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Welcome to the Van Zandt Society

Founded in 1969, the Van Zandt Society is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and disseminating genealogical and historical information associated with those who are descendants of any branch of the families bearing the name or one of its many variations in spelling. We have members from across the United States and several countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany. 

The Van Zandt Society was founded with these objectives in mind:

  • to perpetuate the memory and the genealogy of our ancestors through research and by unifying all genealogical, historical, and biographical information necessary to compile complete and accurate family histories;

  • to strengthen the ties of kinship and fellowship between living members of the family;

  • to maintain unity in the family through frequent association of members in a social way.

The beloved Van Sant Bridge located in Buck County, PA is a must-see for descendants of Gerret Stoffelse van Sand. 

In 1916, the first documented death in the US from a shark bite was recorded for Charles E. Vansant. The young businessman from Philadelphia was bitten while swimming in the waters off Beach Haven, New Jersey. Peter Benchley learned of the tragic story and used it to inspire "Jaws."

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The History of the Van Zandt Society

The late Dwight B. Van Zandt served as the Society's first president. Dwight's family descended from Adam Wensel van Santen and his son Johannes, who sailed from Holland for New Amsterdam in 1658. The Van Zandt Society adopted the crest used by Dwight's branch.

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The Society devotes its energies to continuing genealogical research on the various family lines, including the most common spellings: Van Zandt, Vanzandt, Van Zant, Vanzant, Van Sant, Vansant, Van Sandt, Vansandt, Vinzant, Vinsant, Van Saan, Van Saun, and other variations.

(Early census takers recorded names as they heard them and not necessarily as they were meant to be spelled!)

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The Society serves as a resource for family history through its genealogy database, which has over 60,000 individual records as of 2024. We encourage members and non-members to submit information on their family trees and genealogical research queries. Computer printouts are available by contacting the Society’s historian, Sally V. Sondesky.

Membership & Newsletter

The Van Zandt Record is the Society’s primary form of communication. Issued twice a year, find out more about joining the Society so you can start receiving your copy of the newsletter today. Join the Society

Download a sample copy of The Van Zandt Record

Past Family Reunions

For decades, the extended Van Zandt family gathered for annual reunions held across the country and in many places with particular significance to the family. However, since the pandemic, the tradition has lapsed. Planning a reunion requires many hours of coordination by the host(s). Volunteer hosts coordinate hotel rates and group reservations; plan special activities, meals, and transportation; and communicate plans with Society officers to ensure attendees are well informed of the agenda, due dates, and costs. If you want to host a reunion, please get in touch with President Frank X. Shelley with your ideas.​

Here's a partial list of where reunions have been held:

Albany, NY

Annapolis, MD

Atlanta, GA

Bucks County, PA

Charleston, SC

Cincinnati, OH

Colorado Springs, CO

Fort Worth, TX

Grand Canyon, AZ

Indianapolis, IN

Las Vegas, NV

Los Angeles, CA

Louisville, KY

Nashville, TN

New York City

Orlando, FL

Philadelphia, PA

Salt Lake City, UT

Santa Fe, NM

Washington, D.C.

The Netherlands

A group of happy reunion attendees in Salt Lake City, 2015. 

Contact

Frank X. Shelley III
726 Chapel Hill West
Horsham, PA 19044

Sally V. Sondesky

128 Hedge Rd.

Levittown, PA   19056

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