Newsletter of the National Blue Family Association, Volume 30, No. 3, Summer 2012 Editor: Bill Blue, 2625 38th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98199-3104 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the National Blue Family Association The Chalice is published by the National Blue Family Association for the benefit of our members and for all who have an interest in the surnames BLUE/BLU/BLEW/ BLAW/BLAUW/BLAU/ etc. We have published The Chalice at least twice each year since 1983, the year after the Association was founded. We are currently publishing The Chalice four times each year. Most of the BLUE families in North America belong to either the Dutch BLUE family or the Scottish BLUE family. There are Irish BLUEs, but most of these originated in Scotland. Other BLUEs are of German, French or African origin. The major Dutch BLUE family descends from a couple associated with the Dutch West India Company, Frederick Janss and Grietje Janss. They are believed to have originated in the northern part of The Netherlands and appear in the records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Recife, Brazil, in the year 1646. By 1651 they were in New Amsterdam, where Frederick Janss received a grant of land. Their son, Jan Frederickse (John, son of Frederick) took on the surname BLAUW after the British took over the colony. Many of Jan’s descendants migrated to New Jersey, then westward to Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia (West Virginia). From these The Chalice locations they spread throughout the United States and Canada. This silver cup has been passed down from father The great majority of the Scottish BLUE families in North America originated in to son in the Dutch Blue Argyllshire, the maritime county in southwestern Scotland. Some of these came by family since the 1600’s. way of Ireland, and spent a generation or two there before coming to North America. The earliest known Scottish BLUE family to emigrate was that of It was crafted by Malcolm BLUE (1700-1766) and his wife, Sarah SMITH, from Cantyre, silversmith Jurian Argyllshire, who came in 1748 and settled on the Cape Fear River in North Blanck, New York City Carolina. In the following decades many more Scottish BLUEs arrived, settling in Ontario and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. At this time we have identified about thirty Scottish BLUE families. Research in Scotland may eventually lead to the connecting of many of these families. The National Blue Family Association has been in existence since 1982, when sixteen correspondents started the association. We ended 2011 with about 175 members. We have had fifteen National Reunions, one every two years from June 1984 through June 2012. Our next National Reunion is scheduled for June 2014. We have two large genealogies, compiled by William H. Blue of Seattle, WA and the late Robert Blue of San Rafael, CA, covering the Dutch and Scottish families. The 5th edition (2003) of the Dutch genealogy and the 1st edition (1999) of the Scottish genealogy are available on a CD-ROM through the Association. Anyone with an interest in the BLUE (and variants) surname is welcome to join the National Blue Family Assn. Dues are $12 per year for USA members. Other rates vary depending on postage. Submit dues to Truitt Bradly, (check made out to him), and newsletter articles to Bill Blue at the addresses given at the bottom of Page 4. The Chalice Volume 30 Number 3 Summer 2012 Table of Contents The Chalice – Summer 2012 Welcome to the National Blue Family Association 1 Letter from the Editor 3 Additions and Corrections to the Blue Family Email Listing 4 New or Returning Members since our Last Issue 4 NBFA Contact Points 4 15th NBFA National Reunion Report 5 Angels of the Battlefield – Mary Ann (Ball) Bickerdyke 11 Unplaced or Unproven Blues in the South – Part 1 20 Delano: Serving the Needs of the Community 24 More Photographs from the 15th NBFA National Reunion 29 Southern Campaign American Revolution, Pension Statements & Rosters – David Blue 30 Matthew Ian Walker Graduates 31 Uriah Long, Son of Charity Blue and Isaac Long 32 William Jefferson Blue Family Photos 34 The Marriage and Family of Nancy (Blue) McGuire 36 Obituary Randy Alan Gibson 38 BLUE Family Reunions and Festivals 39 NBFA Membership Application 40 Distribution of NBFA Membership Across the USA 41 NBFA Membership List 42 Full Name Index 46 JOIN or RENEW Your NBFA Membership Any readers who are not now members of the National Blue Family Association are invited to join us. You will receive at least two issues of The Chalice each year and you may take part in our National Blue Family Reunions which are held starting on the fourth Saturday of June in even numbered years. Please use a copy of the Application Form on page 40 and send your $12 yearly dues to Truitt Bradly (check made out to him) at the address given on the form. Current members who have 2012 on their mailing label, or in their email message accompanying their Chalice, may renew their memberships for next year at any time. Please don’t let it be forgotten in the year-end Holiday rush. Blue Genealogies Still Available We still have copies of the CD containing both the 5th edition of "Descendants of John BLAW (BLUE), d.1757 Somerset Co., NJ" and the 1st edition of “Scottish Blue Families if North America”. For your copy, please send $10 to: William H. Blue 2625 38th Ave W Seattle, WA 98199 2 The Chalice Volume 30 Number 3 Summer 2012 Letter from the Editor NBFA Reorganization In the last issue of The Chalice (Spring 2012), Rev. John Gray announced his need to retire from active leadership in the National Blue Family Association after 30 years of dedication to the Blue/Blew/etc Family. John certainly deserves our heartfelt thanks and we sincerely hope that he will recover his health soon and be able to contribute his wisdom and experience to our organization. I am happy to announce that Truitt Bradly of Georgetown, TX has taken over the duties of Treasurer and Membership Chairman. Truitt has had experience with similar organizations, and he will take the steps necessary for the NBFA to become an official non-profit organization (NPO). Once this is established, you will be able to pay your dues to “NBFA”, but in the mean time please make your dues check out to “Truitt Bradly” and send it to him at the address given on Page 4 of this issue. To become a legal NPO, we are required to have a formal organizational structure. At the Reunion on 23 June 2012 we held an election of officers. The results are: President – William H. “Bill” Blue, Seattle, WA Vice President – Sarah Bitter, Oregon, OH Treasurer and Membership Chair – Truitt Bradly, Georgetown, TX A five member Board of Directors was chosen, consisting of the three officers named above and: Rev. John R. Gray, Grove City, OH James “Jim” Irwin, Walla Walla, WA We expect that you will see little change in the NBFA as a result of this reorganization. In the past all major decisions have been made after discussions between John, Sarah, Jim and Bill. Two changes that will be evident are: Monetary donations to NBFA will be tax deductable, and there will be only two issues of The Chalice issued each year (as we announced in the Spring 2012 issue). When a new editor takes over, we will reconsider that decision. 2012 NBFA National Reunion This year’s Reunion, held in Romney/Springfield and Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia on June 23/24, was enjoyed by all who attended. Our thanks go to Sarah Bitter, who planned the activities, and to Eph and Karen Herriott for providing the meeting space and the wonderful homemade breakfast. We took advantage of the Romney 250 celebration as much as possible (see the article on Page 5), adding a bit of variety to our day in Romney. Also a special thanks to Richard F. Blue for hosting the Jefferson County segment on Sunday. The dairy tour and picnic were great. "Descendants of John BLAW (BLUE), d.1757 Somerset Co., NJ", 6th Edition During 2013 I plan to spend time updating the 5th edition with data I have accumulated in the past 9 years. At this time, I have 71 “addenda” files to be integrated into the book and indexed. If you have any data that you would like me to include in the 6th edition, please send them to me as soon as possible. Thank you all for your continuing support, without which this organization could not exist. Have fun and enjoy your summer. Bill ----------------------------------- It’s Membership Renewal Time Please check the membership list located just before the index of this issue of The Chalice. If it says “2012” opposite your name, you need to submit your dues for next year. Please send your check for $12, payable to Truitt Bradly, to him at the address on Page 4. 3 The Chalice Volume 30 Number 3 Summer 2012 Additions and Corrections to the Blue Family Email Listing A long list of Blue family email addresses was published before the index in the Winter 2012 issue of The Chalice. If your address was not included in this list, or in subsequent issues, and you wish to be included in the next list, please contact the editor at [email protected]. A complete listing will be published again in the first 2013 issue. Please note that these addresses are to be used only to contact Blue family members for genealogical purposes.