July 5, 2024
Letters 7/5/2024
| Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park! Our Dutch Cousins President, Chris Canine, has hit the ball out of the park in finding the most beautiful, interesting, and affordable venue for our DC Reunion this September. Now, we need you to help us by sending in your registration. Read Janice’s and Chris’ messages below for more… Hello Cousins! The time is coming! We hope you are getting excited about our upcoming Dutch Cousins gathering, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday – September 13, 14, 15, 16, 2024. We have many things planned for you, not to mention our gathering this year is being held at the Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park in Carlisle, Kentucky. The park itself is full of history trails, the Pioneer Museum, the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War and you can also retrace the steps of the legendary Daniel Boone. The park is a great trip in itself but we also get to see cousins we haven’t seen in a while along with a few new cousins. We hope you will take the time to join us this fall for another great gathering. We would love to see you again! Please add to your plans, one of our own cousins, Dr. Steve Henry, former KY Lt. Governor and his wife, Heather French Henry, former Miss America, are giving us the opportunity to tour Rosemary Clooney’s home just a few miles down the road from our gathering. Steve and Heather have owned Rosemary’s home for the past 20 years. The non-profit foundation was established to preserve the legacy of Rosemary Clooney, her home and to house memorabilia from her life and career. In her home you will see childhood photos, her life as a wife, mother of 5 children and numerous grandchildren, the largest collection of ‘White Christmas’ memorabilia anywhere in the world, her bedroom as it was while she lived there, costumes worn by Bing, Bob, Vera and Rosemary herself; also movies co-starring Bob Hope, Guy Mitchell and Jose Ferrer. This is a wonderful opportunity Steve and Heather are offering us. We also appreciate this chance to see another piece of history during our time before the gathering. This opportunity will only take place on THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12th . Please send an email, leave a message or state somewhere on your registration form, to let me know you plan to attend this “THURSDAY” event. Thank you! jscozine170@gmail.com – 502-538-6023 We hope you’ve started making your plans to join us for our 10th Dutch Cousins gathering !! See you there, Janice Cozine DC Treasurer & Registration Chair ———————————————————— |
| Chris Canine wrote: Hi Cousins, I wanted to give you an update and let you know that our block of rooms allocated by the park for our gathering was full! So, we reached out and the park has been very generous and opened up several more rooms for our discounted block! I would encourage you to call the Blue Licks State Resort Park and make a reservation as soon as possible! If these rooms are also filled, you will need to ask them about availability of rooms that are open to the public at regular park prices. Another option would be to reserve accommodations at a hotel in a nearby town. We look forward to seeing you all in a few months as we gather to share in our family histories! ———————————– On Friday afternoon of the gathering we will be having an educational session on the songs of the American Revolution by the SAR fife and drum corps! Scott Giltner of the Governor Isaac Shelby, Sons of the American Revolution will be talking to us about the many songs that were played during the war! How fitting since we will be at Blue Licks which was considered the last major battle! We will be playing these songs as he tells us the history of them! Everyone can close their eyes and get a feel for what it must have been like, so long ago, as you marched out to the battle field! Photo: Chris Canine drum Scott Giltner fife  ———————————– Here are some photos of the beautiful Blue Licks State Resort Park     For more photos, click here: https://guestrez.megasyshms.com/JN39V/blue-licks-battlefield-state-resort-park?_ga=2.201750551.781044421.1687184721-1980177580.1678121748 I am looking forward to all of us gathering together in September! Regards, Chris Canine ——————————————————————————————————— Download Dutch Cousins 2024 Registration & Schedule    |
 ————————————————————————————————————- Chris Canine wrote Hi Cousins! I wanted to let you know I was able to represent our ancestors during the City of Harrodsburg’s 250th Anniversary week! I portrayed my 5th Great Grandfather Peter Canine of the Low Dutch Community and the OldMud Meetinghouse Deed signer! This first person reenactment was at the Harrodsburg Historical Society with “tea and snacks with a pioneer of Harrodsburg”. There was a nice turnout and it was a great time talking about our Low Dutch families and history! I spoke to many about our Low Dutch Cousins at the monument dedication at Fort Harrod in the cemetery, during the 250th celebration! There was also a veterans and Patriot’s remembrance service done by the SAR and DAR after the Local Presbyterian church had their service at Old Mud wrapping up Harrodsburg’s 250th! Photo: Old Mud Meeting House; Chris Canine and Nancy Hill, HHS    —————————————————————— Dan Shaffer wrote: The Munsee Indians – a History by Robert Grumet © 2009 This book might be of some interest to the Dutch Cousins. Though it is not a great genealogical resource for Dutch ancestors it will help to provide insight into interactions with the native inhabitants of the area that our ancestors came to inhabit. This book is an interesting read – very, very well researched with lots of footnotes. Ten of the fourteen chapters cover the 16th and 17th centuries. If you happen to have any Delaware or associated peoples in your family tree this would be a good book to add to your library. The Munsee Indians deftly interweaves a mass of archaeological, anthropological, and archival source material to resurrect the lost history of this little known people, from their earliest contacts with Europeans to their final expulsion just before the American Revolution. Anthropologist Robert S. Grumet rescues from obscurity Mattano, Tackapousha, Mamanuchqua, and other Munsee sachems whose influence on Dutch and British settlers helped shape the course of early American history in the mid-Atlantic heartland. Ravaged by disease, war, and alcohol, the Munsees finally emigrated to reservations in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Ontario, where most of their descendants still live today. The most authoritative treatment of the Munsee experience, it helps to restores these people to their place in history Dan Shaffer {Vanausdle – Van-Arsdalen} ————————————————————————————————————— Maryjo Gohmann wrote:Dear Dutch Cousins, I was asked by our local Piankeshaw Chapter of the Daughter of the American Revolution, DAR, to write about one of my patriots that I proved lineage to become a member. Below you will read about one of my great grandfathers of the Jersey Dutch settlement in Bergen County who gave his all as a patriot even before the ink was dry on the Declaration of Independence. I hope you will enjoy reading a snippet of his life and realize the contributions made by all our great patriots who fought for our independence. Sincerely, Mary Jo Banta Gohmann Patriot Sergeant Samuel Siba Banta 1738 – 1776 I share my maiden surname as a descendant of my DAR patriot, Samuel S. Banta. He was born in 1738 and was part of the fourth generation of a Dutch family whose progenitor was Epke Jacobse Banta. Epke immigrated with his wife Sitscke and their five sons from Friesland, Netherlands, to New Amsterdam in 1659.[1] They later moved from New York to Jersey as the English took over governance. Epke and his sons purchased farmland in Bergen County, New Jersey, and soon intermingled their families with the French Huguenot immigrants. All were escaping tyrannical governments and religious persecution in Europe and were ready to pave the way to a better life in the New World. The people settled together and organized Dutch Reformed Churches, first in Hackensack and then later in northeast Hackensack township in an area known as Schraalenburg. On May 4, 1758, Samuel S. Banta married Evaetje (Eva) Berdan, and they had five daughters and one son. [2]The little boy was born in 1774 and named Samuel after his father. They inhabited a portion of the 200 acres purchased by Dirck Banta and his wife, Rachel DeGroot, for their son Siba as he wed Margrietje Demarest in 1735. Siba, in turn, welcomed Samuel and Eva to make their homestead on a third of the property. They began farming and raising their family in peaceful accord. This was known as a pleasant area where Jersey Dutch was the common language, with enough English to conduct commerce with neighbors. Disagreements cropped up in the Dutch Reformed churches as some sought to incorporate English in the worship while others wanted to retain the old ways. Discord, also known as “the Great Awakening,” soon followed among different families and groups. It seems the conflict contributed to the factions that led to variance in people’s allegiance when the question of governance arose. A meeting convened in Hackensack at the Bergen County Courthouse on Saturday, June 25, 1774.[3] The purpose of the assembly was to move forward for a Continental Congress. The Dutch farmers gathered outside the courthouse door that afternoon, trying to listen in to the court proceedings. The Boston and the Sons of Liberty in New York events impacted the gathering in reaction to the British Parliament’s rising revenue demands from America. Most of the people of Bergen County supported the resolutions of the Congress, yet a few dissenters were influential. This developed into two groups at odds with the cause. Some wanted to remain loyal to the King, who formed groups such as the King’s armed forces Volunteers versus the Patriots in the New Jersey Militia. Because of its close location to New York and the midpoint between Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bergen County, New Jersey was to be a neutral area. It proved to be anything but peaceful. New Jersey saw eight years of major campaign armies foraging for food and fuel, often at gunpoint. Neighbors unfortunately resorted to murder and kidnapping to resolve political differences. As the British forces began to march with their Loyalist forces in about 1775, the Continental Army relied on the New Jersey Militia to alert inhabitants of troop movements. It was not far from his home that Samuel Banta was attacked during his dutiful horseback run to warn people of the danger. He was killed near the Old Bridge in Hackensack Township.[4] The official date of his death is not known. His body was laid to rest in the cemetery of the Dutch Reformed Church in what is now Bergenfield, New Jersey. Eva, his five daughters and two-year-old son, his parents, and his extended family were left to endure many years of the stealing of their property, their livestock and crops, and the burning of their homes and barns. Samuel’s father, Siba, issued his last will and testament on June 7, 1776, and stated that his son’s widow, Eva, and her son would inherit 1/3 of his 200 acres and buildings. He also provided for Samuel’s daughters and Siba’s other son, Derick. Much of this land is now known as Dumont, New Jersey. At the center of the borough on Washington Avenue sits the Public Library, the former homestead of Siba Banta, rebuilt after the fires of the American Revolutionary War. After passing through various owners, the home was donated in 1929 by Mrs. Sarah Dixon for the town’s public library. [5] [1]Epke Jacobse Banta; Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; Gale Research; Arrival date: 1659 Arrival place: New York, New York Arrival date: 1659 Arrival place: New York, New York: Page No. : 89; ttp://search.ancestry.com/[2] Samuel Banta and Evaetje Berdan; US., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926; Ancestry.com [3] Leiby, Adrian, The Revolutionary War in the Hackensack Valley, The Jersey Dutch and the Neutral Ground 1775-1783; Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ; page 12[4] Karels, Carol, The Revolutionary War in Bergen County, The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2007, page 73[5] Altshuler, H. Jeanne, Dumont Heritage, Our Schraalenburg, New Jersey, Published by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Dumont, NJ1969, Page 75Submitted by Mary Jo Banta Gohmann, July 2024  —————————————————————————————————————Dawn Wolfe wrote:Please add me to the mailing list! I’m a descendant of James Madison Van Osdol, b. KY, d. MO. I’m a member of the Kentucky cousins, and, VanArdalen Facebook groups. Thank you! Copyright © 2024 Dutch Cousins, All rights reserved. |
