The Washingtons in The Netherlands

This is a temporary workshop that seeks to map the relationships and origins of the Washington family in The Netherlands. This is a 'puzzle' that involves a number of related families, including the Boissevain, Lux, Wtenweerde, van Bommel, de Blanche... The WieWasWie records are providing clues: the existence of the relationships is evident, but their exact nature is far from clear. Notary records are giving additional pieces of information. Key locations for the family seem to be Brielle, Bergen op Zoom, Gouda, Rotterdam... The earliest members in the family seem to be linked to military origins. The objective of this page is to "park" a number of (documented) loose trees, with the purpose to find the glue that links them together. Obviously, a potential link to the Washingtons in England and in the US is a key objective.

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PLEASE CHECK THE RECORDS ATTACHED TO THE PROFILES AS THEY PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT JUSTIFIES THEIR INCLUSION IN THIS PUZZLE

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1. SOLVED James Washington, born before 1766 (when he was a minor), married to Catharina Johanna de Blanche (d.1795) who as a widow remarried Hillebrand Wtenweerde. A son of James (Jacobus) and Catharina Johanna called Joan married Johanna Catharina van Bommel. A grandson of James and Catharina Johanna named Jacobus Gerrit Hillebrand Washington was married to Wilhelmina Dorothea Lux, and was a testamentary executor for Aleida Anna de Blanche.
2. Johanna Wtenweerde, married to Jan Arnoldus, had a son Rudolph born 1786. Peculiar to Rudolph is that the witness to his birth was a Alida Johanna van Bommel-de Blanche.
3. Aleida Anna de Blanche was married to Adrianus van Bommel. Perhaps the same as the witness mentioned under 2 (it is exceptional that a Dutch record would suggest both a birth surname and a married name for a profile).
4. Aleida Anna de Blanche was married to an N.N. Washington. If she is the same as above, she was married twice - to a van Bommel and a Washington.
5. SOLVED John Washington, married to Elisabeth Wagener, had a son James Washington (born 1762) married to Joanna Sprong.
6. Adrianus van Bommel was married to Johanna Willemina Wtenweerde.
7. SOLVED Jan Washington, a single entry for someone who died in The Hague in 1797
8. SOLVED Jan Washington, married to Livina Stijger.
9. Daniel Washington is mentioned as the previous husband of Dorothea Marcard (who re-married in 1815). Interesting is the extract from the Hague archive (attached to Dorothea), which gives us the names of two other Washingtons as witnesses to Dorothea's second marriage: a Jacobus Washington, 53 years old (and thus born about 1761/1762) and a Jan Washington, 48 years old (and thus born about 1766/1767. Both were "commies", which suggests a job as civil servant. Could Jacobus be the James Washington who married Joanna Sprong? (The year of birth could be identical).
10. SOLVED Johanna Washington had a daughter Elisabeth Johanna Milling who died in 1819 in The Hague - at the age of 96. That puts the birth year of mother Johanna at least at around or before 1705. This comes close to the earliest immigration of the Washingtons in Holland - in the second half of the 17th century.

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Some literature...

• Article in The Magazine for American History, by Frederick Kapp, written in 1862, published in 1879.
• Article in "Der Familieforscher", by Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels (Staatsoberarchivar), published in Bavaria in September 1950
• The Washington Family and Memorials in Yorkshire, England, in Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, pages 71-75, February 1915
• Washington Genealogy, in Genealogies of Virginia Families: From Tyler's Quarterly, page 413