A little over a month ago, I contracted a Dutch Historian to pay a visit and look into the Groningen Archives for any records pertaining to Jacob Cornelis.  While we were able to locate a couple marriage records of his children, we were unable to find anything on Jacob.  My contact looked to see if Trijntje - mother of Jacob - sued the father, but apparently she did not.  What does this mean?

It means that I am back to the search.   I am manually reviewing all the digitized baptismal records in the Groningen Province.  Yes, a lengthy process, but the reward of finding a record will be well worth the effort.

As a recap: I know nothing about Trijntje other than her marriage partners.  And I know nothing about Jacob Cornellis real father.  However, dutch naming customs would indicate the Trijntje's father's name is "Sybolt or Sybelt" and Jacob's father's name is likely "Cornellis".

The search begins... now.

I have hired a Dutch expert and historian to look into the Groningen Provincial records for further information concerning our elusive ancient ancestor - Jacob Cornellis Kruize.  Kirsten is Dutch and is very knowledgeable about the Dutch ways.  I should be hearing back from her any time now.  Will post the results of her exploration.  I'm looking forward to it. 

Kirsten has told me that it is very difficult to trace an illegitimate child.  From many hours of searching for Jacob's baptismal record, I came up blank.  I found other parents with a child named Jacob that fit the date and place, but nothing from a Trijntje (Jacob's mother).  I began to give up hope of ever finding anything thinking perhaps that Trijntje, out of embarrassment, failed to baptize baby Jacob.  But Kirsten says this is probably not the case.

In those days, parents would have feared for their child with an uncleansed soul.  Infant death was widespread in that era, so parents would have been certain to have baptized the soul of their child - legitimate or otherwise.  Plus the church would have placed great force on the mother of any bastard child to have him/her baptized.

So it is likely that the baptismal record might exist elsewhere.  Kirsten states that Jacob's death certificate was likely recorded by neighbors - from hearsay.  They may have thought Jacob was born in Uithuizen without any substantial proof.  Trijntje got around.  She lived in Uithuzien, Eppenhuizen, and Groningen (the city).

Will post any findings Kirsten digs up... if any.

Today I received the results of my first 12 DNA markers.  Larger - more definitive - results are pending.  The following results will be the same for all male descendants of Jacob Derk Kruizenga of Grand Rapids, Michigan - and should be for all male descendants of Jacob Cornellis Kruize, our original Kruizinga ancestor (1765-1822).

393 - 13;   309 -22;   394 - 19;   391 - 10;   385A - 13;   385B - 14;   426 - 11;   388 - 14;   439 - 12;   389I - 12;   392 - 11;  389II - 28

These results classify me into the Haplogroup I1 - Stonemasons.  This group has its greatest frequency in Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden).  This may be a clue to our very ancient origins.  A closer inspection into this type is also in progress to refine our origins even further.

Right now there are numerous DNA matches through FamilyTree DNA as well as through Ancestry.com.  These results - 12 markers - are inconclusive.  They are not good for genealogical purposes.  Will have to wait for my 37 marker results.  They are due day before Christmas: an early Christmas present to the family.

Again, what am I hoping to determine?  I hope to find a living ancestor of the father of our most distant known male - Jacob Cornellis Kruizinga.  It there is a link - or something even further back - then we will have a foundation upon which to build our ancient genealogy. 

I will post more information as it is received.

HaploGroup I1 Information

I've gone back to a thorough search for Jacob Cornellis's birth record.  It is known from his death record that he was born at Uithuzien.  This is alleged but not found.  A search through the church baptismal records of that city comes up blank.

Furthermore, it is known that Jacob's mother Tryntje Sybels married a Hindrik Jans.  They lived in Eppenhuizen where Jacob's elder sister Tryntje was born.  A search through Eppenhuizen records for Jacob also comes up with nothing.

So, there is no baptismal record in either of Uithuizen (alleged birth place) and Eppenhuizen. 

Perhaps - it is possible - that Tryntje, because Jacob was onegte (illegitimate), that she simply failed to have the child baptized.  I don't think so. 

Tryntje did move to Groningen after Hindrik's death.  Did Hindrik die shortly before Jacob's death?  Did Tryntje then move back to Uithuizen to live - for a short time?  Could she have been raped - or had an "oopsie"? 

It is known from Tryntje's 2nd marriage record - dated 21 August 1776, that she was in Groningen city.  Jacob would have been around 9 or 10 years of age at this time.  Tryntje declares herself to be from Groningen. 

Maybe Tryntje moved to Groningen city after the death of her first husband and after the birth of her son Jacob.  I will begin examining records there for records of Jacob.

Jacob's patronymic name is Jacob (or Jakob) Cornellis (or Kornellis).  This means that Jacob is the son of Cornellis.  Curious.  Where did this name Cornellis come from?  A serious clue?