THE SLOAT FAMILY We are indebted to Mr. John Drake Sloat of St. Louis, Missouri, for the Sloat family data. We spent many years searching original unpublished church and court records. Mr. Sloat assembled this material on several large charts, beautifully executed and copies are on file at the New York Public Library. It was from copies of Mr. Sloat's charts that this book of Sloat Mss was assembled. from Charts made by John Drake Sloat [#500 below] Assembled by May Hart Smith {1941}[no date on LA Mss – must be earlier] Ontario, California. [begin transcriber notes: I have used two different copies of the original Mss. to compile this version. The first is a xerographic copy of the book in the Los Angeles Public Library (R929.2 S6338). The second, which is basically the same in the genealogy portion, but having slightly different introductory pages, is a print from the microfilm copy of the book in the Library of Congress. The main text is from the LA Library copy, with differences in the microfilm copy noted in {braces}. Notes in [brackets] are my notes. Note that the comparison is not guaranteed to be complete. As noted on the appropriate page, I have also converted the Roman numerals used for 'unconnected SLOATs' in the original Mss., replacing them with sequential numbers starting with 800 – to follow the format of Mrs. Smith in the rest of her Mss. I have also expanded where the original listed two, or sometimes even three, generations under one entry, instead using the consistent format of one family group per listing. This document, and the referenced Genealogy of Benjamin Franklin Sloat (see #549 below), are available at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~desloat/Refs/references.html R0082 = this document, May Hart Smith; R2568 = Benjamin Franklin Sloat. * I debated removing the index at the end of this document (since this is available as a pdf file, and most pdf readers provide search capability). But if someone prints this document they probably want to have an index, so I left it in – though I have not proof read it carefully (hopefully Microsoft Word reports the pages correctly). You may contact me at: [email protected] David E. Sloat * My profile on WikiTree = https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sloat-92 01 Oct. 1999 - above links, *, and contact info updated 07 Oct 2017 end transcriber notes.] Transcribed [expanded and updated] by David E. Sloat ([email protected]) – revision 29 Oct. 1999. The SLOAT Family - by May Hart Smith Introductory Pages page 1 SLOAT - SLOT - SLOET - SLOTE - etc. A recent genealogical publication is the "History of the Sloat family of the nobility of Holland". [by Emma Florence Sloat Holland - #437 below] This title is rather misleading. There never was a family of that name in the Netherlands. The ancient noble Dutch family of a similar name is the baronial House of Sloet, and it is this family which the author has in mind. Several pages, with innumerable mistakes in spelling are devoted to a very sketchy genealogy of the Sloet family* There is also reproduced the coat-of-arms of this family in this instance called the Arms of the Slote family with explanations by Baron Slote!! Although not specifically so stated the genealogical introduction tends to convey the impression that the American family descending from Jan Pietersen Slot coming from Holstein, Denmark, is connected with the Sloet family of ancient Dutch origin. This is again an example of the most common mistake made in genealogical writing, which is to assume relationship based on similarity of surnames only, which in this particular instance has been carried to an absurd extreme. There is not the slightest indication of a connection, which to put it mildly is absolutely improbable. The American family descending from Jan Pietersen Slot is not entitled to, and should not use, the Sloet Arms. *The writer should have consulted the excellent Sloet Genealogy published by J. A. R. Kymmel, in the Dutch Genealogical Magazine: de Wapen heraut, 1912, 13. New York Genealogical & Biographical Record Vol. 64; pg. 367 ------------------------------oOo-------------------------------- Transcribed [expanded and updated] by David E. Sloat ([email protected]) – revision 29 Oct. 1999. The SLOAT Family - by May Hart Smith Introductory Pages page 2 H E N R Y H U D S O N Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the Dutch East Indies Company, came to America in 1609 in the little ship "Half-Moon". The Palisades, the Highlands, the Red-men, the Oak Lords of the forest bowed welcome. He dropped anchor just inside of Sandy Hook. He described the beautiful harbor as a body of water into which three rivers emptied. Soon he continued up the River on which first of all a Dutch Flag floated. This flag bore on its center stripe A. O. C., Algemeen Ooster-Indies Campaigne. It was Dutch energy and enterprise that built the Half-Moon. Hudson sailed back to Europe; on his return he touched the shore of England where he was detained by King James and drafted as a marine in his own country. He desired to set forth on another voyage with the Dutch Company but was prevented by the English authorities who were fearful of the Dutch enterprise which had reached a century of prosperity. Hudson discovered the Bay and River that bear his name and lost his life in the Arctic wastes after suffering untold hardships. ------------------------------oOo-------------------------------- Transcribed [expanded and updated] by David E. Sloat ([email protected]) – revision 29 Oct. 1999. The SLOAT Family - by May Hart Smith Introductory Pages page 3 EMIGRATION "Amsterdam as the great commercial mart of Holland and the seat of the principle business chamber of the Dutch East Indies Company, had become the great point of embarkation for colonists going to New Netherlands. They came from all parts of the country; not only the native land - the Dutch - but fugitives from France and Catholic Netherlands and also refugees from Germany and Scandinavian countries; multitudes of whom rendered miserable by the Thirty-Years War, were seeking a home and employment in the United Provinces. Of these refugees the historian of Holland has drawn the character in happy terms. "Nor was it more in the numbers than in the sort of population that Holland found her advantage. The fugitives were not fugitives from justice nor idlers in search of luxuries; they were the persecuted because of desire for civil liberty and a devotion to their religious ideals. It was because of their integrity and resolution that they were not tolerated by tyrannical and bigoted governments which drove them to their adopted country, peopling it with brave, intelligent, useful citizens. "Thus Capt. Joachiem Pietersen Kuyter who had command in the East Indies for the King of Denmark and who with his friend Jonas Bronch came out in 1639 by way of Amsterdam, was from Holstein as were also Nicholas De Meyer and Jan Pietersen Slot, who arrived a few years later, all of these being sterling men. "The small country of Bentheim, -- a part of Westphalia bordering on Overyssel, diversified with mountain ranges, forests and fertile plains and yielding to a laborious people more than the needed cattle, wool, linens, honey, etc., all of which found in Holland a ready market, and whence had arisen a free intercourse between the two peoples, -- furnished colonists whose names yet survive with us." NEW NETHERLANDS "The Indians had threatened "to root the Dutch" as well as English and well kept their word. In the History of Harlem, Mr. Riker describes the atrocities and depredations in detail. Slaughtered remains, general devastation as appalled the hearts of even the bravest soldiers. "The continued hostile attitude of the Indians and the fear of renewed attacks led the families to group together and farmers to go out in armed parties to gather crops. Bereft of inhabitants and desolated by firebrand and tomahawk; the current rumors of Indian threats still agitated the public mind; the prohibition against isolated settlements, and the complications arising in regard to the interests and estates of those slain in recent massacres, were so many barriers in the way of immediate effort to rescue these plains and forests from the wilderness of nature. "This distressing period in the history of this location 1656-1660 gave origin to the village of Harlem. Many of the home owners had been killed in the massacres and their estates insolvent -- extreme measures were needed for reconstruction. The number of applicants for land being sufficient to warrant a beginning, ground was broken for the new settlement." NIEUW HAARLEM "The village of Nieuw Haarlem was laid out in 1660 near the present site of 125th St., New York City; it is described in Dutch rods called morgans, about Spuyten-Duyvel - Sherman's Meadows and Creek. The meadows in the Bay of Hellgate were reserved for the church. This section is still known as Harlem. Transcribed [expanded and updated] by David E. Sloat ([email protected]) – revision 29 Oct. 1999. The SLOAT Family - by May Hart Smith Introductory Pages page 4 "The name derived by the Dutch settlers from Heer-Lem (Lord Willem) an early prince of Friesland in Holland. "New Harlem and New Amsterdam like the two great cities after which they were named lay apart "about three hours journey". "Among the earliest to take up residence in the infant settlement were the Slots. For the security of the settlers, all of whom were required to be well armed, the government furnished 8 or 10 regular soldiers from the fort known as Fort Amsterdam, as the Indians were yet a source of anxiety.