ISAAC van Weert, they named a town after him in Ohio.
Nobody knows for sure whether it was Van Weert, Van Woerd or Van Waard. We only know that he originally hailed from Gouda and that his girl was Rachel Storm, from Delft. He called himself Van Wart. But since a wart in English is, well, a wart, in Ohio they preferred Van Wert.
He played a heroic role in America’s independence. Private Isaac, during a patrol in the dark, apprehended an Englishman who was walking around carrying a letter from the commander of Fort West Point. That guy was about to hand over the fort, for a lot of money to the British, who could then easily take New York. The commander’s name was Benedict Arnold, one of American history’s greatest villains.
Isaac van Weert received America’s very first medal, and a farm, and in Ohio they named a city and a county after him. Benedict Arnold ran and escaped
