It is known that Arnoldus Nauts was born in Brunssum in 1630. Arnoldus married with Sybilla Loyens en they got a son called Areth. Arnoldus, Sybilla and Areth lead the family tree of the Nauts family from Brunssum. They lived at a time when Brunssum was part of a fragmented border region, influenced by Spanish, Austrian and later Dutch rulers. In the eighteenth century, the family expanded further. Names such as Joannes, Leonardus, Arnoldus and Maria recurred from generation to generation, indicating strong family and religious traditions. Some family members held positions within the church community, such as churchwarden, which indicates a certain status and reliability within the village. The Nauts family lived mainly from agriculture and craftsmanship. Their life was simple but stable: working on the land, caring for the family and participating in church life. Through marriages, the family became connected to other old Brunssum families. The nineteenth century brought major changes. Brunssum slowly outgrew its agricultural character, and the introduction of civil registration meant that the life of the Nauts family was recorded more accurately than ever before. Some family members remained active in agriculture, others sought work in emerging professions or moved to neighbouring villages through marriage. However, the family remained clearly recognisable in Brunssum. Members of the Nauts family continued to live in Brunssum well into the twentieth century. The name remained associated with the village, no longer as a farming family, but as part of a modern Limburg community.
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