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The Hamels Family tree has been reconstructed by family members on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. If you would like a copy of the present datam please write to us! Hamels family members have lived in Belgium, Netherlands, United States, Canada and Prussia for over hundreds of years.
Dr.John Hamels of the USA (write to John),Dr. Michel Hamels of Belgium, and Mr. Cor Hamels of the Netherlands (write to Cor) have teamed up to reconnect the family branches that stretch
back to over 400 years.
Michel of Belgium has provided us with some very interesting research from approximately 440 years ago. Click here to read a wonderful story that tells of Josine Hamels (1560?-1630,pictured above, and gives us an insight into life in the 1580s! Josine Hamels We do not have a clear relationship with Josine to our current family tree at this time. Our "certified" story begins with the marriage of Daniel Hamels in a little village, Neerheylissm, (See picture of the "Yellow Farm" where Daniel was first known to have settled), in central Belgium where he married Elisabeth Tibaut on April 15, 1690. Visit Modern day Neerheylissem (Helecine)
We are looking for family members of the past and present. Much of our work has been based on the printed work of Ed. H. Joseph Hamels, "La Famille Hamels: 1636-1955" (1956). To view our "family tree branches" please go to the website listed below. Please keep in mind that these are main branches and we have yet to connect them all together but we grow closer each day.
From time to time I will post new items here for your consideration.
Don't panic. I have updated the website! I have stored all of your old favorite photos and posts to a separate page so that this main page isn't so long. For anything that was posted between 2001-2007 go to this page: "Archived Family history 2001-07" **********************************************************************September 2, 2014
It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you very sad news. Our dearest cousin, Dr. Michel Hamels of Leuven, Belgium has passed away after a very long battle with Alzheimer disease. A wonderful mind, great wit and a warm soul, I so very much enjoyed being in his company and absorbing all the information I could take in about all sorts of topics. He was my co-builder of this website and supplier of much needed information. I will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Martine and his children Alexis, Nicolas and Fanny. ~ JohnJune 15, 2013
Another happy report! Alexis Hamels, son of Michel and Martine Hamels of Herent, Belgium, with Daisy Walk had a little girl, Zoe Hamels! We are thrilled for all of you!May 31, 2013
Jack Hamels of Buffalo, NY, my Dad, celebrated his 90th birthday while touring the beautiful country of Ireland! Looking good Dad!!!April 21, 2013
I am happy to report that we have a new twig to our family tree! On March 15, Shaun, our son, and his wife Emily gave birth to Raleigh William Michael Hamels. All are doing well! Photo: Shaun and RaleighNovember 3, 2012
We would like to introduce you to the newest Hamels for the moment, Miss Alyssa Caroline Hamels, the lovely little daughter of Daniel and Julia Hamels of Buffalo, NY!!! She was born on Novmeber 3, 2012.April 4, 2012
I have been remiss in not posting a photo of our daughter Stephanie and her husband, Jordan on their wedding day, August 20, 2011. This was also on my parents' 62 wedding anniversary!April 2, 2012
Most recently I have received word from Melanie in NE that she found a listing for one Hubert Hamels, born 1474! He married in 1502 and lives in Sprang, Netherlands. His job was a miller of oil from plant seeds. The mill apparently is still there. This looks like the oldest listing that we have to date. Well done, Melanie. But as always, we are not sure who Hubert is and how he connects to all of us. Nonetheless, there is a constant pattern which is reassuring that the Belgian and Dutch Hamels came from a primary area back in the 1400-1500s in North Brabant, Antwerp and Amsterdam, which really aren't all that far apart and are connected by good roads. Not too much later we see a migration of Hamelds further east into Westfalen,Stuttgart, Sindlefingen and Prussia. Again, along the eastern borders of Belgium and the Netherlands. For those Hamelsd who like faster technology I am now on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dochamels if you want to contact me or start some type of family forum going! All in all, we are narrowing the map and whether we were first Dutch or Belgian, it doesn't seem to matter since our ancestors lived so close to the borders of both countries long before they were modern countries! Be well and keep in touch! ~JohnFebruary 12, 2012
Although we haven't had much of a winter and many winter outdoor events have been canceled, things are different in the Netherlands! Yeseteday I received a nice email from Cor of NE: "Last night we did visit the worldcup shorttrack in Dordrecht. It was the first time it was held in NE This was also the only one in Europe this season. Today i did skate with my brother in law a 50 km Mill trip which ended at Kjnderdijk(the windmills you visit)It was the first time i did skate more than 20 km, the weather was good ,a sunny day. This trip was held in 2009 for the last time. You got to choose between 3 distances 25,50 or 75 km." Pictured below is Cor on the left and then Cor and his brother-in-law Ben. Notice the windmills in the background!February 8, 2012
I have received some photos this summer that I will post below with a brief caption. We had the good fortune to hear from Angela Hamels Goldenberg from Australia and she has sent along some family history and pictures of herself and her family. Dan from the States sent me a fishing photo and Cor of NE has this photo to share with us of Katinka! I've been a bit slow since we have been pretty busy the last several months. Can't promise I'll be any faster but don't give up on me!!! ~ JohnAngela Hamels Goldenberg of Australia
March 29, 2011
Just got this great photo from my cousins Dan and Julia Hamels from the Buffalo, NY region. They are enjoying hopefully the last of our very long and cold winter! Pictured with them are two of their three daughters, Olvia and Lillian. Think Spring!!! [Please!!!!] ~JohnJanuary 20, 2011
I recently received a website address that may be helpful to the Dutch clan. Melanie [Hamels] Verwijmeren shared this with me and there are many Hamels from the mid-1600s forward. She has included some easy directions for your use as well. Here is the address: http://www.stadsarchief.breda.nl/index.phpoption=com_genealogie_zoeken&Itemid=7 "You must first enter the surname: in Dutch you call it - achternaam Than you can search: in Dutch you call it - zoeken (Clicking on the button below)" Groetjes/Best wishes, ~JohnDecember 30, 2010
It is with great sadness that I write to tell you that my aunt, Bernice M. Hamels, passed away on December 25 in Buffalo, NY at the age of 89 yrs. She was the wife to my father's brother Edmond and the mother of Gary and Bruce Hamels. My brother and I would visit my aunt and uncle for extended summer vacations and would enjoy the more suburban/country life with them when we were younger. My aunt always had her hands full with these four boys! ~JohnDecember 12, 2010!!!
My gosh, I can't believe that it's been a year since my last posting! I will have to endeavor to do better this coming year. Not too much has come up this past year in terms of genealogy. I have heard from Fabien Octave who lives in Indonesia presently and we have shared some Belgian Hamels family background information. I was contacted not too long ago by an individual from Leuven who is in possession of Hamels family documents that date back to the late 1700s thru the early 1900s. Toussaint and Lambert Hamels are two names that were listed. Since I am on this side of the ocean, it is difficult to determine the historical value of these documents although he was most willing to send me several scans of some of the documents. If anyone would like to pursue these documents and their purchase please conatact me at: [email protected] and I will put you in touch with this individual. I see that folks are indeed visiting this site and I couldn't be more happy! Please, if this is your first or 100th visit here drop us a line or leave a message in the guestbook. We need to keep chatting and keeping in touch. As our children have children, more and more of the Hamels family members want to know their history. Let's keep it going! Best wished to all of you for a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year! Groetjes!!! ~ JohnDecember 12, 2009
Another Hamels athlete is making news in the world! Katinka Hamels, daughter of Cor and Christina Hamels of Dordrecht, Netherlands, participated in her first judo championship and took second place!!! Katinka is the second from the left. Congratulations Katinka!November 12, 2009
Well it seems that the Dutch Hamels have breathed new life into our web site! As the Americans know that Cole Hamels, California clan, pitched in the World Series for the his baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Although his team wasn't able to defeat the New York Yankees after 6 games we are still proud to see "Hamels" in bold red letters on TV!!! Keep up the good work Cole. Then, not to long ago I heard from Cole's cousin, Bryce from the Texas clan. He is now living in Alaska and shared that he got married to April, the love of his life, in May on the island of Maui. Congratulations to the newly weds and welcome to the family April! This is their photo:October 7, 2009
My wife has pointed out to me that I have neglected to post a photo of our own "newly weds", Justin and Brittany. Now that it's been over one year since they were married, I am finally posting a favorite family shot of our son Justin, his wife Brittany and our grand-daughter Kyla! Very good looking family!!! ~ Best wishes/Groetjes, JohnJuly 21, 2009
If you have been looking at our guestbook lately,it looks like it's been invaded by some crazed internet lunatic. For some reason we are getting spam into our guestbook which has nothing to do with our family web site. I check it from time to time and then spend 10 minutes removing these nuisance entries. If you are thinking about leaving a message please do so! I will clean things up periodically but don't hesitate to write. I will preserve your message. I have contacted the webmaster and they are working on the problem. I guess other sites are experiening similar problems. Other than that I hope you are having a great summer. It's a bit rainy and cool here this July. We are hoping for a warmer August!!! ~ Cheers, JohnJuly 8, 2009
Today there was a posting in our guestbook that was interesting although I removed it! It was a direct letter to Cole Hamels, our famous baseball playing relative. The writer expressed admiration and affection for Cole as well as leaving a phone number.June 18, 2009
Here are some photos from my visit to our family in the Netherlands! First photo is Cor, Melanie and me at Cor's home. The second photo is a group shot of Cor, his wife Christa, and their daughters Nina and Katinka. The third photo is a typical scene of the beautiful city of Dordrecht in February. The last photo is a scene of the windmills near Dordrect. Our time together was short but Cor was a great tour guide and host! Christa and the girls were great to be with and I enjoyed visiting with Melanie and her family as well. Most Hamels here in the USA don't know this but there are A LOT of Hamels in Dordrecht! Many of them came to a party that I was invited to and they were just wonderful people. I hope that you enjoy these shots. It was difficult to pick just a few since there were so many great scenes from the area to show you!!! ~ JohnMay 9, 2009.
Hello/Hallo everyone! I haven't posted anything in some time since I have been pretty busy doing interim work but I am now retired again and hope to post some new info soon. Coming soon I will put up a few fotos from the time I visited Cor and his family and perhaps a couple of shots from the beautiful city of Dordrecht, NE. Happy Mothers' Day to all of our Hamels ladies and thank you for putting up with our universally unique personalities and family traits!!! Best wishes/Groetjes, ~ John, Jean, JohanJanauary 18, 2009
Stefaan Hamels of BE, has sent over some new information about many of our ancestors who lived in the Neerheylissem and Esemaal villages. It is very clear that they Hamels clan lived and died in both communities for many years. This is the first time that we have seen the clear connection with the two villages. It is also interesting to note that many of them were farmers and then their children eventually moved to other occupations. Thank you Stefaan for this reseach! We look forward to hearning more!!! ~ Groetjes, JohnDecember 31, 2008
It's the last day of the year and I have great news! Stefaan and his father have connected with us and is beginning to send us history and photos from his Hamels branch in Belgium. You will find Stefaan and his immediate family as part of the Hamels III family tree. You can find it by clicking on the Hamels trees down below. Here is a story from Stefaan about the marriage of his Uncle Gaston to his Aunt Elisabeth. We tried to post the photo on this main page but ran into some technical difficulty! By clicking on the underlined words that follow you will see the photo: The marriage of Gaston and Elisabeth Hamels 1946 Stefaan describes the scene as follows:December 14, 2008
For those of you who are more comfortable in contacting a Hamels family member in the Netherlands and in your mother language of Dutch, Cor Hamels has agreed to be our family contact. You may email him at: [email protected]November 1, 2008
Without any doubt in my mind, Cole Hamels has become the most famous Hamels family member in the world at this time. Cole, of the Dutch Hamels line, was named as the Most Valuable Player in this year's World Series of Baseball. This is equivalent to winning the World Cup in Soccer or the Super Bowl in Football. He is still young and has a bright future ahead of him. Just "google" his name and thousands of hits come up. Well done, Cole!!! ~ JohnNovember 1, 2008
Below is a photo taken by my brother Bob while we were all on a cruise ship touring the Inner Passage of Southern Alaska. At his point we were about 1000 miles north of Seatle, Washington. Much like the Grand Canyon, Alaska's beauty and peacefulness is very difficult to put into words. Don't you think that Barb and I look like National Geographic explorers??!?!?!? ~ JohnSeptember 16, 2008
Cor Hamels and his family, from the Netherlands, recently vacationed in the country of Turkey. Here is a photo of Cor posing in the ruins of an ancient site. The view is gorgeous and Cor tells me that the beaches are pure white and very unusual. If you have an idea to travel to Turkey it might not be a bad idea to contact Cor for some travel suggestions! ~JohnJuly 5, 2008
We did it!!! Another web site milestone has been passed. We have had now over 9000 hits to our web site. That's an average of about 1000 hits each year since we went live in 1999! Even though I don't hear a lot from folks I know that you are visiting here from time to time! Pretty cool!!! ~ JohnJuly 2, 2008
Today I launched the sister genealogy site for the Irish side of the family called the Dohertys of Kilkenny. If you are interested you may click here to connect: Dohertys of Kilkenny, Ireland Enjoy! ~JohnJune 2, 2008
June 2, 2008
June 1, 2008
This evening a contingency of Hamels gathered together at a restaurant near Buffalo to celebrate my father's [Jack] 85th birthday as noted below. He now has caught up with my mother, Sara [Don't tell her that I told you]! Happy birthday Dad & Mom! ~ From all of your kids, grandkids, great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids.May 6, 2008
Spring has finally come to the eastern seaboard of the USA. The flowers are in full bloom and many of the birds have already returned to our feeder here in NY. Haven't heard from too many folks lately. Cor is busy running in Marathons in Europe. My Dad is soon to be 85 years old on May 31!!! He doesn't look a day over 60. I just finished a 2 month position as Acting Superintendent and I have now returned to the world of retirement for a little while! Send photos or stories. We would all like to enjoy them! ~JohnFebruary 25, 2008
Well we can almost smell spring here in the states and that usually means baseball season is coming up soon. At one time I posted a photo of our most popular Hamels - Cole Hamels. He has been pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies and is quite the heart throb of many young girls here! Just google our name and up comes Cole! I think you'll find me after about 3000 sites...oh well, I guess we all can't be tall, athletic and handsome! Here is a photo of Cole for your viewing enjoyment. He is quite the pitcher and we watch him play on TV whenever we can pick up one of his games. ~ JohnSince we have received a variety of e-mails from different Hamels (Hamel, Hammel, Hammil) here are two excellent sites that you may want to visit as well as you endeavor to trace your roots! Just click on the Internet Link that you want and you will be there. In order to return here, use your "Back" button at the top left corner of your screen. Enjoy!
Feel free to write to us and we will share your story with the rest of the family. We presently have Hamels family members in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the USA (New York, Texas, California, Florida and Kentucky). If you want to print the tree branches, we recommend that you set your printer for "landscape". In this way you will capture all of the information. Enjoy!
Here are a few "branches", interesting sites, reference sites and some family pictures:
1. Hamels Family Trees (Belgian, American, German, and Canadian)
2. Hamels Family Tree of the Netherlands- Tilburg, Dordrecht & Breda [updated 1/17/04]
3. View our Family Reunion Photo Album: Nicolas Hamels of Leuven meets cousins John "Jack" & Sara in their home, Buffalo New York on Dec. 14, 2000
4. View our Family Reunion Photo Album: Margaret, Robert, Nicolas, Jennifer & Robert meet in Buffalo!
5. View our Family Photo Album: Michel Hamels of Leuven, Belgium
6. View our Family Photo Album: Raphaelle Hollanders of Liege, Belgium
7. Hamels Lookup in Belgium
8. Hamels Lookup in Germany (Click on Das Telefonbuch)
9. Locate the Hamels in Belgium!(type in Hamels and press "Zoek")
10. View the Hamels Mansion in 1709, Hertfordshire, England!
11. Reference to the hamlet of Hamels and Mansion in Braughing,England [Updated 12/28/04]
12.Historical Notes for The Hamels Estate in England: 1564-2001
13. New piece of Research from Lubeek: Hamers-Haemers-Haemels-Hamels.
For a complete lineage go to this link: [Joannes Hamers Hamels]
14. Scan of Hamels Mansion (from an engraving)[1/21/00]
15. Locate Hamels in the Netherlands. (Type in Hamels and push "Zoek")
Most of the text on this site is written in english, just to reach the greatest number of people. Please, feel free to use your own language, if you prefer.
La plupart des textes sur ce site sont rediges en anglais pour etre compris par le plus grand nombre de personnes. Mais si vous preferez utiliser votre propre langue, n'hesitez pas. Evitez cependant d'utiliser des accents ou autres caracteres speciaux, qui ne pourraient etre affiches sur des ecrans non-francais.
De meeste teksten op deze site zijn in het Engels opgesteld om het grootste aantal lezers te kunnen bereiken. Aarzel echter niet om uw eigen taal te gebruiken indien u dat verkiest.
Die meiste Texten sind in Englisch aufgestellt um das Maximum Anzahl Personen zu erreichen. Aber bitte, verwenden Sie Ihre eigene Sprache, wenn Sie das bevorzugen. Vermeiden Sie jedoch spezielle Schriftzeichen (wie Umlaute) zu benutzen, die nicht auf alle Schirmen gezeigt werden koennen.
Hallo mijn naam is Cor Hamels ,ik kom uit Hendrik Ido Ambacht in Nederland. John heeft mij gevraagd om de Nederlandse kontakt persoon te zijn. Als er iemand in Nederland of Belgie informatie wil of wil delen,laat het ons dan weten. Neem vooral een kijkje in onze site.