Ancestry – The Belgian American

Aug 04 2020

Finding Belgian-Americans in United States’ Ship Manifests. Part II: Research Tips

Surviving ship manifests, also known as passenger lists, make it possible for most genealogists to discover details of their ancestor’s voyage to America. In an earlier post I sketched a brief history of ship manifests in the United States. In this article I share some tips for searching online databases to find Belgian-Americans in the ships’ passenger lists.

Jan 07 2019

About Belgian Vital Records.

Kalmthout, Belgium. Register bestemt ter Inschrijving der Huwelijks-Akten voor het Jaar Een Duizend Acht Honderd Zes en Negentig. [Register for the purpose of Registering the Marriage Acts for the Year Eight Hundred and Eighty-Nine.]

Here is the good news for Americans who are tracing their ancestors in Belgium: unlike the United States where some states did not require civil birth, death, or marriage records until the end of the nineteenth century, vital records have been meticulously kept for about 225 years in Belgium, and they contain a wealth of information.