Steve scanned this document based on Zwart family bibles at Bob’s house in June, 2020. I kept the first 7 pages and the last 4 of the 20 page history, and appended the family tree.
The founder of the Zwart family in Holland, Johannas Zwart, was born in 1768 in Borken, Westphalia, Germany and settled in Weesp, Holland which is 100 miles to the Northeast, and 11 miles Southeast of Amsterdam.
Holland was the world’s premier trading and industrial power around the year 1750, prior to industrial Great Britain. Johannas traveled to the Dutch East Indies and China as a young man and was a master builder, making a number of buildings in Baarn, Netherlands.
Page 3 in the document is fuzzy but has an important tale as it explains why the Zwart’s moved to America. In 1846, Lambertus the son of Johannas moved to Amsterdam and built a large flour mill with a 50 horsepower steam engine. There was an unintentional and technical violation of excise laws on the part of the miller who was in charge of the grinding department. The mill and all contents were sequestered and placed in the hands of authorities. He had an audience with the King and the property was restored to him eventually. But his business was destroyed and he was a “Patriot” and “Anti-Orange”. Upon the King’s request to leave his presence he said:
“Sir, you may order me out of this room, but take care that the people do not turn you out of the palace, for I will spend all my money to tell the people of Holland and the Potentates of Europe what a tyrant the King of Holland is.”
In 1847 he decided to move to America. In 1848 the family left Amsterdam to go by railroad to Rotterdam, from there by steamboat to Antwerp, Belgium, and then sail for New Orleans, Louisiana.
Click on “Zwart-family-history” to read the PDF, or you may download it by pressing the “Download PDF file” button.
