Revolutionary ancestors on parade
The Fourth of July holiday on Gasparilla Island attracted a large number of visitors, including the extended Thomas and Westerberg families, down from Sarasota.
The family came to stay at The Gasparilla Inn, for a special 250th family gathering. They had their complete Revolutionary War genealogy down pat, and on family T-shirts, unique to each member.
“Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, and this sounded perfect,” Deborah Thomas said. “So that’s why I decided, I said, ‘Let’s go. This is where I want to spend the Fourth.’”
For the morning island golf cart parade, the family was all lined up by the railroad station on Park Avenue. Each family member had a list on the back of their shirts with names, birth and death dates. Mother Deborah came to the parade with 18 ancestors listed on the back of her T-shirt.
“These are my 18 patriots,” said Thomas, as she turned around and showed the list. “We have more that have not been proven.”
They tried to order the shirts online, but ended up getting a local Sarasota vendor, Royal Tees, to do the work.
Daughter Sunny had names from her father and her mother’s line. Son-in-law Seth Westerberg, new to the genealogy game, had one ancestor, John Jacob Shearer, but space for more. The Westerberg’s daughter Chloe had the most names, of course, as she had more ancestors. She also had a new addition to the list, as her father Seth had added Shearer, who served in the militia.
It would be a rote list but for the knowledge of Thomas, who is active in the Daughters of the American Revolution. The list includes Col. Isaac Sherwood who fired on Benedict Arnold’s ship and was there at the trial of Major John Andre, a British conspirator. George Washington actually presided at the trial.
On the list there was a grandfather, father and son, the Onderdonk family. One of the tragic people on the list was Douwe Tallman, who was murdered by a Tory military patrol while he sat on a trunk in his house in Bergen County, New Jersey, at age 90.
“Murdered by a band of Tories,” Thomas said.
Patriots listed
The Daughters of the American Revolution recognize not only soldiers, but people who were in service to the Revolution. A note that many Revolutionary-era surnames appear in historical records with multiple spellings. Below, some of the families ancestors.
Lt. Henry Esler (1749–1798), New York
Jacob A. Blauvelt (1692–1779), New York
Peter Bodine (1756–1810), New Jersey
Robert Cole (1741–1800), New York
Johan Doremus (1744–1796), New Jersey
John Forshay (1733–1818), New York
John Post (1761–1843), New Jersey
Col. Ebenezer Wood
Lt. Col. Isaac Sherwood (1729–1810), New York
Gerrit Van Houten (1754–1803), New York
Andries Onderdonk (1728–1786), New York
Adrian Onderdonk (1707–1790), New York
Thomas Onderdonk (1732–1818), New York
George F. Ryerson (1761–1801), New York
Douwe H. Tallman (1719–1806), New York
