Dick There are several stories of the early days of Frenchman Island and most are romantic stories (does not surprise me since they are French). The first story 1791-93 states the Count called himself Desvatines. Then the Duke French settler called the Castorland Company came (that group settled in Castorland Lewis County NY) and the Desvatines were ordered off the Island. At that point Mr Scriba was setting Rotterdam and the Desvatines removed to the new Rotterdam. In 1797 LaWhitte De Wardenous (wife and family) came and lived on the Frenchman Island and another romance story was made (those Romantic French). It is stated the the DeWardenous returned to France. Another tale by a Mr Bloomfield who visited the Island in 1793 states that it was a Frenchman who ran off with a nun from the convent that settled there. There appears to be no concrete documentation to clarify who the Desvatines were and a question of the possibility that the Desvatines and DeWardenous were one and the same is a possible. Were they of French noble or not is still a question.. I do remember at SU Library they have many additional rare books as you stated on Central New York including Oneida Lake. Maybe I should make another visit there when I'm down to my sons again. Makes me curious. I was actually doing research on the Oneida Settlement when I was at the Library (Probably the best resourse for their History) and just browing other local History. A great Library. . On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 9:59 AM, Dick Hillenbrand <nygenes@gmail.com> wrote: > The rare book room at Syracuse University's Arents Research Library, > located > on the top floor of the Bird Library building has a small collection of > very > rare books about Frenchman's Island and the very earliest publications on > Oneida Lake inhabitants. > > It got its name from an early settler from France by the name of > DesWattines, or something similar (from memory) and was mentioned in things > about another Oneida Lake important historical personage, Francis Adrian > VanderKamp. > > I remember reading somewhere many years ago that the DesWattines family was > visited by the French nobility that came here to escape the French > Revolution and they stopped there on their way up to Lake Ontario from > where > they were going to settle up in the Black River Valley of Jefferson county > at Castorland. > > That was indeed a disaster and those that did not die the first winter > reportedly came back down through and might have gone elsewhere to Europe > or > New York City. > > It is thought by some that DesWattines left the area about the same time. > Please don't take any of the above as gospel as it is just off the top of > my > head from having read these things many years ago. > > It would be relatively easy to research if you are really interested. > > Dick Hillenbrand > Upstate New York Genealogy > www.unyg.com > > Locate new relatives with Family Finder DNA testing at: > www.GenealogyDNA.com <http://www.genealogydna.com/> > > > > > On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 9:28 AM, Sandy Wilsey <swilsey@twcny.rr.com> > wrote: > > > There is a Dutchman's Island, but it is further east than Frenchman's and > > Dunham's > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Patricia Jaquay" <hjaquay@twcny.rr.com> > > To: <nymadiso@rootsweb.com> > > Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 9:21 AM > > Subject: Re: [NYMADISO] Peter Smith's Eyes > > > > > > > Because my brain is so full of knowledge after collecting info for 80 > > some > > > years, could some one please tell me if there is (was) another Island > in > > > Oneida Lake called DUTCHMAN's ISLAND? Or am I confusing it with the > > > Dunham's? > > > > > > I've always heard it referred to as Dutchman. But maybe my data base > is > > > unplugged. > > > > > > Thanks for any clarification offered. > > > > > > Pat J > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > > NYMADISO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > NYMADISO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYMADISO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >