These Roots Run Deep

Over the past year or so I have been contacted by a number of Ryckman cousins with varying comments and questions.
I am taking this opportunity to address some of them.
1) Our Ryckman roots run deep. Our family has been in the New World for 400 years!
2) Our Ryckman ancestors liked to have children. Lots of them!
3) If those children were male, then they likely would have been named John (Johannes), Samuel, Tobias, Harman(us), Cornelius, Albert, William, David or Peter.
4) With so many Ryckman (Rykeman, Rickman, Ryckmen, Rickmen, Rightman, Wrightman, etc.) men with the same name, it can get confusing as to which John Ryckman is yours.
5) You have to do the research. I cannot possibly research the whole Ryckman family. Start with yourself and move chronologicallly backwards in time. I am descended from Albert Ryckman and Hannah Van Etten. I do not have information about Cornelius' or Tobias' lines of the family.
6) Don't rely on the information about the Ryckmans that you find on the Internet. There are too many Ryckman family trees posted out there that are flat out WRONG! Example: Albert Ryckman, born in 1766, was not married to Neeltje Quakenbos, who was born in 1653. Hint: There are two Alberts!
7) If you find a Ryckman child in the household of what appears to be an unrelated family in a census, then you need to research why. It is possible that the parents may have died. Look at death registrations and surrogate court records. Look at the preceding and following census records.
8) Sometimes you just can't find the information because it no longer exists. You will need to research secondary sources.
9) Purchase some well-researched, well-sourced books about our family. See Olive Tree Genealogy to get started.
10) If you have contacted me and we are from the same line of our Ryckman family, I will be happy to share what I have about our family, and will include sources. Thanks for your patience.


Copyright 2011 by Kathryn Lake Hogan.