Dec 25

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

December 23, 2021 – by Catherine Austin Fitts

“The work you are holding in your hands is a unique treasure.” ~ Asha Logos, foreword to Codex Oera Linda

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.

Oera Linda book – an ancient manuscript written in Old Frisian discovered in the 1860’s

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


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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Aug 04

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


 

Misconception #1: The Fonda’s descended from Italy

Dutch Poldering Mills

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.”

Jellis Fonda and family made it to America in 1651 and settled in Beverwyk (Albnay, NY).

“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


 

Eagum Aerial Photo

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.

The book “Famous Frisians in America” (Haan & Huisman, 2009) has an entire chapter on the Fonda family.

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


 

The Albany Settlement in 1650

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.

Dutch First Reformed Church of Albany

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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Mar 10

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

For the County Times, February 16, 2014

SALISBURY — Guest cellist Douw Fonda joins the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra at Salisbury University (SSO) during its inaugural concert of 2014, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

Cellist Douw Fonda to perform at Holloway Hall on March 8

Directed by Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen, the orchestra features Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto, Mozart’s Prague Symphony, Gounod’s Petite Symphony for Winds, Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe, and Dvorak’s “Silent Woods” and “Rondo,” both for cello and orchestra.

A resident of the Netherlands since 1994, Fonda received his formal training at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He played with the Cleveland and Julliard quartets and performed as a soloist with orchestras in New York and Boston. Today, he is active with Baroque and chamber ensembles including the Vespucci String Quartet, Benjamin Franklin Trio and Musica Rossi. He also is assistant principal cellist with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Admission is $20, $15 for seniors, $5 for children 18 and under and non-SU student ID holders. The concert is sponsored by Kuhn’s Jewelers, Eastern Shore Coffee & Water, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Staples & Associates Insurance & Finance and Erick Sahler Serigraphs.

For tickets visit www.SalisburySymphonyOrchestra.com or the Guerrieri University Center Information Desk.

Event: A Dutch duo

WHAT Chamber concert with Douw Fonda and Martin Kaaij

WHEN March 16, 3 p.m. WHERE Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill, rear entrance 16 Ashland St., with two parking lots available on both sides of Ashland Street COST $15 for adults, $10 for students; max per family $45, at the door. INFO 978-556-5046

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar.

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar.

The Fonda-Kaaij duo of Dutch musicians Douw Fonda, cello, and Martin Kaaij, guitar, will offer a chamber music concert as part of their American Tour.

Born and educated in the United States, Fonda has been active for two decades in the Netherlands and is a sought-after chamber musician. He is also the assistant principal cellist of one of the country’s preeminent orchestras, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Fonda also received a Certificate in Baroque Cello from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He is a member of the Vespucci String Quartet and the founder of the “Muziek op de Dijk’ (Music on the Dike) in his current home town of Deil, the Netherlands.

Kaaij, a native of the Netherlands, is a well-known performer, recording artist and author. He enjoys searching out new repertoire for the guitar, a labor of love he began during his studies with Dick Visser at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and which continues to this day. Kaaij has performed the premiers of more than 60 new works for the guitar, and he continues to delight audiences with his performances of both new and familiar works.

The program will be a combination of solos and duets by John Dowland, Enrique Granados’ Spanish Dance #5, Joaquin Nin’s Suite Espagnole, J. S. Bach’s Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in C Major, Franz Schubert’s Sonata in a minor “Arpeggione,” and Tom Johnson’s “Failing — A Very Difficult Piece for Solo Guitar.”

 

Also see: YouTube, Vimeo

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Nov 10

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.

Jan Van Goyen (1596-1656) – River Landscape With Fishermen

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.”

 

Dutch Poldering Mills

“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

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Nov 05

The “Famous Frisians in America” book had a record for the burial of Abraham Fonda, youngest child of Jellis Douw, in Amsterdam on October 28, 1650.  This new information has led me to revise the thinking on the voyage to America.  Here is the account I just posted on the main website:

Jellis Douw Fonda – Voyage to America

Although we do not know upon which ship Jellis Douw Fonda and family made their voyage to America, we can make an educated guess or at least narrow it down.

Schooner

Schooner

The following two facts serve as a window for the timing:

1. The youngest child of Jellis and Hester, Abraham, was baptized on April 14, 1647 in Amsterdam, Netherlands (“Amsterdam Records of the Fonda Family”, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 119, No. 1).  He was buried on October 28, 1650 according to Amsterdam burial records. (“Famous Frisians in America”, p. 108-109).

2. The first record of Jellis (Gillis) in America was in Fort Orange (now Albany, NY) on October 19, 1651 when he received permission from the court to distill liquor in Greenbush, a small village near Albany (“A Career Woman in 17th Century New York”, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, New York, Vol. 95, No. 5)

So we know that the migration took place between November 1650 and October 1651. According to “A Career Woman in 17th Century New York”, when Jellis arrived in Fort Orange in 1651, “he was accompanied by his wife, Hester Jans, and three children, a son Douwe, aged about eleven years, and daughters Geertien and Sara, aged about nine and seven years, respectively”.

No ship passenger lists have yet been found which show any names resembling Jellis/Gillis Fonda and his family.  So, if you look at the ships that DO NOT have passengers lists, maybe we can narrow it down some.

We know that Jellis did not enter into a contract with the Rensselaerswijck Colony (typically three to six year terms of farm labor in return for the ship’s passage).  He must have been a free colonist, paying for his own ships fare, since he was not encumbered with any work contracts that we know of.

Albany Settlement

Albany Settlement

According to the Marine Museum (translated from the original Dutch by Willem Rabbelier and Cor Snabel of the Netherlands, published with their permission on The Olive Tree Genealogy pages):

“The book/thesis of Jaap Jacobs contains a list of about 500 ship crossings between Amsterdam, the Netherlands and New Amsterdam over the period 1609-1675. In only 56 cases the presence, but not the names, of colonists on board is mentioned.” (De Scheepvaart En Handel Van De Nederlandse Republiek Op Nieuw-Nederland 1609-1675 by J.A. Jacobs 1989) http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/mm_shipamny.shtml

There were only 5 ships sailing from The Netherlands to America in 1651:

1. WATERHONT particulier Amsterdam 5 5 1651 Nieuw-A’dam 1651
2. BONTE KOE particulier Amsterdam 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 13 6 1651
3. HOFF VAN CLEEF Adriaen Blommaert particulier Amsterdam 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 15 6 1651
4. GELDERSE BLOM W. van Twiller Amsterdam na 20 3 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 31 7 1651
5. PRINS WILLEM Juryaen Andriessen WIC Amsterdam 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 19 9 1651

Explanation of Abbreviations Used: Translations of Dutch Words Used:    
* VOC=Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie
* VTC=Van Tweenhuysen Compagnie
* HCC=Hans Claesz. Compagnie
* WIC=West Indies Compagnie
*reder = ship owner
*bevrachter = loader
*vertrekplaats = place of departure
*aank. plaats = place of arrival
*datum = date
*na = after
*voor = before
*tussen = between
*eind = end of
*begin = beginning / early
*kort na = shortly after
*particulier = private owner
 

Three had passenger lists which do not list any names resembling this family.  The ships in this list which DID NOT have passenger lists are:

1. BONTE KOE particulier Amsterdam 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 13 6 1651
2. PRINS WILLEM Juryaen Andriessen WIC Amsterdam 1651 Nieuw-A’dam voor 19 9 1651

So unless there are more ships that we don’t know about, you can conclude that Jellis Douw Fonda, his wife Hester Jans and his three young children, Douwe, Grietje and Sara sailed on one of these two ships… the BONTE KOE or the PRINS WILLEM. These are the only ships which fit in the correct time frame, from the correct location and do not have passenger lists.

 
   

* HCC=Hans Claesz. Compagnie
* WIC=West Indies Compagnie

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