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"Southard or Southart, Thomas, of Gd [Gravesend], (sup.)
English, m. Annica da. of Anthony Jansen from Salee. Bought
Dec. 20, 1650, of Thomas Applegate the one half of the lot
Applegate bought of Randell Hunt, as per Gd. rec. Owned
plantation-lot No. 11 in Gd in 1653. He quarreled with his
father-in-law Anthony Jansen about the ownership of cattle, on
which Anthony was imprisoned by the local court of Gd, but
released by the higher one of the colony, as per p. 136 of
Calendar of Dutch Man. He appears to have removed to
Hempstead, where he resided in 1670, having sons Thomas Junr
and John, whose descendants reside in that locality. He was
also probably the ancestor of the Southards of N.J.... " See
Samuel, son of Thomas, Jr. for more info.
From a Family Group Sheet in LDS online site:
"It was fortunate for me that Jane and Jim were still in New
Jersey when I found I had yet another family of that state to
be researched. Jacob Falkenburg, grandson of the first Henry
Jacob Falkenburg, married a Phoebe Southard. Jane and Jim
found this researched by Ralph Potter at the New Jersey
Historical Society in Newark. The first American Southards
were not of which we can be proud. Let us hope that their
unlovable characteristics were diluted through the years by
other more gentle traits given to us by other ancestors.
"Thomas Southard was the first of this family in America.
He was probably of a family of English dissenters who went
first to Holland -- as he was born there about 1615, possibly
in Leyden. He settled at Gravesend, Long Island and went to
work for a farmer named Anthony Jansen. Anthony was of a
somewhat higher station in life and a man of property on Long
Island. His father was Jan Jansen Van Haarlem. As you know,
Haarlem is a city in Holland and no doubt that district in New
York got its name from that Dutch city.
"Anthony and Grietje Reyniers were married on board the
ship that brought them to America ca 1631. Annica, the first
of their four daughters, was born around 1632 in what is now
lower Manhattan in New York City. In a mutually agreeable
arrangement Thomas Southard and Annica Jansen were married.
Thomas was probably looking to a dower, and Anthony no doubt
happy to have one of his daughters off his hands. Thomas
bought land of Anthony whereby making them neighbors. Court
records show Anthony to be mean and quarrelsome, and at odds
with the law, with the church pastor and his wife, and finally
with Thomas who was no less contentious. When it became
apparent that things would be no better between the families,
Thomas and Annica moved to Hempstead, Long Island. There they
raised their family of 9 children. They died there, he in
1688. Annica was still living in 1698.
"As the sons grew to manhood they found it more difficult
to live in Hempstead as they felt more Dutch than English.
"In the years before the Revolution, feelings ran high
between the American rebels and those loyal to the crown.
Their English neighbors insisted they take sides. To escape
this, many Southards decided to leave Hempstead, some going up
the Hudson River and others going to Connecticut. "
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