Now that I have, through the help of a distant cousin, several more ancestors in my family tree, I have been learning about the locations that they were born, lived in and died at. I had originally thought that my grandfather was born in Belgium, but it seems he was actually born in France. Now it is clearer why he couldn’t be found in Belgian records. It seems that the family lived so close to the Belgium/France country line that moving back and forth over it would have been easy.
Defruytier family can be found in, Lauwe, Huise, Wortegem, Waregem, Nokere and Rekkem Belgium. They can also be found in, Neuville en Ferrain, Tourcoing, Lyon and Wattrelos France.
After searching through the question and answer section on Geneanet.org I learned that there is an available Belgian Archive search. I use google translate in order to read the pages that are written in French and Dutch.The most helpful part of the archive for me so far has been the Search Persons link. I found the parents of my great great grandmother, Adela Sophia Decock Defruytier through her death notice. Her parents were Marcellin Decock and Francisca Josepha Casteele. Unfortunately this is all of the information I can find on Marcellin and Francisca.
These files are not without typographic problems like the U.S. census records. I have also double checked some of the records that I had been given by my cousin. Another file had Defruytier information in it but the Defruytier name was so misspelled that searching for it would have been a chore if it hadn’t been for stumbling over it with a different surname.
I found another Van Houtte in the mix, connected to a Defruytier file, Rufin Van Houtte. He witnessed a lot of different marriages in the location of my relatives; I just haven’t found the connecting point if there is one.
I now need to find the same kind of archive search for France as my grandfather, Amos (Aimee) was born there and his parents, Emile and Mary Clemence, were married there.