Kat was a Dutch Mennonite family name, especially found on the island of Ameland, where some of them were deacons of the church; Jan Jacobs Kat (d. 1803) was a preacher 1762-1777. They were usually members of the Foppe Ones congregation; Pieter Jacobs Kat (d. 1864) was a preacher from 1829 and an elder from 1843 to 1851 of the Jan-Jacobsz congregation. (Doopsgezinde Bijdragen 1889, 18 f.) Many of them were captains of boats. Hidde Dirks Kat, of Hollum, Ameland, was the author of an interesting book: Daghboek  eener reize ther Walvisch- en Robenvangst gedaan in de jaren 1777 en 1778 door den Kommandeur H.D. Kat (Haarlem, 1818). (De Zondagsbode III, 1, 3 November 1889.) Some of the members of this family lived in Workum, Hindeloopen, and Amsterdam. Hidde Abesse, of Hindeloopen, was in 1697 the skipper of the Barbara, a boat owned by the Mennonite van Eeghen family. Probably the preacher Jacob Kat also belonged to this family. Jan Lammertsz Kat (or Kadt), who was a preacher of Wormer and Jisp in 1697 (Doopsgezinde Bijdragen 1898, 79ff.), was apparently not a member of this family.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 153-154. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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