Sunday, July 16, 2017

Having faith in a researcher

A handful of my early families [Prall, Billiou, Christoffels of note] settled on Staten Island during the 1650s - 1670s. One of the resources utilized in researching these families was Kenn Stryker-Rodda's "A Staten Island Lineage," a series of mimeographed notes on the families that settled the island. "SI Lineage" is held by the Richmond Co., NY Historical Society.

As the years have passed, Stryker-Rodda's research has turned out to be more reliable than I thought. Early on I found a few errors in the notes, so I did not depend on them as much as I should have.

When the issue arose over the identities of the brothers and sisters of Arent Jansen Prall, it was "SI Lineage" that supported the theory of Magdalena Jans, Marritje Prael and Wolfert Prall being Arent's siblings.

The identity of the father of Hans Christoffels' father has resurfaced in recent days. Christoffel Schaers was suggested as the father. Lo and behold, when I checked my notes on Hans, who should turn up as a paternal candidate by Stryker-Rodda other than Christoffel Schaers.

It was also "SI Lineage" that led me to Hans Christoffel's wife Tryntje Barents Blom. She was also Arent Jansen Prall's 2nd wife.

Sometimes you need to overlook the errors and rely on the rest of the content!

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