Gerrit

by Harry Roegner

In 1649, Gerrit Van Duyn and his sister left their small town in the United Provinces of the Netherlands to work for the West Indies Corporation in the influential colony of New Amsterdam. There they thought they would live out their lives—until the English invaded. This is Gerrit’s story, compiled from papers and family journals by Van Duyn descendant Harry Roegner. One of the first truly genealogical historical novels, Gerrit brings the past to dramatic and sometimes tragic life. Forced out of New Amsterdam by the English, Gerrit would return to the Netherlands, only to share in his nation’s humiliating occupation by French forces. He would eventually return to New Amsterdam, only to find the colony under a new Anglicized name—New York. There he, along with the spirited Jacques Cortelyou, would lay a foundation of political thinking that would inspire the Declaration of Independence. Discover the debt the United States owes to Gerrit Van Duyn and Dutch settlers. His life might be fictionalized, but Gerrit existed. His contributions to his fellow colonists and the young democratic nation that would soon take root in North America should not be forgotten.

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2004

Reviews

[Linda]

I'm in love with this book, and am forever grateful to Harry Roegner for taking it on as a project. This is the (as true as possible) story of my earliest known ancestor, Gerrit Cornelisz Van Duyn, who sailed to America from the Netherlands in 1648 with his sister Neeltje, to establish our family line here in the U.S. When I first uncovered Gerrit (the person) through genealogical research years ago, I was thrilled; but to read about him and his life in New Amsterdam in this book was was incredible. I've bought half a dozen copies of the book to pass along to our kids and grandkids. Well done, Mr. Roegner.

[Al]

Harry Roegner is my cousin and this book is based on family records and research here in the US and in The Netherlands. I am currently working on my ancestry and this book helps set the stage for the events and adventures of the early Dutch in America. Gerritt was on my mother's side of the Jacobus family and I lived on Van Duyne Ave in Rockaway, NJ! Coincidence, I am sure but who knows.

The book is an easy read in the narrative style and I found it engrossing as well as informative. The Dutch were some rugged, determined people who came to a wild environment that was anything but easy to tame. When I do my own genealogy, this book makes my research more accessible in the sense that I can visualize the place and find them in time. It's interesting to think about my Van Duyn ancestors and my Jacobus ancestors living at the same time in the same locale. Did they know one another? Did they intermarry? Only my research will tell.