Burial site of Gerret (Garrett) Van Swearingen (Sweringen)

Question

I going to be traveling through Maryland later this month and hope to locate my ancestor's grave: Gerret Van Swearingen, born 4 Feb 1636, Beemsterdam, Holland and died 4 Feb 1698, St Mary's, Somerset, MD. Thanks in advance for any information.

Answer 1

:D Hi Gerret! Welcome at WikiTree. :) You want the short version or the long version. I m Astrid Spaargaren from the Netherlands. And love to help around.

But I m gonna disappoint you as you copied info that is wrong. So we need to find out the truth. :) Gerret as your firstname is the English version of the firstname used in the Netherlands: Gerrit. :D Many names changed during time as the Dutch got inhabitants in the USA. van Swearingen is not a Dutch lastname. It must have changed as this Gerrit was registered at the USA and said his Dutch name. :) And the person that had to fill in the forms tried his best. We see that everywhere.

Sweringen is a Dutch lastname. So that could be a lead. But Beemsterdam is not existing......

Comments

Here is a link to a website in the Netherlands to find ancestors. It s named WieWasWie in English WhoWasWho and it s free. You can also make an account for free, they don t spam, but even without you can search there. At the top of the webpage you can even change it to English. https://www.wiewaswie.nl/personen-zoeken/zoeken/q/Sweringen Now do you have any numbers on birth and death of Gerret?

It might you can t find things as I see Gerret was an earlier settler. And WhoWasWho doesn t give much yet on before 18 to 1700. But as said we love to help. Did you check out FindAGrave yet? I love your gonna visit his grave.

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Hi again Gerret! I m just seeing this now in G2G.

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/89988/noticed-duplicates-swearingen-swearingen-profile-managers

 

 There are many duplicates (double profiles) in the van Sweringen family. So check first before adding a new profile. I m sure a project manager will contact you.

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Now the good news Gerret :D  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=83315416 

Birth:	Feb. 4, 1636, Netherlands
Death:	1698 Saint Marys City St. Mary's County Maryland, USA Find more sources so we know numbers are right and add to the profile please.  I expect he was born at Amsterdam as that comes close to how Beemsterdam is pronounced in English. We will see and find out.

 There is a lot of info at WikiTree on your ancestor already :D http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Van_Swearingen_and_Children%2C_A_Family_History

Here his profile with --- I m sure ----- some things not totally right :D http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Van_Swearingen-50 But we can change that! Please if you find the grave, and I really hope so for you, please make some pictures to add to his profile. Thank you! 

 

Oh BTW add Dutch_Roots tags to your posts here. So the members of the Dutch Project will see your message and help you where ever they can! :D

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This is my ancestor too - hello cousin Gerret. Here's the New Netherland Settlers project profile http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Van_Swearingen-14

I could swear that I "Dutchyfied" his first name at some point but I don't think I made it "Gerrett". It should be "Gerrit van Sweringen" but there are definitely a lot of chefs for that soup, if you know what I mean. van Swearingen and later just Swearingen are the Americanisms.

It is well known among official researchers of the family that "Beemsterdam" is a made-up place, but I don't remember if the real place of origin was determined.

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Can I add you to best answer Carrie? :D Happy more answering and helping Gerret. <3

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What! No it's for you, to let you know how right you are. :D

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Garret just new at Wiki. I see me.......... Just soo enthousiatic. :) Me still struggling at lots at Wiki I love. :D

Thank you Cousin Carrie <3 We re even sister as we re both at the Dutch Roots Project :D

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A great project with great and very helpfull members eeh  :) Thanks you both :D And welcome Gerret to Wikitree and wish you a great time travelling trough Maryland , hope you will be able to locate your ancestors grave, good luck!

Answer 2

The most pervasive story seems to be that Gerrit was buried under the floor of the St. Mary's City Chapel

http://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/research/history/garrett-van-sweringen/