Why should someone be interested in genealogy and family history? In my opinion, preserving family history for future generations is extremely important. When a person knows their family lineage and history, they feel a deeper connection to it and gain a higher sense of self-awareness. We all know the importance of studying and understanding history. I’ve discovered how much fun genealogy research is. It is like a constant mystery that unfolds and reveals answers, yet expands the mystery even further. In short, it is very fulfilling for all who are involved whether they be researchers or those casually interested in genealogy.

This website is intended to be a central communication hub and collaborative effort in researching and promoting all Staats genealogies. I will be posting all of my research in the days and weeks to come. I have gathered birth records, marriage records, U.S. Census records, baptismal records and genealogical research publications. There is already an interactive genealogy site where you can see a lot about my mainly direct, paternal lineage. I am hoping that many of my relatives will contribute their records and research in kind. I have also been collaborating with descendants of Abraham Staats of Albany who arrived in New Netherland in 1642 and will be posting information on that family. So far I have been researching my paternal lineage. I can prove, with a high degree of certainty, my paternal lineage back to our family’s immigrant ancestor who arrived in New Netherland (New York) before 1638. That ancestor’s name is Jan Pieterszen van Husum (also known as Jan Pieterszen van Huysen.) No information has been found that can tell us where he came from, but the evidence gathered so far points to him coming from Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Back then, Schlewsig was ruled by the Danish. The Schleswig-Holstein area was fought over and changed rulers between Denmark and Germany for quite some time. But we’ll save this story/mystery for later. I look forward to a positive, collaborative effort that will benefit all of us and our descendants.