In the process my wife found a magazine that a Brazilian friend had loaned her some time back. It appears to be some type of military publication called "Da Cultura".
So I was browsing the magazine and decided to read the section on a featured Fort. In colonial days having a good fort with a full array of cannons at the right location could make or brake a fledgling town or community.
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| Forte Santa Maria, Porto da Barra, Salvador - www.mangarosa.com |
Now what caught my attention most of all was not the way the information had been chiseled on the placard. It was more the name of the commander of the Dutch - Albert Schouten.
This name in our family history is of importance because it is the family name of my great-grandmother Marie Schouten born in Utah to immigrant parents from Holland.
Now in all my hunting around on the Internet I have not been able to find much on Albert. It appears he had a brother Wilhelm with him at the time. It appears he may have also died shortly after the invasion due to drunkenness or the like though only one source had anything on this. Source material is limited and there may or may not be a confusion on the brother Wilhelm as some premier Navigator and Sailor with the same name who rounded the Cape Horn. Mainly it amounts to brief mentions of the invasion in May 1624. They were naturally kicked out about 1 year later and the fort was built to help against further problems. It was in place when the Dutch came to invade again in 1638.
So here I am thousands of miles away from Salvador da Bahia and I might be related to a guy that help shaped the history of Brasil. Now that is something worth talking about.
Buaidh - NO - Bas
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