The New World

Fathers Day in Australia today and I thought this post would be about my dear father's request to me in his last year of life.

 

As children we were told that we were of French Canadian Indian ancestry and my grandparents had photos from around 1850 that reinforced this family history. With the amount of information available on the internet and at Dad's request on his last Birthday, I began my research.

 

My Dad WW2 New Guinea

It did not take long but with the help of many new found distant cousins and researchers in North America I was soon on the trail.

 

It turned out that my earliest direct name ancestor had arrived on Manhattan Island from Friesland around the 1640's. New Amsterdam (New York) was a Dutch colony until 1665 when the English took over.

 

At around the same time and earlier many Walloon families had made the voyage too.They were refugees from France and Belgium who had faced religious persecution and fled to Holland taking up the opportunity for a new life in the New World.

 

At a similar time and earlier The English had established a little further north after the arrival of the Mayflower.

Between these two colonies came the wives of my early European ancestors in North America.
 

 

Further north, west and south the French were also establishing colonies and from my last family intermarriage in North America came my GG Grandfather to Australia around 1852. His mother was named Pelagia DeQuindre and her father had spent a large amount of time amongst the Shawnee Indians. He was born in a remote fort in the mid 1700's. It is written he was the Frenchman who was with Chief Blackfish when he captured Daniel Boone. He was known as the "Wolf" and described as bronze and hawk faced, as fast as any Indian through the forest.

 

Meanwhile my ancestors from New York had migrated to Pennsylvania. When the American Revolution began in the late 1700s they sided with the British and fled to Niagra and Detroit. Matthew along with his brother and members of the Field family joined Butler's Rangers and took part in raids across the border against the Americans. 

 

Later as Loyalists they were granted land on the River Thames in Ontario where they built the earliest settlement. Matthew Dolsen was a fur trader and tavern keeper and together with his wife (Hannah Field) formed strong bonds with the Moravian Missionaries and the Munsee Delaware Indians also known as the original people of New York.

Here is a good link for the Munsee Delaware Indians of New York also known as "The Lenape".
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/delaware/munseeindianhist.htm
Another link to the Fieldbook of the 1812 Wars by Benjamin J. Lossing http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing2/Chap26.html

 

Sketch of Dolsen's on the River Thames by Benjamin J Lossing
from his Fieldbook of the Wars of 1812

 

One of my favourite stories from this period was about my GGGG Grandmother Hannah.





In 1792, Ann Smith of Dover Township was caught outside in an unexpected snow storm and, when found, both of her legs were badly frozen. She was taken to Hannah Dolsen, a woman known for her medicinal concoctions and herbal remedies. Hannah amputated the young girl’s legs with a carpenter’s saw on her kitchen table. While Ann lived into her 90s, the story reveals in no uncertain terms the deficiencies of health care in the early settlement years.



During the Wars of 1812 both the English and Americans camped at Dolsen's
on the River Thames.
 The Officers were fed and entertained by Matthew and Hannah.

 

How do we know who we are unless we know where we came from!!










Anyway that is a small glimpse of my family geneology I found for my dad and future generations.
 

 



Father's Day Sunrise Lake Cathie 2012



 

 

 

 

 

 

My tip today is for geneologists and those wanting to start their family history. Apart from the usual geneology sites, use forums for specific areas of interest, and ask questions.

 

Fair Dinkum!!