A quick post tonight, as my mind has again been wandering through branches of my family tree.

Tonight I have been working on a branch of my family that can be traced back to Southold, New York.

Here from Google Maps is Southold. You can see that it is surrounded by water on two sides.

Here you can see that the township of Southold is way out at the end of Long Island.

The early settlers of Southold were Puritans who had crossed over from Connecticut. You can see how close they are to Connecticut in this map.

The first English settlers arrived when Long Island was still controlled by the Dutch, and there was quite a bit of discussion as to whether they would become part of Connecticut once the English took control of New Amsterdam. History of course shows us that they remained part of New York.

Some of my ancestors were among those first settlers. I descend from the Mapes, Purrier, Reeves and Terry families on different branches of my family.

It is also interesting that the township of Southold also includes Fishers Island that is just two miles off of the coast of Connecticut.

Fishers Island was visited by Dutch traders from the time it was discovered in 1614 to about 1640 when John Withrop received a grant to use the island.

One of my Dutch ancestors, Abraham Pietersen van Duesen, was a trader who had a trading post on Dutch Island in the Narragansett Bay of Rhode Island. He also had a trading post on an island near the Pequot River, which could possibly be Fishers Island.

Hmm, a lot more research to do.

Steven