Sunday, December 27, 2009

DIETZ / DEITZ FAMILY OF BERNE AND SCHOHARIE


 This painting is in the collection of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society museum and is published with their permission. It was painted by James Dietz, a son of the massacred Johannes Dietz, so he would have known what the house and barn looked like.

I have just created a new Facebook group Dietz / Deitz Families of Berne and Schoharie for descendants of the children of Johan Peter Dietz of Germany, all of whom eventually settled in Schoharie and Albany Counties in the first half of the 18th Century. This group will make it easy for us to stay in contact with distant cousins, and allow us to exchange information and ask questions about our common ancestors.

You do not need to be a member of Facebook to look at the site, nor will you be spammed. You would have to join if you want to participate. 

The images on this page are of the Dietz massacre in Sept. 1781, the only intrusion into Berne during the Rev. War.




This engraving of the Dietz massacre is from "Stories of the Revolution,” by Josiah
Priest, 1836. The chapter "The Captive Boys of Rensselaerville - John and Robert Brice" tells how they were captured in the massacre and taken west by the Indians. John lived out the war in an Indian village. Robert was sold to the captain of a boat on lake Erie. The story is the remembrances of Robert.