Van Landschoot

800 years of family history

Family Visit USA

2001 — First meetings & connections

In 2001 the family tree stepped out of the archives and into my life.

For years I had worked with documents — parish registers, census lists, military records and faded signatures. I knew the names, the dates, the places. But in 2001 those names became faces. That was the year I crossed the ocean to meet the American branches of the family.

In Amelia Courthouse, Virginia, I met Mike Landschoot. Until then he had been a carefully traced line in a genealogical chart. Suddenly he was sitting across the table, sharing stories that had never been written down.

In Pennsylvania, I visited Peter Landschoot at Penn State. Peter has done remarkable work in reconstructing a large part of the Landschoot families of the Finger Lakes region. Our conversations were not merely about names and dates, but about responsibility — the responsibility to preserve memory correctly.

In Clifton Springs, New York, I was welcomed by Felix Landschoot and his sister Arlene. In the heart of the Finger Lakes area, where several American branches took root, I could see how the work of earlier generations continued through shared effort.

One of the most moving moments occurred in Port Huron, Michigan. There I met descendants of Peter Landschoot, Civil War soldier — fifty-four family members connected to one 19th-century immigrant. This gathering would not have been possible without the dedicated tracing work of Donna Landschoot.

To both Peter Landschoot of the Finger Lakes area and Donna Landschoot in Port Huron, I owe sincere thanks. Their efforts strengthened the foundations on which this wider family narrative stands.

The journey also brought me to Van Landschoot families in Gladstone and Munising, Michigan, and to a dear friend in Philadelphia. Each visit added another living layer to a history I had long studied from afar.

This trip changed the way I look at genealogy. It is not only about records and dates — it is about people who care enough to preserve them. In 2001, the Van Landschoot story became real in a way no document ever could.

Travel Map — USA Visit 2001

A visual trace of the places we visited during the 2001 family journey.