As with almost all family trees, the roots and branches often take some rather diverse
and somewhat interesting paths. Such is also the situation with our family. If you're
working on Oberlin (or related) genealogy and would like to include a noteworthy
relative, please let me know.
Probably the most famous Oberlin is John Frederick,
the Alsace minister and namesake of Oberlin College; Oberlin, Ohio; Oberlin, Kansas;
Oberlin, Louisiana; Glacier National Park's Mount Oberlin; historic Oberlin Village
in Raleigh, NC; and several places in and around Strasbourg, France.
Edgar G. Oberlin, veteran of the Spanish-American War, graduated from the U.S. Naval
Academy and served as commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard during World War I.
Both of my paternal grandparents, Glenn Oberlin and Geneva Hagerty, are descended
from Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, an
early resident of Long Island. Pieter was a judge and personal assistant to Pieter
Stuyvesant. The Wyckoff House Museum is the oldest building in New York City, and
perhaps the oldest surviving frame structure in the United States.
Through this Wyckoff line, Glenn and Geneva are also descended from
Jan Jansen van Salee, commonly known as "Murat Reis" the Barbary pirate.
Jan Jansen's son, Anthony, owned the land along Wall Street where the Brooklyn Bridge
not sits. Jackie Kennedy Onasis, Humphey Bogart and the Vanderbilt's are also descended
from Anthony van Salee. Dr. John van Salee De Grasse, born in 1825, served as surgeon
to the celebrated 54th Regiment during the Civil War.
Robert Bruce, the first king of Scotland, characterized in the motion picture, "Bravehart,"
is another ancestor through this Wyckoff branch.
Orville and
Wilbur Wright are also descended from Pieter Claesen Wyckoff.
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