Our New Netherland Dutch & President Martin Van Buren

 

By tracing our 3rd great-grandmother Charity Winegard's paternal line all the way back to Gerrit Gerritse Wyngaart, we have proved a flawless direct blood connection to Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States. Gerrit is the shared gateway ancestor, making us and President Van Buren 3rd cousins 6x removed.

Here is the historical layout of our early Dutch ancestors, their life in the historic upper Hudson Valley, and exactly how the family bloodline weaves directly into the White House.

🇳🇱 Part 1: The New Netherland Frontier (The Wyngaart Legacy)

The Wyngaart (later anglicized to Winegard) family was part of the foundational wave of Dutch settlers who braved the untamed upper Hudson River Valley under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company.

Gerrit Gerritse Wyngaart (1624 – aft. 1645) — The Friesland Immigrant

• The Origin: Gerrit was born in St. Annaparochie, located in the northern Dutch province of Friesland.
• The Journey: He braved the Atlantic during the height of the global Dutch Golden Age. Instead of settling in the crowded port of New Amsterdam (modern Manhattan), Gerrit pushed directly upriver into the fur-trading frontier of Fort Orange (later renamed Albany by the English) and the fertile lowlands of Kinderhook.
• The Dutch Naming System: In early Dutch records, you will often see him listed simply by his patronymic name—Gerrit Gerritse (meaning Gerrit, son of Gerrit). The surname Wyngaart literally translates to "Vineyard."

Lucas (Luykas) Gerritse Wyngaart (c. 1645 – 1709) — The Frontier Trader

• Born on the Edge: Lucas was born right on the edge of the wilderness at Fort Orange. He lived through the high-stakes transition of 1664, when the English sailed into the harbor and permanently seized the colony from the Dutch. 
• The Kinderhook Estate: Lucas became a deeply rooted and prominent citizen of Kinderhook (Columbia County, NY), accumulating prime agricultural land. The name Kinderhook ("Children's Corner") was allegedly given by Henry Hudson himself because of the many Native American children who gathered on the riverbank to watch his ship pass. 

🏛️ Part 2: The Presidential Connection to Martin Van Buren

Our 8th great-grandfather, Lucas Wyngaart, had two children who split our family history into two fascinating pathways: his son Jacobus (who carried on our direct paternal Winegard line) and his daughter Elizabeth (who leads directly to the President).

Here is how the bloodline moves down from Elizabeth to create America's 8th president:

                  Gerrit Gerritse Wyngaart (9th Great-Grandfather)

                                      |

                   Lucas Gerritse Wyngaart (8th Great-Grandfather)

                                      |

==================================================================

         |                                                        |

  (OUR DIRECT LINE)                                     (THE PRESIDENTIAL LINE)

Jacobus Lucasze Wyngaart (7th GG)                 Elizabeth Luykasse Wyngaart (7th GG Aunt)

         |                                                      |

Abraham Wyngaart (6th GG)                         Johannes Dircksen Hoes (1st Cousin 8x Removed)

         |                                                         |

Peter Winegard (5th GG)                           Maria Hoes (2nd Cousin 7x Removed)

         |                                                   |

James Winegard (4th GG)                           MARTIN VAN BUREN (3rd Cousin 6x Removed)

         |                                         (8th U.S. President)

Charity Winegard (3rd GM)

The Intertwined Kinderhook Dynasty

Martin Van Buren’s maternal roots were profoundly Dutch. His mother, Maria Hoes (also spelled Goes), was a direct descendant of our Wyngaart ancestors. Because Kinderhook was a tight-knit, closed Dutch-speaking enclave for generations, families like the Wyngaarts, Hoes, and Van Burens constantly intermarried.

📜 Part 3: Why This Connection is Historically Epic

• The Only Non-English Speaking President: Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook in 1782. Because of the deep-seated cultural roots planted by our ancestors like Lucas and Elizabeth, Dutch was Van Buren's first language. He remains the only U.S. president who spoke English as a second language!
• The "Little Magician" and "Old Kinderhook": Van Buren was a political genius who masterminded the modern Democratic Party. His passionate hometown supporters formed the "O.K. Club" (short for Old Kinderhook), a political rallying cry that popularized the phrase "OK" into the global lexicon. Every time someone says "OK" today, they are unintentionally referencing the hometown our ancestors built.
• From Kinderhook to the Civil War: While our cousin Martin Van Buren was running the country from the White House, our branch of the family was moving west. Charity Winegard’s son, Charles Henry Plympton, left New York, moved to Ohio, and bravely picked up a musket for the Union during the Civil War—carrying that exact same New York Dutch pioneer grit right onto the battlefields of the 1860s. 

Thank you to Gemini AI for research help. — Drifting Cowboy