Nydam (Nijdam) Family History

Genealogy of Willem Willems de Oude [Nijdam]
Friesland, Netherlands
(abt. 1555)

Clarence Brashler and Wilma (Wilhelmina) Nydam lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Wilma's maternal grandfather, Jacob August Nydam, the immigrant ancestor of our branch of the Nijdam family, settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1900.  Jochum Jans Nijdam (d. 25 Dec 1870) is the earliest Nydam ancestor I have been able to identify, until I found the Nijdamstra Assocation.  Their database yielded all the earlier generations, going back to WILLEM WILLEMS de OUDE, who lived around 1555 in Irnsumerzijl, Friesland, NL.  The year 1555 is known in Europe as the year Emperor Charles V offered the throne to his son Philip of Spain.  It was about that time when Willem Willems "the Old" built his farm (Estate) near the new dam (Nye Dam) in the Boorn River near Irnsumerzijl.  Willem's eight children lived on this farm or in the nearby towns of De Bird, Grouw, Irnsum, Akkrum and Midlum.
 

Barlow Family History

Genealogy of Adrianus van Barlo
Aalten, Gelderland, Netherlands
(abt. 1785)

Wilma was the daughter of Albert J. Nydam and Marie Barlow.  Marie was born in the Chicago area, but both of her parents (Richard Barlow and Wilhelmina Ubbink) emigrated from the Netherlands to Chicago on June 21, 1890, just after their June 7th wedding in Soest, Utrecht, Netherlands.  Our Barlo's generally lived in the Baarn, Soest, Martindijk area of Utrecht, NL, although most Barlo's world wide seem to originate in England.  The earliest member of our family that I have been able to identify is ADRIANUS van BARLO.  His marriage record listed him as being from Aalten, Gelderland.  Who's to know if perhaps his own ancestors might hail from England.  Only the archives in Aalten might tell us that.
 

Browsing the Tree

Included here are links to the genealogies of WILLLEM WILLEMS de Oude and of ADRIANUS van BARLO as I've posted them on Rootsweb's WorldConnect project.  You will be able to access any family page by browsing through pedigree charts, or by selecting individuals from the index of Surnames.  I have also provided separate family pages and photographs for many of my direct ancestors, particularly when I have photographs available.  In the interest of simplicity, I have chosen to make the most recent individuals my starting point, rather than beginning with the earliest.

Dates for all living persons included here are stipulated as private.
 
 

Acknowledgements

A special word of thanks to my mother-in-law, Wilma Nydam Brashler, for sharing a multitude of family photographs, stories, and other memorabilia of the Nydam & Barlow families.  Thanks also to Geert van der Velde of the Nijdamstra Association, whose assistance was particularly helpful in researching the early Nijdams.  Geert maintained the Nijdamstra Association's database, much of which is available on the web at www.nijdamstra.net  And finally, the genealogy resources at the Frisian Historical and Literary Centre, available online at www.tresoar.nl has also been invaluable.

This is, and always will be, a work in progress. Your corrections, additions, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and well as any family photos which you might have access to. Please do contact me at my email address below.
 

Lenore Tolsma Bruinsma Folkertsma Miedema Peterson VandenBout Brashler
Lenorevdb at yahoo.com
March 2009

 

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