August 19, 2023
Letters 8/19/23
| Judy Cassidy shared this on facebook. Life not just in Pennsylvania and Conewago but all colonies, completely changed during the Revolutionary War Years. Land transactions were especially impacted. As I said before all Land Transactions were done by the British Method. Warrants, Surveys and Patents were not filed at a County level. They were filed in Philadelphia at the PA Land Office. Originally Every County had Officials who did the Surveys for instance but then took them to the PA Land Office. Deeds didn’t exist. The Land Office closed down during the Rev War for several years. But it took several more years to establish County Offices. So many transactions were never recorded. One example: Henry Banta only owned the 95 acres of Mt Misery for about ten years. He originally Warranted and Surveyed Mt Misery before selling it to John Monteith in 1776. Due to the War Monteith could not take that final step and have the land Patented. So basically even though Banta sold his land to Monteith, Banta retained legal possession taking his papers to Kentucky with him. When John Monteith died he left his former Banta land to his son Daniel who was finally able to Patent the land in 1804 when living in KY. Banta is just one example. Farms and land in Adams and York are beautiful. Imagine having to just pick up and leave your beautiful farm behind unsold. Those low Dutch had no choice. So many are under the impression that the Low Dutch moved to KY for land however they already owned beautiful farms which they couldnt sell. So that was not the reason they left. Taxation, Another Depression, 3/4 of the Congregation were gone. They wanted to keep their lives together and hopefully creat another Low Dutch Community which they were able to do in the Low Dutch Tract in Henry and Shelby Counties. ——————————————————————————————————– More from Judy Cassidy: DID YOU KNOW IT WAS CUSTOMARY FOR THE LOW DUTCH TO GIVE THEIR PROPERTY A NAME AT CONEWAGO AND PROBABLY BACK IN NEW JERSEY AS WELL.? A couple examples, Francis Cozart – Cozarts Dream; Banta – Loss and Gain; Rev. Cornelius Cozine – Pleasant Plain, Peter Monfort – Turkey Range etc. ——————————————————————————————————– Judy Cassidy repored on 7/12/23: The Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg will be closed for at least 3 Months or linger as they are moving into a new facility. ——————————————————————————————————– Debbi Allender wrote: I’m responding to Chris Canine’s query about our Low Dutch ancestors in Waveland Indiana in Montgomery County. Honestly, I don’t know much about the Montgomery County cousins, but I have noted that there are names in that area I recognize as I search for my family in Gibson County, Indiana in the SW corner of Indiana. It appears there are pockets of Low Dutch populations in and around Montgomery, Johnson, Switzerland, and Gibson Counties that started to show up in the early 1800s. These counties are not close to each other! Chris noted that the move to Montgomery County happened around 1830. My Gibson County move happened around 1815 and names I see that might be recognizable include Vanarsdall, Banta, Vandiver, LaGrange, and Ayers. My LaGrange and related families were in Mercer County, KY, around 1795, but actually came to Indiana after spending several years in Nelson County, KY. I think the Johnson County move was during the early to mid 1830s. I haven’t researched the dates for Switzerland County. I’ve seen lots of comments in the past about the Johnson County, Indiana population. There’s not much out there about these other groups. Are there more Indiana Dutch Cousins researchers? Debbi in Iowa ——————————————————————————————————– Judy Cassidy wrote: Hi, I just posted the Index to the KY Rev. War Pensions, as well as the actual Pensions posted on both the VanArsdale and Dutch Cousins Face book site. (Here’s a link from the FB page – editor:) https://accessgenealogy.com/kentucky/kentucky-revolutionary-war-pensions.htm?fbclid=IwAR2biVColx5KlMWXgeJEplEVF8i4kbzVDtrKtv6NbRcnTo9k7BcG43n-82A ——————————————————————————————————– Judy Cassidy wrote:Ten Soldiers from Conewago Pa or Berkeley Co Va. grave sitesMany Low Dutch Revolutionary Soldiers who served during the Revolutionary War in Conewago York County or Berkeley Co Va were not buried in the Old Mudd. They are buried in Oswago, Cayuga Co NY; several local Churchs and Farm Cemeteries in Kentucky including Henry Co., Shelby Co, and various other cemeteries in Mercer Co such as New Providence in Salvisa and other areas and states . Many people are under the impression since there is so much focus on the old Mudd if their ancestor is not buried there, they dont count. But they do and deserve to be honored equally. Perhaps now is the time to submit the name and burial location of your Low Dutch Rev soldier, be they even an Uncle or your ancestors brother. A complete list is really needed. If you know your ancestor died for example in Hampshire Co WVA, as Abraham Vanorsdal did ca 1811, but dont have the cemetery location thats ok. Do a little research. Many times Family Cemeteries were created on Family Farms just like on Plantations in the deep south. One big road block is that many courthouses were burned during the Civil War so Wills were lost. But many families might still have Bibles clues. Sadly some former Rev Soldiers were buried near where they were killed say during battles or Indian Attacks so the approximate location will have to work. ——————————————————————————————————– Joe Putnam wrote: ~Musings on Low Dutch Bilingualism~ by Joe Putnam I was musing to myself about what languages my Dutch ancestors spoke on the Kentucky frontier. I descend from Hendrick “Father Henry” Banta through his daughter Mary who married Henry Shively near Harrodsburg in 1783. Mary’s mother was a Demarest of Huguenot lineage. It appears that by the time of the migration to Kentucky in 1780, most of the Low Dutch men were probably functional in English, if not fluent in it. Documents like the petition to Congress and the company charter were in English. Yet they formed as a company to settle together to propagate the Dutch culture, and maintain preaching in the Dutch language. Presumably Mary Banta and her father and siblings were bilingual, speaking both Dutch and English. I wonder if there was a point where the Low Dutch switched to English for day to day activities while preserving Dutch as the language of the church? Henry Shively, who married Mary, was part of the Dutch company and was assigned a tract of land at Bantatown/Pleasureville. Henry was not of Dutch ancestry. Henry was German, born in Pennsylvania, his father from Germany. Now, how did Henry and his wife Mary communicate? Either Henry had already (by 1783) learned Dutch, or teenage Mary already spoke English. I presume both were fluent in English, as that was (to my knowledge) what their children spoke in adulthood, and was the language of their neighbors and of the state. Henry and Mary left for Orange County, Indiana before the Dutch Tract broke up. Henry and Mary’s gravestones are in English. Their son John M. Shively (1804-1893), who left a memoir and became a noted pioneer in Oregon, made no mention of speaking anything but English. In conclusion, did Henry Shively learn Dutch so he could became a part of the Dutch settlement and church? I assume yes. Did Henry also speak German? I have no idea. I conclude Henry and Mary likely spoke both Dutch and English, and Henry may have known German also. I assume their children, Anglicized in language and culture, let the Dutch tongue die, not passing it on to the next generation. Anyway, that is my best guess at this time. ——————————————————————————————————– Sharon Cole wrote: One of the characteristics of a Brownstone is the stoops (dutch word for steps). They lead to the front door used by the Master and his wife or guests. Remember, the Brownstones were one-family homes. The Dutch invented the stoops because of possible flooding. The servants lived in the cellar, on street level. They were not allowed to use the front door. Their entrance was a door under the stoops. Once inside, they went through a dark corridor to a spiral staircase. On each floor was an entrance to the front part of the house. The kitchen was downstairs. The sleeping quarters for the servants/enslaved people, too. ——————————————————————————————————– Judy Cassidy wrote: Hi, I just posted the Index to the KY Rev. War Pensions, as well as the actual Pensions posted on both the VanArsdale and Dutch Cousins Face book site. https://accessgenealogy.com/kentucky/kentucky-revolutionary-war-pensions.htm?fbclid=IwAR2GPbMsk27TGPpDrUcJAHOSNtH6VuY7s_dlTHjMhqMY0Fp6hk1RlA4bvDA ——————————————————————————————————– Pam Ellingson wrote: Judy Cassidy recently visited the Northern Low Dutch Cemetery “Conewago” and shared these photos on Facebook. Additional Information on the stones in the Conewago Cemetery can be found at FindAGrave. https://www.findagrave.com/…/northern-low-dutch-cemetery |
  Conewago stone Conewago stone  Brinkerhoff stone Cassat stone  Monfort stones Cosine stone   Cossart stone Vanderbilt stone ———————————————————————————————————————————————Additions to our mailing list: Jim Dillon Dutch connection: My Mother’s Maiden was Moberly. My Great, Great Grandfather is Simeon Moberly who married Artemesia Banta who is a direct descendant of Henry, Abraham, Hendrick etc. I am very interested in learning more about Dutch ancestry and looking forward to reading your newsletters and any other information you may put out. Thank you for the consideration of adding me to your mailing list. ———————————————————————————————————— Brenda Zolnik Dutch connection: James Baxter – Deborah Westerfield William Baxter – Mahala Taylor Mariah Baxter – Elias Halterbaum Ada Halterbaum – William Hammel Daisy Hammel – Daniel Thorpe Gertrude Thorpe – William Coy Bonnie Coy – Richard Clayton (Son – Kevin Clayton) (Daughter- Brenda Clayton Zolnik) —————————————————————————————————- Mark S. Banta Dutch connection: Hendrick “Father” Banta, born 1719, one of the leaders of the Low Dutch settlement of Kentucky, is my sixth great grandfather (well, one of them, anyway). —————————————————————————————————————Copyright © 2023 Dutch Cousins, All rights reserved. |
