Friday, July 29, 2011

Joy-Riding with the Huffsmiths


This is not a picture of the Huffsmiths, but the card was sent to Cora Huffsmith of Dushore, Pennsylvania (current population 663).


The message reads:
Hello cousin am home now your father ask me if i saw you to Dushore so I toll him i did and that you took me to church.
Cousin Leslie
Ans Soon

You may or may not recall a previous postcard to Cora Huffsmith, where I mentioned that I had discovered that Cora was the eighth great granddaughter of Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven.  I became curious because on the genealogy website where I found this information, everybody is traced to Van Kouwenhoven in one way or another. So, who was he?

Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven was born in Holland in about 1584. In about 1624 he immigrated to New Amsterdam, New York, now known as new York City. He purchased 3,600 acres from the Indians.

In 2007, the original deed to the land was auctioned off. This text is quoted from the Conover Genealogy site:

A document described as the oldest surviving land deed for Long Island land was auctioned Wednesday for $156,000 in Manhattan.The deed, signed by Dutch Colonial Gov. Wouter von Twiller at "Eylandt Manhatans" on June 6, 1636, confirms the purchase of 3,600 acres from the Lenape Indians. The land is known as Keskachauge, and constitutes a large portion of present day Brooklyn."It is without question one of the oldest Dutch documents in private hands," said Jeremy Markowitz, head of Americana sales at Bloomsbury Auctions, a Manhattan auction house where the sale took place.

The 13-by-18-inch document, written in ink in Dutch, confirms the purchase of the land in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn from the Indians by Wolfert Gerritsz van Couwenhoven and Andries Hudde.On the reverse side, there is a reaffirmation of the original transaction in 1658 and signature of another more famous governor, Peter Stuyvesant, who amended it to say the sole owner of the property was Kouwenhoven.  


Here's another amusing bit about Cora Huffsmith and the Van Couwenhovens: In all likelihood I am related to them. At least I'd be willing to make a small wager on it.  There are just too many common surnames, including Facklers and Meyers from Kansas. What's really amazing (and amusing) about genealogy in general is that if you are thorough enough, you find that you are related to just about everybody. So, the chances are not at all bad that you are also related to Cora and the Van Couwenhovens. Take a look at the surname list.  Taking some of the Sepia Saturday participant surnames, I found 36 Burnetts, 16 Mortensens, 96 Paynes, 403 Reeds, and 14 Brubakers. Alas, not a single Zimnoch or Scotney.  It's too bad, really, because if we were all related, we could have just adopted the Van Couwenhoven family crest as part of Sepia Saturday.

19 comments:

  1. Pretty cool info and post card. Love that lamp on the car.

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  2. Genealogy is fascinating and addictive, isn't it? And the postcard? Love it!!!

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  3. Oh yes very loving indeed! Great information added too! But most of all just love the happy faces on this group! Thanks!

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  4. What an enigmatic message - I wonder what they had really been up to! It fits the Sepia Saturday theme beautifully and has a hint of naughtiness about it.

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  5. A fine card that led us into an even finer story. It's nice to know that my name was unique in your search. As an aside I have the nickname Bob because at the school I went to there were two Scotney boys, both with the same Christian name. Bob differentiated me from the other,

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  6. I am loving your postcard and story.

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  7. I never realised the term 'joy riding' ever had a meaning other than driving around in a stolen car.

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  8. Hi Christine, what a great post! I found Hedrick and Johnson on your surname list, so I just might be related too. The postcard and the history lesson about Brooklyn were way cool.

    Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello!

    Kathy M.

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  9. Looks like when this crew rolls into town, you had best be ready to party- I suggest you improvise a seat belt somehow!

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  10. Oh my, what a risque card.

    And from the looks of that surname list I'm thinking a lot of hanky panky went on long before this car hit the road.

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  11. Was this a card from overseas or did those old cars have their wheels on the right side? If I was a cop I would pull him over for distracted driving. Kids those days!

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  12. Great theme post and wonderful family link. We ARE just one big family village!

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  13. Bizarre postcard. In the UK joy riding is the US equivalent of Grand Theft Auto.

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  14. Wow! What an interesting (and somewhat provocative) card! I really loved the genealogical background, too. Isn't it thrilling when the pieces of the puzzle fall together? Thanks so much for sharing your card and your family connections.

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  15. Joy riding doesn't improve your spelling, it seems.

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  16. Fascinating post. Interesting to see that folk wrote in "txtese" as long ago as 1913!

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  17. That certainly is a wonderful card : and I love the way the faces seem to have been super-imposed on the drawings of people in the car.

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  18. I agree with you about genealogy. I traced my family all the way back to Cleopatra and I'll bet you all could do the same. Yep, I think we're all related. Now, why can't we all just get along? Oh, wait a minute, maybe that's why.
    Loved that post card--and the sentiment.
    Barbara

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  19. A doubled~ barreled name like Van Couwenhoven~ Zimnoch would be rather cool !

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