Travel.
One thing that I’ve noticed about traveling to new places is that around every corner there are exciting things…unfamiliar and yet, exhilarating.
Street Corners of Amsterdam.
So today, I thought we’d take a stroll around the street corners of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam was the first place that my feet trod on foreign soil (outside of the German airport layover…but we’re talking “literal” soil).
Strolling Along.
If you’ve been reading my blog for some time then you know that I traveled to Amsterdam this past April… a mere 4 1/2 months ago.
If you’d like to read some of my other posts from Amsterdam, you can find a few here, here, and here.
One of my favorite things to do in a new city is to just stroll along the streets.
Architecture.
I love to see the architecture.
Europe has much older architecture than in the United States so it was a treat to see the historical buildings as I walked along in Amsterdam.
While I admire the architecture, I am not well versed in recognizing the period in which the styles came into construction. History, as well as geography, were never my strong subjects. I was a math and science girl with a little creative writing thrown in to round me out. It wasn’t until I became interested in traveling that I began to take interest in history and geography. Given that I’m still new to foreign travel, I have quite a bit to learn.
History and Ancestry.
Amsterdam’s history dates back to the 13th Century.
At the time of my visit, I did not realize that I too have a history that winds its way through the streets of Amsterdam.
Van Husum.
My 10th great-grandfather was Jan Frans Van Husum (Van Hoesen, Van Huss, Vanhooser). He was from Husum in Schleswig, which was part of Denmark at the time. He married Volkje Jurrians from the island of Nordstrand. Little is known about them prior to their marriage, but there was a great flood in 1634 that was devastating to Nordstrand and the coast of Denmark, including the city of Husum.
They were married in 1639 in Amsterdam and were living on Tuinstraat. Little did I know while I was visiting the Anne Frank House, that across the canal and up a bit, once had lived my 10th great-grandparents. I do not know how long they lived in Amsterdam prior to their marriage, but a few months later they would set sail for America.
United States of America.
They sailed for New Amsterdam, which was the southern tip of Manhattan.
In 1662, he would purchase hundreds of acres around Claverack from the Mohicans.
He was the first of his name to come to America. All variations of his last name eventually make his way back to him and Volkje.
My line would make its way down to North Carolina and eventually Kentucky. I once read that the family name change from Van Hooser to Van Hoose was a disagreement between brothers over sides during the Revolutionary War. There are those much more knowledgeable than me into the genealogical history of the name that would know the details. My 6th Great- Grandfather was John B. Van Hoose who was married to Mary Bryan. There is great debate and mystery over her heritage as the Van Hoose’s did travel to Kentucky with the likes of the Boone’s and Bryan’s.
But, nonetheless, that heritage that would travel to my maternal grandmother, Reva Van Hoose, would start with a marriage that took place in Amsterdam.
Ponderings.
I wonder what the street corners looked like as they strolled along them?
Did they wave hello to Rembrandt as they made their way across town?
Did they stop and admire tulips or were they not in Amsterdam prior to the Tulip Bubble burst of 1637?
Street corners hold thousands of daily tales.
Do yours have any to tell?
Let your light shine!
Amy
wpc: corner
How amazing to be able to trace your heritage that far – and to imagine their footsteps… 😊
I’m really thankful to those who’ve put in all the work on the Van Hoose line. They’ve learned quite a few interesting facts which made it possible for me to imagine my relatives walking along the canals of Amsterdam! 🙂
My other half has researched my family tree back as far as the paper trail leads without anybody being famous or noteworthy. On my mum’s side, I’m from Oxfordshire, stretching back to the beginning of history it seems – I may as well be a living, breathing Hobbit from The Shire.
There are some claims to English fame in my lineage, but they are based on other people’s work and I haven’t verified them. It would seem plausible since those who made the journey had to be adventurous and also have the financial backing. But then again, I’ve also had lines that came here as indentured servants.
I have traced numerous relatives back to England. That should come as no surprise since my DNA is 79% British as compared to 60% of natives. Ancestry makes it hard to search by location, but there seem to be some from varying parts of the country.
It’s great that you are able to trace your mum’s line so far!
Lovely street corners and a charming recount of your time there and retracing history Amy. 🙂
Thank you so much Miriam! It was a delightful surprise to realize that I had family who would have walked along the same canals as I did… over 350 years earlier! 🙂
Wow, how wonderful!
It was such fun to read your post about Amsterdam and your family.
Thank you. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the post.
You are welcome!
Very interesting history. They travelled a long way!
Yes they did! I’m always amazed when I read about where my family travelled from to make their way to Canada or the U.S.
Goodness, that’s such a wonderful thing to find out. I wonder if they did see Rembrandt or the tulip exhibition? These are good things to ponder.
I’ve got some interesting ancestral stories, but they’re not pleasant blog fodder, and they’re trite Italian stereotype tales. The Dutch side is much cleaner, but I don’t know much about the wheres.
Beautiful photos 🙂
I only know some snippets of tales here and there. There is a very interesting one about the Irishman who came here in the mid-1600’s as an indentured servant, only known because there are court records!
Fascinating! My mother’s paternal grandmother was also a servant, until she married AT FOURTEEN! She’s listed on the household census for that fine family she worked for.
I wonder which was worse, serving in a fine house or being married and having all her kids before 20?!? I wish I’d known this when she was still around. Even my mother didn’t know.
For someone like me who knows virtually nothing about my grandparents, let alone generations before them, this is fascinating. Each new piece of information you gather is like a small gift extracted from the past.
I am so lucky that the Van Hoose family is very interested in genealogy so this work was already out there once I became interested. I do think that’s why my mother was always so interested in her father’s line. His mother died when he was about 12 and so little was known about family history.
Hi! I just ran across your site and beautiful story while researching who appears to be our common ancestor. It turned up in a Google search. Once I discovered my origins and started my search, I’m finding Jans in so many publications both online and in historical documents and histories.
Jans van Hoesen was my 9th great grandfather, so I guess you and I are distant, distant cousins. LOL! I was born Johnna VanHoose and retained VanHoose as my middle name after I got married. Now I’m even more glad I did. My parents had no idea of this ancestor so it’s a little mind boggling that my name is basically the modern version of his.
Hi! I’m so glad that you ran across my site!
I had no idea about this ancestor until my mother began doing lots of genealogy work and found many distant cousins who had traced the line back to Jans.
My maternal grandmother was a Van Hoose as well. She came from the line of Van Hoose that traveled from North Carolina into Kentucky. It is quite fascinating to learn how names changed as they came into North America!