June 19, 2022
Have you registered for the Dutch Cousins Reunion in September?
| Mary Jo Gohmann wrote: God bless our dear Carolyn and all the family and friends who will miss her special touch. Blessings, Mary Jo —————————————————————————————————– Preston Forsythe wrote: We are deeply sadden to hear about Carolyn. She was a wonderful person and loved the Dutch Cousins. This was very apparent that she loved what she did. With Sorrow, Preston Leach Westerfield Forsythe Browder, KY My Mother, Clara Mae Westerfield Forsythe Ohio County, KY,, buried Central City, KY Clara’s Mother and Father, Pearl and Jay Westerfield, buried Beaver Dam, Ky Jay’s father, Stephen Westerfield, buried 2 miles south of Beaver Dam, KY, in Ohio County, at Brick House Cemetery. —————————————————————————————————– Timothy Smith wrote: Re: Adams Co. His. Society, Would anyone have an original photo of Arthur Weaner when you were at the 2019 tour of Conowago. The Adams County Historical Society is building a new much larger new building to house their collections and will have a wall of faces. I nominated Arthur Weaner and They would like to see if anyone has a photo of his face, head and shoulders since it is about faces. I imagine they may need a copy of the original. It can be sent to: Timothy Smith, Director of Education, at historian@achs-pa-org. The society is currently closed although people are working there. Here is the US Postal Address and the man in charge of the project. Timothy Smith Director of Education 368 Springs Ave. P O Box 4325 Gettysburg, Pa, 17325 717-334-4723 historian@achs-pa-org —————————————————————————————————– Judith Smith Cassidy wrote: I would like to add the following information to the Newsletter. I recently published a new book entitled: CONOWAGO PENNSYLVANIA AND BERKELEY VIRGINIA REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH RECORDS, , Preservation, Journey, Custodians 1769-1803, 1803-1977. Judith Smith Cassidy, published through Amazon. Several years ago I discovered the Conowago Deacons and Baptism Records for Conowago at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia. Because they were written in Early Dutch, the Society didn’t know what they were, so they simply filed them under the names appearing to be the minister or deacons. Later they did change them to Conowago. Vince Akers was kind enough for have copies made for several of us including Harry Macy, Jr of the NYG&B Society as well as both Vince and Me. Harry Macy had Cor Snabble of the Netherlands translate the Deacons Records those were published in the New Netherlands Connection. the Book attempts to follow the Journey of the Conowago DRC Records of then York County, Pa, traveling to Kentucky, then Ohio and Indiana by different Custodians before being returned to the hands of Rev. John K. Demarest, the Pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Gettysburg. Rev. Demerest wrote a series of Articles published in the Gettysburg Star Weekly about the Records, When he became ill he entrusted the Hon. Edward McPherson, Edward McPherson, 1830-1895, a long time Gettysburg resident, was the Adams County Pennsylvania Representative to Congress 1859-1862, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives 1863-1875, 1881-1883, 1889-1891; Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 1877-1878, appointed permanent President of the Republican National Convention 1876, Editor of the Philadelphia Press1877-1880 and the New York Tribune Almanac 1877-1895. He was also interested in history, so often traveled often to Philadelphia where he was a member of the Historical Society where he put the Records into their care. THIS IS NOT A FAMILY HISTORY BUT THE HISTORY OF THE CONOWAGO AND BERKELEY DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH RECORDS AND THE MEN WHO PRESERVED AND PROTECTED THEM UNTIL THEY ARRIVED AT THEIR FINAL DESTINATION, THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Among their Custodians were: HENRY COMMINGORE, FRANCIS MONFORT, REVEREND FRANCIS CASSAT MONFORT, REVEREND DR. JOSEPH GLASS MONFORT, REVEREND JOHN K. DEMAREST, HON. EDWARD MCPHERSON, AND REVEREND GEORGE. G. BRINKERHOFF. ———– I just forgot to add my other book Entwined Vanarsdale Families also available thru Amazon. The story about the descendants of Lucas and William Vanarsdale, grandsons of Capt Luke Vanarsdale of Shelby Co Ky. The brothers moved to Mississippi and Louisiana years before the Civil War. The story is about their descendants and their slaves and their descendants. Everyone worked together to create this Family History. We also have a Face Book page Vanarsdale Linked Ancestry. Judith Smith Cassidy. —————————————————————————————————– Marilyn Douglas wrote:Do you have Dutch ancestors who fled the Netherlands during the revolutionary period? This spring Dirk Alkemade (Leiden University) is a visiting Fulbright student scholar at the New Netherland Research Center. He will be here until the end of July. He is researching the experiences of Dutch political refugees and migrants that came to the US in the revolutionary era (c. 1776-1815). You can read more about his research here at the https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/ He welcomes all suggestions on genealogical and archival sources and can be reached at d.g.a.alkemade@hum.leidenuniv.nl Please forward this request to friends, colleagues, genealogists, members of your organizations who you think may have helpful information for Dirk. Thank you Marilyn Marilyn E. Douglas, President New Netherland Institute 222 Madison Avenue, Room 10D45 Albany, NY 12230 mdouglas@newnetherlandinstitute.org 518.408.1212 (w) Tues Fax 518.473.0472 518.489.0418 (h) Mobile: 518.495.5993 Website www.newnetherlandinstitute.org Facebook page http://on.fb.me/1fq5BdX —————————————————————————————————– Eddie Rice wrote: Here is an update on the Low Dutch Cemetery here in Gettysburg near Hunterstown. Our family now does the caretaking and went in to do spring cleaning. The purple violets are everywhere! Here is a link to the google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/vZmky2Gk4pJtPeg76 —————————————————————————————————–Wayne Heightchew wrote: From: Wayne Heightchew <wheightchew@gmail.com> Subject: Low Dutch Surname I was raised in a small town by the name of Pleasureville, Kentucky. There is a cemetery there. Most people call it the Pleasureville Cemetery. The actual name is the Low Dutch Cemetery. There are many surnames in this cemetery from your list. The reason I write is my research indicates the spelling of my last name when they came to this country was spelled H-E-I-D-S-C-H-U-H. I believe this may be a Low Dutch surname. Can you shed any light on this? Board Member Chris Canine replied: I did a basic search on Heidshuh/Heightchew “as I’m a registrar for SAR and help with genealogy a lot“ and I believe I traced his lineage back to Germany not the Netherlands with a very high probability of accuracy. Yes , I know a lot about that cemetery and have seen that name in the Pleasureville cemetery however the years of arrival or first burials is 2-4 generations after most of our Low Dutch cousins. I did not find any references of that surname in any of my personal records or public from the Netherlands to present day also. —————————————————————————————————– Judith Smith Cassidy forwarded: Subject: The SECRET in the old Banta House and its interior Recently I came across the following letter from Arthur Weaner. dated Oct. 15, 1988, in which he was taling about the interior of the Banta House which was probably similiar in style to the other Low Dutch Houses at Conowago. “Siding of some kind had been placed over the exterior los. As I understood the “SECRET” IN THE HOUSE, WAS ONE OF THE INTERIOR LOGS IN THE WALL, which was hollowed out for perhaps 15-20 inches with a slliding door, a place to keep or hide things like money, papers and valuables. If the edroom walls have been plastered, as I understand, they are per Mr. Livingston (?)then qluite probably the “SECRET” has been plastered over. Larry Vories sent me a copy of one of the Newsletters which contained photos taken when the Dutch Cousins visited this log house, and the photos shows only the stair case, and the upper room which seemed the be the entire floor, plus a photo of a window with a curtain over it. The walls were all plastered over. HOWEVER THERE WERE NO PHOTOS OF THE FIRST FLOOR OR A FIREPLACE. MY QUESTION IS: DOES ANYONE HAVE THESE PHOTO’S??? A letter from Timothy Smith explaining why the Adams County Hstorical Society does not preserve old building etc in the County etc is below. Hopefully that will clarify the situation. So if all this could be included in a news letter I believe descendants would appreciate it. If I can find a way, I will attach the photos I have. Judy, As I have discussed with others in the past, the Adams County Historical Society is not a land or building preservation organization. Over our eighty year history we have been offered school houses, election houses, covered bridges, and other historical structures. But the preservation of land and structures is not our mission. There are other fine organizations that fultil that mission, like Historic Gettysburg Adams County. It is really up to the owner, or Straban Township. We can not force preservation on them. We can only make them aware of the historical value of the property. But alas, that is not always enough. Timothy H. Smith Director of Education The Adams County Historical Society 368 Springs Avenue / P.O. Box 4325 Gettysburg, PA 17325 (717)334-4723 www.achs-pa.org Judith Smith Cassidy added: Do you recall what the first floor looked like. I wonder if avquery could be placed in the Newsletter?? Thanks for responding. jacassidy22@verizon.net |
