The Georgia Van Houten's.....
I'm a fourth generation....The way I understand it, there were four brothers
that came to America, and they settled in the northeast, gradually spreading
out to the Great Lakes and one hardy soul , my Great-Grandfather,came south.
They seem to have all drifted apart in different directions, so I my have some
long lost folks in Idaho.
Since I grew up in the South, we like to say we're all "branch kin"...
You know, thats when somewhere in the past, your "Great-Great-Grandaddy"
drank water from a creek my "Great-Great-Grandaddy" peed in.....:hmmm:
So as we like to say down here,
"I'm American by birth, and Southern by the grace of God!"
I have been told that in the Netherlands, Van Houten is a fairly common
last name, almost like Smith or Jones. It means "of wood". Supossedly
they were something like foresters and game wardens for the local nobility,
and most ended up being connected with woodworking. I hear there are a
lot of furniture craftsmen in the north with this name.
But 'ol C.J. got all the attention with the Chocolate Press, and the world
got "Dutched" cocco as a result. Have you ever had any of the chocolates?
Very hard to find in Georgia, but ocassionally some pops up.