I have never thought about my mother's step-father as being a step-ancestor. He raised my mother, tried unsuccessfully to adopt her (her biological father wouldn't sign over his parental rights, although he didn't participate much in my mother's life), gave her away at her wedding, and included her equally in his will with his two biological children. My grandfather had six grandchildren (including my brother, who was named for him) and 12 great-grandchildren, only one of all those being his biological offspring between step families and adoptees. Yet just as he was always my mother's Dad, he was always Grandpa and Great-grandpa DeVRIES to all of us. To honor him and to bless my uncle, aunt, and cousins, I have researched his ancestry. After all, the DeVRIES family history directly impacted my own, and it's likely I would not exist if Grandpa hadn't married my grandmother and raised my mother.
Stories and History:
The surname DeVRIES means "the Frisian" and is a descriptive surname signifying that the individual or his family came from the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Friesland's language and culture is more closely related to that of the English, as they both had the same Anglo-Saxon ancestors. In Europe, the Frisian ethnic group primarily lives in the provinces of Friesland and Groningen in the Netherlands and also in the region of Ostfriesland and district of Nordfriesland in Germany.
Although the surname DeVRIES is more prolific in Western Michigan than SMITH, my particular family line is not related to the majority of the DeVRIESes in that area.
(The letter "C" differentiates between my biological family tree and my step-family tree. I have used the letter "B" to mark my paternal grandmother's adoptive family tree.)
Ahnentafel #192C - Beerent De VRIES (b. c. 1750) - the earliest ancestor I can find in this family; probably lived in Friesland, the Netherlands
Ahnentafel #96C - Egbert Beerents De VRIES (c. 1777 - 1850) - known to have lived in the municipality of Kollumerland, Friesland, the Netherlands
Ahnentafel #48C - Jarig Egberts De VRIES (1813 - 1869) - lived in the villages of Oudwoude and Kollumerzwaag in Kollumerland
Ahnentafel #24C - Binne Jarigs De VRIES (1856 - 1896) - born in Kollumerzwaag, he was a shoemaker, who moved to the municipality of Smallingerland in Friesland. He died young (age 39), leaving a widow and three small children, who moved to the United States probably in an arranged marriage situation.
Ahenentafel #12C - Jarig Binne Egbert DeVRIES (1887 - 1959) - born in the city of Drachten in Smallingerland, he immigrated with his mother and two younger siblings to the United States, the only group of my ancestors to pass through Ellis Island. His name was anglicized to George Benjamin Edward DeVRIES. My mother remembers him pretty well, as he lived with her family shortly before he died.
Ahnentafel #6C - Adrian "Ed" DeVRIES (1916 - 2007) - my beloved grandfather, greatly missed
Ahnentafel #3 - my mother (living)
Ahnentafel #1 - myself
More about the DeVRIES family:
1. Online database: DeVRIES and De VRIES ancestors and relatives (database updated monthly; no info on living persons available)
2. Some DeVRIES obituaries
3. Posts about DeVRIES ancestors and relatives on this blog
4. Some scanned DeVRIES documents
5. Some scanned DeVRIES photos
6. My DeVRIES Virtual Cemetery on Find A Grave
My DeVRIES immigration trail:
Kollumerland, Friesland, the Netherlands > Smallingerland, Friesland, the Netherlands > Kent Co., MI > AK > Stevens Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA
6 comments:
I'm researching DeVries/DeFries as well. I do not have a lot of information on my line but it appears as thought these are different lines. Mind were born in Uithuizermeeden, Groningam, Holland in the early 1800's.
On 29 January 1812, Berent Egberts from Westergeest took on the surname DE VRIES for himself and his children Wytze (41), Wybe (39), Martje (32), Lutske (30), Egbert (34), Jarig (28) and Elske (20). Is that your ancestor? The signature reads Been Egberts. You can see the scan here (Tresoar).
Egbert, son of Berent Egberts, was baptized on 30 december 1770 in Westergeest.
Been Egberts from Westergeest and Ietske Wijtses from Westergeest married 10 September 1769 in Oudwoude.
Berend, son of Egbert Jarigs, was baptized 2 December 1742 in Westergeest/Oudwoude.
Source is always Tresoar. Connecting these four facts is still speculative, of course, but probably provable.
Hi, Kay B! Yes, definitely different lines. I recommend reading Henk van Kampen's blog (he also commented here) for resources in Groningan. Thanks for dropping by!
Henk, you are wonderful! Yes, these are my DeVrieses...I was able to take them back several more generations! The only thing is, the Egbert you show being baptized in 1770 was an older brother of "my" Egbert, born 1777. The first one probably died young and Berent and Ietske/Jitske named the next son born the same name.
Thank you for your help. I keep forgetting that Tresoar now has pre-1811 church record indexes available and need to recheck all my Frisian lines to see what I can find.
im from england my name is john de vries. ive been looking in my ancestory. my grandad came from groningen in friesland. he left there in 1912 and went to london for the great exibition of london
my great great grandfather is jannes de vries they were farmers
some of my ancestors were noble farmers. hooft hynsdudens and du quesnoy and wersimas are family who hold famillewapen. with 3 pelicans. this was given to hold arms to protect the lord of the manor.go to google look at antojs.com / you might have trouble finding it. if so put. de vries weirsema bouwman and scroll to look for it.
Actually, although we are descendent of the Frisian tribe, we don't have to have ancestry in Friesland necessarily. Early on the Frisian tribe migrated along the western coast of the country all the way to the south. I was born in scheveningen (The Hague). Most likely my ancestors have been there for many generations..
Kindest regards vincent de Vries
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