They were leaving for Canada.
On 13 April 1952, Marcel and Simonne stood for a photograph before departure. A board records the destination. One older woman in the picture may be Simonne’s mother. Her identity is still being proved.
A LIVING FAMILY MYSTERY
What will you discover today?
Every name opens another door. Follow a photograph, cross an ocean, solve a mystery, or disappear down a family rabbit hole.
THE FAMILY IS BIGGER THAN A TREE.People. Places. Evidence. Secrets. Journeys.BELGIUM · NETHERLANDS · CANADA · AND BEYOND
The saint in the family?
For centuries, the Van der Gracht name has been associated with Blessed Idesbald. The evidence makes the story stranger, not simpler.
The road to Charlemagne
John van Waterschoot built a sprawling genealogy and a branch reaching into medieval Europe. Can we reconstruct the chain and prove it?
DON'T START WITH A NAME
Start with a clue.
A family can be entered through almost anything: a date, a storefront, an unknown face, a surname, a vanished website, even a question nobody has answered yet.
4grandparent gateways
—people waiting to be explored
—artifacts, clues & evidence
∞rabbit holes still opening
OR START WITH FAMILY
Four families. Countless rabbit holes.
Start with one of the four grandparent gateways. Every profile can lead to another person, place, photograph, mystery or century.
Show me the evidence.
The story comes first, but the receipts are always there: family photographs, civil acts, parish pages, handwriting, memorial cards, maps and records. We distinguish what is proven, what is probable, and what remains a mystery.
ORIGINAL RECORDSFAMILY PHOTOGRAPHSSIGNATURESGRAVE MARKERSLETTERS & CARDSMAPS & PLACES
EVERY PERSON IS A DOORWAY
People
Find someone. See how they connect to you. Then enter their world.
MYSTERIES · JOURNEYS · REAL LIVES
Stories
Follow the clues. Every ending opens another door.
THE RECEIPTS
Evidence
Photographs, documents, records and honest placeholders for artifacts we know exist but have not yet recovered.