[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Half the settlers of Nieuw-Amsterdam were Huguenots. My last name traces to a Huguenot settler in Nieuw-Amsterdam recorded in the 1664 Dutch census, living in Brunswick, part of what is now Brooklyn and owning a goat. By 1695 he was Dutch Reform minister in Staten Island.

My father's middle name was Bartholomew and my grandfather was anti-Catholic, although he married an Irish girl, he forbad the family from entering a Catholic church. This may have been in part shaped by the experiences of his grandfather who commanded a Police precinct in New York during the July, 1863 draft riots, mainly fueled by Irish immigrants.

[sr4402]

My father told me we were from the Huguenots (Merrill), but did not talk of the persecution. Out family came over in the early 1700s. I suspect it was because of the religious persecutions common in those days.

[sr4402]

My father told me we were from the Huguenots (Merrill), but did not talk of the persecution. Our family came over in the early 1700s. I suspect it was because of the religious persecutions common in those days.