The van Amber family, as far as I can tell, originated in upstate New York and has spread west from there. While we're good examples of the family that came from nowhere - dropped out of space by aliens? - we're also a good example of the 'three brothers' story. I'm attempting to bring all the family together by researching birth / death / marriage records as well as the census' In most cases my 'proof' is an image of the source documents.