Press Release – for immediate release – Photo jpg follows For more info contact Carolyn Leonard at Buffalo234@cox.net DUTCH COUSINS WORLDWIDE GATHERING IN HARRODSBURG. Early History of Kentucky to be Studied The very first national Gathering of Dutch Cousins will convene in Harrodsburg, Mercer Co, Kentucky next month, September 23 to 25, and all those of Holland ancestry are invited to participate. “Those Dutch families married off their children mostly to others of the same group and faith, so if you had family early on in Mercer County, and know you have Holland ancestry, you are probably one of us,” said Rev. Claude Westerfield of Farragut Iowa, archivist of the group. Registrations have come in from 24 states. Ancestors of these people came over from Holland in the early 1600s – some before the Pilgrims went to Plymouth. These Hollanders settled Manhattan Island, naming it New Amsterdam. In 1664 when the English took over the area and renamed it for the Duke of York, the Dutch gradually moved west, many settling in New Jersey. A few years before the Revolutionary War broke out, a contingent of Dutch Reform Church members settled a colony in Pennsylvania. After the war, descendants of these families, who had remained in contact with their church and family members still in New Jersey, began moving to the frontier. “A colony of Low Dutch settlers – 50 families in all – first came to Mercer County in 1781 from Conewago Colony in Pennsylvania,” Westerfield said. He is a descendant of the Rev. Cornelius Cozine who pastured the church at Conewago, as well as several other Low Dutch pioneers. ”Kentucky was still a county in Virginia when they planned their trip.” The Conewago colonists adopted the term “Low Dutch” to distinguish themselves as being from the low countries of Holland and Europe instead of Germanic countries. These Dutch Reform settlers organized their Church in 1796 and erected the Old Mud Meeting House four years later on Dry Branch Road where it still stands, currently undergoing renovation while celebrating its 205th birthday. Preserving Old Mud for future generations is one concern of the group. The mud and wattle construction is melting, and vandals have senselessly damaged the structure. Those Dutchmen took the long hard trail, by wagon from Pennsylvania to the banks of the Ohio, tearing apart the wagons to build rafts and flatboats to navigate down the flooded River to the Falls of the Ohio, now Louisville, and rebuilt their wagons to journey overland to Harrod’s Fort. The area around Harrod’s Fort, now Harrodsburg, was filled with hostile Indians and farming was considered a dangerous occupation. But the sturdy pioneers, lured by promise of land, came anyway. “They brought their families, their animals and field seeds, and fought off Indian attacks along the way, which continued for a long time after they got here,” Westerfield said. “and they paid a high price in fatalities to hold their land.” Banta, Bergen, Bodine, Brewer, Demaree, Dorland, Duree, Cosart, Cozine, Monfort, Rider, Shuck, Smock, Terhune, VanArsdale, Van Nuys, Voris, Vorhees, Westervelt/Westerfield are some of the surnames associated with the Kentucky Low Dutch Settlers. Weekend plans include a welcome at the Harrodsburg Historical Society by HHS president Jerry Sampson, walking tour of the oldest town in Kentucky, tours of historic Dutch homes, dinner speakers like Vincent Akers, author of “History of the Low Dutch” and Larry Voreis, author of “Our Low Dutch Heritage.” Saturday’s meeting will convene at Anderson Circle Farms Show Barn where family researchers will share their knowledge, and conclude Sunday morning with tent services at Old Mud Meeting house followed by a farewell luncheon. Registration is a low $15. For more info contact Jay Westerfield of Bloomington IN at 812-825-3899 or Carolyn Leonard by email to Buffalo234@cox.net.