"Two years ago I was visiting relatives in California (U.S.A. ed.), decendants of my maternal grandmothers brother, by the name of 'Heimans'. They were eager to find out who their ancestors were. When I got home I immediately set to work, first in Amsterdam, later on in Leeuwarden. The Heimans family turned out to be a family of sailors from 'Weststellingwerf' and surroudings, some of which 'emigrated' to Amsterdam during the second half of the nineteenth century, one of which was my greatgreatgrandfather. Because these sailors used to sail on the 'Zuiderzee' (now an inland sea in Holland by the name of 'IJsselmeer' ed.) with their wife and children, it was not uncommon for a child to get born on the way, or at a port of call, like 'Marken' (see certificate). I've made myself the habit to copy all microfilms and sheets, and scan them into my computer. Because a lot of those documents are barely readable, I try to enhance them using software like ACDSee or Paint Shop Pro. That was the case with the certificate showing the name of 'Jan Dorland' (as a witness ed.). Also I have got the habit to take a closer look on the names of witnesses on documents, for instance to see whether or not this person is attached to a familytree somehow. In this case with result! So it's really a coincidence that I came across Jan Dorland; still I thought it would be worthwhile to pass it on."

Thus Harry Snijder. Harry used the online genealogy on this site to trace Jan Dorland. Although there is not concluding evidance, for the time being we will go with his assumption that the person in question is Jan Cornelis Dorland ([no.2042] page 48), born on October 25th 1791 in Marken, occupation: fisherman.