Category: Stories behind the deeds
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A deceased bride?
During my genealogy research, I stumbled upon a mystery: a girl who had died at age 3 marries 30 years later at age 33. This is not possible, of course. Discover how I try to solve the riddle of conflicting certificates.
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The fate of a dockworker
My great-great-grandfather Joseph Debondt was a docker. I didn’t know that. I never heard about him. His painful and abrupt end of life is not a story that his wife and my great-great-grandmother, Sophia Goris, will have loved to pass on. Simply because it was too hard to tell. Some 120 years later, I’ll let…
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Corpse retrieved
Frans Phlips was pulled from the water at the Ezelpoort in Bruges on Saturday evening, July 6, 1912. What exactly had happened? How did he get there?
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The paternal line: the Maes family
Petrus Maes is – at least for now – the furthest ancestor of the directly paternal line, the Maes family. As I bump into the limits of historical material for this branch, it is time for a look at the family history of the Maes family line, with roots in Sint-Denijs (Zwevegem) and Wytschaete (Heuvelland).
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Brand-new grandfather declares grandchild under the wrong name
Joseph Jean Laurent Roux was first called Joseph Jean Laurent Aymoz dit Payerne. Chances are he didn’t even realize this. Until he was called up for his army service.
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Death of a man
Searching for the burial certificate of one of my many ancestors, being Franciscus Lauwers (b. 10/9/1690), I came across a remarkable story. A death in mysterious circumstances.