Ancestry and History of the Brunsting and Eising Families
Introduction
I feel fortunate to have grown up in a stable traditional family with two parents, and grandparents too, although my paternal grandfather died before I was born. It seemed a very natural thing. Slowly on, as I became more aware of how life works, I began to ask my parents and grandparents about their parents, and so on. And that is how my interest in family ancestry began.
Unless one has a family historian as a close relative, the questions on family history are soon met with a blank look and “I don’t know” becomes the answer. With my curiosity in these matters, and in history in general, it seemed inevitable that I would become a family historian. Although interested in these questions from an early age, my work did not really begin until my own father passed away in 1991. His death drove home the realization that when people die you can no longer ask them about their history.
Initially the research was strictly genealogical – a filling in of the family tree consisting of parents, grandparents, and so on, as far back as possible. Over time I also found it interesting to learn something about the lives of my ancestors – how they lived, what they did for work and so on. I distinctly remember feeling somewhat pleased to learn that several of my direct Brunsting ancestors were beer brewers.
Fortunately for me, the Dutch records that I relied on were well organized and, over time, became very accessible via the internet. However, as with all genealogical research, the trail of data inevitably runs out and no more family connections can be found, especially as we reach back beyond about fifteen generations, or about 500 years. However, as we peer back through the mists of time, we can still discover some more general things about our ancestors, where and how they lived, for example. And now modern DNA analysis can also tell us something about our earliest ancestors and where we came from.
The possibility of discovering more through further research is never ending. However, I am now at the point where I feel the desire to share what I have discovered, hence this website. For some it may be fun just to surf through the data to see how they may be connected. For others it may help with their own research. Whichever the case, I hope you have fun.
Acknowledgements
My start as a family historian and genealogist began in 1991, shortly after my father died. Fortunately for me, an aunt was able to put me in touch with the original Brunsting family historian, Otto Brunsting, a cousin of my father. He had been researching the family since the late 1950’s, when his own curiosity was sparked by a letter from a distant cousin in America.
Otto and I had correspondence from 1991 until he passed away in 2020, first by regular mail and later by email. We met in person twice during my visits to the Netherlands in 1997 and 2013. Otto got me started and mentored me in how to do research in the Dutch records. He also warned me that genealogy could be highly addictive, and, for me, that proved to be the case!
Otto also shared his findings, and we began to collaborate on doing further research. By sharing information in areas of common interest, genealogists can help one another increase their knowledge.
When publishing it is important to acknowledge the work of others. I have tried to do that by citing the information included in the genealogy files on this website. As far as possible I have tried to confirm information by referencing original sources.
However, someone else may have led you to the sources in the first place, by publishing or privately sharing their discoveries. I want to acknowledge and thank the many individuals that have shared information, either through formal publications, or by posting their work to various websites dedicated to that purpose.
Finally, thanks to Hans Homan Free for his extensive work on Drents families and the supporting sources. I have enjoyed working with him on several areas of common interest.
What’s in a name?
Having a family name is something that we all take for granted, but it was not always that way. All surnames have a beginning. When looking for our ancestors we naturally look for people with our surname, or the surname of our mother, then grandfather and grandmother, and so on, as far back as we can. Sometimes we can find the ancestor that first started to use the name.
For me the research into my family also gave rise to curiosity about the origin of our family name ‘Brunsting’. An obvious answer is that the name comes from a small hamlet in the province of Drenthe, in the Netherlands, but even villages and towns are named for something.
In my quest to find an answer I was also able to discover an explanation of the name ‘Eising’, the surname of my spouse.
Grandparents of Theo Brunsting
Brunsting – Verburg
The picture above is of my paternal grandparents, Jacob Brunsting and Amelia Cornelia Verburg, taken in about 1925. Their commonly used names were Jaap and Melie.
Mudde – van der Woerdt
The picture above is of my maternal grandparents, Teunis Mudde and Christijntje van der Woerdt, taken on their wedding day, July 22, 1937. Their commonly used names were Teun and Stien.
Grandparents of Sandy Eising Brunsting
Eising – Boxen
The picture above is of Sandy’s paternal grandparents, Hendrik Eising and Hendrikien Boxen, taken in about 1920.
Hofland – Berkenbosch
The picture above is of Sandy’s maternal grandparents, Bruin Hofland and Elisabeth Berkenbosch, taken on their wedding day, May 16, 1934. Their commonly used names were Ben and Bets.