I didn't think about it much, until January when I got a call from one of her daughters. She had passed away on Christmas day, but the books she had worked on had come in a few days later.
These books are quite amazing - not just family trees, but a lot of photos along with newspaper clippings, letters and interesting information about the people and the time they lived in.
Most of my family is from the Netherlands and she had made a trip there and found a picture of an ancestor hanging in a museum in Amsterdam.
This is Jan Lepeltak and he was a timber merchant and also the regent of the Aalmoezeniersweeshuis Orphanage. This portrait was painted in 1728. My Dads cousin wasn't able to get much other information about him. Bob had been looking through the books and decided to see what he could find just by googling his name. To his surprise, he also found this photo and discovered that it is still available to buy, but as a poster. Honestly, I'm not sure why anyone would want this as a poster, but if you are interested in a portrait of one of my ancestors, it is an option!
It really has been fun looking through all this history though. It's powerful to see God's hand in your history. There was a newspaper article included from the early 1900's that said "this family has been known for their devotion to biblical and spiritual matters". I am so thankful for that heritage and the way I see it continuing even today.
14 comments:
Wow...that is very cool! How sad that she died before the books came, though. That's a neat thing to have for your family!
What a treasure the book is; so sad about your cousin dying on Christmas before the books arrived. I know you all appreciate her efforts so much.
I love genealogy and you have a wonderful treasure in that book. One of our Grimm cousins is considering writing a book of our branch of the family's immigration from Germany. I hope she will!!
That is fantastic. You have to love their hair-do's! Glad you are able to get one of the books for future generations. Happy Tuesday.
Oh Mari...what a treasure...especially finding it recorded that your family was known for their devotion to biblical and spiritual matters! You are blessed, my friend.
xx
Dianna
That is wonderful that your cousin took such time and effort to learn about the family history. Enjoyed seeing the pictures, and also very neat to know how your family loved the Lord, and how that tradition has continued on, praise God! :)
Your heritage has come all this way! Chills. :-)
But the hair...oh, the hair.
So cool! I love the picture of them all together. Probably not enough to hang it on my wall though.... :)
Your cousin left a beautiful legacy in the books for your family. It would be exciting to trace my family roots back that far.
How exciting. I never cared about the family history until they are no longer here to share it. My dad's family passed away young in life and didn't record anything. My cousin has it all on my mom's side. I think it would be interesting to look into that.
Hi Hon! Playing catch up. ;)
This is so cool Mari! I love things like this too. I've been blessed in my family with some good ancestry seekers that have shared info. We don't know as much about my Hubby's family and I just sent for the kit for him to give DNA so we'll know (for my kiddos' sakes) what parts of the world his family is from.
I find it all very fascinating and I think my love of scrapbooking comes from wanting to preserve history.
I love both of the photos with your ancestor! And love the spiritual quote about your family that you found. Truly a treasure. xoxo
How interesting that you rec'd a copy of the family book and that it came about before your relative passed. It was meant that you have a copy, for sure!
You really have some great gene's, Mari. I love family history also. I'm sorry your dad's cousin passed away, but what she left will be a gift unlike another.
xoxo
Isn't that wonderful! Your ancestor looks like a formidable person but I'm sure that was just the way they thought it was proper to pose. I found out once (during a trial period on Ancestry dot com) that I had an ancestor named Louisiana Bird! I thought that was fitting. xoxo
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