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Yes many early Dutch settlers were related. But there is a caveat. Once the Royals banned the patronym, new surnames emerged. Dutch shiplogs did not always enter the correct name. Names were badly mispelled. The worst offense in my family is 19th century authors who did not understand how the Dutch entered familial relationships in the family bible, nor did they know how to translate it. The farm hands or their children that came to the New World may have used the name of the farm where the lived as a name - or it too may be a error.
I am not familiar with every part of the Netherlands, nor am I fluent in Olde Dutch, but I'm going to make an attempt to translate your Dutch name into English.
Jan Jansen Van Oosterhout: John, the son of John from Oosterhout. Don't feel bad, mine is worse
Gijsbert Tuyz Jansen Lanen Van Pelt. Gilbert, the son of Mathys, grandson of John Laen from Pelt.
However, this name was written by a very confrused writer who did not undersand the native and baptismal name are the same, nor did they know the history of the family. I did not either. I guess it took about 7 years to learn to read Dutch names and Old Dutch church records before I could sort it all out.
This does not mean there was never Van Pelt or Van Oosterhout families in America. What the name does is give us a clue as to where they were born. The 19th century writes simply did not understand Old Dutch records and John was an extermely popular male name that was spelled at least 4 different ways in my family.
Epke Jacobse from Friesland, whose four sons took up the surname Banta in New Jersey, and after the American Revolution part of the family migrated to Prince Edward Co., Ont., Canada where they changed the spelling to Bonter (with the occasional Banter.)
They are still represented in the U.S. by the widely spread out family of Banta. Their home territory was New Jersey, but after the Revolution one branch of the family headed for the then West of Indiana.
They seem to have intermarried with every Dutch and Huguenot family under the sun in New Jersey. Though my own particular line come from marriages with the famlies of Jan Alyea (Hackensack) and Steven Van Voorhees (Nieuw Amersfoort/Flatlands).
Ah yes, the Vorhees name rings a bell . I think it is associated wth a Wykoff and a couple of sisters. In the family, but it is not my direct line. I too have the Europe, NY, NJ western migration. .
I have a hunch if we compared NY ancstors we would be surprised.
My understanding is that Oosterhout translate to 'east wood' and there is a town in Brabant, Holland with the name.
At least I know who the original emigrant is, but, with the a prodigious amount of offspring--and generation thereafter, I've hit a dead-end, and proceed with only hunches.
The naming tradition, as well gets confusing; both grand- fathers'/mothers' names... repeats of Abrahams, Henrys (or Henrijks or Hendricks...) for many generations.
Despite, the settling to Canada, it does appear not to be Loyalist related but near to 1813.
I have read the patronymic tradition ends earlier (for some) in 1674, New Netherland was ceded to Britain.
....Despite, the settling to Canada, it does appear not to be Loyalist related but near to 1813.
Seeing the steady arrival of immigrants to Upper Canada from the new U.S. after the first large migration of Loyalists at the end of the Revolution, Governor Simcoe was convinced that there were many more people who would be happy to cross the border. He promoted a policy to land grants to immigrants from the U.S., and a larger number of people did indeed decide to make the change.
There were so many new settlers from the U.S., in fact, that by the time of the War of 1812 the vast majority of settlers in Upper Canada were not Loyalists, but "Simcoe Loyalists," as they were called.
Their motives for emigrating from the U.S. were varied, but to the surprise of the U.S. these "Simcoe Loyalists" remained true to their new country and did not rush to welcome the various U.S. invasions attempts.
My own family is a little of both groups, the political Loyalists and later ones, who arrived just after the War of 1812.
The Patronymn did not die a fast or easy death as the Dutch were slow to change. More than a few men had not adopted a family surname by the turn of the century. The English retaliated early, or so it seemed, by entering court documents under the English transcribed Dutch name which was not always correct. This of course frustrated the Dutch even further.
I have more than a few Dutch famailies wherein the original settler who came to the colonies never dropped the patrnonym. It was the children who were forced to accept a surname. In some families it was a nearly a 100 years, before the Dutch acquiesed. Longstreet, for instance, did not accept the English spelling of their surname prior to 1740.
The surname effectively extinguished the patronym. I don't know if the English kept a record of the name change or not. To me the forced change from patronym to surname is murky, not well explained or documented and virtually without date. What I did notice in DRC records is the church scribe entered the patronym and new surname on the same line as the members date of attendance. After this date the members patronym was never seen again in church records. I personally think the most peculiar affect of this forced name change on Dutch families is that blood brothers sometimes do have different surnames.
Thanks for the Simcoe info. He must have been Simcoe Loyalists as I found, who I presume to be my gg-gf in UC with a signed 'allegiance tied to a land grant', 1830, declaring time in Canada to 12 years.
My bad s/b 1823, not 1813...
My sticking point becomes: his parentage, though I have hunches, nothing firm.
Have never located a marriage certificate for either his 1st & 2nd wives which could yield any clues.
Thanks for the Simcoe info. He must have been Simcoe Loyalists as I found, who I presume to be my gg-gf in UC with a signed 'allegiance tied to a land grant', 1830, declaring time in Canada to 12 years.
....
The oath is the result of a change in official policy. After Simcoe left officials became uneasy about the large number of U.S. immigrants, and despite not having any problem in the War of 1812 the government moved to end U.S. immigration. The land grants were tied to an official oath and record books were kept, starting in 1829 (the date is a guess, I'm too lazy to go and look.)
The record books are a helpful tool, but not the be all end all for locating later immigrants. For, example in my family two brother emigrated to Prince Edward County, but only one took the oath. It looks as if the other brother, my grt-grt grandfather simply bought land.
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