The Fonda Blog

Book Review: Codex Oera Linda: English Edition Translated by Jan Ott

December 23, 2021 – by Catherine Austin Fitts

If you live in Friesland, you fall in love with the land – with the dairy cows that give the sweetest milk, with the black Frisian horses that dazzle dressage rings with their dancing, with the endless hawks, cranes and seagulls that inhabit the shorelines, lakes and canals. And with the sheep that fill up the emerald green fields by the dykes and give birth each Easter time to babies that leap and play in the first few weeks, giving new meaning to the chant, “O lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.”

As much as 50% of the land in the Netherlands has been reclaimed from the sea and it teems with life, not to mention the bounty harvested from the lakes and the ocean – prawns, eels, cod and more.

Many people still speak Frisian – a softer more melodic language than Dutch. You occasionally hear references to an ancient history. Michael Pye’s book The Edge of the World describes a people whose success at surviving brutal Viking raids while sailing the North Sea, traveling and trading long distances – into the Roman Empire and across the Silk Road all the way to Asia was notable.

One local history buff says the founder of Stavoren, the sailing community where I live in the Netherlands, was a Frisian King who returned to Friesland from Persia during the time of Alexander. Also notable, according to Pye, was the Frisians ability at money and currency.

In 2019, when a group of subscribers came to Stavoren for five days, Jan Ott joined us for a long dinner by candle light. He described the history of Friesland and the Oera Linda book – an ancient manuscript written in Old Frisian discovered in the 1860’s that has inspired great debate about it’s authenticity. At the time, Jan was working on a new translation.

When I returned to the Netherlands in 2020, Jan was still plugging away on his translation to English. And he had set up a foundation to publish it. During this period, Jan introduced me to the work of Asha Logos, who has published three highly recommended videos which include introductions to and commentary on the Oera Linda book and why it is of such interest.

Conspiracy? Our Subverted History, Part 5.1 – The Oera Linda Book
Conspiracy? Our Subverted History, Part 5.2 – The Oera Linda Book
Conspiracy? Our Subverted History, Part 5.3 – The Oera Linda Book

This year Jan published his new translation to English in a beautiful hard bound book with a foreword by Asha Logos. It quickly sold out. He has now published this translation in paperback which is available at the Foundation website below.

Who shall govern? How shall we govern ourselves? Why must we be honest and keep our word? How shall we raise our children and what values are most important to teach them. These are some of the most basic and essential questions that the Oer Linda book explores. Our failure to address and answer these questions, let alone live the answers, is demonstrated in the social and financial failure that marks our current days.

Whatever its history and age, there is a great deal of truth to be found in the pages of the Oera Linda book about what it takes to create a powerful human culture – one that can endure through the centuries. If you are as interested as I am in the legal and cultural law that makes sovereign individuals and successful currencies possible, the Oera Linda book may be of interest to you.

Order at oeralinda.nl

Related reading:

Special Solari Report: Codex Oera Linda Book with Jan Ott

Oera Linda Book on Wikipedia

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Note from webmaster:

The American Fonda family immigrated from Holland in about 1651. The patriarch Jellis Douw Fonda (1614-1659) was a Frisian residing in the town of Eagum. It appears that Jellis was a journeyman smithy working on the big earthworks project in that area. Although his birthplace is still uncertain, many Frisian names end in ‘a’ and DNA analysis shows that the male line is Haplogroup I1 typically called Anglo-Saxon.  The book ‘Famous Frisians in America‘ has a chapter on the Fonda Family.

Albert Mark Fonda – December 2021

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written by admin \\ tags: DNA, History, Holland

There are a few common misconceptions within the Fonda Genealogy that have arisen:

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Misconception #1: The Fonda’s descended from Italy

Actual: The American Fonda line immigrated from Holland (Friesland) in 1651 and appear to be Haplogroup I1 (Anglo-Saxon). There is no direct evidence of origins in Italy, France or elsewhere.  Fonda lines in Italy and Slovenia are Haplogroup R1b (Basque).

From “Early American Families“, Rev. W.A. Williams; Philadelphia, PA; 1916:
“The Rensselaer-Bowier Papers say that Douw Fonda was a Frisian, and Tacitus says that the Frisians dwelt along the coast of the North sea. They were converted to Christianity before A.D. 800. The family of Fonda was originally from the Republic of Genoa, Italy. The Marquis de Fonda was one of the leaders of a revolution in Genoa, having for its object the overturning of the aristocratic government, and putting the election of the Doge and Senate, into the hands of the people at large. The Doge (=duke) was the duke, or chief magistrate. Our ancestor was an early republican, and must have lived there, between 1339, when the first Doge was elected, and 1528 when the Dogate ceased. Baron de Fonda was unsuccessful in his attempt, and fled from the country, taking refuge in Amsterdam, Holland, whence his descendant, Jellis Douwese Fonda, emigrated to America in 1642 (1650), and had grants of land from the Dutch government, settling in or near the present city of Albany, N. Y.”

“There is a perhaps less credible tradition also, that the Fondas were Huguenots. and fled from France to Holland after the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s night, Aug. 25, 1572. There is another tradition that they fled from Spain on account of persecution or followed the Duke of Alva to Holland. It is also said that they belonged to the royal house of Spain, fled to Italy, because of religious persecution, and came later to Holland. Possibly they fled from Italy to France, and from France to Holland. The form of the family name is Latin and therefore similar in French, Italian, and Spanish, indicating the Latin origin of the family, probably In Italy. The Fondas were Dutch Reformed Protestants when they emigrated to America, and must have been among the first converts of the Reformation. Their descendants are widely scattered throughout the Union, though many are still living near the old home in Eastern N.Y.”

“The family name is taken from a deep valley in the Apennines, about 12 mi. from the city of Genoa, called Fonda, a name which means bottom, deep, foundation, etc. It is said that, in the early part of the last century, the estate was still in the possession of a branch of the family, the Count de Fonda, and there are many of the name, in the various parts of the Genoese territories.” Some of the family may have known Columbus in Genoa.”

The above is disputed in two references:

Old Dutch Families: Fonda Family (De Halve Maen Quarterly, 1945):
“The Fondas were important in up-state New York during the Colonial period and in the early development of the State. Presumably the family is of Frisian origin and one genealogist has outlined European background for the Fondas giving them a really illustrious descent. However, these stories apparently come from tradition rather than substance.”

Innes Getty Collection: Jellis Douwse Fonda (NYG&B, 1957):
“Rev. William A. Williams, in his Early American Families, gives a fanciful account of the European family of Fonda, but no references are cited, and one is free to accept or reject the entire story. Likewise, the data of the American family of Fonda is not authoritative for again, no references to source material are offered, and his conclusions are not in accord with church records. It follows that his material is mere balderdash.”

See Voyage to America Update, Italian Roots, Frisian DNA Profile and Innes Getty Collection

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Misconception #2: Jellis Fonda (1615-1659) was the son of Douwe Everts

Actual: We do not know for sure who his parents were.  Jellis was first documented in Eagum, Friesland in about 1632, but there is no proof that he was the son of Douwe Everts.

Per the book, “Famous Frisians in America” on pages 111-112:
“According to Van der Meer, Jelle Fonda (Jilles Douwes) must have been a son of Douwe Everts. Eagum was a very small village. But that is by no means proof that he descended from Douwe Everts. The oldest register of births, deaths and marriages, the Quotisatiekohier of 1749 (a century after Jilles Douwes), says there were 47 people living in or near the village, and 19 children under the age of 13. They included five farmers and one independent woman farmer, a widow with no profession, a schoolmaster, and three working-class families. The latter category is particularly difficult to place in a historical sense, especially when it comes to the archives dating from before the French era.

There is much to be said for the suggestion that Jelle Fonda came from this group. The fact that on the occasion of his marriage he is registered as a ‘journeyman smithy’ indicates that he was a craftsman, and thus did not belong to the group made up of ’tillers of the soil’. Mention is also made of the fact that his parents gave their written consent to the marriage. This means that they could read and write. As could Jelle Fonda and his wife Hester, in view of the signatures which appear at the bottom of the document.

In the period 1632-1633, eight years before he married in Diemen, the lake known as Wargastermeer was impoldered. The primary financier of this project was the Amsterdam merchant Paulus Jansz Kley (1582-1655). Obviously he required an army of diggers and other workmen, including craftsmen. It is quite possible that Jilles Douwes was one of them. Indeed, it may well have been through the mediation of Kley that Jilles moved to Amsterdam, and he may even have helped him to get a job there. He was literate and he had a trade. Moreover, he was anxious to get ahead in the world.“

In conclusion, according to this account, here is what we know… Jilles Fonda was a journeyman smithy, who hired on to a big earthworks project near Eagum in 1632-1633 (he would have been 16-17 years old)… he then moved to Amsterdam, got married in 1641 (age 25), started a family (he became an innkeeper and blacksmith)… and then took the voyage to America in 1651 (age 35) with his young family of five.  His parents have not been identified.

See Fonda DNA and History and Famous Frisians in America

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Misconception #3: Douw Jellis Fonda (1640-1700) married Rebecca Conyne

Actual: Douw Jellis Fonda (1640-1700) married Rebecca Janse.  There was a misinterpretation of a baptism sponsor listing from 1674.

Rebecca Conyne is a very common listing for the wife of Douw Jellis Fonda (1641-1700), but according to the well-respected report by Innes Getty, former Trustee and Chairman of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, it is incorrect. His wife is listed in that report as Rebecca Jansen (1646-1727); married in 1666 in Albany.  Rebecca Conyne (nee Wemple) was the wife of Peter Conyne married in 1641.

NYG&B records of Innes Getty Collection (1957):
“In printed genealogies, other than [Williams], Douw Jellis Fonda’s wife is given as Rebecca Conyn of Leendert Philipse Conyn, but in no instance is any reference cited, nor any circumstantial evidence adduced to justify the assumption. In the list of nine children of Douw Jellis Fonda, of whom we have records, not one bears a Conyn name; Philip; Leendert; Caspar; Agniet; nor is a member of the Conyn family sponsor at any of the three baptisms recorded in the Church at Albany. Furthermore, in the list of sixty three grandchildren of Douw Jellis Fonda, not one bears a Conyn name, and in no instance is a member of the Conyn family a sponsor. Rebecca is not a Conyn name.

There is nothing of record to prove the parentage of Rebecca, wife of Douw Jellise Fonda, and the records of the Conyn family prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that she was not the daughter of Phillipse Conyn and Agneietie Caspers. The sole clue, ever so slight, is found in the Schenectady Church records. i.e.- Douw of Jellis Fonda and Rachel Winne bapt. September 1, 1700. Wit. Douw Fonda. Rebecka Janse (Rebecka, dau of Jan —?)”

“The confusion could be the result of a baptism record where Douw Fonda and Rebecca Conyne were listed together as sponsors for the baptism of Benjamin Romeyn on 8/4/1774 at the Caughnawaga DRC (parents Thomas Romeyn & Susanna Van Campen). However, these two witnesses were not husband and wife, just co-sponsors. Rebecca Conyne (nee Wemple) was the wife of Peter Conyne married on 10/23/1741. Thomas Romeyn was the first pastor of the Caughnawaga DRC, where Douw Jellis Fonda (1700-1780) and his second wife, Debora (Peggy) Wemple Veeder (Fonda) as well as Peter and Rebecca (Wemple) Conyne attended. The Douw Jellis Fonda (1641-1700) who has been attributed to have married Rebecca Conyne was the grandfather. However, his wife’s name was Rebecca Janse as established in the Innes Getty Collection.”

Ref: Innes Getty Collection: Jellis Douwse Fonda; The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; New York, NY; 1957.

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written by admin \\ tags: DNA, Fonda Family, Holland, Immigration, Italy

I had my DNA tested a few months ago, using the Paternal Lineage Y-46 method through Ancestry.com. I compared my results to some info I found on the Frisian peoples and to a couple of other individuals who joined my Fonda DNA Group on Ancestry.com. There is not yet enough DNA data to find any direct relatives, and the test only applies to males using the Y-chromosome method. I know there is mitochondrial DNA testing which works with the female DNA components, but of course genealogy is based on male heredity.  Note: I have now entered my data in GeneTree, Y-Search, and SMGF which are all free access.

From what little I know so far it seems that it is a question of probabilities, because every geographic or ethnic area has a mix of different genetic types (haplogroups). If I were to make a strict interpretation of my (our) DNA profile, being Haplogroup I1, widely known as Anglo-Saxon… as opposed to the predominant Frisian DNA profile, being Haplogroup R1b, widely known as Basque… I would say that we were not indigenous to Northern Holland, at least not as far back as the main Frisian population.

This is consistent with all that we have known, since tradition holds that the Fonda’s were not native Dutch… and lends support to the latest theory presented in the new book, “Famous Frisians in America” on pages 111-112, which states that:

“This means that the trail leading to the origins of the name Fonda ends in Eagum. In the Genealogysk Jierboek. (Genealogical Yearbook), the village historian D. F. van der Meer from Reduzum has suggested that Jilles Douwes could be the son of the Eagumer farmer Douwe Everts. This possibility presented itself after he had been informed by the author of the present contribution that there is a marriage certificate of Jilles Douwes and Hester Douwes in the Amsterdam Municipal Archives. However, there was no Jilles among the children of Douwe Everts originally tracked down by Van der Meer in the archives. In his publication in the Yearbook, he himself took the liberty of inserting the name of Jilles among those of Douwe Everts’ other children. In this way, the notion was created that the forefather of the Fondas came from Hornemastate in Eagum, Douwe Everts’ farm. In 1988 the same notion also found its way into the article ‘Amsterdam Records of the Fonda Family’ by Robert C. Cooney Jr. in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. However, that finding – that Jilles was the son of Douwe Everts – has been recorded with far too much certainty. A number of facts speak against this suggestion. Douwe Everts was a farmer with voting rights. This means that he was almost certainly a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. However, Jilles Douwes and Hester – given that they chose Old Testament names for two of their children (Abraham and Sarah) – may well have been members of a non-conformist denomination. In this connection, it is also striking that Hester does not appear in any of the church registers in New Amsterdam.”

 

“According to Van der Meer, Jelle Fonda (Jilles Douwes) must have been a son of Douwe Everts. Eagum was a very small village. But that is by no means proof that he descended from Douwe Everts. The oldest register of births, deaths and marriages, the Quotisatiekohier of 1749 (a century after Jilles Douwes), says there were 47 people living in or near the village, and 19 children under the age of 13. They included five farmers and one independent woman farmer, a widow with no profession, a schoolmaster, and three working-class families. The latter category is particularly difficult to place in a historical sense, especially when it comes to the archives dating from before the French era. There is much to be said for the suggestion that Jelle Fonda came from this group. The fact that on the occasion of his marriage he is registered as a ‘journeyman smithy’ indicates that he was a craftsman, and thus did not belong to the group made up of ’tillers of the soil’. Mention is also made of the fact that his parents gave their written consent to the marriage. This means that they could read and write. As could Jelle Fonda and his wife Hester, in view of the signatures which appear at the bottom of the document. In the period 1632-1633, eight years before he married in Diemen, the lake known as Wargastermeer was impoldered. The primary financier of this project was the Amsterdam merchant Paulus Jansz Kley (1582-1655). Obviously he required an army of diggers and other workmen, including craftsmen. It is quite possible that Jilles Douwes was one of them. Indeed, it may well have been through the mediation of Kley that Jilles moved to Amsterdam, and he may even have helped him to get a job there. He was literate and he had a trade. Moreover, he was anxious to get ahead in the world.“

In conclusion, according to this account, here is what we know…  Jilles Fonda was a journeyman smithy, who hired on to a big earthworks project near Eagum in 1632-1633 (he would have been 16-17 years old)… he then moved to Amsterdam, got married in 1641 (age 25), started a family (he became an innkeeper and blacksmith)… and then took the voyage to America in 1651 (age 35) with his young family of five.

This still does not settle the question of the origin of Jilles Fonda, but at least it moves the ball forward a bit.

Albert Mark Fonda
admin
November 2009

written by admin \\ tags: America, DNA, Fonda Family, History, Holland

According to Wikipedia, the Frisian people are characterized by the R1b subclade U106 DNA profile:

“Based on Y-DNA studies, it is believed the Frisian Y-DNA Haplogroup to be from the Haplogroup U106/S21 and its downstream subclades. Reference Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA). U106 is defined as R1b1b2a1a by Family Tree DNA. U106 subclades include R1a1b1b2a1a1, R1a1b1b2a1a2, R1a1b1b2a1a3, and R1a1b1b2a1a4.”

Further, the page on Haplogroup R1b indicates the following genetic origin of this group:

“R1b’s frequency is highest in the populations of Atlantic Europe and, due to European emigration, in North America, South America, and Australia. In Ireland and the Basque Country its frequency exceeds 90% and approaches 100% in Western Ireland.[4] The incidence of R1b is 70% or more in parts of northern and western England, northern Spain, northern Portugal, western France, Wales, Scotland. R1b’s incidence declines gradually with distance from these areas but it is still common across the central areas of Europe. R1b is the most frequent haplogroup in Germany, and is common in southern Scandinavia and in Italy.”

Being a Fonda, I had my DNA tested and I am in Haplogroup I1, which has the following description:

“Haplogroup I1 is a Y chromosome haplogroup occurring at greatest frequency in Scandinavia, associated with the mutations identified as M253, M307, P30, and P40. These are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). It is a subclade of Haplogroup I. Before a reclassification in 2008,[1] the group was known as Haplogroup I1a.[2] Some individuals and organizations continue to use the I1a designation.”

“The group displays a very clear frequency gradient, with a peak of approximately 40 percent among the populations of western Finland and more than 50 percent in the province of Satakunta,[3] around 35 percent in southern Norway, southwestern Sweden especially on the island of Gotland, and Denmark, with rapidly decreasing frequencies toward the edges of the historically Germanic sphere of influence.”

“I1 Anglo-Saxon (I1-AS) has its peak gradient in the Germanic lowland countries: northern Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, as well as England and old Norman regions of France.”

I assume that all the Fonda’s descended from Jellis Douw Fonda would also be Haplogroup I1 (unless my parents didn’t tell me something… lol).  If you would like to get tested, go to the Fonda DNA Group on Ancestry.com and order the Paternal Lineage (Y-46) test.  This test is only valid for males.  I do not know if you must be a member of ancestry.com to join the DNA project.  If there are other DNA comparison groups which are available I would be glad to transfer my results for comparison.  I believe that ancestry.com shares its data with other DNA databases.  Note: I have now entered my data on Y-Search, which is free access.

So far, we only have three Y-46 tests.  The other two are from a Slovenian Fonda and an Italian Fondi who are both R1b’s.

Some further interesting commentary:

“In the book Blood of the Isles, published in North America as Saxons, Vikings & Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland, author Bryan Sykes gave the name of the Nordic deity Wodan to represent the clan patriarch of I1, as he did for mitochondrial haplogroups in a previous book, The Seven Daughters of Eve. Every male identified as I1 is a descendant of this man.”

“Another writer, Stephen Oppenheimer, discussed I1 in his book The Origins of the British. Although somewhat controversial, Oppenheimer, unlike Sykes, argued that Anglo-Saxons did not have much impact on the genetic makeup of the British Isles. Instead he theorized that the vast majority of British ancestry originated in a paleolithic Iberian people, traced to modern-day Basque populations, represented by the predominance of Haplogroup R1b in the United Kingdom today.[44] A similar, more broad-based argument was made by Ellen Levy-Coffman in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy.[45] The book When Scotland Was Jewish is another example. These are direct challenges to previous studies led by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Siiri Rootsi and others.[46] Cavalli-Sforza has studied the connections between migration patterns and blood groups. There has been some discussion of this on a mailing list at RootsWeb.[47]”

Useful links:
Y-Search (A Free Public Service from Family Tree DNA)
Family Tree DNA – Genetic testing to answer your genealogy questions
Whit Athey’s Haplogroup Predictor
Eupedia: Geographic spread and ethnic origins of European haplogroups

written by admin \\ tags: America, DNA, Fonda Family, Holland, Italy

Visit the Fonda DNA Group and be one of the first to compare your chromosomes!

By comparing your DNA Ancestry test results with others, you can determine to what extent you are related. For example, the more closely your result set matches another’s, the narrower the range of generations between the two of you and your common ancestor.

The type of testing performed by DNA Ancestry is limited to areas of DNA that have the greatest application to genealogy which reveal insight into family relatedness. The portion of DNA tested is within the non-coding regions and do not provide distinguishing information about an individual such as hair color.

While DNA testing in general has a promising future as a tool for predicting one’s chances for developing disease such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer; DNA Ancestry does not perform medical diagnostic testing on any of its DNA samples.

DNA Ancestry protects your privacy by allowing you to make your DNA results anonymous. Doing so hides your Ancestry.com username, but allows your DNA results to still be matched with others in the DNA Ancestry database. So even if you have chosen to keep your username hidden, you can still discover genetic cousins and, if the match is close enough, contact them safely and anonymously.

As the DNA Ancestry database grows, we will automatically compare your result against each new entry. If a close match is found, you will receive an e-mail with a link to a page that describes how your two test results match. You can now begin communicating with your genetic cousin using Ancestry.com’s Connection Service as the first step towards comparing the genealogies of your two families.

Links: Eye on DNA – How will it change your life?; Family Tree DNA Tutorial; Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation; The Genetic Genealogist;

written by admin \\ tags: DNA, General, Medical