The massive, definitive genealogical work on the Schoonover/Van Schoonhoven family includes the many famous Schoonovers and Van Vliets from historic writer Lawrence and illustrator Frank (Call of the Wild) to Jo Van Fleet who won an academy award for acting as James Dean’s mother in East of Eden, and Paul Newman’s in Cool Hand Luke, New York Mayor John Lindsay and General James Van Fleet among many colorful ancestors and relatives. I began research in 1968, and it’s over 1,700 pages, almost 250,000 words and with hundreds of images (and growing). It’s of interest not only to all other Schoonovers and Van Schoonhoven descendants, but to other genealogists of whatever name.
For fellow Schoonovers, this is because of the massive detail about early generations we share since developer Claus Van Schoonhoven clomped in his wooden shoes onto Government Wharf in New Amsterdam, a.k.a. New York in, 1652 (and his brother Guert soon after); for others not so fortunate as to be a Schoonover, this is because I hung behind this 370 year epic the historic backdrop placing these lives in context, thus breathing life into them. This material—historic highlights every decade with period maps—took me thousands of hours, dollars and miles to research, all well worth it.
For a sample of the Prologue—including a photo of two actual homes Claus built and reproduce in bronze on the famous Costello Map—and order information, please go to https://sites.google.com/site/schoonoversinamerica/home_1/jasons-book?authuser=0
Jay Schoonover of Terre Haute, Indiana, ably runs our massive family website at https://sites.google.com/site/schoonoversinamerica/ . This master tree contains over 20,000 names, making it one of the largest genealogical sites in North America.
Jay can be reached at schoongen (at) gmail.com
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