Today was devoted to Peggy’s family and a visit to Zutphen, the small town south of Amsterdam from which her relatives departed in the late 1600s to avoid various bloodbaths resulting from battles with the Spanish, the French and the English. Most of the time the residents of Zutphen were the victims of the battles rather than the aggressors or defenders. Hendrick Rycken came to New Amsterdam in 1663 and was the progenitor of a huge family (12 boys). As part of coming to the New World, Hendrick added “von Zuytdam” (south of the dam) to his name as a distinction and it became Zuytdam and then Suydam. Back to the present, we took an early train from Amsterdam, changing at Arnhem for Zutphen. Walking into town was quick as the station was right on the
... read more
