|
When I lived in Rockford, IL from 1998 to 1999, I asked a cousin of my husband for the location of his grandparents graves. We discovered a cemetery in old "Charter Grove" Illinois, half way between Genoa and Sycamore, which used to be called the Van Dusen Cemetery. We found Bill's grandparents alright, along with almost 30 headstones of Van Dusens that once lived in Sycamore, IL or nearby. Right there, we were able to trace back 6 generations of Van Dusens, starting with Robert, who came to Sycamore, Illinois from Ohio in 1843 with his 3 grown up sons Abraham, Thomas, and James. They were originally from New York state. Robert was born in NY, as was his first two sons Abraham and James. Old Dutch Reform Church records show Abraham and James being Christened in Copake, MA near Van Deusenville, MA. Thomas was born in Ohio. Robert may have been in the militia during the Revolutionary War. I found a Robert and a George listed in the Albany Regiment and I am trying to see if it is our Robert. I was given a packet of information with some family history in it, but the visit to the cemetery filled in the gaps. And I was able to gather much more information from old court house records and the library in Sycamore. I took pictures of all the headstones and some of the surrounding farmland next to the cemetery. This page last updated on December 4, 2000. I will write more and add on here as time allows. I will get the photos up on this site asap. If you are very interested in this branch of the Van Dusen family tree, contact me through e-mail or usmail.
|
