Famous Americans with Dutch ancestors

In the USA there have been many famous Americans with Dutch ancestors. Their Dutch heritage is evident through their last name. Although many people don't know that they have Dutch ancestors, an American surname such as Vanderlay, which does not appear Dutch, actually comes from the Netherlands, from the Dutch surname Van der Lay.

Famous Dutch descendents include:

	Thomas Alva Edison	Edison was inventor of the light bulb, power grid, gramophone, and the movie. His great-great-grandfather John Edeson came to the United States in 1730 when he was a little boy. Over the years, the spelling of the surname changed from "Edeson" to "Edison." Edison was honorary member of Holland Society and was very proud it.
	Robert L. Livingston	Livingston was the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States Congress. His oldest ancestor was called Robert also.
	Herman Melville	The worldfamous writer of 'Moby Dick' had a grandfather, Peter Gansevoort, who was a descendent of the Dutch emigrant Harmen Harmense van Gansvoort..
	Theodore Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt Eleanor Roosevelt	The former presidents of the United States Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) and his first lady had Dutch ancestors. Their ancestor Claes Martensen van Rosenvelt emigrated in 1649. Claes' son, Nicolaes, had three sons: Johannes, Nicholas, and Jacobus. Johannes was an ancestor of Theodore and Eleanor. Jacobus was an ancestor of Franklin. Franklin married Eleanor, his distant second cousin.
	Martin van Buren	Van Buren was the president of the United States of America from 1836 to 1840. His first ancestor who lived in the USA was Cornelis Maessen, who lived in the Guelders village Buren. One of his sons was called Maesand when Cornelis died, he received the farm. Maes took the surname Bloemendael, what probably was the name of the farm. It is thought that the Bloomingdale family, a very prominent family in New York, comes from the Bloemendaels. The son of Maes was Martin, who retook the surname Van Buren. Martin later had a son who he named after himself, who later went on become the president. When Martin was president, he signed all the documents with the short O.K. (what stands for Old Kinderhook, his place of birth), and that's probably why the term OK came.
	Cornelius Vanderbilt	Born in 1794, he was a distant descendent of Jan Aertsen van der Bilt. When he was 16 years old he had a ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan. He became a transportation tycoon; boss of New York Central Railroad, banks, and other companies, becoming one of the richest Americans of his time.
	Walt Whitman	His ancestor was John Whitman, who emigrated from England. However, John left England to live in the Netherlands for freedom of religion. There, John married a Dutch women. Their son Walt (1819-1892) became very famous with his book Leaves of Grass. He wrote it for a 'Dutch inner life of history and personality'. In Dutch, this means: 'Hollandesque innerlijk van geschiedenis en persoonlijkheid'.
	Anne Vogel	When he was 17 years old, he emigrated to the USA from the province of Friesland in 1913 and made his fortune. In 1923 he founded the Vogel Paint Factory, of which there are now seven in the USA.

Some terms, institutions, and other things which have a Dutch background. Here is a list:

Holland Society of New York A club whereof only men can be a member, and only when their ancestors lived in the colony New Holland of the 17th-centurie. And because that's not very up-to-date anymore, there's now also the 'Friends of the Holland Society', whereof everybody can became a member. But most of the members are Dutch descendents. The 'Friends' have the same rights as the 'real', but they may not vote at the annual meeting.
Every year there are some dinners which are organised by the 'Holland Society'. The ritual is always the same, they cary a stuffed beaver (in the seventeenth century that was the most important merchandise in New Holland).
The 'Holland Society' also has an own magazine, 'de Halve Maen' (de Halve Maan in the Dutch language of now, in English it means 'the half Moon').
Santa Claus This well-known man is a descendant of the Dutch Sinterklaas. Since the seventeenth century the Dutch are celebrating it. From 1822 the people in the US are celebraint it. At that moment, Clement C. Moore had written a poem for his children, with the title 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas'. In this poem, there wasn't a Black Peter. In 1840 the poem was publiced in a paper, and somany people heard about it.
In the US there were also German emigrants, and they mixed Saint Nicholas with Christ Kindl (what became Kriss Kringle), and that's why 'Santa' got a sled, deers and a home/workroom at the North Pole. The drawer Thomas Nast drawed Santa in 1862, and after that Santa is like he drawed him: a fat good man who always hold his tummy when he laughs.
Yankee(s) This word is arised because there were many Dutch people in the northeast. There are three theories about it. The first one is that the English people invented it because the half of the Dutch were called Jan or Kees. The second theory is that it's a corruption of Jan Kaas and the English John Cheese to Yankees. The last one says that the original is Janke, a reduction of Jan.
Later on Yankees would be a honorary sobriquet for the Dutch, and again later on for all habitants of the 'Midatlantic States New England'. For the Americans who lived in the south in the time of the Civil War, the Yankees were all the Northerners and their friends.

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	Holland Society of New York	A club whereof only men can be a member, and only when their ancestors lived in the colony New Holland of the 17th-centurie. And because that's not very up-to-date anymore, there's now also the 'Friends of the Holland Society', whereof everybody can became a member. But most of the members are Dutch descendents. The 'Friends' have the same rights as the 'real', but they may not vote at the annual meeting. Every year there are some dinners which are organised by the 'Holland Society'. The ritual is always the same, they cary a stuffed beaver (in the seventeenth century that was the most important merchandise in New Holland). The 'Holland Society' also has an own magazine, 'de Halve Maen' (de Halve Maan in the Dutch language of now, in English it means 'the half Moon').
	Santa Claus	This well-known man is a descendant of the Dutch Sinterklaas. Since the seventeenth century the Dutch are celebrating it. From 1822 the people in the US are celebraint it. At that moment, Clement C. Moore had written a poem for his children, with the title 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas'. In this poem, there wasn't a Black Peter. In 1840 the poem was publiced in a paper, and somany people heard about it. In the US there were also German emigrants, and they mixed Saint Nicholas with Christ Kindl (what became Kriss Kringle), and that's why 'Santa' got a sled, deers and a home/workroom at the North Pole. The drawer Thomas Nast drawed Santa in 1862, and after that Santa is like he drawed him: a fat good man who always hold his tummy when he laughs.
	Yankee(s)	This word is arised because there were many Dutch people in the northeast. There are three theories about it. The first one is that the English people invented it because the half of the Dutch were called Jan or Kees. The second theory is that it's a corruption of Jan Kaas and the English John Cheese to Yankees. The last one says that the original is Janke, a reduction of Jan. Later on Yankees would be a honorary sobriquet for the Dutch, and again later on for all habitants of the 'Midatlantic States New England'. For the Americans who lived in the south in the time of the Civil War, the Yankees were all the Northerners and their friends.