A "Forgotten" Family:

The Flemish Roots of General George Washington Goethals

"Builder of the Panama Canal" (1858-1928)

Based on church records, aldermen's and orphan acts, archival documents from the City Archives of Ghent, and genealogical publications on the Goethals of the 18th and 19th centuries, this work traces in detail more than ten generations of the general's ancestors. The book also sketches the ancestry of Geeraert Goethals, ennobled in 1652 and descending from the same original family in Ghent.

Interspersed throughout the ancestral information and in separate appendices are aspects of the history of Flanders and Ghent, cultural life and governmental institutions typical to Flanders for four centuries. A list of more than 1,100 Goethals church records from nine parishes in and around Ghent, a detailed index, and a bibliography conclude the book.

In addition to eight charts, the work has twenty-four illustrations, including maps, photographs, documents, and the wonderful pencil drawings of the Ghentian artist, Mr. Gaston Desmet

Format: Hardcover  Pages: xii + 178 pp. Published: 2004

Price: $18.00+$4.00 shipping

Available at Amazon.com: $18.00 + $3.99 shipping

Orders by check: 318 Rossiter Ave, Baltimore MD 21212

Outside USA: Jozef Goethals ; Bankrekening Argenta Bank : BE92 9731 7578 2323  Price: 23 Euro + 6 Euro shipping

Goethals-Tavernier-Vanmaele

The Ancestors of ( De Voorouders van) August Goethals (Torhout 1901-1978) and/en Elza Tavernier (Aarsele 1908- Torhout 1985).A Family History ( Een Familiegeschiedenis)

This bilingual publication--in English and Flemish (Dutch)--covers the history of 15 generations of ancestors of August Goethals (1901-1978) and Elza Tavernier (1908-1985) of Torhout in West-Flanders, Belgium. The family originates in the town of Egem in West-Flanders at the end of the fifteenth century.

Although this is a family history, the book endeavors to be a contribution to the research of the Goethals in general: an appendix contains 2,415 names--of which there are 1,719 Goethals--chronologically organized in households and covering the West-Flemish towns of Egem, Tielt, Kanegem, Wingene, Pittem, Zwevezele, Emelgem and Torhout from ca 1610 to ca 1900. Other surnames listed are Tavernier, Vanmaele and Stofferis. The work includes sections on genealogical research in Belgium, local history and bibliography.

Format: Paper Pages: 243 pp. Published: 2006.  Price: $32.00

Orders: 318 Rossiter Ave, Baltimore MD 21212

Outside USA: Jozef Goethals ; Bankrekening Argenta Bank : BE92 9731 7578 2323  Price: 32 Euro + 6 Euro shipping

Searching for Flemish (Belgian) Ancestors

Jozef J. Goethals, in Collaboration with Karel Denys, CICM

Mr. Goethals and Fr. Denys have prepared the first English-language guidebook for tracing Flemish ancestors from Belgium. A primary goal of Searching for Flemish Ancestors is to inform researchers about the Flemish sources that are accessible in the U.S. and how to interpret them.

The book begins with a very informative introduction on the history of Belgium and Flemish emigration to the U.S. in the last quarter of the 19th century. There are about 350,000 Americans of Flemish descent, most of whom live in the upper Midwest (Michigan and Wisconsin).

Mr. Goethals' emphasis, of course, is on Flemish records and methodology. Chapter One focuses on Flemish-American genealogical organizations, such as the Genealogical Society of Flemish Americans (GFSA), the Belgian American Heritage Association, and the Detroit-based newspaper, the "Gazette van Detroit." As the author points out, many Belgian records have been microfilmed by the LDS Church or are available on the Internet. Chapters Two and Three are devoted to the all-important vital records of the Civil Registry (1796-1900) and Flemish parish registers (1600-1796). Mr. Goethals translates sample records from each category into English from the original Flemish, French, and Latin. He also includes a case study that demonstrates how to work with these records. The final chapter discusses other types of records, such as court records (schepenenbank), orphan records (weezerie), tax lists (penningskohieren), and citizenship records (poorters en buiten-poorters).

Buttressing the text itself are a number of useful appendices. In the first of these, the author gives a brief course on Flemish names and naming practices. If you to travel to Flanders, you will appreciate the appendix that introduces the holdings of the State Archives in Flanders (Rijksarchieven), as well as the names, addresses, and functions of the various Flemish genealogical societies. One of the most important features of the entire volume is the glossary of Flemish, French, and Latin terms commonly used in Belgian genealogical documents. Rounding out this extraordinary guidebook is a bibliography of sources./p>

For persons of Flemish ancestry Searching for Flemish Ancestors will be a godsend.

Format: Paper Size: 8 1/2" x 11" Pages: 81 pp. Published: 2007   Price: $19.95. Orders to: Jozef J. Goethals, 318 Rossiter Ave, Baltmore MD 21212

Or order at : www.genealogical.com

ISBN: 9780806353425

Item #: CF9313 

Privately printed:

1. -Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths of the Goethals in selected parish records of Ghent-Belgium (1584-1796), Baltimore MD, 2001.
   

2. -Debrabander. Drie eeuwen molenaars in Rumbeke en Roeselare. [Three Centuries of Millers in Rumbeke and Roeselare]. Baltimore MD, 2002.
   

- The Ancestors of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Baltimore MD, 2006.

- Vanhauwaert in Machelen, Olsene, Oeselgem, Vichte. The ancestors of Josephine Emelie Vanhauwaert (!898-1985), wife of Firmin Debrabander (1891-1958),  Baltimore MD, 2006.

- The Ancestors of Father Jan Baptist Morel, CICM, Baltimore MD, 2006.

1. -The Ancestors of Hennie Irma De Zutter. A Report on the De Zutter Family in Moerkerke, Lapscheure and Blankenberge since 1661. Baltimore MD, 2007.
   

2. -The Goethals in Aarsele and Ruiselede 1550-1800. The Ancestors of Margaret Elodia Goethals, Ruiselede 1889-Molines, Illinois 1951. Baltimore MD 2009.