Gerda Thank you for the information about Epe, Vaasen & Heerde in the Netherlands. I was able to obtain information from the Vaasen Genealogy Society in regard to the birth of the South African van Heerden and the marriage of his parents. You might find some further information on your family from this Netherlands genealogy society or one near it. They are very active in Holland. Thank you also for the information on the Pennsylvania Dutch. Do you mean Grand Rapids, Michigan? I have some friends here in Toronto, Canada whose ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch (actually Deutch ?- German). Their ancestors arrived in the USA about the same time as the Dutch and Germany arrived in South Africa. Sonia Tkachuk van Heerden Toronto, Canada ----------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 4 Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:20:20 +0200 From: "Gerda gmail" <gerda.pieterse@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Weyers -- Holland and Germany To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <3138E8A794DF4D5887A53EC0FDEB0104@GERDA> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Andrew, Epe in Gelderland, the Netherlands, lies halfway between Vaasen and Heerde, to the West of Deventer, Overijssel. (Coordinates: 52?21'N 5?59'E) It has always been in the Netherlands and shouldn't be confused with other places named Epe. The Province of Overijssel lies between this Epe and the eastern (German) border. My grandmother was born there and we often visited our family there (on the Veluwe). I think you are referring to Epe, Westphalen and confusing the two. There is also an Epe in Niedersachsen, but the three are different places, just like the two Middelburgs in South Africa. It is important to note that the Province of Gelderland is situated in the mid -eastern Netherlands, and is not part of Holland, which are Provinces (Noord and Zuid) further west. The Netherlands remained neutral in WW1 and expected to remain neutral in WWII, when it was unexpectedly annexed by Germany. They did not side with Germany in WW1 and as far as I know no border shifts took place at that time. The eastern border is much older than the united Germany itself, and has not shifted since 1815, when minor adjustments took place. The Provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland were part of the initial 11 Provinces of the United Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The Pennsylvania Dutch are indeed from the Anabaptist movement from Germany, but the Mennonites, with similar leanings, were followers of the Fryske (Frisian) religious leader Menno Symons. At the moment there is a similar but less severe branch of the Anabaptists in Grand Rapids, which was started by Rev de Neui from Germany, with it's first spitiual leader being my great grand-uncle Douwe Laansma from Makkum, Friesland. The Anabaptists splintered off from the main Church before Luther started the Reformation. It is a very old movement, and was very popular in Germany, East and West Friesland and Groningen wheer life is harsh and austere. The church in Grand Rapids is known as the "Holland Church", doing mainly missionary work under young people. Members of the congregation are known for their plain living. Douwe's mother belonged to the Mennonite movement, and it was from her he recieved his inspiration. They emigrated to Grand Rapids in 1891 (along with most of the young adults from that town!). Gerda Pieterse Richards Bay

On 16 Nov 2011, at 7:06 AM, Sonia van Heerden wrote (snip): > Gerda > > Thank you also for the information on the Pennsylvania Dutch. Do > you mean Grand Rapids, Michigan? I have some friends here in > Toronto, Canada whose ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch (actually > Deutch ?- German). Their ancestors arrived in the USA about the > same time as the Dutch and Germans arrived in South Africa. In Michigan there must have been Dutch settlers at some time, as I seem to recall a place called Holland somewhere between Grand Rapids and Detroit from my travels round that State when my daughter lived in Ypsilanti and worked in Ann Arbor some years back. Dutch settlement in New York was of course roughly contemporaneous with that in Cape Town (mid-17th Century), but Michigan was still French territory in those days. In South Africa the main influx of Germans was following the Crimean War, though there were quite a few in the service of the VOC well before that: one of mine (HAARHOFF) joined the VOC at Texel in about 1715. Andrew Rodger rodgera@audioio.com