Revival and Resolution Day

Hey, it's January 1st and I'm tired of composing blog posts in my head that never make it to the screen, so here is my first New Year Resolution:  more family history stories.  Since I spent some time today plugging in birthdays into my new personal planner, I started to wonder about the ancestors with January birthdays, and did a quick scan.  Quite a few January birthdays, but only one for January 1.  Simon Van Sysen is not one of our direct ancestors, but more like some sort of cousin, I guess.  The original Simon DeHart "The Immigrant" had a daughter named Catherine (1673-1742) who married a guy named Cornelius Van Sysen.  Their son Simon Van Sysen was born on January 1, 1693, probably in Manhattan, New York.  Happy 327th Birthday, Cousin Simon!  --cds