Evert or Eeuwout was born in in Amerongen in 1659, the son of Gerrit Theunisz de Ridder and Marrigje Ewouts Rietveld, he was baptized on Saturday the first of May in 1659 in the church of Saint Andries. Members of the de Ridder family still live in Amerogen on the Rhine in the Dutch province of Utrecht, but Evert de Ridder brought a branch of the family to New York in the 1680s. [Read more…] about Evert de Ridder & The Albany-Amerongen Connection
Genealogy
Conservation of Livingston Family Portraits Underway
The Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has been awarded a matching Historic Preservation Grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, which will fund the restoration of two historically significant portraits in the CCHS Permanent Collection.
The portraits, which date to the early and mid 19th century, feature members of one of Columbia County’s most important and influential families: the Livingstons. [Read more…] about Conservation of Livingston Family Portraits Underway
Early Dutch Farms at Troy
Between the more formidable island of Papscanee (previously spelled Papsickene, now a peninsula nature preserve) and where the Hoosac River meets the Hudson, more than a dozen streams flow into the Hudson River. Only at the Poesten Kill, which flows through Troy, was there enough farmland, room to grow, and sufficient water-power for the earliest industries. [Read more…] about Early Dutch Farms at Troy
Sanbun Ford: An American Revolutionary Rediscovered
In 1976, as the nation prepared to celebrate its 200th birthday, my parents were already a year into the hunt for records of an elusive ancestor: Sanbun Ford, a founder of the town of Milton, in Saratoga County. [Read more…] about Sanbun Ford: An American Revolutionary Rediscovered
The Short Eventful Marriage of Henry and Eliza Vrooman
On April 15th, 1842, Henry A. Vrooman, a forty-one-year-old farmer living in West Charlton, Saratoga County, passed away in his home near the intersection of what is now Eastern Avenue and Sacandaga Road. He was laid to rest in the nearby West Glenville Cemetery. Only eight months earlier he had married forty-year-old Eliza McClelland, a widow with two children from nearby Blue Corners on the western edge of the Town of Charlton. It was a roller-coaster eight months. [Read more…] about The Short Eventful Marriage of Henry and Eliza Vrooman
Upcoming 1950 Census Release Will Offer New Details About Life In The U.S., Abroad
The first U.S. federal population census was taken in 1790, and has been repeated every ten years since. The first censuses were often quite incomplete.
A complete list of all white people was not even a goal until the 1850 Census and ever since many have been missed in the count, especially women, the poor, those without homes, immigrants, people of color, slaves, free blacks, and indigenous people.
Still, decennial censuses can be enormously valuable reach tools – especially when it comes to genealogy and local history. [Read more…] about Upcoming 1950 Census Release Will Offer New Details About Life In The U.S., Abroad
Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
Young Alexander and Elihu Vedder were raised in Schenectady, New York. The family had Dutch roots (their parents were cousins). The elder brother was a physician, the younger a painter. In their career choices they showed an outward-looking attitude, cherishing the challenge of foreign experiences while assimilating the riches of cultural exchange. [Read more…] about Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
African American History Transcription Project Seeks Volunteers
The National Archives has a Citizen Archivist project underway to help make records more searchable and findable in their Catalog. [Read more…] about African American History Transcription Project Seeks Volunteers
African American History At The National Archives
The National Archives holds a wealth of materials documenting the African American experience, and the contributions of African Americans to United States history and culture.
In 1984, to support the growing demand for knowledge of African American history, Dr. Debra Newman Ham, with the help of several other colleagues, took on the responsibility of compiling a guide to Black history records at the National Archives. [Read more…] about African American History At The National Archives
Enemies of the State: Records of Loyalist-Patriot Struggle
In 1779, a statute was passed authorizing prosecution in the Supreme Court of Judicature of “Enemies of this State” on the charge of treason.
Documents from this time contain details about the state’s vigorous proceedings against suspected Loyalists, and about the royal government’s continuing operations in New York City until the end of the war. [Read more…] about Enemies of the State: Records of Loyalist-Patriot Struggle