A Recent Birth, an Old Old Wedding, December 12, 2016

A dysfunctional family is any family

with more than one person in it.

~Mary Karr

Happy Birthday Mason Shepard! Greetings to all of you today as Christmas draws nearer. And happy Birthday today to Mason Shepard of Bothell, Washington. Mason is the younger son of my nephew Patrick and his wife Nicole Shepard. He is one of the 4 grandchildren of my brother Darrell Shepard and his wife Mary.

The picture on the right was taken earlier today and shows a happy 2 year old Mason suspended between his parents Nicole and Patrick. Best wishes to the entire family on this occasion of Mason's birthday!

Nicole: Before kids, people always said "they grow up so fast, enjoy everyday". It really is true!! I can't believe Mason is 2 years old today!! Happy Birthday buddy, we love you!!

Remembering a 358th Anniversary. Today is also a day that marks one of the oldest wedding anniversaries I can find anywhere in our family tree. It concerns the 12X Great Grandparents of the aforementioned Mason Shepard. On Dec 12, 1658 -- 358 years ago today --  Laurens Van Buskirk and Jannetje Jans were married in New Amsterdam (New York).

Laurens and Jannetje lived so long ago, they were buried in a cemetery that no longer exists, the old Van Buskirk Cemetery of Bayonne, in Hudson County, New Jersey. Though that cemetery no longer physically exists, it does have an online presence. Select this link to FindAGrave.com to get information about Laurens and Jannetje Van Buskirk and the cemetery where they were buried.

The information at FindAGrave.com tells us that Laurens Van Buskirk was born in Holstein, Denmark in 1655. His name first appears in records of New Amsterdam, June 19, 1656 in a deed for a lot of land on Broad Street. In July 1658 Laurens was sent by the Orphans Master at New Amsterdam to South River (Delaware) to assist Jannetje, the widow of Christian Barentsen Van Horn. Four and a half months later Laurens and Jannetje married on December 12, 1658 according to the marriage registry of the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam (New York). (Source: Immigration Library, Scandinavian Immigrants of New York.)

Laurens and Jannetje's 5X Great Granddaughter was Jane Buskirk Davis, who, with husband Alexander Davis, were the first among our ancestors to migrate from Eastern Ohio and settle in Spencer, Indiana in the 1850s. Many of those ancestors then moved on to Oklahoma in the early 20th century, and some eventually made it to San Diego in 1940.

Here is a lineage that shows our family line from our son Nathan Shepard to Laurens Van Buskirk and his wife Jannetje Jans Van Buskirk.

• Nathan Shepard (b. 1977)
• Steve Shepard (b. 1948) - wife Cindy Harris (b. 1948)
• Eugene Shepard (1921-2003) - wife Maida Gower (b. 1924)
• Bura Davis (1896-1986) - husband William Shepard (1888-1876)
• James Brooks Davis (1870-1928) - wife Carolyn Spear (1865-1951)
• Charles Edward Davis (1849-1926) - wife Malinda Wright (1846-1920)
• Jane Buskirk (1823-1895) - husband Alexander Davis (1819-1866)
• William S. Buskirk (1804-1873) - wife Mary (Buskirk) (1809-1886)
• George Van Buskirk (1767-1825) - wife Mary Rulon (1767-1828)
• John Van Burkirk (1743-1829) - wife Mary Blackmore (1742-1823)
• George Van Buskirk (1721-1800) - wife Sarah Ashton (1720-1779)
• Johannes Van Buskirk (1694-1747) - wife Marytie Hooglandt (1696-1738)
• Thomas Van Buskirk (1668-1748) - wife Margrete Brickers (1668-1719)
• Laurens Van Buskirk (1630-1694) - wife Jannetje Jans (1629-1694)

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Steve Shepard