Genealogical research can be full of surprises—finding a famous (or infamous) ancestor, uncovering mysteries, discovering ties to U.S. or world history, hitting dead ends, or suddenly breaking through a lineage that once seemed impenetrable. My surprise, however, began before I even became interested in genealogy.
Throughout my education, my goal was to attend graduate school and earn an advanced degree so I could become a scientist. That dream became a reality when I was accepted to the University of Kentucky and moved to Lexington—the heart of the Bluegrass. Coming from Buffalo, NY, was a bit of a culture shock, but I adapted and grew interested in the region’s history, from the journeys of Daniel Boone to Lexington’s reputation as the “Athens of the West” and the nearby Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. The Shakers’ simple, agrarian lifestyle was appealing, though perhaps a bit too structured for my taste.
After five years of study and with a Ph.D. in hand, I moved to the Philadelphia area, expecting to explore my family roots there.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my roots were more deeply tied to Kentucky than to Philadelphia.
How could that be? As I had understood, my paternal Huguenot-Dutch ancestors had started in New Amsterdam and ultimately settled in southwest Missouri. But as I delved into my research, I uncovered a different story. These colonists had followed a migration path from New Amsterdam to New Jersey and then to the “Low Dutch” Colony just east of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In early 1781, enticed by the promises of Squire Boone (Daniel Boone’s brother), a large group of these settlers—including the Bantas, Duries, Demarees, and a single Cossart family—picked up and moved westward to central Kentucky. They settled near Fort Harrod.
All those years I lived in the area, and I never knew the connection.
Unfortunately, frontier life during the American Revolution was perilous. Many of these settlers, including my ancestor Pieter Cossart, were killed in Indian attacks. While my direct family line moved north to Ohio, many others remained. In fact, two of the founders of Pleasant Hill, Samuel and Henry Banta, were cousins of Pieter.
With so much family history rooted in the region, it may be time for another visit—this time seeing Kentucky through an entirely new lens.
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