Charlie, I did a quick check around for you. 'HYATT' might be married-in to a family or two that were Dutch. At a very quick glance, it looks like it's a married-in surname. But look for surname alternately spelled as 'Heyet.' If you *reallly* think they were Dutch, maybe you wiould like to read church records for early Dutch, try this database of Bob Biilliard's site for marriageas and baptisma.. These are downloadable and free. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~rbillard/vital_statistics.htm See some discussions containing HYATT surname on DUTCH-COLONIES-List @rootsweb.com Direct links for reching the list archives are below. If you think yours were Dutch, i recomment trying to read through these. But first, a comment: From what I have been reading lately (very boring but very fruitful) --It looks like you might find some of these *possibly* Dutch connections in and near Philadelphia. In Colonial times, Philadelphia was an administrative center for a large area surrounding it, including parts of DE, MD, NJ and places in Pennsylvania as far out as Berks and Lancaster Counties. So try there: So check Philadelphia Wills abrtracts for the names of these people. It's imortant to check each will or at least do a "find" in your browser for this or any surname, as well as "find" for a few alternate spellings. Wills often contain geographical data, as well as info about names of in-laws and allied families, so they can really pay off. Don't forget to check not only the names of testators, but also names of executors, heirs, and witnesses. Phila wills abstracts are found in US GenWeb project for PA. http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/philadelphia/wills/ Also check Orphan's Court records for DE, PA, and maybe MD and NJ. Orphan's Court not only decide how to administrate for underage heirs, but also sometimes do inventories, which also can help to place your people. Meanwhile, look over a set of discussion which involved this surname, on DUTCH-COLONIES-List @rootsweb.com I recommend reading all the posts containing this surname before you decide to sign on. Here are your links to their archives; discussions containing HYATT name took place in 1999, 2000, 2001. Search archives: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=Dutch-Colonies Browse archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/Dutch-Colonies/ If i come across anything else that looks promsing, Illl mail you. Best of luck. Liz J On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 20:53:01 EST, NAVLAWCFM@aol.com <NAVLAWCFM@aol.com> wrote: > Fellow Rooters....Been monitoring this list for some time, but haven't placed > an inquiry to date. I've traced my family tree, HYATT branch, to St > George's Hundred, New Castle Co early 1700's. A Thomas Hyatt likely father of > Isaac Hyatt, Sr 1732-1797 was in the area early 1700's as was his father of same > name. Scharf's History of Delaware indicates that the Hyatt people originated > in the Netherlands as did Vandegrift's & others. Try as I might, can't seem > to locate for the early 1700's any Hyatt surnamed folks (ancestors or > otherwise) in the Netherlands. Any suggestions for further researcher on this > issue? TIA for your help. Charlie Murphy near Seattle. > >