Hot Days in Hoosier Land

I just received this picture of the Hendrick Banta 3rd cabin near Conewago, York County, Pennsylvania from my cousin Paul Gibbs. He lives near the site and found the cabin in relatively good condition this summer and gave permission to share on my blog. It sure seems large enough to house the 13 children Hendrick Banta 3rd had by Antie Demarest and 8 grandchildren they raised following the deaths of their parents and some of the children from Hendricks first marriage to Rachel Brower. I suspect the addition in the back of the house is not original to the home. I am looking forward to the Gathering of Dutch Cousins in the Conewago area in 2011 so I can visit the old homestead personally.

There is a new face in our family, a new baby born to a descendant of Francis and Polly Banta Montfort through their son, John. William Russell Montfort was born in Louisville, KY in late July this year and am so pleased to see both the family name and the next generation carried on.

I am currently updating my website at rootsweb with new information, data, sources and stories as I know them. Soon I am going to add to my MONTFORT FAMILY website at tripod as well. Its time to get it going again. One thing at a time though....add to this blog today, then try to complete the rootsweb site and then start adding chapters to the big site at tripod. It can happen.

Also preparing for the gathering of Dutch Cousins next year at Harrodsburg, KY with collecting things for two silent auction baskets....one is a Dutch theme, the other will have a Shaker theme to it. With my cousin, Diana, we need to start planning something for the day at Shakertown. Many of our Dutch cousins have visited there but till recently knew little of the Low Dutch connection to the Shakers. Since we have direct connections to both, we want to share, teach and show off the most tranquil spot in the state of Kentucky.

Summer is half gone and about now with all this heat and humidity in the lower Ohio River Valley...we start thinking cold.......then about February we are hoping to see the middle of summer again.....cannot please us in this part of southern Indiana at all.

My main goal for todays entry is to share the new photo of the Banta cabin in Pennsylvania. I will probably add it to my tripod site later on too.

My youngest granddaughter will be seven in Sept and loves ghost stories. She has hinted strongly that she wants to spend the night at Shakertown in the room that was her 5th gt grandfathers when he was a resident and member of the Shakers. I think she hopes Grandpa Francis will knock on the door as happened last year when my cousin and I stayed there. I only know we were the only people staying in the three story East House and knew the sounds made by the creaking floor when folks walked through...knew the sounds the front doors made as they opened and closed and there was NO one near our door when we opened after hearing three distinct taps on it. We had a creaky floor right in front of our room.....not a sound was heard but the three taps. Gwynn is sure Grandpa Francis will come see her when she stays there.

Thats all today from hazy, hot, humid southern Indiana.....

Barbara Whiteside

My Kentucky Montforts

I thought I'd start writing about my familys arrival in Kentucky. The Montforts were part of the Low Dutch Colony and closely connected to the leader of the colony, Hendrick Banta 3rd. Francis Montfort Sr [1746-1825] married the youngest daughter of Hendrick Banta and his first wife, Rachel Brower before 1768 when their first child was born. Geertje Banta Montfort was more well known by the name Charity. There are several variations on the spelling of her Dutch name but I choose Geertje as it seems to be the one most used by sources I trust. Charity was born the third of November 1749 in Hackensack, New Jersey. Shortly after her birth her mother died, more than likely from complications of giving birth to her sixth and last child.

Francis Sr was the son of Jan Monfoort and his wife, Kniertje Marston Monfoort and named for his maternal grandfather Frans Marston. The family goes back to the arrival in 1624 of the first ship of settlers sent by the Dutch West Indies Company to the new world. Most likely this first family, Jan and Jacqueline Moreau Monfoort, went up the Hudson River to Fort Orange for a time before moving back to the tip of Manhattan Island at the Nieuw Amsterdam settlement. They were one of only two families documented by name on the EENDRACHT when it set sail from Amsterdam in late January of 1624, arriving in late March of that same year. By the time Francis was born, he was the sixth generation of this family in America.

The Monfoort family farm in the Conewago Colony in York County, PA belonging to Francis was called Walnut Bottom which makes you think the farm must have been abundant with walnut trees. His father in law, Hendrick Banta 3rd called his farm Loss and Gain and you can only imagine why he chose that name.

When Hendrick Banta 3rd made the decision to move westward it was probably due to infringement of other ethnic groups around them in PA. that threatened the Dutch need to maintain their religion, culture, education, farming methods and language. Even though the Revolutionary War was still waging and land in Kentucky was still under threat of Indian attack, it still drew Banta to seek out land for a Dutch settlement where their culture could be preserved and where their children would not be tempted to leave their inherited beliefs.

In 1780 from Fort Pitt, Banta led a group down the Ohio River to what is now Jefferson County/Louisville, Kentucky. His brother in law took another group of Low Dutch from what is now West Virginia through the Cumberland Gap and northward to Mercer County, KY. The two groups planned to join forces there. The Indians had other ideas and many obstacles were placed in their way until the joint venture failed and each set up a Low Dutch Colony where they were...one in Mercer County and the other straddling the county lines of Shelby and Henry Counties in Kentucky.

Francis and Charity were not in this first group but probably came in the spring of 1785 or early 1786. A son, Francis Jr was born in 1784 and records show he was born in York County, PA. The next child, a son Jacob, is recorded as having been born in Mercer County, KY in Feb 1787. On the journey they brought with them their young children, Rachel, Catherine, Henry, Marya, Charity, John Calvin, and Francis Jr. It is not clear whether this family ventured down the Ohio River or took the route through the Cumberland Gap. I favor the route coming through the Cumberland Gap since the youngest children were born in Mercer County. Arriving in Jefferson County and along the Ohio River route was hazardous for moving back and forth from the Louisville area to Mercer County at the time, especially with very young children. In addition to Jacob being born in Mercer County, Kentucky, another daughter arrived in 1789 and was also born in Mercer County.

It is not clear when Francis decided to move to the Low Dutch Colony in Shelby/Henry County but most likely chose to move there because it was near Charity's father and stepmother. The Montfort family made the move to Pleasureville by 1792 when Francis starts appearing in the minutes of the Low Dutch Company Minute Book[now found in the archives of the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, KY].

I've had the good fortune to hold in my hands the minute book held by my 4th and 5th great grandfathers over 200 years ago. The feeling of touching something they held in their hands is emotional and satisfying...a chance to touch a part of your family.

I'll stop here and continue with the Shakers coming to Kentucky and how that involved so many of my direct ancestors.

Barbara Whiteside
10 June 2008

The Second Sat in May...

is upon us and I'll be glad when it's done and gone. The big race at Churchill Downs is late afternoon on May 3rd and by Sunday we locals are hoping the hoopla is finished, the celebs have gone home and the gas prices have gone down from the current $3.75-$3.89 range that had been with us for about two weeks now. We rank right up there with California on gas prices it seems.

My goal to put together the descendants of the Montforts that came to Kentucky with the Low Dutch Colony is proceeding quite well. Now to make the charts to show each and every one that I've managed to locate. That is going to take some time and patience and hope I've got the patience to finish it. I am working now on the line of John Calvin, son of Francis Sr and Charity Banta Montfort....his line has proven to be very prolific and challenging.

I have found descendants for a cousin living now in Florida, David Quinn. I found in him the same off the wall sense of humor as some other Montforts I have had the privilege to meet. I had first learned about David when I stopped at the Jefferson County Historical Building in Madison, IN and found a letter of inquiry about his ancestor, Henry Monfort, son of Jacob and Margaret/Peggy Banta Monfort. I shot off a letter as soon as I returned home and was sad when it was returned a week later. When I got an email from him about 4 months ago.....you can imagine my surprise. A very fast reply got us started on his line of the family and I hope we get to meet at the next gathering of our Dutch cousins.

Tom Wylie is another cousin..and have been able to give him his Montfort family and start a friendship with him and his wife, Joanie. He and Joanie came to the Dutch cousins gathering in 2007 and it was great to get to put a face with a name finally.

I am working with Craig Montfort to figure out which of the Montforts is his. I have an idea it goes back to one in Ohio, based on the naming pattern used for the children of Jacobus and Leah Banta Monfoort. Montforts directly connected with Hendrick Banta 3rd, ALWAYS have a son named for the patriarch of the Low Dutch who came into Kentucky and this pattern follows for Jacobus Montfort and his wife, Leah Banta, daughter of Hendrick Banta 3rd. This Jacobus was the son of Peter and Margrietje Haff Monfoort and a brother to my Jan [Kniertje Marston] Monfoort. I am hoping Craig and I can come to an agreement and find proof that I am correct.

The next Gathering of Dutch Cousins has been set for the last weekend in Sept of 2009, at Harrodsburg, KY with one day at Shakertown about 7 miles away. More details will be coming as plans are set and I will post them here on my blog. Diana Davis and I are planning the event at Shakertown and so much of it we want to show off as our direct ancestor was one of the first of the Shakers to join the religious society in 1805 and early 1806.

It looks like we may be in for a bumpy ride later today, weatherwise..just hoping the storms die down by the time they reach us here in Kentuckiana. Cousins out west of us have had a hard time with tornadoes, straight line wind damage, hail and heavy rain and hope to hear all are okay. I see me writing several messages later today to make sure of that.

Barbara Whiteside

Dreary Day in Southern Indiana

It's about time I added to the blog after quite a long absence. Today is so nasty outside, a good time to stay in and catch up. We had snow last night..maybe 3 or 4 inches and today freezing rain...had ice built up early this a.m., amounting to about half an inch. Cold tonight, which doesn't bode well for early morning traveling on Wed.

We have had Christmas, the New Year, several birthdays including my 65th, anniversary [number 46], a wedding to attend and now not a thing for awhile.

My goal is to find descendants from each of the children of Francis and Charity Banta Montfort, nine children in all with only one never marrying. So far I have managed to bring down Francis Jr, Jacob, John Calvin, and Rachel [though it needs a bit more research], and with the help of Judy Cassidy just this week managed to work out a good portion of Henry's line. I have a couple of people to tap for the descendants of Katherine Montfort Voris but wish I could find more about Charity who married Cornelius Luyster and Marya who married Stephen Terhune. I suspect one or both may have moved to Indiana territory with a group of others of the Low Dutch Colony. Sarah or Sallie is the only one of the nine not to have married. She joined the Shakers in Aug 1805 with her mother and moved to Pleasant Hill where she died in 1823 in her 34th year.

I think I have it fixed where folks can log on to comment...or hopefully it worked. If anyone is working on the lines of Cornelius and Charity Montfort Luyster or Stephen and Marya Montfort Terhune I hope they might get in touch with me....to exchange information.

New Years resolution? Add more often to the blog, write at least one or two more chapters to my website on the Montforts [http://bar-b-k.tripod.com
THE MONTFORT FAMILY: A NARRATIVE] and who knows??? write a book??? It can happen!!!

Barbara Whiteside

Getting the Christmas Spirit.

Very slowly, here it is the 16th and I finally found the Christmas wreathe but little else. Trying to prepare for the holidays is getting in the way of writing on the blog, reading, crocheting and the weather is little help. We escaped the more severe of the snow and ice that went through Central Indiana but it is cold and blustery and not conducive to shopping for the gifts I still need to buy. Our cards are made but my goal of getting them out by the 15th is a pipe dream as they are more likely going to the post office on the 17th or 18th. One of these years I will make good the threat to send them in late March....that is either avoiding the rush for the next season or just a fit of picque about the hustle and bustle right before the holidays.



I received from a Montfort cousin some copies of pictures of her older ancestors and am struck by their similarity to ones of my lines. She also sent me a good copy of the Vories/Montfort book that I was glad to get for my collection.



I was commenting on the gathering of the cousins in KY in late Sept.....and must add the visit to the grave of the grandfather of Pres Abraham Lincoln, with the OLD spelling of the name, Linkhorn, on the marker. The grandfather for whom he was named, was killed by Indians in 1786 just east of present day Louisville, KY. The Lincoln family had married into the family of Daniel Boone a few generations before both moved to KY. The site is near the Long Run Massacre and there is where my Leah Demarest met her fate at the hands of a marauding band of Indians in 1781. I cannot begin to imagine the fear she had when the group of settlers she was traveling with, were set upon in mid September.

Communing with Grandpa Francis

Marker for the grave of Charity Banta Montfort in the cemetery at Pleasant Hill, Shakertown, Mercer County, Kentucky

taken by her great great great great granddaughter, Barbara Whiteside 2007

On Sunday, the last day of the gathering, and following services at Old Mud Meeting House and the dedication of fifteen Rev War markers at the cemetery there, Diana and I left for Shakertown. A short drive out of Harrodsburg, we managed to get the room we wanted in the East Family House for two nights. We believe this may have been the room that our Grandpa Francis lived in his last twenty plus years as a Shaker and from where he was taken for burial in the Shaker Cemetery in Jan of 1867.

The food in the Trustees House is always good and plentiful......and the rooms are comfortable with reproduction Shaker furniture. We love the quiet of the Shaker village, it is such a tranquil place, more so when it is dark. Lit by street lamps and the lights in the buildings, it is so peaceful to walk down the old Hwy 68 as the old Shakers did in their heyday.

We visited with Mrs. Larrie Curry at the offices of Shakertown where she made a copy of the survery map of the old Shaker cemetery and gave permission to go inside the wooden gate. One section is the original section and where you will find most of the remaining stones of the Shakers buried there. The center section is nearly bare of stones which had been taken over the years to use as foundations for barns and houses. A few newer stones might be found in the section nearest to the new Hwy 68. Grandpa Francis is most certainly buried in the center section and no stone will ever be located for him.

The Shakers seem to have buried in chronological order and after death it didn't matter if females were buried next to males. Using the map and a book that has dates of deaths recorded, we were able to piece together those Shakers buried between 1811 to 1830 and hoped we might learn at least where the grave for Grandma Charity Banta Montfort might be located. Grandma Charity died in Dec 1828. I walked right to a marker with a very clear M on it and feeling the letter in front of it, found the shape of a C. But to be sure, I did a rubbing and it confirmed what we found....C. M. The Shakers only used initials on gravestones as they did not believe anything else was necessary...you are dead, your soul is not there, only a shell. The most important part of the deceased has gone to Heaven to sit next to Mother Ann. Laying out a chart with dates of death by year, then by month and date of death it was easy to figure that the grave marked on the survey map and the marker we located is that of Charity Montfort. It appears in the right area if they buried in chronological order and the time frame for her death. AND she is also the only one in that time frame to have the initals C.M.

Charity was the dauaghter of Hendrick Banta 3rd and his first wife, Rachel Brower. Her given name was Geertje but was always known as Charity by the family. She was born shortly before her mother's death in December of 1749 in New Jersey. Sometime before 1768 she was married to Francis Montfort, son of Jan and Knierte Marston Monfoort of York County, PA. It seems likely they were married in York County, but no record of their marriage has been found to date.

They would have nine children, Rachel [Voris], Katherine [Voris], Marya [Terhune], Charity [Luyster], Henry [Catherine Montfort of Ohio], John Calvin [Nancy Agnes Mitchell and Ruth Gess], Francis Jr [Polly Banta], Jacob [Margaret/Peggy Banta and Nancy Lineback] and Sarah [never married.]

In February 1805, Charity and her husband Francis Montfort Sr, attended the first recognized meeting of the Shakers religious society in Kentucky at the farm of her half brother, John Banta. His farm adjoined the farm belonging to Francis and Charity in Henry County, Kentucky at Pleasureville. Charity would make the decision to join the society with her youngest daughter, Sarah and in August of 1805, they became among the first of the Shakers in Kentucky.

She left behind her husband of thirty seven years to live life as a celibate Shaker. Francis was not happy being left by his wife and when writing his will in 1825 pointedly left her out of it, though he named all nine of their children, including the four who joined her at Pleasant Hill, the Shaker community in Mercer County, KY. However he left those four children who had become Shakers, the land he owned in Indiana, perhaps to make it difficult if not impossible for them to deed it over to the Shaker Society.

Finding the marker for the grave of Charity was a real find for Diana and myself. It was not what we expected so it was so much more rewarding to us. The marker is shown above .

What a weekend; new Montfort cousins, finding the original two hundred acres of Francis Montfort Sr, seeing where Grandma Leah Demarest lost her life during the Indian attack at Long Run Massacre, finding the marker for Grandma Charity.

Barbara Whiteside

More Gathering notes

At the gathering various speakers gave short talks on their particular family from the Low Dutch Colony. Diana was tossed into the fray when I volunteered her to speak for our Montfort kin. I took on my Riker family of which I knew very little. I had some imput by several Riker descendants that helped immensely with my presentation and I have to thank Lynn Rogers, Mary Parks and Edgar Nutt for their emails and information. I think it went well and was informative for those in attendance. Each family had set up displays for their particular lines of the Low Dutch and Diana and I were among those with displays, charts, and binders with information. I had prepared charts to show how each of my Low Dutch ancestors fit into it...the Demarests, Rikers, Bantas, Montforts, Terhunes and the connection to the Boone family through my Montfort line. I had also made a chart showing the names of all the Low Dutch members who joined the Shaker society in Kentucky in the early 1800's, some 89 in all.
The best part was meeting old friends from the first Dutch gathering in 2005 and finding new friends and relatives at this one. I was very excited to meet Artist and Hartwell Montfort from Kentucky, as well as Tom Wylie who just recently began searching for his Montfort family. Jeanne and Steve Carlisle were also there representing their Montfort line and Ed and Charlotte Westerfield who also have a connection to the Montforts. Carla Gerding is another searching the Montforts and hopefully we can help each other out with her line of the family. I missed Joyce Hardin. She came to the Old Mud Meeting House but Diana and I had stopped on the way to find more about the Six Mile Meeting House which sits on or next to the original 200 acres of our Francis Montfort Sr. We just missed meeting her but have been writing since coming home and comparing notes. Her husband is my Montfort relative but in a bit of irony, Joyce is kin to me through the Boone line!!! Our common ancestor is Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone, the parents of Daniel and Squire. Joyce is from son Israel and I am from daughter Sarah Boone Wilcoxson, older siblings of Daniel and Squire and the reasons the Boone family left the Quaker church. I must get off for now and get ready for an important concert....one has to tend to the job of grandparenting and be on hand for the oldest grandsons Christmas Band Concert this afternoon. More later.

Barbara Whiteside