By George, I think we’ve got it!

This continuation of the Dutch visitor to Poland series is the point of all that that has gone before. To recap, we noted a number of apparent Bullers in the Derks and Berents lists. These included (Bullers and spouses, when known):

• Jurjen Boeler† — Dijna Toomske (aka Dijna Tomas in the Berents list)
• Cornelis Voet — Saartie Bollers
• Hans Boller — Boeiste Onrouw = Hans Boeler — Boetstje Onrouw
• Lijsabet Buijlers
• Trijntje Buijlerts
• Jeurijen Buijelerts
• Saartje Boelers

One name begs to be noticed, a name that we have considered before—and it is not even a Buller name. Earlier this year, in a post titled “Old Buller or Original Buller?” (23 January), we looked at the statement about the Buller family at the front of the Przechovka church book.

Buller entry in the Przechovka church register, with summary/translation below

This is the first time that this family name appears. All the Bullers are descendants of this family. His given name and original residence are not known. He died at a very old age. The only information about his marital status is a notation found with No. 930B and No. 339. This indicates that he was married to Jacob Thomsen’s daughter, Dina, and that she survived him. Jacob Thoms, No. 930, lived at Dorposch.

The Dina Thoms (alternate Thomsen) mentioned as being married to the earliest Buller of the church is apparently the Dijna Toomske/Dijna Tomas mentioned in the Derks/Berents lists. In other words, we have contemporary evidence—a record from the very time that Derks and then Berents visited the area (1714–1716, then 1719)—that Dina Thoms existed.

But this is not the most important conclusion to draw from the Derks list. Think back to our earlier discussions: Who was Dina Thoms’s husband? Exactly which Buller did she marry? If you recall, Dina married number 339 in the church record immediately below, good old *** Buller, whom we have dubbed Unknown Buller and the Grandma database identifies as ______ Buller (further below).

Why call attention to this now? Look again at the Derks entry for this couple: Jurjen Boeler† — Dijna Toomske. Unknown Buller in now known. His name was Jurjen, that is, George. *** Buller has a name, and we even know approximately when he passed away. The † by his name means that, although he was alive when Derks visited sometime around 1715, he had passed away before Berents visited in 1719.

Although secondary resources can enlighten us about the political, geographical, sociological, and religious background of a particular time and place in history, reading them is no substitute for digging into the actual primary sources deriving from that period and locale. There is no better proof of this than the fact that, based on the primary source provided by Derks and Berents, we can now fill in an important blank for the Bullers with a connection to the Przechovka church. The original Buller of that church (at least as far as the church book knows) was George Buller, who died sometime between 1715 and 1719 and left behind (still living in the school—what should we make of that repeated fact?!) his widow Dina Thoms Buller.

I will let everyone know if the Grandma database accepts this revision to their listing. As far as I am concerned, however, this loose end has been tied up quite nicely, and hereafter the Buller Time blog will refer to George Buller rather than to Unknown Buller.