
Burial:

3. Jacob Cesar Axsmear
Male
Birth: 06 SEP 1854 , Preston, West Virginia
Christening:
Death: 03 NOV 1918
Burial:

4. William W. Axsmear
Male
Birth: 07 JUN 1856 , Preston, West Virginia
Christening:
Death: 29 MAR 1931 Of, Adams Twp, Keokuk, Iowa
Burial:

5. George Washington Axsmear
Male
Birth: 17 APR 1858 , Preston, West Virginia
Christening:
Death: 07 FEB 1929
Burial:

The same website also has details of a publication about your family. This is the link for the information http://tiny.cc/LnoZB . The title is: Eisma--Axmear genealogy : descendants of Jan Willem Eisma--Axmear, compiled by Raechel H. Axmear.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Sylvia

Oh thank you Ladies.

Yes, and when they arrived here they found nothing is actually free. My Grandfather worked for years on the railroad saving his money before he went to Iowa to be able to start his farm.

Sylvia, I have some information on my grandfather, but this is much more. I will go through this and add the additional. I also need to read the Eisma-Axmear Genealogy.

Elizabeth, I love those posters.

I really apreciate all your knowledge and help.

New on the GenLias website:

Ancestors New Amsterdam – New York in Genlias

In 1609, exactly 400 years ago, the explorer Henry Hudson left Amsterdam engaged by the Dutch East India Company to try to find a sea route along the north-east coast of North America. He did not find that route, but he discovered the island Manna Hatta. In his wake came Dutch traders and colonists who founded New Amsterdam. These ancestors of the present-day New York can now be found in Genlias.

De baptismal and marriage records have survived, beginning in 1639 and these data are now uploaded in our unique ancestor database Genlias. At the same time the site is enlarged with the background information about these records. The grand totals are 20.219 baptismal records over the years 1639-1800 and 6636 marriage records over the years 1639-1801.

Now you can search for the ancestors of Roosevelt, Van der Bildt, Bogardt, Van Bueren and Springsteen in Genlias and maybe, leafing through the database, you will come across members of your family!

This is only the beginning, according to Rob Huijbrecht the project manager of Genlias Overseas. In the future we hope to add even more faraway countries. So the researchers can track their ancestors who emigrated with the help of Genlias.

September 7, 2009

http://www.genlias.nl/en/page10.jsp

Thanks Sylvia! That is very interesting. I actually read about that today, while visiting Pilgrims Hall, Plymouth Rock and some other historical sites in Massachusetts. We read that Henry Hudson was set adrift with his son and some other crew on the sea and was never seen again. Very interesting and a great piece of information, Greetings from Plymouth.

Hi,
My mother's family originate from Frielsand. just to name a few surnames linked to my mother's family - Wiebenga, Boelens

Any help or links greatly appreciated.

Baars,Theodora Johanna - 1880
Bakker, aukje - 1833
Boelens,Boeles Oedzes - back to 1730's
Jong, Sipke Or Cyprianus De - 1800
Kiewied, Trientje - 1846
Koopmans, Gerben Hijltjes - 1756
Meij, Janke Hiddes Van Der - 1815
Meijer, Yke Pieters - 1786
Metz, Foppe Meinderts - 1787
Molenaar, Cornelis Jans - 1826
Mosterman, Jan Piers - 1733
Oud, Jan T. - 1886
Rinsma, Klaas Oebeles - 1796
Scheltema, Schelte Jans - 1806
Swart, Hendrik Mennis - 1781
Mindelt/Wiebenga, N.N. (Wiebenga) - 1650
Wiebenga, Pieter Wiebes - 1768
Wybes, Gerben - 1720
Zwart, Barend Hendriks - 1812

Looking for descendants of Kramer and DeYoung from Het Bildt and I have already found alot of information in TRESOAR. My ancestors are Christiaan DeYoung and Sytske Kramer of St. Jacobiparochie, Het Bildt, Friesland, Netherlands.

My name is Sande Meyer Smith I have been researching my family tree but hit a dead end.I hope you can help ALL of my ancestors come from Friesland paternal and maternal sides.I can't get past where they immigrated to the US .The names I am researching are Meyer,VanKampen, Cook,Waardenberg,Haitsma and Bylsma.Any suggestion or help would be appreciated!

I apologise for sending a message regarding my research on the descendents of Tjeerd Jacob Vellinga to all members, I was intending to post it as a comment but am not familiar with the site and used the wrong connection.

I am sorry if this has created annoyance.

Roz

roz have a great time in Friesland that is my wish to go there someday. The only family I know anything about on your list is Meyer.

There are also surnames Westra, De Boer, Haarsma coming down the female lines. If only women kept their own names!!! 

The Meyer is a Wiebe Meyer who married into the family.

I am looking forward to the trip and a highlight will be a trip to the Leeuwarden Museum to see what I can find.

Hi Roz,

I sent you a private message about the www.graftombe.nl website yesterday. Did you receive this ?

Kind regards,

Sylvia

Roz, Thanks to this group and the Dutch genealogy group I am at last finding my family.So far they are all from Friesland our family names are Meyer,VanKampen,Haitsma,Bylsma . Have a good time!

I have the surnames DIRKSEN and SARTORIUS from Moordorf.

hi karla, welcome to the Friesland Group,

Moordorf is not part of west Friesland, but of Ostfriesland (East Friesland), which is

the northern part of Germany (part of Niedersachsen). There are actually 2 places called Moordorf.  I actually used to live close to it in my teenage years (that's a while ago I guess)

Karla, which Sartorius and Dirksen are you looking for, and what time frame are you searching?

Can anyone answer for me if there is anywhere I can get cemetery records for my Friesland ancestors or is that not possible.Also I am concidering getting a DNA profile done,I know I am from Friesland as far back as I can paper trace,does anyone have suggestions or comments about DNA because I really don't understand how it works and wonder if it is worth my while...thanks

I would have loved to visit the cemeteries and take pictures of the final resting places of my ancestors, but that was impossible ( maybe someday). Than one day I came across the website of Graftombe
Graftombe's goal is to make as many cemeteries and graveyards in the North of the Netherlands digitally available to genealogists and others interested as possible.
To achieve this goal various volunteers have been (and are) busy indexing and photographing cemeteries and graveyards in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe.
To take advantage of this service you have to sign up for the forum first, which is just a formality, but it also gives you access to a lot of other websites.

Once on the site, you can either search by province and by cemetery.

If you do not have that information you can go to search (zoeken ) and fill in the form with the name you are looking for.
Once you found the name you were looking for, check the box in front of the name and click (plaats geselecteerde foto's in het opvraag mandje - place selected photos in the basket).
You can proceed to add more names, and once you are done click on Fotomandje at the top of the page and check out (no payment required)
In the next few days you find a photograph of the gravestone you are looking for.
This was a great service to me, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who give of their time to make this service possible.
Click HERE to visit Graftombe.
Let me know, if you need any help.

Thank you! I use find a grave for in the U.S and have found most of my family thats here but had no clue how to get any from Friesland and I doubt I will be able to go there (someday I hope!) I will let you know how I do!!

My Frisian ancestors are Leegen or Legen from Hindeloopen. I have traced them back to the mid 1700s there but seem to have hit a brick wall. Where did people who migrated to Hindeloopen most likely come from during that time?????

Have you tried researching without a last name - not many people had a last name before 1811, most people had to have a last name after Napoleon came to Friesland. What are the names - first names of those you are researching?