The Fonda Blog

The book, “Famous Frisians in America” is now available for purchase.  There are 8 pages on the Fonda Family which detail the history of Jellis Douw Fonda, who emigrated from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam in about 1650.  It provides some ideas on his origins in Holland including some new angles on how he came to live in Eagum (Friesland) near Leeuwarden, ending up in Amsterdam, marrying Hester Jans, and then taking the voyage to America with a young family of five.  It goes into the colorful life of Hester Fonda, long after Jellis passed away, and the plentiful progeny they created, including many modern-day Fonda’s talented in acting and the arts.

My father and I were honored to be present at the Friesland Day ceremony on New York City’s Governor’s Island on September 12, 2009, which unveiled the book.  We were very pleased to meet the book’s editors, Peter de Haan and Kerst Huisman, as well as the Queens Commissioner of Friesland, John Jorritsma, and also many others from the Frisian Provincial contingent and fellow Frisian-American descendants.  The book is a wonderful accomplishment, providing the history of Friesland’s support of United States sovereignty, based on a solid basis of exchange between the two regions which continues to this day.  There are many prominent Frisian families in the US including such names as Stuyvesant, Douw, Jansen, Banta, Fonda, Isaacs, Dykstra, Hyma, De Vries, Fridsma, Hofstra, De Jong and Hageman.

The book is available on Amazon and is highlighted on-line at the New Netherland Institute, US Embassy The Hague, and Calvin College Dutch Department.

Albert Mark Fonda, admin
(12th Generation Descendant of Jellis Douw Fonda)

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, America, History, Holland, Surnames