Hi! Welcome to the Blog!

Hi! Thanks for finding the Rees Blog. We are dedicated to documenting a lot of Rees history and general History going back to the Colonial times in America. As you may know we have many many colonial relatives who came to America starting in 1620. We have Mayflower passengers. We have ancestors who were early Dutch and Huguenot immigrants. They came to New Amsterdam in the 1620’s and 1630’s. From these initial Colonial Settlers our family grew and participated in the Grand experiment that we call The United States of America.

We participated in every war fought on American soil since 1620 and every foreign war America engaged in since that time as well. Our ancestors were Preachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Farmers, Fur Traders, Brewers, Bakers, Merchants, Entrepreneurs, and just plain folks. They lived long lives and enjoyed great success in all facets of familyH, religion, and happiness. Your interest is appreciated! Please contribute your posts to the knowledge of all.

The Pilgrims on the Mayflower were Elder William Brewster and his wife Mary, and one of his young sons, Deacon Doctor Samuel Fuller, Edward Fuller, his Wife and Son, Samuel. Of the 100 English Puritans who landed in Plymouth in November of 1620, only 50 were alive after the winter was over. We lost both Edward Fuller and his Wife. His son Samuel lived with his Uncle Dr. Samuel Fuller after the death of his parents. We will explore this and other great family stories in future Blogs about the Rees and extended family.

Some of our other ancestors reached American Shores for much the same reason as the Pilgrims. The Huguenots migrated to Leyden Holland just like the Pilgrims because of religious persecution on the Continent at the time. (We will discuss the details in a later Blog.) Our Great Grandfather Jesse DeForest is credited on the monument in Battery Park at the foot of Wall Street in New York City as having founded the city. His daughter Marie married Dr. Johannes De La Montagne who accompanied DeForest to the Amazon in 1621 to scout for a suitable place to live for the 60 or so families they had signed up to be colonists. Things did not go exactly according to plan. (but this is also another story to be posted on a different day.) Suffice it to say that de la Montagne ended up as Vice Director of New Netherland for over 15 years until 1664 when the British finally took over New Netherland and it became New York.