One of the many joys my brother, Howard Deel, took part in was researching his family lines by going on trips to cemeteries and distant relatives. It was amazing the unique and colorful stories he was able to discover and the wonderful people he met along the way!
In his studies he learned about the Puritans, the Pennsylvania Dutch Quakers, the Brethren and Schwenkfelders. If you haven't heard of the Schwenkfelders, they were followers of Kasper Schwenkfeld von Ossig, born in 1490 in the Duchy of Leibnitz.
Why do I bring up these lessor known religious beliefs? If you haven't had any luck finding the records of your Dutch ancestry or early American records they may be found within Dutch Genealogy records. It is important to know such things as the beliefs of your early family, because as Carle Sandburg once said;
"When a society or a civilization perishes, one condition can always be found. They forgot where they came from."
