Flax to Freedom, A Huguenot Story

And you thought history was boring?

Imagine being jailed, or your home burned to the ground, your family killed, your property destroyed—just because you believed in a different religion. Imagine having to hide any evidence of your true beliefs—or perish. History does repeat itself.

Flax to Freedom is a glimpse of the life and times of French Huguenots living in France at the height of religious oppression in the 1600s.

This is a fictionalized account based on historical facts that surround Charles Germaine, a distant ancestor of the author. He was a Huguenot who was captured and held in La Tremblade Prison in France because of his Protestant beliefs. He escaped and fled to America. This is a story of how his escape may have been orchestrated.

Flax to Freedom is a fascinating story for readers of all ages. It will be of special interest to adults who trace their ancestry back to the French Huguenots who settled in New Paltz and other locations along the Hudson River in the 1600s.

ISBN 978-09817768-3-5 $12.95 Available anywhere books are sold.

Touches of Life in Time and Space

A collection of Barbara's poetry and artwork

A dream of Barbara’s was to publish her artwork and poetry together as one book balancing her art against her poetry, as much of the artwork mirrors her written work. Touches of Life in Time and Space puts this together beautifully.

Surprises arise in history, untold.
Surprises about Henry Hudson now unfold.
Surprises and well-kept secrets are faced
over the Russian art of the avant-garde, in
Touches of Life in Time and Space.

Poetry – art  – history
and colorful hand embroidery
combine to provide
the reader an experience
both enriching and enduring.

ISBN 978-09817768-2-8 $29.95 Available anywhere books are sold.

Powder Keg, A personal memoir of growing up a Knickerbocker and the family history of how they came to be

Knickerbocker is an American name. There are no Knickerbockers in The Netherlands. There never were. This famous American family name began as a tongue-in-cheek signature based on an age-old Dutch game.

The Vincent family were Belgic Walloons who fled their homeland at the time of the Reformation to escape religious persecution. Flax farmers, they brought their sought-after talents to the nascent settlement of New Amsterdam (now New York City).

Barbara Knickerbocker is a direct descent of both families. She grew up with her family history drummed into her by her elders. Raised during the Great Depression, she found her adult life profoundly influenced by her family’s history.

While researching the Vincent family during the Reformation, she discovered fascinating historic parallels between the experiences of the Belgic Walloons and the Sephardic Jews both in Europe and more surprisingly, in the early days of New Amsterdam.

Powder Keg is written in three parts. The first is a memoir of growing up during the Great Depression. She and her parents were crammed into the top floor of Grandma Knickerbocker’s home. Childhood was spent dealing with a feisty housekeeper, and an unrepentant grandmother who needed her son’s help, but resented his young family’s intrusion into her life.

Part II is a “museum” of Walloon and Knickerbocker–Dutch historical artifacts. Part III is an early history of the two families and the founding of New York City.

ISBN 9780981776811  $14.95  Available anywhere books are sold

Author Barbara Knickerbocker

Barbara Knickerbocker was raised near the Hyde Park, New York, home of President Franklin Roosevelt, a connection that later touched upon her life work. She had a long and prominent career as an occupational therapist, often a pioneer in her field. It began with a 20-year Army career, retiring as a major, before setting up the first free-standing occupational therapy practice in the U.S. and treating learning-disabled children and adults in Princeton, New Jersey.

Steeped in family history from an early age, and as the last of her family line, she tells her life story and presents further research so that these long-standing family histories would not be lost to posterity.

Author, Barbara Knickerbocker