I have been tracing my Dutch ancestors for years using church books to find baptism and marriages. My main branch comes from Renswoude in Utrecht Holland. The earliest confirmed ancestor is:
CELIS MARTENSZ, Born about 1600 buried on 08 01 1678 in RENSWOUDE UTRECHT, lived in 1641 in Lambalgen and in 1675 in Emminkhuizen, he has died in 1678 at Renswoude
Dutch names in this time did not use surnames, the children used the name of their father as their second name. So Celis should be the son of a Marten. There are of course variations of the name.
Bare in mind I searched church books for Renswoude and areas around but his birth was not found. However Dordrecht about 1 hour from Utrecht the Netherlands and has some interesting names. I feel its the same man but would be interested in anyones opinions if they feel its the correct man or not:
Dordrecht
Merten Mercelissz & Jaquemijntien Servaes have a son baptized 1st Oct 1604 named Marcelis.
Of course Marcelis is Celis and is also spelled Selis. Marten and Merten are the same name to.
So the question is, is Marcelis born in 1604 the man dying in Renswoude 1678? Thoughts?
Further records in Dordrecht have
Merten Mercelisz married at Dordrecht 27th Sept 1587 Urselcken Gijelis
Urselcken could be a first wife they had two children:
Maricken Mertendr
Bp: 1st Dec 1590 at Dordrecht
Cuniertgen bp 1 July 1600
Merten Selis also spelt Merten Mercelisz and again spelt Merten Mercelissz if he is the father of Celis Martensz I would not be surprised. But I can't be 100% sure. So I would like to get some comments from some of you on weather you think Marcelis 1604 is the Celis Martens.
Are there any Dutch researchers out there reading this that can help me decide if I have found the correct ancestor in Dordrecht? Interestingly I saw another family in Renswoude who came from Dordrecht so I do think Marcelis born 1604 is the one that died at Renswoude in 1678.
Any help appreciated
