Genealogy in Achtkarspelen & surroundings

Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 January 2022 Written by Martinus Jongsma

achtkarspelen

On this website you will find limited pedigrees of 5 generations of families from the border-area of Friesland and Groningen, and especially from the county of Achtkarspelen.

Much of the information has been gleaned from the books of the Civil Registries of the counties of Achtkarspelen, Tytsjerksteradiel, Smallingerland, Opsterland, Dantumadeel, Kollumerland, and Grootegast.
But also from the baptism, marriage and burial books of the churches, as well as information by way of the internet from the Ryksargyf in Leeuwarden, from Genlias, and from other sources.
I am also very thankful for all the help I received from fellow-genealogists like Reid van der Leij in Groningen, Marten Haijema in Assen, and Klaas Bekkema in Drachten. Without their assistance my files would not have grown to more than 1.400.000 names. Johnny Zwart was also very helpful in putting this website together.
In case you, visitors, have suggestions and additions, I assure you that they are very much appreciated. Should you wish to have a nice familytree-book of perhaps as many as 15 generations, I will gladly put that together for you at cost.
A brief message in my guestbook is much appreciated


What do we mean by a ‘pedigree’?

The term ‘kwartierstaat’ is best translated as a quarter state or pedigree and contains all available information about the ancestors of one person (in genealogy called the ‘proband’), namely his parents, four grand parents (hence the term quarter state), great-grand parents, great-great-grandparents, etc.
The quarter numbering was devised by Stefan Kekule von Stradonitz (1863-1933) and is often used in the production of quarter states. The proband in a quarter state is number 1 and each next generation back a father receives the double number and a mother this double number plus one. This way all male ancestors always have an even number and female ancestors will automatically have an odd number. With the rising number of generations, there is an increasing chance of empty quarters, for which no data could be retrieved.


Local organization in the County of Achtkarspelen (1812-1816)

During the years 1812 – 1816 the provincial distribution of areas in Friesland changed from the situation before that period. In 1812 the counties (known as grietenijen) were reorganized into mairies (French), which covered much smaller areas. The County of Achtkarspelen was sub-divided into three mairies which were based in Buitenpost (covering the communities of Buitenpost, Lutjepost, Twijzel and Kooten), in Augustinusga (covering Augustinusga, Drogeham, Gerkesklooster, Stroobos, Harkema-Opeinde and Buweklooster), and in Surhuizum (covering Surhuizum and Surhuisterveen).These new county and judiciary areas formed the kanton of Buitenpost, which was part of the arrondissement or regional area of Leeuwarden. The community of Rottevalle, originally part of the County of Achtkarspelen, became later part of the mairie of Oudega. The community of Boelenslaan (Surhuisterveensterheide) was formed later, in 1921, but the area was still under Surhuisterveen. Twijzelerheide was formed out of the communities of Twijzel and Kooten, and was renamed Kootstertille in 1959. Lutjepost was added to Buitenpost.


In search of ancestors?

If you want to know more about your ancestors, the help of a familytree-researcher can be of great help. Martinus Jongsma of Surhuisterveen has approx. 1,500,000 names in his genealogical data-base. This collection contains especially names of persons from the County of Achtkarspelen, but also from Smallingerland, Opsterland, Tytsjerksteradiel, Kollumerland c.a., Dantumadeel, and Grootegast. Detailed research in the archives of Tresoar in Leeuwarden, the Civil Registry of Groningen, and/or the county registries of Friesland will be done based upon costs involved.

The Jongsma’s (in progress)

In 1975 the book “De Jongsma’s” , written by W. T. & E. Vleer, was published. In it you will find genealogies of various Jongsma families who are not related to each other though. Not all of the contents of “De Jongsma’s” is accurate and most of it has become outdated in the meantime.
To the right you see the various branches of the family Jongsma which are kept up-to-date on a regular basis.
Additions and/or corrections are always welcome and much appreciated.

 

 

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Translation: Jelle Kooistra, Williamsburg, Ontario (Canada)

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