|
Aug 20
|
Marriage of Jelles Douwes and Hester Douwedr
This is a microfilm copy of the original Banns (marriage vows) between Jelles Douwes and Hester Douwedr in 1641. Surnames were not used at the time in Holland. Douwes means son of Douw, Douwedr means daughter of Douw… they were not related, that we know of. The first image is the Baans certificate and the second is the register (Jilles and Hester are the second of three couples shown). Can anyone translate this into English?
|
Mar 18
|
Calls for mining to be exempt from environment laws
ABC News – Mar 18, 2008
A group of landowners from Adelaide River south of Darwin are calling for changes to legislation regulating exploration and mining. Dr Michael Fonda says rural residents are concerned about the potential impact of increased exploration for uranium. He says rural communities should have the same protection from resource development as urban areas.
Adelaide River south of Darwin
Dr Fonda says the group is lobbying for exploration to be prevented on larger blocks, as part of the review of the Northern Territory Mining Act, and is calling for the Environmental Protection Board to consider introducing Environmental Impact Statements for exploration licences. “The EPA is at the moment having its legislation revised and we think it would be a good idea to have environmental impact statements compulsory in the process of new mining applications, which they aren’t at the moment.”
But the former chief executive of the Northern Territory Minerals Council Kezia Purick says the suggested changes would prevent access to outback Australia would unfairly compromise the resource industry. “No company would ever actually get on the ground if they had to go through a full EIS, bearing in mind that and Environmental Impact Statement can take upwards of 12 to 18 months to complete and it can cost upwards of nearly $1 million. “Exploration can be a high risk activity and it’s high risk high reward, but it can also be high risk high loss.”
|
Jan 01
|
Foyngha, Netherlands
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, “Amsterdam Records of the Fonda Family” states: “In Frisian records van der Meer did not find any mention of the name Fonda, but in the vicinity of Kollum in northeast Friesland, where Benedictus Jacobse (Fonda) lived, he came across the names Banda, Ronda and Sinda. He also noted that in 1580 Benedictus was manager of an estate near Kollum called ‘Foyngha,’ and there was a chance that ‘Fonda’ was a corruption of that name.”
Eagum, Netherlands
Continuing from the above document, “Gillis (Jelles, pronounced “Yelles”) Fonda first appears in America in the Rensselaerwyck records on October 15, 1651 when he requested court permission to distill liquor in the Green Bos, in the house belonging to Evert Pels, next to a brewery. The date of his arrival in the colony or on what vessel he arrived is not in the records. According to the publication of the banns for his marriage to Hester Douwess on Jan. 19, 1641, he was from Agum or Aegum (or Eagum), a small village in the present municipality of Idaarderadeel in the Province of Friesland, the Netherlands. He was at that time 25 years old and his parents were deceased. Hester was from Amsterdam and 24 years old. Her stepmother Elsgen Douwes assisted her at the banns. They were married at Diemen, on February 10, 1641. Diemen is a place close to Amsterdam.”
The site of Jilles Douwe (Fonda) farm in Eagum, Netherlands before he and family left for America in 1650 has been located:
 Eagum Farmhouse |
 Eagum Streetsign |
 Eagum Aerial Photo |
| Photos courtesy of Peter de Haan (1st 2 photos) and Liuwe Douwes van der Meer (3rd photo), both distant cousins. See this location in Google Maps. (Distances: Eagum is 153 km northeast of Amsterdam and 36 km southwest from Kollum. Diemen is 8 km southeast from Amsterdam.) |
|
Jan 01
|
 |
 |
 |
| 7th generation descendant of Douw “The Patriot” Fonda (1700-1780) namesake for the Village of Fonda, NY | National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution NSSAR #162043-12790 Oriskany Battle Chapter 6th generation descendant of Lt. Col. Adam Fonda (1736-1808) | General Society of Mayflower Descendants GSOMD #2413-74900 12th generation descendant of Edward Doty (1598-1655) |
Albert Mark Fonda, admin
|
Jan 01
|
Schooner sailing to New World
It is not known exactly when or why Jellis and family immigrated to America, other than the obvious desire for freedom and opportunity. There is no known record of the family on published ship passenger lists. A best guess, based on available information indicates they probably sailed on either the BONTE KOE or the PRINS WILLEM, each arriving in New Amsterdam in June-September 1651.
Fort Orange (Albany) Settlement
Albany, New York
According to “A Career Woman in 17th Century New York,” when Jellis arrived in Fort Orange (now Albany) 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.”
The Fonda Family was one of eighty-two distinct family groups representing the settler population of Albany at the end of the so-called Dutch period (1624-1686). Already, these urban dwellers were beginning to distinguish themselves from the farmers and husbandmen of the surrounding countryside. These families represented the largest number of New Netherlands family names in the city during its first two centuries of life. From this core group, a number of families left the Albany community, establishing new settlements at Schenectady, Kinderhook, Catskill, Schaghticoke, Hoosick, Saratoga, and beyond. Some became tenants of the Rensselaerwyck Patroon (cooperative). Others left the region entirely. Still others literally “died out” in the Albany setting. Those who remained formed the core population of what became the city of Albany in 1686.
Fonda Farm House, 1859
Fonda, New York
Before the American Revolution, a Dutch village named Fonda had succeeded the Indian hamlet of Caughnawaga, along the Mohawk River, about 30 miles west of Albany. It extended from the rambling hills which comprise the Mohawk Valley, at the foot of which stood the church and parsonage, down to the river. Douw Jellis Fonda (1700-1780), father of the branch of the Fonda family so prominent in this neighborhood from the mid-1700’s to the present, is considered the founder of this village, which now bears his name.
Douw lived a long and prosperous life as a farmer and merchant. He was killed during a raid by the British Army, aided by the Mohawk Indians, on May 22, 1780; he was 79 yrs. old. His house was plundered and burned; and his sons, John and Adam, were taken as prisoners to Canada. Douw had been a close personal friend of the British constable, Sir William Johnson, and had always been on good terms with the Indians, but his life was taken as “heartlessly” as though he were an active enemy. His legacy remained through his abundant offspring, which included 6 children and 30 grandchildren.
After the war Adam returned and built a house which is still standing in the village of Fonda. Older brother Jellis became a judge in Tryon County and was serving in the Legislature when he died. Adam’s son Henry who served as a captain in the War of 1812 had twin sons called Henry Douw and Douw Henry. Douw Henry, the father of Albert Fonda whose son is the present owner, built the farm home between 1842-50. Now on this farm is the ninth generation of the family in America; the seventh on these historic acres. (Century Farms of New York State – 1947).