Surname Saturday: Rosa

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has assigned our Saturday Night Genealogy Fun task by asking what was the nicest thing another genealogist has done for us.  For me, that's easy!  I have two and they both deal with the surname Rosa; so I get to tackle two memes at once!  (^.^)

I've been researching Rosa (my maiden name) for years and was staring at a dead-end brick wall.  My grandmother left my grandfather when dad was young so I knew very little about the Rosa's.  I had worked my way back to Abram Rosa who was listed on the 1860 Census for Hamburg, Calhoun Co., Illinois with sons John, James (my 3rd great-grandfather) and Joseph who were all born in Holland.  And there I sat.  Stuck.

Eventually my mother and sister attended a McLaughlin family reunion in Henty, Illinois and while there my sister drove over to Calhoun County to visit some Rosa relatives.  Lynda and George Dixon graciously shared photograhs, newspaper clippings, and filled in missing information, children, etc.  They even had scans of the family bible!  They provided a treasure trove of memorabilia and have my utmost gratitude.

But I was still stuck.

Until I received an email from Martin Roza in response to ancient query on a bulletin board.  He is decended from Abraham Roza, a bother of my 3rd great-grandfather, who stayed in the Netherlands.  He was trying to trace those family members who came to America.  He was able to provide the Dutch names of Abraham Roza, his wife Jantje van Herp and their nine children:

Aaltje Roza (1825 - ?)
Abraham Roza (1827 - 1900) married Eelke van der Wal (1830 - 1912) ~ Martin's 3rd great-grandparents
Gerrit Roza (1828 - 1900) ~ my John Rosa who married Elvira Reed (1835 - 1907)
Catharina Roza (1830 - 1906) married Lambertus Pellikaan and eventually came to America (Illinois)
Pietje Roza (1832 - ?)
Harmon Roza (1835 - 1870) and his wife Josephine (who was farther down on that 1860 Census)
Adriana Roza (1837 - 1858) married Elias Godfrey Harvey in Illinois
Jan Roza (1839 - 1904) ~ James Rosa, my 3rd Great-grandfather
Govert Roza (1843 - 1863) ~ my Joseph  Rosa

Thanks to Martin's information I was able to search Genlias and found Abraham and Jantje's marriage record.  Dutch marriage records are wonderful because they not only give you the birth date and place of the bride and groom, but the parents of the bride and groom as well.  So I now know that Abraham's parents were Abraham Roza and Kaatje de Bruin and I'm happily digging through the baptism and marriage records of their children.

So that brick wall I was staring at?  Demolished!