Page 17 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

One of the practical benefits of Napoleon's brief rule of the Netherlands was a
law issued in 1811 that required all people to adopt "family" names or
surnames. Before then, most Dutch people used the Patronymic naming
system, in which a person's second name was simply their father's first name
with "zoon" (son) or "dr" (daughter) appended. Put into English, if William had
a son John, the son would be called John Williamson. If John then had a son
William, he would be called William Johnson. Even more confusing, you might
find several generations of the same repeating name, such as Pieter
Pieterzoon. This method worked in small villages where people did not
travel, but it was impractical for maintaining legal records of property or
sorting out the identities of a large mobile populace. Families of importance
already held titles or family names -- they were not about to loose track of
their lands or get confused with a poor peasant!

When the Dutch adopted surnames, they generally used one of three
methods. If using the father's first name, the ending would be modified. For
example, Albert could become Alberda or Albertie, and Pieter could become
Pieterszoon, Pieterszn or Pietersz. If using their place of residence, it would
be prefaced with Van, such as Van Dam or Van Dyke. A family from Deventer
might use Van Deventer. Associating a location with the name had long been
used informally as a way to sort out who you were talking about. A third
method used the family occupation as a surname. Smit and Smits are derived
from the occupation of smith or metal worker. Smit is the third most
common surname in the Netherlands.

The Patronymic naming system makes it difficult for genealogy research to
trace most family histories to ancestors before the early 1800's. The Poot
family is easier to trace because the family name was clearly in use by the
middle 1500's, and perhaps earlier. The small number of Poots in the
Netherlands also helps. Research has revealed a probable family lineage back
into the 1500's

The number of Poots outside of the Netherlands is limited. There are some
500 Poots living in Belgium and a few in Germany who might be distantly
related. Some live in the USA and in Canada. Only a very few are scattered
elsewhere around the world.

There are not very many Poots in North America. One Poot came to New
Amsterdam in the early 1600's, and another fought in the Revolutionary War.
The majority of Poots are located in Michigan and a few in Washington. In
addition to the family of JW Poot, a few other Poots immigrated to the U.S.
and Canada during the period 1860-1910, and it is likely that some are
related. Ellis Island records show a Dina Poot age 19, born and living in Delft,
traveled by ship from Rotterdam to New York in September 1907. She was
the daughter of JW Poot's brother Johannes Jacobus Poot. She traveled to
Grand Rapids to live with her uncle - J. Burghoorn. This is significant because
J.W. Poot's sister Engelina had married Jacobus Burghoorn and J.W.'s brother

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