Ringo History in Belgium
The Ringo family published their family history in 1984 in 13 volumes. The first written history of a Ringo in Europe happened in 988, Ghent, Belgium when a Ringo was down at the church, knocking the noses off some statues. Although there are 70 different spellings of the Ringo name in Europe, depending on the country and language, they were fairly easy to trace. They were always getting in trouble with the prople in charge! When you get in trouble, there is usually plenty of documentation of the event.My branch of the Ringo family were last in Belgium at Furnes or Veurne. When on Aug 8, 1558, my 16 times great grandfather, Jan Ringot, had his mouth clamped shut by the Town leaders for talking too much. (a family trait even today) They left Vernue soon after this incident for Holland. A cast iron replica of his head with the chain link in his mouth is on display at the town hall today. In 1640, my 11 times great grandfather, left Holland for America and got into the pirate business, with the Dutch West Indies Co. We now have a complete genealogy of the Ringo family in America. I have been visiting Europe for a month for the past 8 years and have found Ringo family members in most countries.