The Kaufmann Family

I am writing this version of the History primarily for my Sons, Chadwick Todd and Michael Allan – although I am not sure if they appreciate the value of it yet, and for my yet to be born grand children. To others of my family, as you read this, you will have to adjust the number of ‘greats’ preceding the titles of the “great, great, etc. grandparents”, the ‘number of times removed’ of cousins, and other person-specific relationships outlined here. (On Page 114 of this part of the History I have included a chart that shows how to figure out what a “4th cousin, 8 times removed” actually means. I would try to explain it myself, but when I do, I get hopelessly confused.) I am using a software program called Family Tree Maker (FTM) 2006, which is not always as reader friendly as I would wish. I have to edit it a great deal to add “a little meat to the bare bones” of the typical genealogical-speak “he/she was born on, married to, died on, is buried at, etc” that makes up the majority of the information that is available in a traditional genealogical history. Of much more interest to me is the insight that the photos I am lucky enough to have been given, the occasional glimpse into a ‘hundred year old’ last will and testament left behind in the Kings/Queens/Nassau County courthouse I have been lucky enough to find, and even the occasional book/newspaper article I have managed to discover.

This version of the Family History will be in three Parts. The first will be the Kaufmann ‘half’ of our ancestry, the second, the Dargie, and the third will have miscellaneous facts, charts, tables, maps, photos and ‘other stuff’ that just doesn’t seem to fit neatly in the narrative. Chad, Michael, some day there will be another ‘Part’ for you with Mom’s side of your history. I need to get with your Uncle Darrel, who has done so much research there, and ‘steal’ his information. Right now, I have more than enough work trying to keep this side of the family straight. But eventually you will have that as well. Part I remains the longest part of the History in that I have been more successful in climbing those branches of the Family Tree via the Internet. I have been lucky enough to locate several cousins, some closer to our own blood line than others, who have helped tremendously in expanding the story from German immigrant Wilhelm and Wilhelmina (Minnie) Kaufmann’s Grandson William, who married into the Old Dutch Families of New Amsterdam. (My special and most sincere thanks to cousins James T. Eldert and Richard Alan McCool for sharing their work with me.) The Kaufmann Family roots go back (in no particular order) to Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium (known as “Southern Netherlands” way back then) , Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, France, and England. In Part II, the Dargie Family roots may seem easier to trace, as they all go back to Scotland. But, that isn’t necessarily the case, in that I lose the trail of those families after only six generations. The oldest Scottish great grandparent that I have managed to trace is now Allexander Tate, from the early 1700s. This is a leap back another three generations from where we were the last time I put pen to paper, thanks to Cousin Stephanie Bruce. Between the two Families, the most ancient ancestor I have been able to identify with reasonable certainty is on the Kaufmann side from the Dutch Schenck family. Great (X 21) Grandfather Reynier Schenck goes back some 700 years to the 1200s. We also have an English farmer from Saffron Walden (Essex), John Mott, who was born about 1539, some 469 years ago. I also found an Internet link that runs our Scandinavian ancestors back 18 Generations to a “Knut Simonsson”, born about 1443 in Sweden. But when I contacted the person who put the information on line, he didn’t have any documentation to back it up. So, while I have included the Swedish Connection in the History, (What family doesn’t want to have a few Viking Marauders in the blood line?) I don’t

My Family History

• Surname List


• Index of Individuals


• InterneTree


• Sources