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I'm pretty green about all this, but using Ancestry.com through my local library's genealogy dept, I traced my paternal ancestors back to the Netherlands in about 1820. No other info easily available.
What should my next step be, as far as finding out who they were, and such?
I guess I'm feeling like I've gone as far as I can without going "boots on the ground" over in Europe, and am just curious if anyone can point me to any source I may be unaware of.
The Dutch were usually very good record keepers, you should be able to go back much further than 1820, even online. There are Dutch church records going back to the 1500s here: https://www.wiewaswie.nl/en/ though how far back they date might depend on the location. And you can often find online archives for more specific areas of the Netherlands too.
IIRC, Ancestry's non--USA records are not available via library access. Only by subscription.
No, it may depend on what the specific library pays for access to, but generally the Library Edition includes international record collections - you can find a breakdown of what it does not include here and it does not mention international records: https://www.vims.edu/library/_docs/a...-lib022013.pdf
I'm pretty green about all this, but using Ancestry.com through my local library's genealogy dept, I traced my paternal ancestors back to the Netherlands in about 1820. No other info easily available.
What should my next step be, as far as finding out who they were, and such?
I guess I'm feeling like I've gone as far as I can without going "boots on the ground" over in Europe, and am just curious if anyone can point me to any source I may be unaware of.
T.I.A.
At this point, I suggest trying not to “reinvent the wheel.” Someone else in your tree may have already broken your brick wall. Your time may be better spent verifying their information and researching beyond that.
Do you have an online tree on Ancestry (there is no charge to create or update a tree)? Have you checked other trees there or the community tree at Family Search or trees at other genealogy web sites to see if any of them go further back.
Of course, take any new information as simply a possible lead unless there is a legitimate source/record to back it up.
When I started, I had little information about my European paternal tree. I put the information I had on both Ancestry and Family Search. I found a couple of records on Family Search and attached them. Then nothing for a number of years. Then one day, I was looking on Family Search and my paternal tree branch had magically filled out. The researcher who did it didn’t cite sources but it turned out that didn’t matter. Family Search had found birth, marriage and death records and was showing them as hints so I was happy to attach them.
I went back to my Ancestry tree and updated that as well. About 4 years later a new tree appeared on Ancestry which included my paternal line, and in more detail! I contacted the owner who lived in the area where my father was born. He was quite a serious researcher who had regularly viewed parish registers in person. I was pleased that he was also updating the Family Search info as he continued his research.
One important first step is to gain some basic understanding of European history. Boundaries changed quite a bit over the last 200 years. My paternal ancestors were Germans living in Pomerania, part of Germany until 1945 but now in Poland. Old German place names are now changed to modern Polish names. Wikipedia sometimes has both.
Records, when found, are recorded in foreign languages and sometimes in an antique script and often in a difficult handwriting. It helps if you learn to recognize a few words in the language (associated with son, daughter, death, birth, from, etc.).
Ancestry.com had other family trees created by other researchers that were helpful as clues. I found a researcher who had access to unpublished church records that opened doors and added a couple generations to my tree.
I have other German ancestors from Hanover and Hesse-Darmstadt that are a little easier to trace.
My Irish ancestors are recorded in church records back to about 1760 in their local parishes. That is farther back than most places in Ireland. Those are handwritten in Latin, or what passed for Latin. Many of the old records were destroyed during the early 1900s including census records. A good source is https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ and Irish Ancestors at https://www.johngrenham.com/
Certain groups, like Mayflower passengers, are researched back many generations in Europe in published works. There are lengthy genealogies published on various European noble families, but these are sometimes manipulated or somewhat embellished to lead back to important historical persons. Some are very accurate. It can be hard to tell which is which. They might offer clues. I can cite my own line back to the first kings of Scotland and France and the Saxon kings of England and William the Conqueror's grandpa, not to mention Charlemagne, if I believe it all. That's a good question.
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