History of the Van Zandt Society

The first president was the late Dwight B. Van Zandt, whose family descends from Adam Wensel Van Zandt and his son Johannes, who set out for New Amsterdam (New York) from Holland in 1658. The crest of Dwight's family, which appears in this web site, was adopted by the Society.

The Society devotes its energies to continuing genealogical research on the various family lines, including the most common spellings:

  • Van Zandt, Vanzandt
  • Van Zant, Vanzant
  • Van Sant, Vansant
  • Van Sandt, Vansandt
  • Vinzant, Vinsant
  • Van Saan, Van Saun
  • and many unusual variations.

Early census takers recorded names as they heard them and not necessarily as they were spelled.

The Society serves as a resource for family history through its genealogy database. There are more than 55,000 individual records in the system as of Spring 2010. We encourage members and non-members to submit information on their family lines, as well as their genealogical research queries. Computer printouts are available by contacting the Society’s historian, Sally V. Sondesky.

The Van Zandt Record is the Society’s primary form of communication. Find out more about joining the Society and receiving your copy of the newsletter. Join the Society

The extended Van Zandt family gets together for a reunion in a different part of the country each year.The reunion for 2011 is planned for October in Peoria, Illinois. Request more information about the event.

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