154. Every family has skeletons in their closets! Here is one of ours -- 450 years ago! A Pirate!
Every family has a few skeletons in their closets! If you haven't found them yet, you probably will someday . The story below, although around 450 years old, is about one ancestor who was a pirate, and his son, who wasn't too reputable of a person either. They are on my Pennsylvania Dutch Ancestry line. I hope you enjoy reading about them -- Hopefully by now they have repented! JAN JANSZOON VAN HAARLEM The Pirate King of the Barbary Coast c. 1575-c. 1641 About 1575 a child christened Jan, was born in the city of Haarlem, North Holland, the Netherlands. Jan grew up an average Dutch boy, and when he reached maturity, he married a local girl whose name is unknown. Lysbeth Van Salee was born to this union in 1596. There were likely other children. Jan Janszoon Van Haarlem was Jan's full Dutch name : Jan, his given or Christian name, Jansen his patronymic or